Ruti writes a lot about her and her family's aliyah, move to Israel. They came from the United States, and she's not shy about admitting that without the assistance of Nefesh B'Nefesh, they never could have afforded to make the move. At no point does Ruti ever complain. Ruti only sees the good. And good things do happen to the Eastman family, whether it's an amazingly helpful clerk, a ride in the middle of no-place to where they need to go or finding someone they know to lend them cash when the only nearby ATM is empty.
I have no doubt that one of the reasons that people are so nice to Ruti is that she greets them with a smile and is so friendly and upbeat. We do make our own luck. Ruti doesn't go into details, but she does mention that she and her husband chose to be Jewish. Yes, they are converts, and that whole story would no doubt make a very compelling book.
Because Ruti divided "From Big Whine to Big Grapes" into chapters of essays that are connected by content, there isn't a clear chronology to the narrative. It jumps around, which is both good and bad. For the reviewer, like myself, who needs to finish reading the entire book as quickly as possible, it got confusing at first. After reading a couple of chapters, I "got the rhythm." But I think that most readers will, davka, enjoy it, since you'll have the chance to savor various topics and choose what you're interested in, even skipping around the book and rereading when necessary. I'm sure that those dreaming of aliyah or actually planning it for real will really love "From Big Whine to Big Grapes." You can get some very good advice from reading it. And it's also a great book to give friends and relatives of olim, to make them feel better concerning the new lives chosen by their loved ones. And even though my husband and I made aliyah decades before the Eastmans, I really enjoyed reading "From Big Whine to Big Grapes." Some things never change and others have changed enormously.
Those who claim that aliyah is too hard, frequently have money complaints. The Eastmans seem to to have made their Israeli life suit their finances and not attempt to reproduce their American life in Israel on an insufficient budget. They rent an apartment unit in a house and don't have a car. They are happy to be here in Israel and consider the "sacrifices" a good trade-off. The relations with the Hebrew-speaking landlords and hitchhiking adventures make great reading.
Ruti is still struggling to master the Hebrew language, which adds more humor to life here in Israel. Advice to potential olim, immigrants to Israel from Ruti, which I agree with completely, is to learn as much Hebrew as you can before you make aliyah.
You can purchase "From Big Whine to Big Grapes" from Amazon, Lulu, Book Depository or here in Israel, email rutimizrachi@gmail.com directly. Ruti has revealed that there's another book in the works, so stay tuned... I can't wait to read it.
I must confess that Ruti and I are friends. We have a lot of mutual friends, and we sometimes meet at IFL football games. But at the games we cheer for different teams. My son used to tackle her son, but now my son's opponent is Ruti's husband; they are both coaches. We both root for a fair and safe game, one without injured players. We want to see them play like "mensches." Ruti wants to "coach" me into writing a book (or books) from the material in my blogs. What do you think?