Yartzeit of Mark Samuel 2015

We have recently completed the cycle of Jewish holydays that begin with Rosh Hashana, transition to Yom Kippur and end with Sukkot. The mood of these days are a study in contrasts. The first 10 days, from the New Year to Yom Kippur, are intense periods for prayer, soul searching, repentance, and asking forgiveness from your fellow man. The completion of Yom Kippur leads into the preparation and then the celebration of Sukkot. This agrarian holiday includes dwelling in a Sukkah, a temporary shelter with its thatched roof that is partly open to the sky. Suffice it to say that the climate of Israel is much superior for this holiday than Montreal. Sukkot also has other agricultural symbols, including prayers for rain and the use of four species in many of the holiday prayers. 

The four species, Lulav (Palm), Hadasah (Myrtle), Arava (Willow) and Etrog (Citron) are very diverse in their properties. We are taught that they represent 4 classes of individuals: those who perform meritorious deeds, those who are learned in Torah, those who have both traits, and those who have neither. What is fascinating is that the rituals surrounding the Arba Minim (the four species) are only valid if all the 4 are taken together. We can’t just take the lovely, fragrant Etrog, representing meritorious behaviors and scholarship, nor can we cast aside the lowly willow, which has neither a fine smell nor provides tasty fruit, thus representing individuals without good deeds or learning. In spite of the disparities between the four species, they are always must be brought together in the rituals of Sukkot; they are inexorably linked even if they differ greatly. 

This is a tremendous lesson that can be extrapolated to many things, but it is a crucial part of providing education. There are many different types of students, stronger and weaker, those who are motivated, and those who need considerable encouragement, those who have special needs, and those who have outstanding abilities. The role of an educator, and indeed of a parent, is to recognize if someone is an Etrog, a Myrtle, a Palm or a Willow, or falls anywhere along the spectrum. Like in the Sukkot rituals, all are special and must be treated equally; without one, any one, the others lose value. Treating all as unique with their own special abilities is a crucial lesson we learn from the 4 species.

We commemorate the passing of Mark on the 7^th day of the Jewish Month of Cheshvan, which always comes out soon after Sukkot. Mark was a tremendous scholar, but also an amazing educator. He worked hard as a university professor to both motivate and educate. As a Father and Uncle, he provided games, and puzzles for his kids, nieces and nephews to work on, to think through and to have fun learning. It did not matter who, he always had time and patience to give to his family and his students. This was tied together with his legendary scholarship and his wish to solve complex problems in physics. On the other hand, he wrote chapters for the “Encyclopedia of Physics”, primarily a tool for non-physicists. For Mark, communicating knowledge was key. 

It is the 18^th anniversary of Mark’s untimely passing. 18 is the numerical value for the Hebrew word “Chai” meaning life. Mark’s memory lives on in us and it is important that we carry on his legacy. In honor of this anniversary, we have dedicated a library in memory of Mark at Yeshivat HaKotel, the school of higher Jewish learning that Elan and Ariel trained at and has contributed to the education of many. The plaque is inscribed with his name in English and Hebrew and says “The Pursuit of Knowledge is Everything”, which embodies his vision. We invite anyone who is in Jerusalem to visit, and in remembering his life, remember the lessons Mark taught that should live on through us all: that everyone should be treated as a special person, and that we should never stop learning and trying to understanding the world around us.

October 3-10

Welcome to sunset in Netanya, with a light wind blowing along the boardwalk, populated by joggers, couples strolling, and others taking in the cooling evening weather (still about 26 C). The colors over the Mediterranean are really pretty and the setting is idyllic. So Barbara and I chilled out at a new Israeli Steak House (Jack and Rose; highly recommended) as our time is Israel comes to a close. The week has been hectic (as usual) and fun (of course) with a clear smattering of solemnity due to the events around us. So in more detail, here is the recap.

