Even Yaruka

The last day of our vacation

2011-08-19T16:35:00.001+03:00

Rivka told all the kids about mattressing (not sure if that's the real name but it's like banana boating except that you lie on your stomach instead of sitting) and it sounded like a lot of fun. So Rivka, Zvi, Leora and I left the zimmer around 8:15 on Thursday to go to Teverya. The night before it had been packed there to the point that you could barely walk but in the morning it was totally empty. The four of us got on the inflatable raft and lied on our stomach and the motor boat it was attached to went around and around in the kineret for 15 minutes. It was fun and the kids all enjoyed that.

Then we went home and packed up the car to check out. A nice family that had been staying at the zimmer had five free tickets to Hamat Gader that they didn't end up using and Yeshaya and Nava were free on account of their size. It's a good thing that it was free because it really isn't worth anything near the 58 shekel per person that it's supposed to cost. There is a small zoo, a water slide and hot springs. I stayed away from the water but the kids said that the lines at the slide were really long and it stunk by the water slide. There was a parrot show that was pretty good (Leora loved it) and a crocodile show that was too crowded. We didn't stay that long and then drove home.

On the way home we all (besides Nava who slept the entire drive home) rated the days from best to least best. I think the way we rated it is indicative of how hard it is to plan a trip for seven Greenstones. Thursday was the favorite day for both Leora (she loves water and thought the parrots were great) and Zvi (he loved the mattressing so much that it made up for the fact that he didn't like Hamat Gedar) but it was the worst day for Yeshaya and Rivka. Tuesday with the Hageges was Rivka's favorite day and everyone else had it second besides Leora who rated it fourth - ahead of only the travel day on Sunday. Shira and Yeshaya both thought Monday at Majrasa was the best day but Zvi and I thought it was the worst. I thought Wednesday's biking and canoeing was great but Zvi and Yeshaya both had it fourth. So we had a bit of complaining almost every day but overall I think that looking back everyone had a great time.

Biking and canoeing

2011-08-19T13:02:00.000+03:00

We had a coupon book which was full of things to do in the North. We found a bike trail that had family bikes to rent not too far from us in Daganya. Rivka and Zvi each got their own bike and the rest of us got a five person bike. There are pedals on each side in the front and back. Yeshaya and Nava couldn't reach the pedals but Leora helped when she was in the mood. We got the bikes for an hour and it was a real workout.

Then we went canoeing at Rob Roy which we remembered from three years ago. When we came last time it was May and the place was empty. It was packed this time and there was a 30 minute waiting list. We had to canoe around swimmers and others in the water. It was still fun (at least for some of us).

Then we went back to our place and ate some Yavniel pizza before heading out to Teverya for a light and water show. It turned out that we were a little early so we just walked around and got spots so we could see the show. Yeshaya also went on a pony ride since he was the only one who didn't get a turn on a horse the other day.

Hermon with Hagege

2011-08-19T11:43:00.000+03:00

About six months ago we thought about doing our entire summer tiyul with Ethel and family. Shira and Rivka started getting nervous about booking a place and Ethel really didn't know yet what they were doing. So we decided to just book our vacation and we'd try to do something with them if it worked out. They ended up staying much further north in Kfar Szold. They came up with the idea of doing Har Hermon on Tuesday together so we left at 9 in the morning and met them in Kfar Szold which is right on the way.

At the Hermon we took cable cars to the top of the mountain and then there was a walking tour up there. After taking cable cars back down we went on this roller coaster type ride. The kids had a great time on that so we finally gave in to them begging and let them all go a second time. We were then going to stop at a small hike and spring but it turned out to be closed already. We had to get going because Rivka and Shira were going to the Shweky concert that night.

This day wasn't in water at all (it was also much cooler on top of the mountain but we all got sunburned) so we have lots of pictures. Here are a few

Monday at Majrasa

2011-08-19T11:20:00.000+03:00

We hadn't planned this trip at all. So each night Shira and I sat down to figure out what to do the next day. Sunday night we decided to try a hike at Majrasa (מג'רסה) on Monday. We heard it was a hike in the water and figured the kids would enjoy it. One thing we learned (again) on this tiyul is that it is impossible to please everyone. Some kids really liked the hike but others really hated it. It's about a 30 minute walk (with the little kids) through water - it gets as high as my thighs in some places. Then we walked back, (half via land and half via water), got popsicles and ate lunch.

It was still very early in the day and we really didn't know what we were doing next. We decided to drive to Katzrin since we were nearby and we heard there were things to do. There was supposedly a water factory, a wine factory and some other stuff. We got there though and we quickly realized that it just wasn't a touristy place anymore. The water factory had closed to tourists a while before and it was just a regular city. The kids weren't in great moods by that time and after hanging around in the shopping center we decided to leave and head back to the zimmer.

After hanging out in the zimmer for a couple of hours and eating dinner we went to Kfar Kamma to go horseback riding. Rivka and Zvi each got to ride a horse and then he gave Rivka a short 5 minute lesson so she could try jogging by herself. Then Leora got to go on the horse for a few minutes and Nava wanted to sit on one but she got scared when she was actually up there. Kfar Kama is an interesting place (the guy gave us some history) - the population is Circassian. They were booted from Russia in the 19th century and moved all over the world. There are two towns in Israel that are populated with them. They're Muslim but serve in the IDF. The man was really nice and the kids had a good time.

Vacation up North

2011-08-19T08:22:00.001+03:00

I decided to start blogging again when we do fun things that we want to remember. It's nice that we can refer back to this blog to see what we did three years ago so we might as well have this as a reference for all our fun activities. I don't expect to have any regular readers but this is intended for our family and for anyone who stumbles across it.

Sunday we began a five day trip to the North. Shira booked early and did a lot of price comparing and found us a nice zimmer in Yavniel called Tropiqan. We didn't get an early start because we hadn't started packing before Sunday morning. We also had company for Shabbos and had to get the house ready (Shira would never leave without having a clean house first). So we left around 10:30 for the drive. Some kids weren't anxious to join us on vacation but in the end everyone was forced to come. Choosing where everyone sits is never an easy task in the car and squishing in all the luggage was a challenge. Finally, we were on the road.

The drive up wasn't too bad - we thought we missed a turn but in the end we were going the right way. We got to the zimmer a little early but they let us check in and we were pleasantly surprised at how nice it was. It's a new place and they have 5 zimmers next to each other with a beautiful enclosed yard. There's a decent swimming pool and lots of lawn furniture. All the guests the entire time we were there were frum so either we got the pool to ourselves or there were separate times for the men and women. The only problem with the zimmer was that it was a little small - just one bedroom and a living room area. So we had two twin size beds, a big pullout couch and two mattresses. This led to a few more fights about where everyone would sleep but we ended up moving everyone around every night and the kids were more or less satisfied. The owners of the zimmer were very nice and we highly recommend this to anyone interested.

Yavniel is an interesting community. There is a large religious community which seems to be almost entirely Breslov. There is a main shul with tons of minyanim which is a sefardi shul that is apparently run by Breslovers. They built a huge shul next door which looks very nice from the outside but isn't quite complete so they're still davening in the old place. There is also a pizza store, falafel stand, makolet and small grocery story. It really has most things you need. It's about a 15 minute drive from Teverya so the location is good. There are tons of zimmers in Yavniel so in shul or at the stores you see lots of other vacationers.

When we got to the zimmer we went for a family swim (even I went swimming for a while) and had lots of fun. After a little more relaxation we went to Teverya to walk along the midrachov and eat dinner. Overall, it was just a relaxing day without too much activity.

Pictures of our aliya

2010-08-04T08:16:00.001+03:00

Keeping Shabbos

2010-07-01T22:42:00.000+03:00

We needed to buy aronot for our apartment/house that we will hopefully have soon. Shira found what she wanted on the IKEA website for $99.99 and we'd decided we were going to get three of them. Then a friend of ours told us that they were having a one day sale and they'd be $49.99 each on Saturday only (limit one per customer). She tried calling but they wouldn't let us purchase them on Friday or Sunday. Shira though spoke to a non-Jewish friend at work who offered to go with her husband and buy them for us since she had to get some stuff at some point at IKEA anyway. When Shira told me about it I was a little uncomfortable with that since it would be asking a goy to do melacha for us on Shabbos. I spoke to Rabbi Marwick (and a couple other people I trust) and he said that it would be preferable not to do that so we'd just have to pay the extra hundred dollars. Too bad.

Shira kept checking the website. I'm not sure why but she loves checking on things she plans on buying and all of a sudden today the website listed the bookcases for just 49.99. Shira tried calling to confirm the price but there was no answer so we immediately jumped in the car and drove out there (about 25 minutes away). When we got there we asked someone where they were and he said, "oh you mean the ones that are on sale Saturday?" We explained the website said the price is 49.99 and he said that it's 99.99 today but we can go talk to a manager if we want.

So we went to find a manager and she said, "It's only Saturday and anyway you guys would be too late. if you want to take advantage of that sale you have to be here before the stores open on Saturday and then we'll give tickets out to the first people in line." We said that the website says they're 49.99 and she said that it says it's only Saturday and she asked some guy to show us and she walked away. The guy showed us the front page of the IKEA site which did say that it's a one day only sale on Saturday so Shira showed him where it said it was only 49.99. On the page of the bookcases it made no mention of it being a one day sale. So he left to go find the manager again

She came back about 5 minutes later and said that she would honor the pirce and give us 1 for the 49.99. We said we wanted 3 so she said that she could give us 2 but that was it. They would have to override the price which they couldn't do at the tellers so we'd have to buy them and then walk over to returns and they'd give us back 100 bucks. So we got 3 for 200 dollars instead of 300. The same price as had the non-Jew bought it for us on Shabbos had she gone before the store opened and waited in line which she probably wouldn't have done because we didn't even know you had to do that. So we really came out ahead. Yay, one more thing falling into place.

Seven weeks from today

2010-06-15T21:05:00.000+03:00

In seven weeks from today we will land in Israel to make aliya. We have a lot to get done before we move and we're starting to get a little anxious. We still don't have a house or apartment to live in once we get there but we're actually not very worried about that. Something will come through. I still haven't finalized my contract to work there but I'm pretty confident that will be OK too. Shira has already bought some furniture and appliances. She has already registered the kids in school.

The movers are coming on July 15th. Shira listed a bunch of the stuff on Craig's list and we're starting to sell a lot of the furniture that we're not taking. Shira also cleaned out three bedrooms and got rid of a lot of old clothes that we're not taking. So we've made quite a bit of progres.

This weekend Shira is going to Toronto with the three little kids and then once she comes back she's going to get the house in order and I'm sure that she'll finish everything that needs to be done. I'll try to help where I can and hopefully the kids will at least stay out of the way.

Stem Cell Donation

2010-06-14T19:53:00.000+03:00

I got news today that the person to whom I donated my stem cells passed away. I performed the donation about 7 months ago and I knew he was sick because I'd been called to ask if I could donate white blood cells. Originally I was supposed to do this at the beginning of this month but he was too sick so they postponed it until the first week of July. I never found out who he was because the rules are that they only tell you if the recipient agrees after one year. Now, I'll never know.

There have been a couple of drives recently for people to get tested and I also got a phone call last week from someone who was found to be a potential match. The process wasn't that difficult and was rewarding. After I donated I sent an email to a few people describing the process and I figured I'd post it here also so I could just send the link if anyone had questions in the future.

In 1994, when I was in Yeshiva University there was a drive to get people tested for Jay Fineberg who needed a bone marrow donation so I was tested. It didn't cost anything and wasn't a big deal so I figured that I might as well. At that time the only way to get tested was by them taking a little blood. Now I understand that they just take it from the blood. I wasn't a match for him but my sample was put in a national registry. I didn't hear anything until about 7 years ago when I was contacted that I was a potential match. They had tracked me to Missouri but didn't realize that I had moved to Maryland. The mail was forwarded though and they updated my address. Turns out that there was a better match for that person then and I didn't hear anything again until a couple months ago. At that time they told me that there was about a 1 in 12 chance that I'd be the best match.

This time they called again a couple weeks later and said that I should go in for more blood to be drawn so they could do more testing to see if I'm the best possible match. So I went down to Hopkins in Baltimore and they drew the blood. One week later (I was told that it normally takes 2-4 weeks and I'm not sure why mine was faster) I got a call that I was indeed the best possible match. They wanted to be sure that I wanted to continue through the process and donate. I assured them that I did. So they put me in touch with Sarah Pogue at the NIH in Bethesda. She would walk me through everything else that I needed to do.

There are two possibilities for donating marrow. One is a surgical procedure where they take marrow from your back and pelvic bones. The other is a PBSC donation which is done through the blood and is less painful and an easier recover. My patient was a 61 year old man in the US with Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS). His doctors, thankfully, chose the PBSC donation. So they sent a car for me to go to NIH for a complete physical (EKG, chest xrays, blood work etc) to make sure that I was healthy enough to donate. I was so we scheduled the donation.

For 4 days before the donation I had to get shots of filgrastim each day. This increases the number of stem cells in the blood. Most of your stem cells are in the marrow but each person has a few in the blood. The goal during these 5 days is to move as many stem cells from the bones to the blood. The amount of medicine you get is determined by your weight so I needed 2.6 ml. They don't do more than 2 ml in one shot so I had to get two shots each time- one in each arm. I also had the option to get them in my stomach but I'm very ticklish and there was no way I was going to allow a shot in my stomach. The first shots have to be done at the hospital so they can monitor you. Since it was on a Sunday, Rivka agreed to come with me. They picked us up at 9 AM and we met Sarah at NIH in Bethesda. She gave me one shot in each arm and they didn't really hurt much.

For each of the next three days, a different nurse came to our house to give me the shots. Each time she gave me a shot it hurt more than the previous time. I also had a constant pain in my lower back and a headache. It wasn't unbearable at all and I really wasn't in a lot of pain (probably because I was taking tylenol) but it was just annoying. By Wednesday though I was also feeling worn down and a little weak and very tired.

Thursday morning, they picked me up at 5:45. I had been up since 4 because I couldn't sleep anymore and had eaten breakfast and caught up on all my email. I got to the hospital around 7 and Sarah met me. She gave me the last shots and a nurse started prepping me for the actual procedure. I hadn't davened at home because it was way too early so I went into a private room to daven and then went back to finish the preps. I had brought two books to read but the nurse told me that it would be too hard to read and I should watch movies instead. So I chose Mall Cop and Slumdog Millionaire.

Then the nurse started hooking me up. From my left arm was a big needle like they usually use to draw blood when you donate with a tube coming out that split into two and went across my body to the machine which was on my right. She also gave me a squeezy ball to squeeze every few seconds. I was told that I could not move that arm at all. Near the right wrist was another needle, much smaller but with three tubes going into it. One was to put the filtered blood back into my body. Another carried water and the third had calcium. The procedure started around 8:45.

I started watching Mall Cop but I was really bored so I asked them to turn it off and to give me my books. I was told to be very careful not to move my left arm at all but I was allowed to move my right arm as long as I was careful so it worked out pretty well reading the book. The only problem was that occasionally I'd forget to squeeze with my left hand. Every time I forgot, the machine beeped and it stopped pumping until a nurse came to turn it back on. After a couple hours they determined how many stem cells were there per liter of blood and how many the patient needed. So they decided that they had to filter about 20 liters of blood. They could have had to do up to 24 liters so this was pretty good. A person only has about 5 liters of blood so they'd filter it and put it back in and then filter it again.

Then I had to go to the bathroom. They were pumping me with water so it didn't help that I had gone just before they put the needles in my arms. I was really feeling uncomfortable so I just had to bite the bullet and try to get it all in the pitcher without spilling. I assured the nurse that I'd be OK on my own but it wasn't easy going while lying down and not being allowed to move my left arm. Thank God it went okay and I didn't spill any.

Soon after that excitement, at around noon Shira came to keep me company. Right after she got there some blood started oozing from the right arm which I had been moving quite a bit so the nurse just fixed the needle and we were good. Shira and I counted down until we had done 20 liters. I finished at around 1:30 and then they finished the paperwork and let us leave. My back was hurting and I had a headache and I was worn down but it was good to be able to move again. I felt that way most of the day on Friday also but by Shabbos morning I was completely OK. The only lasting effects are bruises all over my body. My platelet count was a little low so I have bruises where I got the shots and where the needles were. They don't hurt though and I'm fine.

Shira wrote a nice long letter (we couldn't sign our names) to the recipient and we won't know who it was or how he's doing for at least a year and even then it's only if he agrees. We do know that a doctor from the hospital took the blood to the patient and he had got the marrow the next morning. Even though they took 20 liters of blood from me, they gave most it back to me and he was left with only about a half liter. It still looked like blood even though it was basically just the stem cells. A refuah shleima to the recipient and hopefully my stem cells will help him live a longer life.

