Back to Szold, Cafe Duvshaneet & the Israel Museum

On Wednesday (when the boys went back to school), Dad and I spent 4+ hours with a tour guide, Shmuel Browns, in the Old City of Jerusalem. I took a bunch of pictures and wrote down a bunch of notes from the Old City tour. The tour was great - we saw lots of sites and learned a lot about places I hadn't seen before. Unfortunately, I don't have time this evening (as I write this, it's already almost 12:30 am here) to blog about  the Old City tour, but I do have enough time to share some other things that have happened and some observations I have made in the past few days. I'll try very hard to write about the Old City before we leave on Sunday morning for 4 days of "tiyuleem" (literally, hiking or excursions) to Masada, Ein Gedi and the Dead Sea, plus a bunch of places in Northern Israel.

Speaking of going back to school, the CK woke up at around 5:30 am Wednesday and came to snuggle next to me in Pentheus and my room. Then when my alarm went off around 7:15, the CK woke up crying. He didn't scream his typical rant about how he's "not going to school and no-one can make me!" but, poor sweetie, he was sobbing. Pentheus actually walked the boys to school because Dad and I left around 8 am for the Old City tour. (While I felt bad about not going to school with them, I think it ended up being easier for Pentheus to be with them.) Pentheus emailed me after drop-off and thought that the CK had done OK. When I picked the CK up from school on Wednesday, he ran to me and said, "Ima, I didn't cry once at school today. Can I get a present for that?!" I'm not sure a present was in order, but I told him I was proud of him. When I asked him how the day went, he replied, as he always does, "Awesome."

Thursday morning when the CK woke up, he wasn't crying or upset at all. There wasn't any complaining about going to school, and Pentheus and I were psyched. When I walked him to school, however, the CK was singing and dancing, "Only 1 more day to vacation! Only 1 more day to vacation!" so I don't think these three school days between the Sukkot/Simchat Torah holidays and our 4-day tiyul around Israel are any true indication of how the CK is feeling about school. This morning (Friday), the CK did scream the line about our not being to make him go to school, and he grumped around the dira. He ended up being ok when I walked him there. We'll see how the CK is with respect to school after next Wednesday, when vacation ends and there are no more scheduled school breaks until Hanukkah in December. (I also think the CK's mood on Thursday morning might have been helped by the fact that the tooth fairy came that night and left the CK 11 shekels, or almost $3.00. Ten shekels were for the CK, who lost the tooth, and 1 shekel was for the WK, who knocked the CK's tooth out when they were wrestling around.)

My Dad commented that since he was last in Israel (in May 1996), the number of people who smoke has significantly decreased, and I think he's right. When we were chatting with our Old City tour guide, Shmuel agreed as well. However, Shmuel thinks that smoking among teens has increased, despite the fact that it is illegal to sell cigarettes to anyone under age 18. And, many "youths" (ages 18-21) start smoking when they are in the army. After graduating from high school, men typically serve in the Israeli army for 3 years, women for 2. Shmuel said he heard a story that the army actually gives cigarettes to new soldiers.

Remember Cafe Duvshaneet, where I am a "regular"? It turns out that another "regular" is the most famous photographer in Israel, David Rubinger. David Rubinger is the photographer who took the iconic picture of the Israeli soldiers at the Kotel (the Western Wall) after Israel recaptured it from Jordan in the Six-Day War in 1967.


Shimon Peres, the President of Israel, called Rubinger, "the photographer of a nation in the making." (OK, the accolade definitely sounds better in Hebrew.) He was also the only photographer allowed to take pictures in the cafeteria of the Israeli Knesset (the Parliament Building). I am told that Mr. Rubinger frequents Cafe Duvshaneet almost every single morning. I looked up a picture of him on Google, so I will be sure to look for him next time I am there. Mr. Rubinger has a relatively new book out, Israel Through My Lens: Sixty Years As a Photojournalist, which was released on Israel's 60th anniversary in 2008. I'm sure I will buy the book, and it would be cool if he would sign it for me. (I'm not sure I am *that* much of a regular that I can ask him to sign it, but we'll see.)

This morning after I dropped the boys off at school, I saw a "dati" [pronounced /dah-tee] (meaning, religious) woman jogging. She had on a long-sleeved shirt that covered her just below the elbows, a long grey skirt that went down to her calves, a hat on her head, and New Balance sneakers. I am not sure why that tickled me, but it did. However, I got a much bigger kick out of the Hasidic man whom I saw dressed in full Hasidic garb, including the long black coat, the "peyoht" (side curls, for lack of a better description), the fur hat, etc. Here's a Google Image that may give you a better idea of what he was wearing:



At any rate, it's certainly not unusual to see Hasidic men dressed this way in Jerusalem, as there are plenty of Hasidic Jews here. However, it is unusual to see a Hasidic man the way I saw him: on a bicycle, biking down the Emek, wearing a biking helmet under the fur hat, with the helmet strapped under his chin. I'm certain I can't find an image of that on Google, but trust me, it was pretty funny. (There's some more info on Hasidim in my Tuesday, 10/9 blog post "Simchat Torah and Dragonfruit".)

Speaking of Hasidic Jews, today, Dad and I went back to the Israel Museum. You may remember that we were there last Wednesday with the kids during the Sukkot break. I very much wanted to see the "Glimpses into the Life of the Hasidic Jews" photography exhibit that had been too crowded to see last week. The museum was almost empty today, and I got 50% off my ticket because I showed them my ticket from last week. (You get half-off regular adult ticket if you have been at the Israel Museum within the previous 90 days.) The exhibit was fascinating. After a brief written introduction to Hasidicism, there were 3-4 rooms filled with photographs and videos about Hassidic Jews. The introduction to the exhibit was clear to point out that the pictures had been taken quite recently, mostly between 2006-2011. It was important to point that out because so many of the pictures looked like they could have been taken in the early 1900's - that's how much things haven't changed in the Hasidic world.

Early this morning, I went grocery shopping and to Grill Plus for food we'll need for this Shabbat. At 9 am, the car rental company dropped off the mini-van we are renting for our tiyuleem next week. Then at 10, Dad and I went to Borekas Ima, a great bakery in the Ba'aka neighborhood, to get challah for tonight's dinner. We had tasted Borekas Ima's challah at our friends' house and loved it. Today I bought a regular challah and a challah with za'atar! At 10:30, Dad and I are met some Lexington, Kentucky friends who are in Israel for the Hadassah conference next week in Jerusalem. We met at Grand Cafe on Derech Bet Lechem, and brunch there was delicious. The natool at Grand Cafe was especially good. We had a busy morning!

