June 19-25

As I write this I am looking over onto the beach of Netanya, gazing at a lovely sunset as we prepare to walk into town to just wander and find somewhere for dinner. We are ending our week at the Seasons Hotel on the cliff above the waters of the Mediterranean. We have been joined for Shabbat by the rest of the Mazer clan in Israel, to cap off another lively, busy week here. Yes, we know that back home there is a lot going on as well, especially busy with weddings and other s’machot. As we share in your s’machot from afar, its time to share thoughts and events from our corner of the world….

Shabbat in Jerusalem last week saw Ariel join us from the south, needing some home cooking. Friday night, Ryan Fiter joined us as he was spending his last Shabbat in Israel (for this academic year). He looked great, and had a terrific year. I’m sure his parents are very happy to have him home. On Shabbat we were joined by Nomi, Elan and Shoshana, as well as Yizchock and Pnina Zocher, ex of Montreal and Hebrew Academy. As always, Yitzchok was the consummate educator; he came prepared with Trivia about the Parsha, about the name of our street and other things, all written on cue cards that fit in his pockets! We went out to a local sushi place after Shabbat.

Sunday in North America was Father’s Day. In Israel, every day is Father’s Day (OK, it’s better than saying they don’t really care about fathers…) So, instead of breakfast in bed, I got up at 6:15 and went to minyan and work, like every other Father’s day (except Shabbat of course!). However, we had decided to do some errands that evening on Emek Refaim (like fight with the Pelephone people for the 100th time) and so we decided to have dinner out, which we will consider a Father’s day dinner (well, not the same without all the kids, but it was a work day). Then we went to the Jerusalem Artists Workshop, which is across the street from the Mt. Zion Hotel. During the Jerusalem Light Festival, the Cardo was turned into a street fair for artisans, who sold everything from freshly blown glass to flowers and fruit with lights inside. We saw a really pretty fired clay wall hanging with gold inlay and colored inserts, looking like stained glass when the light is on. Everyone is invited over to see it, when it is hanging! So, after our dinner, we went to the Artist’s studio to purchase this piece; we saw her workplace, the kiln which heats up to 1200C and other accoutrements. If you like the wall-hanging we also have Tehila’s business card…

“Its not the heat, it’s the humidity” department: You know it’s hot when you go outside and even if you drank a litre of water 5 minutes before, you need to drink again. We had three days this week of 36 degree heat, with humidity of 10%; Ariel said in the south, near Be-er Sheva, it was 44 degrees, again with almost no humidity. A dry heat? Try sticking your head in the oven (not gas, though, the fumes can get you). It’s still hard to breath, let alone walk or run! Fortunately, by Tuesday afternoon the winds came in over the hills, and cooled things down to a much more comfortable 30, with evenings in the high teens in Jerusalem. It even cooled down a bit in the south (still pretty hot though).

You know, we talk a lot about controversies in Israel, about politics, security, world reactions, etc. But after two sojourns here at Hebrew University, I think it’s time to just reflect on some of the positives. Both Barbara and I have noticed that in the academic community, there is a tremendous energy to act on new ideas, to move things forward, and to get things done. The resources are not great, the facilities are often run down, but the people are talented, highly motivated, and very engaged. If you give a seminar, be prepared for lots of questions and challenges. It is a fun place to do science, just because of the high energy of the people involved.

On Monday night we were invited to the wedding of Dina Ellbogen, daughter of Ian and Andree (our friends from Cote St. Luc). Dina and her husband Yoseph live in Nachlaot, a subdivision in central Jerusalem near the Machanei Yehuda Market, and learn together at a yeshiva that is based on the teachings of R’Shlomo Carlebach. The yeshiva is run by ex-Montrealer Shalom Brott. The wedding was held in the winery at Psagot, in the Binyamin region. The setting was beautiful. 80% of the guests were friends of the bride and groom, many from the Nachlaot “Brestlever Chasidic” community. The ruach (spirit) and music were great, and the crowd was really into celebrating the Bride and Groom. In addition, it was great seeing several old friends, Meytal and David Zviel, Hadas and Nir Grossman, Tsurit and Elad Feligstein, and Lipa Glantz who were all there.

Tuesday was lab and babysitting day, with Shoshana showing us some athletic prowess (see video) and keeping Barbara very busy and entertained. Nomi and I came back from Hebrew U and we all had dinner together, while Elan had his last class at the college where he is completing his B.Ed. Wednesday was a very long lab day, with a bit of a marathon experiment. This gave us just enough time in the evening to pack and get ready to for our holiday on the coast.

