Shabbat January 24-25

Last week ended with the Cabinet of Israel approving the final text of Phase 1 of the hostage for prisoner exchange. We went into Shabbat uncertain if the two parties would indeed keep to the agreement, as a lot can change in 48 hours. 

Shabbat started in Efrat with these thoughts on most people’s minds. Elan was asked to speak in Synagogue (the custom in Israel frequently includes a D’Var Torah, a lesson about the Torah portion of the week) on Friday night and not on Shabbat Morning as in North America. He spoke about the fact that when Moses came back to Egypt and demanded from Pharoah that the Jewish People be liberated from slavery and leave Egypt, Pharoah punished the Jews by making their burden of slavery worse. The Jews then verbally attacked Moses for worsening their predicament, and Moses even pleaded with G-d to remove him from this task. However, we all know how the story ends, with Israel’s liberation. The message, of course, is that ultimately, we can’t predict from one course of events how the final story will ultimately play out. In Egypt, the increased burden of slavery led to the 10 plagues, which was followed by the Exodus from Egypt (none of which was easy to for the CNN pundits to predict!) Similarly, for years we were told that Hezbollah is a terror superpower and that engaging them would lead to major destruction. This scenario did not (thank G-d) transpire at all. Thus, even though this hostage deal remains with a lot of questions, we can’t ultimately think that we can predict the unfolding of the whole picture at this early stage.  

Despite all these uncertainties, we transitioned to the usual enjoyment of Shabbat with Shoshana, Shlomo, Nadav, Aryeh and Eitan. Elan and Nomi had cooked up a storm and the table was not only laden with food but with song and discussions. The kids were all in great form and we played games and read stories till quite late. The day started off normally but then around 10:15, we heard a very loud siren. Now, air raid sirens have been a fact of life in Israel since October 7, 2023. Initially, most of the projectiles came in from Gaza, but that calmed down in the fall of 2023 with the start of the war. A large number of missiles were shot by Hezbollah, toward the North of Israel. Fortunately, these have stopped since the ceasefire in November. Now, the main protagonists are the Houthis from Yemen. So, on the first day after the signing of the Gaza cease fire, (which admittedly was to start on Sunday) the Houthis fired two missiles in the direction of Israel. Neither reached the mainland, but the sirens were triggered all over the centre of the country and as far as Jerusalem. We, like everyone else, retreated to a safe room for 10 minutes; we were at the home of a friend of Elan and Nomi’s where Aryeh and Eitan were playing. As with almost all the hundreds of drones and missiles sent to Israel, no damage was done and people returned to the streets within a short time. For Barbara and I, this was our first time in a safe room! In fact, Netanya is positioned in an area that has been spared from the sirens. Hopefully, there will be more calm now as the ceasefire continues. 

After a very cool Saturday night snack based on filling small bags of Doritos with various combos of meat and vegetables (kind of like Nachos in a bag!) we returned home to Netanya with the plan of taking a couple of days off in Tel Aviv. Sunday was to be an auspicious day in the Middle East with the hostage exchange to come at approximately 4 PM. We came to Tel Aviv by bus (driving and parking in Tel Aviv is a pain!) and met Ariel for lunch at a great place near his work. Then we went off to the hotel to check in and take a walk and then catch the news of the hostage release on TV. In Tel Aviv, the area just outside of the Tel Aviv Museum has been set up as an area of vigil for the hostages, known as Hostage Square. We watched hostage square fill up with families and supporters, and at the same time we saw the transfer of the 3 young women from Hamas to the Red Cross, then taken to the IDF and by helicopter to Sheba Hospital where they were to receive needed medical assessment and treatment. They seem to be in good shape and their families, and indeed the entire country, were ecstatic. 

On the flip side, 90 Palestinian prisoners were also released, which also led to much rejoicing. The fact that this was so disproportionate in terms of numbers and in terms of the background of those released; people kidnapped from their homes or the Nova Music Festival versus people committing terrorist acts or even murder has led many to feel that this agreement, like other prisoner exchanges, just puts a big target on the backs of other Israelis. Even a luminary like Alan Dershowitz has written about the deal being extortion, rather than a true ceasefire. However, the vast majority of Israelis are on side with bringing those kidnaped home and even the dissenters agree with saving those who were kidnapped; it’s really the price that separates the factions. 

After several hours of following the various news and commentaries, we went out to a pretty unique place (at least for us!). Qumran is a restaurant in Tel Aviv that had an impressive review. It sounded like a place with dinner and some entertainment at the seating after 9 PM, so we booked a table for 9:15. I admit we were not prepared for the energy and party atmosphere that we encountered. First, we were the youngest people in the place by over 30 years! Second, when they turned up the music and brought in the trapeze and dancers, everyone in the place got up and danced! Then when the flame throwers came out the staff got up on the bar to dance, joined by the young adults. I think this party atmosphere may be typical at Qumran, but I think it also had to do with the relief of the ceasefire and a celebration of the hostages return. In the midst of the dancing, the chef came out and spoke about the hostages. Israeli flags were passed out and used in the celebration. Plus, the music was not typical dance or disco music. What was remarkable was that it was Israeli music and even religious music. It was extremely inspiring to be among so many young Israelis who, despite 15 months of war, were out at night celebrating being Israeli and being Jewish. After the antisemitism that we have witnessed in North America and Europe, we can take a lesson from their optimistic outlook. 

On Monday, we of course were regaled with the inauguration of Donald J Trump as the 47th President. Since there has been enough politics discussed above, I will spare you of the Israeli take (most of it positive about Trump and his cabinet). The day was, of course, spent with our American friends, Debbie and Zev Kessler and Lori and Alvan Small. We met at a café near our hotel and then took a Bbachfront walk with Lori and Alvan. Not swimming weather by any stretch but considering the deep freeze in North America (snow in Texas and northern Florida???) the balmy 20C weather was pretty perfect!

Still in Tel Aviv, we spent Tuesday at the Artist Fair in Nahalat Binyamin and then wandered through the Carmel Market which was buzzing with tons of different foods, vegetable and vendors. After a lovely sunset walk, we bussed over to Herzliya where we met Ruth and Itamar Maliach for dinner. They lived in Montreal in 1999-2000 and we have been in touch ever since, following each other as our kids grew up. It was super nice to see them.

Then, the celebrations continued  on Wednesday with a birthday dinner at Lechem Basar in Petach Tikvah which combined Ariel’s January 12th birthday with Barbara’s January 23rd birthday! January is apparently a big month for the family!  Dinner was followed by babysitting Elisha, Ora and Adi so that their parents could quietly go out for a bit. One of the best parts of grandparenting! Not to be outdone, we drove to Efrat on Thursday and had another, informal birthday dinner with Nomi and the Efrat kids (Elan is away in Toronto). It was even Shoshana’s half birthday (July 23rd!) This gave us time to visit the kids and say goodbye as we are taking off Sunday. Our final Shabbat is in Petach Tikvah with Gila, Ariel, Elisha, Ora and Adi so we could be close to Netanya after Shabbat to close down the apartment. 

