Am I now a real oleh?

My mother has just been here for the past week. It was great while she was out here. She got to spend some time with her grandchildren. I got to catch up on some family goings ons in person. The kind of stuff you can't really get through on the phone. We also got to take some trips with the children.

All in all it was a great visit.

So this past motzei shabbos I drove her to the airport, and we got to talk for a bit, saying our good byes.

Now, I'm not that emotional of a person. Particularly when it comes to goodbyes (be it b/c I'm a guy, or I'm just cold hearted) I don't get worked up. I have no problems with the good byes in the airport.

So I was a bit surprised when I had a bit of a strange feeling as I was walking out of the airport. It was one of here is my home. I'm escorting my mother out of my home as she goes back to hers. And this is my home. Be it Ben Gurion airport, or the winding river like roads of Ramat Beit Shemesh. I'm home. I go to Ben Gurion to pick people up or escort them home. I don't go there anymore to say goodbye to Eretz Yisroel.

I'm finally home.

Betsy

Someone just reminded me about my old car - Betsy.

Ahh how I miss her.

She was great, got me all the way through Yeshiva to my wedding. Though she was anything but graceful.

She had what would be politley called character! She had a sagging roof that I had to staple up so it wouldn't take my yameka off when I had to turn my head.

She had things sticking out of the headrest that my wife still complains about her injury in my car on one of our dates (I think it barely broke her skin).

She even had tzoraas.

Not to mention at some point the passanger door had issues opening.

So it came as a huge surprise when one morning my parents got woken up when the police came to the door at around 7am asking if we were missing a car.

My mother saw my fathers car, saw hers, and replied, not that I'm aware of, have you found one?

So he said that they found an 88 Celebrity idling in front of the nearby school and was wondering if we wanted it back.

Figuring it still did get me to yeshiva my father and I drove over there (all of 3 blocks away) to pick it up. It was kind of surreal, as it was way to early in the morning for us, and the police even agreed with us in our perplexedness as to why would someone steal the car.

In the end the only damage was an ashtray filled with change (about $4), and part of the ignition broken off.

On the bright side, it did add an extra bit of character, as the police officer showed me how to "hotwire" my car with the screwdriver the theives left me (whoo hoo new screwdriver!), as they broke the part of the ignition the key goes into.

(After a bit, I got better at it and was able to start it without the screwdriver).

Tiyul: Beit Shmesh Stalactite Cave

Our first real tiyul with Bubbie was to the Beit Shemesh Stalactite Cave. After the drive up the hill we were all ready for a break, and found a nice picnic table for lunch (as an aside, one of the great things about this country, is you can go about every 100 meters and find another picnic area).

On to the caves!

We park the car, and go up to the booth to get a ticket, and we see we have to descend a mountain to get to the cave. Sarah said wow this is pretty nice, is this it? I had to sadly tell her no, this was just the beginning, oh, and don't forget, we still have to walk back up!

We were a little wary at first, as the last time we went on a tiyul in a cave, it was pitch black, and I had two little children who were practically petrified going through. B"H this one went alright. After going in, paying and getting ready to enter, they told us that the tour is only in Hebrew. So we're thinking fine, lets go with out a tour guide. What do we need one for anyway, there's a path right? there's some light? We'll be fine!

Unfortunately, they didn't see things the same way we did, and we were forced to go though with the guide.

On the plus side, the movie at the beginning had English subtitles! So Sarah read them to the kids (who I think really do understand now, but are just playing with us). Mind you, I did have to chase after RM as he thought it would be fun to run in front of the video (I mean why wouldn't it be fun to have your father chase you all over the tiny theater).

Then we start to go in, though with a small warning of "Don't touch the rocks". That's like telling my children "Don't breathe", or "Don't sneak into the nosh cabinet at 6 in the morning" I mean c'mon!

So pretty much the rest of the tour was the guide telling us how all the rocks look like snow white or Santa Clause, me running after RM wondering where he went. Telling the children not to touch the rocks, Sarah being bored b/c she didn't understand the guide (lay off of her, she just got here, she'll pick up the Hebrew soon enough, relax!).

