Shabbat January 4-5th

I owe you all an apology! If you check out the blog posted on December 20^th, I ended it by saying “More next week, it’s a promise! And from the Dead Sea at that!” but then I broke the promise. The good news is that it was simply because the past two weeks have been almost non-stop, and not because we did not have anything to share!

We are writing from Neve Daniel, at Elan’s and Nomi’s house. We “moved in” Wednesday to spend some time with them and help by being home for the kids while Nomi works on a project. Since the late summer, Nomi has been working for a company called FreeMind, an organization that writes scientific grants, primarily for US industry and academic organizations. It’s fun to think that an Israeli company has developed a specialized expertise in helping scientists in the US to get grants! We are staying here through Shabbat, and will be leaving early Sunday AM. It’s at best a 1 hour 40 minute drive from Netanya to here, so not exactly a short daily commute! On the other hand, Neve Daniel is really on the outskirts of Jerusalem. This proximity has allowed us to take advantage by spending the past two days in Jerusalem. Wednesday, we visited the main market, Machane Yehuda, wandering around, sampling Halva (and buying some too) and a picking up a few other things for Shabbat and home. We met our cousin Linda at a new, upscale restaurant called Crave! It’s a New York style deli with a twist; the chefs have developed recipes that include Vegan cheeses so they (reputedly) make a great cheeseburger and I had their version of a Reuben Sandwich (pastrami, sauerkraut, Vegan Mozzarella, and Sriracha Mayo). Yummy. Yesterday we went to the Old City, visited the Western Wall and the under-street level Cardo; the center of trade in Byzantine Jerusalem.  A new attraction is a virtual reality tour back to the time of the Temple, over 2000 years ago. Definitely worth checking out!  

One thing that certainly is easy to notice in Jerusalem is the large number of tourists that are here. Of course, there are the regular Jewish tourists visiting over the holiday period, but there were thousands of others visiting from all over the world. The Old City was teeming with people, the restaurants had huge line ups, the lines to get to the Western Wall were all the way up the staircase; signs of the tourist boom of 2018 continuing into 2019. There is a terrific buzz here, as people come for the history, the beauty and the unique vibe of the country. There were many years when we would visit and the tourist areas were quiet, but tourism has really come back with a roar!

Prior to coming to Neve Daniel, we had a lot of quality time with Elisha (4) and Ora (20 months), Ariel and Gila’s children. We would spend mornings in Netanya, taking walks along the water if the weather was good, or doing errands during the couple of days of rain.  Then off to Givat Shmuel for pick up, playtime, dinner or whatever was needed. Elisha is super active, super curious and very helpful as only someone turning 5 soon can be. Ora is picking up lots of words and absolutely knows what she wants and how she wants to do it!

Of course, we had a couple of days when we did not come to help with pick up, and were fortunate to spend them with friends. We had Zev Kessler and Debbie Kamioner visit for a day; they are to be married in mid-February and we are so happy to celebrate with them as they move into their new life together! We had a great day with Gail Jaffe, who fits into Netanya perfectly, with a good number of ex-Mancunian’s here; hopefully she will join us one day! Spending time with friends and having breakfast on the beach is something everyone should try.

We also had a chance to have dinner with Michal and Ronen Sela at Derby’s Villa, a great place in a town called Hod HaSharon; and with Ruth and Itamar Maliach who live in Givat Shmuel. Both Israeli couples had lived in Montreal what seems like ages ago, but we have stayed in touch and have celebrated marriages, births and other special things together. Of course, another highlight was celebrating Gaby Cohen’s 60^th Birthday in the company of other Israeli ex-Montrealers including Cantor Lippa and Liat Glanz, Natan Samuel and his wife, Nir and Hadas Grossman, Rabbi Yitzhak and Smadar Amar and (current Montrealers) Rochelle and Jeff Rein. Aside from the celebration, it was a treat to see people we had spent a lot of time with in the past!

The morning after the birthday, we packed up and picked up Gila, Ariel and the kids and drove south into the desert, over winding roads and mountain passes, along gorgeous landscapes with water on one side and arid sand dunes and mountains on the other. After a couple of hours, we arrived at the Dead Sea resort of En Bokek. Nomi and the kids joined us from Jerusalem, a “mere” 90 minute drive (also winding roads!) Elan was running a Shabbat program, but our niece Jenna joined Nomi in the car to ride shotgun! It was not super hot, but on arrival we went to the Dead Sea (where you can float without any effort) and of course the kids would not be denied! They took advantage of the bizarre feeling of weightlessness. The Dead Sea hotels are really set up as spas with people walking across the street from the hotel in bathrobes to get their therapeutic baths. We spent a very nice Shabbat at the Isrotel Ganim Hotel with good accommodations, plenty of food and lots of fun times for the cousins to play together. It’s terrific to see them, even at all different ages, having things in common, like the beach, movies, and just having a good time together.

