May 14-21

It is always very special to be in Israel, but this feeling is magnified when we get the chance to celebrate one of the chagim (holidays) here. It is special because, like with Christmas or Halloween preparations in North America (to use two very commercial examples), the population of Jerusalem is also busily preparing for the holiday or for that matter for Shabbat. This week we celebrated Shavuot, the festival of Weeks, which marks the anniversary of the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. There is a custom that dairy foods be served (since the Torah is compared to milk and honey) and the stores are filled with cheesecakes, cheeses, and other terrific things. The other custom that we always take part in is studying Torah; many people spend the entire first night of Shavuot learning or going to classes. There is an incredible richness of scholarship here, with literally hundreds of Jewish institutions that had some type of study program going on all night.

We knew that, being a holiday, we would want to entertain the whole family, and not satisfied with serving meals to 8 people, we invited other friends and friends of our children who just needed a place to go. The preparations began with a late evening Monday cooking session, an early Tuesday AM shopping at the market (when it is not so crowded and you can actually not be jostled; less fun but more efficient). Then, we learned that Raz Cohen, best friend of Elan and son of our close friends Gabi and Chani Cohen, had proposed to Reut Segal the night before! In our plans, we had actually invited the Cohen family for the first night of Shavuot, and so it was a double celebration; of the holiday and the newly engaged couple. After a great, happy dinner, most of us went off to study; I am pretty sure Shoshana went to bed (as did Nomi and Barbara). The boys and Daniella went to the old city, where we learned Torah at Yeshivat Hakotel; I spent time studying with Ariel and then went to a class that Elan gave which was excellent. The night ended with services at sunrise, overlooking the Western Wall in the Old City. Sorry, no pictures; you’ll just have to imagine, or better yet, try it yourself!

The rest of the holiday included trying to catch up on much needed sleep, and more meals and more friends. We had the pleasure of including more Montrealers in our festivities: Ian and Andree Ellbogen, Ryan Fiter, Nathan Friedman, Steven Lerner, Ronnie Gehr, and had a great lunch with Nomi’s family, Karen, Robert, Adina and Daniel Goldberger. Another lunch was with our friend Eddie Schwartz (Baltimore), his daughter Yocheved, her husband Shua and their gorgeous baby, Avital. We even had the Homa family (ex-Montreal, present NJ) for tea. But wait! Instead of dropping off exhausted when the holiday ended on Thursday night, we were invited to Raz and Reut’s engagement party in Maaleh Adumim! So, off we went; we got to celebrate some more, seeing friends who were living in Israel or who had moved back from jobs in Montreal like our school or the Kollel. It was great to catch up with people and of course to have a l’Chaim with the family who was celebrating.

This was how the week ended, but the beginning was no less hectic, but always enriching. We spent Shabbat in the town of Talmon, a gorgeous place on a hilltop; you can see the Mediterranean from there. The Selah Family, who lived in Cote Saint Luc in 1999 and 2000 (on Sunrise, no less) hosted us. It will be the last time we visit them there, as they will be moving to a new, larger house in another community farther north, in the Shomron. Ariel came along for Shabbat, then he went back to his base.
Monday was the day that the Swearing in Ceremony for the IDF Unit Ariel is volunteering in was to take place. He is working about 40 minutes south of Be-er Sheva, so we rented a car and headed south, with Elan, Ryan and another family from Baltimore whose son is in the same program as Ariel. We brought them a picnic lunch (preferable to the food on the base, for sure) and then visited where he has chosen to spend the next few months. The ceremony was very moving, with every member of the unit receiving a Bible as they pledged their allegiance to the people of Israel. Since the next day was Shavuot, he was able to leave with us right after, which made for a great ride home.

We seem to be doing nothing more than celebrate and eat this week! We are at this very moment in a bus to Haifa, where we will spend Shabbat with Monty and Daniella (who are obviously not sick of us yet after spending 2 days with us this week!) Then this blog goes on hiatus for a week, as we return to Canada for a conference and to say hi to everyone! So next week nothing form Jerusalem, but stay tuned!

Shabbat Shalom

Barbara and Bruce

We wish a huge Mazel Tov to the Gorin Family on the Engagement of their son Avi to Shira Tanny

Another major Mazel Tov to the Cohen Family on the engagement of Raz to Reut Segal of Maaleh Adumim

Mazel tov to Ali Veres and Zach Isakow on their upcoming wedding this week!

Mazel tov to Dr. Yocheved Schwartz- Lindenbaum on her graduation from Sackler Medical School and to Ariel Schwartz on his graduation from Columbia Engineering.

