Shabbat Shalom and Moadim leSimcha! I write to you sitting in
the Sukkah at Elan’s house just south of Jerusalem. For those who are not used
to sitting outdoors in October, we are celebrating the holiday of Sukkot which
entails spending important activities (eating, socializing, even sleeping) in
temporary structures for 7 days. This holiday is known as Our time of Happiness
(Zman Simchatenu) and it’s called this for various reasons: we have just
completed the introspection, prayer (and for one day, fasting) of Rosh Hashana
and Yom Kippur and we celebrate our renewal in the New Year; this is the
traditional harvest period when people sat in temporary shelters in their fields
and celebrated the years bounty; and living in temporary shelters reminds us of
the 40 years the Jewish people wandered in the desert and were ultimately brought to Israel following generations of slavery in ancient Egypt. Whatever
the explanation, Sukkot is an upbeat, fun holiday with lots of agricultural
overtones and culminates in our completion of the annual cycle of reading the
Torah, which is another great reason for lots of rejoicing. Of course, the
weather in Israel is a bit more conducive to doing just about anything in your
sukkah, and while it looks like Montreal won’t have rain this weekend, it’s not
exactly warm, so dress appropriately!
Barbara and I arrived exactly one week ago on the direct
flight from Montreal. I think we had half of Cote St. Luc on the flight, which
made it very lively, plus there were tons of kids (which made for a pretty
noisy night with little sleep…). We headed off to Netanya to pick up some
groceries and prepare for Shabbat, and were treated to Shabbat with Nomi, Elan,
Shoshana, Shlomo, Nadav, and Aryeh! Despite a bit of sleep deprivation, we had amazing
company and it was a great launch to the trip. Saturday night we picked up
Gila, Elisha and Ora (Ariel had meetings on Sunday) and the party was really
underway. Our apartment in Netanya is not small, 120 sq meters, and we have
beds and mattresses for 12, but the energy of 6 kids brings things to another
level! Elan and Shoshana built our sukkah (I helped a bit) and everyone else
played and delighted in having cousins around. Fortunately, everyone slept
well and Sunday AM was beach day. Nothing like sand and water to please just
about everyone; those who like water, those who like sand, and those who love
both! After a lot of splashing, digging and burying, Nomi and Elan left to spend
the beginning of Sukkot with Nomi’s parents in Modi’in, and our house got a
little quieter but no less busy with Elisha and Ora.
Of course, being in Israel, we need to talk politics, albeit
briefly. So Israel had an election recently and Canada is about to have one.
The way things are going, both are providing split decisions. Here, after a
spring Election when the incumbent Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu earned the
most seats but could not build a majority coalition in the confusing Israeli multi-party system, a second election happened in September, with an even more
inconclusive outcome. At the moment, the most promising possibility to avoid a
very embarrassing third election is a unity government between the Likud (right
of center) and Blue and White (left of center). Although the balance of power
here still looks like the right-wing block having the edge, it’s still not enough
for a majority. This has also been complicated by the fact that the Israeli
Attorney General is working on a corruption indictment of M. Netanyahu. The latest
has the two parties agreeing on a power sharing plan, with rotation of prime
minister, but there are still noises on the Blue and White side that they won’t
sit with Bibi in the government. Hard to say if they will ever solve this impasse.
Meanwhile, back in Canada, the polls seem to be split between Liberals and
Conservative and a minority government appears to be the ultimate outcome. The
problem is that the left of center may be holding the balance of power over the
right, yet the prediction is for a Conservative government holding the minority
lead. We voted in an advance poll prior to leaving like 4M other Canadians (top
secret of course), and we will get the results here after everyone else goes to
bed back home! Good luck to all (we certainly need it!)
Monday was spent in Netanya in our Sukkah (1.5 meters square,
not exactly gargantuan) but just enough room for almost 6 chairs. Tuesday, we
met Elan and Nomi and crew at Neiot K’dumim, a huge park with biblical and Talmudic
educational points all related to nature. We saw olive trees and learned how to
extract the oil; we saw wheat and learned how to make flour; we drew water from
an ancient well and learned about cisterns, and saw many different types of
Sukkahs that explained how to properly construct a “kosher” sukkah (for
example, you can’t make an A-Frame sukkah). The day was great, but very hot and
humid and ended with a tremendous thunder and lightning storm. Many of us got
very wet (but thanks to Ariel not everyone) but we escaped and went to Modi’in
(nearby) to have lunch. Unfortunately,
not all were lucky, a family of 5 on the beach in Tel Aviv was hit with lightning
with tragic results. 
Just as quickly as the storm blew in, the weather changed
and we had a lovely evening. Wednesday was a quiet day around Netanya,
wandering around the city square, rides on the Carrousel, pizza at our favorite
“buy pizza by the meter” place. We gave Gila and Ariel the night off and took Elisha
and Ora to a trampoline place to tire them out J.
It worked; they slept over 10 hours! 
Thursday was the day to pack up Netanya and move on to
Efrat, where Elan and Nomi purchased a house this summer. It’s awesome, three
floors, 5 bedrooms, and great outdoor areas. It’s in a new development which
seems very well suited, both in terms of location and the large concentration
of couples with kids of the same age. We all met at an outdoor museum called Ein
Yael, which had representations of Israel during Roman times. Everyone had fun
spinning pottery, making whistling pipes, making pita bread and watching it bake over an
open fire, archery, creating mosaics, and visiting the ancient Roman market
with a metalsmith, weaver and other crafts. There was even a petting zoo, but honestly,
the animals looked like they were holdovers from ancient Rome (not very lively…)
We will spend the next few days in Efrat for Shabbat and the
end of Sukkot. Bruce goes back to Montreal next Thursday, and Barbara on the following
Tuesday. Maybe we will share more
thoughts and pictures next week!
We wish you an amazing Shabbat Shalom and a Chag Sameach!
Barbara and Bruce
Happy Birthday to Nomi!
Happy Birthday to Daniella!
Happy Birthday to Aryeh!
Happy Birthday to Haim!
Happy Birthday to Mara!
Happy Birthday to Jenna!
Refuah Shlemah to Tziporah Rachel bat Esther Chana Golda