 

Back in Neve Daniel, “babysitting” for Shoshana and Shlomo is pretty simple, as it should be for 10 and 8-year olds. They come home on the bus, have snacks, do homework and then hang out, or help with the younger members of the clan, Nadav (4) and Aryeh (14 months). Aryeh is a riot, a bundle of energy who loves to walk around and climb on everything. Nadav is speaking both English and Hebrew and loves to pretend he is the teacher in school, “reading” us stories and putting on shows.  

Israel will be having another election soon, and the newspapers, websites and bloggers are having a great time with it. Likud, the party led by the incumbent Binyamin Netanyahu, is well ahead in the polls. Israel has an electoral system which includes an infinite number of parties which means that it’s almost impossible to have a clear majority and the government is built on coalitions. The Labor Party, which ruled Israel for the first 30 years of the country’s existence, is a shadow of its former self, and may win 7-9 seats in the 120 seat Knesset. The country’s politics have moved decidedly right (like many countries) but in Israel it’s predominantly for security reasons. Of course, the big controversy is a possible indictment of the Prime Minister on bribery charges. Interesting public perception; if he is indicted, the majority of Israeli’s say he should resign. If he is not, they would vote for him as prime minister. Go figure…..

We are now in the throes of Shabbat preparations, with Gila and Ariel and kids as well as Jenna joining the crowd in Neve Daniel for Shabbat. Then it will be off to the airport, back to “reality” and cold and snow…

We wish everyone a warm and restful Shabbat Shalom!

Barbara and Bruce

Happy New Year!

Happy Birthday to Gail Jaffe

Happy Birthday to Debbie Feldman

Happy Birthday to Sheila Fishman-Booth

Special Happy Birthday to Uncle Peter!!d

Mazel tov to Nikki and Avi Lieberman on the new arrival! Mazel tov to Linda, Willie and the great Grandmothers 

Shabbat Dec 21-22

Hi everyone, a brief shout out Shabbat Shalom to all. We are scurrying around preparing for Shabbat with 22 people coming for dinner. What’s the deal? Barbara arrived over a week ago, and has already spent Shabbat in Givat Shmuel with Ariel and Gila, babysat and spent the night at Elan’s, did a bunch of correcting, and met some work colleagues. I arrived yesterday and we picked up Gila and the kids and brought them to Netanya.

Shabbat tonight will be bittersweet. As you know our very close friend Sylvia Fruchter passed away on her birthday last January. Today we drove up to Haifa where she is buried, for the unveiling of her headstone. The extended Fruchter family (Canadian and Israel) were there, and Bilha, Haim and Yacov spoke beautifully. It was very fitting for someone who was an amazing wife, mother, grandmother and friend. It was a beautiful day, with the sun shining down on all of us, reminiscent of Sylvia’s smile and sunny disposition, even when she was very ill.

So tonight, we have the Mazer and Fruchter clans for Shabbat Dinner, with a total of 4 babies, 12 adults and 6 children or some such count! It will be very fun to have everyone together and we have been cooking for weeks (well, maybe not!). We’re looking forward to catching up, playing with the kids and to reflect on the important things!

More next week, it’s a promise! And from the Dead Sea at that!

We wish you a wonder, warm and meaningful Shabbat Shalom!

Barbara and Bruce

Happy Birthday to Elaine

Happy Birthday to Danielle

Happy Birthday to Shilo

Happy Birthday to Shlomo!

Parashat Bereshit October 5, 2018

--> We always like to talk about new beginnings, yet I am not sure that new beginnings have the impact people want. We know that many who make New Year “resolutions” may change their behaviors (work out more, eat healthier, spend less time on the internet….) for a few weeks but usually fall back into the same patterns as before. Perhaps new beginnings aren’t so much about radical change but about looking back at the good things that we do and trying to reinforce them. My best example is the cycle of Torah Readings that is a hallmark of the Jewish Calendar. You may notice that sometimes, like today, the blog title lists the name of the weekly Torah Reading. In fact, all Jewish calendars note which portion of the Torah reading we are performing that week. This week, Genesis or Bereshit, is the first chapter of the Bible, where we read the story of Creation, the Biblical origin of Man and Woman, and the early development of societies as we know them today. We do this each year, reading the Torah in sections beginning the week after Sukkot and culminating in Simchat Torah, which we celebrated Monday in Israel and Tuesday in all other countries (more on that in a moment). This annual cycle teaches us that “New Beginnings” are not really “New”; that life is really a cycle and that we need to review, reflect and learn something new from every day, because as events happen, if we do not learn from what came before us, we will repeat the same errors. The lesson of the Torah cycles is that no matter how ancient, and how many times we encounter the same situation, or think we know how to react to a particular person, place or thing, we need to learn something new and use our experiences to grow, to appreciate and to make things better. In Simchat Torah we don’t just celebrate the culmination of the annual cycle of Biblical readings, we immediately read from Genesis as if to say the reason for ending is to begin again, to learn more and take advantage of our experience. This is truly something to Celebrate!

