The Future of TV

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During a recent bad experience with Comcast here in the States, my wife and I came across a dilemma that we know we will soon face in Israel, and that is the world of TV viewing.

We are both hockey fans, and we ordered the NHL Center Ice package back at the beginning of the season. The service was wonderful, and for about $40 a month, we were able to see most of the games that were being televised. Ironically, one of the games they decided not to show was the one where our favorite teams played each other.

At any rate, while the service was good, the accounting on Comcast's part was very shotty, so we ended up arguing with them on exactly how much we owed them. While the contract stated we were to be billed monthly, Comcast continually attempted to bill us for the full amount.

This led to us being without service for two days as we tried to find a representative that could intelligently talk about our account and the plan that we had purchased and paid for.

We know that we will face a different situation in Israel, where what we deem the "local media outlets" will no longer be local. We want to be able to view world programming, and retain those things that we like, as well as keep our music and film collections intact.

We would like to be able to view streaming video and podcasts, as well as get RSS feeds of our favorite blogs and info from our friends right there on our TV.

It is also understood that we must learn to live in a small amount of space very happily, which leads to attempting to consolidate and make everything more efficient.

Enter MythTV.

Being a Linux geek, I have known about this technology for quite a while, but have never actually worked with it. There is a report going around somewhere that a large number of people are dumping cable and satellite companies for online viewing. I can certainly understand. With the advent of grid computing and the ability to find much more interesting viewing material online than on the tube (with the obvious exception of NHL Center Ice, which I can also purchase online...) it makes good sense to go ahead and prepare for it.

I'm not entirely certain about the HOT procedures, but the channels look pretty good. Some of them I like better than here. MythTV can handle them there, too.

I plan on putting in in a rather small case, but a very potent system, which will save space, but have as many functions as a Ginzu knife. I promise to tell more about this whole process, but you will have to go to my main blog for that.

The primary gist of what I am saying is three things:

1. Comcast sucks.
2. We need a transferable entertainment system.
3. Baruch Hashem for letting me be an open-source geek.

That's it for now. Shabbat Shalom!

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A New Temporary Shelter

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We have officially found ourselves a new home, and that is Congregation Shema Yisrael. After the insanity of the past week or so, we do have this bright point in our spectrum. It is a multi-denominational shul, so I guess in English what that means is that we have a home that is much like Abraham Aveinu's tent, open on all sides.

I like that.

Life is too short, and there are too many mitzvot to perform, people to care about, and study to do to allow silly things to get in the way. If some groups want to paint themselves into a corner and try to exclude as many Jews as possible from getting into, or being in their "club", then so be it. We prefer people. We have everybody here, it seems. Orthodox, chassidic, Conservative, Reform, Renewal, Reconstructionist, it appears that everyone is represented.

The people here are wonderful, and we hope to add to that, to help build a welcoming atmosphere that continues to be possible well into the future. They have some very good plans of what they want to do. I was also honored to be allowed to sit in on the latest board meeting, and I can tell you this, these folks have the whole point right, and they are looking into a direction of tikkun olam that I honestly believe Hashem will make flourish.

Yes, we are still making aliyah.

The timeframe is still similar, if not the same.

But we have a point, no time will be wasted here, and it appears to be a very wonderful path that we are on, and the companions are top class. What more could you ask for?

More about that will be discussed on my other blog, Journeying Yid, as this remains the story of our path to home, our Journey to Eretz Yisrael and what shall be laid out for us there.

Nefesh B'Nefesh has actually blessed us in a great way. Perhaps we were asleep, and simply figured that the fix to our problem was just to go back home. But there is time before this happens, and much like the rabbinical refutations given a potential convert, our own "take a moment to think" moment with NBN led us on a more concrete search for community, for a more intimate inclusion with fellow Jews that will also affect where we potentially live in Israel.

Since my last post, I have also made another new friend, Rabbi Lazer Brody. His input has also assisted to meld our opinion on where we sit in the aliyah process, and what must be done.

Hashem has laid this all out in this manner for a very good reason, and even when it appears to immediately fly in the face of logic, time and again we find that things are exactly the way they should be, with the appropriate path rising in front of us.

While another goal has came to light once again, which I will delve into in the aforementioned blog, we see the good in what seems at some points inconvenient or counter. I should also take this point to explain that our lives in the past few weeks have been in an uproar. I owe someone some books I promised, and it is about like the box of salt that took me two weeks to finally pick up. I see it, I think, "I'm supposed to do that today" then I come home and have a "d'oh!" moment.

I promise, they are headed your way.

For now, NBN has some wonderful webinars, and we are going to begin watching them and getting our ducks in a row, both here in our congregation and helping them grow and as a unit build vitality and community, as well as hopefully, G-d willing, carrying that light over to Eretz Yisrael.

P.S. - Ira- Six Degrees time. One of our rabbis is Jeffery Salkin. He is also a classmate of my  rabbi from Anchorage. :) Woo-hoo!

On The Diving Board

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First off, to answer a question:

What is the voltage in Israel?