Netanya is highly underrated. It is right on the Mediterranean, it has a beautiful beach and boardwalk, and all the trappings for a nice holiday. There is a pedestrian mall right across from the beach and we were able to walk all along taking in the sights; people in café’s, street vendors, and large projections of the World Cup matches (who gets so excited for Congo scoring a goal?). There are dozens of cafes and restaurants with outdoor tables. We walked together after dinner, window shopped and ended the evening with a free outdoor concert on the beach. OK, not exactly the Jazz Festival, but no chance of getting rained out either! One thing about Netanya is that unlike Tel-Aviv or Herzliah, the tourist industry is not really built up; the hotels are not the same as in the better tourist areas, and the city is a bit smaller and not as affluent. On the other hand we are in a great hotel on a beautiful beach for less than other places….

It is the 4th anniversary since Gilad Shalit was kidnapped by Hamas and has been held captive with no external contact ever since. Jews in Israel and all over continue to pray for his safe release in the very near future.

We look forward to a great Shabbat in Netanya, and a great week ahead, Our friends from New Jersey Lori, Alvan and Jacob Small are coming to Israel, as are Rivka and Alex Guttman. It is also our last full week in Jerusalem, so it promises to be a packed one!

We wish everyone a warm and wonderful Shabbat!

Barbara and Bruce

Mazel Tov to Dina Ellbogen and Yoseph Tugenburg and their families on their Wedding!
Mazel Tov to Naomi Yunger and Tzvi Glustien and their families on their Wedding!

Refuah S’hlema (a complete and speedy recovery) to Gilad Schwartz (Gilad Hillel Ben Bracha Mirel)
Refuah S’hlema (a complete and speedy recovery) to Sylvia Fruchter (Zissel bat Bella)
Refuah S’hlema (a complete and speedy recovery) to Robert Goldberger (Shmuel ben Sarah)

June 12-18

When we last left our intrepid heroes, they were on the way to Haifa for Shabbat with Monty and Daniella in Kiryat Shmuel, that great little suburb 5 minutes from the beach. Of course, one of the most important parts of getting ready for Shabbat is sending out this weekly contribution to everyone’s Shabbat table (or circular file, or the cyberspace equivalent). I actually wrote it mostly before we left Jerusalem and added the pictures, and uploaded a draft to the web. But, readers, Monty’s wireless router died, and we were unable to access the internet…what to do? Ah, thanks to the magic of cell phone networks, we got to the web site, posted the blog and then emailed everyone a link. Where would we be without technology?

Shabbat was excellent, with terrific food (we have plagiarized a couple of Daniella’s recipes for this Shabbat) shul, sleep, hot weather and a walk on the beach. On Motzei Shabbat we split up, with Bruce going back to Jerusalem and Barbara staying in Haifa as she was speaking at Haifa University on Monday. So, while I went on the bus, Barbara and Daniella went to the mall to buy a new wireless router, so the Haifa Mazer’s house is now completely connected again.

Barbara got to spend two days on the Mediterranean, with another long walk on the beach, dinner from the Fruchter’s hometown in Kiryat Ata, and some quality time with Daniella and Monty. Monday afternoon, she went up to the very top of Haifa where Haifa University is. It is a very striking site, with most of the campus consisting of very low buildings with one very tall (over 20 story) main building right in the middle. From far (like from Monty’s street) you can see the main building clearly rising above the others. The faculty of Rehabilitation is there, and Barbara gave a presentation that was hosted by her colleague Naomi Josmin and attended by therapists from all over the country. As usual, the crowd was very engaged; when you give a seminar in Israel, prepare to field lots of questions, and entertain opinions. You’ve seen Israeli bus and cab drivers, grandmothers and storekeepers? Wait till you see Israeli Scientists! It reminds me of the old joke. Obama and Netanyahu are having a meeting. Obama, in his most patronizing tone, says, “You know, Bibi, I am President in a land of 300,000,000 people.” Replies Bibi; “All due respect, Barack, my friend, but I am Prime Minister in a land of 7,000,000 Prime Ministers.”

Anyway, after the talk the group of Rehab researchers’ went for dinner in Zichron Yaacov, about 2 minutes from Haifa, at the Tishbi Restaurant (yes that of the Tishbi Winery fame). A beautiful setting and a great way to finish the day….except there was still a bus ride back to Jerusalem (from Tel Aviv this time!).