Refuah Shlema to Sylvia Fruchter (Zysel bat Bella)
Refuah Shlema to Gilad Schwartz (Gilad Hillel ben Bracha Mirel)

May 8-14th

Here we are on May 13-14th Rosh Hodesh Sivan, as we head toward Shavuot, and we are experiencing 25-30 degree temperatures and beautiful 17-20 degree nights. Considering that Montreal had snow this week, we think most people would rather be here….so lets talk about what happened in our little corner of the world.

Shabbat last week (where we left off) was amazing. We had a full house, with Monty and Daniella, Ariel and Shoshana sleeping over and Elan, Nomi, and Ryan Fiter joining us at the table for all the Shabbat meals. The table was very lively, although Shoshana went to sleep a bit early after eating a HUGE Shabbat dinner. We had the pleasure of waking up in the morning to our granddaughter, who slept really well, till after 7:30! Most of the men went to pray on Saturday morning at the Hurva Synagogue in the Old City. For those who do not know the story, the Hurva (means Ruin/Destroyed) was built originally in the 1700’s and was destroyed only a few years after it was constructed. It was rebuilt during the 1860’s and was a central part of Jerusalem during the British Mandate, but when Jordan captured the Old City in the War of Independence in 1948, they destroyed all standing synagogues. Over the past few years, benefactors began to rebuild the Hurva, and it is really magnificent. In keeping with the style and code of the Old City, whatever was still present from old Jerusalem stone was incorporated into the walls, and the large domed ceiling and two balconies have been added. Well worth the visit, and the prayers were beautiful and very moving.

We continued with lots of food and talk and singing, and even included a trip to the park with Shoshana and a few naps! Having everyone around for Shabbat was a great birthday present. Monty and Daniella went back to Haifa that night and we will see them again on Shavuot.

Sunday was my first work day, and coming back to Hebrew University and the (now) familiar lab of my host and collaborator Dr. Francesca Levy-Schaffer was fun. I am supervising a couple of projects (including one Nomi is part of), will be doing some teaching, and we will be writing a proposal for more Canada-Israel cooperative science. Sunday was also Mother’s Day, which is not celebrated in Israel, but Barbara and I went to a great Chinese restaurant for a combined Birthday and Mother’s Day Celebration. The rest of the week was equally busy, with work, training our new students, and babysitting.

A major highlight of the week was Yom Yerushalayim, the 43rd anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem during the 6 day war. Prior to 1967, there was no access to either Jewish or Christian Holy places. Since then, Jerusalem Old and New have become home to 770,000 people, and is the visiting place for all three major religions. We started the celebration on Tuesday night by taking a terrific walking tour (3.5 hours) along the rail routes in the city, old and new (a new light rail tram will be opening in 1-2 years, supposedly, although the project is about 6 years behind….sounds like the MUHC). The tour was led by former Montrealers Yitzhak and Pnina Zocher, unbelievably knowledgeable in Jerusalem History and the Bible. Wednesday was the Yom Yerushalyin Parade through the streets of Jerusalem, where thousands of young people (mainly high school and college kids) march thought the streets and then congregate for a huge party at the Western Wall. The Old City was literally wall to wall with people. We did not even attempt to descend the stairs to the Wall, since we would have taken an hour to get down and then another hour to get back up. It was really impressive and although we took pictures, they don’t do the festivities justice.

Sadly, the festival seems to be restricted to the modern orthodox religious population. There were few true Hassidim there, and not that many of the other ultra-orthodox groups. Secular Israelis could also be spotted, but were few and far between. When you consider the euphoria of the moment in 1967 (some great You-tubes exist of the recapturing of Jerusalem; ask Rabbi Ebbin for the links!) and when you consider that for 2000 years Jews prayed to be returned to the seat of religious Judaism, the area around the Holy temple and its environs, you would think that this would be an extremely important national holiday. The truth is that if you pick up the Left-wing paper Ha-aretz, you see the headline “Jerusalem Day celebrates an Illusory Unification”. This op-ed may or may not reflect a sizable percent of the non-dati-leumi (religious Zionist) public; in any case, it bemoans the fact that we have both the new and Old Jerusalem in our hands, but it is on the backs of the displaced people that once lived there. Of course, the op-ed does not mention our history of pogroms and displacement, or the destruction of our holy places, now being rebuilt, that occurred when the city was not part of the state of Israel. I think that we truly can and should celebrate the Unification of Jerusalem, and it was certainly no illusion to almost 100,000 youth and young adults that joined the party Wednesday night!

We started off this segment by discussing the great weather here compared to cold Montreal. I forgot one aspect that makes people want to stay in Montreal….the Habs! Way to go guys! I even listened to the broadcast on CJAD on Monday night (don’t ask why…). The time difference aside, we are all celebrating with our great team! Go Habs GO!

