Zichron

It's been a while since we last hiked due to many different factors - Shira went to England, Yona and Yael(i) got married, Zvi and Rachel got engaged, Halleli was born. We were also a little scared of the heat of the summer. We're back now though. 

We discovered that the shvil is constantly changing. They added two hikes to the beginning. Ahuva has decided for all of us that since we already passed that part, we are not obligated to go back and do those hikes. When we planned today's hike using Google maps, we had decided on a starting and ending point and I told Adina, my sister who lives in Zichron. She told me that we were literally passing by her house. I looked at the map and saw that we would be within a kilometer or two of her house but weren't exactly passing her house. She assured me though that we pass right by her house so I looked at the app that I use during the hike. Turns out they changed the hike and it now goes right through Zichron. It added about three kilometers to the original plan. 

Adina and Eric thought about joining but ultimately decided against it. So I went to shul in Zichron with Adina and then we met at the end point at 7:30. We started the hike a half hour after that. In the beginning it was uphill a bit but the hike got much easier as we kept going. A lot of the hike was on dirt roads or on streets. When we got to Zichron, Adina and Eric came out to meet us. Then we walked through the streets of Zichron, including along the midrachov and then walked right past their house. Near the end of the hike our app said one thing but the signs showed something else. We had to go with the app to get to the car. The whole thing is a little confusing since it changes so much. 

Overall, it was a pretty easy hike and the weather was great. We walked about 18 kilometers in just over 5 hours so we were able to make good time. Hoping that our next hike will be soon. 

Should have been an easy hike

 We continued on our path in the Carmel and it looked like it should be an easy hike. We decided to only do 16 kilometers since it was hot. We chose a Sunday for the hike again so we were under no pressure and only met at 7:30. The drive from one end to the other was only 12 minutes and we started the actual walk before 8 AM. The hike would be mostly parallel to highway four going south and didn't look very hard. The only problem was that usually after I choose our end point I put it in Google Maps and find the exact path that we will follow and measure it exactly. I couldn't do it this time because Google insisted that there was no way to walk directly on shvil yisrael and at some point we'd need to cut across to highway 4. 

The good news is that it really wasn't that hard... at least at first. Right at the beginning, we had to climb a bunch of steps up but it wasn't bad. We had the energy and it wasn't so hot yet. It wasn't scary at all but was good exercise. The terrain wasn't terrible - was slippery and rough at times but not impossible. There were no scary cliffs - a few climbs up and down but nothing we couldn't handle. Normally, I could estimate how much longer we have on the hike but I was having trouble on the app I usually use and Google was clueless because it didn't think we could walk where we wanted to. 

At some point, after we had walked more than 10 kilometers in less than 3 hours, I tried figuring it out but it seemed like we still had more than eight kilometers left. I refused to believe it. We kept on going. It was starting to seem like the hike would be further than I thought. The heat wasn't helping. It also took us longer because some of the shmoozers kept stopping to talk to every person we passed but it was becoming clear that we wouldn't finish as early as I'd hoped. I had wanted to visit my sister in Zichron after the hike but we also wanted to be home by 4. 

Finally, we neared the end. We got to highway 7021 and we had parked at a Keren Kayemet L'yisrael parking lot right off that highway. So we knew that we could just turn right on the highway and walk to the road and then walk to the car. Would be less than a kilometer. We were exhausted but the official route said to cross 7021 and to walk on a path parallel to it until you get to the car. It didn't look any longer and we are rule followers so we went that way. It was clearly marked and we were doing fine. Then all of a sudden the path seemed to end. I mean, we could see a path but it was covered by thorns. We kept on going. It was a few hundred meters of walking through thorns until it was cleared again. We were on the right path the whole time. It's the first time we've experienced anything like that on our hikes. We came out a little bloody and with lots of stuff attached to our shorts, shirts, skirts and socks. Soon after that we got to the car. We walked close to 21 kilometers in about six hours and I'm really not sure how it was only 16 on the path. 

We only saw cows one time on the hike and really didn't see any other animals. For the first couple hours we didn't see any hikers. About halfway we got to a shvil gift shop with cold water fountains and gorgeous bathrooms (maybe not gorgeous but they were clean) and the women were thrilled to actually be able to use a clean bathroom. That was the first time we've come across something like this on the shvil. There we saw a family hiking. We also saw an 18 year old boy hiking by himself. We saw a large group from a school with at least 50 kids and lots of staff. There was a woman, seven months pregnant who was one of the leaders of the group. It was a hot day but she had a camel pack and seemed like she was doing really well. Of course we had to stop and talk to all of them and took pictures with some. 

