Tough Decision, Where to Post the HH Announcement

I feel pretty dumb wasting time debating on which blog to post about Eric's Havel Havelim.  There are disadvantages to having multiple blogs, especially when they almost compete with each other at times.  And this is one of those times. 

I've been preparing a more extensive post about last night's Shiloh is 34 Party, and it seemed pretty obvious to my mind that the HH post would go on one and the party post on the other.  But which for which...

That was the question!

More information, like how to submit your posts, about Havel Havelim can always for found on facebook.  Next week's Havel Havelim will G-d willing be hosted by Yaaqov of Esser Agaroth.  You can sign up to host an edition also on the facebook page, too.  As Eric, so aptly named his HH, we're a community.  We're an international community of Jewish bloggers.  So please participate.  Send in your posts, read the weekly blog carnival, and share the links.  And of course don't forget to volunteer to host an edition.  Ditto for the Kosher Cooking Carnival and JPIX

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More To Come From The Shiloh's 34 Party

My neighbor Miriam Feyga Bunimovich took this picture of me last night as I was photographing one of the performances at the Shiloh is 34 celebrations.

Miriam was also in the photography/videotaping course I took.  There were three of us from Shiloh in the course, and we were among the very few who showed up to all of the sessions, all three sessions-all three of us.  We also were the only ones, if I'm not mistaken, to always try to do and bring in assignments.  Miriam is on the yishuv more than I am and has become official photographer.  She has impressive cameras and a tripod.  I'm more a "dabbler."  And for equipment, I have my bli eyin haraa, Canon 620 and a pouch to carry it in.  And there's a neck strap for the heavier assignments when I want it easily grabbable. 

Don't Steal This Idea!

For years I've been saying that I must produce "The Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem."  I think it would be pretty easy to get advertisers on a listing of public toilets.  Does anyone want to work with me on the project?

Let's start with one of the best 00's W.C.'s or whatever euphemism you prefer for those necessary facilities.  The Hebrew is שירותים sherutim,  "services" or "conveniences."

To be a convenient service, one needs long opening hours and lots of ... facilities.  The best is at the Jerusalem Municipality.  With a guard like this lion, you should feel safe.  They aren't near this lion, but if you're walking in from that corner, just keep walking.

You take the elevator down to floor 0.  There are many stalls, and it's pretty clean and stocked with toilet paper, at least when I show up around 7:30am and at other times, too.  I have a feeling the the Public Relations Department won't get too enthusiastic about this post...

So enjoy the other pictures of "Safra Square" as it's called by the mechanical voice coming out the the lightrail audio system.

It's Modern Shiloh's Birthday! 34!!!

As you may have noticed, it's Friday morning, and it's getting late.  I should have divided my time better, but I ended up blogging a very long time on Shiloh Musings about Shiloh of all places.  So, I hope you don't mind that I'm just recommending that you click and read it.

Here's one of the illustrations to tempt you.

Me? Organized? Not Really

It's so funny.  At work they call me organized and prepared.  I don't think of myself like that.  I know how much I don't get done.  I know what a mess my house is.  I know the truth about myself.

But the people who see me at work see another person.  They see the old lady who always comes with food to eat.  I like to eat, and I don't have the money nor time to eat out. I know that I won't function without the right food.  I have routines that I stick to, and those routines include preparing food to bring to work.

I'm also one of the only workers who always has a shirt with the store logo to wear. That's not because I'm organized.  It's because I don't have money to buy new clothes.  I get the work outfit for free, so it's what I wear to work.  That's not being "organized."  I certainly get dressed before going to work, so on a workday I dress in work clothes. And I always take a backpack, which has a work jacket if I'm coming from someplace else.  And on cold days I have extra work jackets to keep adding on to stay warm.  And if I'm still cold I take another jacket from work and get the logo put on.  That's how I'm up to three.  Yes, at work I look much fatter than I really am.

If I was really organized I'd get a lot more done in my life.

Thank G-d For The Rain and... Rosh Chodesh Adar

Finally, we're having a winter, bli eyin haraa.  G-d willing it'll last until Passover.  It will take many rainy winters to make up for the shortfall in recent years.  We've been suffering from a drought and it's far from over.

This has been the rainiest January for years.  One rainy month is just a drop in the empty bucket, though.

This has been the greenest winter, just the way it's supposed to be.  Grape vines look dead in the winter, but all the rain should give a nice big crop, G-d wiling.

And I can't wait to see how green and flowery Tel Shiloh will be on Rosh Chodesh Adar.  Ladies, you're invited to join me!

