October 18-25

Weeks in Israel are always great, with a lot of diversity and many ways to amuse yourself. This week there were lots of highlights in many realms of interest.

Politics: On Tuesday, municipal elections happened all over Israel. The last time there were municipal elections, we were on Sabbatical in Jerusalem and really followed the battles there. Indeed, the 2008 election was very entertaining; remembering back to then one of the mayoral candidates was wanted for Arms Smuggling into Angola, another who was to represent the religious faction fell out of favor with the other faction and finally, Nir Barakat won the election in Jerusalem. Since then he has done a credible job, completing the light rail in the city center and bringing festivals and even F-1 to Jerusalem (your need special tires for the cobblestones of the Old City!) This year the main opponent for Mr. Barakat has a local Montreal connection; Moshe Lion is the brother of our Consul General, Joel Lion. It was a very close race, but the incumbent won by almost 6%. In Netanya, where we have had the same Mayor for 15 years, Miriam Fierberg won once again. She has really improved the city; just take a look at the bright, new city center with huge screens, fountains and even an ice skating rink! One more mayoral connection: the Novosellers purchased the home of the current mayor of Efrat, Oded Revivi.

Entertainment: Last night, we went to a movie at the Globus Max (not Gluteus Max) theater in Netanya. If you are waiting for a movie review, forget it! The movie (Prisoners) was fine, but the entertainment was the goings on in movie theaters in Israel! First, Israeli theaters give out tickets with assigned seats. This is a great thing, as it means you don’t have to rush in to make sure you have a good seat.  Of course, the polite Canadians came on time for the movie; we and 2 other couples who obviously did not know better. Seeing an empty theater, the others took better seats than they were assigned. However, AFTER the commercials, the previews and the other annoying stuff, the theatre filled up quickly, and of course there was a lot of “Excuse me, you’re in my seat….!” Also right in the middle of a crucial part of the 2 hour movie was…Intermission! Why? Because!

Diversity: It is hard to walk around the larger cities in Israel and not be struck by the sheer diversity of population. The Old City of Jerusalem of course has 4 sections, the Jewish, Muslim, Armenian and Christian Quarters. However, even a medium sized city like Netanya is extremely heterogeneous. Walking through the streets you see a tremendous variety of religious and secular Jews, Muslims and Christians. We shop in the same shops, frequent restaurants and the kids play the same parks. Looking at the array of kipot, hijabs, other head coverings and crosses makes one think that this enriches a society, rather than diminishes it. Maybe we should invite Mme Marois for Shabbat?

Ikea and Co: What would a trip to Israel be without some shopping at Ikea? It is really a magnet for most of Central Israel, to browse, shop, play and eat. One thing that is really striking is that people follow the paths and signs and stand in orderly lines to look at items, get their merchandise, go to the restaurant, etc. If Israeli’s can be so orderly in Ikea, why can’t they apply this to the roads and bus stops?   

Visiting Friends: After our first week of catching up with the time zones, we decided to catch up with friends. As mentioned last week, we picked up Gila and Ariel and were off to Jerusalem on Friday morning, and had brunch with Bilha and Orly Fruchter at Café Rimon. From there, we went to the Gush Etzyon area south of Jerusalem to Nevei Daniel, where Gila’s parents Geula and Itzhak Twersky live and visited with them (and the Ami-Kodesh’s Pirate Ship!) From there, we crossed the highway and went to Efrat to the home of Carol and David Novoseller who have lived there for just over 2 years. Avi and Yael Miller and 2 of their children were there as well, as they are moving to Israel next summer. Carol and David are doing really well, as are all their girls. Saturday night we returned to Jerusalem for tea with Ann and Jonathan Homa, ex-Montrealers who arrived in Israel 2 months ago after living in New Jersey.  They are living in a great apartment and it looks like they are well settled in. 

Tuesday, we were joined by Nomi’s parents Karen and Robert Goldberger and went to Ramat HaNadiv near Zichron Yaakov. This is where Baron Edmond Rothschild is buried; it was his concept to build an experimental agricultural area there to determine what plants would grow best in hot, arid Israel. It is now has beautiful gardens, including roses, palms and fragrant plants, huge parkland for hiking and a nature sanctuary with indigenous animals in the wild. Thanks to Daniella for the great tip to go there. 

Wednesday we met Ariel and Gila for lunch near Bar Ilan and then visited the Shomron Community of Ma-alei Shomron, where Michal and Rav Ronen Sela have moved. They have built an amazing home there plus married off two daughters Moria and Meytal in the past 6 months. Many may remember the Selas from their two years in Montreal at Hebrew Academy.  Thursday PM we picked up Ariel and Gila as well as our niece Jenna (the birthday girl) from Givat Shmuel and then met the Homas at one of our favorite restaurants in Netanya (Gehalim). In between we assembled some Ikea furniture, bought a sofa and otherwise tried to be both on holiday and domesticated at the same time!

So, for this Shabbat we are having Gila, Ariel, and Jenna in Netanya; it should be a lot of fun. Next week we wind down this trip and will be anticipating the return to chilly Montreal. We’ll try to get in a couple more walks in the sunshine to fortify ourselves!

