Aliya Today

It's that time of year again. Nefesh B'Nefesh  has the Internet buzzing with live broadcasts of olim arriving early in the morning at Ben Gurion airport to the cheers of bleary eyed veterans who come there to meet them. Everyone is smiling and crying tears of joy.
Around our virtual campfire (Facebook) folks who came here pre-NBN reminisce about what it was  like 'before'. NBN has only been around for the last decade and has certainly revolutionized the immigration process. Many of the arrangements that took weeks of running around and filling out forms at different venues are now done at the airport or at central meeting places where the newbies are helped with opening bank accounts and signing up for health insurance, all of which make the process smoother, I'm sure.
Deep down under it all, all of us who choose Israel as our home arrive with an uplifting feeling of pride in the country mixed with a certain fear that we and the country will not live up to our expectations. Like every relationship we will become more realistic as we  go along. But those first impressions, those first heady days, those patting ourselves on the shoulder moments, those 'this is actually happening' feelings, they help us in our new role as immigrants.


My own first hours in Israel were just a few weeks after the Six Day War (which has become ancient history it seems).  My most vivid memory is of going with my friends to Tel Aviv where just about every balcony had an Israeli flag hanging out. The flags were in honor of the liberation of Jerusalem and in celebration of the survival of the State of Israel when just a few weeks before many had not been certain that this Zionist experiment would live out its second decade. That euphoria is sort of like the laughter after  a particularly scary roller coaster ride, you know the kind where you ride a loop that has you completely upside down and you doubt your sanity. When it's over your laughing from relief. Only this danger was real. And then it was miraculously over. (Or so we thought.)
Thank you Facebook friends for that trip down memory lane and thank you NBN for bringing home so many more American Jews.
 And to our new citizens:

!ברוכים הבאים

First Day of School

This morning I began my studies at Matan, an institute for Torah studies, founded by Rabbanit Malka Bina in 1988. Rabbanit Bina is one of the pioneers of learning and teaching Torah to women, breaking ground by learning Talmud and teaching women to learn. Matan has a rich and varied schedule for both full time serious advanced students as well as part time students like Batya and me. There are dozens of classes given four days a week, both in English and Hebrew.  

Today I went to two classes. The first class I chose is a class in Talmud. tractate 'Brachot'. I have attended classes in Talmud before which were informal and we worked as a group along with the teacher to understand the materiel. So, it isn't like I've never see a page before. But in this class we are expected to do a bit more on our own in pairs. I was fortunate to be sitting next a very nice woman and we were able to figure out the work. Then our teacher, a relatively young (everything is relative) man, Rav Yitzhak Bazak, pulled it all together and we had an interesting discussion which included some practical conclusions and left me with as we say in Hebrew 'a taste for more'. I am so fortunate to be able to do this!

The second class is a comparison of several of the prophets and an exploration of the types of prophecy in Judaism given by a really gifted teacher Yael Schlossberg. I heard several of her lectures in the two weeks in September  when Matan held lectures by their scholars as well as others in preparation for the High Holidays and I was sold. She managed to create an intimate learning atmosphere, encourage participation and say everything she wanted in her allotted time in a packed auditorium with what I would estimate was about 150 women. 

I am looking forward to a fruitful and interesting year of learning. 

Jerusalem is the center of the world!

Beginnings*

A lot of water has flowed in the Jordan since the last time I wrote. That would give me an excuse to continue not writing, since there's no way I can make up for all the events I didn't post about. I am therefore faced with either giving up blogging altogether (continuing not to blog) or picking up and moving on.  I have chosen to move on, take the bull by the horns, get back in the saddle, batten down the hatches and full speed ahead and go at it once again.

*I would have written "New Beginnings" but David tells me that this is an oxymoron as all beginnings must be new and I don't like being called a moron, oxy or otherwise. 

Two major bits of news you may have missed if you are not my friend in real life or on FaceBook: 

The birth of Eitan Harari on 21 Iyyar 5772 in Sroka Hospital Be'er Sheva. Eytan is the long awaited brother of Tamar. He is named in honor of my father Abraham Rich. The connection is from the Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur service where we ask God to listen to pleas of our father Abraham - the first to advocate for God's mercy on sinners - to intercede for us with the Almighty. The words in Hebrew:  עוד יזכר לנו אהבת איתן אדוננו are translated (in my Birnbaum siddur) "O Lord, remember still the love of faithful Abraham". But in the Hebrew, Abraham is not named but instead called Eitan which can be translated as steadfast or strong or firm or sound or secure, you get the idea. It is, of course, our wish that our Eitan grow into the kind of man who will do justice to his namesakes, both my personal father and the father of our nation.