Shabbat shalom.

Simchat Torah and Dragonfruit

When I last posted, the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah was about to begin. (http://www.chabad.org/holidays/JewishNewYear/template_cdo/aid/4464/jewish/Simchat-Torah-101.htm and http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday6.htm) Simchat Torah is the holiday celebrating when we complete and restart the cycle of reading the Torah. On Simchat Torah, both the last and first section of the Torah is read. It is a very festive, fun holiday with lots of singing, dancing, eating, and celebrating. We went to services at Shir Chadash both Sunday night and Monday morning. During the service, immediately before the Torah reading would typically begin, all of the Torah scrolls are taken out of the ark (where they are stored when not being read), and everyone dances around the person who is holding the Torah. There are seven "rounds" of holding the Torah scrolls and dancing, and certain prayers are said during each round. The songs are of traditional Jewish music and the dances are kind of like the hora you would see at Jewish weddings. Kids are very much included in the celebration. The little ones are on their fathers' shoulders during the dancing, and there's always lots of candy. At Shir Chadash, the women can also hold the Torah scrolls and dance, although the men and women dance separately on their side of the "mecheetzah" (the barrier). That being said, both men and women seemed to peer at the other side to watch their husbands/wives/children dancing. Rachel, the Rabbi's wife, brought me a Torah to hold while a group of women danced around me and sang songs. It was pretty emotional but fun. I was glad Dad was here for the holiday. 

Our synagogue in Cambridge (Temple Beth Shalom) is known for its Simchat Torah services, as hundreds of people, including many students in the Boston/Cambridge area, come to the synagogue to celebrate. Although we had a lot of fun at Shir Chadash, we missed being at TBS.

At sunset last night, Simchat Torah ended. A couple hours later we heard incredibly loud music and noise, like a concert of some sort. We couldn't figure out what it was, but the music got louder and louder as the minutes went on. The boys were already in bed and couldn't sleep because of the noise. I looked out the windows in the dira and could faintly see some neon lights, like the glow lights that kids have at July 4 fireworks in the States. Dad and I went outside to investigate. There was a parade (more like a caravan) led by two huge trucks with flashing neon lights on the top and sides, blaring Hassidic music, with a loudspeaker broadcasting widely through the neighborhood. There were hundreds of Hassidic men, in full Hassidic garb, dancing wildly, and hundreds, if not thousands, of Hassidic women and children following along, singing and shouting. (http://judaism.about.com/od/denominationsofjudaism/a/hasid.htm and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasidic_Judaism)  Apparently, a yeshiva (a religious study institution) nearby has an annual parade during which they carry the "sifrei torah" (literally, Torah books) from the yeshiva to the Rabbi's house. I can't tell you how loud yet festive the parade, but it was also chaotic. All of the secular Israelis in the neighborhood came out to watch as the parade went by.

This morning, Dad, the CK and I went to the Emek, while the WK stayed at Park Moshava with some friends. We needed to go to the post office on the Emek to pick up a few packages. I had tried to pick the packages up on Sunday, but the post office was closed because it was the day before the Jewish holiday. Usually, the post office is open Sunday-Friday, albeit with weird hours (like 8am-12:30pm and then 3:30-6pm). And it was closed yesterday for the holiday. We got to the post office around 10:30am, and took a number. They were on number 148 and we were 179. We walked around for a while and did some other errands, but we kept checking back to see how close they were to 179. The third time we checked back around 11:15, they were on 168. We stayed at the post office and waited because once they call a number, you have about 3 seconds (no exaggeration) to get up there. The other 20 people at the post office (both in the small room and milling about outside) were about as happy as we were about waiting so long. The packages were presents -- a cheetah wall decal and a book titled Banchee, the Worm King -- from their aunt in California. The kids loved the gifts. Alas, nothing for Pentheus or the Katamom!

After some lunch at the dira, Dad, the CK, and I took the #13 bus to "Merkahz Ha'eer" (the City Center). We wandered around the downtown area a bit. Papa bought a few postcards and some "gleeda" (ice-cream) for us. After hitting the bathrooms in Hamashbeer (a quasi-department store - it sells everything from Estee Lauder cosmetics to bugspray and from nice business suits to Tampax ), we took the "rahkevet kali" (light rail) down Yaffo Street:

The rahkevet kali began running within the last 18 months. It's sleek and the ride is surprisingly smooth. It costs the same as a bus ride (almost 7 shekels), and unless you have a pass, you have to buy a ticket at the "tahchahnah" (station). When we rode the rahkevet, it was just after 4pm, and it was packed! Many of the people were quite rude when pushing and bumping as they got on and off the rahkevet, and the CK was a bit frightened by the jostling. We only took it 2 stops to Machaneh Yehudah, the outdoor market. (http://jerusalem.wikispaces.com/The+Machaneh+Yehudah+Market) Dad doesn't think he had been in Machaneh Yehudah before today, so we wanted to make sure he saw the market during his visit. We went to a bunch of stalls - stopping, of course, for Papa to buy more gummi candies for the boys and then roasted almonds and fresh pita bread with za'atar for Pentheus.

While we were in Machaneh Yehudah, we saw the funkiest fruit. The guy told me it's called dragonfruit in English, but I can't find the Hebrew word in my English-Hebrew translator. I meant to take a picture of the sign in Hebrew at the market. The guy told us to peel it like a banana and to eat the insides. Here are some pictures. The first photo is of the top of the dragonfruit and the second is of the inside, once it has been peeled. The color in the photos doesn't do it justice - it's as bright a magenta as one could imagine:

The texture of the peel reminds me a bit of an artichoke heart, but the insides are sweet but not tangy like a berry.  One dragonfruit costs 12 shekels (about $3). Pentheus said it's worth every shekel! The rest of us thought it was okay, and that it would have been better cold (rather than room temperature).

Tomorrow morning the boys go back to school after a 2+ week vacation. Although they are not so much looking forward to it, Pentheus and I definitely are. Despite the fun things and the holidays during the vacation, it's been a hard couple of weeks. The boys, especially the CK, just haven't settled in, and there have been a lot of complaining and too many tantrums. I fear the CK will be miserable back at school tomorrow, but am hoping that we can ease him back in with only 3 days of school this week (Wed-Friday). Then next week, the boys will be out of school Sun-Wed while we travel around Israel with my Dad and sister (who arrives this weekend - YAY!) At some point, I'm hoping we can get back into (or to be honest, establish for the first time) some sort of routine.