 

And celebrate we did! When we left off last week, we were heading into Shabbat in Neve Daniel, where Elan and Nomi live. Neve Daniel is located on a hill outside of Jerusalem and in general, it’s a few degrees cooler and breezier than most of the country. Not this weekend! The temperature was in the low 30’s and very warm. Great weather for sitting outdoors in the Sukkah over Shabbat. Our niece Jenna and her best friend from Edmonton, Shelli, joined us and we had a great time. Nomi and Elan hosted Friday night dinner and Gila and Ariel joined us, then for Shabbat lunch we went to Geula and Yitzhak Twersky, Gila’s parents. It’s so much fun to see all the cousins together! Shoshana, now 10, sets the tone, like the eldest usually does, but there are lots of great interactions. Ora (18 months old), Ariel’s youngest is in love with Shlomo (age 7); Elisha and Nadav, both 4 ½, born 10 days apart, cause trouble together; Aryeh who is turning a year soon, is standing and taking steps and scoots across the house at blinding speed on all fours. Ora and Aryeh play together nicely, except when they get into a pushing match…It’s terrific fun to watch and enjoy constantly!

Sunday we went to the park with all the kids in the morning and in the PM went to the major Jerusalem Mall (Montreal connection-Azrieli built it like most malls in Israel) with Elan’s kids to cool off. The place was packed, especially the food court! The trip from their suburb to the mall was 18 minutes, thanks to the expansion of a cross Jerusalem highway called the Begin. Amazing what good roads will do and how quickly things can be built (in contrast to our Orange Cone filled landscape in Montreal)

Sunday night and Monday were Simchat Torah. We celebrated in a smaller Synagogue in Neve Daniel, maybe 100 families (the main synagogue is a 15 minute walk, this one was 5), and it was amazing. I have always wondered why Yom Kippur, with it’s solemnness, praying for hours on end, and fasting is probably the greatest day in terms of synagogue attendance. It should be Simchat Torah! We spend hours singing and dancing in Synagogue, we eat great food, we drink a bit, but the focus is on celebrating the Torah, celebrating who we are and what we stand for. The energy of the kids, young and old, singing and dancing, was inspiring. All the little ones were on their parents (or grandparents!) shoulders, so no one missed a beat and people were super involved. It was really great.

Speaking of inspiring, I want to highlight a short video that our friend Alvin Small sent; the story of ADL Director Abe Foxman, who survived the Holocaust as a young child by being hidden by righteous Gentiles. After liberation, his father took him to synagogue for the first time on Simchat Torah. What transpires is tremendous and underlines the unique nature of this underappreciated holiday. You can read the story here, and I will try to repost the video.

https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1187943/jewish/Soldier-Survivor-Have-Emotional-Reunion.htm  

The last few days in Israel, were spent with the kids on Tuesday (as they had one more day off school), then closing down the Netanya apartment and flying back to “reality”. But considering what we have done in the few weeks between St. Louis, Montreal and Israel, it’s a very good reality!  The flights home were smooth, although with flights packed with children returning home from holidays in Israel we could not get much sleep. On the other hand, there were 12 hours of Moti’s stories and not one was repeated!

I would be amiss if I did not properly quote our good friend Rabbi Yehoshua Grunstein said during his talk at Beth Zion. He spoke about the Jewish New Year period and asked the question if the period between Rosh Hashana-and Yom Kippur (known as the 10 days of Repentance) was a time for a Radical Makeover. He stressed that what we need to do to make changes in our lives is go by little increments, just try a little harder, do a little more, be realistic and not expect radical changes in behavior. As we reflect on the New Beginnings of our cycle of Torah reading, as in family and life, learning just a little bit more all the time will keep us renewed, refreshed and focused on what’s important!

We wish everyone successful new beginnings and a Wonderful Shabbat Shalom!

Barbara and Bruce

Mazel Tov to Haim Fruchter who was honored in Beth Zion as Chatan Bereshit!

Mazel Tov to Rabbi Yitzchak Twersky who was honored in Bet Midrash Derech Avot as Chatan Torah!
Mazel Tov to Willy Lieberman who was honored in Beth Israel Beth Aaron as Chatan Bereshit!

Happy Birthday to Nomi-our amazing daughter in law and Hostess for this Chag

Happy Birthday to Daniella- our amazing daughter in law and Hostess for Rosh Hashana

(Not to forget Gila, our other amazing daughter in law but her birthday is in February)

Happy birthday to Haim!