We moved to Jerusalem!

Baruch Dayan Emet ~ Rabbi Hanan Porat

report here:  Rabbi Hanan Porat Passes Away 

Over the years that I have lived in Israel there has been no one person who I felt ideologically closer to than Rav Hanan Porat. His total commitment to Torah both in learning and teaching, his commitment to building up the land and people of Israel and his commitment to social justice will probably remain unequaled for a long time to come. It is not just that he said the right things, he lived them. And he expressed these ideas clearly and what I can only describe as gracefully.
His life was a blessing to our people and may the family find comfort in the rebuilding of Zion and Jerusalem.
יהי זכרו ברוך

A Meaningful Fast

It would have been nicer if we didn't have to fast on Tisha B'Av this year. But since we did not merit the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem we fasted and mourned the destruction of the first two temples.
This year I had some very meaningful experiences which I'd like to share.
On the night of Tisha B'Av we gather in our synagogues for the ma'ariv (evening) prayer and read the scroll of Eicha (Lamentations). This year I participated in a special reading done by women. It was followed by a program which included reading the Kinot (poems of mourning) with a view to better understanding them. The program moved on to learning other literature relevant to the destruction interspersed with our singing solemn songs a capella. It was a very moving experience.
In the morning I went to my regular synagogue where we had the usual morning service followed by reading the Kinot with historic and contextual explanations by our own Rabbi Aryeh Frimer. That was followed by a lesson about the legend recounted in the Talmud of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza given by another member of our congregation.
Marking Tisha B'Av is not easy for us today. On the simplest level we are talking about events which took place thousands of years ago. It's hard to keep up the sense of loss over so many years. Of course, it wasn't just a building that was destroyed, it was the entire way of life of the Jewish people in their land and their religious observance. It was the start of the exile which has still not come to an end. Over the years Tisha B'Av has become the day for mourning many other serious tragedies which have befallen the Jews all the way from the Crusades through the Holocaust. So while it is not difficult to relate to mourning historically it is a challenge to make it personal.
Experiences like the ones I had this year make the day much more meaningful. And here lies another paradox. Jewish mourning rules do not permit learning Torah because we love it and it brings us comfort. For this reason on Tisha B'Av we are permitted to study only 'bad' things (i.e. about the destruction) or nothing at all. So if I have a sense of satisfaction because I have come closer to understanding the tragedy that is Tisha B'Av is that good or bad?
My hope and prayer is that next year I won't have to deal with these questions.

Announcing the Month of Av

On Shabbat in synagogues around the world we announced that on Monday we will be marking Rosh Hodesh (the first day of the month of) Av. We are already in the midst of the three weeks marking the period between the time that the walls of Jerusalem were breached (17th Tamuz) before the first Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians and the the 9th of Av 586 B.C.E (and again on that very same date by the Romans 70 C.E.) The 9th of Av, known as Tisha B'Av is a fast day in commemoration of the destruction and the book of Eicha (Lamentations) is read in the synagogue.

• I would like to recommend a series of podcasts published on the Internet by KMTT a daily podcast from Yeshivat Har Etzion which is just part of an amazing set of Torah resources made available by the Yeshiva. The series consists of 9 installments of about 30-40 minutes recorded by Dr. Yael Ziegler in 2009 found here. Dr. Ziegler teaches at the Herzog College in Gush Etzion and at Matan Women's Institute for Torah Learning in Jerusalem. She looks at the book through literary analysis and historic perspective without loosing sight of the religious message for all generations. I have listened to the series once and plan to listen again this week in preparation for this year's fast.

May we merit that this year the fast be cancelled and we all instead celebrate instead the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple. Amen.

In Real Life!

Last night the Jbloggersphere welcomed Hadassah of In The Pink and William Daroff.

Also there were many folks from my sidebar like the Medads of me-ander, Shilo Musings, My Right Word etc. and Mom in Israel, Life in Israel, Benji of What War Zone etc. etc. There was lots of cheer and good food and drink. A good time was had by all. 

Definitely worth doing if you're visiting Israel!

A Night at the Movies

This week's Haveil Havalim is here. 
I love the theater. There is something magical about seeing real live people on the stage. Movie theaters on the other hand are noisy places where I usually don't enjoy myself. When I do watch movies, it is usually at home where I can get up in the middle and move around The last time I went to see a movie in a movie theater (not counting with my grandchildren during summer vacation) was when I went to see Yochai Rosenberg's "The Yard"  documentary in Tel Aviv. That was a lovely experience where we got to visit with the filmmaker and the film itself was a moving piece of Jerusalem experience.
Last night, my daughter and I went to see Joseph Cedar's new movie "Footnote" הערת שוליים which won the prize for best screenplay at the Cannes festival this year.