Voltage: 230 V; Plugs H & C. You will need a voltage converter, and plug adapter in order to use U.S. appliances. We recommend getting a universal adapter and converter kit.


So that's one question off of the list.

We have our first meeting with Nefesh B'Nefesh tomorrow morning at 10am. Sure, I'm a bit apprehensive, who wouldn't be? We are making a big decision here, even though we are certain that we are doing the right thing, and we are excited about it, you still have that first part of the plunge where your face hits the cool swimming pool water at about 40 miles an hour.

This is pretty much that part.

It's where everything starts, though, and without it, we can't really get there from here. We have already begun some of the cleaning and sorting of the house already, even though we won't be actually going to stay for another 2 years. (Unless things go really south, in which in might very well be next year, after all).

We are already also working on getting finances and such in order to help us with our prepwork. Then there is the whole learning Hebrew thing. I have started working with my software at work, translating it into Hebrew. Hopefully, (and the prospects are good) I will continue working with this and hopefully my current company once we make Aliyah.

It would certainly be beneficial for both of us.

But at the moment, it's time to officially kick all of this off and get the ball rolling.

I'll let you know about the meeting tomorrow. Right now, I have to go make a tooth disappear.

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Wherever Shall We Go?

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At the moment, all that we know is that we are moving to Israel. We are making Aliyah. We originally thought 2013, and that seemed to be the plan, but it appears that we may be moving that date up a year to 2012. Between the recruitment posters here in the US for "internment specialists" and the basic political ribaldry we've seen from our president, coupled with various other familial factors, the longing for home is getting stronger and much more pertinent.

Now comes the question... Where are we going?

We really don't know. Somewhere around Tel Aviv is the hope, as while we at least attempt to be Orthodox, I work in the technology sector, and our outside viewpoints run liberal to secular.

For example, part of the draw to come home is the ability to pray Shacharit, Minchah, and Ma'ariv without stepping on an employer's toes, like here in America. I manage to sneak Shacharit in with my tefillin, and all seems to be well. But I must work during Minchah, and by Ma'ariv, I'm making dinner and fighting with children while my wife tries to get a breath in.

We could finally attend a shul. The closest one here is about 20 miles, and I'm not driving.

We would finally have a proper Jewish community, and actually know someone else that is Jewish. Here, we're on our own. We want to keep shomer kashrut, but given how far we are from kosher meat, time and price constraints, we end up with "That's a cow. I'll have to kasher it and eat it anyway..." or "Any pig with that? Can't eat it." and "No. You may NOT have a cheeseburger!"

Let me explain that last one. We have children coming from a secular upbringing (I won't go into details) and are moving to a more frum, beneficial lifestyle. We also have a developmental issue or two (I will hold out on that for the moment as well) to mesh through, so they have a bit of difficulty understanding what the big deal is between cow, American cheese, and big red wig-wearing clowns.

We need to have beach accessibility to help make my wife happier, as well as all of us, really. We're not really the settler type, not haredi either. Yerushalayim is a nice place to visit, but we aren't looking to live there.

This will be our home for the rest of our lives. That is at least the intention. I will eventually get over the fact that I like the "Jewish Jordan" and the Haifa Heat, and end up cheering for Tel Aviv, or wherever we end up.

We will still be hockey fans. I don't think that can change.

But those of you in the know, help us. Throw us a bone, here. Where is a place that we can be observant, but still not have an uprising if the neighbors are gay?

I ask that question in particular because we, while wishing to adhere to a more Orthodox lifestyle, also realize the realities of life and culture both here and what we have heard from Israel thus far. Perhaps the word "metropolitan" comes to mind.

We adhere more closely to Chabad, consider ourselves chabadniks, even if on the fringe, but also have the social open-mindedness of Renewal. With that said, we don't consider Rav Zalman Schacter-Shalomi to be our rebbe. The Rebbe (Rabbi Menachem Schneerson zt''l) is our Rebbe.

We do want a mikvah in the vicinity. We don't have that here, either.

I wear a black fedora, sometimes a black driver's cap, but I don't necessarily dress like a "penguin" (I use that term lovingly. Sometimes I do, as wardrobe permits. But my wardrobe is not exactly "updated"). I wear a big blue and white frik knit kippah. I'm neither Breslov nor Samaritan. A friend of mine in Yerushalayim wears one, I liked the way it looked, and now I have one that is soft and feels comfortable. My infant has one almost exactly like it, and he is adorable in it. I read somewhere that it also has to do with Zionists, and obviously we are that, or we wouldn't be making Aliyah.

Holon has been mentioned, Beit Shemesh as well. We are a family of five, with a probability of one more. At the same time, we need to get to where startup and techology jobs reside. I want to bring mine with me, and I believe that I can build that groundwork in the next year, but I have to be prepared in the event my employer vetoes my vision.

It would be nice to finally get a decent education, both secular and yeshiva. Eleven year old boys in Ramle probably know more Talmud than I.

So what are the sections of the Tel Aviv area, Sharon district, etc. Anybody? Anything?