Shabbat was lovely, and was a nice prelude to the end of Sukkot. We had lots of time to talk, to enjoy 19 month old Elisha’s company, take him to the park and be amazed at his vocabulary growing every day. The juxtaposition of Shabbat and the last day of Sukkot (Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah) on Sunday night made for a bit of a marathon, in terms of preparing, cooking, time in Synagogue, eating (especially) but also led to great family time. In Israel the final day of Sukkot combines the manic energy and happiness of the day known as Simchat Torah (Rejoicing for the Torah) which is celebrated as a separate day outside of Israel with the Memorial Prayers that are said for departed parents and other loved ones. One minute we are dancing, the next we are remembering those who have left us. This is a bit of a microcosm for Jewish History, where the ability to remember the past and progress towards the future has helped with the continuity of our people. For our friends at Beth Zion, there was no throwing of water at the Young Israel of North Netanya. I can’t say I missed it. Anyway the dancing with the Torah at our Netanya Shul was perfect for Elisha, who, with the other kids, was showered with candies (soft candies, a British tradition) and enjoyed a whole bunch of raisins, while being ferried around by Ariel or his Sabi Bruce.

The rest of the week we hopped around the country. Our lemon of a car seemed to hold its own, having had a new battery installed on day 3 of our trip.  On Tuesday we went to Jerusalem. Gila went to pay respects at the Shiva for her teacher Rabbi Eitan Henkin and his wife who had been shot by terrorists while driving home with their children in their car. It was obviously very emotional, with both political and religious leaders attending, in addition to family friends and former students. 

In a lighter vein, we took Elisha to the Machanei Yehuda Market in Jerusalem, which has been gentrified somewhat, with a wider main drag and several upscale restaurants. We met Barbara’s cousins Linda and Alan Zysblatt there (more on them in the January 2015 blogs) and bumped into Montrealers Marla and Peter Veres and family, as well the Ottawa Steinmans. After a bit of shopping and Elisha convincing me to buy him a baguette (he twisted my arm), we met Carol and David Novosellor and David’s father Rabbi Novosellor for a cool drink just before leaving Jerusalem. They all looked great and it was nice to see David’s father, who was visiting from New Jersey. We went back to Givat Shmuel where Gila and Ariel live and since Elisha went to bed, dined on take-out sushi and then headed back to Netanya.

A sidebar here. As you may have seen in the news, there has been a new type of terrorism happening in Israel over the past week, since the horrendous killings on the road to Itamar. “Lone wolf” Palestinians have been stabbing people randomly all over the country. There were three deaths in Jerusalem, and at least 4 attacks per day since Tuesday. The modus operandi often is an attempt to attack a soldier, usually female and steal her gun, but there have been attacks in crowds outside the old city and on busses. The perpetrators have been apprehended or killed by soldiers or police in the act of stabbing people. Obviously, we are all on edge, as the rhetoric from the leadership of the Palestinan Authoroty and Hamas praises these “heroic acts” leading to more copy-cat attempts. However, in a macabre twist that says a lot about what is wrong about the world today, Wednesday there was a solidarity rally in New York at the Israeli Embassy…Protesting the deaths of young Palestinians at the hands of Israelis during this spate of violence. In fact, an interviewer lobbed a softball to one of the leaders of the protest who talked about the evil of the IDF against their heroic boys. No mention by either the interviewer or anyone else that the reason these young men were killed was that they were in the act of attempting to kill someone else. So, those who are there to protect victims are the monsters, and the perpetrators of crimes are the heroes. We are certainly living in warped and very unnerving times.

Of course, like good Israelis, we keep life moving along at a normal pace! Wednesday following a trip to the bank (which includes a Monty Pythonesque story that really should make it to this blog, but won’t…) we visited with Ronen and Michal Sela. Michal, a nurse, has become head of Women’s Health for a large district of the Maccabi Health Insurance organization. We saw them near her office in Raanana, which was perfect because it was on the way to Givat Shmuel. We made it on time to pick up Gila and Elisha from Elisha’s day care and venture into the wilds of Bnei Braq, a very religious city adjoining Givat Shmuel, to do grocery shopping and pick up books and a few other things. Then we had dinner with the kids, before a visit to Ruth and Itamar Maliach (also ex-Montrealers) who live close to Gila and Ariel. Their daughter Annael was recently married, so we visited to wish them Mazel Tov, drink and toast “LeChaim!” and see some of the pictures from the celebrations.