That's basically the email that I sent. We got a letter from the recipient a couple months later thanking us for the gift and telling us a bit about his family but without giving away any details about him personally. We've been rooting for him ever since. We were all sad to get the news today.

RBS it is

2010-03-18T01:25:00.000+02:00

After much debate and research we finally decided to settle in the Beit Shemesh area. We just felt that the adjustment would be the easiest for all of us there given the number of Americans who live there and the style of the schools. It's not perfect but no community is perfect so we'll try this out. We're just going to rent at first and we'll see how it is. We've done some investigating of the various neighborhoods and we are leaning towards Ramat Shilo. We have friends there, including our former Rabbi, and there are Americans but there are also Israelis and other olim. We're all excited to finally know where we're going.

The Greenstone Rainbow

2010-02-28T21:56:00.000+02:00

Snow, snow and more snow and then some more snow

2010-02-11T02:11:00.000+02:00

Half the city of Baltimore wants to make aliya now. It snowed about 28 inches on Shabbos and now it's snowed a lot more today. The kids haven't had school since Friday morning and we have no clue when it's going to start again. Here are some pictures.

This is after the first part of the snowstorm on Monday morning. Since then we've had a lot more snow!

You can see the fence in the background in the picture below. That's a four feet fence. You can see about 6 inches of it. In the picture at the bottom you can see our trees falling down onto the wires of my next door neighbor. He had to go out to try to shake them off so his wires wouldn't break.

Even Shira, who grew up in Toronto, says that she never remembers seeing this much snow. The kids are going crazy being stuck in the house all day. Maybe tomorrow we'll be able to get out a little. We're all very excited to be moving to sunny Israel and not suffering through any more winters like this.

No money

2010-01-20T18:58:00.000+02:00

I know that I wrote last week that we wouldn't know for a while but apparently Nefesh B'Nefesh did review our application already. We were accepted but will not be receiving any financial assistance. In the letter they do say that they'll still provide us with emotional support. That and a few shekel will get me a cup of coffee when I land in Israel.They do provide assistance with the paperwork and stuff like that. We'll probably still take their flight. The only thing we lose by taking their flight is an extra piece of luggage per person. Shira is excited to be on the flight with hundreds of people making aliya at the same time so it's worth the loss of luggage since we're sending a lift anyway. I guess this won't change any of our plans in any way but it sure would have been nice had they also given us money.

We've been approved for aliya!

2010-01-14T19:41:00.000+02:00

I just got a call from the Jewish Agency that we were approved for aliya! We didn't really have any doubts about them approving it but it's nice for it to be official. They said that we have to submit the applications for the visa three months before we go. I also spoke to Nefesh B'Nefesh yesterday and they said that they won't have the flight information until Pesach time and they won't review our application until around then. Now we can just concentrate on getting our house in order so we can put it on the market.

People coming and going

2010-01-04T21:16:00.000+02:00

Our house has been like Grand Central Station the last couple of days. Yesterday, we had someone come to look at our dining room table and chairs to see if they wanted to buy it, then someone came to buy our bookcases, then for our sukka and then finally the painter came to look over the house again. Today, the painters were here early to start painting and then the cleaning lady came. Someone from http://www.jewishusedbooks.com/ came to see if he wanted to buy any of our used seforim. He wasn't that interested in most of the stuff we were dumping but he filled a box. House goes on the market in less than a month and hopefully it will be all ready by then.

Empty bookcases

2010-01-01T02:02:00.000+02:00

We emptied all the books from our living room bookcases so we'll be able to move them for the painters on Monday. We also think that we have a buyer for them. We (meaning Shira) are still trying to decide what furniture we're going to take to Israel but we know we're not taking the bookcases because they were just way too tall so we didn't know if they'd fit in our house.
We posted on luach.com that we wanted to sell our sukka and someone called us 10 minutes later that they wanted to see it. Hopefully, we'll be able to get rid of that soon too. Making progress slowly but surely. At least we still have a lot more time.

Starting to clean the junk

2009-12-25T01:41:00.002+02:00

Shira and I both took the day off today so we could start cleaning the basement. (We also took a break at some point to go see Up in the Air which was OK but not great.) We went through all the dolls and games and filled up 6 large garbage bags. 3 went out to the garbage and we'll give 3 away. We still had toys and stuff all over the floor that we hadn't finished sorting. When Yeshaya came home we explained to him that the stuff left on the shelves were things we were taking and the other stuff we were either giving away or throwing out. We made sure that the kids couldn't see the stuff we weren't keeping so they couldn't argue with our decisions. Yeshaya felt that the things on the floor should be in garbage bags also so he got about 10 garbage bags and emptied legos into one, put some containers in another, put blocks in another etc. By the time we noticed had filled all his bags. He's been the least enthusiastic about the move so at least now he's starting to get excited.

Interview with the shaliach

2009-12-18T01:39:00.000+02:00

After a few cancellations, we finally met with the shaliach today and it went without any problems. We should find out in about two weeks if we've been accepted to make aliya. I guess the main point of the interview was to see the originals of our paperwork and to make sure we're really Jewish and serious about aliya. She seemed convinced so I think we're good.

I have a couple more vacation days left this year so I think Shira and I are going to spend those days "decluttering." We'll get rid of toys and clothes that we no longer need to prepare our house to be shown.

My trip to Israel

2009-12-06T20:38:00.004+02:00

My father already wrote about my flight to Israel. He's been bugging me to blog so I'll post.

The Gottliebs picked me up on Friday morning at 10:45 and I drove back with them and I picked Eliana up at school. We went to the Merkaz and bought pizza for lunch and candy to take back to our friends in Baltimore. They had their cousins for dinner on Friday night and we stayed up until 1 AM. On Shabbos, I met a lot of her friends and I liked them all. I hope we move there. After Shabbos I took a bus with her cousins to Yerushalayim and met my grandmother at the tachana merkazit. We took a bus back to Modiin but we had to wait around for 45 minutes first.

On Sunday, Savta took a bus to go to the Kotel. Then we met the Pilichowskis (who were visiting Israel from Los Angeles) and we sifted through artifacts from the Beit Hamikdash. We went to the mall and had pizza. Yair, Dina, Avigayil and Temima (4 of my first cousins from 3 families) slept over that night. My second cousin, Daphna also came to visit.

My grandmother took all the people who slept over and me to the Blind Museum on Tuesday. We came in and it was PITCH BLACK and Temima and Avigayil got scared so they went out with Savta. So just Dina, Yair and I stayed with the group. We went into a rainforest and then we went on a boat. We also went into a music and a cafeteria (it was still pitch black and you couldn't see anything the whole team). We had to buy a soda without seeing anything so we just gave money and the cashier, who was blind, could tell how much we gave and she knew where each soda was so we just told her what we wanted and she got it. Savta, Avigayil and Temima met us in the cafeteria. From there we took a bus to the train station and a train back to Modiin. It took us about 3 hours to get home.

On Tuesday, the Pilichowskis picked us up (they got a driver with a van each day) from Modiin and we went to a Maccabim archaeological place. They had a model house and there were different activities. For example, they showed us how they made coins in those days. Savta and I went to Meah Shearim on Wednesday and met the Pilichowskis for lunch at a falafel place (Moshiko). That afternoon I met Sivan Roth (a friend from Modiin) and Eliana Gottlieb (a friend from Baltimore who is there for the year) at the mall and we got pizza and I got earrings.

Savta woke me up early Thursday morning so we could see the Pilis off at the airport. My uncle and aunt, Eli and Sarah came to Savta's house for tuna caserole for lunch. While I was waiting to go meet friends at the mall, Savta and I played lots of games of Pentago. I met a bunch of friends from Chashmonaim (who I had to school with when we were there for the year) at the mall and we had pizza again.

The main point of my trip was my cousin's bat mitzva. Friday morning we went to the Kibbutz where the hotel was and of course we got there early (my Savta is early for everything). We got our rooms and unpacked. Then we went for a brunch and they had caricatures there. After the brunch we got ready for Shabbos. There was so much food! After dinner there was an oneg with more food. They had a girls' "minyan" on Shabbos morning. Everyone davened together but then all the girls from the bat mitzvah went into a separate room and lained. I went up to the Torah and said a pasuk (baruch atah Hashem lamdeini chukecha) two times instead of the brachos that boys make. Right after Shabbos, Saba and Savta came in the taxi with me to the airport where I met Rabbi Tendler for my uneventful flight home.

Interview cancelled

2009-12-03T21:15:00.000+02:00

The first piece of red tape that we have to cross for the aliya is our meeting with the shaliach from the Jewish Agency. First they tried to insist that we had to go to New York for our interview but then they scheduled one in Rockville, MD for us. Apparently even after they closed down the office the shaliach still occasionally comes to Rockville. So they scheduled it for today. Shira worked a little extra on Monday so she wouldn't have to work today but then a couple nights ago we got an email from them:

Are you still planning to make aliyah in July 2010?
I am asking this since all our interviews for this day ( we have one day) are booked and we have someone that wants to make aliyah this December (2009) and needs an interview. If your aliyah date is in July 2010 I will need, unfortunately, to cancel your interview for now. I will probably reschedule for you a new interview at the end of this month or the beginning of next month since we are re-opening our office in Washington D.C and we will have a lot of interviews available.

It's not a big deal so of course we agreed to postpone ours but we just like to get these kinds of things out of the way.

Last Thanksgiving in the US

2009-11-27T03:12:00.000+02:00

In honor of our last Thanksgiving before making aliya we had a real serious Thanksgiving meal today. The Shields invited us over along with the Wachs and Taragins for a huge meal. We had turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, sweet potato pie, salad and apple and pecan pie. It was a real Thanksgiving festive meal. We all had a great time. I think we'll survive just fine without having Thanksgiving in Israel (I know that some people have huge Thanksgiving meals there but it doesn't count if you start your meal before any football games have started) but leaving these people in Baltimore is one of the sad things about making aliya.

First leg of Rivka's pilot trip

2009-11-26T03:03:00.000+02:00

Rivka left for Israel today to be there for my niece's bat mitzva next Shabbos. She really wanted to go and my sister really wanted her there but we needed to find an adult to accompany her. It turned out that Rabbi Hillel Tendler was going for 10 days so I asked if he'd mind if she tagged along. He said it would be no problem so they're going together.

Their flight was scheduled to leave Baltimore today at 6:30 PM and then leave Philadelphia at 9:30. We decided to leave around 3 because we figured that Thanksgiving traffic could be bad and we didn't want to take any chances. So we picked up Yeshaya and Nava and Rabbi Tendler and we hit a little traffic. We still got to the airport by 4 only to find out that their 6:30 flight had been delayed to 9:30 due to the bad weather. So US Air said that they'd put them in a taxi to Philadelphia. We were a little nervous that there might be traffic but they had plenty of time and the driver said that he knew back roads to get there. I got an email from them around 7 that they made it to the airport and the website says that the flight to Israel is scheduled to leave on time.

I was about to post this and they called. They made it through security and gave in their luggage and are sitting by the gate waiting for the plane to board.

real estate agent

2009-11-25T05:47:00.000+02:00

Things are starting to get more real. We met with a real estate agent to discuss listing our house. Looks like we'll probably put it on the market in about two months. This is the first house we've ever owned so this would be pretty sad for someone a little more sentimental than I am. It will be weird to no longer own a house though after owning this one for 8 years. Hopefully we'll get one soon on the other side of the ocean.

Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty

2009-11-23T03:00:00.001+02:00

My great grandparents may have come through Ellis Island on their way into this country so we thought it would be appropriate for us to go visit before we left. We were going to Teaneck for Shabbos and had initially intended on sleeping there Thursday night also but last minute we decided to go Friday morning. After Shira exercised (she's still crazy) and I went to shul, we started on our journey. We got to Liberty Park around 10:45 to take the ferry to Ellis Island. It was interesting enough to entertain the kids for 45 minutes or so which was good because we really couldn't spend any longer there before we had to get back on the ferry to the Statue of Liberty. Security there was really tight so we had to be there for almost two hours instead of the one hour we had planned. The bad part was that you need to make reservations two months in advance to go to the top otherwise you can only go to the base. You have to walk 156 steps to get to the base and only Yeshaya, Zvi and I were brave enough to do it. It was a little disappointing but OK.

Then we got on the ferry to get back to our car so we could to Passaic and drop Rivka at her friend's house before we continued onto Teaneck. We hit typical NY traffic and got to the Flamholz' about 15 minutes before candle lighting. We quickly emptied the car and showered and were ready on time. We had a really nice Shabbos. On Motzei Shabbos, Shira went to her friend's engagement party and I went to Passaic to my friend's event l'zecher nishmas his daughter and as a fundraiser for the organization l'zecher nishmasa called Be'er Miriam. We both had a good time. This morning we stopped for Dunkin Donuts and then drove back home.

Next steps after the paperwork

2009-11-18T21:31:00.003+02:00

Shira got together all the paperwork that we needed for Nefesh B'Nefesh (NBN): 7 US passports, 6 Canadian passports (I'm not Canadian), 7 birth certificates, 1 marriage certificate + apostle (it was Canadian so we had to send a letter and 11 dollars to the Israel office in Canada for proof that it was valid), 7 medical forms, 1 financial form, proof of Judaism and a letter of recommendation. We sent it all in to NBN and they said that they now had everything they needed.

The next thing we had to do was set up an interview with the shaliach. NBN's website said that there was an office in Rockville so we called to set up an appointment. They told us that the office had closed and we had to go to New York. I called NBN and asked if we had any other options. They told us that when the Israel Aliya Center closed offices around the country they had said that people wouldn't have to drive more than two hours for an interview so we should call back. I called back and they said it was true and that they'd call us when they knew when the shaliach would be in Rockville. We got that call last night and we're scheduled for an interview on 12/3.

Things are moving along. Next things for us to do include: choosing a community, looking into schools (particularly for Rivka who is starting 7th grade next year) and putting our house up for sale.

We're coming back

2009-10-14T20:39:00.005+02:00

We finished all our paperwork for our applications to Nefesh B'Nefesh last week to make aliya in the summer. After spending a year in Israel and reading the blog book so many times we just really wanted to go back. Actually, I was the last holdout. Rivka and Zvi insisted that we move back and even Leora got in on the act. They wouldn't leave me alone until I finally agreed. So I spoke to my boss at work and got her approval and now we really had no excuse.

So we'll start updating the blog again. We probably won't update it as frequently as we did while we were in Israel as I'll try to mostly stay on topic with aliya related activities and avoid our mundane daily activities but I'm sure we'll post about other stuff along the way.

Acharon Acharon Chaviv

2008-07-23T20:56:00.007+03:00

I was told by David that this would be the last entry on our blog as we are in the midst of turning it into a book.

I have been wanting to write for the longest time, but never seemed to find the time. There have been so many thoughts and emotion swirling around as we prepared for our departure from Israel and return to Baltimore.

Our last few days in Israel were hectic but at the same time enjoyable. I guess the craziness at the airport and the packing up didn't allow us too much time to reflect on the fact that we were leaving. But now that I've been home for a few weeks I have had the time to think about what I wanted to say.

Our year in Israel was awesome, amazing, better than we imagined. Even though we had a rough start with adjusting, it was well worth it. Firstly, the community of Modiin where we were living was incredible. People were so kind, caring and considerate. We felt like we were a part of something special. David pointed out that the people who make aliyah, are the cream of the crop. There is no one who makes aliyah that doesn't have to sacrifice something to fulfill their dream and you see it in the manner in which these people welcome you. We rarely spent a shabbos alone, and when we did so it was by choice. I just really wanted to say thank you to all of you out there from Modiin. You all helped make our year as incredible as it was.

Another fantastic thing for us was being so close to family. What a treat. With David's parents and grandmother living so near we were able to take advantage and see them so often. How incredible that we were able to share in birthdays, school presentations and just daily life with them. Knowing that they were always thinking of us and watching out for us on a daily basis made us feel so loved and cared for. The memories that we have from this year with them are priceless.

Then of course there's the aunts, uncles and tons of cousins. Whether it was a phone call, email or visit, we felt very spoiled by all the attention we got. It was amazing how many times they were there to help us out with advice, assistance and friendship. We treasure the moments we spent together and will cherish the memories forever.

Just as important is the Land of Israel, Eretz Yisroel. We feel so privileged to have been able to spend the year exploring our heritage. The specialness of Israel is in the air. We literally traveled from the northern most tip to the southern most tip and many places in between. The lessons our children learned are invaluable. To be a part of Am Yisroel in the land of our people is such an honor. We were made to feel this way on a consistent basis. When the fact that we were only there for a year came up in conversation with anyone whether it be friend or stranger, religious or secular, it was always the same response. Why are you leaving? This is your home! This is where you belong! You must come back! We felt so wanted. You would never expect or get such a reaction in North America.

