Strolling Through Jerusalem, New and Old Parks

I remember when the Liberty Bell Park was a new park.  It's still very attractive and has a WC aka public toilets open from 7am until 7pm.

From the Liberty Bell Park, walk up Emek Refaim Street until you get to Pierre Koenig where you'll find a path to the new train track park on the old tracks.  The only wheels you'll find now are bicycles and baby carriages.

There are also fitness playgrounds for children of "all ages," including adults who enjoy staying in shape.

Think of it as a pedestrian and cyclist street.  The views are gorgeous, too.

Isn't it more fun to walk than ride?

Just Switched to Google Chrome, B"H, What an Improvement!!

For the past week or more, I've been suffering from slowdowns and delays using this computer.  I finally realized that the other computer in the house is fine, so it can't be our internet connection.  And what is was the big difference?  The other one has been using Google chrome, while this one was still with windows explorer.

So, I did the obvious intelligent thing.  I installed Google chrome.  I quickly sent out an SOS to Facebook and a neighbor speedily replied with the link.

And now, B"H, my computer is working like a teenager on speed, totally hyper.  I feel like I've been reborn. And it's free, of course.

Jerusalem Lightrail, Handicapped Accessible

I shot this picture a few weeks ago on the Jerusalem lightrail.

Not only is there room for wheelchairs and motorized vehicles like this, but the person photographed was even able to enter with minimal assistance. To make things even easier for the handicapped, At the train stop it's indicated where to wait for the handicapped seating areas, where there is more room for wheelchairs and vehicles like these. 

Can't Complain, A Confession

Not long ago I would have been hysterically complaining about all of the inconveniences of last week's water problems, and I would have stewed inwardly seriously affecting my health and blood pressure about the high expenses involved.  But looking at the big picture and following the bima ima's never dull saga about her son Superman Sam has really reminded me of how precarious life is and refocused my priorities.

I used to have total hysteria about missing a bus or being late to something.  The breaking of a glass would be like a death, a major tragedy.  I was a terrible mother because of it.  I'd get hysterically angry over the most minor mistakes.  Everything was a Greek tragedy.  OK, yes, that's how I was raised, but it has taken me much too long to realize that I had to stop the cycle.  My kids had already left the house before I learned that I had damaged them.

I'm still learning how to smile and take things easily.  People say I've changed.  It has taken me years and years.

Judaism's concept of teshuva, repentance is a technique of constant change, correction, renewal.  With every breath we can do better, G-d willing.

Coffee Corner and Water Update

When we were without water, I found going into the kitchen too depressing, especially coffee time in the morning.  Instead of simply being able to use my giant glass mug twice for coffee, I had to keep returning with the smaller disposable hot cup.  My large glass French Press makes enough for two full giant mugs, with room for milk and some sugar of course.  So I set up a little "coffee corner" by my seat in the den near the computer.

And if you haven't yet heard the news....

Our main water pipes got replaced on Friday early afternoon.  We now, bli eyin haraa and of course BARUCH HASHEM, have water in the house via the faucets, rather than schlepped in bottles.

What's most amazing is that I managed to do everything necessary for Shabbat, all the cooking, cleaning etc on Friday, mostly after the pipes were replaced, and I unprecedentedly finished early.  I couldn't do any Shabbat preparation on Thursday. In the end we event had much beloved guests.

Miracles do happen!

Never Dull is It? Remember Priorities, Please

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed a strange wetness near our front stairs aka the stoop.  I figured that there were leaks in the faucet and irrigation hose.  Well, I was right about a leak, but wrong about the location.  It took over a week until our plumber could come and, after checking out everything, discovered that the leak was in the main pipe bringing water to our house.  So we've had the water turned off most of the time recently as he can't work in the jungle-like mud and vegetation growing there.

 

The repairs aren't yet finished.  We've been using mostly disposables and cooking methods that require little dishwashing.  I'll blog more about it when, G-d willing it's all repaired.  And yes, it's not going to be cheap, but at least we'll no longer pay for "lost" water.

This is not a month we'll be saving money, since my regular readers know I've been to the dentist.

And then just to keep things interesting, yesterday at work, I felt something a bit "strange" with my distance glasses.  It seemed like a lens was "loose."  Within a few minutes it popped out, but Baruch Hashem it was in easy view right in front of me.  That's much better than the time a few years ago when a lens in my reading glasses somehow disappeared when I was shopping at Rami Levy.  That one was never found, but since the glasses had been only about six months old, and I had them in the shop a couple of weeks earlier for a different repair I didn't have to pay for a new lens.  So next week, before my dentist appointment, I'll have to go to downtown Jerusalem to the optician to have the glasses fixed.

