October 24 - 31

So where are we living while we are here? We are in a section of the city known as Old Katamon, which is basically a residential area located between Rehavia on the northwest and Talpyot on the southeast. The area is well known because of the presence of the Jerusalem Theatre, and it is around the corner from the President’s Residence. Our street, Mevo Yoram, is a dead end street between Ha-gdud Ha-Ivri and a park that leads up to the Jerusalem Theatre parking lot. If you are looking for central, you’ve come to the right place. We are 15 minutes walk from Emek Refaim, 12 minutes from the Great Synagogue and Melech George, 20 minutes to Ben Yehuda and 30 minutes to Elan’s and Nomi’s apartment and Elan and Ariel’s Yeshiva in the old city. It was actually a lot of mazal to link up with the landlord and to have Elan be able to visit quickly so we could grab it. The apartment has two bedrooms, a large living room/dining area and a nice sized apartment kitchen. My favorite part is the fact that within a 5 minute walk we have a little grocery store (depaneur or Makolet), two hardware stores, a photo shop, a bakery, a meat take out place, a dry cleaner and a supermarket. If we want to do big time shopping we walk 20 minutes to Talpiyot, home of about 6 supermarkets and a shopping center with am Office Depot, Home Center, and anything else you need. You may have noticed that I have mapped everything out in terms of walking distances. Yes, we are doing A LOT of walking. For one, we don’t have a car, a conscious decision based on a) the environment b) the price of gas c) the parking d) the excellent cheap public transport e) the exercise…OK I can keep on with bu um…excuses, but in truth, we aren’t martyrs. If we need a car to take a tiyul, we will rent one. Otherwise, for all the above reasons, you don’t really need a car here.

This week, I was at a scientific meeting on Mast Cells (anyone who wishes to know more about Mast Cells, feel free to ask). What is fun about going to meetings in Israel is 1) We don’t eat out of tin foil (unless you want to) 2) I found out that Hebrew University Givat Ram Campus (as well as the Knesset and the Israel Museum) are less than 30 minutes walk 3) I can translate for all my US and European colleagues. It was interesting to hear one of my colleagues from Virginia say “you know, I don’t usually feel like a minority, but I sure do here…I can’t speak the language, it’s not my religion…makes me think about how all the foreign students in my lab must feel.” So for a change, Jews are the majority and the norm. And if the fact that Israel is an open society with excellent universities and attracts scientists, teachers, and other academics here, and they can realize the same things as my friend from Virginia, maybe we are being an Or La-Goyim after all (Light unto the nations). (Try feeling that in Sudan or Chechnya).

Barbara has a busy week coming up, with a major day long seminar in Tel Aviv next week. Her friend and co-researcher Isabelle Gelinas from Montreal is here to present at the seminar as well. Today they went to Masaada and the Dead Sea and had a great time. Friday it is Yad Vashem and Shabbat preparations. Elan arrived back from Poland at 6 AM and we hope he and Nomi and Shoshana will be coming for Shabbat Lunch. In fact, having Nomi and Shoshana here from Friday till Tuesday was great and we suffered from withdrawal for the next couple of days (it’s fun to wake up to baby babbling in the morning). Shoshana is a good sleeper so we really did not have the “Early Morning Baby Blues” (sung by Tex Ritter) (who???).

Unless you have been on Jupiter for the last few months, you know that there is a US election coming up. So do Israelis. I think that the man on the street in Jerusalem is following the progress of McCain and Obama a lot closer than many Americans. In true Israeli fashion, every one has an opinion, of course. Clearly the favorite in the dati leumi community is the more conservative of the politicians. Looked at from Israel’s perspective, any candidate that would negotiate with Iran or Syria with no preconditions is not going to garner favor here. This is reflected in the exit polls for US expatriates who have voted here. If this would reflect US voting pattern (which it does not) the republican candidate would walk away with the election. Of course, the latest CNN poll has Obama 47-44% for McCain, much closer than the 11 point lead of a few weeks ago. As a non expert, I will reserve my comments, only to say that anyone who would pick Zbigniew Brzezinski as foreign policy advisor (Jimmy Carter’s Secretary of State and a very left leaning Columbia Prof in my era of 77-81) can’t really say he is the beacon of change. At the same time, there are municipal elections here for Mayor (Nov 11) which we can look at the humorous side next week, and of course the general Israel Election in February which everyone is predicting will be neck and neck between Bibi and Zippi. And of course the last word goes to Jon Stewart…”Did anyone notice that our neighbor to the north had an election?”

