Life's a Challenge, Nu?

We all have our challenges.  Some of us are more public about them than others.  I guess I don't reveal all that much of what's really going on in my life.  That's most probably why this blog isn't all that popular.  I keep too much hidden.

With some bloggers we join them on a roller coaster ride.  That has been Chavi's story.  I'm looking forward to cheering her on, f2f when she joins us living in Israel pretty soon.

A very unexpected story is Superman Sam, the Bima Ima's six year old.  Pray for a refuah shleimah for Shmuel Asher ben Pesa Ester.

Rickismom will always be "Rickismom" to us, even now after Ricki's death.

As Ester reminds us, we feel more comfortable with the familiar threats and tornadoes.

I think you'll enjoy reading those other posts.

Not Me, But...

I've been getting emails asking for more details about the big Tfillat Chana event planned for next week at Tel Shiloh.

I invite women to come every month on Rosh Chodesh to pray there together, but I am not an employee and I don't make any money off of it and I'm not involved in the big events.  It's just a project I took on a number of years ago; nobody asked me to do it.  I just felt it needed to be done.

The Tfillat Chana is being run by the tourist office of our regional council, Mateh Binyamin.  For information about the special buses call 08-9712348. 


There's more information on this poster:

You can also call 02-994-4019 during work hours.

I plan on being at The Tfillat Chana next week, so be in touch.

They Sure Didn't Have These When I Was a Young Mother

The sign says:

חדר הנקה
cheder hanaka
breast-feeding room

I spotted this in the Malcha Mall the other day on the way to the 00 WC near the food court.

Young mothers have things a lot easier than my generation did.  We had to drag chairs around or just find ways to nurse our babies "in public."

When I think back to the things I once had to do...

Keeping Busy, Ruthie Blum's Book Launch and More

Ruthie Blum, my husband and I
photo by Real Jerusalem Streets

Last night I joined many attending Ruthie Blum's book launch for  To Hell in a Handbasket: Carter, Obama, and the "Arab Spring."

That was after doing a full morning shift at Yafiz-Clothing for the Entire Family, Sha'ar Binyamin.  When I got to Jerusalem, I went to the Malcha Mall and shopped a bit, finally replacing our too "holey" jersey sheets and their too stretched out elastic.  Nothing lasts forever I guess.  I'm glad I found some new ones at Home Center which gladly accepted the shopping coupons I had been hoarding.  I had been hoping to find some new clothes for myself, but the budget is certainly happy that I didn't.

Paula put together a great Havel Havelim, and as she wrote, there are some great blogs out there to read.  Here are a few posts I've spotted from this week which may interest you:

Real Jerusalem Streets

Sharon's living in Jerusalem makes it possible for her to attend all sorts of fun events like the reopening of the Windmill. 

Seraphic Secret tells us Why Israel Doesn’t Trust Obama.

Caroline Glick reveals something of her private life.

Mystical Paths tells of a situation that also exists in my extended family, His Sons Are Not Jewish.

One of the things I enjoy about this pre-Rosh Hashannah season is hearing the shofar early in the morning from the various synagogues I pass.  The Rebbetzin's Husband hears it differently.

OK, now to get on with my day.  Please read, comment and share the posts I included here, and tell them where you found them, thanks.

Amazing Shiloh Connection, Small World

Some names are very common.  There are few names, very few that are so rare that the combination of first and last names are unique.  I think that mine is.  If you google Batya Medad, you'll only find me.  The closest you can find is/was Batya Eldad, mother of MK Dr. Arie Eldad, a politician I trust and vote for. 

Someone I know googled her name and found a different person who looked just like her.  It was spooky.  She mentioned it to her brother who reminded her that they had a cousin on their father's side with the same name. 

This past Shabbat it was announced that the shiur nashim, Women's Torah Class I attend would be given by the mother of a neighbor.  That mother had the same name as my eldest's First Grade teacher.  Now this teacher was really great.  We had just returned from two years in London, doing youth work, leading Betar.  My daughter had forgotten her Hebrew, but she had learned how to read and write in English and was doing advanced (for a six year old) arithmetic.  Her return to her birthplace and integration into a very Israeli Hebrew-speaking elementary school wouldn't be simple.

In my own rotten Hebrew I did my best to explain to the teacher what the situation was.  A friend in the neighborhood, who had been teaching English there, had handled registration for us and may have had been the one who got the school to give my daughter some remedial hours in Hebrew.  In 1977, Israeli elementary school teachers didn't need a university degree or any knowledge of English for their licensing.