Meanwhile in Jerusalem, Bruce continued with lab work, primarily on a project with Nomi and her lab partner Dahlia. They are making really good progress. I am very impressed at how quickly they picked things up and how organized their work is. The project will continue for several weeks after we leave, but it looks like all the techniques are in place. This week is a big one with some crucial preparations and experiments, so hopefully everything will go well!

It is also soon exam time in Israel, so both Nomi in Jerusalem and Monty in Med School in Technion are going to be spending some intense times with their books. Daniella is almost finished, with only two papers left to complete, and Elan studies all the time, with a different (Rabbinic) exam schedule for his studies.
We rekindled a tradition from our Sabbatical: Tuesday Night dinner with Elan and Nomi and of course Shoshana. Barbara picked up Shoshana on Tuesday afternoon and she played here after her nap. Then everyone came to our house for dinner. In lieu of learning (which was a highlight of last year) we went to the Jerusalem Festival of Lights again. This was the second to last day and the streets of the Old City were packed with people wall to wall. We could hardly move. It was great to see so many people enjoying the Old City and its surroundings. No light shows on the Western Wall; that has remained non-commercial.

Wednesday we decided to check out the Bible Lands Museum, a little gem (but underused) on the same campus as the giant Israel Museum. This museum was established in 1987 and is based primarily on the private collection of Dr. Eli Borowski, a professor of Antiquities who lived in Toronto. His wife was the first curator and is still very active. The theme is based on relics and artifacts from the countries that contributed to the personalities and stories of the Tanach (Bible) from before Abraham (app 4000 years ago) through Moshe and Egypt, till the Exodus and return to Canaan, the times of the Judges and Kings and the two expulsions from Israel and Temple destructions. In keeping with the theme, artifacts from Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia and Turkey are all included. We and the Gehrs participated in a great English tour of the main exhibits and then had another tour of their new exhibit on Jewish Magic called Angels and Demons. Definitely a great place to visit. The evening was topped off with sushi for dinner and lots of chatter about being a grandparent (we have all come a long way, I guess!)

We need this like a hole in the head department: As if there is not enough negative publicity in the Jewish world today, with Gaza, flotillas and spy scandals, the headlines in Jerusalem were of 100,000 black garbed Haredim protesting in the streets of Jerusalem and in Bnei Brak. The nature of the protest has to bewilder those of us who come from communities like Montreal, where Ashkenazim and Sepharadim work together to strengthen institutions, learn together and work together. This protest had to do with the Emmanuel school, a girls school populated mostly by Slonin Hassidm, but part of the government school system. The school has segregated areas for the Sepharadi girls; walls have actually been built to separate the two groups. The government has ruled against the school, and in a landmark decision, ordered parents of over 30 Hasidic families imprisoned for 2 weeks because they refused to send their children back to school after the walls were removed. Integration of one group of religious students with another can only ultimately strengthen both, but clearly there is a lot of support for segregation not only among the Chasidim and especially their spiritual leaders. Now to be fair, maybe the government did not have to put people in jail for keeping their kids out of school (so they could become heros to their communities). And to be fair, the Chasidic leaders did not have to call a huge rally in their honor). But they both did, and nobody ends up looking so good. We have Turkey and Iran on one side and…..what next?

And to top off our week, we had a wonderful sleepover party with Shoshana, who continues to stampede along with her vocabulary and lead the league in cuteness. Friday morning we wandered around with her doing errands and ended up in the Jewish Quarter to return her to her parents and pick up Ariel for lunch. Shabbat will be in Jerusalem, and we have Ariel and Ryan tonight for dinner, with Elan, Nomi and Shoshana and Yitzhak and Pnina Zocher joining us tomorrow. Next week, we plan a mini vacation to Netanya starting Thursday and hopefully all the Mazer’s will be together there next Shabbat!

Wishing everyone a wonderful Shabbat,

Barbara and Bruce

Mazel Tov to Dina Ellbogen and Yoseph Tugenburg and their families on their upcoming Wedding!

Mazel Tov to Naomi Yunger and Tzvi Glustien and their families on their upcoming Wedding!

Mazel Tov to Anna and Ivan Lerner on Stephen being honored by the Israeli Army at a dinner in Montreal!

