HA Report #8 Really Enjoying My Rechargeable Hearing Aids

 

Last week, just two weeks after getting my second pair of hearing aids, though they're my first pair of rechargeables, I returned to HaOzen for an "update." Israeli healthcare is extraordinary. 

Israel began as a "quasi-socialist" country. Healthcare is a government department, though there is a choice of "sick funds." The basic prices and services are the same, but there are difference in the "trimmings." Think of the variety of T-shirts, dresses or jeans you can buy, even in the same store.

Those who feel that their hearing isn't what it should be and feel the need for hearing aids are required to go to an ENT-Ear, Nose & Throat doctor to check if it isn't something medical that a doctor can't fix. If the doctor diagnoses the need for HA's he/she writes a referral, and the patient gets a high-tech hearing test. With that, the person chooses from a wide variety of places which have arrangements with their sick fund. The price and choice of hearing aids depends on the severity of one's hearing loss. We're given generally over a month to decide whether or not the hearing aids are both useful and comfortable. If there's a problem with them, they can be returned within that time period. No charge to the patient. That's why I went for that "chat." Some customers/patients need technical advice, and others find them so terribly uncomfortable that they're returned well before the deadline. I visited a lot more with my first pair, needing different size domes to fit better in my ears. 

Since I wasn't having any problem with the new hearing aids I didn't bring my charger or any other equipment. The hearing ids were in my ears. The audiologist asked how I was doing, and I made it clear that I'm enjoying them. It took awhile to get used to the fact that I didn't have to worry about packing spare batteries whenever leaving the house for more than half an hour. And I'm glad that I no longer have to remember to put in fresh batteries before Shabbat. 

I have the charger and timer at the end of the kitchen counter, and every night before going to sleep I put the hearing aids in the charger. The timer has it go on while I'm asleep, so when I'm up the hearing aids are fully charged. This also works on Shabbat. And if I'm going swimming during the day, I leave my hearing aids in the charger, just because it's a safe place.

I also told her that when I had left the clinic two weeks earlier I could hear the wind blowing loudly in my ears. To quiet things down I began playing with the controls to quiet it down.

Since then, the wind hasn't been heard. Over forty years ago, a neighbor taught me how to use a computer by saying one word, "Play." That was a time when most people had never even seen a computer, and I had needed to learn quickly for work. I follow his instructions with all new technology, yes, including my hearing aids. With Bluetooth I can control my hearing aids on my phone.

Don't fear hearing aids. They're very helpful. Research has shown that delaying the use of hearing aids lowers one's attention span. Not hearing well causes a form of ADD and worse.

Enjoy in good health.

HA Report #7 New Hearing Aids... Second Pair

Just a quick post about my second pair of hearing aids. You can read the saga about my first, click here. 

First to summarize my experience with pair #1... I chose battery powered hearing aids, rather than rechargeable, because the audiologist said that batteries last more hours than recharging. Since I'm a Jewish Shabbat observer, this was a very crucial issue. Shabbat is 25 hours long, Rosh Hashannah 49 hours, and during very rare years in Israel when they are three days 73 hours. Four and a half years ago, I didn't hear anything about an approved, by Torah observant rabbis, method to charge hearing aids on Shabbat. Since then, however, I began hearing that Tzohar had announced an approved method. 

Thankfully it didn't take me long to get used to my hearing aids, especially taking advantage of Bluetooth control. The hardest and most expensive thing was purchasing batteries. Miraculously, in the early months I received a number for free from a variety of sources. I consider them gifts from Gd. Also I was relieved to have found no real technical problems, other than finding certain sounds painfully loud. I did my best to manually adjust them, but I was told that there wasn't much else to do. My insurance guarantee had expired (without their warning me to come for a final free adjustment,) and I wasn't going to spend half the price of a new hearing aid, a quarter of the price of a new pair, for an audiologist to try better. 

As a result, I began investigating replacing the originals only at a new place, since I refused to return to where I had gotten the first pair. I also knew that I had to speak to someone I trusted for technological religious decisions to ask about charging them on Shabbat and Jewish Holidays. Thankfully, since there was no real rush, I wouldn't have to compromise on any issue. In the meantime, all sorts of friends and neighbors continued to contact me for advice before getting their first pair. 

I didn't start the process required here in Israel for getting hearing aids until I had answers to those two crucial questions. Siyata d'Shmaya, Hand of Gd for sure helped me, since both questions were answered around the same time. When at a class, a friend saw me adjusting the volume on my hearing aids via my phone's Bluetooth and asked if I had the same options she has. Hers were newer and better, so I asked where she got them and which Sick Fund she's a member of. Since we're in the same one, I got the rest of the information. 