So we are reaching the end of this very enjoyable time in Israel, where we witnessed Hannukah, the holiday of lights, celebrated special birthdays and other special times, and for the first time in 15 months see some optimism for a more peaceful period in Israel. May we experience more joy and may the world experience less trauma going forward this year!

We wish you a Shabbat where everyone can dream of a better world to come

Pray for the safe release of the next group of hostages on Shabbat!

Barbara and Bruce

Happy Birthday Monty!

Happy Birthday Roanne!

Happy Birthday Jacob Mazer in Toronto!

Happy Birthday Ezra Bern! 

Mazel Tov to Uri Hofman on his engagement to Candace! Mazel to his parents, Elaine Brandt and Alan Hofman!

This weekend is the shloshim or 30-day memorial of our dear friend Mr. Josef Levkovitch, of blessed memory. There are events celebrating his life this coming Saturday and Monday nights. May Zigui and Rivi and their family always be comforted by his memories. 

We also learned of the passing of Asher Loterman. Asher was an Israeli who sat in the back of Beth Zion and greeted all who came in. He gave candies to the kids and snuff to the adults and was very gregarious and generous. We talked about Israel often and shared stories and deals on flight tickets. His friendliness and bright countenence will be missed. BD'E

Shabbat January 16-17

How quickly can things change. After 15 months of unremitting battles, there is an air of optimism in the Middle East. Yet there is also an air of pessimism, which hovers like a dark cloud within the silver lining. With a hostage agreement entering phase 1 beginning on Sunday, many hopes and many fears come to the surface. Let’s discuss some thoughts about the issues and questions in a bit. 

In the family news and events department, we left off last week as our home and an adjoining apartment (let me know if you are looking for a Netanya Rental!) were invaded by Nomi, Elan, Shoshana, Shlomo, Nadav, Aryeh and Eitan as well Gila, Ariel, Elisha, Ora and Adi. We had the whole gang for Shabbat, plus Friday night dinner included our friends Lori and Alvin Small. It is an understatement to say that there was a lot of energy in the house! According to Shlomo, Shabbat was a lot of fun, and Nadav says that the meals were yummy! I would attest to both. We spent a bit of time preparing and the results were superb! Plus, it’s great to spend time with the whole Israel gang. The dynamic of having teens, pre-teens and little ones means that activities now need to be tailored to different ages, but that’s a big part of the fun. For example, Shabbat afternoon Barbara and I took the younger kids (Eitan age 3, Adi 5, Aryeh 7 and Ora 7) to a series of parks along our waterfront boardwalk, and the older kids (Shoshana 16, Shlomo 14, and Elisha and Nadav, a month shy of 11) hung out with their parent to play board games. At synagogue, we enjoyed the 2 almost 11 years olds leading the end of our services, with the 7-year-old siblings hanging out in tow! It’s honestly amazing to have these times (albeit exhausting!), and we hope we can soon have Monty and Daniella, Tali and Ezra join in (either in Israel or in North America) so we can have all the cousins together at once, which is unfortunately quite rare. 

The week moved on rather quickly, with Bruce having a proposal due on Wednesday. Still, we found time to have the Smalls over for tea one night and to check out a new Sushi restaurant in Netanya name Dashi, which has the best and most creative sushi we have had in Israel! Thursday, with the proposal deposited, was a day to catch up, shop a bit, and then it was off to Jerusalem to celebrate Shlomo’s 14th birthday! This included a big family shushi night out and a visit to the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens where there was the Winter Dreams Light Festival. The Gardens were decked out in lights with large light sculptures of animals (whales, dolphins, lions, monkeys, reindeer, you name it) all through the grounds. The weather was lovely, about 12C as is typical of Jerusalem an evening in January. Everyone enjoyed the spectacles, with lots of pictures taken imitating the animals or hugging the sculptures. The evening was topped off with a cup of hot apple cider or hot chocolate from the festival food market and then everyone came home tired and happy (despite a bit of a traffic jam, but that’s another story!).

OK, now to the ceasefire. Part of your perspective obviously will be colored by what you read to get your news (Al-Jazeerah, CNN, National Post, Tik-Tok Smarty Pants…?). What I will do is provide a perspective, based on what we have observed, and try to be divorced from political slant. From a purely humanitarian point of view, a ceasefire at this time was crucial for being able to rescue as many of the remaining hostages from Gaza who are still alive. That includes two preschool children who appear to be on the list of those being released in the upcoming first phase, elderly people, and women. Hopefully by the end of phase 3 the remainder of the 98 people (or sadly their bodies) will also be returned. It also does bring obvious relief to the people of Gaza. You would think that this would be a cause for universal celebration in Israel but as you may have seen in the news, this is not the case. The reason for this is because there is a clear sense of déjà vu as the war has evolved. Although many things in the battle since October 7, 2023 have been very different (the magnitude and brutality of Hamas’ invasion, the fact that the war opened on multiple fronts, including Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, Iran, Arab villages in the Yehuda and Shomron (AKA the West Bank) plus Syria, the extent of the destruction in Gaza in the pursuit of uprooting Hamas, there are some things that have previously happened in the negotiation of other “permanent ceasefires” and prisoner exchanges. We have witnessed attacks from Hamas in 2007, 2012, 2014, 2021 and now. These wars have always ended with a “permanent ceasefire”, but clearly the definition of “permanent” is different for the two sides. Prisoner exchanges have also been characterized by civilians or soldiers who were kidnapped and held for the ransom of hundreds, if not thousands of Palestinians who were imprisoned for terrorism or murder. Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of October 7th, was a prisoner released in the deal for Gilad Shalit. Thus, the concern is that we will have another period of calm for several years, until the multitude of released prisoners are rearmed by Iran (or Russia or North Korea or whoever they can purchase arms from) and we will relive the horrors again. 

Now, I think that this ceasefire and prisoner exchange was the correct thing to do, and the timing is actually better now than when this framework was first negotiated in May 2024. The world has changed significantly; Hezbollah is much weaker, Iran is weaker and somewhat embarrassed, Lebanon has elected a president and Prime Minister who are both anti-Hezbollah, Assad is out of power and Syria has a chance for a better future, Hamas’ leadership was decimated, and the most important “Regime Change” may have been in the US, with the election of Donald Trump appearing to have put pressure on all sides, Israel no less than Hamas, to find a way to bring some quiet to the region. Bringing home the hostages has always been top of mind in Israel, no matter where you stand on the political spectrum. Universally here, there are signs everywhere, from when you land in the airport, to ones on every street corner, on people’s cars and hanging in peoples’ windows. The difference of opinion was mainly, what means was best to get them back. At this point, it is a relief that there was a negotiated settlement, no matter how ominous the potential for rearming and reattack may be. Yes, despite what some pundits write and what some politicians ( on both sides) say, there was never a plan for Israel to recapture Gaza or have a permanent place there; these are minority opinions, and the war was never about that. At least Israel is aware of the potential for future conflict and should be more on guard than October 6th. The rest is, as we say in G-d’s hands. 