We both enjoyed the movie immensely. The story is about a father and son, competing for recognition. It's also about the academic world with its own special brand of jealousies and intrigues. It is believable and the main characters are well drawn. There are a few (but really very few) scenes about relationships that are not so well developed and maybe should have been left out. Mostly the story moved along smoothly playing off family relationships against academic rivalry, truth playing against love and loyalty. Can they coexist?
Add to the story a backdrop of great scenes in Jerusalem which strike a nostalgic chord and I am captivated. The professor walks from Rehavia to the Hebrew University through the valley which is today criss-crossed by roads, public buildings and whatnot but the film  ignores that. There are scenes in the Jewish National Library on the Givat Ram campus of the Hebrew University as well as of the Rehavia neighborhood.
Something I usually don't notice is the background music in a movie but this time it just seemed to fit making the entire movie experience very pleasing.
Keep this up and I just might go to the movies again, one of these days.

Jerusalem's Special Day

Tonight we mark the 44th anniversary of the re-unification of Jerusalem.
For a poignant account of the war that led to the liberation of the city you really must read this account  by Chanan Porat. Rabbi Porat was evacuated as a child from Gush Etzion in 1948. He was a paratrooper in the Six-Day War when he fought to free the Old City of Jerusalem from the Jordanian occupation.
Money quote from his article:

" It was a war of survival against the arrogant Egyptian President, who spoke about a war of "annihilation and Jihad.”

"...[our} unit was actually headed towards the Sinai Peninsula. “The same morning that we were supposed to land on the outskirts of El-Arish to prevent the Egyptian army from carrying out its plan to reach Tel Aviv, it was announced that [Jordanian King] Hussein had joined the war and began to bomb Jerusalem. It was decided to change all the plans and go up to Jerusalem. It was no longer a war to defend our existence but a war over Jerusalem, a war of redemption."

While we're on the subject of Jerusalem, here is a clip worth watching:


Happy Holiday!

Memorial Day

Eli Solomon H"YD

Tonight we went to Rehovot's memorial service held in the "Defender's Park" where there is a memorial wall on which the names of Rehovotites who gave their lives for our country are inscribed. It was an impressive and moving tribute lasting over an hour and attended by hundreds of our fellow citizens. A man who lost his father, a Holocaust survivor, at the age of 4 in 1953 (which makes him exactly my age) shared his feelings about growing up without a father and slowly piecing together his father's legacy. He visited the cemetery yearly with his mother and younger brother, but no one talked about his father. Over the years he began asking about him and learning more about him. Nowadays, he comes to the cemetery with his brother and their families, wives, children and grandchildren, over twenty member of the generations. They tell of the heroic efforts of the Holocaust survivor to get an education and become a teacher in the new State of Israel. They pass on that legacy now to the fourth generation.

Chaim (Chuck) Hornstein  HY"D

The Chief Rabbi of Rehovot, Rav Simcha Hacohen Kook spoke passionately of his participation in the War of Independence as a member of the Moriah brigade in Jerusalem where they tried to get through to the Jewish Quarter of the Old City and save the starving soldiers and residents. In the end they did not succeed and it took 20 years until Rav Kook was able to walk through the Mandlebaum gate, the house near the Eastern gates of th old city which he fled with his mother's family just before the Arabs blew it up killing Haganah defenders inside.Today he is, in addition to being chief Rabbi of Rehovot, the Rabbi of the newly rebuilt Hurva Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. He ended with an emphatic statement that Jerusalem must remain in our hands.
Most of the speakers expressed the wish for a speedy return home in good health for Gilad Shalit . The ceremony ended with Kaddish, El Maleh Rahamim and the singing of Hatikva.
Of course the ceremony started with the siren and the minute of silence when each of us reflects on our memories Among those I think about are, of course, my two friends 'from the old country' Eli and Chuck. May God avenge their blood.

Take a few moments to watch this clip. It graphically represents the bereavement we remember today. 

The Renewed Israel Museum

Batya has the Kosher Cooking Carnival which is aptly named the Pre-Holiday Edition. We have a lot of eating coming up over the next two months so now is the time to begin preparing. 

