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Avi Rockoff

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May 7, 2026, 8:34 PM

Dishonesty—That’s My Policy!

I was walking in downtown Jerusalem. At an intersection, I waited for the little red figure to turn green. When it did, I crossed to the middle of the street, beyond which the next little figure was already green....

Mar 31, 2026, 10:08 AM

The Four Children of the Safe Room

A Haggadah Supplement, for a Time of Sirens

Mar 8, 2026, 10:08 AM

Od yoter tov! (Even better)

On Purim we went upstairs to exchange mishloach manot with our neighbors. They invited us in for a drink. Our host asked, “Do you know the song Od Yoter Tov!” (“Even Better!”) I didn’t think so, but when I found...

Feb 24, 2026, 12:37 PM

Vicarious Nostalgia

The other week we went to a concert at the Jerusalem Theater, produced and introduced by Astrith Baltsan, a well-known Israeli pianist and lecturer. She welcomed three musicians: a flutist, an oboist, and a cellist. Each played some brief,...

Feb 4, 2026, 3:29 PM

Memoirs of a Happy Freier

So I have this friend. We have a lot of similarities. Both of us came on Aliyah not long ago. We have similar given names, though with different English spellings. People sometimes confuse us. Not that we look alike....

Jan 13, 2026, 8:16 AM

Reverse Polarity

In earlier posts I noted some complications that come up when you move from a left-to-right place to a one where many things go from right to left. For most of these, you adapt fast. If you see two doors...

Dec 23, 2025, 1:34 PM

Memoirs of a Shul Cat–2. Machloket!

Machloket means dispute. When referring to disputes in shul, it is often pronounced in Yiddish: Machloykes. Of course, disputes can happen anywhere. But shuls present a fertile ground for arguments, because in shuls there are so many things to...

Nov 30, 2025, 10:17 AM

I like ordering cabs on the Gett app. The cars are often late-model and mostly spotless: Kias, Skodas, Toyotas. Once I rode in a Mercedes E220. The cabs come soon and take us where we need to go. While you...

Nov 11, 2025, 11:56 AM

Archeology from the Future

Jerusalem, December 2387, Kislev 6148 The Times of Israel was founded in 2012. To celebrate our Trecentiseptuagintaquinquennial anniversary, we are excited to share the final clarification of a mystery that has baffled the Urban Archeology profession for 355 years. Way back...

Oct 19, 2025, 10:02 AM

Becoming a great-grandparent

Our oldest grandchild and her husband just had their first baby, a little girl. By arriving, the baby made her mother and father parents, their parents grandparents, and my wife and me great-grandparents. A cascade of kinship. Good work,...

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About Me

Avi Rockoff came on aliyah with his wife Shuli in March 2022. They live in Jerusalem. His new book, This Year in Jerusalem: Aliyah Dispatches, has been recently published by Shikey Press.

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