Our Hospital Adventure
Big government is making a big comeback, what with $700 billion bank bailouts, so the term “socialized medicine” isn’t as scary as it used to be. And we all know how expensive health care is in the States. But, as the old saying goes, you get what you pay for. Despite the high cost, “everyone knows” how much higher the quality of health care is in the U.S., and how inferior it is in countries with socialized medicine, like the U.K., where people have to wait for months for simple procedures, and those who can afford it flee the public health system, and go private.
Having lived in Israel for some 15 years – moving here from the U.S. before the huge increase in health insurance costs – I can’t speak of what typical Americans, or Britons for that matter, have to go through to either get or pay for health care. I can only speak about what I’ve experienced here in Israel.
I bring this up now because I – and my wife – have just had a hospital experience. She was “in” for a couple of days last week for a procedure (let’s just leave it at that). This isn’t the first time, of course – we’ve had three of our five kids here. And in her previous experiences, she would have at least partially agreed with the conventional wisdom that private medical care is better.
But things have changed dramatically over the past few years; the service is no longer surly, and even the old, broken down hospital seemed brighter and spiffier this time around. Hospitals aren’t a pleasant place to stay, no matter what, but the hospital she had to spend a night at while she recuperated was completely refurbished, with pleasant chairs and plenty of light. Some of the personnel weren’t as pleasant as we would have liked, but I have seen far worse behavior on the part of hospital workers in the States – and in Israel, hospital staff don’t immediately call in security when you would put up an argument with them. They even seem to have gotten the paperwork right – one form was all it took, and she was enrolled in the computer, with all the information transmitted to all the appropriate departments immediately.
And the total cost for everything – would you believe 130 shekels? That’s about $35 in today’s money. Although many pundits would say that Israel is losing its socialist spirit (the official poverty figures can be pretty shocking), it’s clear that that spirit still reigns supreme in health care. True, it’s more expensive that it used to be, but try even talking to a doctor in the U.S. for $35.
It was a real surprise to an American immigrant who still expects Israeli medical care to be second rate – the whole process was pretty first rate, as far as I could tell. There seems to be a lot of that going on in Israel today – take highways and roads, for example. All sorts of new highways seem to be popping up all over the place; you can get around the Tel Aviv and even Jerusalem metropolitan areas pretty quickly now. But don’t we pay excessively high taxes for all this? Nope; if you live in the New York Metropolitan area and include your state, city, federal, and real estate taxes, it doesn’t really add up to more than we pay here overall. Pretty shocking, huh?
Jerusalem Elections 2008: The Most Crucial in Years
Several weeks ago I gave an Israeli take on the upcoming U.S. elections. But there’s another vote in November that may prove to be just as momentous for this country. I’m talking about the Jerusalem mayoral elections.
Five years ago, the status quo was broken when the ultra-Orthodox (haredi) community fielded a candidate for mayor for the first time…and won. Before that, haredi Jerusalemites were careful not to promote one of their own for fear that an Orthodox mayor would be forced to sanction “non-kosher” activities (such as the annual Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade). Accordingly, the last two Jerusalem mayors, Ehud Olmert and Teddy Kolleck, were both secular.
But in 2003, Uri Lupolianski ran and narrowly defeated millionaire businessman and philanthropist Nir Barkat. Lupolianski captivated both secular and religious voters with his background as the founder of the Yad Sarah organization which is dedicated to helping the elderly and disabled. He received numerous awards for his work there: the President’s Volunteer Prize; the Knesset Speaker’s Award; the Kaplan Prize for Efficiency; and in 2004, the Israel Prize.
Lupolianski wasn’t a bad mayor – he kept a decent balance between the different groups in the city and even allowed his dreaded Gay Parade to proceed (earning him considerable scorn from his constituency). More non-kosher bars and clubs opened during Lupolianski’s term than ever before.
The biggest criticism many residents had of Lupolianski was that he was dull– he showed little vision other than canceling the Safdie plan to build 20,000 homes on prime forest land that was decried by local environmentalists.
But he’s not running this year. Lupolianski is a member of the ultra-Orthodox Degel HaTorah party. In order for the entire haredi community to throw its support behind a single candidate, Degel hooked up 5 years ago with rival Agudat Yisrael, with the provision that when the next elections rolled around, an Aguda candidate would run.
The Aguda candidate is Member of Knesset Meir Porush. And that’s where the trouble starts.
Sommeliers-in-training
Filed under: A New Reality, Blogging, Business, Food, General, Israeliness
One of the most cleverly snide Israel-related blogs out there, Zabaj pines for an Israel that makes the most of her potential. But Zabaj conveys this message by bitingly yet lovingly calling natives out on their shortcomings. A recent Zabaj rant cuts an up-and-coming sommelier collective down to size nicely.
Israeli wine tastes have steadily been improving over the past decade or so, and with the growing number of delicious wines now being produced here, the country has become a destination for oeno-tourism. So it only makes sense that firms like Premier Cru are starting to pop up, offering wine catering for private upscale events, consulting services for discerning (or discerning wannabe) customers and special tastings.