The week wound down to where this blog began, with some errands, a walk along the beach, preparation for Shabbat and then a stroll along the cliffs to watch the sun set and enjoy a bit of sea air. Greatly needed and greatly appreciated.

This morning, we awoke to see that the streets were wet, the cars were wet, the grass too…it had rained! In a country with no major water resources, Israel is highly dependent on rain. In fact, the last day of Sukkot includes special prayers for the rains. Sure enough, the day after Sukkot there were downpours all over the country. On Wednesday, there was so much rain in Raanana that there was a power outage and here in Natanya there were pools of water all over the beach. This is obviously a good sign. After a few errands and breakfast, we went to Givat Shmuel to pick up Gila, Ariel and Elisha, for one last Shabbat before we go home.  On the way to Netanya, we stopped at a great playground not far from where we had dinner last night, and enjoyed some fun and a picnic. As we finish the last minute preparations, we look forward to a great Shabbat here and to the reality check that will come when we return home on Sunday!

We wish a Refuah Shelema to Zysel bat Bella

We wish a Refuah Shelema to Ha-Rav Hayyim Yechiel ben Malca

We wish a Refuah Shelema to Noam Shmuel Hayyim ben Yehudit

Wishing you a Wonderful Shabbat Shalom!

Barbara and Bruce

Shabbat Chol Hamoed Sukkot Oct 2

Welcome back to sunny Netanya! I don’t want to sound like we picked a good time to go away, but I understand the weather has turned a bit in Montreal and the rest of the East. The holiday of Sukkot is marked by many things (more later) but in particular by eating and entertaining in outdoor huts with thatched roofs. Clearly this holiday was made to celebrate here. The rain makes it unpleasant at best and impossible at worst to sit under a very porous roof. Sukkot celebrates the end of the harvest, and like farmers in ancient times who would sit in temporary dwellings in the fields away from their homes, so we commemorate this. Moreover, the lack of barrier between us and the elements, over which we have no control, reminds us that we are beholden to G-d for rain in its’ proper time and to protect us against the forces of nature. Sukkot in Israel is a really joyous time and most people are on holiday, so the streets are busy with vacationers from all over the country. It is a great time for families to be together in celebration. So….

 

We arrived in Israel last Friday morning after very little sleep on the plane, picked up a car (if you can call this particular Huyndai i25 from Budget a car…). We picked up Gila, Ariel and Elisha from Givat Shmuel and headed north to Netanya. They had cooked up a storm for Shabbat, so we had the added benefit of their company and great meals for Shabbat. Elisha is now 18 months old, a very happy, low maintenance kind of guy with a terrific vocabulary for his age, mostly English with a few Hebrew words mixed in. He got used to us very fast and we have been having a super time with him (prior to this he had not seen us except on Skype since January).

We were also joined by our niece Jenna, Roanne’s daughter, who has made Aliyah and is now in a program working towards being a medic. She has acclimatized really well and seems really happy.

We started the holiday of Sukkot on Sunday night, and as I said, ate outdoors in our Sukkah. We have this really cute little balcony and a sukkah that is 4 ft by 4 ft. Just enough room for 4 chairs and a little table. Of course, we were 5 plus a high chair! Yet, we all fit and had a great time with excellent weather and great food.

The rest of the week flew by. Tuesday we had brunch overlooking the water, and then entertained Elisha at the park and at the ZooZoo play place in the mall (AKA Toddler heaven). Then the battery died on our so-called car. What  a lemon!

On Wednesday, we visited Gilah’s family in Nevei Daniel, then went to Jerusalem, where we celebrated Hakhel in the old city. Our calendar runs on a 7 year cycle, where the 7^th year, like the seventh day of the week, is a sabbatical for the land called Shmita. This poses all kinds of interesting problems in terms of agriculture and produce in Israel, which we can discuss more next week. The end of Shmitta the entire country is supposed to gather in Jerusalem, where there is a huge ceremony and the king reads sections from the Torah. Well, there is no longer a king and the entire country can’t fit into Jerusalem, but thousands of people were at the Western Wall (an amazing site to see) and the chief Rabbis read the Torah. We saw a lot from the roof of Yeshivat HaKotel, and I tried to walk into the masses, which was very impressive. 