Now that we are back in Baltimore and relatively settled in (except for Rivka who is still at Camp Sternberg - sleepover camp) we can say that we are truly happy to see our friends and family here that we missed over the year. They all supported us in our "crazy" adventure. I must admit that having air conditioning that actually cools your house off and soft, fuzzy carpet under your feet is a definate comfort that we missed in Israel. But despite all the luxuries of living in North America, I miss so many wonderful things about Israel.

May this blog be an inspiration for all who read it to support, visit or move to Israel and may we have the courage, strength and money to make aliyah in the near future.

Trip back to Baltimore

2008-07-03T15:36:00.002+03:00

On Monday morning, Erick came to pick us up with the pre-loaded car at 7 AM to go to the airport. Shira left with my mother, Zvi, Leora and Yeshaya a few minutes before we left. My father, Rivka and I squeezed into their big van and left. They returned the car and met us at the curb to help us load four buggies with our bags. We then stood in line to answer security questions and then went to the next line to give in our bags. When it was our turn they asked Shira how far along she was and when she said 31 weeks they informed her that she couldn't fly without a written note from her doctor. We knew you couldn't fly after 32 weeks but thought there was no problem before that. Shira actually checked their website and it only says: "Pregnant women can fly on domestic or international flights up to the 32nd week of pregnancy." So we called her doctor and her secretary faxed us a note that gave us permission to fly. Only problem was that it was in Hebrew and we needed a note in English so we called her back and she faxed another note. It was great that my parents were there with us because they took the kids around the airport while we waited. Then they somehow lost our registration in the computer - apparently they had lost a bunch of people's so they had no record of the fact that we were allowed two extra bags. They let us take them anyway and didn't give us any problems despite the fact that some of the bags were way overweight. We then waited in a couple more lines but there were no more adventures.

When we got on the plane we realized that they had messed up our seats and instead of putting us in two rows with 3 in each row, we were in 3 rows with 3, 2 and 1. So Rivka agreed to sit in the third row if we couldn't find someone to switch. We weren't very confident because we had to find someone to give up an aisle seat in exchange for a middle seat. As luck would have it, the person who was supposed to sit in the aisle seat was Eyal Raviv, who heads a peace website, and before I could even finish the sentence asking him to switch he had said yes. After almost all the passengers were on, there was a little commotion one row in front of us over to the side. There were three flight attendants trying to force an Israeli ~20 year old to give up his bulkhead seat next to his friend. He was refusing. They explained to him that there was a mistake and they needed the seat for this guy who suddenly appeared behind them. He was HUGE and there was no way he could have fit into a regular seat. I figured he must have been a basketball player or something and at the end of the flight I heard him say his name and googled him and found out that he's 6' 10". This Israeli guy was refusing but finally after 10 minutes he realized that he really had no choice and he finally relented and switched seats. The flight was good except that the four kids slept a total of four hours combined so we had to entertain them quite a bit. Overall, they behaved really nicely on the long trip.

At the airport we hired a porter because there was no way we could get all the duffels ourselves. He took us out to the curb and Shira went to get the car from long-term parking. We had found someone in Baltimore to drive our car to the airport on Sunday so it was there waiting for us. It still took a while and by the time Shira came back and we had loaded the car it was almost exactly two hours after we had landed. Shira and Rivka then hopped in a cab to go sleep at Hindy's house in Brooklyn since Rivka was taking a bus the next morning to camp. So the rest of us drove back to Baltimore. Zvi was noticing all the things that are different on the roads between Baltimore and Israel. The biggest difference was that it started raining on the way home. Rain in the summer! The kids all slept almost the entire way home but I managed to stay awake.

Shira was back home by noon on Tuesday and we've been busy unpacking since then. In addition to our 20 duffels (I know that I wrote 19 in another post but we had actually sent back 6 and not 5) we had lots of boxes that we had left in the house. We lived an entire year without all this stuff and didn't miss it at all but Yeshaya was really excited when he saw all the toys. We're still unpacking but hopefully we'll be done by Shabbos. Everyone went to camp on Tuesday and had a great time and had no trouble adjusting to life back in the States. Hopefully Rivka is also having a blast in camp. It's funny because Yeshaya doesn't remember Baltimore at all. I guess that's normal since he wasn't even 2 yet when we left but for the rest of us it feels like we never left. He was downstairs playing and he asked me if there was a bathroom downstairs or if he had to go upstairs to make. I told him we had one so he tried to find it but got lost on his way.

We're approaching the end of this blog. It was meant to just be a diary of our year in Israel so this is basically the end. We might have some summary posts about the year soon but we won't be logging our day to day activities anymore. Thanks to all the readers and commenters and to everyone who helped make our year in Israel a success.

Saying Goodbye

2008-06-29T10:38:00.004+03:00

(I had to look it up online to see if goodbye needed a hyphen. Apparently it's a machlokes between the Americans and the Brits.)

Anyway, it's amazing here that when we say goodbye to people everyone wishes us well and expresses their hope that we return soon. It doesn't matter if they're good friends or people we're just meeting for the first time. Everyone seems genuinely sad to see us leave. I've moved quite a bit in my lifetime and sometimes people are sad when I move (usually it's because of Shira or the kids and not me but that's not the point) but they don't tell us that they hope we move back. Here people are really sad that we're leaving the country just because they want Jews to live in Israel. It's pretty cool.

Today we Shira finished packing the last of the clothes and we loaded Amy's car. We Shira had basically finished packing Thursday morning and our house has been completely empty since then besides our 14 duffel bags. It was a great move because the last couple of days have been pretty relaxing. We came with 17 pieces of luggage eleven months ago. We're six people so in the course of one year we collect a lot more junk and other things that we'd normally keep. Thanks to my cousin we were allowed two extra bags so over the last couple of months we've been busy sending our bags back to Baltimore (thanks to all those who shlepped them for us and to Avi for storing them). We sent back five full duffels and now we have 14 more to bring back with us. We also gave away a lot of our stuff to my parents and a little bit to Amy. So my parents house is now full of lots of our junk but I think they got a few pretty useful things also so it's worth it for them. We also threw out a ton of stuff and somehow we fit all the rest with just two more bags than we brought. Way to go Shira!

Last Shabbos

2008-06-28T23:19:00.002+03:00

Yesterday, Amy and Ethel came to visit with most of their families and we ate pizza and bagels. Most of the kids then walked to the new mall that opened last week down the block from my parents' house. Leora and Yeshaya decided that they wanted to spend Shabbos in Nof Ayalon so they went back with Amy. We never really intended to let Yeshaya stay overnight there and I wasn't crazy about Leora being there this Shabbos so Shira went and picked them both up just before Shabbos.

We had a nice relaxing Shabbos. Maya ended up staying and Rivka and Zvi both played lots of games with her. Normally, Bubbie eats the Shabbos meals with my parents but the elevator broke just before Shabbos so she had no way to get to their apartment - it's only one flight of stairs in this building but she can't walk that. So Friday night, I went with some kids and make kiddush and hamotzi there and today my parents, Rivka and Maya ate there. Then in the afternoon we all met in the park for a Shabbos party. After Shabbos Eric Hagege came to pick up Maya and to say good-bye.

Now we're counting down the hours until we leave. Really mixed emotions. We're all sad to be leaving but also a little bit excited to be going home and back to our "normal" lives.

Last Trip to Yerushalayim

2008-06-27T12:37:00.005+03:00

One of the things we had to do when planning was to make sure that we had time to go with the entire family to the Kotel and the Old City. So yesterday after we got Rivka and Zvi early from school and then when Leora finished gan we all headed to Yerushalayim. Actually, we couldn't all go together because our rental car barely has room for five people and there is no way we can squeeze all six of us in there. So Yeshaya was supposed to stay with Savta but she was also planning on going to Yerushalayim to meet a cousin for lunch so he got to take the bus with her.

The rest of us went to the Old City. The kids (and adults) were not in the greatest moods at the beginning of the trip mostly because it is soooo hot here but after a little while in the air conditioned car, Leora fell asleep and everyone else relaxed. We can no longer park for free whereever we want since we returned our car to Cypress so we decided to park in the free Mamilla parking lot and walk through the Old City. When we got through Shaar Yafo, Shira came up with the great idea of walking through the Arab shuk. I've walked from Shaar Yafo to the Kotel many, many times with Shira and I'd suggested before walking through the Arab shuk but she never even considered it. It was just so hot that Shira decided it was worth the risk so we'd have a shorter walk in more shade. It was a great move!
We went out to eat at Bonkers Bagels and Burgers Bar. and then headed down to the kotel for mincha (actually Shira made a stop at a gift store to buy a few more things. Then we stopped to get some popsicles and ice cream and made our way back to the car. Zvi counted steps the whole way there and back, including our pit stops at the bathroom (24 steps each way) and altogether we walked down 405 steps and up 378 steps. We were ready to leave and noticed that traffic wasn't moving and we couldn't even turn where we needed to go so we just drove, having little clue where we were going. It turns out there was a big parade so a lot of streets were closed. We kept stopping to ask directions until we ask an American lady who started giving us directions through a bunch of side streets until she realized that it was too complicated. So she took a pencil and paper and drew us a perfect map to get out of the city. She spent 10 minutes giving us directions so we wouldn't hit any traffic and easily made it out of the city.

Last night, Zvi and I had an end of year awards party for our baseball team at the park.
This morning the Baks took Shira, Yeshaya and me out for breakfast in honor of our finishing mesechta Sota together.

Getting rid of everything

2008-06-23T12:51:00.002+03:00

More movers are coming today to take our beds and washing machine. Tomorrow, the fridge and microwave are going and that will leave our house pretty much bare. The biggest headache was getting rid of the car. After the first attempt to get rid of the car was canceled, I got a call on Thursday night that there was a boat going out on Sunday. So I met Mrs. Davidson at Tzomet Shilat and we drove together to Haifa. There we met a journalist from Amsterdam who has been living in Israel for 3.5 years. She was also sending her car on the ship. Mrs. Davidson ran from office to office to finish the paperwork while we waited. Then we went together to the port to go through customs and bring the car to the boat. It took us almost 5 hours to finish everything but I was really glad that I had someone there who knew her way around.

While I was in Haifa, Shira took a train to the airport to rent a car so we wouldn't be without a car for even one minute. We decided to save a little money and got a little car which can't even fit our entire family but at least we can get around. Leora was still sick but thankfully my mother was able to watch all morning so we could get these things done. Some of our friends made us a going away/yerida l'tzorech aliya/hatzlacha party. We had a nice time.

Today, we went into Jerusalem to finish the paperwork for our car because we had the meches office to send a letter to our bank so they would release our bank guarantee. We also went to the Avis office so I could be added as a driver on the car and we went to Bezeq to try to return our modem and cancel the phone line. We were successful with everything except Bezeq because I didn't have everything we needed with me.

Last Shabbos in Buchman

2008-06-22T06:54:00.004+03:00

Zvi had a lot happening on Friday and I got to join him in all his exciting activities. In school, his class made a siyum on Chumash Breishit. They leared the entire sefer in just one year and he really knows it also. They had a little chidon and sang a couple songs. Saba (who had just come back from Canada the day before) joined me at school and we got to see Zvi interact with his class and talk to his Morahs with an Israeli accent.

We took Rivka home from school early with Zvi when the siyum was over and then we went to get Leora. Leora had thrown up in school but the teachers didn't have our phone numbers so they didn't call us to pick her up but she was so sick. She threw up on the way home from school and was sick the entire Shabbos. She's staying home from gan today but hopefully is well on her way to recovery.

We rushed home, ate lunch and ran to Zvi's all star game tournament. All 8 teams were represented at the ASG and we played together with the Gezer team. In the first game we played the two Yerushalayim teams and we started off poorly but we built a 9-5 lead going into the last inning. They were down to their last out but scored two runs and had two on with one of their best hitters coming to the plate. He crushed the ball to left field. The left fielder ran it down and threw to the cutoff man (the centerfielder in this case) who threw it home to try to get the batter who was rounding third. Zvi, who was playing first base, moved over to catch the ball at home plate and tag the runner to preserve the tie. We didn't score in the bottom half of the inning and we played one extra inning but neither team scored. The winners were supposed to play the winner of the other game but because we had tied and had no time to play any more innings we had to flip a coin and we were the lucky winners. So we went to play a combination of the two Modiin teams. We easily won the game 7-1 and got gold medals as champions of the tournament. I was really proud of the way Zvi played since most of the All-Stars were at least a year older than him but he more than held his own in this league.

The Rabbi at shul gave us a nice goodbye in his speech in shul and then we came home for lunch at the Butels. They invited everyone from the driveway so there were lots of people but they made sure to have the a/c on high and put Shira in front of a fan so it was very comfortable. The Baks had invited us for seudat shlishit but in the end only Yeshaya and I went since Shira stayed home with sick Leora, Zvi was busy playing with his friends and Rivka was in Chashmonaim for Shabbos. It was the last chance Rivka had to spend Shabbos at her friends' houses so she wanted to be sure to take advantage.

Hatzaga

2008-06-19T19:58:00.005+03:00

Leora had her graduation/end of the year play in Gan last night. The teachers did a great job preparing the kids and the children were really fantastic. It went on for over an hour and they did many different skits and songs before the official graduation when they got their diplomas and presents. Leora showed great confidence and the difference between this play and her birthday party at the old gan was unbelievable. She was much more confident and was able to understand directions. She had a great time and did a wonderful job.

Boat to Cypress cancelled

2008-06-18T14:46:00.002+03:00

I was supposed to go to Haifa tomorrow to bring our car to the port so that it could be shipped back to Cypress. Mrs. Davidson (the same lady that came with me when we got the car) is coming with me and she just called to inform me that the boat this week is cancelled. She said that there might be another boat on Monday or else there should be one on Thursday. The problem is that we have a bank guarantee that we can't get back until the boat is out of the country so we need to leave time to get that money back before we leave the country. The good news is that this actually saves us money since now we have to rent a car for less time. It adds aggravation though.

Finishing on the Same Note

2008-06-17T20:05:00.003+03:00

I can't believe it!!!! I was surfing through the net, as I tend to do quite religiously, and I came across an Arutz-7 update that the National Labor Union in Israel is planning a strike. These strikes usually affect the airports the most. It is kind of deja-vu to the start of our year long adventure. We are now looking into possibly catching the flight the day earlier. Although, we'd love to stay in Israel longer, we must leave before June 3oth. There are tax implications if we stay longer and also Rivka's sleep over camp in the Catskills starts the next day. Hmm, we'll see what happens.

First Place

2008-06-17T17:05:00.005+03:00

We finished the season in Little League in first place with a 9-1 record. These were the final standings:

Team	Won	Lost	Pct.	G.B.	RF	RA
Modiin Cheetas	9	1	.900		115	48
Hashmonaim	7	3	.700	2	92	64
Modiin Miracles	7	3	.700	2	116	72
Modiin Bulldogs	5	5	.500	4	98	81
Jerusalem Edison Homes	3	5	.375	5	65	67
Jerusalem Superballs	3	5	.375	5	60	79
Gezer	3	7	.300	6	77	129
Rehovot	1	9	.100	8	55	138

I had the most hits on my team and I made the All Star game which is this Friday. I played mostly second base and shortstop but I also played some pitcher (we don't actually pitch but we just stand next to the pitcher and field the position) and first base.

Our last two games were against the other two Modiin teams and both those teams were really good. If we would have lost both those games then we would not have been the champions. First we played the Miracles (the only team that beat us all year) and they took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning but we scored 5 in the bottom half of the inning. At the end of the second inning we were winning 8-6 and it seemed like it was going to be a really high scoring game. Then both teams played really good defense the rest of the game - one of their players turned an unassisted triple play - and the final score after 5 innings was 9-6. So we had already clinched first place before our last game but we still played well and won that one also 11-9.

The guests that never leave

2008-06-15T14:51:00.002+03:00

When we first got married and we had company on Shabbos, I'd set the lights to go off around 3 PM and that was the sign that we had to bench and that the guests had to go home. It's not that I didn't like having guests but I just didn't want them to stay forever. One time about 8 years ago in St. Louis we had company on Friday night and we benched and then they were supposed to go home. The only problem was that they were good friends of ours and instead sat down in the living room to shmooze. I thought that was really nice and everything except that I was really tired and I just wanted to go to sleep. So I said that I had to put the kid(s) to sleep. I went and got my blanket and pillow and climbed into bed with Rivka and "accidentally" fell asleep when I was putting her to sleep. I'm not sure how long the guests stayed but I got in a lot of trouble from Shira later.

I must have mellowed a lot in my old age. I actually don't mind when guests stay for a long time and when we go places we tend to stay a really long time. We try not to overstay our welcome but I think that we might stay too long sometimes. We ate lunch yesterday at the Turks' house with the Davids and the Baumans and we benched around 3 PM. Our kids were having a great time. Rivka went home to read, Zvi went to a park to play with friends, Leora went to Bauman's house and Yeshaya was playing upstairs at the Turks. So Shira and I just sat down in the living room and shmoozed. We ended up staying until about 5 PM! So I've changed from the guy who was always the first one out after every meal to the guest that doesn't leave. It must be Shira's fault.

