I am a SETTLER - ask me anything

shabbatiscoming

Fri, Apr 19 2013, 5:50 am

Peanut2 wrote:

chanchy123 wrote:

shabbatiscoming wrote:

Peanut2 wrote:

How do I become a settler too?

Come join us on the wild side of life Smile

Come for shabbat.

Thanks! Would love to! (and I'm serious.)

Total hijacker here: we are looking for places to live and Jerusalem expensive. DH would need to commute to Jerusalem a few days a week next year. Maybe I'll start my own thread, but if anyone wants to invite us for a shabbos or has any suggestions please let us know. I am truly not sure where we stand on the borgani versus roughing it spectrum, but we would like a nice community that would help us feel connected. That's another thing that is tougher in Jerusalem. We are happy with a Hebrew speaking environment, though so far the only place we are about to visit is Efrat...

Well, what exactly are you looking for in a community?

StrongIma

Fri, Apr 19 2013, 6:36 am

what I meant to say is that "settling" imo shouldn't only refer to "across the green line", anymore than TA blood is any redder than yours. We're all settling EY. There are remote spots with less conveniences than you have, although in "EY proper" as well as others that moved from the US to less convenient locations years ago that now have all the conveniences, but back then they were truly roughing it. Besides, one of the things that makes your yishivim such pleasant living is their proximity to Y-m and the Merkaz, and you would be pretty lost without these cities - so I think the recognition should and can be to both sides of the fence.

etky

Fri, Apr 19 2013, 7:18 am

StrongIma wrote:

StrongIma- ITA.
'Settler' is a pejorative term used by the media to differentiate between Israelis living in 'legitimate' Israel and those living in the 'illegitimate' settlements across the Green Line and whose blood is therefore cheaper than other Israelis. I hate the term. Its very use conveys a political opinion that disparages those of us living Yehuda and Shomron. I much prefer the term 'mityashvim'. And I agree that everyone living in E"Y is in essence a 'settler' - in the positive sense of course, w/o the 'land grabbing' connotation.
Peanut - when will you be in Efrat?

StrongIma

Fri, Apr 19 2013, 7:59 am

etky wrote:

StrongIma wrote:

ty for understanding - that was exactly my point. but isn't 'mityashvim' an exact translation of 'settlers'? we need a different word

chanchy123

Fri, Apr 19 2013, 8:47 am

Peanut2 wrote:

chanchy123 wrote:

shabbatiscoming wrote:

Peanut2 wrote:

How do I become a settler too?

Come join us on the wild side of life Smile

Come for shabbat.

If you're serious pm me, there is a waiting list frming for the yishuv.

Mimisinger

Fri, Apr 19 2013, 12:42 pm

shabbatiscoming wrote:

Mimisinger wrote:

shabbatiscoming wrote:

chanchy123 wrote:

shabbatiscoming wrote:

chanchy123 wrote:

Ok, so I was born in Israel to parents who had made Aliyah after marriage. I feel Israeli and American enough to be on this board (for what it's worth) I am completley bilingual even though my English spelling is horrific - my kids are not (but my siblings' kids are).
In my yishuv we have many second generation olim. Again, I'm talking about the hard core, 40 family no shops, no doctor's office yishuv. We have olim (first generation who came as adults or children) from all over the globe, UK, US Australia, South America, Russia, Holland and Canada.
Yes, our yishuv is a break of materialism, unlike the yishuvim in central Gush Etzyon, which do seem to have a materialistic side.
We live life simply but not like hermits, I do hope to have a large home here one day soon, I like to go out to eat, go on vacations, etc, but there is no pressure whatsever to keep up with anyone, everyone pretty much does their own thing. You can see one woman in shul with high heals, a nice dress (Israeli designers), and trendy hat, and a woman who buys her clothes in thrift shops, wearing flowy shawls, old sandals, and bedouin pants - no one cares.

Same thing in our yishuv. And even though my yishuv does have some grandiose homes that people built, I love going to shul and seeing some women in sheitals and almost suits and other ladies who are wearing crocs and a nice baseball cap Smile

That is what I love about yishuv life. There is no living up to the johns's Smile

Your yishuv is the epitome of living it up according to people in our yishuv.

what do you mean? (I ask in complete honesty. can you explain what you mean by that? because you have people of all kinds here: rich, not so rich and outright poor. )

If you live where I think you live (based on the yummy bakery reference) then, you live a suburban life. There's yummy pizza, what else do you need? I would think of your yishuv as roughing it.

most probably you are thinking of the correct yishuv Smile

and yes, it is a suburban life. That is why I love it.
There is no pizza store anymore though.
You wrote that you think of my yishuv as roughing it. Did you mean that you dont think of it that way? I never feel like I am roughing anything.

And another wonderful bonus, we have an awesome view that I would never be able to give up Smile

Sorry, yes I don't think of your yishuv as roughing it. Frankly, unless you're living in a caravan, I don't think people are really roughing it. They're regular communities.

shabbatiscoming

Sat, Apr 20 2013, 2:13 pm

marina wrote:

Ask you anything? Ok. How do you justify to yourself placing your children in harm's way? And living in a place where conflict and hatred is a way of life?

Where I live, there is no conflict and hatred as a way of life. I think that that is a media thing. In my yishuv, people are peaceful, just living their every day life to the best of their ability.
And my children in harm's way? In what way do you mean? Where I live it is not more dangerous that any other place in Israel.

Your post shows how the media twists and distorts views on things, in a major way.