Overall, the hike was much harder than we expected because of the heat, the thorny paths and the unexpected length. I think next one should be easier and we'll be better prepared. 

Carmel Forest

 In honor of Memorial Day in the US, we decided to do a Monday hike (that and the fact that the Seiferas had a busy travel schedule for the last few weeks). They had a wedding up north in the evening so we made the hike a little shorter than the original plan. I had to find a minyan to say kaddish so we couldn't (and it will be like this all year) start as early as we had become accustomed. It's a good thing we shortened the hike because it took a lot longer than we expected. According to Google maps the hike would be 20.6 kilometers starting from Kfar Chasidim and near the Western end of Carmel Park. 

The hike started off easy enough and we were going at a nice clip. We covered about 2600 steps in our first full half hour. When walking fast on regular streets with no break by myself, I usually get about 3500 steps in a half hour so 2600 isn't bad. Then we went through a tunnel under highway 75 and the hike got a little harder as we entered Carmel Park. It still wasn't bad yet though and we had a little reprieve when we got to Isfiya (a small Druze town in the middle of the Carmel). 

Once we got out of Isfiya though we were climbing mountains. We had what seemed to me to be our most sustained steep hike (in my memory only Har Arbel was close but that didn't go on for as long) and we definitely slowed down considerably (down to about 1600 steps per half hour). The problem was that what goes up must come down. The best for the downhills is when it's not a steep decline. You get the benefit of the downhill without the fear or difficulty of climbing down. This was decidedly not gradual and it was difficult. In some places they had bars or rails which made it much easier. Other places were difficult and very scary for some of us. We went really slowly down the cliffs and in our last full half hour we covered only 820 steps. For most of the hike, I walked with Shira and Gershon walked with Ahuva (we usually do men together and women together and usually we're within earshot of each other). The Greenstones were much slower on the hike down and the Seiferas' got to the car at least fifteen minutes before we did. 

The hike ended up taking us about eight hours (we ended up walking about 24 kilometers - even if we only covered 20.6 of the trail). Gershon and Ahuva didn't have time to drive to their hotel in Herzliya to shower before the wedding so my sister Adina was kind enough to host them in Zichron for showers. 

We don't stop to look at sites for more than a few seconds but did get a picture with a cannon that was used in the late '60s. We do stop to talk to people though (apparently I'm outvoted 3-1 on that). We saw more shvil hikers than we've seen before. On Fridays, we often see big groups who do the shvil in parts like we do but don't see many individuals or small groups doing the entire hike in one shot. This time we saw a few and stopped to talk to some of them also. In particular we saw two single guys who were each doing the hike from the south to the north so they were almost 80% done and they were doing it alone. Probably left shortly after Pesach to finish before the summer makes it impossible. Nice guys and we had fun talking to them (even if it was for much longer than I'd have wanted). 

It was not a very exciting animal sighting day. We saw some horses right at the beginning and then not much of anything. I did see two snakes - one of them was huge - but nobody else saw them. We saw only one cow and we were not close to it at all. Lots of birds and a few lizards but that was it. 

Continuing the trek west

 Despite the fact that I got up from shiva for my father on Wednesday, we hiked on Friday. That was the original plan and there was really no reason to delay it. I had been sitting around too much and really wanted to walk. I preferred to daven shacharit though at my regular minyan in Bet Shemesh which meant that we'd get a late start. I initially thought that we could still do 19 kilometers but Ahuva rightly pointed out that would be too much for a Friday so we cut it down to 15.6 kilometers on the trail. 

We met at 8 AM in Kfar Chasidim which would be the end of the hike and then drove together to the Arab town of Kaabiye. We started hiking at about 8:40 and I was hoping that we'd be done no later than 1 PM. Unfortunately it wasn't to be. As per usual we got "lost" a couple times on the hike. The word is in quotation marks because we weren't exactly lost but somehow fell off the trail. Actually at one point, we were on the trail but were somehow going backwards. We're really not sure how that happened and it was just luck that we realized as soon as we did. I always walk with the Israel National Trail app open on my phone but I don't necessarily look at it all the time. I generally check, if we haven't seen a marker in a while or if we're not sure where to turn. That wasn't the case this time since we were on the trail and we thought we knew. I happened to look at it though and realized we were going backwards. It took us a while until we confirmed that's what we were doing and figured out the right way to go. It all worked out but we ended up wasting about 20 minutes. 