With that, we move into Shabbat here in Efrat. I have Nadav looking over my shoulder and he is giggling that I am writing about him. Tough luck, Nadav, you are now in the blog! OK, I guess that means it’s time to get ready for Shabbat, so let’s sign off for now. 

We wish everyone a peaceful shabbat and let’s hope that we can sincerely be optimistic about our prospects for a better world in 2025!

Barbara and Bruce

Happy Anniversary to Roanne and David!

Happy Birthday to Linda Lieberman!

And the most special Happy Birthday to Barbara! I could never dream of having a better partner in life! May we always share special times together, have much naches from our children, and lots of great things to blog about together!

Shabbat in Netanya January 10-11

Welcome to Friday, another week has gone by, but not one with the frenetic pace of the last two. We needed a bit of time to catch up and even do a bit of work. Of course, there were a few other highlights aside from sitting in front of laptop.

I did not mention that we had volunteered for an afternoon at an organization known as Leket Yisrael. Leket is a food rescue and redistribution charity. It was started by someone who realized that there was a lot of food left over from catered events, like weddings and bar mitzvahs, and that there were a lot of individuals and families struggling to make ends meet. He started asking if leftovers could be taken to places which would redistribute them to families. This has grown tremendously and now they not only do food recover from hotels and restaurants but also help by approaching farmers who are growing vegetables that can’t go to market because of small defects and bringing these to charities who distribute them. They also have farms and orchards where people can pick produce for the charity. On the day we were there, we went to the logistic facility not far from where we live to sort vegetables: beets, peppers, avocados, more beets, carrots, and more beets. There were also potatoes and a few other vegies that needed placing into baskets from massive crates, then stacked on palates for delivery. There was a sizeable group who attended that day, including our friends Anne and Jonathan Homa. We were told we sorted almost 18000 kg of vegetables that day. That’s a lot of beets!

Last Friday we had brunch with Michal and Ronen Selah, who live in the Shomron. We met them where their son Eyal lives, in Hadera, and also saw their daughter Meytal. We realized we first met in 1999, so the friendship is 25 years old, and we watched all the children grow up, which is quite spectacular. Seeing adult Metal and Eyal, both parents, was very cool. People who remember the Selas from their time in Montreal may remember that Eyal was a very fearless pre-schooler. Well, now he’s a social worker and doing great things, but he is still the first to jump into the pool (or fountain!).

We had brunch at Café Feinberg, which is named after the original builders of the home, Israel Feinberg, who it’s told help drain the swamps that led to the founding of the city of Hadera, right off the coast of the Mediterranean, 12-15 minutes north of Netanya. The Feinbergs were helping to prepare land in the early 20th century, pre-World War 1, during the Ottoman Rule. His son, Avshalom, was a spy for the British who supposedly was a talented poet (there are some of his writings on the wall of the Café.) He was sadly killed on a mission in the area that is today Raffa in Gaza. The café in the house supposedly has many artifacts from the early days of Hadera, prior to the founding of the State of Israel. 

Shabbat was very nice, with good weather, and time to chill and take walks. We even treated ourselves to ice cream after Shabbat. Now the debate can start. Who has Netanya’s best ice cream: Tony’s or Golda’s? Let the votes come in!On Monday we joined Gila’s family for the Pidyon Haben or Redemption of the First Born. This is an ancient practice; the main ministers for Temple Services are the clan of Priests, Cohanim, the direct decedents of Moses and his brother Aaron. However, tradition has it that the first borns were responsible for the communal worship services. Since they no longer are needed for this, but still have the obligation, if a son is the first-born son in a family he is “redeemed” in a ceremony at the age of 30 days. I am told I had one (no recollection of course) as did Monty, and Elisha, Ariel’s eldest. Gila’s brother Hillel and wife Rotem just has a baby (mazel tov) and the Pidyon Haben was on Monday evening. After the brief ceremony of course there’s a party with great food and music. It was fun to see Gila’s parents, Geula and Yitzchak, and a bunch of Gila’s siblings and families. 

Our good friends Lori and Alvan Small have arrived to spend 2 months in Netanya as they have the past few years, and it’s fun for us to have good friends just down the block from us! We had dinner with them on Tuesday evening, at Bistro Place, one of those amazing gas station restaurants that seem to be everywhere in Israel (I have blogged about gas station eateries before!). After a fun dinner, we went shopping, which would not ordinarily be newsworthy. However, the supermarket we went to, Osher Ad, has a self-checkout option with a handheld bar-code reader which weighs your purchases at the end and tells you if you are OK to pay. The first time we did it last year, we did not account for the weight of our shopping bags, so we had to do it all over! This time, we went through like pros! I think we will start blogging about shopping tips in our next career. 

OK, we have a busy Shabbat coming up, with all the Israel Mazer’s descending on Netanya. There is now an apartment right across the hall that is on Air B and B which means we have very comfy accommodations for two families. Elan will even be speaking at our synagogue this Shabbat. We look forward to a busy and lively Shabbat and hope those who are in cooler climates will stay warm!

We wish you a meaningful and fun Shabbat Shalom!

Barbara and Bruce 

Happy Birthday to Damien!

Happy Birthday to Ariel!

Happy Birthday to Zev!

Happy Birthday to Jeff!

Our heart and prayers go out to all those who are in Los Angeles and are affected by the horrendous forest fires. May they be safe and spared from such tragedies. 

Shabbat Jan 3-4, 2025

Perhaps it’s because I grew up in Montreal and was inundated with advertising of the majority religion, or perhaps I just watched too much Captain Kangaroo (10 points for anyone not embarrassed to message me that they watched the good Captain too!), but I always thought Christmas had Twelve Days (like the song), which seemed perfectly logical because after all, Chanukah has 8. But as the years have gone by, it seems quite clear that despite weeks of preparation, Christmas celebrations are really one day. But Chanukah is definitely 8! And we have the blow-by-blow account of those days from our perspective coming to you live right now!

We left off two Shabbatot ago, with last Friday not really having a free second to compose, so there is a lot to catch up on! We left off in Efrat, a few days before Chanukah, at Elan and Nomi’s house, where we were just starting to emerge from jet lag. We arrived on Thursday, joined Nadav for his school’s annual Grandparent’s Day, and then Friday and Shabbat was just a lot of good time with the family, meals, synagogue, games and fun with the kids. Saturday evening, we visited with Carol and David Novosellor; David had returned from the US following his father, Rabbi Moshe Novosellor’s passing. We shared some amazing stories about his father, a community Rabbi in Philadelphia for over 50 years (if I am not mistaken). I won’t regale you with all of them, but by a stroke of luck on his El Al flight home David randomly clicked on a movie with a Jewish religious theme, and it was a movie interviewing his father! 

Efrat is literally 15 minutes outside of Jerusalem (umm, when there is no traffic) so we stayed in the area for a couple more days. Sunday we were able to get together with Debbie Kamioner and Zev Kessler, who have officially become Israeli citizens. Congratulations! Then we took Shlomo shopping in Jerusalem for his birthday and picked up Shoshana who goes to school there. We left for Petach Tikvah mid-day Monday to pick up Ora and Adi from School and hung out there for awhile before returning to Netanya to prepare for Chanukah!