So if you want to know, yes we did have a good time, it was fun and we'll probably go again, once we all work on our Hebrew a bit!

More to come

Since my mother arrived in Israel last week, I've been very busy. In particular, this week has been very busy, with us tiyuling around, and then as soon as I get home, hitting the keyboard for work.

The short list is we've been to Beit Shemesh (I know, I know, it's just 10 minutes away, but we went to he Stalactite cave), Shalavim, and the Yerushalayim.

Later this week we're up for Yavne, Tel-Aviv, and who knows what else.

We'll see what we can pack in with out the adults passing out.

I'll fill you all in (and with pictures!) when I have a few more minutes to breath!

Goldsmith the Silversmith

I had to get one of our candle sticks fixed, as it was wounded in the move. Looking for a way to get it repaired (before my mother came), I saw an ad for Goldsmithe the Silversmith. I figured with a cute name like that how could I go wrong?!

As I dropped it off, I was shmoozing with him for a little bit. He's an older man, who made aliyah with his wife not that long ago. He told me that he was a silversmith in the old country, had retired, and moved here. I asked him what he's doing if he's retired. So you know what he told me? It was a response that you'd only find here.

He said that he needs to keep his skills in shape, b/c when Mashiach comes, and the Bais Hamikdash is brought back, we're going to be geting all of the gold & silver keilim (utensils). Since some people say that they were hidden in the ground, they are going to be needing a real good cleaning when they come back up. And who better to give them a good shine and a touch up than an experienced & qualified silversmith.

I just get amazed by the people around here all the time.

Someone needs a potch

And I mean a good one too!

The article linked below reminds me (lehavdil elef havdalos) of how my children sometimes rarely act. They ask for a cup of juice, I pour them one, and then they kvetch that they want more than what I gave them. To the point that we've had a few breakdowns of cihildren screaming and wailing on the floor that I didn't give them enough.

Stuff like this makes me angry:

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Sunday welcomed Israel's decision to release close to 200 Palestinian prisoners as a gesture to the Palestinian Authority, but said Israel should release even larger numbers of prisoners.

"We welcome the release of any Palestinian prisoner. It is considered a victory for Palestinians," he told The Associated Press during a tour of the northern village of Tubas. "We ask Israel to change its conditions for releasing prisoners and we ask for the release of all prisoners without exception."

They can't be happy with what they are given, I mean the PM is giving them their prisoners back, 200 isn't enough, they need more.

I guess they never learnt Pirkei Avos:

Who is rich? One who is satisfied with his lot

On the bright side, I guess this means that at least the gov't can save a few shekels now.

Not to Complain & Ice Cream

After reading this post from Jameel What is a JBlogger?, I realized it could have been construed that I was kvetching a bit in my previous post. However, I didn't feel that I was kvetching so much as bringing to light the metzius of the situation I was in.

In light of this, I thought I would at least bring a positive situation we have here in regards to our grocery stores and makolets. And that would be two words.

Ice Cream.

They have the most amazing array of ice creams in this country. Coming from someone who keeps chalav yisroel, in the states it's pretty hard to find anything that spectacular. I mean you have Kliens with their most daring of flavours - Cookies and Cream - oooh.

But here, it's just incredible what they have. I know my wife is planning on writting something about ice cream, as I believe that is one of her primary foods (which if I'm not mistaken, she put some clause about ice cream in the kesuvah), I'll let her get more in depth on this issue.

Getting back what you gave them

In my family we used to be OK with the ideas of mortality and possessions. Well, at least my sister and I were, we never really asked how our parents felt about it.

What you ask is the association of mortality and possessions?

Well, picture this, Shabbos afternoon, during the seudah, I say to my sister:

"Naomi, I call the dinning room table!"