The Rosh Chodesh Adar Women's Prayers at Tel Shiloh
Friday, February 24, 2012 8:30am
Shiur Torah, Short Tour & Torah Lesson
Please come and invite family, friends and neighbors
תפילת נשים ראש חודש אדר בתל שילה
יום ו' 24-2 8:30
יהיו סיור ודבר תורה קצרים
נא לבוא, לפרסם ולהזמין חברות, משפחה ושכנות

You're welcome to join our facebook page. Tel Shiloh is open to visitors daily. Tours can be arranged through the office. Email telshilo@gmail.com or phone 02-994-4019.

Workers Rights, Pregnant Women Israel vs USA

Some things are better in Israel!

Not only doesn't the United States require healthcare programs for all workers, but pregnant women can be fired.

All Israelis, whether full-time workers, part-time, unemployed or retired can choose a comprehensive healthcare program which offers reasonable prices and subsidized basic medications.  There are laws protecting pregnant and post-partum women. 

Of course nothing is perfect, and some people will look for problems, but it's one of the reasons daily life here in Israel is easier.

The clinics in small communities are even better than the city ones for certain things.

Lucky Soldiers, Gush Etzion's Pina Chama

My amazing friend Sharon of Voices Magazine just blogged about her volunteering in the Gush Etzion's Pina Chama.  She works her shifts with Jill, who used to be my boss when I worked in advertising.  Small world, since I now write for Voices.

Even though I live far from Efrat/Gush Etzion, I'm familiar with their Pina Chama.  One of my favorite "only in Israel" stories is about it.  I don't know if I've blogged this before, but it's easier to blog it again than to search for a link.

My sons both served in the IDF as combat soldiers.  One of them found himself drinking coffee, eating cake and talking to the nice lady in the Gush Etzion Pina Chama.  Suddenly he said:

"My mother has friends in Efrat."
"Who's your mother."
"Batya Medad."
"I know her."

So, I got an email from her telling me that she she just met my lovely son.  And to make it even more interesting, in recent years, my son has become a friend of her son.

Trying to "Do It All"

Many people call me "energetic," but they don't see me when I'm "refueling."  And even fewer see me when I'm "all out" riding on "empty."

Last night I was so tired, I thought that I was getting jet-lagged.  I must have the right food and sleep.  I'm not young, so my energy reserves are always pretty low.

Sunday night at work, Yafiz-clothing for the entire family, Sha'ar Binyamin, we started a major winter clothes sale* just under an hour before closing.  It was like running a sprint at the end of a marathon.  And yesterday, I couldn't sleep late or even until my usual early time.  I had to get up extra early to make it to a Bar Mitzvah at the Kotel of a fellow workers son.  From there I went to an elderly friend at the other end of Jerusalem for lunch.  I noticed that I had just missed the bus that goes straight to her place, so I tried catching up with it by taking the train.  But when I got off the train, the bus was already leaving the stop and I had to walk all the way from Yad Sarah to the Shalom Hotel.  At least I didn't see the next bus pass me.

From there I rushed back to work for another late and very intense shift.  On the bus to work I reset my alarm to the latest ever, and after I turned it off, I fell asleep for another bit.  At work I made a point of eating my fruit and the dinner I had prepared the day before, so I wouldn't go into a stupor of exhaustion. B"H, my friend's bracha/blessing for safe and quick ride/s home came true.

Trying to "do it all" is good, but do it wisely.  I really try, because recovering is harder.

*If you're in the area, it's highly recommended that you shop in Yafiz for our winter clothes sale.  Buy for next winter and some of the outfits are suitable for all year long, certainly springtime.

The Mazal Tov Havel Havelim

Rickismom at Beneath the Wings is a first-time host of Havel Havelim, but she's not a first-time grandmother. Double MAZAL TOV!

Enjoy the selection.  She didn't get the instacarnival, so it's short but very interesting and varied.

Next week's HH is to be hosted by Eric of  The Israel Situation.  Please send your links to the form he made up.  For more Havel Havelim news join our facebook page.  We're looking for more hosts.  I keep up to date Havel Havelim and Kosher Cooking Carnival information on the top left sidebar of both this blog and Shiloh Musings.  Please check it out and join the "party."

Have a wonderful day!!

Jewish Month of Sh'vat, Pre-Spring, TU B'Shvat

Leora wrote asking me for a TU B'Shvat article. 

When we lived in Bayit V'Gan, Jerusalem there was a large, old sh'kaydia almond tree in the empty lot by our apartment.  Every TU B'Shvat the gannim, nursery schools would march over and sing to it.  Then a few months before we moved to Shiloh building began in the lot and the tree was destroyed.  The entire neighborhood gathered to cry.  It was one of the signs that our time in Jerusalem was up.

When we first moved to Shiloh I said (in my head) that I needed to plant a shkaydia almond tree by the house, but I never did it.  Read how G-d made that plan come true.  Yes, the punchline has been revealed.

This is nothing like the gorgeous tree that used to flower near our apartment, but it does have its beauty, and it's a gift from G-d.