There were a couple other times when we got confused that cost us a few minutes. The hike was not  particularly difficult but it wasn't super easy. There were no really steep inclines but there enough hills that made it difficult at times. Ahuva and Shira made the decision to leave their hiking boots in the car since we didn't anticipate a difficult hike. That may have been a mistake as there were times that the terrain was tough. On the other hand, Gershon did wear his boots and the laces got caught and caused him to trip. So not sure that was the right decision either. 

There were a lot of cows along the way including two times that they were in the middle of the path and didn't seem interested in moving. I spoke to them as a friend and they just watched us as we walked past them. We also saw a bunch of roosters and a couple goats. Perhaps, more interestingly, we saw a lot of people. We saw a couple solo walkers doing the shvil by themselves. We also passed a group that is doing the shvil in parts with two hikes a month of about 15 kilometers each time. It should take them about three years to finish. Also, we passed a bunch of other people near Hermit's Mill. It looked like they were picnicking but not sure if that was part of a hike. The woman pictured was one of those people. We asked her to take a picture of us but it took her a long time to figure out Gershon's phone and the pictures didn't come out great. What should have been a 30 second stop turned into 5 minutes instead. 

As we were walking, I realized that we'd soon be passing highway 6 and I was excited. That's a big highway and I was curious how the shvil would do it. We've crossed highways before and there are usually walking tunnels that go underneath but that would be one huge tunnel to go across the entire highway. I was anxiously waiting for it and then suddenly I realized that we were on the other side of highway 6. I'm still not quite sure how we did it but highway 6 must have gone through a big tunnel that we didn't even realize that we were walking above the highway when we did. 

We got to the end of our hike at 1:20 so we really didn't make great timing. We had fun though as usual and it was good to be out on the trails again. 

Pesach tiyul without the kids

We didn't hike in March because of too many scheduling conflicts (travel, Naftali's bar mitzva, Yonah and Yael(i)'s engagement (!!),  Big Adir's marathon, Pesach preparations) so we're hoping to hike twice in April. We decided long ago that we'd try to do one on chol hamoed. We tried to work it out so at least some of our kids could come. In the end though, we opted to do it on the third day of chol hamoed with no kids. We planned for a hike of less than 20 kilometers so we could be home at a reasonable hour and still spend some time with the families. 

After a bit of negotiation on the start time, we decided to meet at the end point around netz (6). The problem was that the end point was in an Arab village called Ka'abiyye-Tabbash-Hajajre. Shira was not crazy about spending a lot of time there davening and stuff so we first met at a gas station and then drove to Ka'abiyye to leave the car. We then drove to Nof Hagalil to start our hike. We got started at 7:13 and walked in the city for a little before finally being put on a dirt trail. The first half of the hike was very easy trails with few hills. So it wasn't bad at all. 

The hardest part about these hikes is staying on the trail. I keep two maps open so I usually know soon after we veer off course. There are also quite a few markers that help direct us. Sometimes, there are markers every 50 meters and it's easy. Other times, there are big gaps and/or the markers are well hidden and we make a wrong turn. Seems to happen on almost every hike but we've gotten much better at finding our way. On this hike there was one point where we were supposed to go straight but it was closed off. It wasn't clearly marked what we should do but we figured it out. It does make our hikes a little longer. 

A cool thing that I mentioned before is the tunnels they make under highways. On this particular hike, we had to cross both highways 77 and 79. Under highway 77, there was a clearly marked path to the tunnel and it was long, wide and easy. Next we had to cross 79 but we couldn't find the tunnel. After some searching, we found the tunnel but it seemed to be full of water. The women noticed that there was a raised path on the side where we could walk without getting wet. The problem was that either we had to walk a couple hundred extra meters to go around the water or walk through the water. Shira got new hiking boots so this was a good opportunity to make use of them. She and Ahuva walked through the water while Gershon and I went around. 

As usual, we did not see many hikers or other people. At one point, we saw a woman who appeared to be Scandivanian hiking by herself. We ran into a couple families who were out for joy hikes. We also saw lots of cows. It was weird because every time we saw cows, there were these white birds hanging out with them. Despite all of our deep knowledge of animals and birds, none of us could identify what they were. Based on a google search, I now believe that they were cattle egrets who apparently like to hang around cows to eat the tics and flies who bug the cow. 

We also passed by the kever of R' Yehuda Hanasi (though somehow Ahuva and Shira didn't realize). Pictured are the four of us on the outskirts of the beautiful (you can't really tell from the picture) city of Hoshaya. 