Around the same time, I had a ride with a neighbor who was wearing hearing aids, so I asked him about the rabbinic decision permitting charging them on Shabbat, and he said that he has a Shabbat clock connected to the charger set up every night to go on and recharge the hearing aids as he sleeps. It's off when he puts them in and off again when he takes them out. 

So with those two important questions answered I began the process. In Israel one first needs to be examined by an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor to make sure there's nothing that a medical doctor can't fix to improve hearing. After that one must get a hearing test from a qualified audiologist, some of which work with hearing aid businesses. 

That's where I got
my new hearing aids

The ENT said I was healthy, and I ended up at the hearing aid provider my friend recommended. I was given a choice between a free (100% subsidized) model, which would be complicated to charge on Shabbat, and a more advanced model for a highly subsidized payment, which charged sans complications. Considering that we can only get the subsidy every few years, and I wanted the most advanced hearing aids, I was willing to pay. They cost less than NS2,000 for the pair, which is around $600. If my hearing had been worse, I'd get a better deal for even more advanced ones. That's how it works in Israel. 

On the way home, I changed buses in the Shaar Binyamin shopping area and had enough time to enter a hardware store to pick up a timer and extension chord outlets, which I needed for the place the charger would "live."

Considering that I was already experienced in controlling them via Bluetooth and I'm not tech phobic, I didn't need much instruction. I'm used to playing around with modern technology. "Play" was what a neighbor told me when teaching me how to use a computer for the first time...

I'm happy to say that I'm very pleased with my new hearing aids. I've adjusted to them, and even more important is that they have adjusted to my needs, thank Gd.

Haikus About War, Weather and Life

It's amazing how much can be expressed in seventeen 17 syllables... Yes, I've posted many of my haikus over the years, and I think we're due for a new haiku post. I write a haiku, posting it on Facebook, every morning besides Shabbat and Jewish Holidays when writing and posting are forbidden. Sometimes I wonder if I'm being repetitive, considering that I write hundreds each year... Wow! Even I'm impressed 🤣 Following is a variety, as promised in the title. Enjoy, and please let me know in the comments which you like and why. Thanks.

long busy day planned

thankful to Gd for my health

each day a true gift

cold, grey winter morn'

exhausted from yesterday

but was lots of fun

suddenly sunshine

see weather changing quickly

winter in Israel

Gd created earth

but man's bad judgements cause war

VICTORY NOW, please

Holy Shabbat soon

trying to clear mind's worries

Gd willing, please help

new week, pray for change

weak leader endangers us

I can't ignore it

freezing cold today

glad my plans changed to stay home

will Zoom and walk here

Thursday so quickly

week sped by and didn't do

all that I had planned

never ending war

people, nations hate us Jews

comes from them, not us

I'm a nobody

my opinion doesn't count

but I'm not quiet

I never follow

popular fads, opinions

have mind of my own...

woke much too early

too frustrating forcing sleep

that refused to come

Thank Gd for Shabbat

just another few hours

special holy day...

pray for better week

may Gd gift leaders with wisdom

so far disaster

don't be fooled by words...

don't trust fancy promises

I don't see true peace...

Israel's enemies

want to believe all those lies

truth ruins their story

Recycling and Bottle Deposits for Charity

 

In Israel recycling is suggestion, not required. I save bottles, glass and plastic, for the deposit money, but it's not for me. There's a neighbor who keeps bins for people to drop their bottles off, which I do weekly. Then another neighbor collects them in large strong bags, each holding fifty 50. 

This week, I found myself going with that neighbor to a couple of large supermarkets, one in Ariel and the other in Rosh Ha'ayin to get the money. I want to make it clear that she uses the money from the bottle deposits to donate to a charity for IDF soldiers. 

The supermarkets limit the amount of bottles a person could bring to fifty 50-- and they're counted--, so my attendance was necessary. We were able to bring one hundred 100 bottles to each supermarket.

Many, actually most, supermarkets don't have enough space to accept bottles. This is big business, or at least bulky. And obviously they have to send the bottles to somewhere... after accepting them.

I'm glad to have helped. To be perfectly honest, I had an ulterior motive traveling with her. She works near where I had to be...

Israel was Attacked, But Life is Going On, BH

 

Almost two weeks ago Hamas attacked Israel. The Gazan Arab terrorists invaded, attacked, killed, mutilated, captured, decapitated, kidnapped, raped, tortured, burned innocent Israeli civilians, male, female, young old. These civilians were the vast majority of those targeted by the Arabs.

Simultaneously they sent deadly rockets to southern and coastal and central cities including Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Here in Shiloh, it has been silent, not even a warning siren, bli eyin haraa, but the echoes of these cruel attacks reverberates here very loudly. 

Many of us have family and friends who are victims, and certainly many from Shiloh have been called up to the reserves, to serve in all sorts of capacities, all over the country.

