Yom Kippur-Sukkot October 15, 2011

It’s been a while since I sentout one of these blog docs (a new word I just made up) so let’s start off properly. As you know, we are in the time of the Jewish New Year period, with Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur just behind us, and the holiday of Sukkot having just begun. On behalf of Barbara and the whole Mazer family, we would like to wish all our friends and family health, success and sweetness for the forthcoming year and many more!

Now for the News (appropriate background music)……We are in Israel (which should be no surprise, since that is the theme of this blog). What some of you may not know is that over this summer we recently purchased a small apartment in Netanya to allow us to be a little closer to our kids and give them and us a place of refuge. As we have said before, Netanya is a small city near the Mediterranean. We have a really nice location and there is enough room for our children to visit.

We arrived in Israel on the day before Yom Kippur, with lots of luggage in tow, including “stuff” for the new apartment and a car seat for Monty and Daniella, who are expecting a baby (not the one in the picutre!) this December. After a very rapid blurry eyed stop at the apartment (we left all the lights on when we left), we took off for Haifa, where we would be spending

Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur is a solemn day of fasting, prayer and introspection, but we had the privilege of joining Monty’s synagogue, where he led Shacharit, the Morning service on Yom Kippur. He is really great at this, and the congregation was full of praise and congratulated us on his awesome performance. Of course, we did not have much to do with it, but the praise and pride of hearing him do so well was great.

Yom Kippur ended with a great meal at Monty and Daniella’s with a group of their friends (it began with the same group at another of their friends) and then we were back to Netanya. The next four days were run at breakneck speed, as we made the first inroads into setting up the apartment. Meetings with people to do some basic repairs, painting, electrical, shopping for essentials, looking at furniture….thank goodness for our kids here. They’ve been a huge help with lots of practical advice. Thanks to Monty and Daniella’s shopping, we equipped the place with beds before we arrived. In addition, kudos to Ariel who came to Netanya from Jerusalem to allow the bed installers into the apartment. We ran around and learned more about this new community in a very short time than we thought possible. The finishing touches included the building of our Sukkah, a temporary dwelling outdoors for

the holiday of Sukkot. This holiday was made for Israeli weather (and most certainly not for rainy, chilly Canadian weather). We have a very small balcony but it is sufficient, and with Ariel’s considerable help we put up the sukkah in record time.

We began the holiday of Sukkot back in Haifa (a 1 hour drive), where Monty had proudly put up a Sukkah about 3 times the size of ours on his balcony. He and Daniella were again great hosts, and we contributed by shopping in the Hasidic district of Netanya (called the Sanz quarter or Kiryat Sanz, after the group that lives there). We learned the best places to shop there for great home style food (if you are a Hungarian Hasid, that is) including amazing chopped liver, herring and potato kugel. Rib sticking stuff! Monty and Daniella hosted friends at each meal and we had a great time. Then back down the highway and we began to prepare for Elan, Nomi, Shoshana and Shlomo to come for Shabbat. We spent Friday with all the family together; in fact the Haifa group joined us for a walk along the boardwalk, and a lunch on Independence square. We aren’t quite set up to sleep more than 6 yet, but we plan to have enough accommodation so we can have everyone together in the same space for many years to come.

Shabbat here was great, with nice meals, going to synagogue, walks to the park and lots of time chatting with Ariel, Elan and Nomi and playing with the kids. Shoshana, age 3 is a real big girl, very happy, great precocious language skills and an excellent big sister. Shlomo, age 10 months, is into everything (as he should be) and keeps everyone on their toes.

After Shabbat, we went for a walk back to the town square, and received a surprise phone call. Our friends Ronen and Michal Sela, who

lived in Montreal over 10 years ago, said they were in the car and how would we like visitors? Of course we would like visitors! So with almost their entire family in tow (5/6 kids and their eldest daughter’s boyfriend) they arrived for a tour of our apartment, a walk on the beach and a tour of the neighborhood. It was great catching up, seeing the kids

What else is going on in Israel? Well the big news of course is the prisoner exchange for the Israeli Soldier Gilad Shalit who was kidnapped in 2006. There will be approximately 1000 prisoners released to Hamas in Gaza and the West Bank when Gilad is liberated. There are, of course, mixed feelings about this. On one hand, no one debates that it is wonderful for the family of Gilad Shalit that they will get their son back. The question is, what price does one pay for this? Among those who will be released from prison are terrorists who planned the operation that blew up the Park Hotel during a Passover Seder and murdered over 30 people, and those that planned the explosion in the Dolphinarium dance club that killed teenagers. Does this mean that there will be more kidnappings since the ultimate settlement is so generous? Only time will tell. The prisoner exchanges should begin by Tuesday.and strolling in the clear cool air.

