The tiyul with friends!

During Chol ha moed Sukkot, most everyone has off, and travels around making tea over a kerosene burner everywhere they go! We, and another family, were so lucky to be invited on a tiyul with camp friends, Menash and his great family! I was a camper when the dynamic Israeli duo Menash and Berko were on the mishlachat. Loren got to work with them!
These guys could build anything, do anything and burn anything...they were the camp's Israeli MacGyvers!

This is Menash and his cutie-patootie, Merav! We drove into the Judean desert to this beautiful valley near a spring. Here, at Nachal Prat, we joined many other families in hiking, swimming in the pools, and wading through the stream.

Ariella and Menash brought all kinds of treats for us to enjoy--borekas, cookies, cracker, fruit and cakes. Menash made tea from fresh mint leaves and we sat under a beautiful canopy of trees!
The kids especially loved jumping in a pool filled with spring water. There were fish in there too, but Elan and Mira were unsuccessful in catching any with my bandana and a stick. Don't worry, I'm not setting them free in the wild anytime soon. How much more exposure to Israel do they need before their survival mode kicks in?

Loren took the kids on a short hike into the hills. There was another pool of water to jump in, as well as lots of beautiful flowers. Loren was in charge of the camera. I had some serious work to do. Those trees weren't going to be stared at by themselves. I stayed by the stuff and felt relaxed! This was old-school day off from camp (the mother ship, not Darom) action.

After changing and redistributing the kids in the various cars (friends must ride with friends...it's the law), we drove to the settlement were Berko, his very kind wife, and EIGHT kids live! They made a great meal for us in their sukkah, and everyone fought over holding their youngest baby, Ranana. I'm not ashamed to admit that my competitive instincts won out, and I took down Mira for another chance to hold her. Hey, that baby was cute!
We caught up with everyone about the current state of lives. The kids tried this syrup called Petel, in their water. It represents itself as healthy the way Trix is a healthy part of a nutritious breakfast. Fortunately, it was not a big hit. I'm willing to buy the kids a lot of junk food to insure a happy, if not healthy, year, but this would have caused me to question my values as a human being, mother and nutrition devotee. We don't question this family's ethics or standards, and we consider them to be wonderful and productive members of society.
My kids just wish they learned about junk food they actually liked. Better luck next time!

The icing on the cake was getting to have another meal with Menash and Ariella on Simchat Torah, the very next night! We went to shul at Shirah Chadasha, where there was a ton of singing and dancing! Then, we walked to their apartment, and enjoyed a fantastic dinner with an impressive display of desserts. Let's start with the fact that they brought out three of them: Crembo's, ice cream cones (six flavors), and maple cake...and of course, more tea! This was junk food the kids could get behind! While the kids played, we sat at their table and laughed and sang until midnight. How is a Jewish person supposed to get enough sleep on yom tov and shabbat?! Shul starts at 8am, sometimes 8:30!

It was worth feeling exhausted!

Our (us and Madonna!) brush with history!

The longest lines sometimes lead you to the most wonderful experiences!! Among the many fun things to do during Sukkot (I promise to finish writing about Sukkot before Hanukkah), the President of Israel has an open sukkah. Anyone who wants to wait in line, can meet the current president! Shimon! It's been so long! Why do we always wait till the holidays to get together? Because there's a lot of security involved, that's why!!


Disneyworld could learn something from these lines. First of all, they were shaded the entire time. And if you happened to move off to the side where it was too sunny, there was a hired Bubbe to move you back into the shade. Overheard: "Move back!! No need to stand in the sun! There's shade! You two(to an older gentleman and his wife), you shouldn't be standing so long...come with me! Your knees hurt from standing? Come with me. I'll get you a chair and some babka. Are you drinking enough water? Let me get you a cup! The bathrooms are around the corner." Okay, no babka, but everything else was true! And the portapotties were the cleanest and nicest ones I've ever been in! I didn't even throw up a little when I went in! They were that nice!"


There were water stations every 15 feet or so, with cups available. There were security guards every 15 inches or so, with machine guns available. This is a picture of the wall, taken at the request of one security guard to prove that sometimes, a camera is just a camera (Freudian security!! Rock on!!). There was one tense security moment, when I realized that only Loren had his passport (the first round of security was asking for them). Fortunately, we (by which I mean Loren) answered the questions b'ivrit about why we were there, and we were allowed to continue our expedition into the President's house ever so slowly inching forward to the music of the military band playing in the garden!
There was also a collection of the most interesting group of Israelis and visitors I've ever seen! Religious Jews and secular, dressed fancy and dressed regular (guess which guest called a friend to see if a particular family needed to dress up to meet the President? It's Israel! People wear jeans to a wedding!). We were also right next to some Bretzlover chassidim in full dress who were bringing a petition to the President to bring the bones of Rebbe Nachman from Uman in the Ukraine to Israel. I guess that would put this trip out of business!

This is the face of a girl made to wait for a long, long time!!!

Once we were inside, there was a lot of beautiful art to distract us on the walls and on the ceiling! A group of teenager musicians from all faiths were performing for us.

That is a family that had to wait even longer than us!

We were getting so close! We could actually see people forcing the media to put down their equipment so that they could take a picture for them! I, of course volunteered Loren to make those same arrangements for us, but he was not comfortable walking in that out door. Oh, my rule-following hubby, I love you! But love and respect for another's job won't get us a family picture with Peres! Even though the women directly behind us looked like she was there on a mission to get her personal agenda across to Shimon (clues: she was speaking to herself in an aggressive way, seeming to rehearse her plans for world domination. I could have worked on the security detail. I would have had the bubbenator approach her, "Motek, you look worn out, come sit in the back of this air conditioned van while we escort you to the nearest health-care facility!"). I don't know who took Madge's pic, but ours turned out great! Thanks to anonymous lady behind us! Hope your plans work out!




Her Madgesty and Peres!!!

After we got our 6 seconds with Shimon, Amalya asked, "So was it worth waiting two and a half hours in that line to meet Shimon Peres for 6 seconds?"

You bet!

How was your holiday?

We are so blessed!

We had a lovely Rosh Hashanah, and survived the three-day chag happily! Any unhappiness was brought on by my neglect of varying blood-sugar levels. Truly, the only thing missing was Loren. We heard he did a great job at Emory, but we missed him here!
We had dinner with the family of my friend Shoshana (a Ramah Wisconsin cohort that we had to Darom for a summer!). She has 4 siblings, and they all have a ton of kids, so ours blended in with the craziness quite nicely. Every contributor to the meal was a wonderful cook (the kids are trying all kinds of new foods happily…that is definitely worth the plane trip). Elan insisted that I get Shoshana’s mother’s recipe for red current and blueberry ice cream (pareve no less!). I’ve been experimenting with different flours for challot, and I fortunately made a few good ones for sharing this chag. They got a round one stuffed with dried apricots, honey and cardamom. I found out that they are all experienced bread makers as well, so I’m glad my experiments were successful! No pressure, baking in a strange oven with unknown flour. The happy bonus was when Mira recognized one of the cousins from her art class! This whole country is one tiny kibbutz, I tell ya!
We ate lunch with another family and then went to a park. We were having a great time until it was time to walk home. The variety of complaints included: blisters, too cold, too thirsty, too tired to walk, too hungry, and no wine for me. Once everyone was fed and watered (and wined), happiness returned.
For second day lunch, we were invited to the house of acquaintances from college and camp. They were so generous about including us! The kids get a kick out of explaining the philosophy of the Democratic School they attend, and they now know they like to eat empanadas! The family lent Mira a two wheeled contraption meant for the circus (think the front axle of a car with pedals) to take home. She is getting really good! She likes to take it everywhere and will show off on the sidewalk near cafes. She always gets applause because Israelis appreciate talent!

For Friday night, I invited a small horde over for experimental dinner, pre-cooked and warmed on the plata (a big, shomer-shabbat warming plate). I told the guests they were all eligible for a do-over dinner in case of disaster. The guests were former Darom staff, one Marietta gent here for the year and friends of guests. It was fantastic to be able to include even more guests (friends of invitees) and still have room for another who came to shul and needed a place to go. So, apparently, we can fit 15 people in our apartment for dinner! And I do know how to work the timer on the plata! And the kids are great hosts! And the whole world won’t end if I use paper plates for Shabbat dinner!
Dinner ended so late, the kids and I slept late and just wandered over to our lunch invite well-rested.
This was another really nice time. Our hosts thoughtfully invited a large group of their friends for us to meet, and at the same time, set the tone for Shabbat in a lovely way. Everyone (adult and child) was invited to share interesting questions and ideas about Shabbat Shuvah, the akedah, and life in Israel in general. I was almost smart enough to follow the discussion of shmitta. It is a shmitta year here in Israel, a shabbaton for the fruits and vegetables grown in the land. How appropriate that just at the time when Loren needed a shabbaton, we are in sync with agricultural life in Israel. We stayed talking (the kids played together and were laughing and singing all afternoon) until Shabbat was almost over (the kids ate dinner too!).

You might think all we did was eat! Doesn’t it feel like that for you? Davening at Shira Chadasha was exceptional. You can sing as loud as you want or sit quietly and listen. There are powerful waves of prayer. You can tell people enjoy praying together as a community. It is wonderful to be a part of it.

Our new fruits tried this year:
Passionfruit (not a hit), pomegranate (always a hit), dragonfruit ("subtly good" says Elan), lychee ("like eating a slimy eyeball" reports Elan. Do eyeballs come in a non-slimy version, my son?), persimmon ("love it" says Mira), kobi ("vague shampoo taste" but Mira and I liked it), starfruit (Amalya's favorite).

One sadness, my friend Tova’s grandfather died in the late afternoon right before the start of the holiday. They needed to hold the burial until Sunday…so hard to wait. From what I know of this special man of 94 years, he was a loving husband and father, married for over 60 years, and loved well by his family.

Thank you so much to all those who celebrated with us this Rosh Hashanah. Thank you also to everyone who writes me to tell me about the exciting adventures of their lives! You are helping us stay connected and feel a little less lonely!

It was a wonderful beginning to the New Year! Gamar Tov u'Chatimah Tovah! (may I learn to type in Hebrew in the coming year)