I remember reading that during Israel's War of Independence, the cafes in Tel Aviv were full of food and customers while Jerusalem didn't have water and food. Now, here I am in Holy Shiloh free to take my morning walks and enjoy the quiet. 

I consider myself a "former" news junky, but now I don't listen much. My phone is usually playing Bible Tanach classes mostly from Matan, Torah in Motion and Israel Center OU. 

It's surreal, but my heart is with our soldiers, injured and mourning.

That's life here...

PS I'll be posting more political posts on Shiloh Musings. Just give me a few hours to get started.

Celebrating YOM HA'ALIYAH Making One's Home in Israel, The Holy Land

 

For the past few years a "new holiday" has joined the Israeli Calendar, YOM HA'ALIYAH, a time to honor those who made aliyah-- immigrated to Israel. My husband and I made the move two months after our wedding in the summer of 1970. You can read about it here part 1 and part 2. 

YOM ALIYAH is celebrated around the Torah Portion Lech Lecha in which Gd commands Avram-Abram (before his name is changed to Avraham-Abraham) to get himself going to the Land Gd will show him.

בראשית י״ב  

לך לך

א- וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהֹוָה֙ אֶל־אַבְרָ֔ם לֶךְ־לְךָ֛ מֵאַרְצְךָ֥ וּמִמּֽוֹלַדְתְּךָ֖ וּמִבֵּ֣ית אָבִ֑יךָ אֶל־הָאָ֖רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר אַרְאֶֽךָּ׃

1- יהוה said to Abram, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.

Over the millennium many Jews all exiled over the world have felt these words from Gd personally and made their way whether by plane, boat, wagon or foot to the Holy Land, the Land of Israel, even before the modern State of Israel had been established. I was one of them.

I'll never forget how I broke the news of my plans to my parents, who had barely adjusted to my religious observance. You must understand that we were an ordinary American Jewish family, which lit Chanukah candles, had an abridged Passover Seder, were even members of a synagogue, Conservative-- which was the most popular and rapidly growing in the 1950s. But the kitchen wasn't kosher, and Shabbat and many Jewish Holidays weren't on our family calendar.

When I was thirteen 13 we moved to a different community, and the only synagogue actively recruiting new members was Orthodox, the Great Neck Synagogue. There I joined their Teen Club to make friends. It was a chapter of NCSY National Conference of Synagogue Youth, where I was introduced to "Torah True Judaism" which changed my life. Soon after, one of the local Jewish activists got me involved in Betar and Zionism, icing on the cake of my Jewish Life.

I didn't want any ideological, philosophical arguments with my parents about my plan to move to Israel, so I simply said:

"You couldn't stop me from keeping Shabbat and Kashrut. Living in Israel is just another mitzvah, and you can't stop me from doing that either."

It worked. They had no answer, though sometimes I wonder if they were happy to get me far from my younger siblings as not to corrupt them with my revolutionary life style. Within a few years, my mother enjoyed being the local expert in helping other parents with similarly "eccentric" children.

Obviously, Lech Lecha has always been my favorite Torah Portion of The Week. I live in a community, Shiloh, that is a fantastic stew of longtime Israelis and and much newer ones from all over the world. Our local region Mateh Binyamin, which is like an American county, is the same sort of mix. This year Mateh Binyamin made a big festive event to which we had been invited. I really enjoyed seeing so many people; some had been customers of mine when I worked in Yafiz. The highlight was an old-fashioned Israeli singalong. The choice of songs was just perfect.

It's the truth to say that I celebrate YOM HA'ALIYAH daily. I've never once considered that decision I made as a teenager to have been a mistake.

Making Meaning Out of Madness: A Jewish Journey, Book Review

Making Meaning Out of Madness: A Jewish Journey by Miranda Portnoy is a memoir, though written in a penname, plus some additional "disguises." 

Miranda Portnoy writes of her very difficult childhood in a dysfunctional Jewish American family with a physically and emotionally abusive mother and difficult father, who eventually left them. Portnoy is closest to her grandfather, but is unable to save him from her father's systematic and eventually fatal abuse. It's made even worse, because the authorities refuse to believe her. 

Despite her toxic family, being taken advantage of by her longtime lover and a vicious conspiracy against her at the university, Portnoy somehow manages to escape to Israel where she survives and thrives as a Torah observant Jew.

Portnoy's story is one of those that sounds too amazing to be believable fiction, but it's true. 

During Portnoy's difficult times, she did find people to help her, a professor who introduced her to Torah Judaism and various therapists. She was even hospitalized at one point; that's how bad things had become. 

I found Making Meaning Out of Madness very readable. It's a well-written and compelling story even though the narrative sounds like a "horror story." I don't like the horror genre and rarely finish such books. Portnoy's innate strength comes through the writing even when telling of her most difficult times. She doesn't give up or give in to the demons who plague her.