By the time my Dad and sister have left Israel, we will have just hit the half-way point in our adventure in Israel. I had thought the first half would have gone much more smoothly than it did, but I guess it is what it is, as they say. There have been a lot of bumps in the road, especially with getting the kids adjusted to school and the boys' overall behavior. We've certainly had good times as well, but we've all struggled somewhat over the past 2+ months. That being said, I am glad we are here, and while I am optimistic that the second half will be easier than the first, I have been tempering my expectations, just in case.

(Oh, and before I forget, I'm sending a special shout-out to the MFS Blog Club!)

Hanging with Dad in the Promised Land

When I began the blog post, I was watching the Michigan-Purdue football game live on the EuroSport 2 channel. I must say that the EuroSport 2 announcers are terrible! Even I could cover the game better. I should probably give the commentators a break though; there are no commercials on EuroSport 2, so they need to keep talking to kill time when the game isn't actually being played. If you're at all interested in snooker, however, EuroSport 2 is the station to watch! BTW, Michigan beat Purdue 44-13 - Go Blue!

The past few days have been busy. On Wednesday morning, Dad, the boys and I took a cab to Hadassah Hospital in Ein Kerem, a neighborhood in Jerusalem. Hadassah is the Zionist Women's Organization of America, Inc., an incredible volunteer organization is committed to "strengthening the unity of the Jewish people." (http://www.hadassah.org/site/pp.aspx?c=keJNIWOvElH&b=5571065) My Mom was very involved in Hadassah and cared a lot about the work Hadassah does.

One of Hadassah's core projects is the Hadassah Medical Organization (HMO) in Jerusalem, known as a leading health care institution in the world. HMO is made up of two medical facilities in Israel – the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center at Ein Kerem and the Hadassah University Hospital at Mount Scopus. Shortly before she died, Mom and Dad made a major gift to Hadassah. In recognition of this gift, Mom and Dad's names, along with the names of other contributors, are etched in stone on one of the columns at the Hadassah Hospital in Ein Kerem. Pentheus, the boys, and I saw the column with my parents' names two years ago when we were in Israel on vacation, but my Dad had never seen it. It's surprisingly powerful to see how many people contributed to Hadassah - there are many columns with rows and rows of names, chronologically listed by year, and, of course, it's very emotional to see my folks' names up there.

Actually, when we arrived at Hadassah Hospital, the entrance to where the columns with the names are had moved since I was here last, and I spent a few minutes wandering around the hospital in search of help. After checking with someone at the "modah'een" (Information) desk, I found the Development Office for the hospital. I started speaking in Hebrew but then switched to English because it was too hard to explain what I wanted. The women in the office could not have been nicer. One of them, Chava Levine, looked up Mom and Dad on the computer, and said she would help us find their names. While Chava was on the computer, I made small talk and said something about how Dad was disappointed that he couldn't see the Chagall windows in the synagogue at the Hospital because they are closed to the public during renovations. Chava responded, "Oh, I can give you a tour of the Chagall windows right now if you'd like." I got Dad and the boys (who were sitting in another area of the hospital while I went for help), and we went to the synagogue with Chava. The Chagall windows are stunning, and Chava taught us a lot about them. (http://www.gojerusalem.com/discover/item_186/Chagall-Windows) I didn't know that the windows are actually painted, as opposed to stained, glass, and that when Chagall restored the windows after they were damaged by Jordanian bombs in the War of 1967, he intentionally left a damaged section in one of the windows. Chava was great with the boys, and we were in the synagogue for about an hour.

From there, we went to lunch at the food court at the small mall attached to the hospital. After lunch, the plan was for Dad to go to the candy store to buy candy for the boys. I said I would meet the 3 of them at the candy store, after I got some natool. A few minutes later, however, I found the CK crying at the top of the escalator. Turns out that the CK wanted Papa to buy him a book instead of buying him candy. I wasn't going to give the CK a hard time about that decision (i.e., choosing a book over candy), so the CK and I went to the bookstore while Papa and the WK bought candy. The WK ended up sharing some of his candy with the CK, which made the CK pretty happy.

We then took a taxi to the Israel Museum, (relatively) near the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) and Supreme Court buildings. The Israel Museum has the Dead Sea Scrolls, and even though we had seen them before, we wanted to see them again. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Sea_Scrolls) They are pretty cool. I had also wanted to see the temporary exhibit "A World Apart Next Door: Glimpses into the Life of the Hassidic Jews" but the line was incredibly long. Instead, we saw a bunch of other interesting exhibits. The boys weren't behaving very well, and we decided to call it a day after that. The Israel Museum was pretty packed, but we had expected it because kids get in free during the Sukkot holiday.I'll plan to go back to the Israel Museum to see the exhibit on Hassidic Jews after the boys are back in school and when our company is gone.

Wednesday night we had our first real guests over. Remember Uri, from the WK's class, with whom we had a couple of playdates before school started, and at whose house we had coffee with his parents a few weeks ago? We invited Uri and his parents (Daniella and Dror Keller) to dine with us in the sukkah. We had a great tine at dinner. Daniella and Dror are very nice, and we had a very interesting conversation about everything from the conflict between religious and secular Jews in Israel to the differences in the Math curriculum for 5th graders in the States compared to that in Israel. We really did enjoy the evening and hope to socialize with them again. There was a bit of a lag before Uri and the boys enjoyed playing together; it was only after dinner that they started a wild game of "tapuach adama cham" (hot potato) that involved throwing stuffed animals out the window of the dira. I was pleased with the evening and kind of feel like we have "new friends" now!

Pentheus made panko chicken (again at the CK's request), which was delicious. It was funny because when we invited the Kellers to join us in the sukkah at 6 pm, Pentheus asked whether there were any food allergies or requests, and Daniella said there weren't. When Pentheus served dinner, however, we found out that Daniella is a vegetarian and wasn't going to eat the chicken. When we asked Daniella why she hadn't said anything about being a vegetarian when she spoke with Pentheus, Daniella said she had assumed that we would only be serving coffee, light foods and some desserts. Most people in Israel eat a heavy mid-day meal, and it hadn't dawned on Daniella that we would be actually be serving dinner. It's an interesting cultural difference. Pentheus always makes so much food anyway, that there were plenty of non-chicken options for Daniella including majedra (a lentil and rice dish), quinoa, broccoli, and Israeli salad. Yum! 