She replies, "OK, but I get the breakfront"

"Fine, but I get the wine chest"

"Wait, that's not fair, you're getting Bubbie's dinning room table, you can't get the wine chest as well - that was hers!"

"Alright, fine, you get the wine chest, but I get couch!"

And this would continue for a few more minutes. Now like I said we never asked how our parents felt about this (they can chime in in the comments if they like), but we were OK with it. I mean, death is an eventuality that we were mature enough to handle (at about 13 or so) and with that comes the divvying up of possessions.

So now flash forward some 18 years, and we're hanging up some pictures on the wall of our new place. Sarah is sitting in her chair directing me as to where the pictures should go, and SL is sitting on the couch holding and admiring one of the hanging things we have, and says:

"Mommy, when you die chas v'shalom, can I have this?"

Sarah was a bit flustered, not sure how to respond, while I with my years of going through the same conversations replied, "SL, just wait till that happens, then we can discuss it".

Nothing like pushing off the inevitable!

Where's the Beef?

It's 20:30 (or 8:30 pm for you Americans), and Sarah and I want a burger. Ok, no problem, we shlepped along a brand new grill fromthe US. It's a nice one too. It's got a warming rack, and a nice little burner on the side so I can cook stuff. Like noodles or something. That goes good with meat right? I even paid some money to get a gas tank installed, I mean it's kind of hard to grill with out gas - or so I'm told.

Anyway, I figure, I live in Israel, the land of the Jews, the land of milk & honey, the land where they have completely kosher stores called Chocolate land and Candy Land. Surely I can run out to the local grocey and pick up some pre-made burgers or at least some ground beef.

So I run out to the grocery. I first look through the fresh meat case. Ummm. Nope, lots of chicken, I mean tons of chicken. Cutlets, shnitzel (thin cutlets), pieces, livers, even hearts. They have chicken hearts! But no meat.

Okay, off to the frozen meat section. First I get excited, a whole array of prepackaged meat stuff. But dissappointment settles in when I realize it's just veggie stuff. Okay next row - which when I mean row, I'm talking about a good 30 feet of frozen goods - what do I see, but more chicken! I mean I like chicken, but I want some meat - particularly the ground up kind that I can mold into a nice delicious burger, with a special bland of spices mixed in, and some BBQ sauce on top grilling in the open night air. Ahhhh. But I digress, I'm losing focus. Where's the beef!

Shuffling through the frozen chicken, I find the meat. But alas it's just hunks of meat. I mean I'm surprised as I haven't really seen this kind of stuff in the states. But no ground beef! I mean give me something. Even a small package of 1/2 a pound would do. I could make a burger out of that. But nothing!

I leave the store dejected. I wander around feeling down that I can't bring home the beef. What am I to do :(

I finally drag myself over to Grill Burger where I order up two burgers and sadly drive home with my find. I mean I'm a guy, I'm supposed to be killing my cow throwing it on the grill and calling it a dinner. Instead I have to resort to buying burgers, I mean who does that nowadays!

Well, If there's anything this outing has taught me, it's that I have to find myself a good butcher in this town of mine. And one that can grind me up some beef.

Heavenly Bodies

Tonight I saw my first satellite - with my own eyes. The ISS was passing overhead, and it was specifically visible to Israel.

Apropos to see my first heavenly body in Israel!

Oh, and since I was out there, and had a handy star chart, I was able to easily spot Jupiter.

I've been wanting that telescope for a long time now...

ht: life in Israel & Mike Winner

The 9 Days

This past Wednesday I had a first.

It was the first time I attended a siyum during the nine days and got to eat meat!

It wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be.

The siyum though was for my downstairs neighbors son. He had just completed Shas mishnayos - for the second time. Oh yeah, and he hasn't even started yeshivah ketana (or high school) yet.

When his father spoke, he mentioned how all he did was just set a goal for himself, and then hit it. Even though we are just off of the 9 days, and we're supposed to be working on our sinas chinam, and how jealousy is one of the root causes of that. I can say that I am jealous of him, and how he was able to stick with his goal, and finally acheive it.