Everything's gotta go

2008-06-12T22:41:00.002+03:00

We've been busy this week trying to sell all of our furniture. We bought most of the stuff used at the beginning of the year hoping that we'd be able to sell it again at the end. We started advertising on Wednesday and our phones have been ringing non-stop since then and people have been in and out looking at stuff. We've sold about 80% of the stuff so far but it has been really exhausting.

We also had some fun today though. Rivka and Zvi had been planning a surprise birthday party for Shira for a while but it had gotten postponed a couple of times. Today they all went to the dentist and Rivka left me a list of things that I had to do to prepare. She had gone to the store with Savta a couple weeks ago to get some stuff. So I set it up and Amy, three of her girls and my mother came. Shira was completely shocked and we all had a great time eating brownies and honey bunches of oats.

Shavuot

2008-06-10T22:26:00.002+03:00

When we eat at home on Shavuos (yes, I know I spelled it differently in the subject) I can usually convince Shira to make fleishigs, at least for me to eat. Most years though we end up going out for at least one meal on yom tov and our hosts almost always serve milchigs. This year was no exception as we ate at the Baks with the Sterns and Goldfischers and everyone brought food. I can survive on challa, fish and salad and I avoided the lasagna, cheesecake and other cheesy foods. The food I did eat was actually very good and I know that this is what I get on Shavuos. I can't complain too much since we never have fleishigs on any other yom tov or Shabbos. We also had a really nice time with all the families and my kids played nicely with the other kids there.

Shavuos in Israel is so fast for the men. They stay up all night (I've developed this custom of sleeping for a couple of hours and then going to learn, daven and then sleeping until lunch. That works out really well for me so that I'm not exhausted all day and I can actually have a normal yom tov lunch and day with my family.) and then by the time they're awake and finished lunch it's almost time for mincha and for the day to be over. Unfortunately for us, we had to keep a second day of yom tov this year while everyone else was keeping just one day. It ended up being a pretty good day. Noach N. spent the day at our house which kept Zvi entertained. Leora spent a few hours at the Wine's house with Meirav. Shira walked to the gym and back (25 minutes each way) to do her sixty minute exercise class that she loves. Aryeh came over to learn with me while she was out and when she came back we went over to the Steiner's house so she could taste their cheesecake. Then my mother came over with the Fredj's and they hung out with us for a few hours. They also brought pizza which we enjoyed and all the kids watched a movie while the adults sat around shmoozing. Then we just waited for yom tov to be over. It really wasn't so bad but keeping one day of yom tov is definitely one of the incentives that could help convince us to come back here one day soon.

Empty House

2008-06-08T08:32:00.002+03:00

Amy promised Leora a long time ago that she could spend a Shabbos at her house. She called on Friday morning to ask if this Shabbos would work for us and Leora was thrilled. She had a great time there as the girls and Amy took her to the park a couple times and gave her lots of Coke and candy and let her stay up real late. Zvi's friend Noach invited him to go there for Shabbos and Rivka spent Friday night at the Rosenbaum's house. Zvi and the rest of us, besides Leora, joined Rivka at the Rosenbaum's house for lunch but Friday night was great. Just Shira, Yeshaya and me! Amy told me once that no matter how many kids you have, if you remove one for a day it's infinitely easier. Removing three makes life a little boring but a lot more relaxing.

Biking on Yom Yerushalayim

2008-06-04T13:58:00.005+03:00

After the bat mitzva on Sunday, Eric and Eylon slept over at our house so we could get up bright and early Monday morning for a Yom Yerushalayim davening and leave for Kiryat Arba. Eric's nieces organize a bike ride every year in memory of their father from Kiryat Arba to Yerushalayim. When I was in Israel for the year after high school I spent a Shabbos at their house and it was a great experience (we walked to Mearat Hamachpela on Friday night). We also see the family a lot at various family affairs and they're always really nice so when my sister asked me to join them for the bike ride I reluctantly agreed. She encouraged me to get a friend to come so I wouldn't be bored and Moshe Turk volunteered to try.

So we got to Kiryat Arba at 8:30 and got good bikes. There were about 600 people biking but the "family" got the good bikes and all the high school kids got older more used bikes. We didn't actually get started until almost 10 but it gave us time to go to the makolet to get some food and to lather ourselves in suntan lotion. Just as we started, my chain fell off so I went back to the repair guys who fixed it and then we were really off. It was about 300 high school/college age boys riding followed by 300 high school/college age girls. Moshe waited for me when I got the chain fixed but we were stuck all the way in the back with the girls.

It was basically a 3 hour bike ride with long breaks every 40 minutes. They closed off the highways completely while we were riding but during the breaks we'd be off on the side and all the cars who were stuck waiting were able to go. Moshe and I managed to bike the entire first leg of the ride but we never were never able to catch up to the guys. I was determined to ride with the guys on the next part but a couple minutes after we started, Moshe discovered he had a flat tire! So we waited for the truck with the repair guys and gave them the bike. They informed us that they would only fix at the next stop and he had to get on the bus. I wasn't going to suffer without Moshe so I hopped on the bus too. They fixed it at the next stop and we did pretty well on the third section but we did have to walk the bikes up a couple hills.

The third stop was really long but it was at a gas station near Alon Shvut (brought back memories from my days in yeshiva there) so we were able to get some more food and drink. The last two legs of the ride were more hilly than the first half but we had already decided that we weren't riding up any more hills so we walked a bit. Moshe noticed a flat just as were ready to leave for the last leg. Thank God he noticed it in time and they were able to fix it before we left. We went through the tunnels which was cool and then we were in Jerusalem at around 3. Yay! Moshe and I left to come back home and didn't stick around for the celebrations. Before we started I told Moshe that I had two goals: 1. not to fall off the bike (when I rode around the Kineret when I was 18 I fell) and 2. not to get on the bus. We accomplished the first and basically accomplished the second - we only got on the bus because of things that were out of our control. Eylon biked the entire thing and didn't walk at all. Eric biked more than I did but he did have to walk a little (he is 43 years old so he can be excused - I don't really have an excuse). We really had a great time and it was definitely a worthwhile experience even if my tuchus hurt for a couple days afterwards.

Aviva's Bat Mitzvah

2008-06-03T10:09:00.003+03:00

The Fredjs planned a very full day on Sunday for us and it ended up being fun and interesting. In the morning, Aviva led a tiyul of girls through the tunnels of the Old City. I don't know much about this as Rivka was the only one from our family to go. She promised me that she'd blog about it so I'm still holding out hope even if it's already been 48 hours and she hasn't written anything. Then we all met them at the restaurant right near the Kotel for the bat mitzva lunch. It was the same place where we celebrated my father's 60th birthday in 2001. After mincha at the kotel we were granted a couple hour break before the festivities continued.

My sister and her husband's mother, brothers, sisters, uncles and aunts had a Sefer Torah written in memory of her father-in-law and were giving it to the Sphardi minyan in Yeshivat Shaalvim. We completed writing the Torah and I had the opportunity to write a letter for the first time in my life.
They danced the Torah from their house to the yeshiva along with a chuppa and a truck with music (apparently these things travel around the country to Hachnasot sefer Torah.
Then there were speeches and dinner (the rest of the family went back home since the dinner only started at 9:30). I couldn't stay for the entire dinner as I had to get to sleep early in anticipation of my big day Monday in honor of Yom Yerushalayim ...

Lasts

2008-06-01T10:50:00.003+03:00

Today is the first day of our last month in Israel. Just 29 days until we leave :-( Every time we do things now we think about if this is going to be the last time we do it before we go home. Two weeks ago was our last major tiyul. This past Friday was probably our last time in Zichron and last time we see Danny and family before we go back. They made a nice party in their house in honor of their baby and in honor of him completing shas. He started doing daf yomi 7. 5 years ago with mesechet Sota so he just completed his first time finishing. Everyone took the day off from school (although we had a hard time convincing Rivka that it was OK for her to miss a day) and we drove up there for the 9 AM party. Speaking of Spodek babies, mazel tov to Avi, Tikki and Elana on their new baby sister, Ariella Esther!!

We came back in time for Zvi to beat Chashmonaim (including a few of his friends) in baseball 12-6. Both other Modiin teams lost so we regained sole possession of first place again with two big games this weekend. Shabbos was probably our last time hosting people for a meal as the Baks came for lunch. Today is going to be our last major simcha here when we celebrate my niece Aviva's bat mitzva. More on that later ...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

2008-05-29T16:02:00.002+03:00

Tomorrow is Shira's birthday!!! I haven't gotten her a gift yet but we'll think of something (really she'll think of something and go get it and say it was from me for her birthday). We did go out to a movie earlier in the week in honor of her birthday and my mother took us out to lunch today. We were thinking of going away for a couple days but it was too hard so it will have to be something else - probably jewelry.

Creepy Crawlies

2008-05-27T15:13:00.003+03:00

I have to be careful of how I write this posting because you never know who you may insult or who may come across your blog, but I had to have an entry about this. Yesterday Leora invited her friend over from gan. They have had play dates on and off during the year, but not lately. She had been bugging us for weeks to have her over and for various reasons (mainly Leora's behavior) we did not allow it. Leora finally wore me down and I allowed the playdate to take place. Well, you cannot imagine my utter surprise and disgust when we were walking to the car and I could literally see the lice jumping around in this girl's hair. I was just paralyzed with shock. I did not know how to handle it. I put the girls in the car but warned Leora to keep her head leaned the other way (away from the girl). I then called my friend Penina, the lice lady, but was not able to reach her. I brought the girls home and immediately ran upstairs for bandanas. I made sure to give this infested girl a bandana that I would not mind throwing out immediately after her use. While she was at our house I had conversations with various people and they were all of the same opinion, GET THAT GIRL OUT OF YOUR HOUSE. I did not want to be confrontational so I called the parent and told him a little white lie. I said that I had forgotten we had to be somewhere so I would drop her off on our way out. He had no problem with that. So we loaded up the car, dropped her off and decided to pick up the other kids from school. When we returned home I vacuumed out the car as a precaution. I'm glad to report though, that although Leora plays with this girl all the time, she has been lice free. Even the lice are scared of her red haired temper.

Yeshaya learning baseball

2008-05-25T12:55:00.002+03:00

Savta gave Yeshaya a velcro glove and ball so he could start learning how to play baseball. Today, his best friend Ami came over after playgroup so Yeshaya wanted to play baseball with him. He got out Zvi's bases and his plastic bat and two gloves and a ball to set up a game. He may have spent almost half his life in Israel but he still has the American blood in him and he loves baseball.

Lag Sameach

2008-05-24T21:16:00.003+03:00

On Thursday night we went to a shul bonfire in honor of Lag B'Omer. Our shul is mostly Americans so our fire was put to shame by many other fires around the city. People have been collecting wood around the country since Pesach so they could make HUGE fires. Rivka spent the night at my parents' house and then on Friday the kids had no school in honor of the holiday. So Shira took the kids swimming at my parents' pool for a few hours. Then Zvi and I had baseball and Leora stayed to play at my parents' house. We were supposed to play against a Yerushalayim team but they cancelled at the last minute so we decided to play a kids vs. dads game. It was a lot of fun - even better than had we actually had a game. It reminded me of my elementary school days when we had an annual game of faculty vs. students every Lag B'Omer. (Wow, I just followed the link to my elementary school and the picture on the front is my science teacher from 20 something years ago. She looks exactly the same.)

Rivka had a friend for Shabbos and we had four seminary girls sleep here. One of them works with my mother-in-law and she brought her sister and two friends. They didn't eat here because we weren't sure if we were going to be home for Shabbos and by the time we decided they had already found another place. We ate lunch at the Sussman's house with the Schertz'. They have four sons named Ocean, River, Sky and Canyon (Yam, Nahar, Rakia and Nachal in Hebrew). Then we went to the Baks' house for seudat shlishit before coming home to wind down until Shabbos was over.

Teveria

2008-05-20T12:46:00.004+03:00

In August, we spent a Shabbos at the Kinar hotel but didn't do anything in the area because we had too many things to take care of at home. We promised the kids that we'd get back to the Kinneret and to Teveria. That was a long time ago but we finally kept the promise. On Monday, Rivka and Zvi woke up before 6 to watch more cartoons but the two little ones slept until 8. They all took jacuzzi baths and then we ate breakfast in Ramot. We really hadn't planned this day out very well so during breakfast we looked for things to do.

We decided to start with a little zoo just south of the Kinneret. Gan-Hai in Ein Zera was great. The kids fed the animals and held bunny rabbits. Even Yeshaya didn't run screaming every time an animal got close to him like he usually does.

Then we went just across the road to Kibbutz Kinneret to go canoeing down the Yarden. The waters were calm. We were basically at the northern tip of the Kinneret and didn't go that far south. We took two canoes and Rivka and Zvi were really good at helping to row.

After that we went to Teveria to get something to eat. Shira and the kids wanted milchigs and Shira remembered this place that we ate in about 7 years ago but didn't remember the name. So she directed me to the parking lot that we parked at then (yes, she has a good memory) and then we got out and walked to the boardwalk but turned left and couldn't find it (her memory isn't perfect) so she called Ornat and Nechama who found the place on the internet. Shira called and it turned out that we should have turned right from the parking lot. The place was called Apropos and was perfect for us.

We were finally ready to head home but then we saw a horse and buggy so we went for a 15 minute ride around Teveria and then headed home. We did all that and still managed to get the kids in bed by 7 so they wouldn't be too tired in school today.

Surprise Trip to the North

2008-05-20T08:36:00.003+03:00

The kids didn't realize that when we left Netanya we turned North instead of South. They still didn't realize when we drove by Zichron Yaakov that we hadn't passed that on the way to the hotel. Zvi did say then that it meant that we were still at least an hour from school even though we had left much earlier. As we got closer to the north we showed them on a map where we were and they were very excited. The great thing about surprising them is that it's not so important that we actually do something fun because just the fact that we took them somewhere when they weren't expecting it makes it worthwhile for them. We did lots of fun things on this tiyul though.

We drove straight to Tzuk Minara. They had three really fun things to do there:
1. Toboggan - I'm not sure if this is the right term since that usually refers to going down on snow but there was no snow. We go on these little cars on tracks and go up some of the mountain before coming zooming down. I guess it was sort of like a roller coaster ride. Rivka went alone but Zvi and Leora weren't big enough so they had to come with me.

2. Trampoline - They tied the kids to ropes and then pressed a button and, voila the kids went flying. They had pictures of kids doing flips on these but my kids were satisfied just jumping really high. Just the three bigger kids did this.

3. Cable cars - We all went on the cable cars up to the top of the mountain and walked around up there and enjoyed the gorgeous view.

A lot of the stuff is closed since it's not high tourist season. The good thing about it not being high tourist season was there were no lines but the bad thing was that a lot of things were closed. They also have snappling, wall climbing, bouncy toys and omega but none of that was open. We still had fun doing what they did have.

After we finished we went to Metulla. We saw the Canada Center where Danny plays hockey. We also saw the Lebanon border and to Neot Mordechai so Shira could buy new shoes. Then we drove down to the East side of the Kinneret to a "tzimmer" - a little cabin - in Briza Bakfar in a yishuv called Ramot. We tried driving one way but the road was closed so we had to go all the way around and we passed a forest fire just as the fire trucks were getting there. It looked like they had gotten there early enough to get it under control since the fire wasn't near any houses or anything.

We got to our cabin after 6 and we were all starving. We went to a couple hotels but dinner there was really expensive and hardly seemed worth it. We couldn't find a Kosher restaurant nearby so the kids agreed to get dinner at the supermarket. We got small pizzas to make in the microwave and soup in cups and ice cream. It was good and the kids loved eating in front of the TV. The cabin was really nice and spacious with a beautiful view overlooking the Kinneret.

Shabbos in Netanya

2008-05-20T08:11:00.004+03:00

We are leaving in less than six weeks and we wanted to do at least one more tiyul before we left. We also wanted to be sure to spend some time with my sisters. My mother's birthday was last week and my father's is next month so we convinced everyone to come with us to a hotel for Shabbos (we even convinced my parents to sponsor it). This was the only Friday off during the season in Little League so we took advantage and left early. We picked all the kids up from school and got lunch for the road.

We got to the hotel around 1 and had all afternoon to hang out with cousins and go to the beach and pool. The great thing about vacationing now is that it's really quiet because it isn't an ideal time to get away. Things were generally very empty.