Thursday morning, my Dad, the boys, and I went to Tel Aviv. We arrived at the hotel before 11 am, and couldn't check in yet. We asked the hotel to store our bags and got something to eat almost immediately. (If I have learned anything from our Israel experience so far, it's that my boys absolutely cannot function if they are hungry. Although it's like that in the States, too, it's even more true here. They totally fall apart without food and can't cooperate, if their lives depended on it.) Anyway, then we were off to the Haganah Museum, about the military force that fought for Israel before the country was formally created. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haganah) I had never heard of the museum, and couldn't find anyone who knew anything about it. The museum was great! It has a neat set-up, with each level representing a different time period in the history of the Haganah. The top floor was 1948 when Israel became an independent country. Apparently, only in the last 2-3 years has the Haganah Museum included English in the audios, videos and translation of some of the museum items, which probably helps to explain why no-one we asked seemed to know about it. The CK was a bit afraid at times, especially with "the Hitler parts" (his quotes, not mine), so I stayed close to him. We were all very glad we went. Across the street and up a few buildings from the Haganah Museum is Independence Hall, where the independence of Israel was declared and where the Declaration of Independence is housed. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see anything because Independence Hall is closed for renovations. I don't think we will get back to it this trip to Israel, but I have been told the exhibition is fabulous.

We then went to Old Yaffo, now incorporated as part of the city of Tel Aviv. Old Yaffo is a beautiful port on the Mediterranean Sea, and it was a gorgeous day to be outside. We met my sister and brother-in-law's niece for lunch and conversation. She made aliyah about a year ago, and it was fun to meet up with her and to spend some time together.

After lunch we headed into the artsy part of Old Yaffo. I had forgotten how many steep stone steps there were up to Keekar Kedoomeem where the stores and art studios are located, but we all made it up there, with a rest or two along the way. Ayal, an old boyfriend (well, I use the word "boyfriend" loosely - we "dated" at summer camp when I was 12-13 years old) had found and "friended" me on Facebook a couple of years ago, and I knew from him that his art studio was in Old Yaffo. Turns out his studio is right across from the Visitors' Center in Keekar Kedoomeem, so I walked over to see him. When I saw Ayal, he knew immediately who I was. Ayal invited us into his studio and we spent some time catching up. After all, it had been more than 31 years. Ayal showed me pictures of his wife and two daughters and told me about his art work. It was a hoot. We exchanged telephone info and are going to try to get our families together before we return to the States.

After the "reunion" we went to Gabrieli, an Old Yaffo store specializing in handwoven tallit, the Jewish prayer shawl. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tallit) My Dad had brought from the States a needlepointed part of a tallis for the WK to use at his Bar-Mitzvah. My Mom had started the needlework on the tallis before she died, and her close friend finished needlepointing it after Mom's death. It was quite emotional for Dad and me to hand the needlepoint over and to choose the colors that will be used when the parts of the tallis are woven together. After Gabrieli, we did some shopping at some of the other studios and wound our way down to the "Shuk HaPishpishim," the flea market in Yaffo. Shuk HaPishpishim is huge, fun, and, to be totally honest, kind of gross. Although supposedly you can get some real finds there, a lot of the stuff is crap. What cracked me up the most was how many stalls there were selling fake Levi jeans! Our purchases included a cheap tin pocket watch with "fishing" engraved on one side (for the WK), a wooden flute that can be (and has been) played very loudly (for the CK), and a cheap combo chess/checkers/backgammon board set which turned out to have pieces only in one color. We had a good time, though, which was all we wanted to do.

Thursday night dinner and Friday morning breakfast were at the Yotvata B'eer (literally, Yotvata in the City), a restaurant facing the beach of the Mediterranean Sea. Yotvata, a kibbutz in the Arava desert in Southern Israel, is an active dairy farm and produces the most amazing dairy products. For both meals, we enjoyed pancakes with ice-cream (yepper, ice-cream for breakfast!), great pizzas, fresh-squeezed juices (in combinations like mango-strawberry), bread and yummy cheeses. The WK declared that Yotvata B'eer has the best banana ice-cream in the world. Yotvata B'eer was right around the corner from our hotel, so it was convenient as well as delicious. On Friday, there was a bicycle marathon happening, so we watched the bikers as we ate.

After breakfast, we walked to the Shuk HaCarmel (the Carmel Market), an outdoor market, similar to Machaneh Yehudah in Jerusalem. The stuff at the Shuk HaCarmel is decidedly nicer than what we saw in the Flea Market in Yaffo, and we had a good time wandering around. We (well, actually Papa) bought more gummi candy for the boys, plus pistachios, dates, and roasted almonds for Pentheus. We could have hung out at the Shuk longer, but the boys were exhausted (because they had convinced me to let them stay up late watching TV in the hotel) and were fading quickly. We took a cab back to the hotel and waited for the taxi to go back to Jerusalem. I tried to convince the boys to go to the beach with me for a little while, but they opted to do something else:

I walked on the beach for about 30 minutes and put my feet in the water. The Mediterranean Sea is delightful, and the boys truly missed out.

We had hired the taxi driver (Shmuelik) who took us to Hadassah Hospital on Wednesday to drive us to and from Tel Aviv. Although it was about $35-$40 more each way to take a taxi, the difference in time (taking a bus from our dira to the Central Bus Station in Jerusalem, then another bus to the Central Bus Station in Tel Aviv, and then a taxi to the hotel in Tel Aviv) was significant - about 75 minutes compared to almost 2 hours. Besides, Shmuelik is a great guy. When Shmuelik took us to Hadassah Hospital, he pointed out sites along the way and chatted with me in Hebrew. He was kind to the kids and made them laugh. When Shmuelik dropped us off in Ein Kerem, he gave me his card and invited me to contact him for taxi services. It was funny because when Shmuelik picked us up in Tel Aviv to return to Jerusalem, he had parked across the street from the hotel. He walked to the hotel entrance to get our bags to put them in the trunk of the car. Shmuelik then said, "Yeladeem, yadaieem." (Children, hands) and crossed the street while holding the CK's hand with his left hand and the WK's hand in his right. It was very cute. That's another "rak b'yisrael" (only in Israel) moment. I don't know any cab drivers in the States who would ask, never mind "order" the kids to hold his hand as they crossed the street!

On the way from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, I asked Shmuelik what he remembered about the day Yitzchak Rabin, the then-Prime Minister of Israel, was assassinated in November 1994. Shmuelik remembered and recounted details of the day in the same way my parents' generation remembers the Kennedy assassination. It was so interesting to talk to him and get his perspective. I also had requested that Shmuelik correct any mistakes in my Hebrew during our conversation, so I got a Hebrew lesson to boot. I learned that there is a different verb used to request that the TV/radio be turned up or down, than the verb used to request that the air conditioning in the car be turned up or down. (Knowing the distinctions between those two verbs is really going to help me out someday; I just know it!)

