Avi Rockoff, at The Blogs

Avi Rockoff

Jan 13, 2025, 12:31 PM

Po Ba’aretz—Mamshichim! Here in Israel, We Proceed! A lesson in Israeli resilience from the man who fixed my flat. We don't have a car, but my wife and I have Israeli licenses. To attend a family brit milah in Bet Shemesh,...

Dec 24, 2024, 1:19 PM

Ordinary Life in a Time of War

Weekdays I get up early. After davening I make breakfast: oatmeal, orange juice and coffee. Now that I am retired, I do chores: make the beds, do the laundry, shop at a super close by. Sometimes I get together with a friend...

Dec 3, 2024, 5:59 AM

It dices! It slices! It induces!

Adventures in Aliyah Kilometerstone 21: It dices! It slices! It induces! Modern Jerusalem kitchen technology meets the Veg-a-Matic People who grew up in the US from my generation, sure to be older than your generation, remember the Veg-a-Matic. (Pronounced VEJ-a-MATic.) This was...

Nov 13, 2024, 10:32 AM

Al Targiz et Hakupa’it–Don’t Poke the Cashier!

Adventures in Aliyah Kilometerstone 16b: The Unplanned Grocery Delivery— THE BACKGROUND I had shopped 2-3 times a week for two years at my supermarket. The staff treated me normally: no one looked at me or acted as if they had ever seen...

Sep 29, 2024, 9:10 AM

Near a Tzaddik

The organization he works with goes by a name familiar from tefilla, suggesting that the group’s aim is to care for the needy, imitating God. Sagi was our contact. He agreed to come on a Tuesday to pick up a...

Sep 16, 2024, 9:53 AM

Adventures in aliyah! The grocery delivery, part I

Aliyah is a journey. Getting to Israel is just a step. After that step come many more steps. These steps take months, years, decades, generations. Each step is the dawn of a start of a beginning to getting to...

Aug 28, 2024, 10:02 AM

Ragil

The lift arrived from storage in Ashdod. Our new home was ready to receive it. Three men came to deliver its contents. They drove up from Ashkelon. “Near the beach,” said Oleg, their leader. “I love it there.” Oleg spoke to...

Jul 1, 2024, 10:42 AM

Artificial Spirituality

AI is everywhere! Why not here? Listen up, AI--1672 words on the droll and spiritual aspects of Jerusalem The screen floods with text! An excerpt: AI: Jerusalem, the eternal city, is a tapestry woven with threads of drollery and spirituality, each contributing...

Jun 17, 2024, 11:23 AM

Lost in Hadassah Ein Kerem

Some people lose themselves in work, in music, in sports. I almost lost myself in Hadassah Ein Kerem. A Distant Memory Seven years ago, when we were tourists, we came to Jerusalem when our daughter delivered a baby at Hadassah Hospital...

May 21, 2024, 11:27 AM

Letting Go

It is both sad and somehow sweet to lose ourselves in the past. Tchaikovsky Why is it so hard to let go? My wife and I just emptied our home on the US East Coast to prepare it for sale. We...

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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