If you're wondering why I sound pretty calm about these problems, inconveniences, expenses etc.  I must tell you that it's easy to put it all in perspective when following the bima Ima's saga on Superman Sam.  She has the right to rant; I don't.

Shabbat Shalom u'Mevorach

May you have a peaceful and blessed Shabbat

Touring Close to Home

During Succot we went touring.  It felt in some ways like a different world, because we were in Tel Aviv.  But the truth is that by car, Tel Aviv is just over an hour away from Shiloh or even closer if there's no traffic.  In some ways it feels very different, but it isn't all that different.  And no surprise that we met neighbors who live about ten doors away and doven at the same shul at one of the sites.  We went to two places, the first was the "old Jaffa train station."  The set-up is similar to what was done in Jerusalem; the Tel Aviv site was fixed up first.

One Family had a very moving exhibit about victims of Arab terror and their families.  Yes, it was awfully depressing.

The overall atmosphere at the train station was fun and carnival.

 

Fun for all ages, including free 10 minute massages to promote "alternative medicine in Kupat Cholim Clalit.

Our next stop was the Tel Aviv Boardwalk.  And the sea was mesmerizing.

One of these "creative Judaism," or Judaism for the not fully-observant groups had a big succah and lots of scheduled activities.

There definitely was a carnival atmosphere.

And an indoor shuk, market.

I must admit that it's certainly convenient living in a small country. There's so much to see and short distances to travel here in Israel.

Never Again, Never Forget, Irena Sendler

There isn't any fiction as amazing as true stories.  When fiction tries to be amazing, it ends up being just too unrealistic.  The Holocaust challenged some people to greatness.  Not everyone was up to risking everything to help others.  I don't think that we can judge those who couldn't, but we must praise and publicize the stories of those who did find the courage, determination and creativity to overcome the pressures, cruelty and fears of the time.  Irena Sendler is one of the great heroines who saw people in need and risked her life to help them.  I trust you'll appreciate her story.

She Saved 3000 Jews During the Holocaust 

The 70th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising has renewed focus on the events of the Nazi occupation of Poland and the fate of Poland's Jews during World War II. Between October 1940 and May 1943 over 400,000 Polish Jews were rounded up and herded into the 1.3 square mile ghetto. Of the original Jewish population, few Jews survived the round-ups, murders, starvation and disease but some of the ghetto residents were able to escape the ghetto and find hiding places on the other side of the ghetto wall. 

Many of the Polish citizens who helped the Jews escape and hide have been honored by Yad Vashem as Righteous Gentiles. One individual in particular, Irena Sendler, was credited with having saved over 3000 Jewish lives but after her Jerusalem commemoration ceremony in 1965 her story was almost forgotten. It was only when a group of non-Jewish schoolgirls from Uniontown Kansas happened to hear a rumor of her wartime activities and started to research the events that the world could fully appreciate the incredible courage and selflessness that Sendler demonstrated.

When the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939 Irena Sendler was a senior administrator in the Warsaw Social Welfare Department. She immediately joined the Zagota underground which specialized in helping Jews escape Nazi persecution. Sendler became involved in acquiring forged documents which registered Jews under Christian names so they could receive services. 

Sendler obtained a pass from the Warsaw Epidemic Control Department which allowed her to enter the Warsaw Ghetto. She smuggled in food, medicine, and clothing but came to the conclusion that she was simply prolonging the suffering of the Jews. She decided to try to save the children. "When the war started, all of Poland was drowning in a sea of blood. But most of all, it affected the Jewish nation" Sendler said in a interview conducted in 2007. "And within that nation, it was the children who suffered most. That's why we needed to give our hearts to them."

Zagota put Sendler in charge of its Children's Division and she and her team of twenty-five Zagota members began to smuggle out as many children as possible from the Ghetto. Irena suffered almost as much as the children's parents as she tried to convince them to allow her to give their children a chance to be saved.

"I talked the mothers out of their children" Sendler reminisced. "Those scenes over whether to give a child away were heart-rending. Sometimes, they wouldn't give me the child. Their first question was, 'What guarantee is there that the child will live?' I said, 'None. I don't even know if I will get out of the ghetto alive today."

Sendler sedated small children to keep them from crying and then hid them in toolboxes, bags and even under garbage as they were smuggled out of the ghetto.. Older children were often smuggled through sewers or underground tunnels or through the old courthouse which was located next to the ghetto wall. 

