Shabbat Shalom January 9-10

OK everyone, get your walking shoes on, we are going to put everyone through their paces. Although we are not hiking in the Grand Canyon or the Panamanian Rain Forest, we have put on enough mileage between our car and more importantly, our shoes, to burn a few calories to counteract all the great food we are eating here. According to my app we are easily averaging 10K steps a day! So, now, let’s retrace our steps and get a handle on this busy week! 

Shabbat last week was in Efrat with Nomi, Elan and their gang. Everyone was at home, and Shlomo was celebrating his 15th birthday. The weather was bright and sunny, about 15C, and everyone enjoyed the great food (including Elan’s almost award winning cholent, which came in second in the cook off for some absolutely insane reason) and was followed by a Saturday evening birthday celebration with Elan’s version of the Red Burger (our absolute favorite burger place) “Hamburger with Steak” along with movie night. Most of the steps that day were to synagogue or in the neighborhood for a walk.

We stayed over on Saturday night because we were in charge of chauffeuring a couple of grandchildren. So, Sunday morning began by taking Shlomo out to Bagel Café for breakfast, which was fun since it’s always fun to have one on one time, especially with teens. Shlomo is going to high school about 30 minutes from Efrat, and stays at the dorm 3-4 nights a week. When he is home for Shabbat, his school starts around noon, so he catches a bus from his school at 10:30 right across the street from the Bagel Café. We then spent some time at the Malcha Mall supporting the Jerusalem economy while we waited for our afternoon pickup time. We picked up Nadav and took him to his horseback riding activity where he is learning to ride and to train horses. Very cool indeed! Then, off to Petach Tikvah, to attend a double gymnastics exhibition with Adi and Ora. Their gymnastics school has a mid-year show for parents, and in our case, grandparents. It’s quite spectacular what 6- and 8-year-old girls can do in terms of cartwheels, bridges, flips and other contortions! Very fun and the girls made us very proud!

Monday was a beautiful day, and jet lag was beginning to lift, which meant we actually got out into the world before noon! Our friend Gail has purchased an apartment in Netanya about 3km south of our place. We took advantage of a bright, sunny morning to walk along the sea boardwalk to her new place and take the tour. It’s a lovely apartment in a brand-new building with a gorgeous balcony and view of the sea. We wish many years in the sun there! We walked back to the centre of town to continue our walk with Alvan and Lori including a lunch and a few errands thrown in for good measure. Tuesday was errand and shopping day, with trips to Nespresso, Ikea, and Rami Levi (a well-known Israeli Grocery store chain). This allowed us to start preparations for the upcoming Shabbat when Ariel and Gila and their kids are coming. 

Nostalgia time. Way back in the early 80’s a bunch of young married couples moved  north of Van Horn along Westbury and invaded the Shomrim Laboker Synagogue. In those days the famous Cantor Yakov Motzen was there, as well as Rabbi Chaim Denburg, a Montreal fixture for over 50 years. We collectively brought down the age of the shul from mid 70’s to maybe 68? Who knows? However, this bunch of renegades started to the Shomrim Laboker Young Adults’ group, with the great acronym of SLYAG. Fast forward, now we are the people we made fun of in the 80’s. Well, not so much, but the core group has remained friends till today. On Wednesday, Mary Ruth and Ronnie Gehr, who made Aliyah in 2022, visited Netanya for the first time since they moved to Israel. We had a great brunch and then took them for a walk along the boardwalk and into town. We then met up with SLYAG alumni Anne and Jonathan Homa at MoJoSan in the Piano Centre in Ir Yamin, the newest and hippest section in South Netanya. 

After dinner, we went to a fundraiser, Comedy for Koby. This amazing program, featuring an American comedian named Avi Lieberman, stages shows twice a year to raise funds for the Koby Mandell Foundation. This organization provides social and psychological assistance for kids who have lost loved ones due to war or terror attacks. Clearly, they have had an increase in their work since October 7th. Avi brings in 3 other comedians and takes them around the country; this time the lineup included Andy Pilz, Liz Glazer and Rob Shynder. They were excellent, particularly Rob Shynder! This is worth going to (if you are in Israel till the end of next week there are still shows!)

What else is going on here? I must say the news in Israel is somewhat dwarfed by the news in Iran (or whatever can be gleaned from the videos sent by the protestors). It is hard to know how this will play out; we can only hope for a change that brings peace and security to the entire region.  

We did need to stop and cook to prepare for the arrival of Gila, Ariel, Elisha, Ora and Adi. Thursday AM was spent in the kitchen, then a walk north to a whole new development in Netanya called Blue Bay (really lovely apartments and stores) and a drive to Petach Tikvah to pick up the 3 kids for dinner and a sleep over. We woke up early and Elisha and I took another long walk to pick up fresh Challahs and baked goods and other things needed for Shabbat. As we are winding down on time, we will send this out and hope to have more news and insights next week!

Have a warm and amazing Shabbat! 

Barbara and Bruce

Happy Birthday to Ariel

Happy Birthday to Damien

Happy Birthday to Jeff Rein

Happy Birthday to Zev Kessler

Happy Anniversary to Sheila and Billy

Refuah Shlema to Linda

Refuah Shelema-we wish Shmuel Yosef ben Alexandra Ariella a speedy recovery

Refuah Shelema-we wish Avraham Ephraim ben Kayla Shoshana a speedy recovery