The first night of Chanukah was Wednesday Dec 24, making the first day of Chanukah and Christmas overlap this year. As you may know, the Jewish Holidays are on a lunar calendar of 354 days per year and not the 365-day Solar Calender. However, our biblical holidays like Passover and New Year/Yom Kippur are fixed to be in the Spring for Passover, and Fall for Rosh Hashana/Yom Kippur/Sukkot. This is accomplished by adding “leap months” 7 times in 19 years to make sure that the holidays, as well as the others including Chanukah, always stay in same season (and same day in the lunar calendar) but not the same solar calendar date.  

We started off the holiday by joining Ariel, Gila, Elisha, Ora and Adi for the lighting of the first candle and a fun dinner prepared by Bruce and Ariel with Elisha as sous-chef! As you may know, Chanukah is the celebration of light, a celebration of the victory of the Maccabees against the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire. The holiday also celebrated the miracle of the oil:  a small jar of oil, enough for one day, burned brightly in the recaptured Temple in Jerusalem for 8 full days, 2200 years ago. 

Thus, the meal was topped off by Sufganiot, deep fried jelly donuts that are a big deal in Israel. Potato Pancakes (Latkes fried in oil) are ubiquitous in communities with a lot of Eastern European Jews, but not as big a thing in Israel. In Israel there are sufganiot, which are decorated to be absolute works of art, and are about a million calories each, or there are jelly donuts and plain donuts, which was the discussion in Ariel’s house. You see, Elisha likes jelly, the girls like plain! So, all need to be accommodated!

The whirlwind continued the next few days. On Thursday we were invited to Nomi’s brother Eli’s wedding. Eli married Aly, who is originally from Mexico, which meant a very lively multi-lingual wedding! Mazel Tov to Nomi’s parents, Karen and Robert Goldberger, whose children are now all happily married. The next day, Friday was spent preparing for Shabbat as Ariel, Gila and kids as well as Jenna came to Netanya. Friday was the first of a series of 4 very rainy days, which meant that we were inside quite a bit, but we are equipped with lots of games and things to do to keep from going too stir crazy. 

Saturday night, Gila and the kids slept over and we took off Sunday morning for Neot Kedumim, a nature reserve about an hour east of us that is filled with plants that represent those in Biblical times. We met Elan, Nomi, Shoshana, Shlomo, Nadav, Aryeh and Eitan there, and so the cousins were all together which made the activity even more special.  Using ancient stones and presses, we ground wheat into something resembling flour, we ground olives into something not even remotely resembling olive oil and learned about Israel in the times of the Maccabees. There were camels and donkeys and great art projects using clay. 

After a very busy day we brought the Petach Tikvah gang back home and stole off with Elan’s three eldest kids, Shoshana, Shlomo and Nadav, for a couple of days of TLC in Netanya. This is a fun dynamic with two teenagers and an almost 11-year-old. Meaning? Well, more sleeping in for one! Monday’s breakfast started about 10:30 with everyone pitching in, so we ended up with eggs, toasted pita’s, large fruit platters and yogurt parfaits. Then off to the Ir Yamim Mall for a couple of rounds of bowling (where we met Eliana and Daniel Berman and their kids; Eliana is daughter of Eta and Bobby Shaul).  Dinner was at our favorite Netanya burger emporium, Red Burger (try the double entrecote burger!) and then off the Cinema City for the CGI enhanced animal world of Mufasa! The graphics were awesome, and though we could guess the key parts of the story of the Lion Kings’ father, the music and characters made it really fun. Parental guidance note: lots of scary scenes that look very realistic if you bring little kids!

We returned the teens and preteen to Efrat on Tuesday afternoon and took Aryeh (who was disappointed not to come to Netanya) for some ice cream and to play at a Ninja Gym. B y now we were at the 7th candle, which we lit in Efrat. We were treated to a massive BBQ dinner thanks to Nomi and Elan, at which they hosted a family from Toronto spending time in Israel. Then back across the country again, this time to sleep over in Petach Tikvah as we were on duty to baby sit the next two days (are you tired yet?). 

Let’s talk about a real Montreal highlight! The State of Israel has for decades run International Bible Contests for both school age children and for adults. The children’s competition is well known and is run in schools all over the world, with the winners of each country participating in the finals on Israel Independence Day. Less knows is the adult contest, which is done more as a self-study program with web-based tests to get from one level to the next.  On New Years Day, the last night of Chanukah, the finals for the Adult contest were held in the beautiful Jerusalem Theater with 10 finalists from Israel, the US, Argentina and France….and representing Canada was our own Haim Fruchter! The event is one of pageantry and songs, but as was fitting, also several important reminders that the times are not normal, with tributes to fallen soldiers (including the son of one of the judges). In fact, the participants were really the winners of the 2023 contest, but the event was postponed for a year due to the war. With over 20 fans in the audience, including Bilha Fruchter and her family, Haim’s brother and sister-in law, and our friends the Gehrs, and Homas, Barbara and Bruce and Haim’s best buddy, our grandson Elisha, we all cheered Haim on! With very stiff competition, he finished 7th, but considering that he made it that far, we are all super proud of this accomplishment! Kol Hakavod (All honor to you) Haim!!

We left Jerusalem to return to Petach Tikvah (with a pizza stop on the way) and the next morning we packed up Elisha, Ora and Adi to go to the Biblical Museum of Natural History in Beit Shemesh. This is a very cool place, the brainchild of a Rabbi named Natan Slifkin, who has for many years researched and wrote about animals in Ancient Israel from Biblical and Talmudic times. The museum explained which animals were native to this Mediterranean area, which were imported, which are extinct and how names of animals in Hebrew were likely mistranslated in English Bibles (and others, of course). The museum is small; a tour takes about 75-90 minutes and includes a small animal petting zoo with rabbits and lots of indigenous lizards, turtles and even a serpentarium where the kids can get up close and personal with various snakes including a baby Burmese python (mamma python is 4 meters long and weights about 40kg, so we don’t play with her). Definitely can be on your to do list for kids of all ages.  Another advantage of the museum is it’s 5 minutes away from Ikea in Beit Shemesh which is a great way to feed hungry Grandchildren with tons of food and not break the bank! Following that outing, we returned the kids to Petach Tikvah and then returned to Netanya with no visitors or sleep over guests!

