B"H, Thank G-d, Great People!

Yesterday, I kvetched a bit about my trip home late Sunday night.  I got home so totally exhausted, wiped out that I was still tired when I got to work at Yafiz, Sha'ar Binyamin in the afternoon. 

Work really stimulates me.  It's performing for a usually enthusiastic audience.  They like my spiel better than the students did the last couple of years I had been teaching.

But when the curtain goes down, my energy goes with it.  I must take a picture of how the store looks when closing.  There actually is a very heavy "curtain" closing part of the store.  By the time I signed out, my energy was long gone.  The Rami Levi workers at the exit were very concerned about how I'd get home.  Monday may have a few more customers than Sunday, but nobody could find anyone from my area to give me a ride.  That's right.  The Rami Levi people made it their job to ask the Jewish customers where they were going.  I couldn't move from the seat they insisted I rest in.  So, finally, I agreed that, like the night before, I must take a ride to the bus stop at Ma'avar Michmas, the road to Psagot, Kochav Ya'akov/Tel Zion.  It was all arranged for me.  The supermarket was no longer allowing customers in, so there was no chance of a better ride.  I was psyching myself up to have to stand there again until the bus came.  I knew there was a better chance for a tremp, because a neighbor had told me that there was a parents meeting at the girls high school in Kochav Ya'akov.  But I'd still have to wait, standing in the cold outside.

Just as I was about to get into the car, another pulled up.  The driver got out and was told that the supermarket had already closed and wasn't accepting customers.  As he went to check, I asked where he lived, "Ofra."  So, I asked if I could ride back with him, whenever.  "Yes," was the answer, so I told the other people that I didn't need the ride. 

In a minute he was back.  We talked on the way and it ended up that he knows my daughter, and my grandson is a friend of his son.  A minute after getting off at Ofra, I got a ride to the Shiloh Junction.  The driver took me in to the security gate, and two minutes after that neighbors from my neighborhood stopped and gave me a ride.  They had, davka, been at that high school parents meeting.

G-d is good! That's for sure.

Mixed Day, Very Good and Very ... "Rantable*"

Rant is the modern or WASPy word for vetch.  And even though I had a totally gevaldik day at work in some ways, the return home was difficult.  OK, at least I wasn't drenched in rain. And Baruch Hashem, thank The Good Lord, I made it home.

I don't have time to write the full story, so let's start with the good.

One of the great things about working in Yafiz, Sha'ar Binyamin, is that I get to see lots of people.  Some are of my past and all sorts of various parts of my past.  Last night, two young mothers, neighbors, former students of mine from the temporary 13 year job as gym teacher.  One of them is a good friend of my daughter who had been visiting Israel and had just a couple of hours before boarding her airplane.  I knew that my daughter had tried to reach her, so I called my daughter and gave the woman the phone.  That was good.

Later, while they were still in the store, another neighbor called who needed a very urgent favor.  Again, I passed the phone to the same woman who was able to help her out.  I considered the evening/night as going very well.

Well... the end was OK.  I did make it home, but it was a long, exhausting trip.  It ended with being forced to walk that last kilometer up hill, all the way home.  But, yes, I shouldn't complain.  Thank G-d I'm safe and healthy.  And thank G-d for giving me the physical stamina at my age to do all that I do. 

OK, *rantable may not be the best word, but I do feel like kvetching. I hope you don't mind.

A "Velveteeny" Havel Havelim

The Velveteen Rabbi is this week's Havel Havelim Hostess with the mostest.  She included lots of posts, so you're bound to find some very interesting reading.

Visit, enjoy and share!

JPIX at Leora's

Leora has posted the latest JPIX blog carnival. 
It's a beauty, so visit and share.  Details about participating and hosting from Leora.

Talking about Jewish Blog Pictures, I suggest you look at my latest "caption this" which has a sort of riddle about Jewish versus "other" values. I finally solved the riddle in the comments.  Check it out if you're curious.

More Than "Caption This"

In comments, I'd like more than a simple "caption" for this picture.  I think is symbolizes something very important about Judaism.