This was really a packed 10 days and this little summary does not really do it justice, but I don’t want to bore you with too many details. One thing for certain; the people we have met here are very warm and welcoming. Neighbors have knocked on our door, people in synagogue have been very helpful, and we have really felt like this home away from home will be a lot of fun. Come join us!

Wishing you all a great week and Chag Sameach/ Happy Sukkot

Barbara and Bruce

We would like to wish a great friend Chaim Fruchter a very Happy Birthday!

Also very very very happy birthday wishes to our two daughter’s in law, Nomi and Daniella, whose birthdays fall in the next two weeks. We could not have picked better people for our sons to marry!

Shabbat April 29-30

How was Passover in Israel, you ask? Well, even if you didn’t ask, I’m going to tell you. The weather is measurably better than what the great North East had this year. Warm and sunny days, cool dry evenings, really perfect. That is very typical for April in Israel. For us, of course, the highlight was the ability to spend the holiday with family and extended family. We celebrated the Passover Seders with Elan, Nomi, Shoshana and Shlomo, Ariel and with the Goldberger family, Nomi’s parents. It was great; lots of lively discussion, singing, more discussion, and terrific food. The Goldbergers hosted all the big meals and we returned the favor on our second night.

We also were able to do a bit of touring; we went to the coast off the Mediterranean, towards Haifa, called Chof Dor. Here is our Bible lesson for today; as you know Jews are commanded to wear Tzitsit, fringed garments. There is a biblical commandment to dye at least one of the fringes Tchelet, or blue. The only problem is, the source of the blue dye that was used is not known. Scientific research and comparison with ancient texts seems to point to the source being a snail, M. trunculus, found off the cost of Israel stretching from Dor to the Lebanese border. This area is home to an ancient sea port, a fortress, a Christian Church and Crusader stronghold, and even the place where Napolean tried to invade when he moved into the middle East. But today the focus is the snail and we went Scuba diving to catch some (and throw them back) and to learn about how the dye is made from them. We then went south to Netanya, where we went out for lunch on Passover to a beautiful restaurant on the cliff above the sea. Israel is packed with restaurants all open on Passover. In North America, Passover is the time most restaurants take holiday. In Israel it seems that this is the hottest time of year for people to go out! You gotta try it.

We spent another lovely Shabbat in Modiin, as well as the last days of the Passover holiday. We were joined by Gail Jaffe and Ashie, as well has his new bride to be Dassy (they are getting married on May 22nd). It was fun to host them, and also to get to know Dassy (wishing the new couple many happy years together!). Passover ended for us on Tuesday evening and since we were not at home, the post Passover clean-up was pretty fast.

We then left Modiin for a few days away on the coast in Netanya. Barbara and I spent a few day s here last year, and it is really a great place to get away from it all. We stayed at the King Solomon Hotel, right on the boardwalk overlooking the Mediterranean. This is the ideal place for long walks, seaside dining, and, when the weather is hot (which is all relative, but right now it is in the low 20’s) it’s great for lying on the beach. Thursday was raining, so we drove around, did some indoor touring and then welcomed Monty and Daniella back from spending Passover in Toronto (Netanya is on the way from the airport to where they live in Haifa). In the evening, we met Rabbi Ronen and Michal Sela, ex-Montrealers. Israel was hit with a whole run of huge thunderstorms, which started in the late evening and continued through till about 5 AM. The lightning was pretty amazing (sorry, no pictures) and is a very unusual weather pattern for this time of year.

Our trip is coming to an end; back to reality tomorrow night. The final Shabbat will be spent in Netanya, and we’ve been joined on the beach by Elan, Nomi and family and Monty and Daniella. The nearby synagogue is the Young Israel of North Netanya, which is an Anglo bastion which would be easy to transplant to Montreal, London or New York! The people are very friendly and so it is a nice place overall to spend Shabbat.

Amazing, actually, if you think about it. When our children are young, we anticipate what it will be like when they grow up. When they do grow up and the nuclear family starts to move out in many directions, we miss the times that we were only one unit. It makes times like these, when we are all together, especially across all these miles, extremely precious. There is no taking for granted the importance of family being together. We wish you all a tremendous and meaningful Shabbat!

