It’s an absolutely gorgeous day in Jerusalem, sunny, low 20’s, not too humid; we took a long walk to Mea Shearim, buying a few things for a Suedah Shlishit party that the Goldberger’s are having for Shoshana. We are heading off to Modiin for Shabbat in a couple of hours. Believe it or not, this is the first time that we are all going to be together for Shabbat since we arrived in September. Robert Goldberger is a commuting physician, and his trips to Toronto keep him away for several weeks at a time. Everyone is looking forward to this important celebration.
The week past again was busy. We were blessed to celebrate our friend Phil (Fischel) Stark’s birthday on Motzei Shabbat. Phil and his wife Sarah Leah are new olim and newlyweds, and their touching story is on Frumster.com (http://www.frumster.com/success_details_sy.php?successid=159 ).
Barbara again went to Tel Aviv, to be part of a conference and to lecture to a group of health care practitioners who are involved in driving assessment and research. Sunday she met with the physician responsible for driving assessment for the Ministry of Health, to discuss the role of occupational therapy in this important issue. She spent Sunday night in Bnei Brak at her friend and colleague Tamar Wiess. Suffice it to say that Bnei Brak is always an interesting experience. The rest of the week flew by, with our Tuesday dinner with ‘the kids” (Maybe I’ll write a cookbook on cooking on the fly in Jerusalem). Wednesday we had dinner with our old Denver friends Reuven and Chani Or, and one of their sons Matan.
And of course, you are all waiting for the election results: Nir Barakat won by 51% of the vote. Porush 42%, Gadymak 3.5% and Dan Birron (inhale) 1%. This is probably good for Jeruslaem, but only time will tell.
We have all encountered people who seem to be just a little more in tune to what is going on, how to help others or just go a little extra. We’ve been very fortunate to have been exposed to many outstanding friends, relatives and others over the years. Since we’ve been in Israel, we have had the pleasure of benefiting from a little extra attention from our friends Pnina and Yithak Zocher. Many may know the Zochers, from the time that Yitzhak was the educational director of Hebrew Academy from 2002-2006. From day of our arrival literally they have been our major resource. The first morning we were here, the first phone call was Yitzhak. The second morning (OK closer to noon, we were pretty jet lagged) the phone rings: have you been outside your apartment yet? The Zochers left a bag of fresh bagels and Rogelach. To this day those were the best bagels we have had here, and the closest thing to Montreal bagels in this country. We needed someone to help clean the apartment? The Zochers found “Rina”. We have had a Shabbat dinner there; always the teacher, Yitzhak taught us parshat hashavua (weekly torah portion) using a book he has just completed tying things in the Torah Portion to symbols in Jerusalem. All this, in spite of Pnina’s mother passing away before Yom Kippur, and other things going on in their life with 4 children and 10 grandchildren. Last week they took us on a walk that covered famous mezuzot collected at the great synagogue, the oldest Jewish neighborhood developed by the British (important reading: The memoirs of Elizabeth Finn, the governess of Jerusalem in the late 1880’s) and to the military cemetery to light a Yahrtziet candle in memory of Hanah Senesh, a young Israeli woman from Hungary who is famous for her poetry and for being captured in a mission during WWII to help rescue Hungarian Jews. She was captured and executed as a traitor to Hungary, but has a special place in the military cemetery as a heroine.
In fact, last week was not only the anniversary of the death of Hannah Senesh, but anniversary of Krystalnacht, as well as the murder of Yitzhak Rabin. There was a very moving ceremony for Krystalnacht near our home, where the German and Austrian ambassadors both spoke. Television last week included documentaries on Rabin, the Holocaust, and a brand new historical docudrama about Hanah Senaesh (again thanks to the Zochors for that tip). The juxtaposition of the Krystalnacht and Hanah Senesh, both important Holocaust related events, with Rabin’s assassination is sobering. We are reminded that we must always be on our guard, never be too complacent, as there are forces in the world that can always rise against us. To ensure our survival, we not only must be on our guard, but be sure that, as we learned from the case of Rabin, we do not lift our hands against each other and allow our unity to deteriorate.
Wishing you all a Shabbat Shalom and Go Als Go!
Barbara and Bruce
PS: Send in a caption for the picture!
No comments:
Post a Comment