So what is the feeling these days here in Israel. Overall, the mood is more positive than when we left here in May. The malls are busy and the streets have a vibe again. However, there are still few tourists due to the lack of international flights coming into Israel; there are only so many people that can fly on El Al and Emirates! In truth, the middle east has changed drastically since October 7, 2023. The horrible attacks from Hamas caused the barbaric deaths and atrocities and led to Hezbollah bombing indiscriminately for 15 months. They also led, despite a slow start and negative world opinion, to the demolition of Hamas and undoing of their leadership, considerable weaking of Hezbollah and the complete destruction of their leadership, and Israel showing Iran they can enter their airspace and attack targets at will. These specific events directly led to the overthrowing of the Assad regime in Syria. There are still many ripples that will happen due to these events and many unknowns. Yet, despite these positives, the wars are not over. War is never pretty, and in spite of massive destruction in Gaza, Hamas obviously feels it has nothing more to lose and is in it for the long game, holding live and dead hostages and continuing to shoot projectiles. The Houthis in Yemen are also an issue, perhaps not as lethal or dangerous as Hezbollah due to their distance from Israel, but they are cynically lobbing ballistic missiles towards central Israel in the middle of the night to send as many citizens as possible into their shelters (including last night). Iran is wounded, and it’s unclear what their next move will be. So, despite lots of steps forward, there is no obvious end in sight. We pray that there will be a resolution in the near future. 

So, this is the first blog of 2025, which means we have been communicating like this for 17 years! Our best wishes for a 2025 which brings us peace, trust and more understanding between people!

Shabbat Shalom

Barbara and Bruce

Happy Birthday to Sheila!

Happy Birthday Uncle Peter!

Happy Birthday to Shlomo!

Happy Birthday to Gail!

Happy Birthday to Debbie Feldman!

Happy Birthday to Alvan!

Happy Birthday to Damien!

Condolences to David Novosellor on the passing of his father

Condolences to the Sarna family on the untimely passing of their son Dee

Condolences to Ziggy Levkovich and family on the passing of his father Josef. Many of us knew Reb Yosef and appreciated his wit and tenacity. He was a holocaust survivor who spent the post war years as a Nazi Hunter and finder of lost children, then built an amazing family. In his final decade he educated hundred’s if not thousands who went on Trips to Poland with Jroots and touched many others with his educational videos and books. We had the honor to travel with him in Poland in summer 2023 and have lot’s of video and audio footage of his story. As we spoke to Ziggy this week, we agreed that he was a small man in stature who made a very large impact. He will be greatly missed. 

Shabbat December 20-21 Pre-Chanukah!

It seems like such a long time since I have reached out with a blog. I guess that after almost six months of doing this once a week, the hiatus feels super long. And indeed it is! But, we are back on line because, as you may have guessed, we are back visiting our family in Israel. 

Now, we have to take a step back and tell everyone what machinations we went through to get here. As you know, there are very few airlines now that are flying to Israel, and this changes literally monthly (sometimes daily!). This means you book one ticket and then you adapt as the time goes on. El Al is the most consistent, but not always the most available. Otherwise, the most common routes these days are via Athens or Cyprus, or Dubai. We purchased tickets in July, flying via Munich. We learned that these were cancelled in November, so we were rerouted, via Emirates to Dubai and then on the Emirates version of Air Canada Rouge, FlyDubai. This meant flying 4 hours past Israel, and then retracing our steps via the Gulf over all kinds of places we normally would not visit, such as Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Maybe in the near future, the situation will change and visiting the neighboring countries will not be so unusual. 

Before we land in Israel, a quick update stateside. Just to be sure we arrived in Israel exhausted (but happy) we visited Cleveland the previous Shabbat. We arrived there on Thursday which allowed us to have a treat in Cleveland’s best Kosher restaurant with Monty, Daniella, Tali and Ezra.  Friday after the kids came home from school we set up for Shabbat and celebrated Tali’s 13th birthday with great Shabbat meals and some very creative cakes! Tali had a group of friends come over to share the cake on Shabbat afternoon. On Sunday we were treated to Ezra acing his Jujitsu class and then doing the same at basketball tryouts, and then we motored home in record time!

We landed on Friday afternoon last week (which is why there was no blog last week!) and headed off to Petach Tikvah for Shabbat at Gila and Ariel’s house. There were very warm greetings from Elisha, Ora and Adi, and time for some games and opening pre-Chanukah presents (what, you don’t give out pre-Channukah (or pre-Christmas) presents? What’s wrong with you?). There was, of course lots of good food for Shabbat. The neighborhood Ariel lives in just opened a new synagogue across the street from their house. It’s great for them and their kids enjoy going there; Elisha even led the completion of the service. After a lunch, some games and the park, we ended Shabbat and Barbara and I moved on to Netanya. 

The rest of the week kind of creeped by or flew by, depending on your perspective. The above mentioned Dubai flight was a day flight, so perhaps because of that or because we are getting older, but jet lag was particularly stubborn on this trip. The nights dragged on and, the days were shorter because by the time we got up it was…later. However, by Wednesday we had no excuse; our friend from Baltimore, Michelle Schwartz was arriving at 8:30 AM so everyone had to be up and ready to roll. Barbara picked up Michelle from the train station and after breakfast we went to the Anu Museum, or the Museum of Us. This was formerly The Diaspora Museum at Tel Aviv University, which was a history of Jewish Communities outside of Israel. We were given a tour by Michelle and Eddie’s cousin Tzvika, a volunteer tour guide there. The new museum format was updated to stress the diversity of the Jewish People, with a lot of AV and Digital exhibits instead of the traditional artefacts and reading. It certainly seems to be better set up for kids than the last place. There is also some cool stuff on Jewish Comedy and Jewish Cooking which we checked out. It’s hard to compare, but I think we found it a bit watered down or oversimplified, as they try to pack 3000+ years of Jewish history into 3 exhibit floors, but we probably need to go back since we spent only about 2.5 hours and saw all 3 floors. 

After the museum, we went back to Ariel and Gila’s and had dinner with the kids. We decided to barbecue since in December in Montreal, that’s a rarity, but here, there are few days that you can’t barbecue! After a great meal we picked up Michelle, and took off back to Netanya.

Thursday, we brought Michelle to her relatives (she’s here for her niece’s wedding) and then picked Elan from the airport and went off to Efrat, to see Nomi and the kids there. Everyone in both families is getting so grown up! Particularly Shlomo, who must have grown 6 inches since we saw him this summer. The BBQ concept went over so well the night before we repeated it on Thursday evening. Friday AM was Grandparent’s Day at Nadav and Shlomo’s School (Yom Sababa in Hebrew, a play on words because Saba and Savta mean grandfather and grandmother, respectively, and Sababa is slang for awesome, which we are…LOL). We got treated to concerts and activities including Nadav being in a guitar ensemble playing Chanukah songs. This was followed by shopping and preparing for Shabbat with Eitan and Aryeh hanging out playing next to us and Shoshana and Shlomo helping with all the preparations. Lot's of Chanukah music in the background too!

So, now that we packed 3 shabbat descriptions into one post, it’s time to sign off and send it around! Next week there will be a bit more about what’s going on here, the mood of the country, as well as the beginning of Chanukah and some fun things like volunteering and going to Nomi’s brother’s wedding! So, stay tuned!

We wish you a warm, wonderful Shabbat Shalom!

Happy Chanukah!

Merry Christmas!

Barbara and Bruce

Happy Birthday to Tali!

Happy Birthday to Adi!

Happy Birthday to Shlomo!

Happy Birthday to Danielle!

Happy Birthday to Zander!

Happy Birthday to Elaine!