Portnoy's life eventually turns around when she starts observing Torah Judaism, moves to Israel, and after one failed try, finds the perfect women's Torah seminary for her needs. It's a fairy tale ending when she's introduced to an amazing man and they marry.

Besides protecting herself by changing all identifiable names, Portnoy isn't shy about letting us know how horrendously difficult her life had been. I highly recommend Making Meaning Out of Madness. It's wonderful to read such a great survival story. 

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Booklocker.com (November 28, 2021)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 388 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1647188814
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1647188818

Hip Set, A Police Mystery Set in Israel, Book Review

Hip Set  by Michael Fertik is full of surprises. Police/detective mysteries is a favorite genre of mine. Fertik's book didn't disappoint at all.

Hip Set is set in Tel Aviv, which isn't a city I know well, especially the neighborhoods he describes. As small as Israel is, it seems that many of us are pretty ignorant of cities and neighborhoods out of our comfort zones. And I can't imagine a situation that would require me to wander those Tel Aviv neighborhoods which are the refuge for Africans, who find Israel their safety net.

The main character is Oscar Orleans, a Congolese refugee and long-time resident of Israel. Oscar identifies as a Jew, though it's not clear if he has actually converted. With perfect Hebrew, Oscar is the liaison for the African refugee community and finds himself helping his good buddy Inspector Kobi Sambinsky of the Asylum Unit.

When a young African is found murdered, Oscar and Kobi work together to solve the crime and in the process clear up another very surprising mystery or two. The book ends with a teaser, which makes me think that there's another one in the works featuring the same team. I'm looking forward to reading it.

Yes, I definitely recommend Hip Set. It can be enjoyed by old and young readers.

Product details

• Publisher : Tall Tree Creative Arts LLC (January 1, 2021)
• Language : English
• ISBN-10 : 0988413140
• ISBN-13 : 978-0988413146

COVID Corona Update: Vaccinated 1 out of 2

Today was the day. I was vaccinated against COVID Corona, or whatever you want to call it.

Although I had chosen 11am for my vaccination appointment in Ariel, a time I could arrive by bus, my friend offered to drive me there. Actually two friends offered, and since I'll need a second vaccine...

As soon as we got near to the Ariel Culture Hall we could see signs all over with the Kupat Cholim Leumit (the sick/health fund I've been a member of for over fifty years) logo, an arrow and the words חיסוני קורונה CHISUNEI CORONA, CORONA VACCINATIONS all over.

I just kept following...

...and following the signs. Yes, I had to walk up the stairs. When I was finished I did notice an elevator, but I try never to go into elevators, since there's no window to open.

Upstairs there were lots of chairs, some people sitting and a few secretaries/clerical staff as you can see. They asked if I had an appointment, and I gave them my card. Then I was told to go into the next room and to show my membership card again.

Then I was assigned to two young people in a curtained off area. I made a big "ceremony" out of taking off my jackets and showing them my specially chosen T-shirt. Jerusalem "Big Blue" Lions football team shirt. I asked the two young people if they knew that there's American football in Israel. They didn't, but the guy said that he loves watching the game. Now he knows to look for us. I have a very different T-shirt planned for the next vaccination.

First the football fan sanitized my upper arm, and then I asked if they also had a photographer. He seemed enthusiastic about taking my picture, so I set up the camera on the phone and handed it over. Then the young woman painlessly jabbed my upper arm while I smiled for the camera.

Now, as the sticker says, I've been vaccinated. And in three weeks I'm supposed to return. A week after that I should be immune for about six months Gd willing. 

Thank Gd here in Israel COVID Corona is considered a national emergency, and vaccines are available for us to be vaccinated.

Blogging Isn't Dead

My Desk-"Multi-Tasking" 52Frames weekly photography challenge

Bloggers, am I the only one who has noticed a downward trend in page/post views? I wonder if it's personal, or maybe the anti-spam check has kept the fake views down...

I do blog a bit less than previously. No longer do I skirt the OCD daily posting on both blogs, even when it's done by writing in advance and setting up the post to be published on a future date. Now I blog less frequently and rarely on both blogs, this one and Shiloh Musings, on the same day.

Blogs for me are the ones we publish on our own "sites," not when using the "blog" option on conventional mainstream news sites. That's another genre completely.

Havel Havelim

Over a decade ago, bloggers from all over the world developed a community, visiting, commenting and even promoting each other's blogs in a few different "blog carnivals." There were some Jewish ones which I was involved in, and I'm still friendly with other bloggers I met through these "carnivals." Havel Havelim was the biggest of all and continued for many years. I still use the name when posting blog "roundups."

