We’re here! We made it! After a series of weeks running
around, preparations, countless phone calls and discussions, we have landed in
Jerusalem and are ready to celebrate Gila and Ariel’s wedding! We will be in Jerusalem for Shabbat, to
celebrate the Chatan (groom) and his last week as a single guy, and complete
preparations for the big event on Monday. We have rented an apartment not far
from the Inbal Hotel and the Old City (for those of you who can picture the
location) and have the whole family including my mother here together.
The situation here is calm and stable. A cease fire went
into effect Wednesday evening and at the moment there has been little to
shatter the quiet. There is a lot of political posturing by both sides, but at
least for the moment, there is no shelling in the south of Israel, and no talk
of imminent invasion. Of course, there an infinite amount of potential problems
and this is not a definitive answer to for any of the parties. There is much
work to be done to provide better solutions to the current situation.
OK, enough politics! The weekend promises to be very
exciting, with Shabbat in Jerusalem, Ariel’s Aufruf (special call up to the Torah
on the Shabbat before the wedding) is tomorrow
and wedding preparations on Sunday. The best part is that the family is all together,
with Monty, Daniella and Tali arriving from Haifa and Elan, Nomi, Shoshana and
Shlomo here in Jerusalem. My Mom, Phyllis, flew in on Wednesday and has been
playing with Tali ever since! We get to spend great quality time with the
grandchildren and kids (Note the order!) and enjoy being together. We even have
a little more of Sunrise Ave. as Ryan Fiter is here for Shabbat and the Wedding
as well and Cote St. Luc representation with Anna and Ivan Lerner and Gabi Cohen
also joining us tomorrow.
Our arrival was a bit hectic, bringing Ariel suitcases with
gifts and his Montreal purchases to his new apartment in Givat Shmuel, picking
up some things in Netanya, returning to get Ariel and then on to Jerusalem. Even
though gas prices are over 8 NIS (about $2.15) per litre, there is no shortage
of cars on the road! The traffic was pretty dense, so we had to pace ourselves.
We finally arrived in Jerusalem in time to tuck Shoshana and Shlomo in, have
some dinner and then run off the Shoresh , the location of the wedding, to
inspect and pick up food for Shabbat! I won’t tell you what time we ended our
very long day…
.
Today was a rainy day in Jerusalem, and between catching up
on sleep and doing errands for Shabbat, we filled the hours very quickly. We’re
now playing with Tali and setting things up. Much more to come for next week,
with lots of pictures!
Wishing you all Shabbat
Shalom!
Barbara and Bruce
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