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Chag Sameach V’Shabbat Shalom!
Since our last exchange, we have gone from St. Louis back to
Montreal and then from Montreal to Israel; from Netanya to Jerusalem and now to
Neve Daniel. Sometimes we wake up and wonder where we are! Seriously, it’s
great to be with friends and family, especially around the Jewish holidays, so
no complaints at all.
We left St Louis very early the day after Rosh Hashana and
landed in Montreal by noon Wednesday, which made that a work day. The short
week was topped off by a Shabbaton; a whole Shabbat program at our synagogue
(Beth Zion) with several classes led by Rabbi Yehoshua Grunstein from Israel.
He has visited several times before and also leads a program called Amiel, that
trains couples who wish to leave Israel to serve a Diaspora community; in fact,
he mentored Elan and Nomi in preparation for their years in Toronto. Yehoshua
is a very dynamic speaker with very unique takes on topics of interest in
contemporary Judaism. It was well attended, including meals at the synagogue,
and ended with a book signing in honor of Rabbi Grunstein’s new book. There
were so many people, he ran out of books; I think we are taking home copies for
those who did not get one at the signing!
The following Wednesday was Yom Kippur. It’s the most solemn
day in the Jewish Calendar, with fasting and prayer, and most of the time from
one sundown to the next day after dark is spent in synagogue. For the past few
year, when we are in Montreal, we joined a group who meet just for the high
holidays, slightly more informal, lots of singing and very respectful prayer
services. It’s organized by our friends Gabi Cohen and Cindy Faust, and they
deserve many congratulations for pulling it off se seamlessly year after year.
We ended the fast at Grandma’s which was fun, and we hope to do this with her
for many more years!
The next day (Sept 20) we departed for Israel on a direct
flight from Montreal to Tel Aviv. This is the second year that Air Canada and
Air Transat have re-started flying to Israel during the Summer and Jewish High
Holyday season since flights were shifted from Montreal to Toronto in 2000. As
you would expect, it’s more pleasant (and faster) to get on one plane and get
off in Israel 10 hours later than changing and transferring. We got our luggage
and our car and headed off to Netanya.
Shabbat was spent with all the Israeli grandchildren and
their parents; we picked up Gila, Ariel, Elisha and Ora from Givat Shmuel and
Nomi, Elan, Shoshana, Shlomo, Nadav and Aryeh came just before Shabbat. The
apartment was hopping, with six kids running around. Everyone plays so well
together, from littlest to biggest. It’s really quite special.
Speaking of which, it was almost exactly 10 years ago this
week that I started writing this blog. Its title, Mazers in Jerusalem, comes
from the fact that we were on Sabbatical living in Jerusalem, and this was a
way to record what we were doing and share it with family and friends. It’s
quite fun to go back to older posts and see how everyone has grown up. I told
Shoshana that it’s the 10th anniversary of the blog and that it was
started when she was three months old. I think she and the others will get a
kick out of the pictures and how everyone has changed and grown up so
amazingly!
If you are considering coming to Israel, Sukkot in Israel is
a great time to come. Of course, if you wish to be a plain tourist, the entire
country is on holiday, so there is traffic, all the interesting places are
packed, there is nowhere to park…. but, if you come to celebrate Sukkot, it
can’t be beat. The weather is perfect to sit outside in a Sukkah (the temporary
huts with thatched roofs we eat and celebrate in) and the whole country seems
to be in a state of happiness, which fits one of the Hebrew names for the
Holiday (Z’man Simchatenu, our time of happiness). I will pause to say that we
are sorry to hear about the horrible weather back home and especially the
Tornado in Ottawa. Thank G-d non-one was badly hurt, but I don’t think Sukkahs
did very well. Why are we Happy on Sukkot?
Several explanations: It’s the holiday of the final harvest, so our homes were
filled with plenty at this time of year in agricultural societies; it’s the
holiday that follows the solemnness of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur when the
world is held to Judgement by G-d; and we end the annual cycle of Torah reading
and restart the Torah cycle on Simchat Torah, the last day of the holiday.
The rest of our week in Netanya was spent at the beach, in
parks, airconditioned malls or at the town square where Elisha and Ora could go
on the Carousel or hop on the ever-present Panda blow up (I think I have pictures
of almost all grandchildren except Ezra and maybe Tali jumping on the Panda in
Netanya). We got to baby sit and play with the little ones and the bigger ones
too! Can’t ask for better. 
We will be spending the next few days at Elan’s home in Neve
Daniel, just outside of Jerusalem. Yesterday we went to the First Train Station
in Jerusalem, with Gila and Ariel and the kids. It was one big sidewalk
festival, with vendors, games, music and lots of food. This train station was
rebuilt as a gentrified shopping area about 3 years ago. Yesterday it was also
the meeting point for a huge parade celebrating Israel’s 70th
Anniversary. People from all over the world participated in national costumes,
with dancing and lots of flag waving. It was quite an impressive sight! 
It’s certainly interesting to be in Israel during the week
of the UN speeches by the world leaders. Not to get too deeply into politics,
but the optimism here about the extremely tight US-Israel relations at present
and the inroads in discussions with more West friendly Arab regimes is all over
the news. People shake their heads over Trumps antics, but if there is a
country who has benefited from his policies and Nikki Haley’s passionate rhetoric
in the UN, it’s Israel. Of course, it’s not time for complacency, as things
change quickly in the political world as we well know (like in Quebec, where
the election in this coming week on Shmini Atezret if you have not noticed. I
hope all our friends have voted!!). We are also inundated with Municipal
Election signs here. We don’t vote here. But the Mayor of Netanya has done a
terrific job of encouraging building over her terms. So what if she has been
investigated for some interesting business deals? The city looks great….PS: Jenna and Shelly just arrived!
We wish everyone a wonderful Shabbat and Chag Sameach,
wherever you are!
Barbara and Bruce
Happy Birthday to Nomi-our amazing daughter in law and
Hostess for this Chag
Happy Birthday to Daniella- our amazing daughter in law and Hostess
for Rosh Hashana
(Not to forget Gila, our other amazing daughter in law but
her birthday is in February)
Happy birthday to Avi Kessler!
Happy birthday to Hendrix!
Happy birthday to Eva!
Happy birthday to Penelope!
Happy birthday to Melissa!
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