I believe this kind of jealousy is ok.

Which Superhero am I?

Your results:You are Superman

Superman 80% Robin 72% Supergirl 67% Spider-Man 55% Hulk 45% Wonder Woman 42% The Flash 40% Green Lantern 40% Iron Man 40% Batman 30% Catwoman 20%

You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test

Admitting you're wrong

There are sometimes in life where you just have to realize that you weren't meant to do something. In order to grow you have to know your strengths as well as your weaknesses. Yesterday, I came to a sad conclusion....I've should never be an ulpan teacher.

SL comes home earlier than his younger two brother (read previous post to find out why). So during this time we get to have MU time (Me & you = MU). So yesterday I asked him the usual questions: "How was school?", "What did you do today?", etc. So, he decided to tell me what he does during the day. As he's reviewing, davening, learning, hafsaka, etc., he mentions that during lunch rebbe sometime has a lotto. OK I think that's nice. Then SL complains "Why does rebbe always say pa'amayim by my name?" I think OK pa'am means time (as in one time). So pa'amayim means twice. But, just to make sure I take out my handy Hebrew/English dictionary. I'm scanning and I see what I think is what I'm looking for but, it says that it means "sometimes".

So this is when it goes downhill fast. I'm in loving, patient mother mood (read: I took a nap). So I say OK SL let's use it in a sentence to understand it better:

"Shimon Leib dachuf ach shelo....pa'amayim!"
"Shimon Leib daber chutzpa...pa'amayim!"
"Shimon Leib yeled tov...pa'amayim!"

Now he's rolling with laughter. Later AY comes comes home. We do the same thing with him. We're all in a joyful mood. Everyone is happy they learned a new word. I feel like a good mother, etc.

Then Eric gets home. We talk about they day and I proudly tell him what happened today and how I taught the children a new word. His face was first a smirk, then a giggle, then a full fledged roaring laughter. (For any of you who've seen Eric really laugh you know what I mean). He said Sarah, pa'amayim means twice, l'famim means sometimes."

Oh well, I guess I could always stretch out my maternity leave a little longer until I know the language better.

Only in Israel

So back in the states most museums might have a coat check, or stroller check, if they don't allow strollers. In Israel, they have a weapons check

Tiyul Time!

Yesterday after school, we all piled into the car to go on our somewhat religious Sunday tiyul. Being that my work load is lighter on Sunday, we have the liberty of going out and getting back in before I have to hit the keyboard.

To tell the truth, the only reason we went on this tiyul was to find a book for Sarah. Being that she is going to be home all day with the kids, and not even fasting, she wanted to read something that would get her into the Tisha B'Av spirits, that would also hold her interest. We heard about a new book called "On my Walls Jerusalem" and decided to get it. Since our local bookstore didn't carry it, we figured it's a good excuse to go to Jerusalem.

So, where was I, ah yes. We all piled into the car and drove off into the mid afternoon sun.

Wait a second, I forgot to tell you where we headed off.

We first thought about going to the Biblical zoo, but passed on that as we thought in might not be purely in the spirit of the 9 days. I then recalled the mini model of the old city from the time of the 2nd temple. Ah, that seems like a god idea for the 9 days - to see what we've lost.

So, into the car we piled, and driving off into the mid afternoon sun, we arrived at the Israel Museum. Lucky for us, someone donated some money to the museum, and we saved on the kids admission!

We got in and headed straight for the model. It was incredible. The detail that the builders put into it was amazing.

We wandered around the model for a while, headed over to the Dead Sea Scrolls, and left b/c the kind security guards told us we had to leave.

From there we headed out to Geula to find the sefer/book Sarah was looking for, and hit the jackpot on only our second seforim store. Next we obligingly headed out to Uri's pizza where I got yelled at b/c RM decided to start wandering off almost into the street of Malchei Yisroel. B"H he was fine.

We then piled back into the car and headed home.

Thankfully no one puked on the ride back :o)