Very few of the blogs from way back when are still active, but there are some interesting, well-written blogs. Here are a few posts for your reading pleasure. Please read, comment and share. And if there are some blogs you'd like to recommend, then list them in the comments here with full links, thanks.

Listed below are titles of blog posts about Israel and Jewish topics from a variety of blogs. Click to read and enjoy.

Gala World Betar Reunion
Thank You
An Idolater Complains
Israel: Where We All Have Something to Give
Four Generations
Attractive, Easy to Make Healthy Shabbat or Anytime Food
The Unthinkable is Happening in The USA
Amazing New Poll Exposes that Israelis Are Vastly Against the Two-State Solution
Finally, Farewell to Tsipi Livni, Failed Politician
Purim, Two Weeks After Rosh Chodesh Adar Bet
A Lion taking care of kitties
Has the Peace Process ‘Prevented Palestine’? Joel Singer vs. Seth Anziska
Hurry to The Israel Museum Before Israeli Fashion Exhibit Closes

Enjoy, and keep on visiting and commenting on blogs.

Yes, We Israelis Get a Bissel Wacky Over Rain

I guess pretty much anyone with lots of Israeli friends on social media, Facebook, Instagram etc thought that some narcotic was raining down here in Israel. I'm not the only one who stood in the rain so my phone could "live feed" and show the world the black clouds, rain hail and thunder.

In Israel we barely get 5-6 months of rain per year, and we've been suffering from drought for years already. Rain starts around October, and in a "good year" we don't see sunshine for days on end. The last rain is usually early April, right before Passover. Some people swear that it always rains as soon as they wash their windows. Every few years it rains after Passover, and sometimes there are even storms. I remember one year when buckets of rain seemed to be violently poured on us from the sky.

Quite often those late rains are more like mud dripping. That's a pretty good description, because the rain sometimes ends those awful sandstorms. I learned the hard way that when the sky looks awfully yellow, it's not a good time to hang out the laundry, unless you are willing to wash it all over again. The weather is nothing like that in New York. How were we to know?

Yesterday's forecasts has said it would rain  around 10am in Jerusalem, so I didn't take my usual walk. Eventually I took a short walk, carrying my umbrella as backup. When I got home to Shiloh after three, it was still dry. But then I began to see rain posts on Facebook, as my friends sent out pictures and "live feed."

this is the color, I didn't make it black and white

The sky here began to get darker, and the clouds raced around. Usually I ignore the rain, once I'm safely at home, but I just had to send out my rain to the world. Isn't that what social media is all about? You can see more of my rain on Facebook and Instagram.

I guess all this "rain excitement" does seem crazy...

For Olim Chadashim, New Immigrants and Veterans, Too

I challenge all you other Israelis who read/follow this blog to read through Smarter Israeli Banking by Rifka Lebowitz and say that you didn't learn anything new. Even after almost half a century here in Israel, I must admit that Lebowitz's book is very helpful. 

Here's my review written on Shiloh Musings:

Smarter Israeli Banking, A Book Review

Smarter Israeli Banking by Rifka Lebowitz is a very helpful book. My husband and I made aliyah in simpler times, when we had fewer choices and internet banking was in the distant science fiction. Even doing banking by phone wasn't something anyone could imagine, since a high proportion of Israelis didn't have phones at home. We've been in Israel for just under half a century, and the changes in daily life, including banking, are sometimes incomprehensible.

So, yes, even I who rarely finds Israeli "anglos" more veteran to the country than myself learned a lot reading Lebowitz's book. First of all, I want you to know that Smarter Israeli Banking is a very easy and pleasant to read book. I must admit that I was a bit terrified when I received it and was sure that it would make me feel stupid and remind me of those forms that get me dizzy, confused and stupid-feeling.

I'm glad to have discovered in Smarter Israeli Banking that it won't cost me more to go to just any cash machine, as long as it's from a bank. The private company ones do charge a bit more. So many times I've walked and searched to find one from my bank. It's a great relief to have learned that I had been mistaken.

There are so many great and necessary tips in Smarter Israeli Banking. For an example, read the page above about how to protect your check payments. 

I agree and find it inexplicable that the English language internet sites for the banks are so bad. As a former EFL teacher here, I can't understand why it's so. A couple of summers ago I went looking for the new bank branch we had been transferred to to take care of some "bank business." I was sure I needed to do it in person. I had gotten the address from the English site. There was no bank at that address. After almost passing out from dehydration I called the bank and discovered two things:

1. the site had the wrong address
2. I could take care of it all on the phone

Lebowitz wrote Smarter Israeli Banking mostly for new immigrants, but even in the first few years in Israel, newcomers can find themselves in a situation we've found ourselves twice. She wrote that banks are closing branches, but she didn't say how that affects us.  When a bank closes a branch it offers a choice of open branches for your account. Your old checks will be honored for quite a long time, but your account number and other information changes. This can get complicated, if you use checks to copy all the information from. Payment won't be honored or won't get deposited to your account. You need to have a copy of all the up-to-date account, bank and branch numbers. 