We wrapped up the week with a great visit from Lori and Alvan Small, time on the beach and great burgers on Thursday, and some fun time at the Parrot Park in Kfar Hess today. There is nothing like an 18 month old in a place with birds flying around and animals to pet!

Shabbat is approaching so we will sign off till next week!

Our thoughts are with the family who were gunned in a terrorist attack on the road between Itamar and Elon Moreh. Our daughter in law Gila had the husband as her teacher in Seminary. We pray for safety and Peace in Israel.    

We wish a Refuah Shelema to Zysel bat Bella

We wish a Refuah Shelema to Ha-Rav Hayyim Yechiel ben Malca

We wish a Refuah Shelema to Noam Shmuel Hayyim ben Yehudit

Wishing you a Wonderful Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach!

Barbara and Bruce

Shabbat Ha-azinu September 25, 2015

G’mar Chatima Tova. You should be sealed for a good year. This is how we greet each other during the period that ended yesterday, which began with Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, followed by the Aseret Yemei Teshuva, the 10 Days of Repentance, culminating in the fasting and praying of Yom Kippur. It will be Shabbat in Israel in a few hours, and we have arrived here to spend the next holidays of Sukkot in Israel with Ariel, Gila and Elisha. In general, I post after we have been in Israel for a few days, not just hours, but there were events this week that need to be written about and preserved.

 

We were fortunate to spend Yom Kippur with Monty, Daniella and Tali in Buffalo for the second year in a row. Yes, Buffalo may not be on the travel plans of many, but first, you can’t beat being with family and second, Monty is the Baal-Musaf (volunteer cantor) for the synagogue, the Young Israel of Greater Buffalo. In truth, both Monty and Daniella bring a lot to the community, in spite of their hectic schedules (residency program, taking care of Tali, running the house…). Monty has been very active in their synagogue and this is the third year that he has led the high-holiday services. This is something that takes special expertise, as the melodies are not the same as those used all year round. Monty also has a great voice and can engage the congregation to sing along. The services were terrific, and he had as much energy at the end of the fast day as at the beginning. It was very impressive. Daniella has been working on a special project for the community, bringing in two girls from Israel to work in the schools and synagogues. These girls are in their second year of Israeli National Service (Sheirut Le-umi) and they provide educational programs and tremendous spirit to the places they work. Residents of Cote-St Luc know very well the contribution these young ladies can make, having hosted many over the past 15 years. Daniella worked hard last year to interest the community and fundraised successfully to start the program for this year. We met the two girls Stav and Adi last night, and wish them great success. 

So, we arrived in Buffalo on Tuesday around noon, and till we left we were entertained with non-stop Tali!  We learned all about princesses, fairies, Rapunzel and a host of Disney characters; we played word games, memory games, read stories, and very much enjoyed spending time with her. She is a bundle of energy and can converse for hours, and she’s only 3½! It was hard to leave this morning, and we look forward to our next visit.

The solemnness of Yom Kippur was made even more sobering this week by the sudden passing early Monday morning of a great community leader in Montreal, Rabbi Sidney Shoham. Rabbi Shoham was the founding Rabbi of our synagogue, Beth Zion, steered the synagogue as Rabbi and Rabbi Emeritus for 60 years. The sheer longevity of his service to the community is praiseworthy enough, but how he did this is even more impressive. As one of the many who was touched by Rabbi Shoham, I would like to share a few thoughts on what he has left behind. 

Rabbi Shoham had an uncanny ability to make everyone feel comfortable in his presence. Despite being tremendously learned and a powerful presence in the pulpit, he always had a personal greeting for everyone. I will really miss him saying “So, how’s the doc?” when we would meet, always with a firm handshake and smile. I am sure he had hundreds if not thousands of pet phrases for the people he knew. He always remembered important details about people. Moreover, it did not matter who you were, Jewish or Christian, observant or secular, he would talk to you, engage you, and impress with his wit and insights. His son-in-law Willy would regale us with stories of visiting the Hasidic community in Outrement, and giving a long and complex dissertation in Jewish Law, in Yiddish; he was equally at home counseling lay members of his congregation, or discussing golf and baseball.

