


Don't burden your Israeli family with the excess items from your attic. It might not be appreciated. Israelis don't need the freebies you picked up at the last fair. We don't want your old, unwanted clothes or toys any more than you do.
Do not think of your gifts as charity. Do not give us things that you consider to be junk. If you think it's junk, your Israeli recipients are likely to feel the same.
Don't bring unwanted gifts that you didn't like without consulting the recipient in advance. If you didn't like it, then your recipient may not want it either.
Don't present your recipient with an electrical appliance that operates on 110 volts without discussing it in advance.
If you do, nonetheless, bring 110V electrical products, telephones, or VCRs to Israel, then do inform the recipient of the potential issue before it is plugged in.
Products that require replacement parts may not be welcome in Israel unless others can bring those parts easily. A recipient who has to wait for spare parts or to order them by mail is likely to be frustrated. Products that require maintenance abroad may be less useful than an Israeli counterpart, even if the foreign product is of a higher quality.
Tuna fish, soft tissues, and most other products are readily available in Israel. Don't bring them unless they are specifically requested by the recipient - and that is not likely. True, they cost less money in many Western countries. However, other gifts may be preferable. Please allow the Israeli recipient to decide whether to get the local product – and thus to select a more desirable gift instead.
More articles about bringing gifts to Israel
Find out more about Israel
A list of forums about Israel
A list of forums about Jewish and Hebrew issues
Are you required to read this webpage for a course? Do NOT print out the article. It is copyrighted.
Your exercise for this article is as follows:
Copyright © David Grossman. World rights reserved. This article may not be printed, forwarded, reproduced, or copied in any way or in any medium without written permission from David Grossman.