There's a glossary at the end of the book, which includes many of the terms that confuse those of us whose business Hebrew is weak.  

Smarter Israeli Banking by Rifka Lebowitz is a wonderful gift for any newcomer to Israel, and if the newcomer gets more than one, just pass it on to someone else. It won't go to waste. I'd also suggest it not just to olim, but to anyone who is new to handling his/her banking and finances, whether young adults or the recently widowed or divorced.

"After the Holidays," אחרי החגים

Here in Israel and in some of the Jewish World, there's a frequently heard phrase:

"After the Holidays,"
Acharei hachaggim... אחרי החגים

The "Holidays" referred to are Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Succot and Simchat Torah. From beginning to end, not counting all the preparations, mostly in the kitchen but spiritual, too, this is a period lasting a minimum of three weeks plus to almost two months.

Jews out of the Land of Israel who observe traditional Torah Judaism don't have the twenty-three hour break before Shabbat that I have. They are now in the third week, out of four, in which a two day holiday is immediately followed by Shabbat. We, here in Israel, just had it once with Rosh Hashanah.

sukka partially undone

Since we're not supposed to do any "unnecessary work," like laundering, we have a backlog of dirty wash. I asked my husband to take down the sukkah walls, so I could hang wash easily this morning. So now one wash is already hung to dry in the sun, and a second is being laundered in the machine.

Today, I'll do the side dishes for our Shabbat meals. The meat and poultry were cooked before Simchat Torah.

This coming week begins more of my study schedule. Matan's regular classes will begin, though my senior citizens study program in the Ofra Girls High School began at the beginning of the regular school year with the teenagers.

When I was a high school remedial EFL teacher, this part of the year, from after to holidays until Chanuka, made up the bulk of the time we had to teach all of the year's curriculum. TU B'Shvat was sometimes too soon after Chanukah, and then, if there wasn't an extra Jewish Month of Adar, Purim took over the kids' time much too quickly and lasted a lot longer than you'd expect. Don't forget that almost immediately after Purim comes Passover, and by then the school year is well over, considering how many Bagrut, Israeli Matriculation tests the kids must be prepared for. Honestly, I'm glad to be out of that high pressure wringer. Yes, sometimes retirement has its advantages.

6th Grade Girls onto Bigger and Better, Sure Better than My School Memories

There aren't too many things I'm willing to do instead of going to the pool. We don't get all that many "women's hours" at our local pool, and the season is much too short. But one thing trumps pool, my grandchildren. And last night was graduation time for the 6th Grade Girls of Ofra.

Getting to Ofra proved a bit more difficult than usual, since there had been a major accident between Givat Asaf (the Beit El Junction) and Ofra. If I had been coming from Shiloh, it wouldn't have been as much a problem in theory if we had our own car. Due to the road being closed until the mess of the accident was cleaned, people going from Shiloh to Jerusalem went on the Alon Road, which doesn't pass Ofra. I was Jerusalem for some errands, a shiva call and brainstorming lunch. Travel to Ofra was complicated for everyone, and the time of the graduation was delayed so all of the parents could make it. Finally, I did get to Ofra on the first bus let through. Real life is never all that dull.

Thank Gd I did make it to Ofra with enough time to spare that I was able to have dinner at my daughter's before the party/event.

I must say that not only was it very exciting and thrilling to watch my granddaughter and her friends perform and work together, but I am so happy that her education, unlike my own, has a strong emphasis on group values, working together and independence.

Last week I had been in Ofra for the 8th Grade Graduation, and there too I couldn't get over how the entire staff, including the principal knows the parents and the students and care about them as people. In the world I grew up in, even in elementary school, when we had only one teacher, nobody thought of me as more than just another one in the classroom. No teacher spoke to me as a person, as if they cared at all. And we certainly didn't know the principal. Only if a student was a major problem would the top administration know they existed. Here in Israel, my children's teachers, even decades after graduation, ask about them.

In Hebrew there's a phrase that has no real English translation, because it's very cultural. לגבש כיתה\קבוצה ligabesh kita/kvutza. The object is to make the individuals function as a group. This isn't to make them "the same." It's to see how each can use his/her individual talents to make the group function as a strong supportive group. It's done in school, youth movements and also staff.

I like to think of it as the essential ketoret, a special incense used in Tabernacle and then Holy Temple worship.