Did we mention that Elan and Nomi were awarded scholarships from the AACI (a Canadian-American organization that supports young people who make Aliyah)? They were presented at a ceremony on Thursday evening, so in celebration we all went out to dinner together with the Goldbergers. The locale, Anna Ticho House, is a restaurant in as pretty a garden as you’ll see in the city. Great food and atmosphere, and Shoshana ate half of Elan’s Onion soup!

We will be spending Shabbat in Talmon with our friends Rabbi Ronen and Michal Sela and family, with Ariel joining us. Talmon is beautiful (I blogged about it last January) and we are looking forward to seeing our ex-neighbors from Sunrise. Stay tuned!

Please wish Sylvia Fruchter (Zysel bat Bella) a Refuah Shelema
Please wish Gilad Schwartz (Gilad Hillel ben Bracha Mirel) a Refuah Shelema

A wonderful Shabbat to all

Barbara and Bruce

Shabbat May 7, 2010

In case you missed us, we are now on round 2. Really! Barbara and Bruce arrived back in Jerusalem on Monday (May 3) after an uneventful flight via Philadelphia, set for a 9 week sojourn in the holy land. 9 weeks? What will you do for 9 weeks? It will actually be quite a ride. Bruce was invited back to the Department of Pharmacology at Hebrew University as a visiting professor. I’ll be teaching, supervising research projects, and hopefully developing an idea I have for more collaboration with several Israeli scientists. Barbara will be working on her research, speaking at a few Universities, and employed in the most important job of all….Babysitting Shoshana!!

Of course, this is not a sabbatical, so things will not be as ‘calm’ as in the fall/winter of 2008-09. We are still doing our regular jobs from afar, and will be flying back in mid visit for one week, basically for a conference and a CIHR meeting, and to check out how all of our respective parents are faring (fine, we are sure!). So if you see us in Canada (Montreal, Ottawa, Halifax…) it’s not a mirage.

This week, like many first weeks, has been an adventure in how to try to adjust to the different time zones. At least the jet lag had one advantage: we got to hear part of the Canadien’s game on Tuesday (too bad they lost). Other than sleep being very topsy turvey, we have set up our apartment (a new locale in Rehavia) and spent most of our free time hanging with Shoshana, Elan and Nomi, who are doing really great. We also had the honor of making a L’chaim with Mary Ruth and Ronnie Gehr, in honor of the Brit Milah of Yosef Akiva, son to Carolyn and Gavi Kaufman and of course brother to Shmuel! Mazel tov and may all the children and grandchildren be healthy and bring lots of Naches (how to translate naches? Pleasure? Joy? All of the above) to their families.

The week flew past, although in jet lag we did not really venture out and retake the pulse of this fabulous city. Well, maybe a little. The weather is amazing and the streets are full of people. The Mamilla mall, our gateway to Elan and Nomi’s home in the old city, is busy with natives and tourists, people from all walks of life and backgrounds. Truly an international city. Thursday night, we were invited to a siyum (finishing a tractate of Talmud) that Ryan Fiter was giving. It is very exciting, since finishing a volume of Talmud is no mean feat. However, it started at 2 AM, which means that maybe we didn’t go. If you go back in the annals of these posts, I did this once before for a speech Elan gave…..In any case we are very happy for Ryan; he makes all of Sunrise Ave proud!

As usual, Friday is an amazing day. I think that jet lag is over; we both got up at a more normal hour; I made it to minyan (where I used to go for prayers when we lived in Katamon, which is equidistant to our new apartment) and then to our old bakery and grocery store to pick up a bunch of things for Shabbat and home by 8:30 AM. We had breakfast and then off the Market, Machane Yehuda. This is the happening place on Friday mornings. It is an outdoor vendor street market, with everything you could possibly want; fruit, vegetables, meat, baked goods, wine; all sold at very high volume (I mean noise!) You have to be fast and know what you want and what you want to pay for it! Then, we met Ariel for lunch, saw Elan for a minute and back to the apartment.

We are very excited about Shabbat. Monty and Daniella arrived from Haifa a few minutes ago and look great! The rest of the Jerusalem crowd, including Ryan, are joining us as well. The apartment has plenty of room and an extra bed room, so in case you need a place to stay in Jerusalem, we are at Binyamin Mitudela 28, apt 6. Let us know in advance as the weekends are filling up fast!

More next week and hopefully more great pictures of Pre-Shabbat and Shoshana!

Wishing every one a Wonderful Shabbat!

Barbara and Bruce

PS: Special Mazel tov to the Gehr and Kaufman families on the birth of Yosef Akiva!

Refuah Shlema to our dear friend Sylvia Fruchter (Zysel bat Bella)
Refuah Shlema to Gilad Hillel ben Brach Mirell (Gilad Schwartz)
Happy Birthday to Bilha Fruchter!

Go Habs Go!