Greetings from Israel

We are almost in January and have not hit a daytime high lower than 52 degrees - for two people from Chicago/Silver Spring - we are a little unsure about what to do with ourselves. In case you were wondering, as everyone seems to be asking, we still do not know where we are living after we get back from Israel - our plane tickets take us to Chicago and from there it is an open world. We had a busy week this past week - events almost every night and are looking forward to the relative quiet this week is scheduled to bring, We did get to see Rabbi Benjy Levine perform his, mostly, one-man show - "The Four Faces of Israel" it was a pretty humorous take on a variety of people you might encounter while experiencing Israel. Aaron even got to ask a question, and as a result will no longer be riding buses in Chicago (ask him for more of an explanation if you are interested).

Who wears the pants in this family...

This past Saturday night Ilana and I went back to the mall in Jerusalem in order to return our webcam that we bought for the mac. Unfortunately, many webcams are incompatible with Macs. Additionally, outside of America, few countries are into Macs so it is rather hard to get the extra stuff.

Background for those who may not know: Most stores in Israel will only give store credit when a customer returns merchandise regardless of the condition or procurement of a receipt.

We went back to Office Depot to return the webcam. The receipt clearly said that electronics must be returned within 15 days in order to get money back. After that time one could only receive store credit; today was day 15. I told the women that I wanted to return the camera so she took it, checked it out, took our receipt, and then told us that she could give us store credit. I was about to protest (in English) when all of sudden Ilana starts up in fluent Hebrew and says, "I sorry but today is the 15th day, please give us a refund." And with all the flair of a seasoned Israeli sabra she adds "if you meant 14 days you should have written that on the receipt!" The women proceeded to credit our credit card in full without another word. Customer service never suspected the cute little pregnant lady was capable of it. Well she sure showed them.

Chanukah Status

Our first Chanukah in Israel. We thought we'd go all out - an oil menorah (no more candles for us) and a box so we can even light with our window open to further display the miracle.
This first picture shows the first night - a success - we got both wicks lit and they stayed lit to take pictures and enjoy the light.



However...our oil did not seem to want to last the eight days of the miracle. Nights 2, 3, 4 and 5 were all struggles until we made our new menorah (picture below). Night two we ended up using shabbat candles after multiple attempts to unsuccessfully light the oil. Night 3 we finally got them all lit after 30 minutes of experimenting. Night 4 we got two on the first try, 2 more on the 2nd and 3rd tries and went without a shamash - that one really didn't want to light.



So we are back to candles and look forward to using our menorah back in the states that happily takes candles that light on their first try. Maybe another year we'll try oil again, but for now we'll let that miracle reside in the tales of the holiday.

Tiyul to Ein Gedi

This past Wednesday the Yeshiva took one of their first tiyulim of the year to the south. We set off at 8:30 in the morning and it was really a great day as a whole. We did a rather strenuous hike that was "frought with danger." Dangerous situations for Israelis I think is in a whole different category than what an American would be used to. Unless you really are searching for a rush, I think most "adventures" are rather tame. Dangerous paths are cordined off and fences are put in places that pose hazards. Not so in Israel. I think that the culture just accepts that Israelis will basically just see any warning sign as an outright dare. They may also be smarter than Average Joe American and may take signs such as "hot coffee is extremely hot" as too obvious to waste ink on. One of the caves that we explored was situated in a very difficult location to reach. At one point, on a narrow path along the side of the mountain we were descending, we reached a sign post with three directions: forward, backwards, or up. So we went up. It was rather cool. I am not sure if the pictures do it justice but try to imagine a dangerous situation.

On the way to and from the hike site I had not one, but two camel encounters. The first time we pulled into a gas station and the picture speaks for itself. The second one is a sign warning you of camel crossings. I love Israel.

Yay Gliders

We got a rocker! And as you can see I greatly enjoy relaxing on it - though I am giving Aaron some turns - I did learn how to share in Kindergarden. It was an experience going somewhere in the Sanhedria area and then finding a cab to get it back to our apartment. We got a station wagon cab, but either those are a little smaller here and he drove the whole way back with the trunk partially open - luckily the chair got back, and thanks to Aaron, up the stairs, all in one piece. I guess this officially is our first "baby" related purchase.

Mazel Tov

We would like to wish Michael Friedman and Nikki Kane congratulations on their recent engagement. They are both very special people and alums of the University of Maryland. Additionally, Michael and Nikki are both alums of Darche Noam and Midreshet Rachel, respectively. Michael was the person who was most influential in connecting me with Darche Noam and I can't thank him enough for that. They should be zocheh to build a bayit neman b'yisrael.

A Busy Friday

The past week was very busy as they go. As I have commented before, yeshiva life is rather routine and any change of that routine is relatively a big deal. For example, in Maryland, going out for pizza and a movie is not much to sneeze at. In fact, one might even be considered, dare I say, socially bland . However this year, it's a whole production! A trip to the mall or a dinner out would compare in the states to nothing less than tickets to the Broadway musical you were dying to see.
After seeing Dave and Talya Weinberg for not one, but two fantastic meals, we also got together with Ilana's sister and nieces and nephews for a Rosh Chodesh Kislev party. To cap it all off, due to the yeshiva having an in-shabbos (which entails no Shabbos preparation) we decided to go to Machla Mall in Jerusalem for some errands. We ended up spending about 2-3 hours there. Three interesting experiences:

(1) We went shopping (Toda, anachnu rak mistaklim) for strollers. It was sensory overload to the power of 10. There are more things in that store than babies in the entire world. I commented to Ilana that I had felt like that only one other time in my life. When we registered for wedding presents. "WOW, bed bath and beyond has everything! And I have nothing. I NEED/WANT EVERYTHING."

(2) A woman came over to us and in English explained to us that she had no food at all for shabbos except for some challot. Apparently, the government screwed her on her divorce and she got all the kids but no support from her husband. She asked us to call her on her phone if we happened to be shopping in the grocery store and we wanted to buy something for her. We did and I hope that she will soon know no trouble.

(3) And last, but certainly not least was our excursion to the "department store." Try to imagine a JC Penny crammed into 1/16 of the space. Very crowded. Apparently they had a shortage of changing rooms as well. One man wanted to try on a shirt so he just stripped down in the middle of the racks and modeled it for all of us. He stood bare chested for many minutes. Let's just say you should be happy there is no photo attachment to this blog posting.


Finally, when we were all set to go home for some lunch around 1:00pm, we got back on the bus. I guess we got on the wrong bus going the wrong way or something. What a trip it was; 90 minutes later after a stunning tour of southern Jerusalem we finally came back to our apartment.

We have another busy week this week. We'll keep you posted.