“God said to Moses: Take fragrances such as balsam, onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincense, all of the same weight, as well as other fragrances. Make the mixture into incense, as compounded by a master perfumer, well-blended, pure and holy.” (Ex. 30:34-5)

The Torah does not provide the exact recipe for the ketoret, the incense that was burned daily in the Temple. Only in the oral tradition do we find a detailed list of eleven ingredients:

70 portions of the four fragrances mentioned in the verse.

16 portions of myrrh, cassia, spikanard, and saffron.

12 portions of costus.

9 portions of cinnamon.

3 portions of cinnamon bark.

In many ways the blending of these spices is like  לגבש כיתה\קבוצה ligabesh kita/kvutza. No one stands out too much, and the whole is very different from the parts.

Gd willing, may all these lovely girls have full and rewarding lives. And warmest thanks to the devoted staff.

Here are some pictures from last night:

The Saga of The Missing Bus Rides

Can this only happen to a Baile Rochel?

For someone who of my generation, knows nothing of computer/internet technology besides how to turn the various newfangled machines on and off, I still haven't a clue how a little card like this is the same as money when I travel here in Israel. I don't know how it usually at least pulls out/credits the right sort of fare and knows how long since I first got on the train or bus.

To me it's still science fiction in action when if you lose one, you can go to an office which has a computer program which can reproduce your account, so you don't lose money. You do have to pay a bit for a new card, though. And a couple of years ago, I discovered that the "paying machine kiosk" by the lightrail can show you how many rides and "packages" of rides the card is "storing."

When I first started using the Rav-Kav, רב-קו, I was always very nervous about being on the lightrail and discovering that it was empty. There's no place to pay on the train, and if an inspector comes on to check before you manage to get off to pay, you're fined a lot of money.

That's why I kept refilling the card with packages of twenty 20 rides long before I had finished a package. The card isn't all that smart. It doesn't finish a package before starting a new one. When I began to check I'd find three or four packages being billed. It would say something like:

6 rides
8 rides
3 rides
20 rides

I quickly got into the habit of checking, and then from one day to the next I was horrified to discover that the full package of "20 rides" had disappeared!!! Nobody had an answer for me as to where they had gone. I figured that some computer geek had hacked my account and stolen them.

A few months after that I began to get suspicious about the fact that rides seemed to get used up too quickly. Then I discovered that sometimes instead of getting the free within 90 minute transfer, the bus or train had billed another "package." After that I made a point of getting to absolute zero before buying a new ride package of 10 or 20 depending on how much cash I had to pay the driver. Yes, I had stopped trusting the machine by the train.

Last week I knew that I had reached zero on my previous bus ride, so when I got on a bus I was ready to pay. The driver was nasty and told me to put my card on one of the machines in the bus, since he didn't want to waste time. But I insisted that there was a good chance that I'd have to give him cash for a new "package." I put my card on the magic surface expecting a red light to flash indicating "empty."

Imagine my great surprise when it was green, and a receipt popped out saying I had 19 trips left. Yes, that package of twenty 20 had been there in my account all this time. Whew... I hadn't been robbed!!!

Memories: Do You Know What This Is?

Nu, do you know what it is? And if so how did you use it? Any stories?

This was an old Israeli all purpose soap. I know that I used to buy it, or at least there was always some in the house, but I just don't have any memories of using it. It never quite felt or smelled like soap. American soap was real soap for me, and this stuff always made me think of the old scrubbing boards.

What do you think/remember?

46 Years in Israel

Living in Maon Betar in Jerusalem's Old City, 1970-71

Living in Maon Betar in Jerusalem's Old City, 1970-71

It's now 46 forty-six years since the boat docked, the Greek Line Annamarie, in Haifa Port. It was a Saturday night. Ministry of Interior clerks came on to assist in a few bureaucratic things, and there were some journalists, too. It was a record-breaking day for immigration from the United States to Israel, as we weren't at all alone. There were another four hundred plus Jews making aliyah, olim chadashim.

In 1970, there were great differences between life in Israel and the USA. Israel was technologically behind and still very much in the grips of Ben-Gurion's mindset and Leftist pre-June 1967 Orthodoxy.

• Not everyone had a telephone, and some were still "party lines," shared numbers.
• There was no Israeli television.
• Dirty diapers were still boiled on the stove, or people used a "diaper service," since not everyone had an "automatic" washing machine, and clothes dryers were "science fiction." And disposable diapers were brought in from abroad as gifts along with toilet paper, tampons, sanitary napkins and paper towels.
• Overseas calls were via an operator, "person to person" or "station to station."
• Many housewives were enjoying their very first electric refrigerator, happy to no longer have to get "ice."
• For many the oven was a "first," too, and their seer pele, "wonder pot" was still in use.
• Cars were so rare and precious that owners had to register them for army service. Yes, true, a car did "reserve duty" in the IDF.
• Even into the 1970's and 1980's one of the perks for MKs Knesset Members was the free unlimited bus pass. That's what Geula Cohen used to visit us in Shiloh, and Benny Begin, also an MK in those days, took the bus to Machane Yehuda for his shopping. 
• Besides in hotels, elevators were very rare. Most Israelis lived in three story "walk-ups."
• You could count the amount of supermarkets in Jerusalem on one hand. There was a small makolet, grocery store on almost every block, and we shopped daily. 
• Not only did stores close for the mid-day lunch/siesta, but many people came home from their jobs to eat. At 4pm everything reopened. 

