Comments on: All I want for Pesach…

By: Jen Maidenberg

Jen Maidenberg — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 13:33:32 +0000

Not sure how Sundays off will resolve the extended vacation issue (or the lack of matching vacation between working parents and their kids)

By: Jen Maidenberg

Jen Maidenberg — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 13:32:52 +0000

Love your response and could not have said it better myself. Thanks Andrew. Israel is one of many countries, including the U.S. (as I mention in the post) that need to address this issue.

By: Andrew Shapiro Katz

Andrew Shapiro Katz — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 13:47:41 +0000

2-month summer breaks are just a strange holdover from an era when either the weather, or the community's agricultural needs, made it necessary. But people tend to think that year-round school means 52 weeks in the classroom. A few more, but shorter, breaks should be spread throughout the year. But those breaks from schooling could still be periods of experiential learning in programs supported by the government. The bottom line is that kids and parents should have the same amount of true vacation, and it should always be possible to have them at the same time.

By: Andrew Shapiro Katz

Andrew Shapiro Katz — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 13:47:41 +0000

By: Arlene Samuel-Keehn

Arlene Samuel-Keehn — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 09:15:49 +0000

By the time this is resolved, you will be a grandma-we need to start by giving Sundays off-then there will be no need for these extended school vacations both for Pesach and חופש הגדול.

By: Ruth Kilner

Ruth Kilner — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 09:11:17 +0000

How is 2 weeks off over Pesach in Israel any different from 2 weeks off at Easter anywhere else in the world? Or the 2 months off in Israel in the summer any different to 2 months off in the summer anywhere else in the world? This isn't an Israeli issue that needs dealt with; it's just a parenting issue.

By: Jen Maidenberg

Jen Maidenberg — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 19:29:31 +0000

I'm working on it.

By: Laura Ben-David

Laura Ben-David — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 11:39:53 +0000

You are so right Jen. I can deal with the pre-Pesach thing (and when the kids are bigger you might actually be able to delegate some pre-Pesach tasks for while you are working). There are programs, 'kaytanot', etc. But August is just insane. I'm ready for a change!

By: Zahava Englard

Zahava Englard — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 22:23:49 +0000

I pray that someone in the next government reads this post!

By: Marion Rosen

Marion Rosen — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 17:11:10 +0000

No, no Sunday off please! BAD idea. Yes, we need another day, or more time, or something, but not Sunday. Think about it. Do you think you'll be able to make all those doctors' appointments Sunday instead of taking time off during the week? Think again. All those families without cars (or without big enough cars) still won't have tiyulim. Full time employees will still have to work those 40-45 hours a week…and where will they make up the 8.5-9 hours from Sunday? Will maon or mishpachton stay open later (ha!) the other days of the week? No, better to shorten what's considered full time (35-40 hours instead of 45) so we can actually work them in the hours maon/mishpachton is already open. (Metaplot work 47.5 hours a week…you don't expect them to work moer, do you? No, I'm not a metapelet.)

By: Sarah Williams

Sarah Williams — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 15:00:00 +0000

Absolutely! and while we're at it, let's work on getting a Sunday off. Tel Avivians are begging for public transportation on Saturdays but no one wants to come to grips with the fact that this means the ONLY day a bus driver's family can spend together will be ripped apart, because we have school 6 days a week, and FT parents work 5 or 6 days a week…we're all running on empty because we have no quality time with our spouses or kids…

By: Andrew Shapiro Katz

Andrew Shapiro Katz — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 13:09:58 +0000

Lacking family, we've had to be very proactive about building a strong community network. We ran a keytana in our backyard in August for 10 kids, something we won't be able to do again this year. And we do try to take each other's kids for the day here and there. But you are right, of course, that it is crazy how out of sync schools are with the needs of their primary clientele. We at least have ganim that provide tzaharon programs that cut the holiday breaks in half and run through the beginning of August. But the elementary schools don't do the same thing. Out oldest winds up watching A LOT of television. And don't get me started about how pick up times seem to be designed to either stress you out or waste your time.

By: Jen Maidenberg

Jen Maidenberg — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 10:28:20 +0000

Andrew, we're lucky to have a saba and savta who are very helpful. And I do think it's wonderful that so many grandparents make themselves available to act as childcare for their grandchildren. But beyond the admiration is sense of the ridiculous of this arrangement. I believe that raising children takes a village and I know my in-laws spend time with my children because they love too, but we should not be a country that counts on its retirees to, out of the kindness of their heart, act is informal childcare for our kids. Many olim are completely without this option, as you note, too.

By: Jen Maidenberg

Jen Maidenberg — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 10:28:20 +0000

By: Andrew Shapiro Katz

Andrew Shapiro Katz — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 00:22:37 +0000

We live in a kehila with both other olim and native Israelis, and we feel the most different from the native Israelis during these times when we don't have a keytanot savta for our kids.