StrongIma

Sat, Apr 20 2013, 2:22 pm

marina wrote:

Ask you anything? Ok. How do you justify to yourself placing your children in harm's way? And living in a place where conflict and hatred is a way of life?

hey, that's how some people feel about anyone living in EY -and I for one feel much safer in any yishuv than walking the streets of NY. it's more a matter of perspective (aka media presentation) than actual statistics. [BTW - I would have loved to live in a yishuv, but HKBH had other plans for us.]

Last edited by StrongIma on Sat, Apr 20 2013, 3:38 pm; edited 1 time in total

ewa-jo

Sat, Apr 20 2013, 2:45 pm

marina wrote:

Ask you anything? Ok. How do you justify to yourself placing your children in harm's way? And living in a place where conflict and hatred is a way of life?

I know where the arabs are... they are on that hilltop and this other hilltop and that arab village over there.

If you live in Jerusalem, they are your neighbors, the guy who delivers groceries, the guy on the bus beside you with that big backpack...

IMO, I feel safer living somewhere a little more isolated.

Statistically, you have a better chance of being murdered in Chicago than being killed by a terrorist in Israel. I actually fear the bad drivers more than I fear the arabs.

amother

Sat, Apr 20 2013, 2:52 pm

marina wrote:

Ask you anything? Ok. How do you justify to yourself placing your children in harm's way? And living in a place where conflict and hatred is a way of life?

I live in a mid-sized city in central Israel. We have Arabs on every corner, at the mall, at the kiosk. Often there will be more Arabs eating falafel at a certain stand than Jews.

Some settlements are actually safer than some cities.

In any case, statistically Israelis live longer than Americans. How do you justify living somewhere with a lower life expectancy?

ewa-jo

Sat, Apr 20 2013, 2:53 pm

Peanut2 wrote:

Total hijacker here: we are looking for places to live and Jerusalem expensive. DH would need to commute to Jerusalem a few days a week next year. Maybe I'll start my own thread, but if anyone wants to invite us for a shabbos or has any suggestions please let us know. I am truly not sure where we stand on the borgani versus roughing it spectrum, but we would like a nice community that would help us feel connected. That's another thing that is tougher in Jerusalem. We are happy with a Hebrew speaking environment, though so far the only place we are about to visit is Efrat...

I live in Kochav Yaakov, which is over the green line, but very close to Jerusalem (20 minutes to pizgat zeev by bus, 45 minutes to the central bus station). The buses here are very frequent (like every 15minutes in the mornings!) and super cheap. There is a decent-sized grocery store in the yishuv and Rami Levy a few minutes away that will deliver to here. Also, clinics for all 4 kupat cholim and lots of schools (at least for little kids).

DH and I started off living in Jerusalem and we liked it a lot, but now, every month when the rent comes out of our bank account we laugh and laugh... it's so much more affordable here. Also, there are a good amount of anglos on the yishuv and I have found that it's a chilled-out kind of community where everyone (as in, all the anglos) know one another and get along, but it's not like you see the same 5 families in shul and that's all.

etky

Sat, Apr 20 2013, 2:55 pm

There is no such thing as safety, only 'comfort zones' that are largely the illusions of safety that people create for themselves in order to function .
I am much more nervous about family members walking around Jerusalem, taking the buses there and waiting at bus stops than I am here in the Gush, despite the issues we have with the road.
My paratrooper nephew was on leave from the "dangerous" army last week and went down to Eilat for some R&R with his army buddies. Guess what? The rockets that were fired from Jordan landed literally across the street from the house where they were staying, 8 hours after their arrival.
My friend's child was murdered in a pigua that took place in a yeshiva in Jerusalem, not here in the Gush, where he lived.
This entire country is a high risk area.

Tamiri

Sat, Apr 20 2013, 2:56 pm

marina wrote:

Ask you anything? Ok. How do you justify to yourself placing your children in harm's way? And living in a place where conflict and hatred is a way of life?

Marina, we've gone through this before. Conflict and hatred are what the Arabs display. Settler's children.... oh, you'd probably wish them upon yourself, though you can't really categorize them, since they come in all shapes, colors, sizes and religious flavors. I wish you'd some once and for all and dispel the myths planted in your head!

etky

Sat, Apr 20 2013, 2:58 pm

etky wrote:

Sorry - I meant from Sinai. Now that's certainly a high risk area for you!

etky

Sat, Apr 20 2013, 3:20 pm

[quote="ewa-jo"]

marina wrote:

Ask you anything? Ok. How do you justify to yourself placing your children in harm's way? And living in a place where conflict and hatred is a way of life?

amother

Sat, Apr 20 2013, 4:03 pm

I also live in the Gush and if you can't at least acknowledge that conflict is a component in our way of life then you are in denial about reality.

I personally don't feel hatred or animosity to the Arabs living in the surrounding villages, I do understand why they feel that towards us, and I have and do hear other members of my yishuv speaking disparagingly about Arabs in general, indicate that they would also like to use violence if they were allowed, how they would like all the Arabs in the area to move out or "disappear." I know I'm not the only one who has heard others talk like this.

I think while we can ideologically rationalize why we live where we do, we can explain why we think its important for national security that the Gush be a part of the consensus, we can't deny the obvious that there is an aspect of hatred and conflict that is involved in our way of life.

I don't feel like I am endangering my kids lives, but I guess the fact that we have migun on our car and my husband has a gun indicates that I am aware of the dangers in living here. I just feel protected from them.