Clowning Around and A לך לך Lech Lecha Lesson

Clowning is big in Israel.  Medical Clowning is a recognized profession.  One of the special enrichment courses my granddaughter is learning in her Gifted Students Program is "Clowning."

The other night at work, before the downpour, some non-customers bounced into Yafiz.

Earlier in the week, I had spied this guy in the Mamilla Mall.

As I've said many times, living here in Israel is nothing like one would imagine from all that the media shows. 

This week's Torah Portion of the Week is לך לך Lech Lecha Go, For Your Own Sake!  From my earliest Jewish studies, I've been attracted to this week's reading.   It's so clear that we're supposed to be living here in the Land G-d showed Abraham.  The Torah tells us that the early days were difficult for Abraham, his wife Sarah and their followers.  When we first came to Israel, in 1970, Israel seemed difficult and "backwards" compared to New York.  In the past forty-one years, the Israeli standard of living has jumped enormously.  Israel is not the same country it was then, for good and for bad.  But Israel is our country on OUR LAND!  It's the only place I'd ever want to be, no joke.

"Emergency" at Work!

Suddenly I heard a fellow worker call:

"Don't you hear the rain?"

In all honesty, I didn't.  The music and announcments coming out of the loudspeaker from Rami Levi sort of deafen me, and I was concentrating on the customers and guarding against shoplifters.  Within seconds our strong male staff members were going into "bring it all in" mode, like before closing but more complicated.

It was Thursday night, the busiest night of the week.  Customers who had just checked out stayed under the roof near where I was working.  They were waiting for a break in the rain to go to their cars or bus stop.

Children who had just bought umbrellas were overjoyed to be able to open and stand under them.

As you can see in the pictures, both Jews and Arabs waited together in a good mood.  We all know how important the rain is.

Some Pre-Shabbat "Visits"

With winter hours, we have such a short pre-Shabbat Friday for preparation and Shabbat afternoon is almost over before it starts.  So before I start my Thursday morning Shabbat cooking, I'd like to visit some friendly blogs and hope you visit them, too.

The blog across the street has been wearing a cast since just after Rosh Hashannah.  Her attitude and reaction to her injury has been great. 

הכל לטובה Hakol litovah. It's all for the best.

That's what's written on the cast.  Read the story, please.

Another blogger making the best of an unpleasant situation, getting a good laugh is the one and only Chaviva.

And bad for shidduchim also sees the best, realizing that she's a real person.

Adventures in Mama-Land wonders whether or not to answer every call.  Homeschooling is serious business, but she doesn't have a secretary.

The Rebbetzin's Husband asks how to improve our the yeshiva day school system.  What concerns him is the Jewish learning content.  I have a very simple answer.  Make sure every student is totally fluent in comprehending and communicating (reading, writing and orally) in Hebrew.  It's the only way.  Ban all the translations.  Have all of the preschool programs in Hebrew, at least half the day.  And then the Jewish Studies curriculum must be in Hebrew.

Is speaking Hebrew the secret behind Israel's "swat team" victory?  Jameel tells us all about it.

Rafi posted a pic of a poster banning the public wearing of "robes," which are a cross between bathrobes and old-fashioned house-dresses.  To me they don't belong in public.  The comments are interesting.  Women of other life-styles wear denim, which can handle dirt well, but the "robe women" follow a ban on denim.  I used to live in aprons and fabrics that showed dirt easily.  Only in recent years decades can I treat myself to white and other more delicate clothes.

A Soldier's Mother salutes life in Israel, for good and for bad.

The Bima Ima gives us an update on her four adorable kids.

Isramom is also an "Isragran" and blogs too infrequently for my taste.  Here's her latest about true life here.

And more on true life, there's lots more awareness and facilities for the handicapped here in Israel.  A recent visitor was so happy that the stairs on the path from our house to synagogue have railings, and there are also ramps to make it easier and safer.

That's it for today.  Please visit all of the links and tell them that I sent you, of course.

Training for Bored Congregants

I got this from the one and only DovBear.



Is this the latest in Jewish outreach?

Enjoy!

Tweakin' the Routine

On my early morning days, when I pack food and coffee, I'd been pouring the coffee into the thermos after drinking my mugful.  Actually I'd been doing it closer to leaving the house time, rather than when pouring the mugful for early drinking.  It always added extra stress to my "before I leave the house time," especially since I'd reheat it, actually add coffee and water to the percolator.