Very Winter, Thawing's Not Easy

For many years we had a cat, so I never could leave anything out to thaw or cool, because it would just become "cat food."  I had to refrigerate bread, cake etc, since it could go moldy in a closet and our cat was very clever.  She could open all sorts of doors.

I'd put the frozen chicken in the fridge in the beginning of the week and pray and hope that it would be thawed out by Thursday for cooking.  It has been quite a few years, over a decade since our last cat died, and I still think twice before putting meat/chicken out to thaw.  Of course I keep the windows locked so no strays can make themselves at home.

Usually leaving the chicken on the counter, on a metal baking tray overnight does the trick, but it's winter.  I don't heat the house 24 hours a day.  Sometimes the chicken is still frozen solid in the morning, so I have to get creative:

An hour or so on the radiator helped, B"H. 

There's nothing like one of these electric, gas-filled? radiators.  I keep it on a timer.  I surround it with clotheslines.  And they don't need deliveries of neft, kerosene.  Nor do they need dry wood.  And they don't soot up the house either.

I wish I could wear them on my feet like snowshoes....

International KCC at This American Bite!

Just in time for Shabbat, the latest Kosher Cooking Carnival is at This American Bite, but it's an international affair of kosher food for all.  Click and check it out and visit all the blogs included this month and then share them far and wide.  Actually it has been "live," online since yesterday my time, but I didn't have time to announce it.

Next month, Adar, late February, the Kosher Cooking Carnival will be hosted by Cooking Outside the Box, and we're looking for a volunteer for Nissan, around March 25, and other months.  Please contact me or join our facebook group.  You can send in your links for the Adar KCC nonrecipe@gmail.com with KCC as subject or via facebook or blog carnival, which doesn't work as well as it used to, but I still send the instacarnivals to the hosts.

Shabbat Shalom and Enjoy!

Only in Israel, From The Blog Across The Street and Other Local Blogs

I'm not the only blogger in the neighborhood.  Of course, as you must know, my husband blogs, too.  And besides him, directly across the street is Ester who posts in honor of Rosh Chodesh, the beginning of the Jewish Month.  For Shvat she posted one of those "only in Israel" stories which you'll certainly enjoy.

The following Dry Bones suits Ester's post:

A bit further east after Ester's house there's another blogger, Yael of Shvut Rachel.  She blogs in Hebrew and recently posted a how-to recipe for easy chicken on youtube.  Most of it is clear from the action.  I'll just let you know that she makes the bread crumbs out of cornflakes and the "creamy-looking stuff" is mayonnaise.



Enjoy them all!

Delicious, Colorful, Healthy and Easy to Make Vegetables

When I saw that nice big red cabbage at Rami Levi I just had to buy it.  I cooked it with:

• onion
• carrot
• fresh ginger
• small apple
• bit of oil to saute it all
• of course the cabbage
• freshly squeezed orange juice

Add the cabbage and juice last, when the carrots start getting soft.  Cook in a large covered frying pan or good, heavy covered pot.  Exact quantities don't exist.  This isn't a chemistry formula.

Enjoy!!

The Most Frightening "Tremping" Experience

OK, except for the times I've wondered if I'm going to be stuck forever waiting for a ride, in the cold, rain, sun or late at night, the following story is really the most frightening I can remember after just over thirty years "in the business" of waiting for rides aka tremping...

It happened last night.
After got out of my friend's car at the Ofra Junction, she gave me her blessing, which has always worked, nudging G-d to give me a "speedy and safe ride home."  Within in less than a minute I was crowded into the backseat, next to a baby in her/his safety seat, with my three bags securing me well.  I was relieved that I had gotten my right foot in with rest of me.

The young mother driving left me off at the Shiloh Junction, but before I managed to cross the street to where I had to wait, I realized that I wasn't alone.  A "teenage" white dog was there, too, sniffing at my one of my bags, the thermal bag with the chickens inside.  Fresh, whole, kosher chickens are among the products Rami Levi purposely keeps selling at low prices, so I've been buying them there for the past few months.  I've saved us a lot of money by doing that.

Well, the dog kept sniffing, and I was trying to cross the street without showing panic or exciting the dog.  I even called out a bit, hoping that there were soldiers hiding, which is sometimes the case.  I wanted someone to shoot the dog.

The street had never seemed so wide, nor had never taken so long to cross.  I still had a long way to go, especially at the "relaxed--don't frighten the dog" pace I was going, when a pick-up truck turned into the road to Shiloh from the south.  I wanted to get into that truck ASAP.   At first it stopped, then it began moving, stopped again and even backed up a bit.  Thank G-d he waited for me! 

After I got in, the driver said that he had noticed me and realized that I was in trouble, so he waited.  And thank G-d and this unknown person going to Shvut Rachel, I made it home safe and sound.