Once a child had been removed from the ghetto Sendler and the other Zagota members would provide him with false names and documents and find him a hiding place, usually in a convent or an orphanage. Sendler recorded all of the names of the children on scraps of tissue paper and hid them in glass jars in her neighbor's yard. 

In October 1943 Sendler was arrested by the Gestapo and imprisoned. Although she endured horrific torture she didn't reveal any information about the children or about her Zagota comrades. The Germans sentenced her to death but Zagota was able to bribe a German guard and free her. Sendler lived out the rest of the war in hiding. 

After the war Sendler tried to locate the children according to the scraps of paper that were in the glass jars. She wanted to help them return to the Jewish community. Due to these efforts several hundred children immigrated to Israel while others remained in Poland, oftentimes with their adoptive families. The whereabouts of approximately 500 of Sendler's rescued children remain unknown.  

The Life in a Jar project was born out of the Kansas girls' research. Today hundreds of thousands of people know about Sendler's activities because of the project which includes a book, a website and a stage performance. It also led to the creation of the Lowell Milken Center that encourages students to  spread the stories of other unknown heroes.

Only in Israel: A Funny Thing Happened on The Way to The Dentist

This may come as a surprise to many, but for my family the Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Nof isn't thought of as where the late HaRav Ovadia Yosef had lived, it's known as "the dentist's office."  We've been going to a dentist there for about twenty-five years, yes, a quarter of a century. 

Yesterday, I had a dentist appointment, and yesterday was the first full day of shiva, the week of Jewish morning for HaRav Ovadia's family.  I figured that I was lucky in the timing, since during the funeral the roads were packed.  Many people had just left their cars on the side of the highway and walked.

I had accepted the dentist appointment for 4:15pm before knowing I'd be working morning shift. But it was possible to get there on time.  That is if I left work exactly at three and got a ride or bus to Jerusalem immediately afterwards.  I'm sure you've guessed that it didn't quite all happen as planned.  This is a story.  Isn't it?

First of all I left a few minutes late, and then there were no rides.  I finally decided to take a ride to the bus stop by the Ma'avar Michmas gas station, at the junction to Psagot, Migron, Kochav Yaakov and Tel Tzion, even though it's a kilometer in the wrong direction.  It took another few minutes until the bus came, which I took to Jerusalem.  By then I estimate that I was only about ten minutes behind schedule.  I called the dentist's clinic when entering Jerusalem to say that I'd be late.

"We'll wait for you," said the receptionist/secretary.

Photo: GPO

I caught the #74 bus to Har Nof pretty quickly at the Central Bus Station and thought I actually had a chance to be almost on time.  Then we got to Har Nof.  It was all blocked off, a major traffic jam.  Davka Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu chose just that time to pay a shiva call to the Yosef family.  The bus couldn't get in.  Time was slipping away quickly.  I called the dentist again.

"I'll walk.  How do I go?"
I described where I was and got more than directions.
"Tell me when you get to the traffic circle, and I'll pick you up."

And that's what she did.  I called in and kept walking.  She found me and drove met the rest of the way.  And to make my traveling even more siyate d'Shmaya, it ended up that the dental hygienist was driving in my direction.  I didn't have to wait who knows how long for the elusive buses. She took a route that bypassed the traffic jam and gave me a ride to where I could get a tremp in the right direction.

Do these things happen anywhere else?  Only in Israel!

And How Would You Title This? A Story, Perhaps?

Remember elements of a story, place, time, characters and what happens...

Just comment what you think, thanks.

Fun With The Grandkids, Playing with Classic Play-Doh

I try to encourage the grandkids to play with something other than a keyboard and screen.  The most willing is the three year old.

I was happy to find some classic Play-Doh in the closet. That kept her (and me) busy for quite a while.  At one point she decided to turn the "snakes" into jewelry.

This activity was also good for teaching her the names of the colors in English.  At first she'd argue with me, saying that "it's not blue; it's cachol," the Hebrew for blue.  But then after I'd repeat that it's blue a few times, she'd use both words.  We did that for all of the Play-Doh colors plus the balloons I had blown up for her.

My grandkids are being raised in Hebrew, but I speak to them in English.  Sometimes they understand everything I say, such as "wash up," but other times I need a lot of pantomime and a few key words in Hebrew.

PS You have probably noticed that this time she happily posed for me.  And as usual, I'm only posted pictures which make it very difficult to actually see her face.  That's on purpose, not due to photographic ineptitude.

Holy Marcheshvan!

