Shabbat January 10-11

Back to the action! We are sitting in Nomi and Elan’s dining room in Efrat preparing for Shabbat. All the kids are home and the sun is actually shining, after a record two weeks of rain. There were all-time highs in rainfall in the north and south of Israel over the past 15 days. Driving along the highways, the grass and trees are green and even usually arid areas are being replenished. The weather calls for a few more days of rain, till Tuesday this coming week, which is (alas) the day we are leaving. Still, the temperature in Netanya has been 12-17C most days, so nicer than Montreal….or is it? Alert; today Montreal and Efrat are about the same at +7C. I guess it’s preparation for the end of the trip. Still, lots to share about the last week, so here we go.

Shabbat in Netanya last week was (you guessed it) rainy! Gila, Ariel, Elisha, Ora and Adi joined us and the kids took over the apartment, which was OK since we could not get out to the park. We were able to take a short walk to give everyone an airing, but the break in the rain did not last long. The inclement weather did not diminish a Shabbat filled with good food, games, songs and lots of construction projects with this new game Barbara found! After Shabbat, Elisha and Ora were invited to stay with us in Netanya for a “pajama party” and sleepover! This provided both a break for tired parents and a treat for the older kids and us! Everyone had fun making chocolate dipped pretzels and watching videos. (Warning: if I start using expressions like “Ready, Steady, Go!” and other British phrasing, it’s from an overdose of Peppa Pig!) (Snort!)

On Sunday after breakfast and a few more videos, Elisha and Ora got to bounce on a whole bunch of trampolines, play video games, go on rides, have pizza for lunch…just a typical day in the neighborhood! We brought home two pretty tired kids who went to bed super well after dinner. Then we were off for a couple of days on our own!

Restaurant reviews with Barbara and Bruce: OK gourmets, now is your chance to explore some new places for your culinary pleasure! We start in Netanya at Segev, a new restaurant in the Cinema City complex. Moshe Segev is an Israeli celebrity chef who owns a chain of unique restaurants. The Netanya Branch is the only one under rabbinic supervision, and is an artful mix of grill and Asian tastes. The Segev Concept is to order the house appetizers, which will give you an all you can eat menu of 5 ‘starters’ like focaccia, a soup, salads, and pate. Then the main dish, which was as pretty as it was delicious. We in fact did not take the appetizers, but shared a piece of “Obligatory Chocolate Cake” which was unbelievable good! It definitely should be on your list of places to try. Next, we go to Jerusalem, where we had dinner at Meat and Eat at the First Train Station. This is a strictly kosher steak house, and one of the few that serve sirloin and filet mignon (for a lesson on why this is complicated for kosher diner’s just message me). The filet mignon was superb. We spent the night in Jerusalem at the new Orient Hotel, a spectacular property in the heart of Jerusalem, walking distance from most key locations. The only problem was (yes, yet again…) it was raining! Our walks were a bit short, but we still enjoyed the neighborhood and were treated to an amazing breakfast at the hotel the next morning. This was a real 5 star breakfast buffet, not to be missed!

Continuing in Jerusalem, Wednesday AM was clear and cool, so it was a good time to walk to the Old City, visit the Kotel-Western Wall and mingle with hundreds of other tourists. Elan and Nomi lived in the Old City for 5 years, so we have spent a lot of time there, but visiting the Kotel never loses its spiritual magic. Elan teaches at a school there (Yeshivat Hakotel) and we met him for lunch (well, after the above-mentioned breakfast, only Elan ate lunch) and chatted. Then back to Givat Shmuel for an evening of baby-sitting and helping with baby Adi. Thursday Barbara took Gila and Adi out for some much-needed errands, and Bruce met some colleagues for new and ongoing collaborations. The day ended with a visit to a Prodag, a Netanya landmark famous for its herring, which we brought for both families for Shabbat!

As the week transcends from ultra-busy to the peace of Shabbat, we are super happy to join Elan, Nomi, Shoshana, Shlomo, Nadav and Aryeh in their new house. Jenna will be joining us as well! We can’t wait to discuss Bat Mitzvah plans with Shoshana, play chess with Shlomo, and chase Nadav and Aryeh around the house! The visit will end in a few days, but the memories and good time will last for a long time!

We wish you a warm, dry and peaceful Shabbat Shalom!

Barbara and Bruce

A special thank you to Daisy and Chuck Millman for the gorgeous blanket (and hat) for Adi featured in the first picture above.