Frosty Dawn

I took this shot a cold, frosty Wednesday morning last week.  Frosty was all I could think of.  I was waiting for a ride to Jerusalem.  Usually the early morning sky here is Shiloh is gorgeous, and to be perfectly honest, just to the right of the frost, there was some color.

Yes, I must be honest and not leave you with the impression that G-d had given us a colorless sky.

And I never got a "ride;" I had to take the bus after waiting a half hour in the freezing cold.  I shouldn't complain, because the bus did get me in to Jerusalem safe and sound.  There are times, like when I finish work at Yafiz, Sha'ar Binyamin late at night when there is no bus option and I really, desperately need those "tremps."  So, if G-d is limiting the miracle rides (aka tremps,) let me have them when I really have no other option.

Risa's New Banner and Havel Havelim

I was just about to blog about this great new vegetable dish I invented on Friday, when I figured that it would be a good idea to see what my friends had blogged.  And there, right on top, was Isramom aka Risa's blog announcing the latest Havel Havelim and new blog banner.

So, just click on over to Isramom and check out all the posts from blogs far and wide.  For instructions on how to contribute to the next edition check out our facebook Havel Havelim page.  HH comes out every Sunday on a different blog.  Next week's Havel Havelim will be Beneath the Wings.  If you don't have facebook, you can still contribute a link by using the old blog carnival form or send it to me and I'll pass it on to the hostess.

So the vegetable recipes will have to wait until I blog again, G-d willing....  In the meantime you can feast your eyes on Risa's Havel Havelim.  Please read, visit, comment and share.

And have a wonderful week one and all!

"Lively Discussion," Does That Mean It Was a Good Shiur/Class?

Since I began pretty serious, for me, Bible studies* in Matan last year, I've volunteered to give classes to my neighborhood women's "study group," the weekly Shabbat שיעור נשים Shiur Nashim,  Women's Torah Class.  You can still count the times on one hand, but the number is growing.  I gave a class today.

I don't consider myself very knowledgeable.  Even though I've taken classes for years, until recently it wasn't very systematic, and I didn't have enough knowledge to "connect the dots."  I don't lecture.  One reason is that I don't know enough, and enough is that it can too easily get boring.  I hate to admit it, but I've fallen asleep at too many classes.  So, my method is involving everyone in discussion. 

I do throw out facts and read texts, or make my friends read in better Hebrew, but I don't insist that only my answer is the right one.  The class wasn't too long.  One of the women even expressed disappointment that it was over too soon.

I guess that means that I passed, Baruch Hashem, thank G-d!

*three courses, one morning a week

Rami Levi Stores, Not Just Cheap Chicken and Cabbage

This is cross-posted on Shiloh Musings

As you know, I work in Yafiz, which is the chain of clothing stores owned by the Rami Levi discount supermarket chain.  My store is located in Sha'ar Binyamin, the shopping center (like those built in the USA suburbs during the 1950's) just northeast of Jerusalem, in the Mateh Binyamin, Benjamin Regional Council.

Yesterday just before signing out from work and going into the supermarket for a few items, the buzz was that Pnina Rosenblum, Israel's rags to riches cosmetics industrialist and politician was expected in the supermarket.

My husband would tell you that I rarely admit I'm wrong (maybe because I'm usually right) but when it comes to Rosenblum, I must admit that I was wrong.  When I first began seeing pictures of her at all sorts of events, I'd call her the bimbo.  In the end she has proven to be anything but.  She's a blond, but bimbo she isn't.

I had never noticed, but apparently the Pnina Rosenblum cosmetics, soaps etc are marketed in the Rami Levi store. 

I could hear her complimenting the managers on the display.  Now, our branch of Rami Levi, like most discount supermarkets, isn't a fancy place.  It also doesn't sell high end items.  Rosenblum's products and general philosophy match Rami Levi's.  When she decided to go into politics, she didn't choose an elitist Leftist ideology and party.  Today she's an active member of the Likud and even served as a Likud MK for a short time.

Rosenblum didn't enter the supermarket with an entourage of aides and photographers. That impressed me.  I took these pictures from "discrete" distances using the zoom. 

Seconds after putting away my camera, she came right up to me, as if offering a good shot, but I didn't take it.

The most humorous part of this visit was overhearing the other customers talking about her.  Many hadn't a clue as to who she is and why she was there.  One person explained to another that she's a Likud politician and was flabbergasted when told that she's a cosmetics industrialist.

As I've mentioned frequently, "timing is in the Hand (Power) of G-d, Siyata D'Shmaya.  Yesterday was certainly an example.  Why else would I have ended up working that day, and shopping at exactly that time?  And the icing on the cake was that just as I got on line to pay, I saw my next door neighbor on the next line, and yes, he took me home.  Thank G-d, G-d is Great!

Shabbat Shalom to Everyone