I'm going to start with the latest Havel Havelim at Holy Sparks.  Please visit and share, thanks.  Participate in our international Jewish blogging community by joining our facebook page, where we coordinate HH, volunteering to host etc.  Links can be sent to appear in the weekly Havel Havelim via blog carnival.  If you have any questions please contact me shilohmuse at gmail dot com, thanks.

On Friday, the first day of the always double Rosh Chodesh Marcheshvan, after praying at Shiloh HaKeduma, Tel Shiloh, I passed the big Shiloh elementary school campus and heard lots of singing and dancing coming from the boys school.

What music to my ears.  I always feel such joy at the sight of the enormous schools we now have in Shiloh.  The Shiloh elementary school opened the very day we moved to Shiloh, September 1, 1981.  Our three daughters had moved, arrived by bus alone the day before so they wouldn't miss the first day of school.  They were hosted by neighbors who had been assigned to be our "adoptive family." Our eldest was in the Fifth Grade in Ofra, our second daughter was the oldest girl in the brand new Shiloh school in the Third Grade, and our third daughter started Kindergarten in Shiloh.  My husband arrived with the moving van, and I took our then baby son by bus, if I remember correctly.

Shiloh was considered "the end of the world" by the movers and shakers of Mateh Binyamin, and in a sense we were then, but we aren't now.  Now there's no doubt that Shiloh is the center of the world, or at least the center of Israel.  In barely ten minutes you can get to Ariel University, a half hour to Jerusalem or to the "Number Six Highway," which connects most of Israel, north to south.  Just past that is Petach Tikvah.  We're five minutes from the Jordan Valley via Shvut Rachel.

Our school is now the regional school for a humongous by Israeli standards district. Children come now only from the Shiloh-Eli bloc, but from the southern Shomron (Samaria,) Ariel, Rechalim, Ofra (to the boys junior high,) the Jordan Valley as far south as Kochav Hashachar and more.

Now we're in the Jewish month of Cheshvan aka Marcheshvan.  It's one of the most important months in the Jewish Calendar.  When rains begin in Cheshvan, it's a good sign.  G-d is blessing us.  If the month is dry, it's a sign of punishment.

G-d willing, these clouds we saw on Rosh Chodesh are a good sign that there will be plentiful rain this winter.  We upgrade our request for rain on the 7th of the month, which is this upcoming Friday.  That tradition facilitated the safe arrival home for the pilgrims who had been at Shiloh and later on to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem for the Tishrei High Holidays.

I haven't yet decided on whether to have our Rosh Chodesh Women's Prayers at Tel Shiloh on 30th of Cheshvan or 1st of Kislev.  G-d willing I'll let you know as soon as I decide.



Chodesh Tov!  Have a wonderful and blessed month.

Post-Holiday Kosher Cooking Carnival

Welcome to the Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan, 5774, edition of the Kosher Cooking Carnival-KCC

I started the Kosher Cooking Carnival a number of years ago in response to a post of mine being rejected from a recipe carnival whose host had decided on a pork only theme.  It was clear that the best and only suitable reaction should be a blog carnival based on one theme, the kosher food.  We accept all posts about kosher food, recipes, cookbook reviews, restaurant reviews, halachik (Jewish Law) kashrut issues etc.  KCC is organized on our facebook page; links can be sent via blog carnival.  The Kosher Cooking Carnival includes blog posts submitted by bloggers and other chosen by the host.  If you'd like to host an edition, please let me know shilohmuse at gmail dot com.  Next month's host is Culinart.

Please visit and share the various links, thanks.

Chaviva Karon presents Chai Tea Jello Mousse posted at Challah Maidel.

" desserts

kosher frugal's Banana Coconut Oat Bran Muffins
rickismom presents Beneath the Wings: Pumpkin Pie, Cheese Cake, and Walks posted at Beneath the Wings, saying, "deserts and diets and pumpkin pie"

anything kosher!

Leora Wenger presents Cucumber Garlic Salad - Sketching Out posted at Here in HP.

Miriam K's Spaghetti with Walnuts and Herbed Crumbs.
Miriam G's A light Supper....

Leora Wenger presents Stuffed Squash with Yams - Sketching Out posted at Here in HP, saying, "Has links to other recipes: two tone brownies, sesame sticks, kit kat bars, pea salad, potato salad and apples 'n honey cake"

Jennifer in Machaneh Yehuda

diet food

culinart's Figs

Every day meals

American Bite's Pistachio Crusted Salmon; now this looks irresistible!
My One Pot Meal, Salmon and All The Trimmings which can be eaten any time, weekday, Shabbat or holiday.  And it can be a "diet" food, too.

