By Judy Lash Balint, Special to JTNews
Less than two years ago, Martin Pittman sat across the table from me at a Tully’s café in Seward Park and asked if I thought he’d make it in Israel. Pittman, a single man in his mid-40s, had fallen in love with Israel on his one visit to the country and was aching to figure out a way to make Israel his home.
As a fellow immigrant from Seattle who also made aliyah alone in my mid-40s — albeit some eight years earlier — Pittman figured I might have some words of wisdom about the challenges involved. I remember telling him about the cost of living here, social and religious life, and, above all, emphasizing the difficult question of making a living.
Pittman was brimming with ideas based on his very varied previous work experience in Hawaii as well as Seattle, but ultimately focused on one innovative concept that we both felt had the potential for real success.
Recently, less than a year after he stepped off the Nefesh B’Nefesh plane at Ben Gurion Airport, Pittman (known in his new life as Gad Ben Rosen) hosted a festive opening of Petsplash, his new American-style dog care business in downtown Raanana.
Dozens of his friends and acquaintances came by to show support and bring their dogs to be professionally hosed down and cared for by Gad and his enthusiastic young trainees.
The colorful facility features three dog-size bathtubs and hoses, a ramp for the dogs to get up to the tubs, and an outside courtyard where the freshly bathed canines can safely shake off and shed.
Gad had almost become a fixture at the immigrant absorption center in Raanana, where he spent the first 10 months of his life in Israel acclimating to Israeli society, learning Hebrew, and planning his business.
Dozens of his fellow olim as well as staff from the center showed up to congratulate Gad on the opening. Ulpan teachers and administrators lavished praise on the former Seattleite, who they said went out of his way to welcome olim who arrived after he did.
Gad is a regular at the Kinor David Congregation, where members extend a warm welcome to new immigrants. Several families from the synagogue showed up to watch as their rabbi, Zvi Koren, affixed the mezuzah to the door of the new business as Gad recited the blessing.
The Petsplash owner recounted how he had bought the mezuzah in Jerusalem’s Old City when he first decided to make aliyah. The counter in the Petsplash store is made of the wood from Gad’s lift — the shipping crate that brought his belongings from Seattle.
In Seattle, Pittman was a community activist, serving on the Ballard Community Council as well as a coordinator with the Flexcar program. In keeping with his community-minded ethos, Gad decided to donate the entire proceedings of his opening day to the Benji Hillman Foundation (http://www.benjihillman.org ) in memory of the Israeli Defense Forces commander from Raanana killed in last summer’s Hezbollah war, just three weeks after his wedding day. Hillman’s mother, aunt, sister and several cousins who came to the opening expressed their appreciation for Gad’s efforts and for the significant sum raised from the day.
Many of the dog owners who brought their pets for a clean-up obviously delighted in talking shop with the knowledgeable Gad, who seemed to know everything about how to make a dog feel good.
And what about the legendary Israeli bureacracy that can stymie the most persistent businessperson? Gad had nothing but praise for the people at city hall who facilitated the arcane permit process, as well as for his professional advisors and friends who enabled a new immigrant with limited Hebrew but endless determination to embark on an innovative venture in his adopted community.
Former Seattleite Judy Lash Balint is author of Jerusalem Diaries II: What’s Really Happening in Israel (Xulon Press) and blogs at jerusalemdiaries.blogspot.com.