Last week's Haveil Havalim  can be found over at Ima on (and off) the Bima. There should be a new one up soon, but if you've been vacationing (like me) you probably still have to read last week's posts to catch up. Soccer Dad, who is the founding father of Haveil Havalim, hosted this 280th edition. Yasher Koach!

We've been having a great time travelling around Israel. We visited the Israel Museum which was just re-opened after a major renovation. It was built at a time when everyone must have been young and healthy and didn't mind walking long distances in the hot sun. Joe Settler was there with his kids and has some nice pictures. (The guards warned me not to take any more pictures, so here's my only one.) So now you buy your tickets inside, in the air-conditioned entrance and walk up through a covered tunnel. 

The children's museum is close to the entrance. Joe's kids enjoyed their time there.  I am partial to museums that set aside special areas for children since I have very fond memories of the children's wing at the Metropolitan Museum in New York City. They don't have a dedicated children's wing there anymore, they have activities for kids in groups but not just a place where your mom can take you and you can touch things and learn.  

David and I spent a lot of time in the archaeology section and promised ourselves that we would come back soon to see the rest. We did come back in the evening for a lovely concert in the sculpture garden. 

Rehovot is just a short ride from Jerusalem so we will be going back again. 

Italian in Jerusalem

I have always felt at home in Jerusalem, having spent many wonderful years there. It is where David and I met and married and set up our first home. Life has taken us elsewhere but it's always nice to come 'home'. Last week we spent a day there and among other things we had lunch at the lovely Pera e Mela in Piazza (Pear & Apple in the Square) אגס ותפוח בכיכר. The restaurant is located in Kikar Safra on Jaffa Road where the municipality has its offices. It is just a hop skip and jump from the Jaffa Gate and we were on our way to the Kotel so we stopped in there.

This is an Italian dairy restaurant run by an Italian couple who used to live in Ramat Hagolan. We came mid-afternoon so the lunch crowd was already gone. The restaurant is tastefully decorated. The wooden tables and chairs give it a warm homey feeling and the pictures on the walls are tasteful.  I had baked potatoes with topped with broccoli and cheese which came with a salad and pesto dressing. David had spinach ravioli in tomato and mushroom sauce and a Greek salad (not shown). We liked what we had and it looks like there are many more interesting things on the menu including whole meals with fish. We will definitely be going back for a more leisurely dinner some time.

Jerusalem Sky

Shabbat Shalom!

Yesterday we spent the day in Jerusalem and ended up at the Israel Museum for a concert in the sculpture garden. This is the sky just after the sun set. Need I add anything?

More Sky Watch here!

Springtime in Jerusalem

Weekend Straight Out Of the Camera  (SOOC) For more of these go here. 

These photos were taken in Jerusalem a few weeks ago when it was still "spring". Israel really has no real spring it just goes from  rainy and cold to warm and then hot. But every once in a while you catch a day that reminds you of a northern hemisphere spring.

The Emanuel Family's Bar Mitzvah - Not your father's "Today I am a fountain pen"

From the website of the Western Wall Foundation: Celebrate at the Wall 

How much does it cost to make a Bar Mitzvah at the Western Wall?

 The Western Wall belongs to the entire Jewish people and the entrance is free. There are independent people who come to the Wall and offer to assist families in organizing their event for a price. 

The Western Wall Heritage Foundation provides volunteers who will help you with all aspects of your Bar Mitzvah at the Wall.

The Emanuel family from Chicago is here in Israel to mark the occasion of their son Zach's Bar Mitzvah. Dozens of boys and their families do this every week and it really shouldn't cause so much of a stir, but some people didn't like that idea and heckled the group as they visited the Western Wall yesterday. (see here) I really don't think that they acted appropriately or that their action was particularly effective. Instead of focusing on the real issues this just calls attention to the protesters.

But still, what's wrong with this picture? Why does this situation make me feel so uncomfortable?
The Western Wall isn't an impressive building. It's what's left of the supporting foundation of the impressive temple which was destroyed almost 2,000 years ago.  The Jewish people spent all those years in the diaspora mourning the destruction, of course, but also emphasizing the centrality of that temple and the land of Israel and never giving up hope of returning and rebuilding Jerusalem. It's right there in our prayers. Three times a day. Every day. In 1967 the Jews who returned to the land regained control of the area and so for the first time since the destruction of the temple 'entrance is free'. By taking advantage of this freedom though, I would say that you have to acknowledge that this a step closer to returning and rebuilding.
Forty-three years and we are already taking it for granted that Rahm Emanuel and his 13 year old son can come 'make a bar mitzvah' at the Western Wall. Actually you don't 'make' a bar mitzvah. You become a 'bar mitzva'. It's a status, at 13 (12 for girls) you become religiously responsible for you actions and are obligated in all the commandments. That's pretty serious stuff.
Did Rahm Emanuel actually shed a tear at the Kotel? It's hard to tell from the pictures. Maybe my discomfort with this whole brouhaha is the feeling that sometimes the Western Wall seems like Disneyland, more magical make-believe than spiritual commitment. 