We returned to the dira mid-afternoon Friday and prepared for Shabbat. We had Shabbat dinner in the sukkah, and it was delicious. We were all tired from the previous days and tried to go to sleep early. I think Pentheus and my Dad succeeded in the task, but it was harder to get the boys to go down. Shabbat morning, we all went to Shir Chadash for services. My Dad was called up to the bima when the Torah was read, which is considered an honor, and that was very nice. We had dairy lunch in the sukkah together. The boys went off to the Park Moshava, while Pentheus, Dad and I took naps. Love those Shabbat naps!

This morning (Sunday), I was out of the dira early to go buy challah for the holidays that start Sunday evening. I went to Marzipan, the bakery where the challah we ate in the Rabbi's sukkah was made. I was at Marzipan by 8:30 am, and there were already tons of different types of fresh-baked challah (raisin, sesame, whole wheat, multi-grain, etc.) plus all sorts of baked goods. The place smelled delicious! I bought a bunch of challahs and a yemenite bread for us to try. (The yemenite bread went over very well; we devoured it in about 10 minutes. I don't know what the bread was called but will definitely try to find out.)

While I was at Marzipan, the boys went to Park Moshava for a half an hour. Rafi, their Hebrew tutor then came over at 9:30 for their lesson. While the boys worked with Rafi and Pentheus worked on the computer, Dad and I went to Cafe Duvshaneet for some natool (for me), hot tea (for Dad), and a cinnamon roll (for both of us). When I saw the owner and told him that I had to bring Dad to his cafe, he said, "Behvadai, hacafe b'blog shelach!" (Of course, the cafe is in your blog!). The rest of the day was filled with errands and bowling. Tonight starts the last batch of Jewish holidays for the Fall. After the holidays have ended, I'll be back online to fill you in on Simchat Torah!

Chag Sukkot Sameach and Papa's here!

Chag Sukkot Sameach! (Happy Sukkot!) The first couple of days of Sukkot have been fun. As I started to write in my last post, it seems like everyone builds a sukkah here. There were lots of "sukkah stands" on all of the main streets, and people were buying both decorations for the sukkah and items like the lulav and etrog with which to make the blessings.(http://www.mazornet.com/holidays/Sukkot/lulav.htm) Many of the sukkah decorations in Israel remind me of Christmas tree items in the States.

Sunday night, we went to Sukkot services at Shir Chadash and then to dinner at the Rabbi's house. About 20 people had been invited over to dinner, and there was a dessert open house for the entire congregation. Dinner was a lot of fun and interesting. Rabbi Ian Pear and his wife made aliyah together in 1999 and founded Shir Chadash. (I found this on google, but it is a bit outdated:(http://joyousjudaism.wordpress.com/ian-pear-editor/,) The Pear Family house is very pretty with a wide open floor plan on the first floor and a very large "meerpesset" (porch) which had been made into a sukkah. They served different types of salad, mock kishke, quinoa, salmon, lasagna and more, and all of the food was good. The challah was great - from Marzipan, which is a bakery just off the Emek. I know where we are going to buy challah for next Shabbat...

Both Ian and Rachel are kind, down-to-earth people, and our boys had fun playing with their 4 children. When we were invited over, we asked what we could bring. Rachel said we didn't need to bring anything, but if we were going to bring something anyway, it should be something that we like to eat. Pentheus and I checked with the boys and ended up bringing Creme de Banana liqueur, a box of Lindt truffles and gummi bananas. (Hey, we were told to bring what we liked!) I must admit, all 3 went over pretty well.

While we were finishing dinner, there was thunder and lightning, and it started to pour. It's the first time I have ever heard thunder in Jerusalem. Although the sukkah is covered to a large extent, one is supposed to be able to see the stars from inside. Because we could see the stars, it also meant that we could get pretty wet while sitting at the table! At some point, everyone came inside where there were a ton of desserts, including fruit, chocolate, cakes, ruggelah, and even some Ben and Jerry's ice-cream (plus gummi bananas and Lindt truffles). The dinner guests started dessert and, little by little, some other congregants came by, though not too many because of the rain.

Many Jews in Israel live in the sukkah throughout Sukkot. The Pears had moved all of the sofa cushions and a bunch of mattresses into the sukkah so that they could sleep there as well. Once it started raining hard, everyone grabbed a cushion or mattress to move them inside, so that they didn't get wet. After all of the company left, the Pears moved the cushions and mattresses back into the sukkah for the night.

I have to admit that I have always had some discomfort with the holiday of Sukkot. I get the idea of the sukkah as a temporary tabernacle, and I understand the connection and symbolism to the Jews wandering for 40 years. It's the lulav and etrog part (i.e., the shaking of the four species) that throws me. While I understand why we do it (once the second Temple was destroyed, the rabbis decreed that all Jews should wave the lulav and etrog all seven days as a remembrance of Temple days) - it's so, well, pagan. When I remarked to Pentheus about the pagan nature, his reply was "Duh, of course it is." That being said, it was actually beautiful and moving to be at synagogue yesterday morning to see 100 people shaking the lulav and etrog while praising G-d. I think it's fascinating that Jewish law specifically notes that everyone should "own" his/her lulav and etrog; it's not enough to be at synagogue and watch others wave the four species. The commandment is only satisfied by an individual's actions, and it cannot be done, for instance, as a family.

The boys had their first Hebrew tutoring session this morning! Rafi was here for about an hour. The first thing she told the boys was that she was going to speak pretty much all in Hebrew and that if they didn't understand, they needed to ask her, in Hebrew, to translate into English. ("Ehfshar l'targem l'engleet"?) When Rafi was leaving, I asked her how she thought the boys were doing in Hebrew. Rafi commented that the boys read in Hebrew better than she had expected, but that their comprehension was less than she had expected. I don't mind spending the money on a Hebrew tutor for the kids - I think the more Hebrew they know and use in Israel, the better. Rafi comes again on Sunday morning. After that, we'll try to figure out a schedule from there, and we hope she can meet with them at the school.

My father arrived this afternoon to visit us for the next couple of weeks! (OK, as Pentheus commented, it's more like 17 days that my Dad will be with us.) :-D The boys and I took a cab to the airport to meet him. I'm kinda weird in that I like airports. Airports make for great people watching. I loved being at "Arrivals" and seeing how happy people are to greet their family and friends, and I think it's especially poignant in Israel. Before we saw Dad, there were a couple of flights coming in from Kiev and Moscow, and many of the passengers were older people. You wouldn't believe the emotional reunions with the tears and kissing on both cheeks.

We're psyched that Dad is visiting, and my sister is coming, too, in about 10 days! We have a bunch of trips and tours planned, and we hope to show them a bit of what our daily lives are like. The boys are out of school until 10/10 because of Sukkot, so Dad planned his visit around being able to spend a lot of time with the boys. My sister hasn't been here before, and I am excited to show her around!

