Shabbat Dec 9-10, 2022

 Hey everyone, welcome to another installment of our messages from Israel. We’ve been here for almost a week, which has absolutely flown by, partly because we have been back and forth across the centre of the country once already, and partly because of still being trapped somewhere between the Eastern time zone of Montreal and the later 7 hour time zone of Israel. I think we are still floating somewhere in the Twilight Zone (cue the spacy scary music). 

The trip did start off quite auspiciously. When we were settled on the plane and seemed ready to take off, there was suddenly a call overhead “Is there a doctor on the plane?” Considering we were on a flight to Israel, I figured that 50 guys would be rushing to the front, but of course I was mistaken. There was me and a fellow from Toronto who was an EMT. What was the problem, you ask? A gentleman was running to the gate of the plane, fell and thought he dislocated his shoulder. Not a fun was to start a trip, for anyone. Anyway, we were able to temporize, he decided to take the trip, and was greeted by EMTs upon landing to be taken to a nearby hospital for care. I hope he got fixed up and enjoys his stay. 

We, on the other hand, had an otherwise uneventful (albeit with minimal sleep) night in the airplane. We landed, picked up luggage and car, and off to Netanya, where we did something very Israeli: We had lunch at a gas station! I believe I have written a bit about the gas station restaurant culture before, but it bears repeating. Some of the best places to get good fast food are next to gas stations in Israel. Perhaps it’s because it’s hard to park elsewhere, perhaps because there are often bus stations nearby so there is a clientele…who knows? However, don’t ignore gas station cuisine. As an example, one of the best shawarma sandwiches is found at Hello Teman, in the gas station off highway 4 in Givat Shmuel. We ate at Falafel Netanya which is legendary, giving each client a fresh, hot, crispy on the outside and delicate on the inside ball of fried chickpeas as you come to the counter to make your order. Great stuff, wrapped in a pita with salads or in a large laffa, enjoy! 

Now, what else did we do besides search out cool restaurants? Of course, we visited family! On Tuesday and Wednesday we went to Petach Tikva to visit Gila and Ariel. Elisha, Ora and Adi were in fine form. Wednesday was Adi’s 3rd birthday! Obviously with all 3 families outside of Montreal, we don’t get to that many birthdays, so this was a treat! We celebrated with burgers and opened presents and had a lot of fun! We also need to wish a major happy 11th birthday to Tali, who is spending this Shabbat in Miami with the Wagner family. Great week to celebrate birthdays! Plus, we get to celebrate with Shlomo in person later this month. On Thursday morning we left Petach Tikvah and picked up Elan at the airport coming home from Toronto, then drove off to Efrat. We were greeted happily by Nadav, who was the first home from school “I have not seen you for so long I forget when it was!!!” I think he remembered pretty soon after. Then came Shlomo, Aryeh, Eitan and Shoshana. Eitan in 18 months old, walking around, saying a few words, a much bigger boy than the 11-month old who we saw in the spring. Everyone is busy doing great things, and Barbara got to watch Nadav in a performance as part of his youth group’s programming. 

So what else is going on in Israel? As those who read the news knows, there is a new government (what again??). This one may last a little longer and the coalition of center-right and right wing parties seem to want to make it work. Who knows if it will last. Although there have been all kinds of doomsday scenarios in the news about this new coalition, led by Binyamin Netanyahu who is Israel’s longest serving Prime Minister, life appears very normal and there’s no sign of Armageddon on the horizon. On the brighter side, we have a week to go till Chanukkah, and you can tell from the decorations in the streets and the proliferation of amazing Chanukkah donuts in every bakery! More on that (and more pictures!) that next week.

Have a warm and wonderful Shabbat Shalom! 

Barbara and Bruce

Happy Birthday to Adi!

Happy Birthday to Tali! 

Happy Birthday to Zander! 

Happy Birthday to Queenie! 

Special wishes regular readers EB and to the Goldbergers who are in Dubai at this time! Salam Aleukum and Shabbat Shalom!