The hotel had a minyan on Shabbos but in the morning my father and I went to a shul in the neighborhood because he knew the rabbi and had another friend there. The average age in the shul was probably 80 and they were almost all British but we made it through the whole long davening. In the afternoon we had cake and a big Shabbos party in honor of the birthdays and everyone had a nice time hanging out with the cousins. Normally, when we go to a hotel Shira and I end up with 1-4 kids in our room but this time we got a suite and Rivka slept with cousins so we had our own room. Much more relaxing that way.

We were the only ones to sleep over on Saturday night. The kids were excited for that and thought that this meant that they'd be going late to school the next day. We told them that if they were good we could first go to the beach before leaving. So we did that, jumped in the pool and ate a delicious breakfast at the hotel. We finally left the hotel around 10:30. The kids figured we were on our way to bring them to school a little late.

Mother's Day

2008-05-12T08:31:00.005+03:00

So we get all these "Yoms" during sefira (haatzmaut, yerushalayim, zikaron and shoa) but I didn't realize until yesterday that the best thing is that we avoid the "Days." No Mother's Day, Father's Day, Grandparents' Day, Secretary's Day, Earth Day or any other Silly Day that obligates us to get presents. We haven't made aliya so I couldn't totally skip yesterday but we were able to tone it down.

I took Shira out for lunch to her favorite restaurant here (Angelo's) and we had a nice time. We got pizza and met Amy and her girls at my grandmother's for dinner to celebrate with her. That was it though. My mother is in Memphis visiting Shayna and family so we didn't do anything for her.

We also got portraits of the two bigger kids. We posted the pictures of the little ones a few months ago so here are the others. We highly recommend the photographer in Matityahu so if anyone is interested just email or call us and we'll give you his info.

First loss

2008-05-10T21:57:00.002+03:00

Our Little League team lost for the first time on Friday. It was a really tough loss as we had built a 7-1 lead and were still winning 10-7 going into the last inning. The other team scored four times though to win the game. Almost all the kids were crying after the loss. We're still tied for first place and we're playing this team again later in the season.

We had three girls from Anywhere in Israel sleep at our house for Shabbos but they didn't eat any meals with us. We made Shabbos early again and went to sleep really early. Shira led groups at shul for the first time and all reports that I heard were that she did a fantastic job even though she had to do it in Hebrew. Leora loved having her Mommy lead the groups and Zvi watched Yeshaya so he wouldn't disturb them. We ate lunch with the Sussmans at the Weinsteins' house and had a nice time. Tzivi Bak had made Shira's favorite dessert (some kahlua ice cream or something) so we went there for some of that after lunch.

Happy 60th Birthday, Israel!!!

2008-05-08T21:25:00.005+03:00

What a privilege and honor for us to be here in Israel to celebrate along with the country the anniversary of Israel's 6oth year of Independence. I'll start with recapping from Yom Hazikaron. At around 8pm the night of Yom Hazikaron, a loud siren goes off and all are supposed to stop what they are doing and reflect on the many lives lost during war and to terrorist acts. We did not hear that siren, probably because we were busy yelling at our kids to go to sleep. The next day at 11 am David and I were at the fruit store. It took a second to realize that the sound I was hearing was indeed the siren and not an indication that we were under attack. It was amazing to see that people just stop what they are doing and stand still with head bowed. The siren lasted for a minute and you could really feel the unity of the people. It was a little disturbing to see out of the corner of your eyes the arab workers walking along as if nothing was going on. The kids all had different educational experiences at their schools. Leora was shown pictures of a relative of a boy in her class who was killed.

That evening the Yom Haatzmaut parties began. Rivka was invited to spend the night at a friends in Chashmonaim. She had an amazing time with all of her classmates from school. Zvi and I along with Jamie, Effie and Shaya Steiner (our neighbors) walked outside until we were able to see the city's fire works display. The kids really enjoyed it. We then continued walking until we got to the local religious Yom Haatzmaut celebrations. There was live music and dancing. Zvi said it was boring but I saw him mesmerized by the band. It made me think that he'd really enjoy being able to play a musical instrument (since given mine and David genes a singing career is out of the question).

Today we (Greenstone's including David's father) met up with Adina (Ethel), Eric, and their three younger kids for a horseback riding adventure. And adventure it was , for David and Rivka that is. They were the only ones brave enough from our family to ride their own horse. The younger Greenstones were not as comfortable so they got to ride on a pony with a guide. The youngest Greenstone was even too chicken for that. I myself would have loved to go horseback riding, but for some reason Rivka chose David to go with her instead of me. I wonder if it is because I am such a chicken and Rivka has no confidence in me. In keeping with the Yom Haatzmaut tradition (for non vegetarians) after the horseback riding we returned for a delicious Bar-B-Que at the Hagege's. Danny and Ornat and girls came by to say hi and then we loaded up the car and returned to Modiin. We were very happy that we didn't encounter any of the dreaded "pa-kack".

Best time of year to be in Israel

2008-05-04T19:49:00.003+03:00

After Pesach, Aryeh told me that the time between Pesach and Shavuot is the best time of year to be in Israel. The first thing is the weather and it's definitely been true so far this year. It's consistently been in the high 70s/early 80s with no rain. After Shavuot it starts getting really hot for a few months until it's rainy season. Then you also have Yom Hashoa, Yom Hazikaron, Yom HaAtzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim. The celebrations for these days in the States can't come close to what we're expecting to see in this country. We even put a flag on our car so we could join in the fun (just because we're not citizens doesn't mean we can't be patriotic). Even Lag Ba'Omer is different in Israel than in the States.

Last week was a quiet week in our house. Nechama A. came for Shabbos and we had no other company so it was very relaxing. In the afternoon we walked over the Baks' house and ate seudat shlishit there. The only bad thing was that the hashkama minyan in the neighborhood disbanded so I was stuck davening at a "normal" long minyan at 8:30. I survived it but I'm hoping a new hashkama minyan will start soon.

Boredom

2008-04-28T15:31:00.002+03:00

Yesterday, we couldn't play on the computer, drive in the car or color while everyone else in the country was out having a good time on the last day of vacation. My kids were so bored and they let us know it. My mother had said that she'd try to come over at some point and by 8 AM everyone was anxiously awaiting her arrival so we'd have something to do. We played games (Monopoly, SkipBo, finger baseball) but the kids were still bored. Rivka insisted that we should walk to Savta's house so the two of us walked there around 3 and of course when we got there she was on a bus coming to our house so we missed her and walked right back home. Once my mother came though the day got more exciting as she played more games with them and helped us get a delicious dinner together (the last of the Pesach leftovers). Then after the kids were sleeping we converted the house back to chametz.

Shabbos though wasn't boring for the girls at all. We had Sarah Rosen (we had her for the seder) over with her three daughters and one is a year older than Rivka. My niece Talya (a year younger) and two Rosenbaum girls (about Rivka's age) were also there. Leora had my niece Ayala and another friend came over after lunch. So we had a lively house full of girls that day. Zvi didn't have anyone though so he was bored two days in a row.

I think it's good to be bored on the last day of vacation though so that you might actually look forward to going back to school. At least it should work that way but for some reason Zvi and Leora still weren't anxious to get back. Now we're off to get some pizza so we can enjoy some delicious chametz that we've missed for the last week.

Relaxing Day

2008-04-25T18:07:00.002+03:00

After a busy chol hamoed we had a very easy day today. In the morning the kids and I went to visit my parents and grandmother while Shira exercised and cooked. She, Ornat and my mother had made so much food for the first days that she didn't have to cook much today. We went to Herzliya to the Baks' hotel for lunch and enjoyed the bouncy toys at the yom kef there. Then Shira took the kids swimming in the pool. We got home the same time that Danny and Ornat came for yom tov and now we're ready for two more days of rest and relaxation before the kids go back to school on Monday.

Snorkeling for Techelet

2008-04-25T07:17:00.000+03:00

I was going to write all about yesterday's tiyul snorkeling for chilazon but I saw that The Muqata did the same thing a few years ago so I'll quote him for some of it:

there's a biblical commandment for one of the threads of tzitzit to be blue, "techelet." A few years back, a group of Israeli (mostly olim from the US) became determined to discover the biblical blue. The gemara talks about the different ways to identify the techelet - it must come from a snail, must be like the sea, must be very steadfast, and identical to the fake plant-based techelet. The Murex Trunculus answers all these conditions, and was found in mass quantities along the Dor beach. The only problem was that the dye produced from the Murex was royal purple -- "Argaman", and the researchers couldn't figure out how it could turn blue. One day, a researcher in the 80's from Hebrew University put his beaker full of Murex dye in the sun while waiting for his coffee to heat up. When he came back 10 minutes later, he removed the fibers which were in the beaker, and when exposed to air, the fibers turned a brilliant blue, and the secret of techelet was re-discovered. For the murex dye to turn into techelet instead of purple, it needs to be exposed to sunlight, which breaks away the bromide from the indigo. You can read all this fascinating information on the Techelet website.

First we watched a movie about the history and the process which was very interesting and even Yeshaya was interested because it was about the ancient city of Dora. What could be better than a movie about Dora? We went snorkeling to try and find the snails. We didn't actually find any but people in our group found about 20. Then we made the dye and dyed a piece of wool techelet. It was pretty cool and we all had a great time.

Last night, my friend Dov Segal who is in Israel for Pesach took a bus out to Modiin to join us for dinner and then we hung out together for a while. Always good to catch up with old friends.

Double Digits

2008-04-24T16:38:00.004+03:00

Yesterday was my 10th birthday and I had a great time to celebrate. We started off the day at Eretz Breishit. There, we went on camel rides and we pretended like we were visiting Avraham in his tent. The person who pretended to be Avraham and the person who acted as Eliezer went to get dried fruit and drinks for us. They told us the story of Avraham's life and how there was a good chance that Avraham's real tent was very close to where we were. Then they taught us how to write with a bamboo stick and ink in old Hebrew script like Avraham may have written.

Amy and her family were planning on going on a tour of the choma of Yerushalayim in the afternoon. They invited us to join them but Leora and Zvi just wanted to go home and relax. So they dropped my mother and me in Yerushalayim and everyone else went home. We met Rivka, my oldest cousin, near town and walked to the Old City and found a restaurant to use the bathroom and cool off. We then met the rest of the family and went on the tour around the City. It was a lot of fun but a little scary for my mother who is terrified of heights. After the tour we went out to eat at Cafe Rimon. The food was pretty good considering the fact that it was Pesach.

At 7:30 there was a sound and lights show on the walls of the Old City. It was so crowded on the way down the stairs when we were leaving. We found a bus that was going to the tachana merkazit but it was also really crowded and we had to stand. Finally, when we got off that bus we went on the bus to Modiin and we actually had seats. We got to Country Center at about 10 PM and Avraham Butel picked us up and drove us home.

Pesach bagels

2008-04-23T14:43:00.002+03:00

When we used to go to my aunt and uncle's house in Baltimore for Pesach there was a constant supply of bagels coming out of the oven. We all helped make them and we certainly all helped eat them. They're especially good to take on tiyulim since matza is too crumby. I baked them yesterday morning and again this morning for our tiyulim (an entry with pictures about today will come later) and we all enjoyed eating them with cream cheese, margarine or just plain. So I figured I should post the recipe here so I won't lose it and so our loyal readers can try it at home. I think it originally came from the outside of a Manischewitz box.

Mix 2 cups matzo meal with 1 teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon of sugar.
Boil 1 cup of water with 1/2 cup of oil.
Mix them together and then add 4 eggs.
Mix it all very well and then let it sit for 15 minutes.
Roll into strips and pinch ends together to make circles so they look like bagles. Put on a pan and bake at 375 for 50 minutes or until they look ready. Makes 12 small bagels.

I double the recipe but only use 4 eggs total since we have more than enough eggs in everything else (actually the first time was an accident but it tasted fine so there's no need to include so many eggs).

Chocolate and Parrots

2008-04-22T18:20:00.005+03:00

Our friends, the Neustadters arranged a trip today to the Ornat chocolate factory. About 40 people came including Danny and Ornat (who managed to get a free chocolate since she shares a name with the chocolate) and family. We got a tour of the place - it's not exactly a factory since they don't manufacture the chocolate there but they import it. We also got some free chocolate and the kids got a chance to make their own chocolate balls. (Check out the picture on the top. It was taken when we were done with the tour and just as the picture was snapped our next door neighbor smashed into the glass door. I'm not exactly sure what happened but she was in a lot of pain and was bleeding quite a bit from her nose)

After that we went with the Spodeks to the Parrot Farm. We're in the middle of a chamsin - heat wave - so it was in the 90s today. The Parrot Farm is free for chol hamoed so apparently hundreds of people had the same idea and the place was more like a zoo than a farm. We brought our lunch and managed to snag a table in the shade and ate there. Leora was kvetching about the heat and Rivka and I were being hit by allergies (they've hardly bothered me in Israel but for some reason it was really bad there). Yeshaya had fallen asleep so Leora, Zvi and I went quickly to go see the parrots and then we were ready to go home. The kids were afraid to let the parrot climb on them but I thought it was kind of cool the way one climbed down my back.
When we got home Rivka and Zvi played a game while Leora and Yeshaya played on the computer and watched Dora. The older two kids then went by themselves to have a picnic at the park. It's great when they get along!

First Days of Yom Tov

2008-04-22T07:23:00.002+03:00

We had lots of company for yom tov. My Uncle Danny, Aunt Ornat and their three daughters were here. My Saba and Savta and Bubbie and her metapelet were also here. Shabbos was pretty quiet and normal except that we had pitas and no other chametz or matza during the meal. We ate lunch really early so we could finish the pitas by 9:55 in the morning. We all took naps after lunch so we could stay awake for the seder and then we went to the park.

We had a lady from the community and her daughter join us for the seder which only started at around 8:45 at night. I was the only kid who stayed awake until the end. The four cups of grape juice were especially good because my parents got Kedem grape juice which tastes much better than the stuff we've been using all year.

After lunch, we went to the park again on the first day of yom tov and we took short naps so we could stay awake for our seder the second night. Our second seder was much smaller and faster. It was just our immediate family and two of my cousins sat with us just so they could enjoy the grape juice. We started as early as we could, around 8:00 and finished before 10. It was a little weird because my grandparents were going in a taxi and my aunt and uncle were on the phone and taking pictures the whole time but it was chag for us.

Yesterday we walked to my grandparents house for a "chol hamoed" party for all my first and second cousins that are in Israel. It took us about 35 minutes to walk there. We got there at 1:15 and stayed for about four hours. We split up for the walk back and the girls all took the stairs and the boys went around with the stroller (here is a map - the girls basically followed the red line and the boys followed the pink line). I walked ahead and went a slightly different way and got home first. The Spodeks were still at our house and decided to sleep over again. The neighbors had set up some bouncy toys in the driveway and invited us to play on them. So we played, showered, ate supper and went to sleep so we could get up early for our trip today.

Chag Sameach

2008-04-18T15:14:00.002+03:00

Today was actually not nearly as stressful as it could have been thanks mostly to Shira's excellent planning and organization. We've also been helped by my parents cooking and picking things up for us and by Shira's brother and sister-in-law cooking and helping prepare.

Yesterday was a great day. For a late breakfast we went out to eat with the Baks to celebrate our siyum of Nedarim. We actually finished about a month ago but were asked to make a siyum after the 5:45 minyan shacharis. In the end some other people had also planned on making a siyum there so we didn't actually make our siyum but we still celebrated. Then for an early dinner we went out in honor of Rivka's birthday. Our custom is that we go out for dinner to the restaurant of the birthday kid's choice on every birthday. My father joined us for that.

After a pretty boring breakfast, we went to do biur chametz. It's a very different experience here than in Baltimore. In Baltimore, there is one centralized biur chametz location at the fire station and everyone brings their chametz. Here, it's each man for himself. We joined with our neighbors and made a small fire at the corner to burn the chametz. It's definitely more fun this way but a little more dangerous too.

We went to the park this morning for an hour or so and then we went to Nof Ayalon to pick up some things that my sister had bought for us and hung out there for a while. We had a scumptious lunch at my mother's before coming home to prepare and rest up for Shabbos and our company. For Pesach, unlike Sukkos, we won't be doing melacha for two days of yom tov which means we have a 3 day yom tov to look forward to. Should be lots of fun!

Chag sameach to everyone.

Where to live

2008-04-16T22:07:00.000+03:00

We are trying to decide the best place for our family to live if we move back to Israel. We've had a great year in Modiin and have lots of really good friends and my parents here so it would be hard not to come back. The biggest problem here is that we're not crazy about the options for schools. The school for our kids this year worked out really well for them and we don't regret the decision at all but we don't think it's the best long-term answer for them. Another problem with our current neighborhood is that the price of houses is really high.

When we came to Israel for five weeks a year and a half ago, we spent a Shabbos in five different communities and didn't decide where we wanted to live. We spent a weekend in Beit Shemesh and Ramat Beit Shemesh and considered BS a possibility of where we'd eventually settle. Now there is a new community starting there that looks like it will be really excellent. Our biggest fear is that it will probably be (almost) all Americans living there and it will make it hard for our kids to learn Hebrew and feel like real Israelis.

