MAZALTOV! Frum Satire's Heshy is a Married Man

Heshy Fried of the amazingly popular blog, Frum Satire is married.  Mazal tov to him and his wife.  I wish them all the best, good health and a happy, wonderful, satisfied life together.

The Secret...

Do you now what's happening here?

No, it's not a "secret."  It's "The Secret."

"The secret" refers to what must be done if you want your solar panels to really heat the water.  They must be kept clean or the sun won't be efficiently and freely absorbed to heat the water  or make/generate electricity.

I'm no expert in the real technicalities in it, but I do know that when we have sandstorms after the last rain, we won't get as much hot water all summer as the years when the last rain is a clean one after the sandstorms.

When our elder son lived with us, it was no "challenge" for him to climb up on the roof and wipe the dust and grime off of our solar panels.  That time is long over.  He does do plenty of chores when paying one of his rare visits, but I haven't asked him to clean the solar panels.  Maybe that's because I'm so phobic about heights and he likes to frighten me by jumping off into thick bushes.  One of his old jobs was that of a plumber's assistant.  The plumber had dreams of getting him fully trained and qualified and making a business together, but my son wasn't interested.  At least the skills he learned comes in handy at times.  And yes plumbers must climb on roofs, on anything where there are pipes and water.

For those with kids, who aren't phobic about heights, looking for summer jobs here in Israel this summer, cleaning solar panels would be a good way of making money.

ps I took this picture at Sha'ar Binyamin Shopping Center/Industrial Park.

Israeli Book Week is More Than Just Books

Years ago, remember that we're in Israel for over forty years, Book Week in Israel was a time when every town and city set up sales points, tables and tables and tables for book publishers to display and see volume after volume of books to the book-hungry public.

There never was a country or people so enamored or addicted to books like Israelis.  Remember that Jews are known as the "people of the Book," so in the modern State of Israel books are a very popular item.

But even here, things have changed a bit and the book fairs now are more like carnivals with all sorts of entertainment for the kiddies of all ages, even the pre-readers.

That includes food, if you consider these sugary confections aka "cotton candy" to be "food."  In Ofra, where I spent the afternoon with the grandkids, they even had real food grilled meat and sandwiches for sale.  But my grandchildren insisted on the sugary stuff, something I never would have bought my own kids.

There were also clowns and magicians who entertained in the shade, thank G-d. 

And there was also entertainment for those who "danced" to a different drummer.

Considering that nowadays not all read their books from paper, it should be no surprise that the Jerusalem Municipality had a different sort of fair the very same week.  I saw all sorts of handicrafts being set up for sale at Safra Square.

Israeli Book Week is party time.  We celebrate books!

The Bima Ima's Son and All The Family Need Your Prayers

The Bima Ima, a jblogger I know from Havel Havelim (and because of that facebook) has very recently posted bad news on her blog. 

Her six year old son, Sam, was just diagnosed with  acute myeloid leukemia.

Phyllis has started a blog Superman Sam on which she'll add updates and write about the new life they have found themselves having to live.

In the Jewish blogging community, Phyllis has always been there to help out, host Havel Havelim.  Now Phyllis and her family need our prayers:

רפואה שלימה

Refuah Shleimah

Complete Healing

Shmuel Asher ben haRav Pesah Esther

And good health and humor to all members of the family.  They have a tough ride ahead.  May G-d give them good health and a special Refuah Shleimah  to Sam.

The POOL!!!

Yesterday, I had one of those "private pool" experiences for the beginning of my time there.  Apparently, I had missed the "rush" the "crowd" of four women.  Later on a few more came in to swim and chat.

Yes, that's why I had no trouble photographing these very modest pictures.

I didn't have to infringe on the privacy, tzniyut  modesty of anybody, because I had it to myself.  Yes, of course there was a lifeguard, a female, of course.

This is the very last year the Shiloh Pool בריכת שילה Breichat Shiloh will look like this.  There are plans to rebuild the pool, including an "enclosure" to make it an all year pool.  I'm going to have to find the money to commit to a founding membership.

That Delicious "Taste Memory"

We all have different sorts of memories, smell, sound, visual, taste and probably more.

A friend who had lived in Israel during the 1970's still drools at the thought of a certain bakery.

Yes, it's that Hungarian conditory Rechov Strauss (Street) in Jerusalem.  Yes, that's the legendary bakery, pastry shop in which you can have some tea or coffee with your cake.  Trying to keep up with the times, there's a small sign announcing that they also serve "ice coffee," which is like a "frozen malted."  I don't know what it's called in other countries.