Welcome to Haim Fruchter who is coming this week to be Canada’s representative in the International Adult Bible Contest (Chidon Hatanach)

Mazel tov to Caroline and Daniel Cruz and Grandparents Sheila and Bill Booth on the birth of a baby girl!

Sincere condolences to David and Carol Novosellor and the passing of Rabbi Moshe Novosellor, David's father. We had many a wonderful Shabbat meal and discussion in Rabbi Novosellor's company and he will be greatly missed.  

Refuah Shelema and a Speedy Recovery to Yoseph ben Shendel

Shabbat May 17-18 and return home

As we packed up the house to get set to return to Montreal after 5 months away, I think we can reflect on what has transpired, and what was accomplished. Would things have been different if the times were not so turbulent? Most likely, but perhaps the fact that we went against the grain and came to Israel despite the war added extra meaning to this trip. There was no question that time spent with family would have been equally satisfying and fun under most circumstances. And we can learn a lot from hanging out with our grandchildren. The best part of being a child is the ability to live one’s life despite what is going on. That’s not to say that children ignore what is going on. They process in their own special ways. For example, there is no doubt that hearing air raid sirens and being in a safe room was very impactful. One of our grandchildren, just before a sleep over, asked all kinds of questions about where our safe room is and what happens in our house if there is siren. On the other hand, those concerns did not stop her from having a great time on the beach and buying a special birthday present. We learn a lot from children; on one hand, listening to them will help adults understand and support them in the best ways possible. Perhaps we can also learn to let go a little bit and enjoy a little more! 

Shabbat In Jerusalem: We left off our saga two weeks ago in Jerusalem about to start Shabbat with our Denver Friends, including Debbie Kamioner and Zev Kessler, and Alvan and Lori Small. We stayed over at the Small’s and the men went to the Western Wall (the Kotel) for Friday night services. We joined a group led by the Chief Rabbi of the Western Wall, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch; it was a fascinating mix of ultra-orthodox Jews, Hasidic Jews and more mainstream religious Jewish men (if there were women attending they would have been in a balcony above us). The group prayed with fervor that is rare to see today which was very impressive. We had a great time at dinner together at the Small’s home, talking till quite late at night. Shabbat morning, we had lunch at the Kessler’s after synagogue, where our conversations picked up where we left off. We all took a long walk together in the late afternoon, as the weather changed from quite warm to cool and windy, which is pretty typical of Jerusalem. 

Saturday night we met up with good friends from Montreal, Annette Majnemer and Michael Shevell, who were in Israel with the Montreal Federation Solidarity Mission, visiting areas affected by the war, similar to what we did in February. Aside from catching up and hearing about the mission, we discussed the tense climate at McGill (we all are on faculty) and the no-win negotiations with the students who are encamped there. An amazing highlight was watching Eden Golan perform at Eurovision on the big screen at Café Rimon, where we were eating. Everyone was quiet or cheering, and groups formed in front of the window to watch and listen. As you may know, Eden put on a flawless performance with her amazing song, Hurricane, which, like its predecessor October Rain, was dedicated to the hostages in Gaza. Despite a thick layer of anti-Israel politics that tainted the Eurovision contest this year, Eden ultimately came in 5th of 26 nations, buoyed by a super impressive 2nd place finish in the on-line viewer voting!

Remembrance Day and Independence Day: Israel is nothing if not a land of emotional contrasts. Yom Hazikaron, Remembrance Day, was specifically created for remembering soldiers who fell in all the battles that Israel fought in, from 1948 when the state first declared independence, to the current war against Hamas. In addition, Victims of Terror from the beginning of the state to today, including October 7, 20203, are commemorated. There are many memorials across the country, large and small, with very sobering programs. We attended the community memorial in Netanya at their military memorial area called Yad LaBanim.  There was a large screen with the names, pictures, and dates of passing of local Netanya residents who were killed in terror attacks or battles. Both dignitaries and members of the families spoke or said prayers. The chief Rabbi of Netanya spoke and gave an extremely powerful message of unity, saying that no matter your country of origin, your religious beliefs, or your political affiliation, Jews in Israel must be united or else we can easily be defeated. This was not just to be applied to the war, but to the on-going antisemitism as well.  There was a singer who sang haunting ballads from Israeli composers; one of which ended with the concept “I have died, so you can live on”; a very poignant statement and perhaps a key concept to understand the resilience we see in this country.  

Independence Day: Yom Ha-atzmaut: Speaking of resilience, since the beginning of the state of Israel the evening of Yom Ha-Zikaron ends with the introduction of Israel Independence Day or Yom Ha-atzmaut. In general, this is a major party time for Israel, with 4th of July like fireworks. This year, because of the ongoing war and the hostages in captivity, many places decided to downgrade the happiness quotient; smaller celebrations, no fireworks, etc. However, I think the Netanya city council decided that people really needed to release some energy; they set up a giant stage in the centre of the city and had live music, dancers and a very upbeat show. No fireworks, but it was amazing to see thousands of people out in the streets, from young children to the elderly, enjoying the night air, eating, drinking and enjoying the music. 

The following day, Gila and Ariel hosted a BBQ at their home in Petach Tikvah. The guest list was extensive, since they invited Gila’s whole family of her parents, 9 brothers and sisters, spouses and children! Unfortunately, 2 of her siblings were unable to attend, but her parents, and 7 siblings, respective spouses (for 6 of them) and children, plus Nomi and her children all came. Elan was in Toronto as he coordinates the Toronto Community Yom Ha-Atzamut program. Gila and Ariel’s condo is literally next door to a large park and playground, so we set up tables there, meaning lots of room to eat and play for the 32 attendees. Ariel did a masterful job on the barbeque, and everyone else contributed sides, drinks, deserts etc. The best part was watching the cousins (on both sides) playing and getting along amazingly.  Kudos to Shlomo for a wonderfully creative d’var torah, and for creatively engaged kids of all ages in games like “Catch Shlomo” and variations on Hide and Seek. For those too young to participate in the mad dash to find Shlomo, the playground was put to great use. 

Denver Reunion Part 2: One aspect of our life that is very blog-worthy but has never been the subject of any of these posts (since it does not take place in Israel) is our nearly annual get-together with three other couples with whom we became close friends in the late 80’s, from early in our Denver days. One of the original group, Cheryl Kessler A”H, passed away 16 years ago; Zev Kessler remarried to a great “Eshet Chayil” (Woman of Valor from Proverbs), Debbie Kamioner; they live in Riverdale NY. Eddie and Michelle Schwartz (Baltimore), and Lori and Alvan Small (Chicago) round out the group. We have spent weekends together in some random places that are driving distance for all like Niagara Falls, Ste Catherines, ON, the farmlands of Pennsylvania and even Jamestown NY (home of the Lucille Ball Museum). Last year, someone suggested Jerusalem. Why not? So due to the moon being in the 7th house and Jupiter aligning with Mars, we were all in Jerusalem this past week! Wednesday, we met at the Machanei Yehuda Market (Shuk) for a Culinary Tour. If you have not done this, put it on your bucket list. Our great guide Orit regaled us with stories of the history and development of the market (the oldest and largest in Israel, dating back to the 1800s) and brought us to representative shops to sample their wares. This included things that represent Israeli cuisine’s diversity at its finest. We had Iraqi stuffed grape leaves and Sambousak b’tawa, Medicinal Fruit Juice blends based on Yemenite health practices, Burekas with a twist, Tahini, Falafel, and Affogato, Espresso with a dollop of ice cream served with a rich Knafeh pastry for dessert. This was in a setting of stalls with vegetables, bakeries, shops with all kinds of house wares, and ended at a spice store to sample Middle Eastern Spices. Not to be missed! We concluded the day by meeting our niece Jenna and wandering around other parts of the Market (including wrestling a whole bunch of seniors at a 50% off bread sale at the end of the day at Tellers’ artisan bakery) and then dinner at the Jacco St. restaurant. A few too many calories, but a very fun day!