Miraculously, the teacher understood her needs, gave her a 3rd grade math workbook and taught her Hebrew again, including reading and writing.  A couple of years later we moved to Shiloh and never heard about the teacher again.  That is until yesterday when it ended I discovered that the neighbor's mother was that wonderful teacher!

Wedding Under The Stars

In the American Jewish "wedding hall" in which we got married, there was a small hole in the ceiling, so that the chuppah, Jewish marriage canopy would be "under the stars," at least directly under the sky, when held in daylight.  According to Jewish tradition, an outdoor chuppah is considered better than an indoor one.  I've been to lots of Israeli weddings, at which the chuppah has been in smelly parking lots and crowded terraces and in the mud and drizzle for that reason.  Sometimes the later dancing would leave mud all over the fancy hall's floor.  That's why, lots of Jewish halls try to arrange it in at least a symbolic way with the skylight which can open directly to the sky.

The other night I was at a wedding at which the only "ceiling" was the cloth chuppah, which I was able to see in the distance when I began walking down to Tel Shiloh. 

The entire yishuv of Shiloh was invited to the ceremony and later dancing.  I just went to the ceremony.  Here aer some pictures.

My camera is starting to show its age and gave me "trouble," so the pictures didn't come out all that well.

Chana's Prayer, T'fillat Chana, At Tel Shiloh

Everyone's invited.

Tours, prayers, Rabbanit Yemima Mizrachi and music by Aaron & Efrat Razel

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

 

The program is in Hebrew

Nu? Where? What?

What's this story?

There's always a story, isn't there?  I must let you know that I took the picture here in Shiloh when I was walking around the neighborhood last night.  I've lived in Shiloh for over thirty years, and I've never ever seen such a sight here.

Are we being invaded by upper middle class American suburbanites?

Raining on the Edon Pinchot Parade

I finally looked/listened to the America's Got Talent Edon Pinchot,  who's this season's gimmick.  I wasn't impressed, not one iota.



Of course it's easier to join the crowd and say he's amazing, but he isn't.  His voice is ordinary, at least in this song.  There's no range.  And it's not an appropriate song for a religious kid, nor is all of the talk of girlfriends etc.

I kept thinking of Susan Boyle who had wowed the world a couple of years ago with her totally amazing voice and very plain appearance.  After a rough start she has been making a career for herself.  She's a middle-aged woman.

Edon Pinchot is just a kid.  From the looks of him, his voice may change drastically in the future.  I don't think that the big stage is the place for him.

Caption, Anyone? Guess the Spot!

I have been at this location only once. 

Does anyone know where it is?

Let's see what captions you come up with or information as to the location...

Blogging About The Kids

Some of you must think me an awful photographer.  When I post pictures of my kids and grandkids, you can't see their faces clearly.

Actually, unless you know them and know they are mine, you'd have an awfully hard, hopefully impossible, time recognizing them.

I must confess.  I do that on purpose.

My family does not want to be recognized as mine.  I don't take offense at it.  They grew up with reporters, tv crews etc in the house.  For some strange reason our living in Shiloh was considered newsworthy, and journalists and diplomats etc have been going out of their way, all the way to Shiloh to ask us why we're here, will we attack the police and other deep earth-shaking questions.

I'm sure you believe me that I do take great pictures of the kids and grandkids in which you can see their smiles and the color of their eyes.  But I reserve those pictures for the family and close friends.

What We Ate on Our Hike in Nachal Shiloh

Last Friday the Israeli branch of the immediate family hiked in nearby Nachal Shiloh.  This hiking (and bicycle) path as close as you can get to Shiloh being just across the main road from us.  There's a parking lot where you can leave your car.  We didn't have much time, since it was a Friday, and we had to start very late morning, more like noon, because the almost five year old had had a "meet the Kindergarten teacher" event in Ofra.

One of the advantages to living in Shiloh is that it's in the heart of Bible Land, full of history and agriculture.  So the kids had no problem finding a place with an easy trail, picnic tables and swings.

Just a minute's stroll from the parking lot we discovered the perfect place for all the food and cooking equipment etc.  There were fresh figs for the taking, as long as there was someone who could hang on to a tree and pick them.

Kids of all ages (under a certain weight) enjoyed the swings which were hanging on the trees. 

And you can see the welcome shade, considering that we only got started at high noon.  Back to the food....