We finished the hike around 1. We walked about 22 kilometers and knocked off 19.5 kilometers from the shvil. We have now completed about 180 kilometers total on the shvil out of about 1080. 

Three Mountains

Today's hike included us climbing up three different mountains - Mount Tabor, Mount Debora and Mount Yona. Last month, Gershon bought the Israel National Trail book by Jacob Saar and it gives us lots of good information including the altitude. Mount Tabor is about 550 meters above sea level. We then walked down to 170 and back up to 450 and then down to 300 and up to 550 again. So it was a lot of up and down. The terrain was pretty good and the weather was great. Was around 70 degrees F by the end of the hike. 

Shira and I carry as little as possible. When it's not hot, we each bring two liters with a couple small snacks. Gershon and Ahuva bring a ton of water and lots of other goodies. Gershon also brings a second pair of shoes. He has very good hiking boots (they each have hiking socks too) and sneakers. When the terrain isn't too bad, he switches to the sneakers since they're lighter. Today he switched back and forth and he really notices the difference. He suffers from plantar fasciitis and the shoes he wears is very important. No matter what, by the end of the hike his feet kill him but he did better today than he'd done in the previous couple hikes. 

We met this morning in Nazareth Ilit (Nof Hagalil) just before 6, davened, ate and drove to the beginning of the hike in Kfar Tabor. We started the hike at exactly 7 and we were quite cold. It didn't take long for us to warm up though once we were walking in the sun. Somehow on the climb up Mount Tabor we got off the trail for a little and didn't exactly make it to the top. We went most of the way to the top (I'd guess up to about 450m) but by the time we realized we were off the trail, it would have been crazy to go back and there was a clear path to pick up the trail again. So we followed that path. We made up for at the end. When we were climbing Mount Yona, we again were off the trail. This time, we couldn't have been more than a few feet from the actual trail but we couldn't see it so we climbed the really steep mountain without a trail as you can see in the picture. 

Gershon's 70+ year old cousin lives in Sharona which isn't far from where we started the hike. They felt badly that they didn't visit him on the last hike and this time made sure to coordinate so they could go after the hike. He was excited and asked if he could meet us along the way. So after we finished Mount Tabor, he drove 30 minutes in his jeep to bring us popsicles. He told us about his experiences when he did the shvil and we had a nice time with him for about thirty minutes. Was a good break. 

Animal update ... We got really close to a bunch of cows who were standing in our path. At first they weren't moving but once I assured them that we were friends, they moved out of the way and let us go. We also saw our first turtle of the trip. Shira wouldn't let me pet it but I got close. While we were stopped with the Udi there were tons of flying annoying bugs that wouldn't leave us alone. We also saw a dead cat and a dead dog. That was kind of nasty (though to be honest, those probably weren't the most disgusting things we saw today).

Overall, we covered about 22 km of the trail (we walked about 25 km total) and had a great time. This is probably the last Sunday hike for a while. With sunrise getting earlier and sunset getting later we can go back to Friday hikes. 

Stress-Free Hike

 A rare Sunday hike for us made things a little easier for most of us. It's much better because we're not rushed to get home for Shabbos. We don't have to get all our Shabbos preparations done by Thursday night. Shira and I went to Zvi's football on Motzei Shabbos so we didn't sleep much. We weren't in a huge rush to get started though. So we only left our house at 4:30. Our meeting point was the gas station in Kochav Tavor. We met there and could use a real bathroom and have a real parking spot. We got there shortly before sunrise so davened there before driving to the starting point. We had to decide if we were going to park where we did last time and walk the extra kilometer and a half to the shvil or drive on paths and leave the car in the middle. Our hike was only scheduled to be 19 kilometers and we had plenty of time so we all agreed to park at the school in Yavniel and walk the extra little bit. 

The truth is that we didn't see the exact point where we left the shvil though I did take a picture of it last hike but we got to the shvil pretty easily and we started the actual hike before 8 from "חיים בטבע." I still have no clue what that is but that is how it is marked on google maps so it's something. We started by going straight uphill for about an hour. The picture was taken at the top (you can also see that Gershon wore the t-shirt for the first time and we all matched). Even though it was pretty steep, it wasn't exceedingly difficult because they were nice paths. We weren't walking through bushes and weeds or on lots of rocks. That was basically true the entire hike. 