Final Shabbat in Rishon LeTzion: Thursday morning we met the Denver crowd for breakfast (which included some of the above-mentioned artisan breads) and then took off for Netanya. We spent our last Shabbat with all the Israeli Mazers in a rented home with a pool near the beach in Rishon LeTzion, which is slightly south of Tel-Aviv. We had done quite a bit of preparation in advance, so we picked up the food we cooked for Shabbat, fresh vegetables from the Netanya Market and some extras from a take-out place, and went to Rishon to set up the house. Bruce then picked up Gila, Ora and Adi, while Barbara attended a rehearsal of the play that the drama troupe that Elisha is part of will be putting on next month. Nomi and the kids arrived later in the evening and then she picked up Elan, who flew in from Toronto; Jenna joined on Friday after noon and voila! Friday was spent around the pool which was a real treat for all. In fact, the kids were so tired, several went to bed before Shabbat Dinner! The nearby synagogue is a story in itself; it’s large with two levels housing both a Sepharadi synagogue and a Chabad Synagogue, which were both packed on Saturday. Of course there were great meals, lots of board games, a walk to the beach and a park, and lots of time for the cousins and the very proud (but slightly exhausted) grandparents to enjoy being with the family. 

Going home: It’s hard to believe that the months have flown by so quickly and that we have now returned back to Montreal. It’s been a super busy time, as can be attested by the posts from the past 5 months. Our last Sabbatical was 2008, when we were in Jerusalem with Elan and Nomi and Baby Shoshana, and Ariel had just graduated high school and was in Yeshiva in Jerusalem. Daniella and Monty were married 3 months before we left and visited that December. It’s amazing to see not only how the family has grown since then, but how every family has weathered challenges and has created amazing cohesive units. Barbara and I really appreciate and celebrate our kids, their families and their accomplishments. 

We were in Israel at an obviously difficult time. The current conflict, perhaps more than any of Israel’s previous battles, has had a global impact and has stirred up antisemitism the likes of which we have not seen in 2 generations. One can debate what the best approach is for dealing with the aftermath of the brutal attacks on Southern Israel from Hamas on October 7th, and the shelling from Hezbollah in the North. What is happening is nothing short of a true threat to the country by enemies who have made it very clear what their goals are. The consequences to those living in Gaza and in Southern Lebanon may be devastating, but international calls for a ceasefire seem to forget that there was one in place on Oct 6th.  

One of the key issues that Israel will be dealing with as it investigates what broke down to lead to the massacres was the general feeling by the defense leadership that Hamas was starting to take its leadership responsibilities in Gaza seriously and was not interested in conflicts at this time. This was said to friends by a senior defense staffer on October 5th, at a dedication of a safe room in a southern kibbutz in honor of their granddaughter’s bat mitzvah. Clearly that was very poor intel, and we should learn from this tragic lack of insight. Now, 7 months into the conflict, the protests on campuses and in the streets are being more and more emboldened, and organizations like the ICC have the audacity to equate Netanyahu and Gallant with Hamas leaders Deif, Haniyeh and Sinar. This may be a tremendous lack of understanding of the difference between a terrorist group who attacked and a country who needs to defend, or just pure antisemitism.  I am not an expert in humanitarian law, but the fact that during a state of war Israel alone is blamed for the fate of the Gazan population that is used as pawns and shields by Hamas is blatantly biased. 

But to be honest, we have been heartened in our time in Israel by tremendous resiliency. Most  protests going on in Israel today are all about bringing home the hostages. Sure, plenty of blame and criticism is being showered on the government, and as Israeli citizens, they have a right to do so, much more than we who do not vote. But, even in the depths of the despair for the hostages, Israeli’s do positive things. They lobby all over the world. They write songs like October Rain and create sculptures and art pieces about the plight of those captured, as can been seen in Hostage Square and many other places. And they volunteer in so many ways; agriculture, BBQs and Shabbat dinners for soldiers, and many more. The resilience of all the young men and women who are defending the country is also extremely impressive. We have heard over and over from young members of the IDF about their motivation to defend their people and ensure that this war can ultimately lead to long term peace. The resilience is manifest in people living their day to day lives, ensuring that the economy does not tank, and making Israel a very livable place indeed, where people of all religions are free to live without fear of persecution. Let’s hope that this message can carry forth and that we can see very soon the peace and productivity that people in the Middle East deserve.   

Shabbat Shalom, and till the next time

Barbara and Bruce

We wish a speedy recovery (Refuah Shlema) to Shmuel Zev ben Rachel Ita

We wish a speedy recovery (Refuah Shelma) to Moshe Aharon ben Leah

Happy Birthday to Eitan!!

Happy Birthday to Ezra!!

Happy Anniversary to Nomi and Elan!!

Happy Birthday Gramma!!

Happy Anniversary Daniella and Monty!!

Shabbat Pre-Israel Independence Day

Spring time in Israel, the days are sunny, warm and it’s still very green, as the consistent 30+ degree temperatures of summer have not yet started to dry out the grass and flowers. Passover finished nearly two weeks ago, and the immediate two weeks after Passover include a mix of somber and celebratory times. The 49 days between Passover and Shavuot, the holiday of the giving of the Torah, are times of semi-mourning, remembering the deaths of 24000 students of Rabbi Akiva during the times of Roman occupation of Israel at the turn of the millennium. In contemporary Israel, during this time we commemorate Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, which took place last Monday, May 6th. Next week on Monday is Yom Hazikaron, Remembrance Day for fallen soldiers and victims of terror, which obviously will have special poignance feel this year in the context of the war in Gaza. On Monday night, we begin Yom Ha-Atzmaut, Israel Independence Day. It will be very interesting to see how they play out in the current situation. More about that next week; let’s talk about what’s happened here and how we are spending the last few weeks of our Sabbatical. 