I haven't eaten there for decades, but I have memories of eating apple strudel and nut cake/pie.  The last time I was there, my mother and I ordered and then walked out, because someone was smoking.  We then wandered around downtown Jerusalem until we found a nice pastry/coffee shop that enforced the "no smoking" and had their cake displays refrigerated.

Very few stores and restaurants have survived so long.  Most bakeries are now branches of large chains.  Even if they bake on the premises, it's done with frozen pre-prepared "goodies."  If you want something really good, you should go to the old bakeries like this one.

"Age Before Beauty," Why Hide Your Age?

The other day I was waiting for a ride at the Shiloh Junction.  We all pretty much got there the same time, having picked up the same ride to there from Ofra.  Then a car came by with one place.  One of the young men started getting in, then he suddenly didn't.  He gestured that I should get in.

"Age before beauty" went through my mind.  Since I doubted that he knows enough English to understand it, I didn't say it out loud.  Everyone else waiting there was young, younger than my youngest child.  If I had been their peer, it would have had taken longer for me to find a ride home.

At times there are advantages to looking old.  I get rides in buses, too.  I don't even have to groan and stare at people.  They just get up.

I could never understand why some people go to great efforts, including surgery to look much younger.  If, at an age like mine, you look well under your age, people may demand/expect too much from you physically.  And I wouldn't get seats in buses etc.

Some may think that it's easy for me to say so, because I don't look older than my age.  I inherited good genes from my parents.  Their youthfulness was always legendary.  At my age they couldn't get senior discounts  without showing proof that they were old enough.  Nobody has ever demanded that from me.

Every age has its disadvantages and advantages.  We can't fight it, but we can enjoy it.

Two Buses, Four Rides, Yes, Straight to The Door

As many of you know, we don't have a car.  We travel by bus and whatever aka tremping, hitchhiking.  Sometimes it all goes easily, and sometimes it's a bit more complicated.  There is bus service between Shiloh and Jerusalem and Shiloh and Ariel, which has more bus lines to the "Tel Aviv area."

The other day I attended a shiur class at Matan in Jerusalem.  It ended a bit after one bus home and much too early for the next one.  I hate waiting.  So I had to figure out how to get home in between the buses.

I don't like sounding/seeming like a parasite, so I didn't ask/announce that I needed a ride after the shiur was over.  It was a bit annoying watching all the cars pass me; I recognized the drivers from the participants.  But that's the price of being carless.

I lost/wasted a lot of concentration during the class trying to figure out which bus and route I should take back to somehow get home.

I decided to walk to a bus stop that would give me two different options, #4 and #18.  My luck was that I missed a bus.  It passed me on the way.  Then I waited and waited and waited; neither bus showed.  Finally the #4 showed up.  I sat near the driver so I could ask which stop would be the same as for #25 which could take me to a bus stop where cars also offer rides.

That made two buses, since the #25 came pretty quickly to make up for my previous wait.  After a while a car stopped offering to take us to Adam.  Going there wouldn't help, so I asked if they'd drop me off at the machsom, Jerusalem border.  After waiting a short while there, I got a ride to Ofra, then to the Shiloh Junction and finally from there from a neighbor who passes my house on the way to his.

To put it simply, I got a ride straight home, and I even saved ns12.  Thank G-d!

Caption This

• Who knows the spot?
• What would you call it?
• And how would you caption it?

Please send your reactions to the comments, thanks.

New Views From Jerusalem's Old City

When we lived in Jerusalem's Old City, over forty years ago, it didn't look like this at all.

We were there pretty soon after Israel liberated it during the 1967 Six Days War.  As I've blogged a number of times on Shiloh Musings, Israel didn't actually have a working plan to liberate Judea, Samaria or even the Old City.  There were always rumblings and mumblings about how they dreamt of praying at the Kotel, which was referred to as the "Wailing Wall,"

So, if there weren't any plans to liberate the land that Jordan was occupying, then the Israeli Government certainly didn't have any plans on how they were going to deal with the Jewish homes and Arab squatters who had been there illegally for almost twenty years.  OK, probably longer considering that many of the Jewish population had been forced out before independence.

Today there are many Jews living in the Old City and many, many more study, pray and visit.  I always take tons of pictures when I'm there.  It's like visiting a dear relative who was once poor and neglected and now has improved his/her life.

One of the signs of Jewish sovereignty in the Old City is the mezzuzah on Jaffa Gate.

The Jewish Quarter is decorated with Israeli and Jerusalem flags.  Before the pre-state violence against Jews in the walled city of Jerusalem, aka the Old City, Jews lived in all of the neighborhoods.

