Iran Countdown, Olympic Shock, and a 1.9 Million-Year Discovery

Dear Readers,

This past week was extremely eventful. Monday I went to the hospital for my first ever egg-retrieval.  Yes, I did a round of egg-freezing! If you’re not with the times, you might not know that it's becoming very popular for women to take advantage of their youth by freezing their eggs – in case they need them in the future. Israel has some of the best doctors in the world and is very pro-family, making all kinds of procedures and medications accessible for women with the goal of allowing people to grow their families. That whole attitude (a love and appreciation for the family unit) is one of the reasons why I moved to Israel. It's the opposite experience to what I felt in New York, where work is always #1 – no excuses. 

Whenever I complete any medical or bureaucratic process in Israel, I feel so proud of myself. More proud than when I host a room of 600 dignitaries. Why? Because doing things as an immigrant, in a second language, in a system you don’t know and in a foreign country, is scary and hard. I did it! It was a huge success, I popped up the next day feeling great and immediately hosted pre-booked events Tuesday and Wednesday night. By Thursday night, I was totally exhausted, but still made it to a private campaign salon for Einat Wilf, who opened her own political party and is now calling on people to support her. In Hebrew, this type of event is called a חוג בית (Chug Bayit). Literal translation: “home circle.”

I went and during the Q&A asked questions about what the process looks like for private individuals to get into the Knesset. She explained that the government offers stipends for campaigning and the rest of the campaign funds are typically capped at 13,500 nis per person or per organization. That’s about $4,350 USD. It is totally different from the American system, which is all private and means that great candidates with smaller budgets are more likely to fall off. I think about that. A lot.  

Friday daytime I hosted cousins from New York and Argentina in my home for what turned into a family reunion. It's common to get together on Friday mornings in Israel because everything stops for the Sabbath in the late afternoon. The sweet spot for most observant Jews to get together on a Friday in Israel is 11 am. We spent hours sitting under the sun on my terrace until my cousins had to get to their Shabbat spot and start the weekly preparations. My mom’s cousin Larry told me he was so thrilled to be having brunch with the family in sunny Tel Aviv that he felt he had died and gone to heaven. 

I think it was a good week.  — Shanna Fuld

Founder & CEO, Israel Daily News