Welcome
back to sunny Netanya! I don’t want to sound like we picked a good time to go
away, but I understand the weather has turned a bit in Montreal and the rest of
the East. The holiday of Sukkot is marked by many things (more later) but in particular
by eating and entertaining in outdoor huts with thatched roofs. Clearly this
holiday was made to celebrate here. The rain makes it unpleasant at best and impossible
at worst to sit under a very porous roof. Sukkot celebrates the end of the harvest,
and like farmers in ancient times who would sit in temporary dwellings in the
fields away from their homes, so we commemorate this. Moreover, the lack of
barrier between us and the elements, over which we have no control, reminds us
that we are beholden to G-d for rain in its’ proper time and to protect us
against the forces of nature. Sukkot in Israel is a really joyous time and most
people are on holiday, so the streets are busy with vacationers from all over
the country. It is a great time for families to be together in celebration. So….
We arrived
in Israel last Friday morning after very little sleep on the plane, picked up a
car (if you can call this particular Huyndai i25 from Budget a car…). We picked
up Gila, Ariel and Elisha from Givat Shmuel and headed north to Netanya. They
had cooked up a storm for Shabbat, so we had the added benefit of their company
and great meals for Shabbat. Elisha is now 18 months old, a very happy, low
maintenance kind of guy with a terrific vocabulary for his age, mostly English
with a few Hebrew words mixed in. He got used to us very fast and we have been
having a super time with him (prior to this he had not seen us except on Skype
since January).
We were
also joined by our niece Jenna, Roanne’s daughter, who has made Aliyah and is
now in a program working towards being a medic. She has acclimatized really
well and seems really happy.
We started
the holiday of Sukkot on Sunday night, and as I said, ate outdoors in our
Sukkah. We have this really cute little balcony and a sukkah that is 4 ft by 4
ft. Just enough room for 4 chairs and a little table. Of course, we were 5 plus
a high chair! Yet, we all fit and had a great time with excellent weather and
great food.
The rest of
the week flew by. Tuesday we had brunch overlooking the water, and then
entertained Elisha at the park and at the ZooZoo play place in the mall (AKA
Toddler heaven). Then the battery died on our so-called car. What a lemon!
On Wednesday, we visited Gilah’s family in Nevei Daniel, then
went to Jerusalem, where we celebrated Hakhel in the old city. Our calendar
runs on a 7 year cycle, where the 7th year, like the seventh day of
the week, is a sabbatical for the land called Shmita. This poses all kinds of
interesting problems in terms of agriculture and produce in Israel, which we
can discuss more next week. The end of Shmitta the entire country is supposed to
gather in Jerusalem, where there is a huge ceremony and the king reads sections
from the Torah. Well, there is no longer a king and the entire country can’t
fit into Jerusalem, but thousands of people were at the Western Wall (an
amazing site to see) and the chief Rabbis read the Torah. We saw a lot from the
roof of Yeshivat HaKotel, and I tried to walk into the masses, which was very impressive. 
We wrapped
up the week with a great visit from Lori and Alvan Small, time on the beach and
great burgers on Thursday, and some fun time at the Parrot Park in Kfar Hess
today. There is nothing like an 18 month old in a place with birds flying
around and animals to pet!
Shabbat is approaching
so we will sign off till next week!
Our thoughts
are with the family who were gunned in a terrorist attack on the road between Itamar
and Elon Moreh. Our daughter in law Gila had the husband as her teacher in
Seminary. We pray for safety and Peace in Israel.
We wish a
Refuah Shelema to Zysel bat Bella
We wish a
Refuah Shelema to Ha-Rav Hayyim Yechiel ben Malca
We wish a
Refuah Shelema to Noam Shmuel Hayyim ben Yehudit
Wishing you
a Wonderful Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach!
Barbara and
Bruce
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