Today's olim chadashim come to a very modern country, among the most advanced in the western world. But I'm glad we came on aliyah when we did and had the privilege to be part of this major adventure of living in the State of Israel these last forty-six 46 years.

Sign of Fall

חצב Chatzav,Drimia

This strange long plant is called חצב Chatzav,Drimia. It's a sign that summer is actually ending. It heralds fall, autumn. It's nice to know that in my very undeveloped/uncultivated garden I have signs of the seasons growing naturally.

So, if you're still finding it to hot look for these plants. They will remind you that summer is soon to be over, and then you can complain about the cold...

Miriam Peretz, An Inspiration!!

Miriam's Song

Last night I finished reading one of the most amazing books I've ever read, Miriam's Song--The Story of Miriam Peretz by Smadar Shir.

I'm not a fan of the genre of bereaved parents memoirs. I couldn't finish Noa Lev's book, most probably because I know her; we had been in YU Seminars and Stern College together when teens and have a close mutual friend. It was just too painful, but when I was offered a review copy of Peretz's book, I decided to give it a try.

And I am so glad that I accepted Miriam's Song. I learned so much from it. I know lots, much too many bereaved parents and family members. Each one reacts very differently to such a horrific loss. And I also know others who have buried more than one child.

The story of Miriam Peretz' s life – the story of a mother and a homeland; of love for the Land of Israel, the State of Israel, and the Jewish people; and of the victory of spirit and faith.
1st Lieutenant Uriel Peretz, commander of a Golani Brigade Special Forces unit, dreamed of becoming the first Moroccan chief of staff of the IDF. But his mother Miriam sensed that her oldest son would not leave Lebanon safely. On the day he was drafted, she became a woman waiting for news of disaster.
In November 1998, Uriel was fatally wounded by an explosive device planted by Hezbollah terrorists. He was 22. Miriam transformed the pain over his death into education and volunteer service. She began to visit schools and military bases, talking about her son’s leadership vision. 
Tragically, in March 2010 Miriam was forced to face another test. Her second son, Major Eliraz Peretz, was killed in an exchange of fire in the Gaza Strip. He died almost twelve years after he had eulogized his older brother: “Sometimes we pay a price for doing the right thing. The price of life.” Eliraz, who was 32, left behind a wife and four children, including a baby just two months old.
Overnight, the mother who lost two sons – as well as her husband, whose heart couldn’t bear the death of his oldest son – became a symbol of grief and of strength.

One of the reasons that I was able to get through reading Peretz's book is that she comes from such a different world. Her religious and family background is so different from mine that I was able to easily remove myself from her story. Miriam Peretz was born in Morocco and made aliyah with her very Moroccan Jewish parents to a hut in southern Israel. Although she is a peer age-wise, her childhood and family customs were totally different. Peretz was raised in a family of strong religious faith and Jewish observance. They were always grateful for their opportunities, even if others would consider their living conditions and financial situation horrendous. Peretz was the child who, despite great difficulties, succeeded in propelling herself and her children into the mainstream of Israeli society and IDF.

I must admit that I am envious of the faith that Peretz and her husband had succeeded in transferring to their six children. Over the decades, over half a century since I so enthusiastically and sincerely took on Torah Judaism, due to the influence and inspiration of NCSY, I realize that there's an enormous aspect of Torah living that I hadn't been exposed to and therefore I couldn't pass it on to my children. And our lives have been lacking in the very foundations of faith that Peretz and her late husband Eliezer, Z"L, so lovingly breathed, blessed and imparted to theirs.

Miriam Peretz is seen throughout the world as a woman of strength who had overcome terrible pain and loss, but in her book she admits to us that there are days she couldn't get up, get out of bed or get dressed. She couldn't cook or speak. She is human.

Another thing I liked about the book is that each of her surviving children wrote a chapter. Yes, Miriam's Song--The Story of Miriam Peretz  is like the Biblical Miriam's song; it is not a solo. The Biblical Miriam, sister of Moshe, led the women in song, and Miriam Peretz has led her children to the same tune she sings.

Yes, I highly recommend reading  Miriam's Song--The Story of Miriam Peretz.

• Paperback: 350 pages
• Publisher: Gefen Publishing House (February 15, 2016)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9652298352
• ISBN-13: 978-9652298355