As I sent out our little travelogue last week, we melted quickly into Shabbat. Actually, it was just after 5, but Elan likes to start early for Shoshana’s sake, so we went to Mincha at the Kotel at 5:50 and found a Kabalat Shabbat and Maariv minyan that started pretty early as well. It’s a great scene at the Kotel at that hour. Shabbat does not officially start till 7:10 in Jerusalem, so it is a mixture of people praying afternoon Mincha prayers, some starting Shabbat early like us, others getting in their last touring before Shabbat, beggars approaching for last minute alms (we of course were useless to them, not having any money on us) and even the ever-present Lubavitch crew putting tefillin on the masses. Great contrasts as the regular week dissolves slowly and Shabbat emerges.The Goldberger family (minus son Eli) arrived a little before Shabbat so we started a Jerusalem Shabbaton. We held meals in the apartment that we were staying in as Elan and Nomi’s is a bit tight (how they entertain a dozen Yeshiva guys is amazing). The food was great, with multiple contributors, but Nomi’s whole wheat Challah was a real winner (not to forget the Oriental Cabbage Salad that kept disappearing). In true Mazer fashion, Elan has become a very accomplished cook; he makes a mean Cholent and also made the schnitzel for Shabbat Lunch. We had a great time passing Shoshana around (till she was too covered in food to hold delicately). This was the first time Nomi’s parents spent a Shabbat on Elan and Nomi’s turf, so Kol hakavod to our Rova (Jewish Quarter) dwellers for arranging and preparing for the whole gang!
Saturday night we got together with Chaya Brodie, a great friend from Denver days. She and her family now live primarily in Detroit but still have a home in Nof Ayalon, and two of her sons live in Israel. The funny thing is, we only see her in Israel. We compared notes on being grandparents and promised to try to get together at least once in North America.
Sunday was a big day…since I was leaving Israel to go to a meeting in Frankfurt. SO now this blog will take a two pronged approach, describing Barbara’s week in Israel and my week in Germany. After breakfast Sunday morning Barbara and I moved her suitcase over to the Zeligman’s (of Ottawa) apartment as the Horn family was returning to the Old City. After moving, shopping and a bit of setting up, I took off to the airport.
Monday in Israel was a day of highs and lows. Of course, the highlight was the marriage of Michal Faust and Noam Natan. Cindy and Rafi Faust have become pros at planning weddings in Israel, and the event was tremendous. This was in part due to the “Montreal reunion” that took place; the Faust’s amazing work with our community and Kollel was reflected in the number of Israelis who had spent time in Montreal who came out to the wedding. Barbara had a fantastic time, seeing old friends and enjoying the amazing spirit.
Sadly, earlier in the day, Barbara and many others went to Bet Shemesh for the funeral of Moshe Rein Z’L who had passed away last week. Sometimes, though, these crazy swings of emotion in life make some sense. Mr. Rein was a special person and his son Jeff is a very close friend, not only of ours but of many. The fact that many people were converging on Jerusalem to celebrate, allowed people to participate in the mitzvah of Nahum Avelim, comforting the mourners. I am sure that in this time of distress, the Rein family appreciated the support. May they be spared further sorrows.
The rest of the week went by quickly. Claire Perez from the Jewish Rehab joined Barbara for shopping and some quality time babysitting Shoshana. Elan and Nomi joined them later for dinner at a new Asian restaurant on Emek, and then the Maliach’s (Ruth and Itamar) came to Jerusalem for quick visit. Wednesday, Karen Goldberger wandered into Jerusalem, again followed by a generous dose of babysitting (did I tell you Shoshana is walking a lot now??? Really cute…). That evening a group of OTs from Israel joined Barbara for a “working” dinner and
chatting. Thursday, being a fast day and the last day in Israel was for last minute errands, a last evening with the kids (Shoshsana walked some more!!) and final packing before taking off to the airport.As I mentioned above, I took off for Frankfurt where I went to a meeting on B cells and Germinal Center development. I will spare you the details…but this is their 16th meeting, so someone must be interested in the subject (besides me, I mean). However, the trip was not without its interesting quirks. Our flight to Zurich leaving Israel was delayed 25 minutes. My connection was already pretty tight, and although I made the flight to Frankfurt, I walked faster than my luggage did, so I arrived in Frankfurt but my luggage spent the night in Switzerland. OK, not so bad, I always have things in my carry-on. I filled out the forms, giving them the name of my reserved hotel (The Mozart) and caught a cab to the city. Then we arrived at what used to be the Hotel Mozart….now closed and not planning to open again. OK, what to do…fortunately I noticed another hotel on the conference list en-route, and asked the cab to take me back (he was nice enough to wait when we saw no light at the ol’ Mozart). This place had one room available for the week, and the location was good, so I grabbed it. Of course, the luggage also went to the Mozart (even though I called Lufthansa at 8 to change locales), so it did not arrive till 10:30 Monday night. Good start, right?