Barbara and Bruce

We wish Chuck Wagner, Jessica Samuel and Bilha Fruchter a very Happy Birthday!

Pre-Pesach April 18th

Welcome to our Passover adventure. Anyone who has ever prepared for Passover knows what it entails; a marathon of shopping, cleaning, more cleaning and cooking. Instead of marching in to the Seder, the festive Passover meal, with enthusiasm and vigor, for many it is just a question of barely surviving, exhausted, when you reach the main event. This year, we thought, it was going to be different! We decided that we were going to join our children in Israel, instead of bringing them home. After all, two tickets had to be cheaper than 4 or 6 or however many we could corral. So we organized to go to Israel. We were graciously invited to Elan’s in law’s, the Goldberger’s , to celebrate the Seder, and we rented an apartment in the city of Moddin, which is known as the home of the ancient Macabees, the heroes of Chanukah (but that is a different holiday!). So this excerpt is the lead up to the Seder, which will be on Monday night. We flew to Israel via Toronto, and our flight was packed full of people doing exactly what we were doing; taking off for a Passover holiday. So there we were, a few Montrealers, and about half of Thornhill taking off. Boarding started with the call for people who need assistance, families with small children, and “priority passengers”; people with enough frequent flyer miles to get early boarding. Usually, it’s a half a dozen, may be 10, maybe 20….but on this flight, it looked like ½ the plane was priority! Even the flight crew commented that they had never seen so many in the so-called priority line. It was actually faster to get on the plane in the regular line! OK, we survived our priority boarding. We knew several people on the plane, including Robert Goldberger and Ashie Stenge, who is getting married in May (Mazel tov!) Once we got on, it was good flight, and we were excited to arrive and see our kids and spend Shabbat with them. We picked up a rental car and arrived in Modiin mid-day Thursday, and dropped off our bags in our apartment. You can picture us travelling light, can’t you? Well, not exactly, as we had a duffle bags full of clothes for Shoshanna and Shlomo, other stuff for Monty, Daniella, Elan and Nomi, and a full bag of home-made Passover baked goods for Ariel (although there are enough to share!). We picked up, went to Jerusalem to visit and have dinner with Elan, Nomi and kids and Ariel, and then back to Modiin for sleep. Fortunately it is only half an hour away, since it appears we will make the trip a few times in the next week or so… Sha bbat was terrific, as we had the whole family together before Monty and Daniella were to take off for Toronto. Now, as Passover was rapidly approaching, who was going to cook for Shabbat? Many of you know about this gem of a takeout place on King George in Jerusalem, Marvad HaK’samim. We have used them before, great food, very reasonable (ask Alvan Small). The one catch is that shopping there is like being in the market. Under normal circumstances it is busy and chaotic….but for the Shabbat before Passover the chaos was ratcheted up a notch! However, we got out before there was no food left, and everyone ate really well. We enjoyed each other’s company, with special time at the park for Shoshana and Shlomo. After Shabbat we took the Toronto bound people to the airport, and went home to sleep and get ready to organize the apartment for Pesach. As I mentioned, usually preparations take days if not weeks. We had Sunday. In truth, the place was pretty clean and Elan had done some shopping before we came, but we still needed to organize the kitchen and pick up some last minute things. Now, in case you think Passover shopping in Israel is simple because “It’s Israel; everything must be Kosher” let me explain that there are two wrinkles to this axiom. Israel is a secular society, and so outside of very religious population centers, supermarket will more or less cater to those keeping Kosher for Passover, and even more complex, there are differences between the customs of Eastern European (Ashkenazic ) vs Sephardic Jewery as to what is considered Chametz, (leavened or unfit for Passover). The eastern European custom is more complex and stringent, and excludes many grains and seeds that are eaten by Sepharadim (for example, corn and rice). Even among sepahridim there are differences. What it boils down to is that in the grocery stores in Modiin, you have to read every label first to make sure the product is Kosher for Passover, then to see if it is made for one custom or the other. Confused? Exhausted? Just be grateful you shop at IGA or Sobeys’! Of course, there are many other great reasons to be in Israel for Passover. The weather is amazing, (for those of you freezing in Canada). Everyone in the streets, religious or not, wishes each other a Chag Sameach (Happy Holiday). But most important, this is where it all began, where our people were born and where we returned after thousands of years of Exile Monday night will be the first Seder, the celebration of the birth of the Jewish nation and the annual rebirth of our people through the recounting of the Exodus from Egypt over 3000 years ago. Yet, for every child from a very young age, the images of the exodus are as real as if it happened in contemporary times. This is the magic of education. Wish everyone a Happy and Kosher Passover. May the holiday of our freedom be an inspiring and (not exhausting) experience, where we are awakened to the marvel of the beauty of our religion, culture and the amazing chain that is built as the Passover Seder is recounted and the concepts passed from generation to generation.