Shabbat Shalom!

Bruce and Barbara

September 19-26

We are all heading into a New Year and our adventure in Jerusalem continues. In truth, it's been a very different type of time in Jerusalem...Barbara commented the other day that we haven't done anything touristy...we haven't even visited the kotel! We have been very close, though, as Elan, Nomi and Shoshana live overlooking that Holy site. We have been going with the rythm of living in this beautiful city, shopping, working, shul, buses...fun and anything but touristy.

So I left you last week about to leave for Elan's Mussar at the Yeshiva. He was amazing, passionate, and humorous to capture his student's attention. He spoke about Responsibility (Ahrayut) an important concept as we wnter the Yamim Noraim. We followed that with singing, a short d;var torah from me welcoming Shoshana to the family and Kiddush of chicken wings, Kugels, cake and drinks. All enjoyed. The Old city is bursting every Thursday night since the beginning of Elul; my cab took 45 minutes just to get out of the Rova. People flood the place for Slichot at all hours of the night!

Shabbat was spent in Givat Shmuel with our friends the Maliachs, who are doing great. They are building a new house in the neighborhood. They daven at this huge 300-400 person Carlebach minyan that sang and danced for 90 minutes on Kabalat Shabbat and more singing through till the end of Shabbat. Fun and inspiring, considering the number of people packed into a big trailer. Slichot was back in Jerusalem at the Shir Hadash Minyan, also carlebach style. Sunday was a work day (!) with the lab at Hebrew U/Hadassah being very welcoming and stimulating. Nomi had an exam, so Barbara babysat and then took Nomi shopping. We spent Tuesday night at a wedding in the middle of no-where; former Montrealers Barbara and Robert Sutnick's daughter got married. Barbara spends her days working and taking walks; meeting friends (such as new Oleh Charlotte from Toronto) and babysitting. On Thursday night we made dinner with Elan and Nomi and played with Shoshana. As you've seen from the pictures, she's amazingly cute.

Everyone is scurrying around and preparing for Shabbat and Rosh Hashana. The streets and stores are busy. We have Chaya Kessler staying for Shabbat and Elan and Nomi for lunch tomorrow. Tonight we are invited to Elinor (Gehr) and Aryeh Kofman's with a group of people. Shabbat here is always a welcome experience.

Have a wonderful Shabbat and K'tiva V'hatima tova!

September 29-October 3

What a magical week! We started last Erev Shabbat by greeting Chaya Kessler, who is studying in Bet Shemesh in her second year at a seminary called Machon Maayan. It sounds like a excellent program, a mixture of classes, Torah Study and community service. Chaya volunteers at a program run by NCSY for English speaking new Olim who are struggling with their Jewish Identity. Believe it, even in Israel, or maybe especially in Israel. A lot of these kids are American, British or South African teens, whisked away from their friends, their schools and their malls to a foreign place by idealistic, religious parents. It works for some, but it is very hard for others. Consider that a move within the same city is hard, try to Israel…It is challenging and Chaya is doing really good work.

Shabbat was great; Friday night at Elinor (Gehr) and Aryeh Kaufman’s, meeting a YU/Stern young married couple they are friends with (Both on the fencing team so they know Steven Lerner) and we did not get home till almost midnight. Shabbat morning included davening at 8:10 (finish by 10…I could get used to that) and then we had Elan and Nomi for lunch with Chaya. We had a great time, highlighted by spending the afternoon with Shoshana and taking her for a walk. (Sounds mundane but you should try it….). Everyone stayed at our apartment till after Havdalah. Barbara and I went out and ‘cruised’ Ben Yehuda ( well, we went to the art stores off Ben Yehuda) while a cold wind blew into Jerusalem. It ouf course did not last, today was over 26, but it was cooler all week.

Rosh Hashana was truly amazing. We davened both days at Yeshivat Hakotel; this was an experience. Firstly, the boys are really committed- davening started at 6: 20 and when I got in at 6:40 it was 90+% full (at least on the first day). The most impressive part is the singing. It is a major part of the davening, singing, clapping, dancing and no one seemed to tire, even though we went till 2 PM. I can see where some of Monty’s inspiration comes from (I am sure Shaalvim was no less raucous). The other great thing was being able to look out over the Kotel during the services. As you say “Jerusalem your city will be rebuilt speedily in our day” and can look out at the city, your emotions can really play havoc. We are the only people who are so inspired to pray for Jerusalem, no one else, and I hope that we are fortunate enough to see this city in our hands for many years to come. Both nights of Rosh Hashana were spent with family; Elan, Nomi and Shoshana on Monday night and Ariel, Chaya Kessler and three of her friends on Tuesday. Lots of food, discussions, singing, and especially the Yeshiva and Seminary kids enjoyed a good home cooked meal (so did Elan and Nomi but they themselves are great cooks!)