Barbara commented that in the synagogue’s heyday, Rabbi Shoham would follow the Torah Procession on Shabbat morning, with a handshake and a personal word for each of the congregants. People often thought this added time to an already lengthy service. Yet for many, this was the most important part of coming to synagogue. To be able to connect to their Rabbi, their spiritual leader, teacher and above all a friend, was part of his priceless contribution. He will be missed greatly.

Our sincerest condolences to our friends Linda and Willy Lieberman and to Mrs. Jewell Shoham and the extended Shoham family on the passing of their father, father-in-law, grandfather and great-grandfather.  

We wish Orly Fruchter safe travels and good luck in her new job in Manilla!

We wish a Refuah Shelema to Zysel bat Bella

We wish a Refuah Shelema to Ha-Rav Hayyim Yechiel ben Malca

We wish a Refuah Shelema to Noam Shmuel Hayyim ben Yehudit

Wishing you a Wonderful Shabbat Shalom and G’mar Chatima Tova

Barbara and Bruce

January 17-23

I was trying to describe what a country of physical contrasts Israel is to one of my students, who hails from China. The first major contrast is its size. In a world where Israel is on the front pages of national papers on a regular basis, people who have never been there think that it must be at least the size of India or even Egypt, with millions of people. Learning that you can drive from west to east in a little over an hour, and from top to bottom in under 6 hours, and that Israel is only a little larger than New Jersey about a quarter of the size of Maine makes people really wonder how such a small place can have such impact. The second major disconnect is the diverse geography. Fit into this tiny land is a warm and exciting Mediterranean coast, a green and fertile northern portion, home to fine wines;   the cool, hilly spiritual capital of Jerusalem, and a vast arid dessert, full of canyons and rock formations. In one holiday driving less than a 250 km radius we experienced balmy temperatures, wind and sand storms, driving rains, and beautiful snowflakes, all in the same 5 day period.  Not easy to duplicate anywhere else, that’s for sure.

We left off as we were heading for Shabbat in Netanya with Gila, Ariel and Elisha. This was a time to wind down, relax and marvel at how quickly babies change and develop. Elisha has progressed to crawling, standing up, cruising and climbing on all kinds of things in a short period of time. We had fun playing with Elisha and I think he enjoyed not having to share attention with the other kids (but we definitely missed them).

Sunday was Bruce’s last full day in Israel. We spent the day in the sunshine, taking walks and enjoying a visit from Carol and David Novoseller, who escaped from Efrat to enjoy some coastal sun and great views of the sea. It was terrific to catch up with them. That evening was a real treat as well. We went to “Sorcerer’s Night” at a dinner theatre called “Punchline” in Tel Aviv. This evening of magic included visits from several magicians to each table for some close-up card tricks and other sleight of hand, followed by a one hour+ show which included some amazing memory tricks (Matan Rosenberg reciting the names of all 150 people in the audiences after talking to them while showing off his cards) and an ESP demonstration (including having a sealed envelope with 7 random numbers that matched the numbers chosen by 7 random people!). It was a great show, all in English, and definitely worth the price of admission! I think they do weddings and bar mitzvah’s as well…

Monday was a day of tidying up and closing down the apartment, and one more family dinner at Ariel and Gila’s house before Bruce would be off to the airport and Barbara would go to Jerusalem for a conference. Here was another “only in Israel” moment. We did take-out dinner to let Elisha go to sleep at his normal time. Where did we go? To “Hello Teyman (Yemen)” a popular Shawarma place that is located “in the gas station on the exit for Coca-Cola Junction (direct translation)“.  Who eats at a gas station? Well, in Israel, you find good fast food in all kinds of weird places (and let me assure you, the shawarma is first class there). And what is Coca Cola Junction? The highway exit that leads to the towns of Givat Shmuel where Gila and Ariel live, and adjoining city of Bnei Brak has the country’s Coca-Cola Plant and Distribution center. So the exit is named for this famous bastion of “healthy” beverages!