For those who are interested, the airport is outside Tel Aviv, in Lod, about 45-50 minutes from our neighborhood in Jerusalem. The cab ride there was 250 shekels and the ride home was 256 shekels (plus 14 shekel fee). Both are flat fee rates. The alternative is taking the shuttle service to the airport; the shuttle service is 62 shekels/person and makes numerous stops on the way from Jerusalem. While we splurged a bit on the way to get Dad, we only paid about $16 extra (250 shekels instead of 186 shekels for the 3 of us). Because there were 4 of us on the way back, we paid an extra $6 to take a cab (270 shekels instead of 248 shekels). The total sheirut time is about 60-75 minutes.

To be honest, while we were waiting for Dad, I thought about how we'll be back at the airport when we leave Israel to return to Cambridge, and it made me very sad. Despite how tough it has been, I am very glad that we are here, and I am not sure I can explain why that is. It feels wonderful to see the boys do "Jewish things" that everyone else is doing, too, like eat in a Sukkah, wear a kippa on Shabbat, and even try to speak Hebrew. When we are in restaurants here, we don't think about whether we can order meat because we know it's kosher, and we know we can take home leftovers. While we have a great Jewish community in Cambridge, it's different to be in the majority for once. My Dad got choked up telling me that when the plane landed and they walked off the jetway, there was a big sign that said, "L'shana tova" (Happy New Year) for Rosh Hashana. That just doesn't happen in Cambridge or in Kentucky.

I love that the boys are so much more independent here (although the the WK has been too independent lately and not coming home from the Moshava Park when he's supposed to come home) and that they like the Israeli lifestyle. It's great that we all like Shir Chadash. I don't really mind the mecheetzah so much (certainly not nearly as much as I thought would mind) because it doesn't feel like the women are relegated to "the back of the bus". I keep joking about how much more we can like Shir Chadash when we get to know the people better.

We hung around the dira with Dad this afternoon, and then Dad napped while the boys went to Moshava Park. After Dad woke up, we walked to the Emek and went to Ryu, an Asian restaurant, for dinner. It was funny because at Ryu, we ran into 2 different sets of people whom we knew. The first couple was Janet and Ken Gordon, the couple at whose home we had Shabbat lunch that first weekend we were in Israel. I often see Janet at Shir Chadash. Then we saw the family from London who is renting the dira above ours on Yordei Hasira. They are here only for Sukkot but plan to come back to Israel in December. I think my Dad was impressed that we knew people in the 'hood.

Boys are in bed now, but not sure if they will be able to sleep. The CK has been attacked again by the "yetushim" (mosquitoes) and he is pretty itchy and uncomfortable. We gave him Benadryl and hope that works. The WK is excited because he broke his sushi-eating record tonight - 34 pieces.

Tomorrow we plan to go do some touring stuff with Dad, and then having a family over to eat with us in the sukkah. Pentheus is making panko chicken, at the CK's request.

"This wouldn't happen in Cambridge, would it?"

Yesterday morning the WK and I went to Cafe Duvshaneet, so that I could get my natool before going to Coop Shop (that's what it is called in Hebrew, too) to get a few things for Shabbat dinner. On the way back from Coop Shop, Pentheus called me on the cell phone. Olamit (the mother of Gideon, the boys' friend from the Moshava Park) had called Pentheus a few minutes earlier to invite both our boys to "the North" for the weekend. Her husband's family lives in Kfar Keesh, which is between Afula and Tiberias, about  2 1/2 hours away.

Both boys really wanted to go. CK was particularly excited, even though he's only been away from us for that long once or twice, and at those times, the boys stayed with their aunt and uncle whom they see all the time. Pentheus and I talked to the boys and then to each other, and we couldn't think of a reason why they shouldn't go. I called Olamit, who was pleased the boys would be joining them in the North and asked that the boys come to her house as soon as possible. So, Pentheus walked with the boys to Olamit's house. When Pentheus returned to our dira, I commented to him that this wouldn't happen in Cambridge. I don't know that we would let the boys go away for 2 days with a family whom we had met once. Pentheus laughed because apparently when he left the boys at Olamit's, Olamit had commented how, "This wouldn't happen in Cambridge, would it?"  When I told my Dad about Olamit's invitation, he asked how long Pentheus and I had to think about our answer - a second or a millisecond?! The boys are gone until early Sunday afternoon.

At any rate, Pentheus and I are alone in Jerusalem this weekend! We've been having a good weekend. Yesterday, we met Rafaela (Rafi), our tour guide's daughter, who is going to be the boys' Hebrew tutor. Rafi seems great. She has tutored before and came to the meeting with some sample books that she thought she might use with the boys. Rafi has great ideas about how to make learning fun, and we're very excited for her to start. Her first couple of lessons are this Tuesday morning and next Sunday morning. After the boys are back in school after Sukkot ends, we hope that Cheli will allow Rafi to tutor the boys for an hour a couple of times a week at the Szold School.

I tentatively hired a guitar teacher for the CK. The teacher, named Orr, seems like a nice man. Orr has never taught someone as young as the CK, but we're going to have an initial meeting/lesson in a couple of weeks to see how it goes. We didn't bring a guitar to Israel for the CK to use, but Orr has one that the CK can use. I hope it goes well. It would be great for the CK to have guitar lessons again; he needs something to look forward to doing.

(OK, as I was typing, I looked up at the TV. WVU is beating Baylor in football with a score of 70-56, and Baylor is about to score with 3+ minutes left in regulation. 70-56? Seems pretty high of a score, doesn't it? Oh, Baylor scored - 70-63. Even the announcer just asked whether they were playing basketball or football. The QB had 8 TDs and no interceptions. Wow.)

News Flash: it's raining! It's the first time it has rained in Jerusalem since we arrived in early August. When Pentheus and I were walking to dinner (taking advantage of the boys being up North!), we thought we saw lightening a few times. And, now it's raining! It stopped after about 10 minutes, and then rained again for a few. Hopefully, the rain will cool things off a bit. It has been in the mid 90's again all week.

Anyway, after we met with Rafi, we  walked on the Emek for a bit and then went to look for a lulav and etrog for the holiday of Sukkot. (http://www.myjewishlearning.com/holidays/Jewish_Holidays/Sukkot/Sukkot_101.shtml) Pentheus and the boys had begun to build our sukkah on Thursday, and most of it has been completed. Sukkot starts at sundown tomorrow night (Sunday) and lasts 7 days. (It is followed by the Jewish holidays of Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, but I will write about those in next week's blog postings.) We've been invited to Rabbi Pear's (Shir Chadash's Rabbi, whom I like very much) for the holiday meal tomorrow night. I assume we'll go to services on Monday, and then we're having dinner in the sukkah on Monday night.