Jewish Shabbat and Holiday food

Reesa's Food For Thought
My  me-ander: Rosh Hashannah Food! For A Healthy Year part 1 posted at me-ander.
Hadassa aka HSM's Sukkot Menu. I hope my family doesn't see this. They'd be jealous.

Restaurant or Cookbook Reviews

My me-ander: Eating Out in Ramat Eshkol posted at me-ander.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of kosher cooking carnival-kcc using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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Another Month, Winter is on its Way

Today is both the last day of the Jewish Month of Tishrei and the beginning of the month of Cheshvan.  Rosh Chodesh is a two day affair.  This happens to some of the months some of the time.

In recent weeks, since the Succot holiday, there has been a definite change in the weather.  It's more humid and gets colder at night. In addition, daylight hours seem to be shrinking rapidly.

In another hour or so,  friends and I will go to Tel Shiloh for Rosh Chodesh Prayers.

There will also be a visitor from afar, who made the pilgrimage from the north by bus.  She will no doubt blog about her adventure to Shiloh on her way home.

Chodesh Tov!  May it be full of blessings, smachot, joyous occasions, blessed rain and good health for all.

Finally Dry Seats at the Local Free Exercise Park

The other day I was pleasantly surprised to discover dry enough seats at the local free exercise park just across from my house.  It has become very popular in Israel for all sorts of parks and playgrounds to be equipped with adult "toys."  These are outdoor exercise machines similar to what you'd find at a Curves or some other "circuit" exercise place.  There are two things that keep some of us away from them.  One is modesty, since not everyone wants to do all of these activities totally in public view.  But in our park there's a low fence, high enough to hide our legs and low enough for people to keep an eye on their children playing on the children's toys and the adult ones, too, even though the signs say only for those 14 and up.  There's another problem with our exercise park.  The irrigation system for the grass, the sprinkler, also sprinkles water on the seats.  And it's not very comfortable to sit on a wet seat and walk away as if...

But the other morning I was lucky.  The playground was dry and empty, so I could take advantage.

Sometimes Even The "Scene-Stealer" Refuses The Spotlight

From the time my three year old granddaughter was born, you could always cheer her up by taking her picture or putting her on the stage as center of attention.  A couple of months ago at my son's wedding, the little star even upstaged the bride.  But yesterday, when I was babysitting she refused to let me take her picture.

I guess she was just being a very contrary three year old, which does happen.  Yes, it certainly does when they are three.  I just wonder how long this stage will last.

Potentially Tragic Breast-Milk Mix-Up

Schneider: Minuscule risk to infant mistakenly fed with breast milk from another baby’s HIV-positive mother

Paul Michael Glaser
with his late wife Elizabeth
 and their daughter Ariel

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Sport & Celeb gossip at Mirror
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-news/paul-michael-glaser-starsky
-hutch-2270277#ixzz2gS6FW5IX
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As soon as I read this frightening headline all I could think of was the decades' old story about the wife and daughter of Paul Michael Glaser, the actor from Starsky and Hutch.

Paul and Elizabeth, had been married a year when, in 1981, she was given an HIV infected blood transfusion while giving birth to Ariel.
She passed the virus on through breast feeding and three years later infected their second child, Jake, in the womb.
The family only discovered the tragedy when Ariel fell ill with a mystery virus at four and was diagnosed with Aids.
Check out all the latest News, Sport & Celeb gossip at Mirror.co.uk http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/paul-michael-glaser-starsky-hutch-2270277#ixzz2gS5jbhQm
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I hope the baby who was mistakenly given the HIV infected milk will be healthy and I don't understand how an infected mother is permitted to breastfeed her baby.  It was always pretty obvious to me that human milk is one of the "body liquids" that can carry HIV.  That was the well-publicized lesson of the Glaser family tragedy.

Almost thirty years ago I spent six weeks with my then newborn (youngest child) in Sha'are Tzedek Hospital. He was hospitalized with a serious bacterial infection and needed IV antibiotics.  I also pumped milk for him and had to leave it for volunteer caregivers to feed him when I visited my older kids in Shiloh every afternoon/evening.  I'm pretty sure I just had stickers for the hospital bottles I used and a breast pump I probably rented from the hospital.  It was a long time ago and a simpler, more naïve era.  Baruch Hashem we got through that, and he fully recovered. Thank G-d for giving us humans the intelligence to invent modern medicine.