The meeting in Jerusalem is the 4th International Conference on Pediatric Diseases Disability and Human Development.  There are major Canadian Connections at this conference. First, it is sponsored by Gerry Schwartz and Heather Reisman of the Onex investment firm and the Chapter’s/Indigo Bookstore chain. Secondly, there is a large Montreal contingent presenting at the meeting, including Barbara, Debbie Feldman, Neomi Dahan, and Dana Anaby representing both McGill and Université du Montreal. Thirdly, Israel is a country that has some tremendous resources for the handicapped, and one story I will relate had a surprise Canadian and family connection.

When we spent Shabbat at Barbara’s cousin Linda and Allen’s home 2 weeks ago, they told us a story that happened some 40+ years ago. It seems that an 18 year old student from Vancouver, the son of close family friends, was going to spend some time in Israel before going to an exchange program in Paris and then off to University, ultimately to study law. So Linda invited Carey Samuels to spend Shabbat with them. As luck would have it, Carey sat next to a Rabbi on the bus who asked what his plans were. When he was told that Carey was going to study French culture for a few months, he responded that he should really spend the time learning about his own culture. The Rabbi gave Carey his card and invited him for Shabbat the following week. He took up the offer, and slowly became greatly enamored with studying Judaism. He was a superb student and progressed rapidly in his new found field. This led to his giving up his plans of law school, immersing in Jewish study and marrying at a young age. 
However, the couple’s first child Yossi had a severe reaction to a badly prepared lot of vaccine, and became quite handicapped. Carey and his wife put tremendous efforts into giving their child all they needed. After several years and contact with many other families with special needs children, they realized that there was a tremendous need for programming and respite for families with special-needs children. So, they began an organization.  What began on a small scale has grown into Shalva, with state of the art facilities and highly innovative programs for handicapped kids. Today Carey Samuels, now known as Kalman and his wife Malki are the guiding forces behind this amazing organization. In fact Kalman spoke at the conference, and told his inspiring story. And to think it all happened because of a bus ride to Linda and Allen’s house!

Check out their website, http://www.shalva.org/ and see what else is going on, especially the link to the new Shalva center to open in August of this year! Also, check out this video of the Shalva Kids Choir doing Leonard Cohen!!

Barbara’s presentation was on Thursday and was extremely well received. She then enjoyed a wonderful steak dinner at the home of newlyweds Bilha and Chai. The conference will be wrapping up Friday and then she’ll be back to Ariel ad Gila’s house for Shabbat and the flight back to Montreal (via Toronto) on Saturday night.  It’s been quite a ride over the last few weeks!

Best wishes for good health and speedy recoveries (Refuah Shelema) to

Zysel bat Bella

HaRav Chaim Yechiel ben Malka

Raizy Perton

Mazel Tov to Avi and Nancy Hazan on the birth of a baby boy. Mazel to  proud grandparents Rochelle and Jeff Rein (as well as Jackie and Pascal Hazan and Nancy’s parents, who I don’t think will see this unless someone sends them the link!)

A very happy birthday with extra hugs to the most amazing person in my life, Barbara. You make every day special!  

January 9-16th

As people working in a largely scientific field, it is not very often when we really take a hard look and try to appreciate the more artsy side of life. These areas may seem in fact dichotomous, but in truth, it is more like a left brain-right brain thing; both are available to you but it depends on how developed one side is over the other. Certain people have the amazing ability to excel at both (like Prof Ronnie Gehr, a frequent commentator on this blog), while others dabble at one and work hard at the other. This was certainly a week where we experienced and really appreciated the arts and music side of Israeli life.