Since Rosh Hashana ended Wednesday night, we really only had Thursday which was a work day and today, which let us take a trip to Meah Shearim for some perusing and minor purchases…including another inexpensive cell phone, so we now have a second number (052-729-0856). Feel free to use it.

One last quick anecdote: To walk to Rehavia from our place (near the Kings Hotel), you have to walk past a ‘checkpoint’. In the middle of a residential area, there is the Prime Minister’s Residence. It is surrounded by Fences and cameras, and there are a few soldiers with rifles and booths, but people stroll through unimpeded, saying high and Shana Tova to the soldiers, with no real cares (you can even bring liquids in…!) Try to imagine that happening near the White House (if you can get near it!) Of course, 24 Sussex Drive is kind of bland and no one would do anything there anyway…

Have a great Shabbat, Shana Tova and Ktiva V’Chatima Tova!

Barbara and Bruce

October 3-10

Another week, another Yom Tov. We all know that feeling this time of year. Here, though, we are in the midst of a yerushalmi and Israeli academic environment. What does that mean? For one, university does not start until November 2, a week after Sukkot ends. Also, things that are not on the semester system like labs and offices (including the one I am working in) are closed pretty much all of Sukkot. In fact, although I am sure there are die hard profs and researchers who will work through Col Hamoed, the buildings are locked, so you need special passes to enter. Sorry, I wasn’t given one!

Yeshiva is also on this schedule, so Elan has some time off from his learning and teaching, and Ariel is off almost till Rosh Chodesh of Cheshvan; 10 days after Sukkot finishes. Elan is gainfully employed till the holiday doing …what else? Selling etrogim. Not just any etrogim…high end ones. Put in your orders quick, you only have till Monday.

Speaking of which, we are still amazed with the uniqueness if being in Jerusalem. It is really fun that everyone at work wished each other G’mar Chatima Tova as we were leaving on Tuesday evening. Religious, secular, Russian, Ethiopian, American/Canadian/British/South African, Israeli…very neat. Sure beats Merry Christmas. Second, the street corners are abuzz with religious commerce. If you can’t find a guy selling a lulav or an etrog, you can find a Sukkah. We weren’t planning on putting up a Sukkah, but who know what kind of clearance price we can get at 3 PM on Monday??? Definitely a wonderful environment, and it isn’t even Brooklyn.

My best street corner visual was at the bust stop that I take from Hebrew U Med School. Tuesday PM there was a young yeshiva Bochur with a carton. I thought it was etroging, since the carton said “Pri Eretz Yisrael” (Fruit of Israel). On closer inspection, he had two chickens, for Kapparot, of course. He didn’t have too many takers, but I could just picture someone waving a chicken and the bus arriving and pulling away quickly, as they regularly do. Atzor!! Stop!! Nahag!! Driver!! And chicken in hand, he/she runs off chasing the bus! (OK, at least I could picture that….).

For Yom Kippur, we joined an Israeli minyan in our area for Kol Nidre, and spent all on yesterday in the old city at Yeshivat Hakotel. Kol Nidre was fun; we were invited to the shul of our friends Yitchak and Pnina Zocher, (former head of Hebrew Academy). It was a medium sized minyan, probably 100 people, and all the people knew the nuggunin and singing along. The ruach was great and is was very enjoyable, The Yeshiva was intense! 6: 20 till 2:10, 40 minute break, then Minha, Neila. Singing, crying, dancing…..every emotion possible. As the dusk was coming and we looked upon the Kotel and the sunset, you felt clearly that the minutes were ticking away and that this group of people felt they only had a few short moments to bring atonement to everyone around- present or remote. Pretty amazing for a group of young men. We ended by dancing down to the kotel for Shofar and maariv. Gabi Cohen had come (his second time) and a Toronto family we know (the Javaski’s) and lots of young, very involved men and women (the ladies section was packed with Seminary girls).