We did have to walk through water for about 3 steps. In the past, we have always been able to stay dry by walking on logs or rocks but this was the first time, I think that we had to get our shoes wet. Everyone else went through no problem because they had boots or didn't mind getting a little wet. I did not want to walk the rest of the hike with wet socks so I took off my shoes and socks. I was happy I did but nobody else regretted their decision to leave their shoes on either. So all was good. 

The weather was perfect. It was a little cold at the beginning. Gershon and I both wore shorts and were cold for the first hour or two but it was the right decision. We saw a lot of cows at the beginning and saw two other animals from a distance. I called them gazelle but I'm no expert and am not sure at all that's what they were. 

We finished the hike around noon and Ahuva suggested we go for lunch. When we were driving together back to the starting point, we spotted a kosher Chinese restaurant. That sounded good to all of us so we stopped there and got some good food. Still made it home around 4 PM. We were exhausted but it really was a nice and easy hike. 

The Kineret and the Yarden

 Ahuva has a work thing on Friday so we decided to do a Thursday hike. It's a very light week of work for Gershon and me so we were easily able to take off and Shira and Ahuva were able to get the day off too. In mapping out the hike, we couldn't find a good place to end. We're pretty comfortable walking about twenty kilometers each time but there was nothing that looked convenient. We figured that we'd play it by ear a little. We put in something called Chaim B'Teva to WAZE hoping we'd be able to park there. That would be about 16 kilometers but was the best we could do without going to far from the shvil. We met at about 6 but were afraid to drive it in the dark. The "road" was very rocky and we weren't sure our cars would be ok. So we decided to park at a school near the path. It was about 2 kilometers off the shvil. So our hike would be 18 even though we'd only be doing 16 on the shvil. 

We drove back to Yaar Shveitz together to start our hike. The forest is very pretty with beautiful views of the Kineret. We started walking a few minutes before 7. Overall, the walk was very easy and mostly on wide paths. We've noticed though that there are fewer markers when you're walking on those kinds of paths. We got lost a couple times. Actually, lost is the wrong word. With all the maps we have on the phones, it's hard to get lost (though I'm sure it's not impossible) but we went off the path. In total we probably walked about two kilometers off the path until we got back going the right way. It wasn't awful but was the worst we've done with it. 

We continued our trek south which is the direction we've been walking almost all the time. We got to the bottom of the Kineret and then walked along the Yarden for a little while. The picture is at Rob Roy which is a canoeing place we'd been to a couple times right at the top of the Yarden. Then we turned right to start heading west. The next few hikes will be mostly west until we get near the coast. 

Gershon said that this was his favorite hike so far. It was very pretty and the weather was perfect though it was quite muddy in some places. As mentioned, it was easy most of the time until the last couple kilometers on the shvil. We climbed a mountain and then walked through some relatively rough terrain. We saw some ducks along the way and lots of cows though we didn't get too close to any of them. Last time, I pet a cow but this time I didn't have that opportunity. In the end, we walked a little more than 20 km and it took us less than six hours. 

Mount Arbel

 One of the challenges of planning the monthly hikes is figuring out where we should end. It would be great if we could just start walking and end at a certain time or when we feel like we've had enough but because we park one car at the end point, we need to decide that before we leave. Sometimes we cover as little as two kilometers in an hour and others as much as five so it's very hard to estimate. We seem to average about 3 km per hour which seems very slow but, including our very short stops and time we spend doubling back because we missed a turn or whatever, that seems to be our average. Given the short Friday and the still relatively long drives, we decided that about 15 km was the right amount for this hike. In the end we found a place to park 16 kilometers after our starting point and figured that was perfect. 

We met at our ending in the middle of the Schweitz (Swiss) Forest which had some sentimental value to Ahuva since some of her family comes from Switzerland. We got there around 5:15 and then drove together to our starting point in Migdal. We davened and were on our way by 6:10. That was about twenty minutes before sunrise but by that hour it's light enough that you can start hiking. This was especially true this time because the beginning was walking through the city of Migdal where it was very well lit. 

After a kilometer or two, we got to the base of Mount Arbel. We don't do any advance scouting and really never know what we're going to hit on the hikes so it's always a surprise to us. First there were steep steps going up. It was tiring but not difficult and we were doing great. That only got us halfway up the mountain though. Then it was more difficult climbing. There were some bars to grab but a lot of the time it was just holding onto rocks. For people with a fear of heights this proved to be scary but we all did great and got to the top of the mountain. I don't clock every section so I don't know our exact speed but I'd guess we went no more than 2 km per hour up the mountain (including stopping to wait for stragglers or to rest). 