This really starts with Shabbat last week at Barbara’s cousin’s, the Zysblatt’s. Linda and Allen (AKA Zysh) made Aliyah from Vancouver in the early 70’s and have been French Hill residents for 38 years. We have enjoyed visiting them many times and have shared simchas and watched their children grow to be successful adults. Both Linda and Zysh are retired Hebrew University professors, Linda in English and Allen in the Faculty of Law. Well, Friday night was spent with them and 4 close friends from French Hill, all but one who emigrated to Israel from Western Canada in the 60’s or 70’s! It was very cool to meet them, and since they had been in the country through many of its formative years, we heard stories about interaction with politicians and historical figures in the life of Israel.  Among the highlights of the weekend were some incredibly delicious and artfully presented dishes that were served by Linda. These were actually her daughter Nomi’s recipes, part of her catering repertoire.

Now the arts part. The Zysblatt kids are all adults now and extremely successful in their own right. There are no lawyers; rather, Elana is a sculptor, married to an artist who works as a home designer and builder, living in Vancouver; Daniel is an award winning journalist and film maker, based in Indonesia; and Nomi is a musician, who has developed her culinary skills and runs a successful business making designer frozen treats called Paletas as well as being a successful caterer (as noted above).

On Sunday night we had the pleasure of attending one of Nomi Zysblatt’s concerts, at Café Bialik in Tel Aviv. Nomi composed almost all the music played and does her own arranging. She sings beautifully, and her songs are primarily ballads with recurrent nature imagery: light and dark, rain and water, the seasons, fields and other descriptors of beauty.  She performed with a group of friends that included a classical violist, guitar, flute, bass and piano. She herself plays piano and guitar (at least) as well as terrific vocal. There is a link to a sample You-tube below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdxnwx8DuXU

To continue the theme, we jump to Wednesday, when we visited Ein Hod. This is an artist colony, nestled in the hills just south of Haifa. The town was founded in the 50’s and many of the artists live there and have their wares displayed in stores and galleries. We visited a shop where the artist dyed silk and other cloths and then printed on them with gold foil. She also made gold and silver clasps for scarves, and her husband built furniture, and photographed Israeli cloudscapes. Another shop was the home of the Magal family, the second generation of ceramic makers who paint with glaze, which leads to a spectacular effect in color once the glaze is heated to nearly 2000F. The shopkeepers were identical twin sisters who learned this remarkable technique from their mother and whose father was a painter who had come to Israel in the 30’s. Now the third generation, one of the twin’s sons, are also accomplished artists. Quite amazing; makes you want to get in touch with your more artistic side!

The week clearly went by very quickly, with some other terrific highlights. We visited with Ann and Jonathan  Homa and Bilha and Orly Fruchter on Saturday night, visiting the newly renovated “Old train Station” in Jerusalem. They all were doing really well. Since that was so much fun, we went to the old Train station in Tel Aviv the next evening, prior to Nomi’s concert. Monday was Ariel’s birthday, so we celebrated that evening at a new Grill Restaurant in Tel Aviv called Rafael. Highly recommended.

On Tuesday we got really spontaneous and invited old friends, the Selah’s and the Maliach’s, for a late dinner at our home. They both lived in Montreal at the same time (1999-2001) so it was a fun reunion. This was after some beautiful long walks along the boardwalk in Netanya, taking advantage of the two sunny days we have had in the midst of several days of rain. Since rain is good for the country, no complaints…

We are winding down to Shabbat, and Gila, Ariel and Elisha have joined us. It promises to be really nice and lots of fun.  However, we would like to share that we visited Rav Chaim (Howie) Rothman yesterday at the Bet Levenstein Rehablitation center in Raanana. Howie was a victim of the horrible attack on Har Nof and unfortunately is still in a coma. We visited with his family and sat at his bedside, hopefully to give some strength toward recovery.  At the exit to the center, there is a sign on the wall that translates to “A place of  hope”. I think that’s a poignant message after that visit and no less in the aftermath of the attacks in France and the turmoil going on around us in the world.

We wish everyone a meaningful and warm Shabbat Shalom

Refuah Shelema to Zeisyl bat Bella

Refuah Shelema to Rav Chaim Yechiel ben Malca

Happy Anniversary to Roanne and David Wiesz!

Happy Birthday to Zev Kessler!