Refuah S’hlema (a complete and speedy recovery) to Gilad Schwartz (Gilad Hillel Ben Bracha Mirel)
Refuah S’hlema (a complete and speedy recovery) to Sylvia Fruchter (Zissel bat Bella)
Refuah S’hlema (a complete and speedy recovery) to Robert Goldberger (Shmuel ben Sarah)

June 5-12, 2010

“Yerushalayim Oro Shel Olam” “Jerusalem is the Light of the World”

This is a statement in the Babylonian Talmud. While there is obviously a lot of debate in today’s world about this statement, the city of Jerusalem has created a modern context: the Second Annual Jerusalem Festival of Lights! This is a series of concerts, displays and sound and light shows that started on Wednesday June 9, and will continue for a week. The main areas that are on display are in an around the Old City (see Complaints department, below). Last night, we kicked off the festivities by going to the opening concert, a sound and light show featuring the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. Picture this huge outdoor venue at the Sultan’s Pool outside the walls near Zion Gate, with grandstands, a stage, hundreds of lights and pyrotechnics, and no contingency plans for rain! Pretty slim chance of rain here in the summer. It was a great concert, amazing acoustics and super venue (in spite of the high winds and chilly temperature). We went to the concert with Mary Ruth, Ronnie and Elinor Gehr (real musicians), who then joined us as we wandered through the Old City and took in the lights and displays. It was very impressive and well worth the time to go. We actually only saw about half of what there is going on.

Complaints Department 1: Now the other side of the coin. As many of you know, Nomi, Elan and Shoshana live in an apartment just off the main square of the Jewish Quarter of the old city, right opposite the newly re-built Hurva Synagogue. Of course, this was prime territory for a very impressive but loud animation on the history, destruction (twice) and reconstruction of the Hurva (complete with Shwecky and Avraam Fried music, for those in the know). This was great for us onlookers, but since it went on till 12:15 AM, those living in the buildings all around were kind of annoyed by the noise (not to mention by their crying babies who could not sleep). As of this evening the families in the environs seem to have negotiated that the light part of the sound and light show will continue till closing, but the sound will be turned off at 11. You know what they say: Location, location, location! If it wasn’t for the 3000 years of history in their back yard, this would be equivalent to living on Crescent street on Grand Prix Weekend…but there are significant differences between the Jewish Quarter and Crescent and de Maisonneuve, n’est pas?

Shabbat, where we left off last week, was great, fun and a bit hectic. Monty and Daniella were last minute guests having had a change in their Shabbat plans. We had a great Friday night dinner with the whole family, and then a Montreal Reunion on Shabbat, with the Gehrs, Sutnicks, and Gabe and Ben Homa joining Monty, Daniella, and Ariel at our house. Daniella and Monty visited Daniella’s cousin who just had a baby, and there ample time for napping and reading. Sunday night was dinner out with Elan and Nomi (Happy Belated Anniversary to both young couples in the family!). Monday brought us a special treat. Nomi had a driving test early Tuesday AM in Modiin, so we had a sleep over party with Shoshana. A few of you may have seen the videos of dinner with Shoshana. I may post them on Facebook: they are adorable!! Barbara babysat on Tuesday while Nomi and her lab partner and I worked on an experiment, and then Tuesday evening after dinner we walked a very tired baby (and her Ima) home. To cap it off, Nomi passed her driving test!!

This Shabbat we are headed back to Haifa for more time with Monty and Daniella in Kiryat Shmuel. Barbara will be speaking at Haifa University on Monday, and Bruce will be going back to the lab for a crucial experiment on Sunday and Monday (let's hope it works!)

Wishing everyone a most special Shabbat

Barbara and Bruce

Mazel Tov to Yoni and Jordana, and to Shimon and Brenda Garellek and the Klein family on Yoni and Jordana's upcoming wedding.

Mazel tov to Tamar and Aryeh and to the Feldman and Rossdeutscher families on their upcoming wedding!

Refuah S’hlema (a complete and speedy recovery) to Gilad Schwartz (Gilad Hillel Ben Bracha Mirel)

Refuah S’hlema (a complete and speedy recovery) to Sylvia Fruchter (Zissel bat Bella)

Refuah S’hlema (a complete and speedy recovery) to Robert Goldberger (Shmuel ben Sarah)

May 22-June 4

It’s 9 AM on Friday and we have a special guest for breakfast. Sorry, not an Israeli dignitary. Actually, better. A little blond 22 month old chatty person who loves books and apparently likes Cheerios too….Shoshana. In fact, we also had her company for dinner and for a sleep-over party as her parents did some needed shopping and perhaps got to sleep in a bit. Shoshana entertained us with her rapier wit and extensive vocabulary which includes all the animals, their sounds, and great lines like “Sabi, jump” (no, she doesn’t want me to jump, she wants me to help her jump) as well as lots of “Ani” (me in Hebrew) meaning she wants to do it HERSELF. Of course, in our house, she could probably do anything she wants…