The kids were in charge; I didn't have to bring anything.

 

We did not nosh on the grapes, commercial grapes growing all over.  There are serious vineyards here in the traditional Biblical grape-growing country of the Shomron, Benjamin and Efrayim.  Quite a few local boutique wines have won prizes.  Our sons told stories of how they spent their teenage summers planting some of those very grapes.

The main course was "Bedouin pittot." As you can see, lots of hands pitched in for the kneading.

It took some practice, but the cooking went well. I don't think that real Bedouin add tomato sauce and olives...

 

Lots of salads were brought, too. It was a feast!  I have a great family!!!

End of Summer, Back to School

Israeli kids are returning to school, and the teachers are returning to work a week earlier than usual.  Today's the big day.  It's still August, not the traditional September 1.

For years there has been talk of shortening summer vacation aka חופש הגדול Chofesh HaGadol, The Long/Big Vacation and giving a bit more time off in the winter or just increasing school days or using the extra time to round off holiday weekends etc.

One of the reasons that this year is very good for an early return to school is that 5773 Rosh Hashannah "falls early" in September, and there won't be enough school days before the Jewish Holiday season begins.

The Jewish Calendar and the solar Christian ones aren't the same.  The twelve month lunar calendar has fewer days than the solar one which is based on the four seasons coming the right time and the same months every year.  The Jewish Calendar is adjusted every few years according to a very accurate formula.  This  year's Rosh Hashannah isn't the earliest it can be.  Next year, 5774 will have an even earlier one, but then there will be an additional winter month between Shvat and Adar called Adar Alef (the first.)  Purim and all plain Adar birthdays and yartzeits will be in Adar Bet.  We use a nineteen year cycle to keep our Holidays in line with the right seasons.

The Muslims keep a twelve month lunar calendar, and their holidays travel around the solar cycle calendar.  This was a tough year for Muslims in this part of the world, because their month long Ramadan fast was in the heat of the summer. 

At work, Yafiz-Clothing for the Entire Family, Sha'ar Binyamin, we had a busy time selling to Arabs celebrating their Eid-al-Fitr end of Ramadan holiday and to Jews buying clothes for the upcoming school year.  Both groups took advantage of our end of season sales. 

Now that the Muslims are back to work and the Jews are back to school, we'll be selling Holiday clothes to wear Rosh Hashannah, Yom Kippur and Succot.  After that there will be winter clothes.  And then there are sales and...

I'm glad to be at this end of the pre-school year hustle and bustle.  I don't have to buy school books, clothes, prepare lessons etc.

Something New, The Shiloh Bike Path

When I was at Tel Shiloh last week for Women's Rosh Chodesh Prayers, I saw this little sign.  Yes, that's the sign of a designated bicycle path.  And yes, it is a bit rocky.  That's why I didn't take it all that seriously. 

When I was young we rode our bicycles on the road, even busy ones, but we didn't go riding on unpaved surfaces.  Even if the bike was sturdy enough, isn't it harder and more dangerous?

On Friday we had a family hike/picnic Israeli style at Nachal Shiloh, a fantastic spot just on the other side of the main road, across from Tel Shiloh, just south of Givat Harel.

We were rather surprised to see lots of cyclists.

And there are special bike path logos, too.

 

Every time we thought the riders were gone, another group showed up.

I had no idea that there was such a popular and delightful tourist spot right near home.

What's The Coffee Connection?

I took this picture in New York this summer.  I really didn't notice those cups on the wall and couldn't see the connection.  Why do they have that sign there saying "coffee?"

As I write this, I'm drinking my morning coffee, and I'm not dressed like that.  I'm not even dressed for my "day job."  How do you dress when drinking coffee?

For me coffee is part of my early morning routine.  I don't take "coffee breaks" at work, which is probably what this scene is supposed to represent.  And I don't dress like that either for work...

At this moment I'm sitting in the den, dressed in a terrycloth robe, barefoot and bleary-eyed trying to wake up.  That's my usual coffee-drinking outfit.

Israel Museum, Sans Kites

My husband was the lucky one to have taken the grandkids to the Israel Museum the other day for the museum's annual kite day.  I suggested it, remembering the fun I had had on one of the first days they did it when our kids were young and then how great it had been to have taken the older kids a few years ago. 

It's not that I haven't been to the Israel Museum much; I was there just last week, and here are some pictures.  I was told that it's now permitted to photo without flash.

As you can see, there's always something to view at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem.