Modi was born in Buenos Aires on 12/17/57.  Born to Zionist parents, his parents took him and 4 of his siblings (one in mom's tummy) to live in Israel.  They lived on a kibbutz, a cooperative farm, and grew up there and learned Hebrew.  Modi was always "the good boy".  As the oldest son, he helped take care of his younger siblings and was always there to help his mother.  He was a quiet boy who had an insatiable appetite for reading and preferred books to friends and sports.  Modi was an exceptionally beautiful boy on the inside and on the outside. He hated school and learned everything from the many books he read wherever he could find a place in which to read them.



Modi loved animals.  He attended a special school for agricultural studies and worked with the cows and horses and always had and helped take care of the dogs on the kibbutz.  



Like every child of Israel, Modi joined the army at age 18, disabling mines.  While carrying a fellow soldier on his back during a training exercise, Modi herneated 2 discs in his lower spine.  Unable to move and in intense pain, he tried several back remedies until the next step was surgery, but was saved by a visit to a teacher of the Alexander Technique and was able to control his disability.



When Modi was 28 he met Marla, a bouncy, outgoing Jewish American Princess from Long Island, NY. She had come to the kibbutz as a volunteer and Modi fell in love at first sight.  To Marla, Modi was her fantasy...her rebellious answer to the material world she left in NY, and ended up working with Modi with the baby calves.  The clash between these two sweethearts worlds was a firey one, but the attraction of these opposites was the perfect balance.  Marla was Modi's connection to the outside world, and Modi was Marla's rock that kept her feet on the ground.



After moving to the big city of Tel Aviv for a year, Marla and Modi moved to the even bigger city (aah!) of NY.  Though it took a while, Modi and Marla's dog Willie soon adjusted.  A year later, they (not Willie) were married, and a year after that, they moved (with Willie) to San Francisco, where they had spent their honeymoon and Modi felt like he was home.