By that point, I was starting to get a little nervous about time. We had a 30 minute drive back to our cars and then a 2+ hour drive home. Candle lighting was 4:16. We were each having company and had stuff to do to prepare for Shabbat. Luckily, there was no steep decline to get down Arbel and we made excellent timing. We walked on the edge of Kfar Hittim and Mitzpe before walking for a while in the city of Teverya Ilit. Then we got to the Swiss Forest and walked the last 3 km or so on walking/biking roads in there. 

Besides the climb up the mountain, the walk was very easy overall and we made great timing. We covered 16 kilometers in about 5 hours. We were home before 2. I really enjoyed this hike and if I were to rank the hikes we've done so far this would probably be number 1. The views of the Kineret were really nice and the temperature was perfect. 

For Fit People Only

There was no Friday in October that worked for all of us because of the chagim and travel schedule so we all agreed that we'd do a Sunday. This worked to our advantage because it gave us a longer day and was right after we changed the clocks and gained an hour. It also helps that we are closer to home than we were when we started. 

We agreed to meet at our endpoint at the Dalia Tavern in Migdal at 5:10. The drive was less than two hours for us so it meant that we could sleep until almost 3 which was the old 4. Not too bad. We met the Seiferas' there and then drove together to Kever Rashbi where we davened, ate breakfast and started the trail at 6:15. Because of the extra time we had, we decided that we were going to do about 22 kilometers according to the websites we were using. 

The first two or three kilometers weren't too bad. It was nice that it was pretty cool when we started (Gershon and Ahuva even had on sweatshirts). Some hills and lots of rocks but nothing too strenuous. Then we came to a big warning sign that said that the next 9.5 kilometers are extremely difficult and only fit people should plan to do the hike. We decided that the four of us are in good enough shape that we could do it. We did pretty well overall and our problems weren't caused by the fact that we're not fit enough. We really had two major problems. The first was that Shira is terrified of heights and doesn't go downhill very well. This meant that she went very slowly every time we had to climb down and she was really scared. She did it though (some sliding down on her tush)! The other issue was that at some point Ahuva twisted her ankle and by the time we had finished about 60% of our hike, she couldn't walk on it anymore. 

We were at a parking lot right next to highway 85. She could not continue. We had two choices: 1. Take a taxi/tremp to one of the cars or 2. Shira and I finish the hike and pick up the Seiferas'. The only reason the second choice was even an option was because this entire hike is part of yam l'yam and they just did that hike with some of their family a few months ago. So even if Shira and I did it ourselves, the Seiferas' will still have done the entire shvil. They said that they really didn't mind waiting so Shira and I went to finish the last 10 km. 

Google Maps assumes you can walk 5 km per hour so it said it was a two hour hike from there. When walking on a road, that's no trouble at all. Luckily, the last ten miles of the hike was easy (at least relative to the previous 10k) but it's still on rocks with a little climbing. We didn't stop and tried to walk as quickly as possible but it still took us a little more than 3 hours to finish. Shira twisted her ankle and fell at one point but she got right back up and wasn't hurt badly. We then went to pick up Gershon and Ahuva and drove back to the beginning point. 

We only saw one cow (and it was missing a horn - or maybe it was a fat unicorn) and a bunch of wild boar.  The first time we saw them, someone pointed them out to us and said that there were chazir bar over there. It sounded a little like he said Ribar but alas it was just a bunch of wild pigs. Then Shira and I came pretty close to one later in the hike. We saw more people than we'd seen on previous hikes - most people aren't dumb enough to hike in the summer heat. We saw a Swiss woman who was doing the entire shvil yisrael by herself over a few weeks. We also saw a group of girls doing the entire shvil. We saw a few people doing yam l'yam also. We even passed a group of school kids eating lunch. 

Shira ordered special t-shirts for us for the shvil Yisrael. We only gave them to Gershon and Ahuva at the hike and it was too cold to change so only Shira and I wore them as you can see in the picture. 

Kever Yeshayahu to Kever Rashbi

 We were initially supposed to do leg 3 of the shvil last Friday but the forecasts said it could hit 100 degrees. After the difficult time we had the previous week, we decided that it was better to push it off a week than to die. We decided that this leg would be from Kever Yeshayah to Kever Rashbi which was about 4 kilometers shorter than the previous hike. We also chose to meet earlier and to start the hike as close to sunrise as possible. The drives are getting shorter so we could do it. 