We broke the fast at Elan’s and Nomi’s and then went home, tired but very uplifted. We are having Elan, Nomi and Shoshana, as well as a friend of Elan’s and Elinor and Aryeh Kaufman (nee Gehr). We can’t wait to play with Shoshana and let her parents have a long nap while we wander around….OK, time to finish cooking. I’ll write more about our erev Shabbat-chag wanderings in the future but next week, being sukkot, promises to be as terrific as this one.

Shana Tova, Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach!!

Bruce and Barbara

October 10-17

Last week I wrote a little about how it was fun and refreshing to be in a place where life buzzed with the spirit of the Chagim. It is pretty easy to be moved by the Yamim Noraim, Rosh Hasashana and Yom Kippur. No matter who you are, these tend to stir you. Sukkoth is a whole different ball game. To have the opportunity to buy a Sukkah next to where you pick up the news paper is one thing. To see a city alive with Sukkoth and really feel like there is something special going on is really quite an eye opener.

We had a superb Shabbat last week, having Elan and Nomi stay over with Shoshana for the first time. I think everyone had fun, perhaps for different reasons. Elan and Nomi caught up on sleep and Barbara and I caught up on smiles and giggles (not to mention an few whimpers…). Shoshana just embodies cuteness. We also were looking forward to Sukkoth in Modiin where we would be spending the first 2 days with Nomi’s family. Ariel and a frind of his from Toronto Noam Gryssman also joined us. We had a great time, but unfortunately Robert was not there, having returned to Toronto to be wit his parents who had been in a car accident. All is OK, they are home, but he really is able to better assess the situation in Toronto than from afar. We definitely missed his presence in the Sukkah.

So here we are in Modiin, a very Israeli town, and we are keeping 2 days of Yom Tov. Why you ask, why not when in Rome (or Israel) do as the locals do? Well, its very complicated, and I could go into a long discourse on the various customs and manipulations thereof that “Hutznikkim” (People who live out of Israel or Hutz La-aretez) go through, but I won’t. Suffice it to say that a prevailing rabbinic concept is that if you are definitely returning home (we are) you keep your own custom from home. So we were a few souls keeping 2 days amongst a sea of Israelis who only had one day of holiday. Pretty weird to have our hostess ask if she could drive us to shul….Anyway the second day of Yom tov, there was a minyan for the non-Israelis; about 16 people came, including Lionel Rabinovitch from Montreal, who was visiting his daughter Emily. Now, if Roanne is sitting, he told me that he will be a great grandfather soon; Debbie’s eldest daughter is expecting! Exciting news. The weather in Modiin was hot and himid on Tuesday and then overnight it rained quite a bit. Not enough to wreck our sukkah partying, and we enjoyed a cooler day 2 in the Sukkah.

Back to Jerusalem on Wednesday night Barbara and I saw the world premier of Against the Tide, a Simon Wiesenthal production about the stonewalling by the US government during WWII when the word of the Nazi’s annihilation of the Jews came out. This was aided and abetted by the World Jewish Congress, especially its’ President Rabbi Stephen Wise. It was a very sobering movie, with some very uplifting messages about several activist groups that were able to fight the madness and get some political action.

On Thursday was the piece de resistance. As you know, the biblical term for the three major holidays, Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkoth (who said Chanukka?) are the “shalosh regalim” ; the three ascents (regel is literally foot) when all of Israel marched to Jerusalem to serve God in the Temple. Today, we got just a small taste of that. During each Pesach and Sukkoth, there is a mass, communal Priestly blessing performed at the Kotel. Today thousands of people converged in the morning to be part of this. We were able to participate, away from the crowds, on the roof of Yeshivat Hakotel with a fair view. The numbers of people were huge. The Jewish quarter was alive all day with music, singing, plays and people were flocking to celebrate. Then in the afternoon, a historic event. Following the 7th year of the Shmita cycle, the people of Biblical Israel all were commanded to descend on Jerusalem, and hear passages of the Torah read by the king. This year completed a cycle of Shmita (more on that in the future, if anyone is interested!) and so a Hakhel (Literally, gather people) ceremony was held. I think 200,000 is a conservative number for the amount of people who descended on the western Wall Plaza for this. The current chief rabbis and recent chief rabbis were present, and there was music and dancing. Since there was no king available, and Shimon Peres does not read torah (the previous President, Katsav, did read torah 7 years ago; now he is being investigated for rape….) so the Torah reading was divided amongst high ranking rabbis. Just to be part of this gathering, to be linked with history and a gathering of people of this magnitude, and especially to feel as if we were part of the ascent to Jerusalem along with people from all over Israel, Europe, North and South America etc…the biblical commandment of descending on Jerusalem to celebrate the holiday is very much with us today as over 2000 years ago. We also had pretty tired raglayim (feet) from the walking we did today!

