Okay, Time for'Tachlis'!*

[*see glossary below]
That's how they say it in the 'old country' (read: America). I actually tried saying "tachlit", but it loses something in the translation. Nothing, not even Ivrit, can match the nuances of 'mama loshon' (Yiddish, for those of you not 'with it'; which is really Hebrew with an attitude).

OK, so now I am here for an extended period of time. Am sort of looking for 2 things: a place to stay for me (and later, also my husband-I will explain later on in this post), and work for me. I have very limited (read: NO) funds and no income, so the place I am looking for has to be cheap, or better yet, FREE, at least until I get on my feet and have a job. For now, I am staying at my sons' apt., which basically was designed for 1 person (ok, maybe 2 small people). I am sleeping in my younger son's bedroom (read: miklat). My luggage is stacked vertically behind the recliner-all six bags of 'em-which is just inside of the front door. Which now can't open all the way because of the luggage. My 'stuff' is all over the place: on my younger son's desk in the miklat, in the bathroom, by the computer, on my luggage, etc. There is no place to breathe here. Also, it's a bad yishuv for good bus connections. Which is a convoluted way of saying, without a car in this yishuv, you're in trouble. For now I am refusing to drive in this country, let alone drive my older son's car whose engine burns oil and which is being held together with chewing gum and cellotape (literally, on the tape part; it's a great candidate for the T.V. show International Pimp My Ride.I keep nagging him to submit the photos.).
I dunno, maybe the longer I stay, the braver I'll get...

So here I am. I arrived on chol ha-mo'ed Sukkot, and plunged right into the chag, while feeling something beginning to develop, health-wise. My grandson had gotten sick the beginning of Yom Tov Sukkot and I was exposed (what, exposed-on chol ha-mo'ed the school called his eema to get him 'cause he had a low-grade fever, and I was the one who picked him up!). That was B.I. (before Israel). In Israel on Simchat Torah, our host lost her voice. In the next couple of days, I began to lose mine and cough up (why am I writing this?I'm making my readers sick. They'll turn green-same color as my-and never read my blog again) phlegm. Suffice it to say, I am just now recovering from something that lasted over a week. Welcome to Israel. Before I succumbed to this though, I managed to walk to the Kotel, daven, and say Tehillim for all the names all of you gave me. And I'm (baruch Hashem) recovering daily.

So that's why it's finally time for tachlis. I still have not gone to any misradim yet, but I am planning on going to misrad haklitah, and maybe misrad hapnim, to find out about what zechuyot if any I am entitled to. Mine is a complicated case, having lived here before for four years about twenty-five years ago...so I don't know what my status is: can I still be an Olah Hadasha?, or am I a Toshevet Hozeret? Or worse, am I not anything? Which as I learned from querying the AACI, is a distinct possibility. Also, in order to work here I need a work permit. I am here as a tayeret, so I have to go get that. Somewhere. This is how it works: there is a new law that was just enacted relating to tourists getting work permits, so I was told. It is called "B-1" . I was also told, that I will not be able to get any information on this new law because it is so new that nobody knows anything about it. Welcome to Israel.

I think part of the problem is that I don't feel as if I have a comfortable, private place to 'hang my hat', from which I can go out into the world and start taking care of business. So meanwhile, I am still looking for a warm, kind, shomer Shabbat & kosher tzaddik/tzaddeket who will have a private room and bath for me for free (what chutzpah; see? my klitah is already beginning...!), and later, for my husband. Yes, he is actually coming for a visit, for three weeks from Dec. 12th through January 2nd, to be with the kids for Chanukah. Which will be an improvement over last Chanukah when I sat in front of my computer in the States, watching my kids on the webcam light the candles and open presents and listening to them sing the brachot and all the shirim while bawling my eyes out. But he wouldn't have come if I hadn't done it first. This will be his first visit in twenty-five years.
Higiya ha-zman.


*glossary:
tachlis (or tachlit)= purpose, aim, object
mama loshen= mother tongue, the-old-country-I-was-brought-up-in language.
miklat= a bomb shelter.
yishuv= settlement, town, a neighborhood-like suburb
cellotape= cellophane tape; no scotch tape in Israel
chol ha-mo'ed Sukkot= the intermediate, half-holy days of the holiday of Sukkot (Tabernacles)
chag= holiday
yom-tov= holy day
Simchat Torah= the name for the holiday at the end of Sukkot-a one day holy assembly day when we rejoice in the completion of the reading of the Five Books of Moses (the Torah), and start it all over again from the beginning.
Kotel= the Western Wall, the outer wall which originally surrounded the area of the Holy Temple-one of the holiest places for Jews
Tehillim= psalms
misradim= offices, as in government offices
misrad haklitah= Absorption Office (for new immigrants)
misrad hapnim= Office of the Interior
zechuyot= immigrant "rights" that the government grants to new immigrants
olah hadasha= new immigrant (female)
toshevet hozeret= returning resident (female)
AACI= Association of Americans & Canadians in Israel
tayeret= tourist (female)
shomer Shabbat= Sabbath observer
kosher= one who keeps the kosher laws stipulated in the Torah
tzaddik/tzaddeket= A righteous person, male & female respectively
chutzpah= nerve, as in 'what nerve!'
klitah= absorption (into Israeli society)
brachot= blessings
shirim= songs
higiya ha-zman= the time has arrived, or "it's about time!"

Comments

Wow that must be so hard good luck. Can't imagine not having a place to stay you really have your plate full. Still you sound optimistic:).
anonym00kie said…
i didnt realize you made alyah! or remade alyah! or watever it is youre doing.. (and no, youre not not anything :)
good luck with everything, sounds like a tough transition - i think before u jump into dealing with 'misradim' and work and permits.. u really need to find a private little corner for yourself or else youll burn out before you get started. maybe an exchange - do a couple hours babysitting for someone who has a room or a mothers helper type of thing for someone with a tiny free space for you and who needs some free help..
dunno.. just some ideas. israel is so full of possibilities.. just keep your eyes open, things just seem to happen there if youre open to them!
gluck!
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kasamba said…
I would take a swig of kiddush wine before you go through all the Israeli red tape!
Lady-Light said…
SWFM: yes, it's hard not to have one's own place-size is not the problem, as much as it's a borrowed room putting somebody out. But I am optimistic, at least for now.
'm00kie': It is confusing, isn't it? I don't even know what to call it(my being here)! I tend to agree with you about finding a place I can call 'home' first; I still feel as if I am in transition. Hopefully that will be resolved soon. You are right, that strange connecting things happen here if one is open to them. I think it's part of the fact that the Jewish People are like one big family.
ayala: hahah, that's good--do some of my kids have a large home! I wish. My sons are the oldest, and they have a postage-stamp apt.; my middle daughter davka has a nice student apt. which she shares with two other girls. I already stayed there two nights, and might again--but it's not a permanent solution; my youngest daughter lives in a pnimiya, a dormitory room, with one other girl. Nope. Won't work.
You said the key words though: geeze, you're in Israel! And for now, that is what counts!
kasamba: heheh. I'm tipsy all the time (hic!)

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