We spent the end of Passover much as we spent the beginning, with family and lots of food! We were in Netanya for the Shabbat in the middle of Passover with Nomi, Elan, and the kids; when we were indoors there were lots of games to play and stories to read, and we could be outdoors in the parks so everyone could roam around, hang from bars and swing as required. We had Sunday to recover and cook some more, and then we went to Gila and Ariel’s house for the last day of Passover. More games and stories, including Elisha beating Bruce in Catan, and time in the park as well as a long walk around Petach Tikvah with Elisha. Very needed to help work off the Matza!  All in all, it was a really nice holiday and was uninterrupted by drones and missiles that we had had in the weeks before. 

We needed a few days to catch up on work from home; so we decided to be unambitious and spend Shabbat in Netanya. In our neighborhood there are two predominantly Anglo synagogues, Yong Israel of Netanya, and The McDonald International Synagogue. Both are about a 3-4 minute walk from our house. Although most of the time we go to services at the Young Israel, we went to McDonald synagogue on Saturday morning. (no, not MacDonalds!) There were a lot of friendly people there, and as we spend more time here (if all goes well) there appears to be a nice community in our neighborhood. 

Following Shabbat, we met Michal and Ronen Sela at an Ice cream shop in south Netanya. The Selas live about 45 minutes away but were driving from the Tiberias area from a family reunion. People may remember that they lived on our street, Sunrise, when Ronen was Vice Principal of Hebrew Academy. Our kids were good friends when they were children, and Monty and Elan had Ronen as a teacher. It was great to spend time with them and plan our next sojourn! 

Speaking of reunions, we also met a group of Montreal friends in Jerusalem at Caffit; Haim Fruchter was in for Passover, and we saw Mary Ruth and Ronnie Gehr, Anne and Jonathan Homa, and Barbara Sutnick and her new husband David. We were all young couples together eons ago, and other than Haim, the others all have moved to Isrrael over the years.

Israel; a place for gathering: We were looking for something fun to do on Sunday, and decided it was a good day for wine tasting. We booked a tasting at the Tishbi Winery, 10 minutes outside of Zikhron Yaacov. Well worth the 60 Shekels (about 22 dollars Canadian); each person got 6 tastings, paired with 6 different types of dark chocolate. All the wines were really good. Plus, there is nothing like wine and chocolate to encourage conversation between people. Next to us was a Brazilian couple who were visiting their daughter, who had moved to Israel 5 years before. We had a great time discussing their visit and comparing notes on the Jewish communities we came from. The commonalities far exceeded the differences! This was all despite the fact that our Portuguese sucks and their English was rudimentary. Their daughter was pretty fluent in English and Hebrew and translated in Portuguese. We all had a great time and then went to the restaurant at the winery for a snack. I must admit that it’s pretty easy to meet complete strangers in Israel and find out that you either know the same people or have very similar interests! 

Holocaust Remembrance Day: Following wine tasting, we attended a Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony at the Young Israel of North Netanya. There are still 130,000 Holocaust survivors in Israel, but their numbers are dwindling. Several live in our neighborhood and are members of the local shuls. The main part of the ceremony was a mini documentary made by a congregant about a Hidden Child of the Holocaust. Ariel Edler was abandoned by his parents at age 4 in Antwerp as the Nazi’s were arresting and deporting Jews. Neighbors were supposed to smuggle him out, but this arrangement did not work out. They eventually found non-Jewish foster parents in a small town in France. Ariel lived with them for over 2 years as “Henri” to camouflage his Jewishness. Imagine the trauma of being left behind as a small child. This story had a reasonably happy ending, with Ariel being reunited with his parents as WWII ended, and him staying in touch with his foster mother and sister. Ariel is now 86 and was present for the documentary. He said that he never really got over the trauma of being left behind and was forever grateful for his loving foster mom. The documentary chronicled Ariel Edler, but discussed that he was one of thousands of Hidden children, left with foster families, or at convents, churches, and other measures that fleeing families did to try to and preserve at least a shred of their family. Many stories did not have such positive endings and by creating the documentary, this important story is being preserved. 

In keeping with this theme, I would be remiss if I did not pay tribute to Mr. Ernest Ehrmann, who passed away Wednesday and whose funeral we watched yesterday. Mr Ehrmann is father to our friend Debbie Feldman. I did not know Mr. Ehrmann well, but he is a legend in Holocaust Education in Montreal. He travelled to Poland as a survivor/educator at least 16 times, on the March of the Living and on Federation missions. Mr. Ehrmann must have touched thousands of students and adults with his stories of the Holocaust and of oppression. A genuine survivor, he built a life from nothing, has two wonderful daughters, 4 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren, and was a highly respected business person in addition to his contribution to the community. He will be greatly missed. 

Fun Day with Ora: One of the benefits of being here which we are trying to take full advantage is being with grandchildren for their birthdays. We have to date spent a day spoiling Elisha (remember the horses?) and Nadav (remember the pancakes?) and now it was Ora’s turn. So, a perfect day for a 7-year-old; pizza for dinner, a morning on the beach, a trip to the toy store to choose a present, hot dogs and fries for lunch, and more shopping and one on one time. Talk about fun!  

Iris Reserve: On the border of the newly developed area of Netanya called Ir Yamim is the Iris Nature Reserve. This place is supposed to be spectacular in the winter (January to April) with tons of blooming irises. We took a 4.5 kg hike all around the reserve yesterday, and there were still lots of flowers and greenery. It was a fun hike and we will definitely do it again, especially in the winter.  

Shabbat in Jerusalem: We are now in Jerusalem for Shabbat with Lori and Alvin from Chicago, and Debbie and Zev from New York; the connection being we are all friends from Denver days. We are only missing Michelle and Eddie, who are arriving in Israel next week. We are planning a full reunion next Wednesday. We have reunions almost every summer, so to get together in Jerusalem is an upgrade over the wilds of Pennsylvania or Jamestown NY!!

We continue to monitor the situation on McGill Campus and across the US and Canada. This is seemingly going from bad to worse. The encampments appear immovable, the university administrations appear to have their hands tied or are unsure which side they want to upset, with the outcome being complete chaos. Meanwhile, the IDF has moved into Rafah, has secured the border between Egypt and Israel and has made limited excursions to clear out the tunnels. We will see what will happen. How this weeks’ Israel Remembrance Day and Independence Day transpires will be very interesting to see. Stay tuned…! 

We wish everyone a pleasant Shabbat Shalom! 

Barbara and Bruce

Our sincere condolences to Debbie and Chaim Feldman on the passing of Debbie’s father, Ernest Ehrmann. 

Our sincere condolences to Rabbi Eliyahu and Sara Gaetano on the passing of Rav Eliyahu’s mother, Ruth Gaetano. 

We wish a speedy recovery (Refuah Shlema) to Shmuel Zev ben Rachel Ita

We wish a speedy recovery (Refuah Shelma) to Chaim Tzvi ben Shaindel

We wish a speedy recovery (Refuah Shelma) to Moshe Aharon ben Leah

Happy Mothers Day to all the moms in our life, in particular Grandma Phyllis Mazer, the matriarch of the family! 

Happy Birthday to Karen Kofman!

Happy Birthday Rivka!

Happy Birthday Rhona!

Happy Birthday to Bruce!

Happy Birthday to Bilha!

Happy Birthday to Elliott!