We are preparing for Shabbat in Ranana, and Shmini Atzerert and Simchat Torah to come….

Week of October 17- 24

Week of October 17- 24

It is commonly said in Israel that nothing really gets started until “acharei ha-chagigm” literally, after the holidays. That applies to everyone, religious, traditional or secular. Whether you have been in shul, your sukkah, at the beach or camping in the Galil, people celebrate this time of year as something special. As it should be.

We completed the Marathon Month of Tishrei (wait, it’s not over) with a visit to Ranana on Shabbat. We stayed with former Montrealers (and Ahavat Ysirael members) Sharon and Robert Dalfen. They are doing really well. They have 4 daughters 6-16 who are all terrific. Robert had a unique opportunity a couple of years ago, as a company he was working for was purchased and he was given a generous severance package. Never having spent a year in Israel after high school to study, he decided to take advantage and ‘went back to Yeshiva’. He has really become very proficient and continues to study Talmud in the morning and work long afternoons for a startup company. He knows that if the new business is successful he will have to work full time, but he is enjoying this phase and clearly is not missing a beat, combining family, work and study in an impressive way.

While in Raanana, we had the opportunity to get together with other former Montrealer firiends, including Gerry Yampolsky and his wife Michelle, Rochelle August, Debbie Berzan (all Herzliah Snowdon grads). We caught up on lots of people, but it was kind of surreal to talk about high school people after so many years…..

Sunday was another one of those days that you would want to last forever. We attended a Bat Mitzvha (Sara Leah Eisenberg) whose parents are also McGill MDs and are on Sabbatical as well. There was a ladies prayer service at the Southern Kotel excavation site, and a great lunch at the new Luigi Restaurant in Katamon (add that one to the list, Monty and Estie). In the evening we celebrated Nomi’s birthday with dinner in the Sukkah at Café Rimon at the new Mamilla Shopping district. Ariel joined us and a good time was had by all. Shoshana wanted some pasta but it was not on her diet.

Monday was Hoshana Rabbah. I could go into great depth about where I went to daven (the Katamon Shtiblach) since it is a really unique place but I’ll save that for next week when I give you an account of our neighborhood.

Simchat Torah and Shmini Atzeret are celebrated together here, which leads to the contrast of having Yizkor following wild dancing and celebrating. We spent the day at Yeshivat Hakotel, which has the custom on Simchat Torah Morning to do short hakafot (after 4 hours of dancing the night before) to go to different places in the Old City. The majority of people went to the Muslim Quarter, where we celebrated the completion of the Torah Reading dancing through areas once inhabited by many Jews. The simcha was tempered by the description of pogroms in the 20’s and 30’s during the British Mandate, the last time there was a significant Jewish Presence in that area of the Old City. We also visited a newly renovated synagogue in Yeshivat Ateret Yerushalayim, in a building that has been owned by Jews for 150 years or more but has been destroyed several times. Families in the US and Canada have to contributed to its renovation, completed last month. It was spectacular.

The Simcha of the chag and our life here is always tempered by the fact that we are living among those who do not want us here. Yesterday an elderly gentleman in Giloh was unfortunately in the line of a 21 year old who jumped out at a check point and attacked the border police with a large knife. Clearly premeditated. The border policeman will survive the terror attack but it shows that we must not take things for granted.

In case this was not a busy enough week, the Vancouver Samuel Family Moe, Oren and Elie have come to Israel for two weeks. Linda and Allan Zysblatt had everyone over last night, so we trecked to French Hill for some quality family time, Ariel in tow (after he came over to iron his shirts!!) Great food and great company (not that we need more food after Chag and Shabbat is coming…)

Elan is off with his Yeshiva to Poland as a madrich (group leader) for 40 first year Yeshiva kids. He left at 5 this morning. We are having Nomi and Shoshana for Shabbat and we could not be more pleased!

Let me know what you would like to hear about, or if you don’t mind this stream of conciousess blogging, that’s fine too. Feel free to comment! Also, since I will be posting this to a website, we will have a record for all the comments, so it can lead to a bit of networking!!

Wishing you a wonderful Shabbat Shalom

Barbara and Bruce