Now to cover January's BDs!

Happy Birthday to Ariel!

Happy Birthday to Uncle Paul!

Happy Birthday to Jeff!

Happy Birthday to Zev!

Happy Birthday to Linda L!

Happy Birthday to Roanne!

Happy Birthday to Jacob!

Happy Half-Birthday to Shoshana!

And, the most special Happy Birthday and many more amazing times to my best friend and soulmate Barbara!

Refuah Shelema to Pinchas David Ben Adel

This is also Sylvia Fruchter’s birthday (A’H), and the 2^nd anniversary in the secular calendar of her passing. May her memory always be a blessing to all who knew her. 

Welcome to Baby Adi Atara!

Time really flies! Here we are in Israel over a week and I still have not posted anything. The problem of course with posting a nine-day period of time is that there is a lot to tell and perhaps I won’t remember everything important! The key to this blog is not only to update everyone who is important (that means you!) but also to have a running log of all of these special trips. But I digress…

The key event actually happened 2 weeks before we arrived. Baby Adi Atara was born on December 7^th, 2019, sister of Elisha and Ora, and of course third child to Gila and Ariel! Adi arrived almost 4 weeks early, but all was well and she was discharged home from the famous Ma-ayanei Ha-Yeshua maternity ward after a normal stay of under 72 hours. Since then she has been doing all the right things that newborns should do, such as eating, sleeping, and doing a nice job of gaining weight. Her excited siblings have been very happy to have her home (with minimal requests for a return or refund) and have gotten into the routine of having a new addition with the benefit of having Ema home pretty much all the time now. Her middle name Atara (which means Crown) is in memory of Barbara’s mother Mollie, whose Hebrew name was Malka, which means Queen. Ariel took a week of paternity leave (that’s still the standard in Israel), Gila’s parents came to help the first Shabbat home, and their friends and neighbors have been bringing meals and helping with errands. But the best part of the story is the fact that since she was early, there wasn’t really a plan for child care when they had to leave for the hospital. However, our niece Jenna had been invited for Shabbat and was instantly transformed from Shabbat guest to master babysitter! Clearly, all worked out very well!

This led to our trip preparation, which included a semi-frantic hunt for the perfect double stroller either in Israel or in Canada. The specs Ariel and Gila came up with ended up leading us to the Joovy Qool, a very customizable double or even triple stroller available in North America. All pieces arrived via Amazon by the Sunday before we were to leave, plus the assorted Chanukah presents that were also purchased via the internet. We almost became an Amazon depot due to the delivery frequency before we left. Plus, thank G-d for Air Canada 50 Elite status! We set off from home with the stroller in its box, a duffle bag with the bassinet and adaptors plus treats and other gifts, a suitcase full of Chanukka goodies (generally large boxes) and a suit case which had a couple of changes of clothes for us. Our trip was via Zurich, on which the service is great but the landing time in Zurich is about when you might consider falling asleep, so that’s the downside. We arrived in Israel on Wednesday afternoon (Christmas Day) went to visit our new granddaughter and family, and then off to Netanya to catch up on some sleep.

For the first Shabbat, both Israeli Mazer families came to Netanya! We are now 13, which is pretty much capacity for the number of beds, mattresses and available sleeping spaces other than using the living room couch (which may be the most comfortable bed in the house). We think that there may be some Air B&B Rentals in our future. We shopped and prepared for the crowd on Thursday and set up place to light umpteen Chanukiot (Chanukka Candelabras). In spite of a few escapades (including a flat tire), everyone arrived and checked in safe and sound, all the candles were lit (7 or 8 times, I lost count) and all the cousins started multiple games, Lego constructions, clubhouse design, and anything else that a group of kids aged 2-11 could think of!

December is the usual Israeli rainy season, and this year is a great year for rain.  In fact, there has been so much rain that the Sea of Galilea has risen by over 20 cm since the beginning of December. When we arrived, the rain was coming down in torrents at times, drizzling at other times. This was accompanied by bursts of very impressive thunder and lightning. When we arrived in Netanya, our neighborhood was eerily dark; no traffic lights and no lights in the window.  The thunderstorm had knocked out the power. This is indeed a lesson of how dependent we are on simple electricity functioning. For one, our apartment parking is accessible via an electric gate. OK, so we can park on the street. Then, even though we live on the first floor (one above the ground floor), who wants to shlep the above mentioned boxes and suitcases up the flight of stairs? But, as luck would have it, just as I was about to try to carry a bag up the stairs, the power came back on, and we were able to park the car and unload just in time for the power to go off again! We had dinner by candlelight (though by now we were too tired for it to be a romantic dinner) and braved two more short power outages until things were restored to normal in the area. The inclement weather also meant that the kids were housebound most of Shabbat, which was fun but a touch chaotic considering the close quarters!

