I had a bad case of cabin fever, especially after not being able – or willing – to leave Israel, where I live, on account of Covid. The last time I was in Switzerland was in 2019, which seemed like eons ago. I love Israel, and take whatever opportunities I can to enjoy its beautiful parks. But, like many Israelis, I needed to “break out.”

I got a call from Tourplus, a travel company that specializes in kosher tours for Orthodox Jews. They were offering a trip to Andorra – a little country somewhere in the Pyrenees Mountains. “What about Switzerland?” I asked.

“We haven’t organized anything for Switzerland this year. Granted, the Pyrenees are no match for the Swiss Alps, but it is beautiful and a lot cheaper.”

I had the privilege of interviewing Shimon Apisdorf at his apartment in the Katamon neighborhood of Jerusalem on May 18, 2022. I have three of his books, including the Passover Survival Kit, with its hilarious cover illustration of people asleep at the Seder table. Shimon Apisdorf is a writer, educator, and former publisher. He is affable and unassuming. But he is a man with big plans. Rabbi Apisdorf is not just a seeker, not just a visionary, but a doer.

With the rise of anti-Semitism in the United States and the Democratic party shifting towards the radical left, I began to wonder about the future of American Jewry. Looking at the beautiful, barren hills in Samaria and the Negev, I had daydreams about a nucleus from Baltimore being transplanted in Israel with its own institutions intact. When I heard that Shimon Apisdorf is working to make those hazy dreams of mine a reality, I was very excited to take on the assignment from the WWW to interview him.

I was curious about Israel’s relationship with China. All I knew was that China always voted against Israel in the U.N. I was directed to an organization called SIGNAL (Sino-Israel Global Network and Global Leadership) and its founder and executive director, Carice Witte. I asked her if she would grant me an interview, and she kindly invited me to the organization’s headquarters.

When I arrived at the address on Jabotinsky Street, I looked up at the two sleek, 14-story buildings of the Twin Towers complex, covered with reflective glass windows, located in Ramat Gan’s Diamond District. As I entered Carice’s office, I felt as if I had been transported to the Far East. It was meticulously furnished in the Chinese style.

Now I was sitting in front of Carice Witte, a most remarkable person. How many of us have dreams and passions that we have actualized no matter how long the wait and the delays that life throws at us? How many people get satisfaction from their passions in that they know they are used in the service of their people? Carice Witte is one of those people. In the following interview, I got to find out about her and learn a bit about her great knowledge of China. Here are segments of the interview.

I’ve been living in Israel since 2002. Throughout this time, I have been renting in Jerusalem. Recently, with the awareness of the rise of anti-Semitism in the U.S., I have had the thought of myriads of Americans making aliyah and gobbling up whatever apartments are available. But even without that, it is a fact that more and more people from abroad are buying apartments in Israel as “insurance,” “just in case” they need a roof over their heads one day.

It’s no joke. There are many empty apartments in Jerusalem owned by people from overseas who occasionally show up for a few days out of the year. And their demand for such properties is driving up prices.

It was 2010. My father, z”l, had passed away, and I was sitting shiva with my sister at my parents’ apartment on Diskin Street. The apartment was full of people, when suddenly a young woman in her late twenties or early thirties walks in. She was wearing flannel shirt, flopped over her jeans, and her head was completely shaved. People’s gazes darted to and away from her. 

She sat down next to me.

Today, as on the last couple of Sundays, I hitched my bike rack to the rear of my car to load my bike and then pick up my riding partner and hit Israel’s trails. I inadvertently over-loosened a mechanical arm that holds the bike in place, and it came apart. Not being mechanical, I was at wit’s end. It “just so happened” that a fellow wearing a kippa and a spotted mask walked by, and, although I didn’t know him, I asked if he could help me put it back together. He gave it a try and succeeded! He literally saved the day. It was as if G-d had sent an angel. And it made me think of angels in my past, especially the “invisible” and the unexpected ones – those messengers who worked behind the scenes. This article is dedicated to a few of these people: people who cared and who made a major impact on my life – some without me even being aware of it until years later.