The last installment ended before we left for a week back in Canada. I say Canada, because our travels took us to Montreal, Halifax, Ottawa and even Chomedey. However, the story begins with our first ever Shabbat in the Krayot, a group of suburbs of Haifa. Monty and Daniella moved to Kiryat Shmuel last fall when Monty started Medical School at Technion. At the same time, Daniella continued her political science degree at Haifa University. NEWS FLASH: Congratulations to Daniella who has officially completed her course work for her BA in Political Science at York!

Kiryat Shmuel is a great place to spend Shabbat. It is predominantly a Religious Zionist community, which is pretty unique as it is a no-drive zone on Shabbat. This makes the streets very quiet and safe for children to run around and families to stroll under the sun or hang out in the parks. On top of that, it is next to Kiryat Yam, (the suburb by the sea) which means that it is a 5-10 minute walk to the beach! A good number of the married med students in the same program as Monty also live there, so there is a built in community. So, with Daniella and Monty cooking up a storm, lively weather and davening at the Central Synagogue with its 17th century marble Aron Kodesh (Ark for the Torah Scrolls) brought from Italy, it was an excellent combination for Shabbat. Reservations required.

After watching some of the hockey game on-line (the Saturday game that the Habs lost at home) we took a train to the airport and our trip home began. The week was a bit of a whirlwind, with visits to parents (everyone looked pretty good!), two days at work, Barbara off to Halifax to present at the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists annual meeting (where her good friend Annette Majnemer was being honored with the prestigious Muriel Driver lectureship), and Bruce to Ottawa to sit on a scientific panel. I’m glad it was summer, as we both got home Friday after 7 PM. Shabbat was spent in the company of friends, with Steve and Estie Fiter hosting us, the Reichmans and the Guttmans on Friday night and we hosted Bilha and Orly Fruchter and Bilha’s roommate Jessica for lunch. The best news is that Sylvia Fruchter’s recovery from surgery is progressing well; she is now at the Jewish Rehab center in Chomedey and actually at home this weekend on a weekend pass. It was nice to visit with her. We tied up loose ends on Sunday and Monday and then…..

Back to Israel on Tuesday. This was a tough week in the Jewish Community world wide. As most of you know by now, there was an incident in the waters heading toward Gaza. The blockade imposed by Israel by Gaza is not an imprudent act; the inspection of ships and transfer by Israel of real humanitarian aid, while weeding out the possibility of materials to create weapons is self-protective and therefore, very logical. What is fallacious is the knee jerk condemnation of Israel in response to the events that transpired, with navy soldiers who boarded the ship being ambushed by pipe and chain bearing mercenaries from various countries. This led to a gunfight, in which 9 of the soldiers for hire on the so-called peace flotilla were killed. (If you haven’t been inundated with clips and information, I can provide some…) What I wanted to really highlight was what the reaction was here. As the world judged, and even some Israeli’s thought that the navy had overreacted…yet as the footage came out showing the ambush, the country rallied together. The driver of our taxi started out with “So, what do you think about what’s going on?” and then proceeded to tell us that he can’t believe how blind the world is. The following day, as we were walking to Elan and Nomi’s, there was a large solidarity rally in Independence Park (Gan Ha-atzmaut). With orange and green signs waving, lots of police and helicopters making sure the rally was safe, the concept of standing together and supporting those that protect us was really brought home. Even the spectrum of newspapers were supportive (but of course, Haaretz was still an exception). By and large, except for the most fervent leftists, there is a strong sense of unity here. At least there is a positive after a difficult week on the world stage.

Shabbat started of exciting enough, as we were going to get together with Mary Ruth and Ronnie Gehr (on sabbatical) and Robert and Barbara Sutnick from Tekoa for Shabbat Lunch and Nomi, Elan and Shoshana for Friday night. Then, surprise, Ariel said he was free, so we had another guest. This this morning Monty called and said that their Shabbat plans had fallen through, but they could get a ride to Jerusalem, so would we like guests? Of course! So, we are once again a full house for Shabbat, which is as it should be!

May we all have a Shabbat of Peace and Fulfillment (and full houses!)

Barbara and Bruce

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

Mazel Tov to Daniella who finished her requirements and will be receiving her BA from York this summer.
Mazel tov to Ali and Zack Isakow on their recent marriage.