We wish everyone a very joyous Shabbat Shalom!

Happy Birthday to our daughter in law Daniella!

Happy Birthday to Jenna!

A belated Happy Birthday to Haim Fruchter (last Shabbat)!

May all our friends and indeed all who are currently suffering from illness have a Refuah Shelema, a very speedy and complete recovery.

October 10-18, 2013

We decided to do something a little crazy this year…take a holiday in October! There are some practical reasons, really, such as Barbara is teaching starting in November, and we had the great pleasure of sharing the recent Jewish Holidays with our children and grandchildren in Montreal. That, and the fact we had not been back to Israel since Monty’s graduation in June. The summer was great with our kids relocating. Monty is now in Buffalo, NY doing a pediatric residency at Buffalo Women’s and Children’s and he, Daniella and Tali have settled in very well, in spite of a very busy work schedule. Elan is in Toronto as a Shaliach of the Israeli government, that is an educational emissary representing Israel. He is teaching at Yeshivat Or Chayim, a boy’s high school and at Ulpana, a girl’s school. So far it’s going very well, and Nomi, Shoshana and Shlomo have also acclimatized to the new surroundings. Nomi, being from Toronto, knows the lay of the land pretty well, her father works there (commuting from Israel!) and 3 of her grandparents are also there. So far so good for everyone. Ariel and Gila visited us for the month of September and spent most of the holidays with us. So, that leads us to the present and the current trip…

We left Montreal last Thursday night, and arrived in Zurich at 6:15 AM. Not having much sleep, we stumbled around and found our train to Luzern, where we would be spending Shabbat. We have to thank Raffi Faust for this idea; he really mapped out this trip for us. Luzern is a beautiful, small city on the banks of Lake Luzern. The city is very compact; no important point is more than 15-20 minutes from the city center, and the city is built on both sides of the Reusse River. We stayed at the Renaissance Hotel, which was two blocks from the train station and city center and 5-7 minute walk to the synagogue in Luzern. After a bit of a nap (having not gotten much sleep on the plane) we wandered around the old town, saw the famous Lion monument carved out of a mountainside, crossed the Kapelbruche or Chapel Bridge, a covered bridge across the river which dates back to the 14^th century (1333) and still has some of the original paintings that decorate the cross beams. Many paintings unfortunately were destroyed in a fire in 1993. The city also has a fortified wall with towers that you can walk along, and of course many ubiquitous shops and even 2 Starbucks! I noticed that even in Switzerland, Starbucks stores say “Starbucks Coffee”. We also learned that Schmuck (see picture) means decoration or jewelry in German and Swiss-German. That was a relief….so many stores were selling schmucks it got us worried….

Shabbat was really lovely. The Jewish community in Switzerland is under 20,000, with the majority in larger cities such as Zurich and Geneva. The community in Luzern was once several thousand, and in 1912 they built a beautiful 3 story synagogue with a large sanctuary, ornate painted walls and a balcony. At one time, it was difficult to find a seat on Saturday in the synagogue. Unfortunately the community is now very small, and there are usually not more than a handful of people attending services. There was a celebration this past weekend, a young man from Luzern was getting married (this week here in Israel) and his family celebrated his “Aufruf”. Even with that there were only 16 men in shul and about a dozen women. However, they were extremely spirited and vibrant and very friendly. Several people asked if we had meals (thanks to Avi Brook, we certainly did!) and one family told me on Shabbat Morning “We’ve set places for you for lunch.” Everyone was extremely kind and I would recommend anyone who would like a very nice place in Switzerland to visit to check out Luzern. (Ask for Ruben Ehrlangen or Rabbi Rabinovich).

The highlight of being in Switzerland of course is the Alps. Luzern is right in the foothills of the mountains, very close to several very high peaks, including Mount Rigi and Mount Pilatus. We chose to visit Mount Pilatus, being the highest peak in the area. The mountain gets its name from Pontius Pilate, who legend has it was buried in the lake near the mountain. Must have taken a bit of time to get there from Jerusalem in those days. The Swiss 

have, typically, a super organized schedule that allows one to see the mountain in a compact package that takes 4-5 hours! We took a boat from Luzern to the base of Pilatus (you can also take a train) and then we took the world’s steepest cogwheel railway up the mountain at a 48% angle much of the way! We then hiked around the top with breaks in the hotel built on top, seeing a couple of the steeper peaks. Although it was 15 degrees in Luzern that day, it was -4 on top with snow and ice. Good thing we were bringing Ariel’s winter coat to Israel for him. After the hiking and the amazing scenery of snow-capped mountains, green valleys and lakes we took two cable cars down to the village of Kriens, and then a bus (perfectly timed, of course and fastidiously mapped out) back to Luzern. After a quick trip to the Impressionist museum and a special Picasso exhibit across the street from our hotel, we took a train back to Zurich for our late night flight to Israel.