Nevertheless, the launch of the Premier Cru website is surely an occasion for ridicule.
The most interesting part of the site, however, is “The Team,” where they provide detailed bios on all their wine connoisseurs.
In this case, knowing the people behind the company makes you lose any interest in actually working with them. The impression you get is that most employees are students at Tel Aviv University (many seem to be majoring in biotechnology) and are also children of the former soviet union.
But wait – it get’s more entertaining and scathing….
And if you have any doubt, make sure to read Tal’s profile, where you’ll learn that she enjoys “light athletics” (don’t ask me what that means) and “banji.” I wonder if she packs a beg of mashrooms while on her way to do banji.
Does anyone get the impression from the website these people can do what they claim? No references, no real pictures, no stories… just glamorous-sounding mumbo jumbo. And, by the way, all the pictures on the site were taken in a furniture store.
Ouch. Alright – so their transliteration from Hebrew-appropriated English into proper English isn’t the most accurate. And they don’t really have sense of what kind of marketing content would be impressive to potential customers. If only I could find the address for that furniture store….
Foto Friday – Small World
Filed under: Art, Foto Friday, General, Technology
Let’s get small! For the past 33 years, Nikon has sponsored the international Small World Competition, the world’s foremost forum for recognizing excellence in photography with the optical microscope. This year, photomicrographer Dr. Sharona Even-Ram of Hadassah University Hospital, Ein Kerem in Jerusalem, received second place in the Popular Vote for an image of a cluster of neurons differentiated from embryonic cells. Even-Ram’s image was also named an Image of Distinction by Nikon.
Cluster of neurons differentiated from embryonic stem cells (40x) – Dr. Sharona Even-Ram
To enter this competition, first of all, you need access to some kind of light microscope — an advanced piece of equipment that most people don’t have lying around the house — and while the competition is open to both professionals and amatuers. it’s little wonder that most of the entrants work for hospitals, research institutes or laboratories.
Among the Israeli entrants, for example, Dr. Havi Sarfaty, who was awarded an Honorable Mention in the 2007 Competition, is a veterinary optometrist by day.
Desiccated garden flower (20x) – Havi Sarfaty
The first Israeli to enter the contest was Avinoam Tomar of the Nuclear Research Centre in Beer Sheva. He placed 13th and 17th in 1986 for these arresting images…
Early stage of sintering of powered bronze made for filter (20x) – Avinoam Tomar
…and given his place of work, one wonders to what these images might have been related!
Iconography at the edge of copper screen. Nickel electroless plated (10x) – Avinoam Tomar
For more amazing images or to download some screensavers, visit the Nikon Small World site.
More Israeli-Americans take to the polls
Earlier in the week I wrote about the voting event that occurred at the Dancing Camel brewery in Tel Aviv where American citizens in Israel had the opportunity to hand in their absentee ballots, write-in a candidate on a federal ballot and even have their ballot FedEx’ed to their local board of elections. Jerusalem got into the game as well this week and unfortunately the event was not held at a brewery (Jerusalem doesn’t have one but if it did it should be called “Brew-salem” and it’s tagline should be “Next beer in Jerusalem”) or even a bar but rather at the Orthodox Union center. Not quite as thrilling as the Dancing Camel but it looks to have certainly served it’s purpose. The LA Times’ Babylon & Beyond blog reports: The third floor of Jerusalem’s Orthodox Union building was packed Tuesday evening.
A cross section of Americans living in Israel patiently stood in a long line wrapped around the corridor, waiting to enter the room and juggle pens, passports and papers to cast their vote in the U.S. presidential elections. The obvious questions of who they voted for and why will be answered by the exit polls analysis Thursday. But beyond that, the occasion offers an interesting window into the life of Americans living in Israel, their ties to the U.S. and how they perceive their civic rights and duties. ‘Israeliness’ is popularly defined more by the experience than the citizenship. But a considerable part of being American is defined by citizenship, an apparent technicality but representing a code of values. American immigrants — recent and veteran — retain their citizenship. And this, with its rights and responsibilities, is not taken lightly — including voting. Many American immigrants to Israel have left behind families, assets and many practical domestic concerns. Physically moving to Israel weakens neither emotional ties nor a strong civic sense of belonging. Voting is as much a part of good citizenship as paying U.S. taxes, which most living in Israel do too.
I concur with the writer. On a few levels I may feel somewhat distant at times from my American brethren, but despite living in Israel for well over a decade I still feel that I would like my voice to be heard. I still have interests (financial and otherwise) in the USA and care deeply about it’s future. Israel has been known to catch American’s cold, so it’s best kept in good health. I cast my vote a few weeks ago though as a native New Yorker my vote will hardly count. Unlike most of my friends and others I have spoken to here I did not vote solely on the candidate’s views on Israel. The definition of “good for Israel” means many different things to many different people. And my view of this has certainly changed somewhat dramatically over the past few years. Whatever the outcome may be, I believe that both candidates will preserve the special relationship between the United States and Israel.
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