Art in the service of life

"I may not know much about art, but I know a place to sit when I'm tired!"

almost Wednesday

see this blog for more entries

Ruby Tuesday in Jerusalem

We visited Jerusalem last week and I couldn't resist photographing all the colors of the shuk (market) on the way from Jaffa Gate and through the Christian Quarter of the Old City. 

For more about last week's events in Jerusalem see:

Jerusalem, Our Chiefest Joy!

Milestones

On Tuesdays, just post any photo you like (it must be one of your own) that contains the color RED and then link to this blog

.This lovely badge was created by Leora from Here in HP.

Milestones

Three years is a long time to wait for a haircut. Actually 3 years and two months. That's how long we've been waiting for our grandson to have his first haircut. 

Yesterday was the big day!

Early in the morning his parents gave him his new tzitzit, took him to the tomb of Shimon Hatzadik where Jerusalemites who don't want to go all the way to Meron for Lag B'omer go instead. 
There they met other families who were celebrating their three-year-old's first haircut as well. My son symbolically began the haircut there. They were given honey coated letters to lick. This is so that Hebrew letters should be sweet for them and they will enjoy learning to read Torah. There was music and dancing. Then they went to the Western Wall where the child gave charity. 

We met them and went to a friend's home in the Old City of Jerusalem where another friend, conveniently a barber, came to give a real haircut. David and the other grandfather, also named David, cut the first locks of hair. Then Nati the barber finished the job professionally. 

When the haircut was finished we danced with the kids and  Eitam got his cake and a present. 
Traditionally three years old is considered an age when a child's formal education begins. They begin to learn the letters and basic religious things. 
After this festive haircut, We went to the Mamilla Mall just outside Jaffa Gate and had lunch. 
Below is an interview with Eitam: 

Transcript
Q. What did we do for you today?
A. Chalakeh (haircutting, also sometimes called upshernish in Yiddish)
Q. What happened to all your hair?
A. It disappeared!
Q. Disappeared? Where did it disappear to?
A. Now I have payot! (sideburns)

Out of the kitchen, On to the field!

Look what's going on in women's sports! 

See a video of the Palestine women's soccer team first home game here: 

here

and read the New York Times account of the game and backround

here

Money quote: 

"The stadium sits half a block from Israel’s West Bank separation barrier. ... On Sunday, an Israeli security guard on duty there was stabbed and wounded by a young Palestinian woman."

"The Yard" A documentary film about a Jerusalem neighborhood by Yochai Rosenberg

KCC is here.JPix is here. Haveil Hevalim is here. 
Yochai Rosenberg made a film about the neighborhood he grew up in. Yochai tells a very personal story about The Yard overlooked by the apartment where his parents raised him and his six brothers and sisters. Yochai brought his bride Reut to live there after their marriage seven years ago.

The film juxtaposes Yochai's memories of the yard as a happy mix of Jewish kids from many religious and cultural backgrounds. But the yard has changed. The neighbors are mostly cut from the same cloth nowadays and that cloth is the black and white of the charedi (ultra-orthodox as it is sometimes translated) world. This is a world that doesn't like mixtures.

The film is a mix of observations of the current residents whose windows overlook the yard. Daniel, like Yochai, remembers the yesteryear of the yard. But unlike Yochai, Daniel yearns to leave the yard far behind and start over again in Paris. There is Yisrael a charedi boy struggling to grow up in a world that hugs him and holds him very close, too close for him sometimes. Then there's Reut who is talented and artistic and makes every effort to make her corner of the world colorful. Reut paints her window frames blue and has plants on her window sills. Clearly she doesn't share the sense of belonging to the yard.
The film brings us into the personal lives of the people who inhabit Yochai's yard while skillfully leading us to reflect on our own childhood 'yards' and our own attitudes toward change.
We all have stories to tell and I'm glad that Yochai was able to tell his so artfully. I'm sure the exposure was not easy for him (or for Reut). I think the film was well done and I hope that more people will get to see it. I am told that it will be shown some time on television here in Israel and I hope it is soon.