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.
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 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!
Love the Red Sox hat in the picture!
ReplyDeleteGabrieli Challah cover is a Great engagement gift or a present for your host!
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