Look carefully at the patterns of the bricks and you can see that the second floor is newer than the first.

During the year, 1970-71, we had lived there, it was a very different place.  Whenever I pass our old home, which is almost unrecognizable, I'm amazed.  There was no Jewish community at the time.  Maybe if it had been different, meaning more like today, we would have applied to buy an apartment there instead of buying one in Bayit V'Gan, which we later sold to build our house in Shiloh.

Concentrating on Saving Tomato Paste

OK, I admit that I gave this a peculiar title.  There won't be enough words in the post for google search to push/promote/offer it for those looking.  It's about wasting tomato paste 22% or tomato concentrate 28%.

I don't cook with the ingredient very often and frequently find what's left in a glass jar in the fridge going moldy.  Years ago I heard that you can freeze tomato paste, so the last time I opened a can I decided to freeze the leftover portion.

Yes, as you can see, I re-portioned the leftover in small plastic bags.  This should work, G-d willing. 

PS I don't buy ready-made tomato sauce.  I cook up the tomato paste/concentrate with oil, onion, garlic and water.  It's really very simple and easy to make.

Re: Marriage

It's sometimes very hard to choose what to write on my blogs or on which blog to blog a topic.  That's the dilemma I had tonight.  I had an idea for blogging in my head and couldn't figure out which blog would make a better host for the article.

I chose Shiloh Musings, so please click and read the article about brides and weddings and not knowing what they're getting into etc.

Wear What You Want!

One of the things I love about living in Israel is that there are fewer "rules" about what to wear. 

Some of you may think I'm nuts, because I do live in a world in which women (at least most) carefully adhere to the Jewish religious laws of  tzniyut,  modesty.  But dressing within those laws are liberating and can be very creative.  It's not a strict uniform, at least in dati leumi, national religious circles. 

We don't have all the white tie vs black tie rules, for one.  There's even more freedom in the shoes we wear to even the most formal events, like weddings.  That's why I took these pictures at a wedding the other day.  Even though I spied a couple of young women in heels that would wow even in New York, most of us wore comfort over fashion, even with the fanciest of clothes.  And even though it was a very religious "separate seating" wedding, not all of the women wore stockings gasp!

Mazal Tov!  Enjoy in good health!

Aging Communities, The Yishuvim Aren't All Young Families

The media (and official YESHA spokespeople) like to show all those gorgeous young families living in hilltops and more established towns and communities in Judea and Samaria.  Adorable children are more photogenic than my peers and the even more elderly.

One thing most don't realize is that senior citizen ותיקים vatikkim activities are being established all over.  More and more of us have reached retirement age, and also not all of us are as fit and able as we once were.  As you can see in the picture on the right, small vehicles like the one behind the bicycle are becoming more and more common.

I took pictures of these in Ofra, parked near the bus stop.  Quite a few of those pioneers who established Ofra now need these carts for local transportation.  You can also see them by the stores, library and clinic.

Some people even have medical reasons to the extent that they can use special Shabbat carts which have "engines" specially suited to comply with rabbinic rulings.  They can be used on Shabbat but only by people who fit special criteria.  On Shabbat you'll see them lined up, parked orderly by the synagogue.  This is a wonderful innovation, because those with physical limitations can continue living at home much longer and stay social.  That way they enjoy life and that is very good medicine.

Security Check: "It's A Fork, Not A Knife!"

One of my ways of saving time, money and calories is to bring my own food when I go places such as to work or to classes.  There's no more "picking up a sandwich or something."  When I first started doing it, I'd bring plastic utensils, knife, fork, spoon, but the money adds up and they break, so I figured that if I'm already washing out the container, I can also wash my regular fork plus.

Nu, it does make sense, but...

Then one time I was checked at the security to the Jerusalem Central Bus Station aka  CBS.

"Lady, is that a knife in your bag?"
"No, it's a fork and a spoon."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes"
"We'll have to run it through the x-ray again."

So I passed the very heavy bag, full of books, back through the machine again.  The inspector peered at the screen.

"Lady, unpack your bag so I can see what you have."

So, I unpacked and showed her the fork and spoon.

"OK, you can go now."

And to show her that I wasn't angry, I thanked her, really, for doing her job the right way.  Thank G-d I had time.  Sometimes I don't have a spare second before catching my bus.

ps  the following week I took the train in the other direction from the shuk (Machane Yehuda) and caught my bus at a regular bus stop, since I hadn't taken along plastic utensils.

Northern Lights' Havel Havelim Debut

Reflecting on the debut Havel Havelim up on Northern Lights & Reflections....

