Ice Skating in Cinema City, Jerusalem, and Memories

I must admit that although ice skating was once a favorite winter pastime for me, and the evening I was in Cinema City, Jerusalem, I was with an old skating buddy, we didn't skate. But I did take a few pictures. I haven't been on skates of any sort for well over twenty years, and I wasn't dressed for skating nor psyched up for the adventure.

The last time I had skates on they were roller skates. I don't remember the exact year, but it was probably around 1990 or just before. That's when I was still the girls Gym Teacher here in Shiloh, and at the summer training session for gym teachers in Israel, we were surprised with a treat. Well, for me it was a treat. I was in the minority about that. They had brought in a skate rental company, and we had a few hours skating in the huge gymnasium.

Well, not everyone could skate. My generation of those raised in Israel rarely had a pair of skates per kid. Many of the gym teachers had never properly skated in their lives. Those raised in the time of the "Tzena," serious poverty and food rationing in the early days of the State of Israel didn't grow up skating the way I had. It was common for a family to have one pair of skates, if any, for all their kids to share. So many grew up scooting on a skate rather than properly skating. Growing up in Bell Park Gardens, Bayside, NY, with all the internal sidewalks and paths and when the large parking lots were empty during the days, we had lots of place to safely skate. And in the winter we went to ice skating rinks. There were even times when the "traffic circle" nearby froze over and we could safely ice skate in BPG.

So the funny thing was that although I wasn't a great athlete, nor did I ever during the 13 years I taught, get certified/qualified as a gym teacher, suddenly people were coming over offering me more jobs.

I haven't skated since.

Here are some photos from Ice Skating in Cinema City:

Jewish?

It has become very faddy for celebrities and politicians to announce some Jewish family connection, even if it's not genetic. Over half a millennium after the Inquisition, that's pretty good news.

Two of the latest are from different eras and totally different lives.

Students of the American Revolution and the early days of the United States all agree that one of the most brilliant thinkers and politicians was Thomas Jefferson. Yes, you guessed it! Geneticists say there are Jewish markers on his "Y chromosome."

University of Arizona geneticist Michael Hammer found that the Jefferson Y chromosome was a perfect match to a Moroccan Jew and closely matched another Moroccan Jew, a Kurdish Jew and an Egyptian.

And from today's celebrities...
Do you remember the athletic, graceful and precocious ice skater, Oksana Baiul, who stunned the world when she won the Olympic Gold at the age of 16? Yes, she, too, has Jewish roots.

hat tip The Gantseh Megillah