We met at the ending point at 5:15 and then drove together to the start where we davened and ate a quick breakfast. We were on the shvil by 6:20. Overall, the hike was mostly uphill but wasn’t too bad. There were two tunnels that went under roads and those were fun and different. As usual, we hardly stopped and just walked straight. We’ve discovered though that we really can’t expect to cover more than 3-3.5 km per hour. We’re walking on rocks and going up and down hills. You just can’t go that fast. 

We saw lots of cows as usual and we actually saw a group of Arab women hiking so it was nice to see people. Overall, it was pretty uneventful. We finished the hike around 12:30 and headed home.

We are making nice progress. I’ve been looking at https://mapateva.org.il/Apps/StoryTelling/PlayList_IsraelTrail/ a lot to map out the hikes and they have the shvil divided into 48 hikes. The first one was canceled so it’s now only 47. We’ve gone three times but have done four of the sections. Initially, we thought we’d hike over the chagim but it looks like we will probably wait until the end of October for our next hike.

That was tough

 It took us a long time to finally do the second leg of the shvil. Between vacations, work and covid, we had a lot of difficulty finding a Friday that would work for all of us. We found one though and decided that this time we were going to get an earlier start. The problem is that we aren’t following anyone’s hike exactly so we’re trying to figure this out on our own. We knew that we were starting at metzudat Yesha, where we left off last time and we knew there was parking there. The question was where we would end. I looked for a few places and finally settled on kever Yeshayahu. I wasn’t sure there was parking there but it was right on the trail and next to a road so I hoped there was parking or we’d have to look for parking along the way. Google Maps said if we walk along the trail it would be 22.8 km which seemed do-able. 

Our plan was to meet at kever Yeshayahu a little before 6 and daven there and then drive together to the starting point. We left our house at 3:50 and the Seiferas’ left about a half hour earlier and we were right on target. We got there, davened and drove. Then we hit our first snag… we couldn’t figure out where we should go. I think we wasted at least fifteen minutes trying to get that but we got it and we were off a little after 7 AM. Google maps said it should take 5 hours. I couldn’t imagine it would take us more than 6 so we’d finish by 1 and all would be good. We were having a lot of company for lunch the Seiferas’ were having a ton of people for dinner. Even though we had all basically finished cooking, we still wanted to finish by 1 so we could be home around 4. 

The beginning of the hike was very hard. The paths were very rocky, through bushes and stuff with a lot of steep hills going up and down. A couple times we walked a little bit past the path and circled back but didn’t waste too much time doing that. At one point, we couldn’t find how to get to the continuation of the path. We saw where it was but there was a gate and we couldn’t figure out how to get to it. After a while, we found a way and continued. I slipped on one of the declines but I just scraped my leg a little and was fine. Overall, the first couple hours were hard but it wasn’t too hot yet and we felt that we were doing well.

We could see on the map that shvil yisrael goes in a circular path when walking straight would have been much faster. We are following the shvil and not cheating so we did that. 

It would have been much closer and easier to follow the red line straight across instead of going south and north but we’re not cheaters so we stayed on the path. Around the time we got to the top of that bend and we were back near the highway, we decided we should when google maps thought that we’d get there. It was probably around 11 and I thought we had two hours left in the hike. We were very disappointed when it said we still had almost three hours left! That meant that we had only completed about 40% of the hike and it had already taken us almost 4 hours. We started talking about possibly taking a cab to the car and continuing next time. Ultimately we decided that if picked up our pace a little we could make it to the car by 2 and still be home by 5 which would give us enough time. 

To give some background: when Shira and I walk quickly without a stroller and without stopping, we do about 7000 steps in an hour. 1000 steps is approximately .75 km. These are our steps per hour for the hike:

7 – 4700

8 – 4000

9 – 5200

10 – 5200

11 – 4600

12 – 5300

1 - 5300 

You can see that the second hour was extremely challenging. Despite the fact that we were exhausted in the last two hours, we really picked up our pace and covered a lot of ground.

Thank God, the rest of the hike was relatively easy and we got to the car a little after 2. We were all (though I admit that I was probably a little worse than the others) completely exhausted when we climbed into our car. We drove back to the starting point so the Seiferas could get their car and got home about two hours before Shabbat started. 

The hike took us about seven hours total and we ended up walking at least 25 km. We didn’t see a single soul walking anywhere along the hike. We only saw one person the entire time and he was on a tractor. We did see a lot of cows and hyrax though. 

Gershon suggested that next time we get started even earlier and we limit it to about 15km. I agree. Hopefully next time will be in just a couple weeks. 

