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