Winter Wonder(Holy)land

When we woke up this morning this is what we found looking out the window. We woke up really late because there was really nothing to wake us up. The street was completely silent. We were hoping that our power wouldn't go out due to a downed wire. There would have been a lot more of that if not for the warmer temperatures. We really didn't dip below 32F all day so most of the snow that fell during the night washed away. It was crazy to hear the Israeli media reporting the snow. It was as if Armageddon was arriving. The silliest thing I heard was a bulletin to let Israelis know that if they hear a "pop" in their leg while skiing they should seek medical attention. Duh!

It was raining and hailing for most of the day. Ilana actually came close to going outside to get this picture but she is under our mirpeset. The snow is definitely a nice change of pace but it is also driving us a bit stir crazy. Ilana hasn't left the building since Saturday evening. Fortunately, we have found a movie website that works well.

Yes, this is what I looked like after spending a mere 10 minutes outdoors (without winter gear). It was especially nasty because the wind was really blowing. You may be asking yourself, "why does Aaron have green shoes?" Well, if you come to Israel with no boots and there is 3-4 inches of standing water/snow in the street then one "solution" is to wrap your shoes in plastic bags. This was only effective for about 7 of the 10 minutes I was outside. 70% is good in many things but not in shoe waterproofing. I would say nothing less than 100% is acceptable.

Pics from Eilat

Tel Be'er Sheva - We got to see Abraham's well (at least according to some archeologists)


The Great Crater (There are three natural craters like this in the Negev)


We are in Israel - the mountains behind us our Egypt - it is a little hard to see, but it is a completely unprotected border - they figure the 200 foot rocky drop in between the two plateaus is enough of a deterrent.

Our Jam Packed Week

Our week began Saturday night with a speech by Dore Gold (former ambassador to the UN from Israel) discussing our importance to recognizing our claim to Jerusalem, especially appropriate with the current Bush visit. Right after that, we figured that wasn't enough for the evening so we headed up the block for a concert by Pharoah's Daughter (their first tour in Israel). The concert was GREAT - a nice, small, intimate theatre that allowed us to sit in the 4th row for only 20 shekels a pop. The percussionist and the chick playing the recorders definitely took center stage. The percussionist had bells and things attached to his ankles and was playing a old fashioned clay jug as if it was a drum. The recorder lady was switching between about 7 different recorders and when she needed multiple sounds, she just decided to play two at a time.



This was just the beginning of the week, for bright and early Monday morning we headed down to Be'er Sheva and Eilat for a couple of days. Sun, touring, good food and a nice hotel made it a great couple of days. Here is a pic or two and hopefully Aaron will fill in more soon.

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.