On Sunday night, Shira and I went to the Blass Bar Mitzvah in Beit Shemesh and we were talking to recent olim who live there. One family that came two years ago said that their kids still don't really know Hebrew because they only interact with English speaking kids. That really scared us from living there. It's a tough decision because it would make life easier in the short-term to live amongst Americans but I think for long-term success we'd probably be better living in a mixed community with American olim and natural born Israelis.

So the search continues. We haven't ruled out Modiin or Beit Shemesh but would like to check out other options. Every community has its benefits and drawbacks and it won't be an easy decision but it's something that we need to consider carefully. We went through the same basic process when we moved from St. Louis. We could have moved anywhere in the US and checked out many different communities before ultimately settling on Baltimore. We're very happy with that decision.

My Sleepover Party

2008-04-14T19:48:00.003+03:00

On Thursday at 5:30 eight girls came to my house for a sleepover party for my 10th birthday. We had an exciting night planned. First we ate pizza. Then we made bracelets out of beads. After that we talked and giggled and ran around outside and then we got into pajamas and ate ice cream. We all slept in the living room on mattresses and couches. After we were all comfortable, we watched Mary Poppins. The movie ended at 10:30 but then we giggled and talked some more until we went to sleep at around 11:30.

We were all up at 6:30 and got dressed and ate breakfast. Then we went to the park and we davened when we came home. Everyone packed up their stuff and their parents came to get them. One friend stayed for a few extra hours. We walked to Country Center (30 minute walk) to get fruits and vegetables for my mother and popsicles for us. Then my father picked us up and we came home and played Pig/Tongue with Zvi. After that we watched a movie until her father came to get her. When she left I took a nap so I could go to my Savta's house for Shabbos.

This is what we did at Savta's house. We ate both meals at Bubbie's and rested for three hours after lunch. We played Casino a lot. Then Bubbie came over for Shalosh Seudos and we ate outside. When we were finished we went over to Bubbie's and played Rummikub and Guess Who until Saba came home from shul. When he came home, we made havdala and my father came to get me.

"Vacation"

2008-04-13T09:13:00.000+03:00

All the kids in the country had their last day of school before Pesach last Thursday. So now, everyone is scrambling to find things to do with their kids for an entire week before Pesach. We have our plans all set for each day of chol hamoed but we don't have so many plans for this week. There is a daycamp at a nearby school and we gave our kids (besides Yeshaya) the option of going today to try it out. They all agreed to go but this morning Zvi backed out. Rivka and Leora didn't know anyone there so they got a little nervous when they got there but ultimately stayed. Hopefully they're having a good time and will decide to continue the rest of the week.

Rivka had a slumber party on Thursday night with a bunch of girls from her class since it's almost her birthday. She told me that she's going to blog about it so I won't write anything. Zvi played his fourth game of the season and we won 17-4. We're now in sole possession of first place at 4-0 but we haven't yet played the three best teams. After Pesach, five our next six games are against those three teams and we're missing out best player for the first of those games. We got our uniforms so we look like a real team now. Go Cheetahs!

Rivka went to Saba and Savta for Shabbos. We ate Shabbos lunch at the Steiners which was great so Shira didn't have to worry about cooking too much. Then Leora watched Yeshaya so we could sleep for an hour and in exchange we walked her to Aliza Spitzer's house. Aliza was her primary translator in her old gan and is her closest friend here. Unfortunately we don't get them together enough but they were thrilled to see us and Yeshaya played with their son also. We then went to the park and that took us until bedtime. It was another nice and relaxing Shabbos.

Pesach cleaning

2008-04-08T10:31:00.005+03:00

Historically, Pesach cleaning has always been done by the mother of the household (well, historically in our family at least - interesting post on the division of labor in the family here). Our house has barely anything in it since we've only been living here for 8 months and we didn't bring that much junk with us. So we figured we could delay cleaning the house until it was really almost Pesach. It's just 10 days away now so it's time to start. The problem is that Shira went to the doctor yesterday and today and tomorrow she's going to be busy grocery shopping (apparently you get much better prices and find many more American products when you leave Modiin to grocery shop).

I decided that as long as I'm home all morning doing nothing with Yeshaya I might as well start cleaning (the truth is that Rivka really started cleaning on Friday by cleaning the drawers in her night table). The advantage of a man cleaning is that he will rarely confuse Pesach cleaning with spring cleaning. I did throw out a lot of junk but that was stuff that was clearly garbage. My main purpose was just to look in all the drawers and cabinets and stuff for chametz. I didn't wash the windows, organize the shelves or dust the hard to get to places (I figure that if there's more than an inch of dust then I don't even have to check there since we haven't been there since we moved in). I finished three bedrooms upstairs (all but my room) and I'm happy to report that it wasn't a complete waste of time. I found some chocolate in Leora's night table drawer (probably only kitniyot) and some falafel bisli (chametz gamur) in a bag in a cabinet.

Another week goes by

2008-04-06T14:22:00.002+03:00

We (mostly me) have been a bit lax in our blogging lately. I guess that means that we're busy and don't have too much time for the computer :) We had a good week, nothing too much to report. We got organized for Pesach. Had the Rabbi come by to tell us how to kasher our kitchen and we realized that we have quit a lot of kitchen utensils that are all metal that are easily kasherable. That will save us money and also save us the hassle of having to get rid of it in a few months. Today David did our tally and we only have 85 more days left. David announced this with a smile, but I felt really sad. This past shabbos we ate a simple meal at home Friday night and enjoyed a yummy meal at the Obersteins for lunch. My brother Avi was very close with Nina and Shmuli while studying in Bar Ilan. The Ort's were also there in addition to several of the Oberstein's relatives.
This evening we will be heading to my cousin's, Nechama and Yair Cohen, for dinner. We always enjoy getting together with them. We also will most likely make a stop to drop off another Baltimore bound duffel bag.

On a side note, my sister-in-law, Tikki is raising money for the National MS Society walk. Feel free to make a donation and help her achieve her goal.

Rav Lau

2008-03-30T22:03:00.004+03:00

This Shabbos Rabbi Dovid Lau made a Bar Mitzvah for his son so his father, Rav Yisrael Meir Lau was in town. He spoke at our shul between mincha and maariv and we had about 500 people there to hear him. It was an impressive crowd and he spoke well.

This was the first late Shabbos of the year which meant that we still got in naps even after a long lunch at the Baks house. We weren't up too late on Friday night either since we had no company. Erev Shabbos was actually extra long because it was a rare Friday when we didn't have a baseball game. Instead we went to Yerushalayim for a game on Thursday night. Zvi had said that he would blog about the game (I'm not holding my breath) so I won't write about our Cheetahs' second victory in a row.

My trip to Sderot

2008-03-25T18:12:00.005+02:00

A few weeks ago I posted a letter that my sister wrote after her visit to Sderot. Today, I was finally able to join her on a trip there. My little sister raised $10,000 from her shul and the people of Los Angeles to buy things for the people of Sderot and she told them that she'd personally deliver it. Zach, one of the sons of the major donor is in Israel studying for the year so he wanted to go also. Amy drove Aliza, my mother, Zach and me down to Sderot.

We stopped at a toy store and bought lots of games and some stereos to bring to an elementary school. Aliza had plans for the rest of the money but we didn't personally deliver those things. The school was very appreciative and the principal was kind enough to give us a tour.

The school has a protective cover over it so that when a qassam rocket comes it will hit the cover and not hurt anyone in the school.

So they're safe when they're in school. The problem is that you can't expect the kids to stay inside all the time. The principal said that during the peak, they had to keep the kids indoors for three consecutive weeks and everyone was going crazy. The problem is that when they're outside and the siren goes off they all have to run inside as quickly as they can. There is a shelter (decorated by the kids) near the playground but the kids are instructed to go inside the school building.

A few weeks ago a rocket landed about 100 feet from the school building. Here is the hole that is left and some holes in the railing from the shrapnel.

Nobody was hurt by it but the kids were very scared. Three kids had to go to the hospital. The principal said that the whole building shook and they were all sure that it hit the building.

It was very interesting to go there and amazing to see these people who live in this kind of danger every day.

Israeli wedding

2008-03-25T07:21:00.002+02:00

Last night Shira and I went to Shoshana Peerless' wedding. The Peerless are my parents closest friends from Dayton and later Ramot. Mrs. Peerless (who now insists that I call her Jo Ann but I can never get used to that) used to joke that I was really her son. They also have four daughters just like my parents but they don't have any sons. My parents both have darker hair and Mrs. and Rabbi Peerless have the same color hair as me so the joke was that there was a mix-up and I was really their long lost son (the fact that I was born before they got married didn't phase them). Shoshana is their oldest daughter and is best friends with my younger sister. We moved away from Dayton when they were in first grade but they've managed to remain friends through the years. Aliza flew in from Los Angeles without her 5 daughters and husband just for the wedding.

The wedding was in Mitzpe Yericho and we drove there with my parents, Amy and Erick and Aliza. Then we all sat at one table together with Eric and Ethel. I was trying to put my finger on the difference between American weddings and Israeli weddings and I think I figured it out. I think that when people go to weddings in the US they're going to a fancy affair like a banquet. In Israel it's not like that. People don't get so dressed up for weddings and I think the primary goal of the attendees is just to have lots of fun. I'm not saying that people in the US don't have fun at weddings but it just doesn't seem to be the number one purpose of the wedding. I think it's even evident at the chuppa. In America, it's a long drawn out process with people walking down the aisle, slow music and everyone very quiet. In Israel, lots of people stand, nobody walks down the aisle and people are very, very close to the chuppa.

We definitely had fun last night and tonight we're making sheva brachos at my parents house and I'm sure we'll enjoy that immensely too.

Purim Meshulash

2008-03-23T22:38:00.002+02:00

This year, people in Yerushalayim had a three day Purim:

Mikra Megillah is done on Thursday night and Friday morning, as in the open cities; Matanot La-Evyonim are given on Friday.

The reading of Parashat Amalek and the insertion of Al HaNisim into the Shemoneh Esray and the Birchat HaMazon are done on Shabbat, their regular Purim in ordinary years.

Seudat Purim is served and Mishloach Manot are exchanged on Sunday, the sixteenth of Adar.

It was more than 90 degrees here today - not something we're used to from Baltimore so we spent some time in the park. Then we drove to the Callens (Shira's cousins) to join them in their Purim seuda in Ramot. We had a nice time but I managed to stay sober through yet another Purim seuda.

Purim

2008-03-23T07:21:00.004+02:00

Purim is very different in Israel than it is in the chutz la'aretz. This year was different anyway because it was on Friday but it's just great to see everyone in the entire country dressed up and partying in honor of Purim. It is a little strange to see some 13 year old girls dressed up in ways that would make Elliot Spitzer proud but it's great that everyone celebrates the holiday in some way. There was a big parade in Modiin but we just ran out of time and didn't even have a chance to go.

I went to an early, fast megilla reading and then Shira went with the girls to a 7 AM reading. After megilla, the kids and I started our trip to deliver shaloch manos. It was a little sad because very few people were at home. Some people were at the parade and others were out delivering their own packages. This is outside Yeshaya's ganenet's house.

He was very upset that she wasn't home but we did go back after our seuda after she had returned from the parade. Leora was lucky because her ganenet was at home and she was thrilled to see her.

We drove in circles in Hashmonaim trying to find all the kids' friends and after we found most of them we returned just in time to get to Saba and Savta's for the Purim seuda with Bubbie and the Fredj's.

We spent Shabbos in Zichron Yaakov and again had a great time with the Hagege's.

Pre-Purim Festivities

2008-03-19T10:03:00.004+02:00

Today is dress-up day at all the schools and ganim. The kids were all dressed by 6:30 and just waiting for Shira to get up to put on the make-up. Yeshaya thought he could handle the make-up himself. Here's a picture of them all ready for school today. Nobody brought books or anything to school as it's just parties and then they all get out early

Opening Day

2008-03-16T09:01:00.003+02:00

Friday was the first regular season game of the season for Zvi and our Modiin Cheerfully Changed Cheetahs. We were playing Rechovot who was obviously smaller, more Israeli and less excited about baseball than we were. We expected to win but in the top of the first inning they scored a run and we were losing 1-0. In the bottom of the inning the first three guys (including Zvi) singled so we had the bases loaded for our cleanup hitter, Noam Wine. He popped out (he would make up for that later in the game by homering twice). After that out though our team came alive as four of the next five batters got hits and we took a 6-1 lead. We ended up playing 5 innings and we won 18-1. Zvi had three hits including a "homerun." Our defense was really good as we only made two errors the entire game and the kids all had a great time. I'd like to think that we won mostly because of the manager ;-)

My parents came to cheer on Zvi and took a couple pictures of warmups.

Friday night we had the Turks for dinner and had a really nice time with them. Then, for the first time all year, we walked to my parents for lunch since my cousing Tova was visiting from Cincinnati. The walk took a lot less time than I thought it would - less than 15 minutes from shul to their house. We hung out there all afternoon and had a lot of fun playing ping pong and card games, going to the park and eating lots of nosh.

Day off for the bigger kids

2008-03-12T16:23:00.004+02:00

We promised Rivka and Zvi a day off because of their amazing report cards. Also, Leora had missed a half day of school to go to Yerushalayim a couple weeks ago with Shira and my mother-in-law. So I had to come up with a plan of what to do with the kids. I'm always nervous coming up with a plan because I want it to be something that they'll enjoy. I kind of wanted this one to be somewhat educational but I really wanted them to have a good time also. We were also bound by time because Yeshaya is only at playgroup from 8:15 until 12:15 every day. We decided to ask the Mayers if Yeshaya could go there for an hour to play with their son Ami. They're best friends and love playing together. They have similar personalities and even look almost the same. Ami has come to our house before and it was incredible how nicely they played together. So that gave us an extra hour to have fun.

Shira and I still had to come up with something to do. We asked Rivka and Zvi but they didn't really have any great ideas and they seemed to nix anything that we suggested. Rivka's ulpan teacher recommended Park Canada, Amy suggested Maalit Yerushalayim and my mother thought going to a park and looking at all the flowers blooming would be a good idea. We decided against all those for various reasons and settled on a day at the Old City of Yerushalayim. I sent an email to the kids last night with our schedule and when they woke up and read it they were excited.

So we left this morning just after dropping off Yeshaya and parked near the Kotel. We davened quickly (or the others did I had already davened) and then went out for breakfast at Bonkers Bagels. Then we went just across the road to the Burnt House Museum. It's a tiny little museum but they have a really good 25 minute 3D movie which the kids really enjoyed. The original schedule had us going to another museum but Shira had the idea of changing it to go to the shuk instead. We bought some shaloch manos packages for the kids to give to their friends and also got some other goodies like hamentashin, candies and ice coffees. Then we were approaching our deadline so it was time to head home.

We dropped the kids off at Bubbie's so they could spend a little time there and then we went to pick up Yeshaya from his friend's house. He had only been there for a half hour and was NOT happy to see me. The Mayers agreed to keep him for another half hour. I went to mincha and then picked Yeshaya up from Mayers, Rivka and Zvi from Bubbie's and Leora from gan. They came home watched a movie and went grocery shopping with Shira. Zvi and Rivka both had great days and even learned something about Yerushalayim in the process. I'd call this day off a success!

The first picture is in front of the Burnt House Museum and the second is in the shuk. We chose to take the picture in front of the fish in honor of our newest nephew, Roi Nun (nun means fish in Aramaic). Mazel tov Aaron, Aviva and Deyah!

Five straight days

2008-03-09T09:15:00.002+02:00

We are extending another Greenstone record in our house today. This is our fifth straight day without having on the air conditioner or the heat at all. I'm pretty sure that we've never done that before in our 10.5 years of marriage. The weather has been beautiful and we can keep the windows open. In Baltimore, even when it's great weather, we can't keep the windows open because I get killed by allergies. I've been hit a little here but it's not bad at all. It gets a little hot in the afternoons but we've managed. I think we'll probably turn on the a/c today or tomorrow but we'll see how long we can keep the record streak going.

Today is Zvi's Hebrew birthday and yesterday was his English birthday. We were supposed to have a Shabbos with no company but Adina B. just came back from the States so we had her and she no longer counts as a guest anyway. At the last minute Rivka decided to go to Nof Ayalon to my sister's with my parents. We ate lunch at the Wines with the Zaks' and then we all had dessert outside with the other neighbors in our driveway. The Butels had a big cake in honor of their 9th anniversary and it was also Zvi and Liron Wine's birthdays.