 

In contrast, on Sunday things dried out considerably. It being Chanukah, the kids were all off school, so it was field trip day. We went to a great zoo not far from where Ariel and Gila live,  

Safari Park Israel, which has both a drive-thru with lots of interesting animals like zebra, hippos, rhinos, elk, and birds roaming around, and a great walk-through zoo with something for everyone. This was followed by a sushi/stir-fry dinner at Japan-Japan in Givat Shmuel. This was followed by child-care job number 1; Elan and Nomi’s older kids had the next day off school too, so Shoshana, Shlomo and Nadav got to sleep over at our apartment so we could be “in charge” the next day. The big outing that followed was going to see Frozen 2! This was a crowd pleaser with something for everyone; great humor, music, action and adventure, giants and spirits with great powers. Definitely went over well with our gang. Child care job number 2 came that evening, as we gave Elan and Nomi the night off. The 3 that slept over in Netanya the night before were a breeze, but little brother Aryeh (age 2) preferred to stay up and wait for his parents to come home! A huge thank you to Shoshana who proved her worth as a baby sitter; she saved the day.

We slept over in at Elan and Nomi’s home that night and then visited Jonathan Homa, our friend of many years who was originally from Montreal. His father had passed away a few days before and he was sitting Shiva (the 7 day period of intense mourning after a parent, spouse or sibling passes away). Jonathan and Anne now live in Jerusalem, but his father lived in Ottawa, where he was buried, which meant a good deal of travelling for the family. We then went on to Givat Shmuel to see baby Adi and help out with child-care job #3; I was entrusted to put Elisha and Ora to bed while Barbara and Gila went to visit an apartment they were considering purchasing. Both bedtime and the apartment visit went very well!

Wednesday was our first day of “down time” since we arrived, but Thursday included errands, lunch in the center of Tel Aviv with Ariel, picking up Ora at her day care after which Barbara drove her home and spent the evening with Elisha, Ora, and Adi before returning to Netanya.

Meanwhile, I was invited to Jerusalem by Elan to participate in the Completion of the Talmud, better known in Hebrew as Siyyum Hashas. This is an extraordinary concept, so let me explain. The Talmud, which contains 64 volumes, and over 2000 pages of text, has been the mainstay of Jewish law interpretation for the past 2000 years. Over 90 years ago, Rabbi Meir Shapirah proposed at the World Council of Rabbis meeting in Lithuania that people commit to learning one page of Talmud per day. This would achieve three things: It would encourage daily study of Torah and Jewish Law, it would ensure that people would not forget the sacred texts, and most important, it was an attempt to unify Jews of all nationalities, religious beliefs and persuasions in an act of unity. The cycle takes 7 ½ years to be completed. This Daily Page of Talmud program (in Hebrew Daf Yomi) has now completed its 13^th cycle, despite tremendous changes in the world, including World War 1, WWII and the Holocaust, the destruction and displacement of European Jewry, the establishment of the state of Israel, and the wars that ensued, and now our technology driven world in which ADD is the norm. Yet, on Wednesday night there was a Celebration of the Siyyum with over 95,000 people at Met Life stadium in New Jersey, and tonight, thousands of people in Jerusalem joined together to complete the 7½ year study cycle. There was music, lots of speakers, and the last section of the last book of Talmud was taught. This was a very inspiring evening, to say the least. And in case you did not follow along this time, you can start all over Sunday as the 14^th cycle begins!

Now, to the sounds of Peppa Pig and a video game we are getting ready for Shabbat in Netanya with Adi, Ora and Elisha (and of course their parents!).  Next week in Efrat with Elan and Nomi and Co, with a stop in Jerusalem in between. More to come!

We wish everyone a wonderful Shabbat Shalom!

Barbara and Bruce

Happy 2020 to all!

Mazel Tov to Dvorit and Ollie!

Happy Birthday to Sheila!

Happy Birthday to Gail!

Happy Birthday to Uncle Peter!

Happy Birthday to Debbie Feldman!

Refuah Shlema to Pinchas David ben Adel