Chag Sameach,
Barbara and Bruce

For a real treat, here is a great way to learn your Passover Songs from our granddaughter Shoshana!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVixrlPjg_I&feature=youtube_gdata

We wish our dear Brother in Law David a Happy Birthday
Happy Birthday to cousin Karen Mazer and nephew Joshua Samuel
Happy English Birthday, Elan!
And Most of all: Go Habs Go!

Let’s pick up where we left off from last time. Our Shabbat experience was greatly enhanced by the first real outing for baby Shlomo and his parents (after the brit). Nomi, Elan, Shoshana and Shlomo joined us at our ‘current’ apartment at 15 Keren Hayesod for a Shabbat Dinner. Everyone had a great time, the meal was gourmet (at Elan’s request)…OK not really, but it was still very good for a quick put together! Of course, the stars of the show, Shoshana and Shlomo, were the center of attention, Shoshana with her songs and games and Shlomo with his extensive vocabulary of newborn noises. I think the grandparents and great-grandmother had the most fun.
For Shabbat services we split up, with Bruce joining the Wagners at the Yeshurun Synagogue to hear Contor Heinowizc (he asked me to send regards to Cantor Subar at Beth Ora) and Grandma Phyllis attending the Jerusalem Great Synagogue with Cantor Haim Adler and Choir. They put on a tremendous performance. This led us to lunch at the Inbal Hotel with the Wagner clan, which continued on till late afternoon. After Shabbat left us, we joined Elan and Nomi and the kids at their house, brought them onion soup, and then met Monty and Daniella (and her twin Yonati) at the Mamilla Mall for a late night snack before they took off for Haifa. Jerusalem Shabbat is always special, with quiet in the streets (less cars!) and people rushing to and from synagogues and family. Once you’ve done it a few times, the special feeling really stays with you.
The rest of our week was hectic. We spent much of it “Shoshana sitting”, picking her up from daycare, then taking her on various outings. I’m not sure whether we were doing this to keep her busy so Nomi could focus on Shlomo, or for purely selfish reasons, to just hang with Shoshana! Either way, it gave us a really busy week. Sunday included dinner in Mamilla with the Goldbergers, and Monday was a trip to North West past Jerusalem, in the Binyamin region. Thanks to our friend and former Montrealer Rabbi David Tzviel, we saw the Psagot Winery and the Biblical Town of Shilo. That day ended with a lovely dinner in a fancy Italian Restaurant, Gabriella, and a walk in the midtown area. Tuesday we met our cousins, the Zysblatts, and introduced them to the new arrival and Wednesday we visited the Jerusalem Mall and then finished the evening at Café Rimon with Elan and Nomi and Shlomo.
Thursday morning, we set off for Tel Aviv with our ultimate destination to be Haifa later that night. We visited the old Port area of Tel Aviv; newly renovated, with an expanding number of stores, cafes and restaurants along the water. Really beautiful. We then went over to Tel Aviv University, to the Diaspora Museum. This may be my 5th time there, and it never gets old. The story of Jewish Survival never ceases to amaze us. The highlights of family, faith, religion, education and ingathering of exiles show the strength of our common bonds.
After having tea with our friends Sharon (Dalfen) and Rochelle August (both former Montrealers), we picked up Daniella at Tel Aviv U, and then set off for Haifa to pick up Monty and go to dinner. He picked an incredible place called Arnold’s, a country gourmet place which is on a Moshav on the road to Nahariaya. Great steaks, unique salads, terrific atmosphere. After a few brief hours of sleep, we set up for Shabbat and then had brunch with Daniella’s cousin (actually Rochel Wagner’s cousin) Hedvah, who has been like a surrogate mom to Monty and Daniella. This leads us into Shabbat, which unfortunately is our last one here this time. Sunday night we will be heading back to the frozen North. We will say good bye to the expanding family, and plan our next visit here in the near future!

We wish everyone a wonderful Shabbat Shalom

Barbara and Bruce