Cheifetz Chashud

2008-03-07T07:38:00.004+02:00

As I'm sure many of you have heard, last night at 8:30 pm terrorist entered Yeshivat Mercaz Harav and started spraying bullets. Eight students were murdered and 11 injured. In addition, Sderot, Ashkelon and other parts of Israel have been dealing with the constant barrage of rocket attacks. As Israel tries to defend herself, the world tells her to use restraint or worse condemns the counter terrorist missions. People are starting to feel the strain of the situation, they are our brothers and sisters out there getting murdered. We feel their pain and their loss, but yet somehow we have to put it in the back of our minds and move on with every day life. Last night things really hit home for us. First the attack on the Yeshiva students who were sitting and learning. Innocent lives snuffed out in a second for what? I went to sleep last night with heavy thoughts on my mind. You could imagine the jolt of fear I felt when I was awoken after 1 am by the blaring lights of a police van in the parking lot not 200 feet away. The policeman came on his loud speaker and said something that I could not decipher. My heart was racing but as I looked around everything seemed calm. The police man that I could see was smoking a cigarette. The next to wake up was Zvi and then Rivka (David had fallen asleep working in his office and did not hear anything as he works in the mamad). There was a loud BOOM. Car alarms were set off and people started gathering around. The "party" lasted another 5 minutes and then all was quiet again. I explained to the kids that some alert person found something suspicious and the police came and blew it up in case it was dangerous. They had experienced this before and were not afraid. We all went back to sleep after that.

Ephi

2008-03-06T15:26:00.002+02:00

One of my closest high school friends came to Israel for a week with his oldest son to celebrate his nephew's bar mitzva. I'm notoriously bad with calling people and getting together but he called me twice and offered to come to my house to visit. It's a little ridiculous for him to waste a morning shleping out to Modiin when I could go visit him in Jerusalem so I said I'd meet him there. I was going to take a bus but then Shira had the brilliant idea that Ephi could take a duffel bag back for us so I drove there with the duffel. We went to Center 1 for lunch and had a nice time. It's always good to spend time with him. He also told me he saw another classmate of ours who lives in Yerushalayim who I haven't seen since the year after we graduated. He got me his phone number so maybe I'll actually call him one day.

Shira was home all alone today for almost three hours. I realized that is a very rare occurrence. I'm home almost all the time and if I'm not home then usually there is at least one kid here. That might be the longest amount of time that she's been home alone since we came to Israel. That might not interest anyone else but it's one of those little factoids that keep me entertained.

It's Summer

2008-03-05T15:20:00.003+02:00

It was about 78 degrees Fahrenheit (we're coming back to the States so I never felt the need to think in Celsius) today and we're enjoying it. We knew it was supposed to be hot so we all dressed the parts. Zvi wore shorts today to school which isn't really that surprising considering he wore shorts on Monday also when the high temperature was probably in the low 50s (at least he brought pants to school that day and admitted to me that he put them on for some of the day). Rivka wore her white spring skirt and Yeshaya and I wore short sleeves. Leora wore her crocs without socks but she still wore long sleeves (she couldn't find a short sleeve shirt that she liked).

Shira and I walked to pick Yeshaya up from his playgroup (a 5 minute walk but I usually drive). Then we picked Leora up and went to the park with both of them before stopping at Bubbie's house. When we came home Shira sat outside with some of the neighbors while all the kids played out there.
We also packed up a duffel bag full of winter clothes to be sent back to Baltimore. The Dresslers are going back to Baltimore for a week or two and agreed to take a duffel bag for us. We came with 17 pieces of luggage but we're probably only going to be allowed 12 going back. We sent one duffel with Adina and now this one with Dressler. We have friends coming Pesach who will take a duffel or two for us and then we should be fine (as long as Shira doesn't buy too many new things!).

Globbing For Charity

2008-03-04T19:11:00.002+02:00

"Globbing for Charity"

Our friend Diana has a unique idea to raise money for a worthy charity. Part of my job is to write an entry and she will donate $1 for every blog the word glob or globbing is mentioned in.

Good luck Diana and happy Globbing. Sorry no pictures at this time but we'll let you know when we add them.

Party of Boys

2008-03-03T14:33:00.004+02:00

We celebrated Zvi's birthday yesterday (his actual birthday is on Shabbos) and he had 12 boys over for the party. They were all American except two Israelis who are live near us and are in his class. We tried to talk some Hebrew and to encourage the kids to talk in Hebrew but I think that the kids were a little uncomfortable. We had some races, ate pizza, decorated and ate cake and played soccer. It got hectic and a little wild but I think that all the kids had fun. Rivka was smart and went to a friend's house so she wouldn't have to deal with all the boys.

It's been a long time since I blogged so I'll just post some highlights. Last Sunday was my birthday (thanks to all who called and emailed) and we celebrated by eating Chinese at my grandmother's house with my parents and mother-in-law. On Monday we went out for lunch with the Baks since Tzivi's birthday is just a day after mine (I was born on Taanit Esther 5735 and she was born on Purim).

Leora has a friend of hers at our house who doesn't speak a word of English (actually, she was proud of the fact that she knew "yes" and "no") and Leora is adjusting and playing really nicely with her. Rivka and Zvi have both had non-English speakers over a couple times and we were very proud of the way they interacted with them but this is Leora's first time. It's amazing how much Hebrew Leora has learned since she switched ganim.

On Shabbos we had my mother-in-law, Danny and his family and Eli. It was our 5th Shabbos in a row with sleepover guests. This Shabbos we are planning to be home to enjoy a nice quiet Shabbos. We love having company but we're looking forward to not having to entertain one time. On Motzei Shabbos, I drove my mother-in-law to the airport. I ended up taking three other people from the neighborhood who were also flying to the States then. All four of them were on different flights but the times were close enough that it was worth it for them all to come with me.

Just another shabbos in the Greenstone home

2008-02-24T13:55:00.003+02:00

FIRSTLY HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID. DAVID IS 33 TODAY!!!

This shabbos was the fourth week out of five having sleep-over guests. My friend Faigy Ort (nee Shwartz) and her four children came for shabbos as they had the Fishman Bar Mitzvah. Faigy and I go way back from Camp Heller "Spat"days and our year in Israel (she was in Michlalah and I slept on her floor many nights). The Ort family is also here for a year from Bergenfield although Chesky (the husband) commutes one week a month back to the US. They actually were the inspiration for us coming for a year. One day I was speaking to my friend Hindy. She casually mentioned that Faigy and family were coming to J"M for a year. I quickly hung up the phone and called to David. I said "let's go to Israel for the year" thinking it would take a lot of convincing but he surprised me and said "okay" (he's not a man of many words). So that started the ball rolling for our fabulous year here.

The Ort's ate over Friday night and our kids hit it off. We all went to shul for the Fishman kiddush and the Ort's stayed there for lunch. We went to the Hellersteins and had a very enjoyable lunch with the Shreibers who made aliyah from Florida. Funny thing is is that both the Hellersteins and Shreibers know several of my brothers. They came to the conclusion that the Spodek clan is definitely and eclectic bunch.

Amy's trip to Sderot

2008-02-20T13:17:00.002+02:00

My blog posts have gotten so boring that I decided that I had to get a guest to write some of the material. As luck would have it, my sister sent me an email this morning about her trip to Sderot last week. My friend Aryeh has made a couple trips and arranged supplies for the people of Sderot but most of that was before we came to Modiin. We haven't gone to Sderot at all and really haven't done much for them besides occasionally buying challot from their bakery. I figured that I'd share this email so people can learn about ways that they can help.

Every week, the women in my yishuv bake cakes to bring to Sderot (that is, the women who know how to bake, do so). Two local coordinators collect 30-40 cakes, and a box of candies from one of the nursery classes. Two or three cars drive down to Sderot to deliver these cakes to the local residents. I know, bringing cakes to the local Sefardim there is something like bringing coals to Newscastle. More on that later.

As can be expected on Friday mornings, the men are the ones who usually drive down to Sderot to deliver the cakes. However, last week, our local coordinator told us that there was only ONE volunteer to go there. I told her I'd be willing to drive down with another woman. I finished cooking Shabbos by 8 am (it's easy to do this when you're unemployed), and Erick volunteered to tie up all the loose ends. I met up with Smadar, a teacher on sabbatical, and we went to pick up the cakes and the candies.

Driving to Sderot is like driving to a foreign country. As you approach Sha'ar HaNegev, you roll down your windows, so you can hear if the siren goes off. We were also told to unbuckle our seat belts, so we can jump out quickly to grab shelter if there is a need. Fifteen seconds is all you have. Check out this link (there may be some inappropriate scenes there).

Smadar has a daughter, Reut, who lives in Netivot, but teaches English in the local religious high school. She asked us to stop there first. It turns out that the teenagers are the most neglected of the local population. The little kids are popular stops, homes that have been hit by rockets are also hit by visitors, and the elderly also get a certain amount of attention. So, we were happy to stop there. We visited with the principal, who told us that we should be careful to address the children's heroism, and avoid making them feel that they were recipients of zedakah.

We then went into the 12th grade English class, and gave them one of the cakes. The teacher had a list of vocabulary words on the board, so after the principal introduced us, I told the kids that I had come to teach them a few words in English which they had de factor taught us, and I wrote the words "heroism", "admiration", etc. on the board. They were delighted.

Then we went into the 7th grade class. The boys started clapping their hands, and we insisted that we should be applauding them, and not the opposite. We spoke a bit about how proud we were to see them, and how all the kids in our neighborhood learn about these heroes - them. We asked them if they would agree to take the candies, so we and the kids who prepared them could feel part of their bravery. They agreed to take them :-)

By the way, the principal told us what heroes these kids are. One of them lost a leg one year ago, much the same way as Osher Twito did two weeks ago. On Saturday night, he went to the hospital to tell the family that there is hope.

Then, we met up with Shlomit Eckstein, the local coordinator. She told us that she always points visitors to the house that took a hit that week. Upon seeing my surprise, she explained that every week there is a hit. We drove over to the house, and started knocking on the doors in the building. The dialogue basically went, "Hi. We are Smadar and Amy from Nof Ayalon, and we just came to show you our thanks for being in Sderot by bringing you a cake." It turned out that many of the families were from the garin torani, which means that they are there for idelogical reasons a priori.

Some people clearly wanted to talk. We sat with them for a while longer, and really learned a lot about what they are going through. One woman said, "Yes, we have a shelter in our house. But, you cannot live in your house all day. You need to go out, shop, play, talk to people. That's the danger!"

As we walked around, we could smell these savory smells of Friday morning cooking. Like I said, bringing cakes to these people felt almost humiliating, until one woman told us that these cakes are the tastiest that she has ever had, because they come from the heart. I think that even a big bag of popcorn with a nice note would be equally as effective.

My key takeaways:

1. In talking to the local residents, we need to impress upon ourselves and them that we are not giving to them because they are poor or needy. Rather, we are trying to share in their very heroic acts in a way with which we feel comfortable. By taking from us, they are actually giving to us.

2. Write letters to the locals, expressing your appreciation and admiration for them. These letters could be in English (maybe even to Reut's class). You can send candies

3. If you can, visit them.

Shabbos Ima

2008-02-17T12:00:00.002+02:00

On Friday Leora was the Shabbos Ima in gan for the first time since she switched ganim. She was very excited for it and enjoyed it a lot. This was in contrast to the time she was Ima in her old gan when she still wasn't thrilled about going despite the fact that she was going to be Ima. Last week, she had a presentation one evening where they sang songs and put on a show for the mothers. Men weren't invited but Shira said that she did really well.

We had to buy something at the shopping center next the bigger kids' school on Friday so we stopped in to say hello. It's nice to see how many friends they each have in school. We also spoke o the principal for a few minutes and he told us that he's impressed with the kids.

Rivka had a friend from her class from Chashmonaim here for Shabbos. Her family also came for the year but they made the decision recently that they're staying and now they're looking to buy a house. My parents and grandmother and her metapelet were also here for Shabbos but we didn't have any other company for the meals. Zvi went to the Neustadters for lunch so it was pretty quiet. On Motzei Shabbos we went to Beit Shemesh for the Shlocker bar mitzvah and my mother babysat.

Man, these blog posts of mine are getting boring. I need to start thinking of ways to make them better. Maybe we just need to actually do something.

Still Got That Eighties Touch

2008-02-15T14:20:00.002+02:00

Okay, so you might think I'm pathetic but I LOVE eighties music and boy did I choose the right country to enjoy it. All they ever play on Israeli radio is eighties songs. My exercise classes are mostly to the beat of eighties music. I am just in heaven!!!

When I was younger my mother always told me never to sing on a date because I'd never get married. I think that she was just trying to save me the embarrassment of a bad voice. I was lucky though, because David is tone deaf so nothing sounds good or bad to him. Since David suffers from this "disability" he never could appreciate music. When we got married I would always listen to the radio but he asked me that when we have kids to limit the music. I didn't realize to him all he was hearing was words, not sounds. Well, as time went on and we added children to our family, I forgot about our little agreement. The kids were and have been exposed to some great music. Problem is, is that I think David may have been right. You see, one day I was driving around Modiin with the kids listening to some music on the radio. I wasn't really paying attention to the words, and actually I wasn't really enjoying this particular song either. Suddenly, Rivka turns to me and ask are they saying "do you want a piece of meat?" or "do you want a piece of me?" I burst out laughing but then realized that perhaps David may have been right. Needless to say, the kids went around the whole night singing "Do you want a piece of me".

However, there are some good points to exposing the kids to eighties music. They think they have the super coolest mother in the world. They are just in awe that I know almost every song on the radio and can name that tune after just a beat or two. How many people can say that their 2 year old knows the course to Phil Collins "Billy don't you lose my number"?

One night Rivka and I played a game. She would throw out a word and I had to come up with a song that had that word in it. She thought I made up half the songs, but I really didn't. She still thought that I was cool though.

A Visit With Our Cousins

2008-02-12T14:51:00.000+02:00

As mentioned in several blogs we have a lot of family living in Israel. We have mostly talked about our parents, grandparents, siblings and first cousins but we also have a whole bunch of second cousins too. I happen to have two second cousins my age living in Israel. One of them is my cousin Nechama Feintuch Cohen. Over the years we have kept in touch on and off and see each other every once in a while. When Nechama and her husband Yair were engaged they came to spend a shabbos by us in Baltimore. Although Yair only speaks hebrew we really enjoyed getting to know him. When it came time to sign a lease for our rental in Israel, Yair came through for us with his legal advice (he's a lawyer). This Sunday Nechama and her two boys, Hillel and Eitan came to Modiin and were later joined by Yair. We had a very nice time.

Over shabbos Zvi was sick with a fever and vomiting and got to miss two days of school. By the second day off he was really feeling better but David and I were glad we kept him home because he helped watch Yeshaya while we were recovering with whatever Zvi had.

On Friday Rivka and Zvi got their first ever report cards in Israel. They did so amazing and their teachers are so impressed by them. We are so proud of them and can't wait to reward them for their great efforts.

Several months ago we took Leora and Yeshaya for portraits. It is my tradition to take the kids for a yearly portrait around their birthdays. We found a place in Kiryat Sefer that is the closest to JC Penney's prices. The problem was that we ordered pictures according to American standard sizes and not Israeli. They had to custom order everything. Not as easy at it may sound. It took from Novemeber until now for the pictures to be ready but I think it was worth the wait.

Lots of Company

2008-02-10T08:45:00.000+02:00

When we lived in St. Louis there was a single guy, Jarod Hershenson there in medical school. Right around the time that we moved to Baltimore, his fiancee, Jessica moved to join him there. They had both completed their second year of medical school. Two years later they graduated and moved to Baltimore where they both did their residencies. After three years there they decided to come to Israel for a year to study before Jarod does his fellowship at Ohio State. So they've been following us around for a while - St. Louis -> Baltimore -> Israel. They're living in Har Nof for the year with their three little kids without a car so it was a real shlep for them to come out to us by bus but they agreed to visit us for a Shabbos. Their oldest just turned four and their youngest is one and a half so their kids are really, really close in age.

Shira's friend Adina Bloomberg also joined us for Shabbos. Friday night, we had the Gelbergs for dinner and two girls who came to us through Anywhere in Israel. Shira's brother, Eli was supposed to come for Shabbos but we knew we didn't have room for him to sleep at our house so the Butels agreed to host him. He canceled around 11 AM on Friday and when I told the Butels Eli had cancelled they told me that their other company also cancelled. Shira realized that she had a ton of food so she called and invited the Butels also. So we ended up with 24 people for dinner on Friday night! Shabbos lunch seemed empty since it was just the Hershensons and Adina with us. We had a great time but it was nice cleaning up on Saturday night and being able to see our white floor again.

Not enough computers

2008-02-07T10:17:00.000+02:00

We actually did things this week but we just haven't had the time to blog about them. Shira's computer broke last week which means that I've had to share my computer with her. This takes away from my free time on the computer and limits my ability to blog. It basically makes it impossible for Shira to blog since I'm always anxiously waiting for her to get off. It also means that the kids don't get to use the computer. I really don't like them using my work computer but I let them check email and stuff once in a while. We ordered a new computer to be delivered to Zale's house and Shira's mother is going to bring it to us in a couple weeks. We are all very excited.