We've built a sukkah in Cambridge for the past few years (thanks L&B!), but it's unbelievable how beautiful, intricate and big the sukkahs are around here. Almost immediately after Yom Kippur, and many times, even before, people start building their sukkahs. On the main streets, there are multiple tables with people selling wholesale lulav and etrog, plus other sukkah materials. Everyone seems to have a sukkah, even the restaurants, including Roza, where Pentheus and I had dinner tonight:

More on Sukkot as the holiday begins.... 

Whole Bunch of Unrelated Things

There have been a whole bunch of unrelated things that I have wanted to share in this blog, but I haven't had the time. Though it's getting late, and I am exhausted from Yom Kippur and the fast, I am going to try to write some of them out.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote how a woman we had met at M'vahkshei Derech offered us the information on her house cleaner as her "contribution" to our decision to come to Israel for 5 months. We've used her house cleaner, a man named "Raz", several times and he does a fairly good job. (FYI, we pay Raz 130 shekels/cleaning ($35) - he probably cleans for about 2 hours.) Raz was last here Sept 12 before Rosh Hashanah, and we had been trying to figure out a time for Raz to come again. We wanted Raz to clean before Sukkot (which begins Sunday night) mainly because my Dad arrives to visit the day after, but Raz was confused about the schedule of Jewish holidays; he kept saying there were only 2-3 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, when there is actually a bit more than a week. I called Raz this past Sunday to see if there were a time he could come this week. We made arrangements for Raz to come yesterday (the day before Yom Kippur) at 9 am. Just before 9, though, Raz called to say he couldn't make it because of some roads were closed because of Yom Kippur and could he please come on Thursday instead. After I hung up from speaking to Raz, I asked Pentheus if he thought it was strange that Raz couldn't come. Pentheus said he wasn't surprised at all that Raz couldn't make it, especially because Raz likely lived in East Jerusalem (the Arab part) and the roads to the rest of Jerusalem were closed for the holiday. I was kind of stunned - it had honestly never dawned on me that Raz was an Arab. Now that I know, of course, it makes sense; that's why Raz had the Jewish holidays confused - they aren't his holidays. I'm usually pretty good at things like that, but I just didn't get it. I don't know if that makes me naive or self-centered or something else.

I might have found an Ulpan! Or, more correctly, an Ulpan might have found me. The woman who had initially told me about the Ulpan at the matnas in Ba'aka had continued looking for an Ulpan with no success. So, she hired a Hebrew teacher and created the class! The Ulpan starts 30 Oct and runs through the middle of March. We'll meet twice a week (Sunday and Tuesday mornings, 9-10:30). The class is limited to 9 women, and the emphasis will be on conversational Hebrew and listening to the radio (as opposed to reading and writing). The class will be geared to level "daled-hei" which is level 4-5. I don't really know what level "daled-hei" means in terms of where my Hebrew is, but I'm planning to attend and to find out. I asked whether I could join only until the end of December and was told I could - we are going to hope we find a replacement for me starting January. I am very excited about the Ulpan. Not only do I really want to be working on my Hebrew, but I love the idea of being in class with other women.

I am still trying to find volunteer opportunities to fill my time. I spoke to Cheli, the principal of the boys' school, and she promised we would get together after vacation ends to talk about what I might be able to do. I am willing to do most things, as long as I am with others and can use my Hebrew to some extent. The Szold School has talked about my working individually with students learning English, and I would be okay with that. I really want to do something, and I would love for it to be at the boys' school.

Although the boys are learning some Hebrew at school, and certainly they are exposed to Hebrew a lot, we wish they were learning and speaking more, so we are hiring a Hebrew tutor. Ideally, it would be great if they could get the Hebrew tutoring during the school day, when they are not otherwise participating in their classes. (We don't want the boys to be at school 8-2:20 and then have another couple of hours of Hebrew class. That just doesn't sound like much fun.) I talked to Cheli about it, and she thinks we can make arrangements for someone to come to the school for the boys. We have a great lead for a potential tutor - it's the 18-year old daughter of the private tour guide we are using when my Dad and sister come to Israel next month. Apparently, our guide's daughter starts the Israeli army in mid-December and is looking for things to do for the next couple of months. I've contacted her, and we are going to meet at Aroma on Friday to see if we can work something out.

You know how Time magazine does its Person of the Year in January? Well, the Jerusalem Post does its Person of the Year at Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. This year's Person of the Year is Mohamed Morsy, the President of Egypt. Per the Jerusalem Post, President Morsy, an American-schooled engineering professor who led the Muslim Brotherhood parliamentary bloc from 2000-2005, is an Islamist resentful of Western civilization and is out to hammer at the Camp David Accords. But, the Post notes, even if Israel doesn't particularly like Morsy, he is now Israel's next-door neighbor, and will have to deal with issues such as Cairo's control over the Sinai, Egypt's lack of natural resources (i.e., an inability to use a resource such as oil as a tool in its foreign policy actions), a largely poor and illiterate people (1 of every 2 Egyptians can read and half of the country lives off of less than $2/day), and other complex issues.

Oh, I haven't written much about it yet because it's been bumming me out, but so far the "re-do" hasn't worked so well. The boys' behavior, especially that of the CK, has been atrocious - fighting, screaming and throwing fits about everything; disrespectful to us and to each other; refusing to go to bed or to do something we have asked them to do; etc. You get the picture. It's been pretty much like that all week, and started pretty much a day or two after the family meeting. In the context of Yom Kippur, we've talked about trying to do better and taking responsibility for our actions. To be honest, we're not sure what we are going to do about it. The boys have school vacation for 2 weeks and then we're traveling around Israel with my Dad and sister for a few days. There isn't going to be much of a routine for them to fall into until the latter part of October, which is still several weeks away. We can't punish them by not going to Masada or to travel in the North, but we also can't have every day be an exhausting battle of wills.

So as not to end on a bad note, I can tell you one of our favorite things about Israel:

That's right - kosher gummi candy, lots and lots of it! In the States, most gummi candies contain unkosher gelatin, but not in Israel. We often buy gummi candies in bulk, usually at Machaneh Yehudah, the outdoor market, where gummi candy is 28 shekels/kilogram. The boys' favorites are the gummi worms and bananas, the cola-flavored gummies and the sour gummi strips. I get creeped out by the gummi snakes(see bottom middle part of the photo), and refuse either to buy them or let the boys buy them. I have to have some control, right?!