We arrived here early Monday AM, and honestly, we are still in a time warp! However, the jet-lag was not enough to keep us from some great walks on the beach here in Netanya, a real nice dinner with Ariel and Gila, and of course some shopping. As fall moves on slowly in Canada (the great stretch of weather from Mid-September has continued) we are enjoying sunny skies, 28 degrees and minimal chance of rain. A great setting for a holiday. We will be in Jerusalem on Friday, hopefully to see Orly and Bilha Fruchter and Chai, and then on Shabbat we will be in Efrat at the home of Carol and David Novoseller, ex of Montreal. The next week promises to be one where we will visit with other friends and do a bit more travelling than usual, so stay tuned!

We wish everyone a spectacular Shabbat Shalom!

We wish our daughter in law Nomi a very Happy Birthday!

We wish our sister in law Mara a very Happy Birthday! 

Dvar Torah in honor of the Yahrtzeit of Mark Samuel Z”L

Parashat Lech Lecha

Dvar Torah in honor of the Yahrtzeit of Mark Samuel Z”L

Parashat Lech Lecha introduces us to the life of Avraham Avinu, whose name is changed from Avram towards the end of the parasha. The parasha is a collection of important events in Avraham’s life, interspersed with very poignant communications with G-d. There are several themes in the parasha, but central to the story is the balance between bold action, and compelling faith. Avraham takes bold action in his decision to leave his ancestral homeland at age 75, to move to Canaan. He is the man of conviction when he sets out to Egypt during a famine, countering the Egyptians lack of morality to save himself and Sarah, both escaping unharmed and amassing riches. He was a man of action in challenging the 4 Kings who attacked the 5 kings around Sodom, rushing to the rescue of his nephew Lot. In all of these things, the subtext was clearly the prophetic interactions that he had with G-d. He was told to go to Canaan which he would inherit for all generations of his children. He was told he would be protected, that his offspring would be numerous. Yet, here he was 99 years old at the end of the Parasha, and having had a child (Yishmael) with Sarah’s handmaiden, not knowing if he would actually have any offspring to allow the prophecies to be fulfilled. And despite this, he remarkably soldiers on. His life is famous for having at least 10 tests, which begin in our parasha and culminate with the binding of Isaac in next week’s parasha. The ability to maintain his faith in the light of these tremendous challenges, whether it was as large scale as the military battle with the 5 kings, or as intimate and human as his discussion with Sarah about having a child via Hagar. You would almost expect, as we see in next weeks’ parasha, that he would argue with G-d; that he would at least say “G-d, you’ve made all these promises about creating a great nation, about having countless offspring, how do I know they will come true? I still don’t have a child!”  Towards the culmination of the parasha, Avraham is told that in the year to come, he will have a child with Sarah who he will call Yitzhak; he breaks down and laughs (the root of Yitzhak, is Tzahak, to laugh). That is as close as he comes to showing a bit of shaken faith; however immediately after, he, at age 99, brings together his son Ishmael, age 13, and all the men of his household, and they undergo circumcision, no small feat considering his age! 

The lives of our forefathers are given to us is great detail in order to provide examples of how to conduct ourselves.  On one hand we can marvel at Avraham, a prophet, a visionary who realized that there was a G-d in this world who was not some inanimate object, and who was the true moving force in history. None of us are at the level of spiritual grandeur that Avraham reached. However, all of our lives are defined by a series of challenges and tests, as we read in the parasha. The magnitude may be different, but they are no less challenging and no less important to any of us. They give us plenty of reason to doubt, to be frustrated, to give up. This is where faith must come in. Avraham carried on, had faith, despite not knowing if the outcome would match the prophesies. He remained true to his vision and soldiered on, even when it appeared illogical, even when it looked like the natural order was against him. This is a lesson we can take to heart with our own struggles.

Going against the so-called natural order is one of the hallmarks of humans, and is what makes science and the pursuit of new knowledge so rewarding and ultimately, so amazing. In a recent lab meeting, my students and I were discussing a new paradigm that one of our studies appeared to reveal. This is, to our knowledge, extremely novel, and hopefully will change how other scientists look at the particular issue we are studying. However, breaking new ground is not easy. It takes conviction and lots of faith to challenge established principles and put your ideas out on the line.  I learned a lot from Mark in this regard. He was a brilliant, cutting edge scientist, who had no qualms about challenging existing knowledge and trying to create new paradigms. He also championed new applications of older, less understood methodologies. He created a stir, perhaps not as earth shaking as founding the first monotheistic religion, but in context, his work, his attitude, confidence and faith in what he believed in led to great things.

These are the lessons of parashat Lech Lecha, which spawned a whole new way of thinking about G-d and the world. In the parasha, King Malchi-Zedek of Shalem (“the righteous king”, king of “Shalem” which means wholeness or peace) is also called the priest to Kel Elyon (the G-d on high). He blesses Abraham in the name of Kel Elyon, the Owner/Master of Earth and Heaven. On this day of Mark’s Yahrzeit, let us remember a father, brother and dear friend who through his courage and faith, also tried to unify the physical and fundamental nature of the Earth and Heavens. May his memory be a blessing for us all.