Shira's brother, Avi sent some stuff for us with Tikki's aunt so we went to Tel Aviv to meet them on Tuesday. It was a gorgeous day so we walked along the boardwalk with Yeshaya. Shira had been to a milchig restaurant a couple times with Nechama in Tel Aviv and she really wanted to go again but she couldn't remember the name or where it was so we just came back to Modiin for lunch. Then yesterday we went to the Kotel for the first time in almost a month. We didn't have any kids with us and it was another nice day - a little cool in Jerusalem - so we walked from outside Shaar Yafo.

Today Rivka and Zvi have a half day of school. I'm not exactly sure why but when I asked the kids why they didn't seem to care. They're just happy to get out early. They're getting report cards tomorrow for the first time so maybe this is a pre-reportcard reward or maybe it's in honor of the second day of Rosh Chodesh Adar Rishon. Rivka is going to a friend's house straight from school and sleeping there. Maybe one day Rivka will start blogging again and she can write all about it ... maybe on our new computer.

Sunday morning bowling

2008-02-03T12:16:00.000+02:00

Once a month the men of Modiin who don't work Sunday mornings get together for bowling. There is a nice bowling alley here and there are a lot of people who don't work Sundays. Some of them are unemployed but most are people who either work in America a couple weeks a month or work American hours in Israel. There are at least 20 people on the email list but I've gone twice now and we got 8 and then 5 guys there. It's a good idea and we have fun. Unfortunately I haven't bowled well either time but it's OK because none of the guys are exactly superstars.

And now for the obligatory Shabbos recap ... we had Shira's cousin Rena and her husband and her cousin on the other side, Malki for the Shabbos. For lunch, Zvi had a friend and Rivka went to a friend and we had the Adderabbi and his family. It was yet another nice Shabbos here.

Rain and Snow

2008-01-31T13:33:00.000+02:00

As I'm sure most of you in North America heard by now, Israel just experienced a "winter"storm. Jerusalem received enough snow to shut the city down. Schools were canceled, buses stopped running, people were advised to stay home from work. The Jerusalem/Tel Aviv highway was even closed in certain spots. In Modiin we did not have a snowfall but boy did we have rain. It just kept pouring and pouring. Rain, sleet and hail. I had to constantly remind myself that rain in Israel is a bracha and not something we should complain about. It was reported on Arutz Sheva that the precipitation from this one storm front helped raise the level of the Kinneret by 11 centimeters. There is still a shortage of water though.

Last week we celebrated the bar mitzvah of our dear nephew Eylon Hagege up north in Maalot. We were lucky it took place last week and not this week because the north was also crippled by the snow. The kids spent almost the whole afternoon playing outside so had it been cold and snowy they would have probably gotten a little bored in the afternoon. (BTW, the simcha was a beautiful event enjoyed by all. )

The snow did not however affect the crazy ice hockey enthusiasts that came from as far as North America to participate in the International Hockey Tournament that my brother Danny arranged. When I called him on Wednesday to see how things were looking he ecstatically reported that every player left early in the morning to avoid the bad weather. Even my brother Eli hopped on a bus from Jerusalem instead of waiting for his lift.

The kids and I really wanted to drive to Jerusalem to play in the snow, but David said that when he hears of snow he wants to run to Eilat.

Decision Time

2008-01-31T10:49:00.000+02:00

In October, we said that we wanted to make a final decision by February about our plans for next year and we've managed to accomplish that goal. It was a really difficult decision and we went back and forth many times trying to decide what was best for all of us. At times we really thought that we'd make our move permanent. I even spoke to my boss about the possibility and she was very receptive to the idea but I'd have to join IBM Israel, with the accompanying salary. The first six months that we've been here have been great as we've tried to document on the blog. In a lot of ways this was far better than we thought it would be. There were some difficult times which we tried not to dwell too much on in the blog but overall this has been an excellent year so far. It's been great spending so much time with all of our family here especially with Bubbie. The kids have adjusted really well and have learned lots of Hebrew. Rivka wants to stay and even Zvi said he's willing to stay.

So then why did we decide to go back to Baltimore? I think that when we're here I just feel more tense and uptight all the time. I'm not blaming the country or the people here or anything else besides me. I just feel like I need to go back "home" to relax for a little while. Shira feels that she is not quite ready to make the move and would like some time to regroup and be more prepared. Things are just easier there in general and for us in specific since we own a house and two cars there. Here we'd have to find a house and buy a car (our car has to go back to Cypress at the end of the year) and deal with all of those headaches. I know it sounds like we're just making the lazy decision and in some ways I suppose that's what we're doing but I think that ultimately it's what is best for the entire family. Josh V. predicted before we came that we'd come for a year and then go back to Baltimore for a year or so and then make aliya. There's a chance that he's going to be proven correct but I'm not ready to put odds on it right now.

Hockey Shrine in Israel

2008-01-29T20:07:00.000+02:00

Shira's brother Danny loves ice hockey. He has been credited on nhl.com with laying "much of [the] groundwork for grassroots hockey in Israel." He coaches little kids in roller hockey. He has tons of equipment so people who want to play ice hockey have the proper stuff. He organizes a bi-weekly ice hockey game in Metulla. The Canada Center there is one of the only places in the country to play ice hockey so he decided that he had to organize regular games up there so he didn't have to give up on his favorite activity just because he made aliya. This week is the second annual International Israel Ice Hockey Tournament in Metulla. He organized this tournament and has about 50 people from around the world playing in a three day tournament. Two weeks ago he separated his shoulder and isn't sure yet if he's going to be able to play in the tournament that he arranges but he promised me that he'll be on the ice. If he can't play then he'll just ref.

He also owns the closest thing to a hockey museum that exists in Israel. The house they bought in Zichron Yaakov a few years ago has a garage that had been converted by the previous owner into a fairly large office. When Danny saw it, he immediately thought that it would be the perfect place for a hockey museum. He has tons of stuff there covering all the walls, floors and ceilings. Here are a few pictures that I took when we were visiting them last week.

Eylon's bar mitzvah

2008-01-28T09:45:00.000+02:00

One of the great benefits of coming to Israel for a year is that we're able to spend so much time with family. This year was an especially good year to come because we have so many family functions:

Family reunion soon after we got here
Family reunion on Thanksgiving weekend
Shira's brother Danny had a baby girl, Mia Leora
Bubbie's 94th birthday party
My sister Shayna made a bar mitzva for her son Shmuel
My sister Ethel made a bar mitzva for her son Eylon
My sister Amy will make a bat mitzva for her daughter Aviva (in a few months)

This past weekend was Eylon's bar mitzva. Thursday night was a party at a hall in Zichron Yaakov at 8 PM. We left our house around 6 and brought the three younger kids to Danny's house to watch a movie since they would have been exhausted at the party. Then Shira, Rivka and I went to the party. It was a nice party but nothing compared to the festivities that would follow. Friday we all lounged around for the morning until we drove up to the Hacienda hotel in Maalot for Shabbos.

The hotel was great with lots of facilities. Shira went swimming with Rivka, Leora and Yeshaya and I played mini-golf with Zvi. Shayna and Brad came in from Memphis for the bar mitzva but Aliza missed the festivities. (By the way, HAPPY 30th BIRHDAY TO ALIZA today!!) Danny is also very good friends with Ethel and they insist that they're really brothers-in-law even though technically they're not related at all. There were about 70 guests divided between Ethel's family, Eric's family and about 15 of Eylon's friends. Eric's family is very musical so the meals went on a long time with lots of zemirot. We mostly just sat around hanging out with family. Rivka played with her many cousins her age. Zvi got along really well with Ethel's son Yair (in the past he was hesitant to play with him since they couldn't communicate but his Hebrew is now pretty good) and her nephew, Oz. Leora always plays really nicely with Danny's daughter Ayala and this Shabbos was no exception. It was just a fun Shabbos all around.

It broke again!!

2008-01-27T18:27:00.000+02:00

I've got a lot to blog about but I don't have so much time because our laundry has been piling up for the last few days. This post really had the potential to be an awesome post and each step along the way I was anticipating the post. Unfortunately the ending isn't as good as it could have been. On Thursday while Shira was out our washing machine stopped spinning. I tried opening the machine again just like last time but I was actually able to find the problem this time. I spotted the broken belt immediately but didn't know where to get the replacement belt so I called the washing machine repair man who had already been to our house twice before. He said it would 290 shekel to fix it and we decided that it wasn't worth it. We went to our local friendly hardware store to see if the owner knew where we could get a new belt. She said we wouldn't be able to find it in Modiin but had to go Talpiot to find it. So this morning Shira and I were off to Yerushalayim to get the replacment belt. We went from store to store until we found a store called Yerucham on Rechov Rechev who had a million different belts. They measured this belt and gave us a replacement that was exactly the same size for 42 shekel. The end of this entry was supposed to be that we came home and I put the belt on and everything worked. Only problem was that I couldn't get the belt on the machine at all. So we called a couple of our friends who are good with this kind of stuff but they couldn't get it either. Finally, someone recommend Yaakov Magrubi who wasn't expensive and was very good. So we called him at 4:30 and he was at our house by 5:30. He noticed that something else was wrong also (actually Rob our neighbor had noticed the same thing) and he put the belt on and fixed the other thing that was broken and moved the dryer back on top. He told me it cost 60 shekel but we were so appreciative that we gave him 100. So let's do a quick calculation: 290 shekel to get it fixed by the laundry guy (as long as he wouldn't have charged us more to fix the other minor problem) vs. 42 for the belt + 100 for Magrubi + 50 for gas to Yerushalayim. So one way of looking at is that we saved 100 shekel but that's really leaving two important things out of the equation. We spent a few hours today trying to get it working so our time is worth money but on the other side we have the satisfaction of almost having fixed it ourselves and not paying the guy 290 shekel just to put a belt on the machine and that's priceless.

A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That

2008-01-23T17:38:00.000+02:00

I know I haven't blogged in a little while but I don't really have much to say. I figured I'd just give updates on everyone.

David- David's started getting busy again at work after New Years. He has a lot of meetings but seems to be doing alright with working US hours. I think it was hard at first for him to get used to staying awake so late (since we used to be asleep before 11pm in Baltimore). He claims to get more sleep here, but I'm not sure I believe him.

Me (Shira)- I can't believe that six months have passed already. I really didn't think that we'd get to the point where we were in a routine. But we are really there. I get to go to Holme's Places everyday (gym) and then usually one other activity/errand before Leora gets home. I thought having Leora come home earlier (because of the new gan) would be difficult, but in fact it really helps me out as she entertains Yeshaya. (The mess they create is a different story)

Rivka- After waiting almost a week we received the results from the doctor that Rivka's ankle was possibly broken. Duh, why do you think we came to you guys????!!! I was really angry by this point because 1. it cost us a ton of money to visit Terem 2. we wasted so much time and energy waiting for the results. Rivka says that her ankle feels better and has stopped wearing her splint/cast. Rikva is doing so well in school. She has tons of friends and is such a conscientious student. She aces every test.

Zvi- Zvi just started baseball again last Friday and is upset that he will be missing this week's practice because of Eylon Hagege's Bar Mitzvah. Zvi's hebrew has really improved. He is able to tell over many things that he learned in school. He has made friends with hebrew and english speakers, but prefers the english speakers. He amazes us with his memory and comprehension of things.

Leora- As mentioned in several posts, Leora is doing so much better. Her hebrew has improved dramatically. She is just a much happier child now and it seems that her anxieties have disappeared.

Yeshaya- Yeshaya loves going to his playgroup. There are two other boys that go there too and he gets along well with them. He is sleeping in his own bed these days (well actually he shares a bed with Zvi - two beds pushed together). Occasionally he has climbed into our bed in the middle of the night but after five minutes he returns to his room on his own.

That's all for now!

Tu B'shvat

2008-01-22T14:36:00.000+02:00

This is basically our midpoint in the year so that means that we have some paperwork to deal with. We took care of the first part last week when we extended our visas. The next thing was to extend the registration on our car. The deal with the car from Cypress is that we're allowed to keep it in the country for one year but you can only register it for six months at a time. After six months we have to get a bank guarantee for the amount of the taxes. So Shira and I went to Yerushalayim yesterday to find out how much we owed and get the forms. The people in the meches office were actually very nice. So today Shira and I had to get the bank guarantee. My mother locked up some of her money for us so that we wouldn't have to change the money just to change it back in six months and so that we wouldn't have to lay out all the money on our own. My name is on one of her accounts with power of attorney so we used that one. We got to the bank at 10:15 and we were next in line so we barely had to wait. Then the lady said that we couldn't do it because I wasn't the main name on the account. She made a few phone calls and in the end we were allowed to it. The only problem was that she didn't really know how to do it. So she spoke to all the other employees in the bank but none of them had any clue. She made a few phone calls but still no luck. At around 11, she told us to leave and come back at 1:30 and she'd try to have it mostly done. So Shira, my mother, Yeshaya and I went to grab something to eat in the same shopping center. Fifteen minutes later she called me on the phone and I went back to the bank. We finally finished at the bank at almost 1. It took us three hours there just to get the bank guarantee. She didn't fill out the form that they gave me at the meches office but insisted that what she gave me is all they need. I hope she's right!

My grandmother came home from the hospital yesterday afternoon and Yeshaya and I visited her at home today. She's doing much better and was very happy to be home.

Happy birthday to JJ!

Back and forth to the hospital

2008-01-20T20:21:00.000+02:00

Last Wednesday morning I went to visit my grandmother just in time to see my mother and Maris (the metapelet) trying to get Bubbie into a taxi to take her to the doctor. She was having trouble breathing and was really weak. I tried helping but we just couldn't get her into the taxi and we decided it was best to put her in an ambulance anyway given her condition. So we called an ambulance and she went to Asaf Harofeh Hospital. They started her on anti-biotics right away and her condition quickly improved. They think that she had pneumonia and some sort of blood infection (they're not 100% positive). She's getting stronger each day but her arms are bruised from the IVs. We're hoping that she can come home tomorrow.

It's been exhausting for us as Shira and I have been to the hospital (about a half hour away) every day since she got there. Last night Rivka came also and today we took the whole family. The visits have been nice especially since now Bubbie is almost back to herself. So we took it easy on Shabbos and didn't have any company on Friday night - actually Leora's friend, our next door neighbor, Meirav Wine ate over and slept at our house. For lunch we went to the Butels who live at the end of our driveway. It was a very relaxing Shabbos.

Rivka's Terem Visit

2008-01-17T20:23:00.000+02:00

Last week Rivka was complaining that her ankle was hurting but we were a little skeptical because Zvi also hurt his ankle. Over the weekend she didn't complain and even walked back from the kotel without any difficulties. Then, on Sunday or Monday she started complaining again about pain and started walking with a limp. We looked at her ankle and everything seemed fine. However, yesterday she started complaining even more and seemed to have more trouble walking. I looked at her ankle and noticed it was swollen. She had a class party from 5-8 pm and my carpool shift was pickup. When I picked her up she was in tears and crying from agony. I decided to take her to terem to check it out. We ended up spending 3 hours there without any conclusive findings. They took x-rays and tried twice to transmit them to a radiologist to read, but the transmission failed. Meanwhile, Rivka was exhausted and in a lot of pain. The two doctors there consulted with each other, and although they felt it was unlikely that there was a fracture there was one questionable area. The doctor explained that they thought it was probably a growth plate and not a fracture. They decided to cast/splint Rivka since she really couldn't put any weight through her foot because of the pain. Every procedure was agony for her and the doctors didn't seem to have too much sympathy. So today Rivka hopped around with her cast all day and has become and expert hopper. Although tonight when Rivka wasn't focusing on her hopping she discovered that she could actually put some weight through it without it being too painful. So now she's becoming and expert limper.

Meeting with the School Psychologist for Leora

2008-01-16T19:17:00.000+02:00

Today we had a scheduled meeting with Leora's teacher and the school psychologist (Michael Roth, Moshe Roth's brother). The purpose of the meeting was twofold. First to update us on Leora's progress and second to discuss placement for next year (if we stay in Israel). The teacher gave us a great report. She said that Leora really seems to be understanding a lot of hebrew. She even gave an example that she was teaching the children about the hebrew letters "koof and Kuf" and asked the children to come up with words that start with those sounds. After a few examples from the other kids, Leora raised her hand and said "keshet". The teacher said she was shocked but thrilled. This whole lesson was happening in hebrew. Leora also repeated the story to us as she was very proud of herself (and so were we). After some discussion, we all agreed that Leora would benefit from repeating gan chova to give her some more confidence with hebrew. (We have not made any final decisions about next year but need to keep all options open).