Now introducing Rule #14

The ad was for a place that was too expensive, but after some delicate negotiations, we were told we might get the price down to a cost we cold almost afford. And the ad listed a number advantages. All that remained was to see the place and the owner.

Before we met, she asked us if we had a TV. We said “No.” “Well of course you don’t need one,” she noted. “You’re newlyweds.” At first, we dismissed this under the experiences that show how many Israelis have no tact, and feel free to comment about your family life with impunity. But then came the follow-up which she dropped on us while we were looking around (and discovered the bedroom was bigger than the rest of the apartment):

“It’s such a beautiful apartment. You must have your first child here." When I said that our parents would kill us if we had a child so far away from them, she said, “No, no, but you should just conceive it here.” So as much as we wanted to finally have a lease for the rest of the year, we knew this was not the place for us, because we just couldn't rent from someone rather kind, but way too interested in our reproductive cycle. Which leads us to our new rule for living in Israel...

RULE #14: Never rent from someone who wants you to conceive children in their bedroom.