The blogger who "owns" Northern Lights is also the "owner" of Frugal and Kosher where the next Kosher Cooking Carnival will be Rosh Chodesh Tammuz June 20, G-d willing.  That gives her a double header in the jblog world.  Not too many of us have done that. Two Jewish Blog Carnivals in one month!  Submit your posts by clicking  here or email: kosherfrugal@gmail.com, and if you want to host one, please contact me, thanks.  We also have a facebook group you can join if you're interested.
Back to HH...
NL did a great job on Havel Havelim, so be sure to check it and all of the included posts out and share of course.  To get more involved in HH you can join our facebook group.

Skateboarding in Safra Square (Jerusalem Municipality)

There are still holes, bullet holes, on some of the outer buildings in the area of Safra Square.  That's because the area was once one of the most dangerous in all of Jerusalem.  It had been the border between Israeli Jerusalem and Jordanian Jerusalem, and it's just near the Old City Walls, not all that far from the Jaffa Gate.   The border went down in June, 1967, when Israel defeated Jordan and the city was united.

The large impressive Jerusalem Municipality complex incorporates some of the old buildings, which as I just wrote still show the scars of those dangerous times when Israel was being attacked in Jerusalem.

Teddy Kollek was Jerusalem's Mayor then and for quite a few years afterwards.  That big complex was his project.  It rings a large square used for all sorts of events. But it's mostly empty.  I utilize the public toilets there, as I wrote in Pishers' Guide to Jerusalem part 1.

The other day when I was there I saw some kids skateboarding.  It's a great place for that, since there are large spaces and peculiarly located steps.

I'm glad I didn't see any injuries/accidents.  It's a pretty dangerous sport.

Who Said It's Hard to Eat Healthy?

Too many people use the "it's too hard," or "too much work" excuse to make healthy food.  I got 15 kilo (30 lbs) off over three years ago by switching to eating lots of cooked vegetables and almost no carbohydrates.  The weight has stayed off. And a year and a half ago my husband was told to lose weight, too.  He lost even more than I did and has kept it off.  I don't call it a diet; I call what we did a "change in how we eat."

I cook and we eat lots of vegetables.  I even take them the work.  And I found that most restaurants will gladly substitute salads and vegetables for the rice or potatoes on their set menus.  They want our business ($) and if they must make some accommodations, they're happy to do it.

The following pictures will give you an idea of what you can do with all sorts of vegetables when baking them.  These baked vegetables are very impressive when entertaining or bringing as "house gifts" when you're invited out.  My friends expect vegetables from me.  When I bring trays of baked vegetables I know that I'll have something to eat.

The trick is to experiment to see what cooks the easiest and what you like.  I always dribble a bit of oil on top.  You can add whatever seasonings you like.  I don't add salt.  Baked vegetables don't lose their flavor.  They aren't waterlogged.

I bake them in a conventional oven, although they can also be cooked more quickly in a microwave.

You don't even have to slice them.

Have fun and let me know about your recipes.

Writing With Pretzels

Last week when I went to the grandkids to babysit, I brought along pretzels I had left over from the Shavuot shiur/class we had hosted.  Pretzels are one of my food weaknesses.  I just can't stop eating them, so I figured the kids could help me finish the bag.

Not only did they eat them, but my preschool (nu, can't I brag?) grandson suddenly called out:

"Here's a C, and two pieces together make a 3..."

I had never thought of  using pretzels for writing, but as long as I wasn't eating more, I was happy!

It All Works Out, Thank G-d

Last night I was at a beautiful and special wedding near the Dead Sea.  The groom had studied there and  is very attached to the place.  It's very popular in Israel for kids to pick out of the way places for their weddings.  Setting up a wedding like that can be a logistical nightmare, but Israelis love those sorts of challenges.

For some of us attendees, arranging transportation was the challenge.  I reserved my ride there soon after I got my invitation, but it didn't include the ride home, since the driver had other plans.  When I asked around for a ride back I kept hearing:

"There are always lots of rides back from people who come from work."

Four of us got our ride with the same neighbor, and some others, including my husband arrived on a bus from Jerusalem for Jerusalemites.  We all needed rides home.

We asked everyone we could and couldn't find a ride.  We were getting worried. Then slowly the "no's" became "maybes" and finally the magic "yes."  My husband and I each found separate rides, but that didn't matter.  We'd both get home.  Then his ride said:

"In the end the other passengers are going in a later ride, so there's room for both of you."

I guess that's because we were among the first to leave.   So I informed my ride that I wouldn't need it, and we made it home safe and sound.