Shabbat February 16-17, 2024

Lots going on in the world and in the Mazer sphere as well. Of course the battles continue in both the south (Gaza) and north (at the border with Lebanon); the North remains mostly skirmishes, and the hope is that it does not escalate; two hostages, both Argentinian Jews were liberated by the IDF days after the new Argentinian President visited and prayed for their safety; and there are a some diplomatic efforts going on but, sadly, it’s unclear who is really at the table. 

Meanwhile, we saw the disturbing parade and protests in Toronto in front of Mount Sinai Hospital and the comments from politicians and others on both sides of the argument. It’s hard to fathom how anyone could defend targeting a hospital, but we’ve seen that in parallel with the condemnations. We continue to pray for a rapid resolution to the hostage’s imprisonment, that will ultimately lead to resolution of this crises. 

We left off last week with Shoshana arriving for Shabbat (sounds like a great title for a reality series!) It’s always fun to have grandchildren, but to spend time with grown-up grandchildren is another level! We discussed school, cybersecurity (Shoshana is in a national program to train young women about cybersecurity, to which she was accepted following a rigorous competition), other volunteer activities, and just other important facets of life. That, plus a lot of RummiKub (I think she beat us 10-1) and good Shabbat food made it a great weekend. We drove Shoshana home to Efrat Saturday night (just in time for the finale of Movie Night) and spent the next morning with three of the boys, Shlomo, Nadav and Aryeh. They got to just hang out, play in a cool park, and enjoy smoothies before we hit the road again. 

The week flew by otherwise. Barbara participated in a great project that was initiated by Sharon Dalfen-August, an old friend and colleague from Montreal who lives in Ra’anana. As you are aware, there are many families displaced from their homes in the South and North; a large number still living in hotels and other temporary housing. The kids are often those most affected by the lack of stability and familiarity, particularly children with special needs. Sharon has developed very creative wooden houses that provide sensory stimuli to help children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder regulate their emotions. On Wednesday Barbara went to a hotel in Maaleh HaHamisha, which is housing families from a Southern community. There is a preschool there, and the playhouse was assembled for the children to use. The kids responded immediately and very positively! There are now 7 of these that Sharon has installed and it’s an example of a very creative way to respond to the needs of those who are in unfamiliar and difficult surroundings. 

Is there anything else in the news besides the war? Truthfully, not much. Although that’s obvious, Israel is a country that loves news and commentary. So, it sort of snuck up on us that there are municipal elections coming up in 11 days! The last time we were on Sabbatical, 2008, the papers were full of analyses of candidates and mudslinging and all kinds of juicy stuff. We were in Jerusalem and witnessed the rise to prominence of Nir Barakat, who had a couple of successful terms as mayor and who is now in the Knesset. Now, we are living in Netanya, so let’s talk for a moment about what is going on here, particularly in the light of upcoming municipal elections. To be honest, what attracted us to Netanya was amazing proximity to the sea, a nice mix of Jewish cultures (Israeli, Russian, Anglo, French), with synagogues and lots of restaurants close by. Our apartment is in an older established neighborhood, built in the early 80’s. Netanya is a good-sized city, with 225,000 people in Netanya proper and 150,000 more in small towns in the vicinity, making it a sizeable region in Israel. The current Mayor, Miriam Fierberg, took office in 1998. Prior to her taking office, Netanya was best known as one of the crime capitals of Israel. Boy, has that changed. A social worker by training, Ms Feirberg has presided over a city that has undergone tremendous growth and development in the past 15 years. When we bought our place, there was the North section of Netanya, where we lived, and the south section, where Ikea is (known as Poleg) and a 6-7 km stretch of underdeveloped land along the coast. Over the past 10 years, we have witnessed tremendous building, with whole new neighborhoods along the water popping up. There are many more cranes in Netanya than in Montreal, for sure! A new area, toward the south, called Ir Yamim (the City of the Seas), is touting itself as the Riviera of Israel. It certainly reminds one of Miami Beach! With beautiful high-end condos, new shopping areas and restaurants, it’s very impressive. However, there are new projects not only all along the coast, but old buildings are being torn down and larger high-rises are replacing them, including many in our neighborhood. You may ask what happens to the residents of the old building? There is a law that allows developers to buy the property with the consent of the existing condo owners and when the new building is built, they get a new and improved apartment. The developers turn a 4-story building into a 12 story one, and hopefully everyone wins. All in all, the growth, expansion and beauty of Netanya has been greatly enhanced under Ms. Feirberg. It’s hard to see how she will be defeated, but stranger things happen in politics, n’est pas? 

This shabbat, Elan and Nomi and the kids are coming; Elan has been in Toronto for the week, so we can catch up on what’s new in Canada and have fun with grandchildren once again! It’s raining (major thunderstorms all morning) and we are hoping it will let up a bit so we can get outside over Shabbat. 

With that in mind, we wish everyone a Shabbat of peace and other thoughts of building and improving the world!

Barbara and Bruce

Refuah Shlema to Shmuel Zev Ben Rachel Ita. 

Happy Birthday to Len!