As I said, I won’t talk about the science, but I certainly want to share a bit about Frankfurt. The location of the meeting was in the Westend, at a University. The Westend of Frankfurt is also the home to the JCC, kosher restaurant, and the large West-end Synagogue and Chabad of Frankfurt. I must say, it is not without a certain measure of pride and perhaps a little triumph that I went to minyan almost every morning in Frankfurt. Pretty amazing that 70 years after the beginning of WWII and over 75 years after the brutal laws that marginalized the Jews of Frankfurt (and the rest of Germany) there could be a vibrant community there. There are 8000 registered with the community and estimated 2-4000 non-registered Jews. The Westend synagogue is a large building that I believe survived the war (architectural style is certainly not modern) and the bet midrash (Chapel), where daily services were held and houses a Chabad Yeshiva, is large and very striking in design. The shul is protected 24 hours a day by local police, and it is on a dead end street made into a pedestrian mall closed to traffic, on one side, and with barriers to deter parking on the other. Next door to the synagogue is the (I am not making this up ) Perelen and Schmuckcenter. I don’t know much German, but I assume Perelen is pearls (there was a picture), and the other is another valuable jewel (sorry, no picture).
The minyan ranged in size from 15-30 people, mostly saying kaddish. I found it thanks to the terrific web site www.yeckes.com ; it is the only minyan in the morning in town.
In general, Frankfurt is a quiet, highly organized city, very clean, with a system of bike paths that could teach Montreal city planners a thing or two. Instead of sticking the bikes into traffic or closing off parking, the sidewalks are extended and divided for bikes and pedestrians. You have to see it to believe it, and it works.
Certainly, everywhere you go in the world, you meet Israelis, and Germany is no exception. A large number of German Jews are Israelis who have come for economic reasons, shlichut, to be educators, etc. I met a couple at the JCC, where the Kosher restaurant Sochar is located. He was there as Mashgiach and performed other religious tasks in the community. The JCC is large, and houses a day care and part of an elementary school. The main school has over 500 kids in it! Again, like in most of Europe, security is an issue. The JCC is fenced in, and you must be buzzed in and go through a metal detector. Speaking Hebrew to the security guard (again Israeli) made him smile and I learned a bit about the community from him too. The restaurant was very good, but it sure is not the typical JCC fare (not at all like the Y!) Check the website for the prices before you go (the main dishes range from 16-22.5 Euros!) The link is also on www.yeckes.com .
There are clearly subtle signs that successive German governments and the people themselves have made an effort not to let history be forgotten. An example is the Judengasse Museum in Frankfurt, which I visited on Thursday. Judengasse is the ghetto. This was of course destroyed during the war. However, in 1987, the city was excavating for a new pedestrian mall, and unearthed amazingly preserved homes from the Jewish ghetto circa 1700. The municipality wanted to plough the area over and keep building, but a huge citizens’ protest stopped the “progress”, and the museum was built over the area to display the best preserved homes, the Mikva and the community social hall. There were other examples. On my walk to and from the conference, I passed the Sigmund Freud Institute. There is a large plaque memorializing the founder, Karl Landauer, a Jewish psychoanalyst who perished in Bergen-Belsen. A plaque in downtown showing where the Great Synagogue of Frankfurt stood, describing how it was destroyed by Nazi Criminals. Even in Marburg, where I went on Thursday to speak at the Medical school, the center of town has a large, plexiglass encased structure showing the remains of a 14th century synagogue. Obviously nothing excuses or can really repay the Nazi crimes, but the consciousness is there.
As I write this we are on our way home; I met Barbara in Zurich and we will be spending Shabbat in Montreal. We’ll be glad to get together with friends and family and we certainly can’t wait for the Israeli contingent to arrive for a visit at the end of July.
Once again most sincere condolences to Jeff and family as he sits shiva.
May we all experience a wonderful, peaceful and meaningful Shabbat.
Barbara and Bruce
So, we’re back! We arrived in Jerusalem last Friday, landing after 3 PM. The flight was uneventful, and landing so ‘late’ at Ben-Gurion has great advantages. There were no lines at passport control and we got our luggage and were out in under half an hour. We took a taxi to Jerusalem (the taxi driver didn’t know how to get to the Old City, but that is another story) and we were greeted by Elan saying “Welcome Home!” It does not seem like that long since we’ve left, and Jerusalem and especially the Rova Hayehudi definitely felt very much like home. Of course, even though it’s only been a few months, Shoshana has changed tremendously, as befits an 11 month old! Lots of new tricks…more babbling, faster crawling, lots of cruising and even a few steps! It looks like by the time she gets to Montreal on July 31st. she should be walking a lot.