Yom Kippur in Yerushalayim

About an hour and a half ago, we broke the Yom Kippur fast. It was the first Yom Kippur I have spent in Jerusalem, and I am so glad I was here. It was like nothing else I have seen.

People started getting ready for the holiday earlier this week. Monday was the last day of school until after the holidays of Sukkot, Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah - no school until Wednesday October 10 (G-d help us). The Emek was almost empty on Tuesday, as most of the stores were closed or operating with reduced hours. That is, almost empty except for the swamp of people in the bagel shops, presumably getting food for break fast. Holy Bagel had run out of bagels by 12:15 and closed earlier than expected. Tal Bagels was open until 1 pm, and I think the entire city of Jerusalem was in there. The bagels are excellent, but I was really angry at the prices Tal Bagel charges. (We got 4 plain bagels, a small container of tuna fish, and a small container of plain cream cheese. Our total was 86 shekels - that's close to $22! Each container was over $10 - they should be ashamed of themselves for charging that. If there had been time, and if there weren't 100 people shouting out their orders at the same time, I would have returned the food. Okay, Pentheus keeps telling me I should "let it go" but it makes me so angry.)

We had a low-key family dinner of panko chicken, rice, green beans and juice. We had been to 2 or 3 stores to look for chicken on the bone, but the only chicken we could find yesterday was boneless, skinless breasts. I guess the lesson we learned is to buy everything needed for Yom Kippur more than a day early. We started eating around 4 pm because candle lighting was at 4:57.

Although we had been watching the clock to make sure we lit candles on time, we needn't have. A long siren sounds in Jerusalem to let everyone in the city know that Yom Kippur is starting. Apparently, there is a siren every Friday afternoon to mark the beginning of Shabbat, too, but I had never heard it. This siren we heard.

About 20 minutes later, we walked to Shir Chadash to hear Kol Nidre, the prayer that begins Yom Kippur. (http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday4.htm) As we walked to shul, it was amazing to see so many other people walking as well. There were absolutely no cars on the roads, and everyone was walking in the middle of the streets. It is traditional to wear white on Yom Kippur and not to wear leather shoes. (I always thought we didn't wear leather on Yom Kippur because leather was a sign of wealth, and on Yom Kippur, we strip ourselves bare of material possessions so as to ask for forgiveness in our "lowest state." I just looked it up, however, and according to Chabad.com, we don't wear leather because it is seen as a "luxury" and something comfortable. The idea is that we should afflict ourselves to demonstrate the extent to which we are remorseful about our past deeds.

When I entered the women's side of the mecheetzah at Shir Chadash, it was almost shocking how much white there was. And, the array of non-leather shoes was almost amusing - lots of Crocs and flip-flops, a few fuzzy slippers and many canvas shoes. (I, of course, didn't have anything white, but I wore a black and white dress, with my white faux Keds.) Kol Nidre hadn't begun yet, and many of the women were talking to other women, hugging them, and asking for forgiveness for any sins committed in the past year. It was touching to watch the interactions, and it's clear the community at Shir Chadash is close.

(That being said, I have remarked to Pentheus several times that I think the men at Shir Chadash are more warm and welcoming than the women are. It's not that the women aren't nice, but very few have introduced themselves to me or asked me if we were new in the congregation. The men have made more of an effort, but maybe that's because Pentheus and the boys have made some friends, and I get introduced to them via the men in my family.)

Services last night were nice. It's always amazing to me to think that Jews all around the world are doing the exact same prayers for Yom Kippur as we are. I mean, technically, all Jewish prayers on all days are the same wherever one is, but on Yom Kippur, it feels particularly poignant. One of the rabbis at Shir Chadash gave a very interesting sermon on Jonah (which we actually read on Yom Kippur afternoon). His sermon discussed the idea that many people think the story of Jonah is about recognizing one can't escape from G-d and how if one repents for his/her sins, he/she can be redeemed. The rabbi's idea was something different. He talked about the lesson from Jonah is to learn compassion for others.The Rabbi argued that if Jonah had felt compassion for the people of Nineveh, then Jonah would have been happy that the people heeded his warning and repented to G-d. Instead, though, Jonah was angry that G-d saved the city of Nineveh after its people repented. Jonah didn't learn the concept of compassion until after the tree/bush he was sitting under died after only one day of life. When the tree/bush died, Jonah was sad and asked G-d why G-d had killed it. G-d, in turn, asked Jonah why he thought G-d should have compassion on a tree/bush that only lived one day and not have compassion for the people of Nineveh who had sinned but also repented for their actions. I'm sure I am not doing the sermon justice, but I thought it was very interesting.

Services today went pretty long - 8 am-2 pm and then 3-6:30. That's a lot of hours! I wasn't there for the entire time, but Pentheus was. I arrived this morning before the Torah service, which is my favorite part. Immediately after the Torah service, there was Yizkor, the memorial service. Many Jews have the custom to leave for the Yizkor service if one has not lost a parent, but, unfortunately, I stay for Yizkor. Rabbi Pear, the main rabbi of Shir Chadash, (he was the one who asked about my Mom at the yarzheit minyan the other day) requested that everyone come back for the end of Yizkor for prayers honoring Israeli soldiers who died defending the State of Israel and honoring Jews who were killed simply for being Jews (e.g., those killed in the Holocaust, terror attacks, etc.) Rabbi Pear also gave a great sermon this morning -  I just tried writing and rewriting a summary of his sermon, but I can't seem to get it right. I'll email the Rabbi and ask for a pdf.

I was home for a couple of hours this afternoon before heading back to synagogue for the Neila service (http://www.chabad.org/holidays/JewishNewYear/template_cdo/aid/5349/jewish/Closing-Services.htm), the closing service of Yom Kippur. Neila was beautiful and moving at Shir Chadash. It's amazing to me that even after fasting 23+ hours, the services were still inspiring to me. When the women were praying, some of them had their eyes closed and held their palms up, beseeching G-d for forgiveness. (The men may have been doing similar things, but I couldn't see any of them, except for the cantor leading the service.) The voices of the community singing in prayer was powerful, and there was such joy and exultation in their prayers.

Services finished around 6:15-ish and two families sponsored a break-fast at the shul. We stayed for a short while and then headed home. We ate our bagels (and extremely overpriced tuna salad and cream cheese) and cleaned up the dishes. Pentheus tried to do some work, the boys watched some "Scooby Doo" videos, and I worked on this blog entry.

Before I go off to bed, please allow me to wish those of you who are still fasting an easy fast and a good year to us all.