Dateline, Netanya, Israel : We w
ould like to introduce you to the newest member of our cast! Welcome to Talia Beila, born on December 9, 2011, daughter of Daniella and Monty Mazer, currently of Haifa! Talia is a gorgeous young lady, a real night owl, who, like many of her generation, prefers to sleep away the days and party all night. Of course, her parents would prefer that she kept more normal hours, but, you can’t be too choosy! Seriously, she is an adorable addition to the Mazer clan, and we wish Talia all the best in this (admittedly sometimes crazy) world, and lots of Naches, pride and joy for Monty and Daniella. Of course, all the grandparents, Bruce and Barbara, and Chuck and Rochel Wagner of Toronto (first timers!), and the super proud great grandmother Phyllis Mazer are super thrilled with the new member of the crew.
With the new plot lines of the Talia saga being written, the other members of the cast congregated in Israel to celebrate. Barbara arrived on December 15th and Bruce and his Mom arrived on Dec 27th. The weeks have been super busy, and super fun. We have travelled up and down the coast, with our base apartment in Netanya, going to Haifa to visit Monty and Daniella and the new baby several times. We have travelled down the coast to Givat Shmuel, where Ariel is living, having started Law School at Bar Ilan University. And of course, we travelled across the country to Jerusalem to spend time with Elan, Nomi, Shoshana and Shlomo. Shlomo is celebrating his first birthday! He walks, babbles, plays, and smiles A LOT!
Shoshana is 3 ½ and basically can run the house by herself. There is nothing that gets by her and she keeps all of us smiling.
We have been fortunate enough to attend other peoples smachot (celebrations), with Barbara going to Tali Wasser’s wedding in Tel Aviv, and both of us attending Gabe and Miri Homa’s marriage in Jerusalem on Dec 28. They were beautiful weddings. The night after (Dec 29th) was a large Toronto wedding, hosted by the Winter Family, at which Monty and Daniella and Daniella’s parents Chuck and Roche
l Wagner attened. That led to us all spending Shabbat last week in Jerusalem, with great meals at Elan and Nomi’s house and lunch at the Inbal Hotel with the entire cast! Talia of course, slept through lunch and almost all other daytime activities when everyone was around!
So, what is going on at home in Netanya? Since we were her in October, we have painted and fixed things up, and added some housewares and furniture. The apartment is very nice, and the location, less than a block from the boardwalk, is superb. We are organized enough to have a large crew for Shabbat this week, including all of our family, the Wagner’s and our cousins Lynda and Allan Zysblatt from Jerusalem. When I have more time, maybe I can tell you the saga of getting a dining room table, but the bottom line is that through some sort of divine intervention (the name of the store was Salvatto and Divana!) we had a dining room set delivered yesterday in time for all of our guests!
There are lots going on in Israel too; crazy stories of tensions between a fringe group of ultra orthodox Jews and more modern orthodox Jews, with a little 8 year old girl appearing on National television to talk about the abuse she receives walking to school. These types of actions really make one ill. There was a wonderful response to all this which I read on the Aish Hatorah Web site. The Torah teaches us to love our neighbors as one’s self. All people are different, and we need to be able to celebrate our differences and teach mutual respect and love. Tensions need to be met with firm but direct communication, teaching tolerance and understanding. To create a better world, we need to take those values that are important and help them guide our behavior, setting positive, constructive examples. That is the type of world we want for Shoshana, Shlomo, Talia and all our children and grandchildren
Shabbat Shalom,
Barbara and Bruce
Mazel Tov to Yaacov and Ryla Fruchter, new grandparents Sylvia and Haim Fruchter, and Aunts Bilha and Orly Fruchter on the birth of Sheelo Netta. May she only bring naches!
Mazel to to Albert and Sari Arazi and new grandparents Rochelle and Jeff Rein on the birth of Olivia Devora. May she bring you lots of joy and light!
Mazel tov to Susan and Allan Mattarasso, on the birth of a new grandson!
Happy 1st birthday to Shlomo Yehuda!
We wish Ariel a Happy Birthday!
We wish our great friend Sylvia Fruchter a Happy Birthday!