We actually started!

 After some negotiating on the times we decided to meet at the end of the trail at 8:15 AM. I was able to do the daf and go to netz minyan and then leave. We were on the road around 6 and got to the Metzudat Yesha around 8:10. We paid 35 shekel and took highway 6 to save about 25 minutes. Seiferas got there a few minutes after us. They were exhausted because they had a super late night Thursday and got very little sleep. We climbed into their car and drove to the Pesel Aryeh Hashoeg. It was a 20 minute drive mostly north and through Kiryat Shmona. We thought about checking out the lion but decided that we didn’t have time and we should get started. We started the trail at 8:50.

We were relying on shvilist.com and it said it was an 18 km hike and should take about four hours. We figured that it might take us longer but we should be able to do it in under five hours. We walked at a nice pace and barely stopped. I think we stopped twice - once for water for about two minutes and once we had melon and vegetables for about ten minutes. We saw lots of cows and bulls and one very big snake. We tried following the markers for the shvil yisrael. Most places were clearly marked. At one point we must’ve missed the marker because all of a sudden we didn’t see one so we doubled back and found the missed turn. That was probably about a half kilometer of extra walking and cost us a few minutes. 

For almost the entire time I walked with Gershon while Shira and Ahuva walked together. Most of the time the men were in front but often the women went ahead. We all walked the same pace and were generally just a few strides from each other. We really didn’t stop to look at anything though there were some nice views. 

At around 1 PM, we figured that we should be finished and I turned on Google maps. It said that we still had more than FIVE kilometers to go. None of us could believe it. We were really starting to tire but at least now we knew exactly how much further we had. We got to the ending point at 2:20. So it took us five hours and forty minutes which was far longer than we expected but it turned out that we had walked more than 23 kilometers. We have no idea where we veered from the path but somehow we added at least five kilometers to our hike. Next time, we need to prepare a little better and maybe even bring a map with us. 

We then drove the Seiferas’ back to their car and drove home. We got home at 5 PM with just enough time to get ready for Shabbos. Thankfully, we were going out for lunch and were only four for dinner. It was a very enjoyable day and we are anxiously waiting for the next stage of the hike. 

Shvil Yisrael

I'm restarting this blog to tell about our adventures on Shvil Yisrael

[8:46 AM, 3/16/2022] David Greenstone: Shira and I have been talking on and off about doing the Israel Trail (walking the entire country from north to south). There are numerous problems but the main two problems are the amount of time and the fact that I hate sleeping outside. So we figured out that we can do it in shifts. You basically walk small chunks one day a month for 5-6 years and then you finish the whole thing. Others do it like that and it works. We thought it would be more fun if we had friends doing it with us. that's where you come in. When should we start? 

[8:49 AM, 3/16/2022] Ahuva Seiferas: That's awesome!! Only problem for me is that I'm never off from work other than Fridays. Probably not so feasible, right? 

[8:50 AM, 3/16/2022] Shira: We would want to do it on Fridays. Can you make that work? We would have to take vacation if it was any other day. 

[8:50 AM, 3/16/2022] Ahuva Seiferas: ooohhh....very tempting. not that i'm ever ready for shabbat in advance...when would you guys want to start? 

[8:51 AM, 3/16/2022] Shira: the first part is in an open area, so best to start before it gets too hot 

[8:51 AM, 3/16/2022] Shira: it's all the way up north. so would require a lot of organization on the home front 

[9:10 AM, 3/16/2022] Gershon Seiferas: Interesting! 

[9:10 AM, 3/16/2022] Gershon Seiferas: Year round? 

[9:14 AM, 3/16/2022] David Greenstone: Yeah 

[9:15 AM, 3/16/2022] Gershon Seiferas: Every week? Or x times per month? 

[9:15 AM, 3/16/2022] David Greenstone: probably once a month 

[9:15 AM, 3/16/2022] Gershon Seiferas: Not bad 

[9:56 AM, 3/16/2022] Gershon Seiferas: So can we get back to you after Shabbat? 

[9:58 AM, 3/16/2022] David Greenstone: Sure 

…… 4 days later ….. 

[10:42 PM, 3/20/2022] Ahuva Seiferas: We’re in!! Start after Pesach? 

[4:12 AM, 3/21/2022] David Greenstone: Yay!! 

 That was the beginning of our planning to do shvil yisrael. We are starting this Friday. I will keep a log of what we do each time.

The last day of our vacation

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

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

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

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

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

Keeping Shabbos

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

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

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.