So... this morning, as I was preparing to make my very early coffee, it hit me, like a pail of ice water, bolt of lightning, cup of delicious, steaming coffee or whatever... I should make more coffee, enough for early mug and the thermos* I'm taking.  And then, after pouring the yummy caffeine-laden magic into my mug, I could pour the rest, along with sugar and milk into the thermos and I don't have to do it when I'm stressed out rushing to leave the house.

So, now my backpack is totally prepared to go with food, water and coffee.  I cooked breakfast before I went to sleep.  The bag of today's food had been in the fridge since before I went to bed.  Now It's in my backpack.

G-d willing, my traveling will be good, safe and on-time, with time to walk a nice long part of the way.

*ps I first "heat up" the thermos by filling it with boiling water, so it's hot before the coffee goes in.

Airplane Rant, If You Can Afford It...

The Forward, nu the modern one, not the Yiddish paper my grandparents adored and read daily, has an article about a Rabbi Gordis who kvetched that kids shouldn't be allowed in business class in airplanes, because they disturb him.  I commented that the kids should be upgraded to first class.  I wanted to suggest that passengers like Gordis should supplement the bill, but I controlled myself.

Unless you can afford to charter a plane, there's no way to guarantee peace, quiet, comfort and an event-free flight.

Now I have my own rant about airplanes.  My budget, unlike Gordis's, doesn't allow me the relative luxury of business class, and the cheapie seats are getting more and more crowded.  If everyone had the leg and abdominals to stand up easily, my flights would be more pleasant.

I HATE WHEN PEOPLE GRAB THE SEAT IN FRONT OF THEM, LIKE WHERE I'M SITTING, SHAKING ME AND SOMETIMES EVEN BANGING MY HEAD!

Many times I've found myself screaming in rage and pain:

"If you touch me again, I'm going to report you!"

My last flight I did report a guy.  He was davka dressed all chareidi, the type that wouldn't want to walk on the same side of the sidewalk as a lady like myself, but he had no compunctions about shaking my seat and touching my head roughly every time he stood up.  That sort of plane turbulence is something I fight.

After the stewards tried a few languages, they finally said that he can't get up any other way and offered to change seats with me.  I accepted the offer and finally got some sleep.  Actually, I was so tired that I slept an extra fifteen minutes after the plane had landed and before we could disembark.

I wish I could afford business class which has more space between the larger seats.

Gordis's complaints are the complaints of the rich.  If he wants privacy, then he ought to fly by himself.

Strange Weather and Electrical Outages, Not Just Israeli Phenomena

One of my great, unforgettable old childhood memories is going to the beach, Far Rockaway, NY, with relatives, the very end of October one year.  It was a rare, very hot fall day, record-breaking no doubt.  It was probably the same date, decades (half a century) earlier, as the recent October snowstorm which has left millions on the East coast without electricity and even caused deaths.

For many here in Israel, we frequently think and claim that unexpected weather and electrical problems are more common here than in the states.  The America we know and remember had a "superior infrastructure."  I'll never forget that first major electrical outage in the early/mid-1960's New York.  It was very traumatic.  Such things just didn't happen in superior, advanced United States.  Well, I guess things have changed.

Yes, we here in Israel, especially in the smaller towns, like Shiloh, do suffer periodic outages.  I hope that last winter's repairs will prevent us from suffering electric stoppage due to "morning dew," which plagued us last winter almost every morning for a few minutes 6-7am.  You could almost set your clock by it, if it was battery-run.

Some of my facebook friends have been updating about life sans electricity.  OK, how are they communicating and keeping their whatevers charged when there's no electricity at home?  I guess they have phone lines, maybe cell, and go places to charge communications appliances.  At least they're not incommunicado.  I understand that hotels and motels are filling in those areas.

Well, now that it's clear that America is no longer technologically superior to Israel, will that encourage people to move here?

American Bite's First Kosher Cooking Carnival

Yosef of American Bite has hosted his first Kosher Cooking Carnival, the first of many I hope.  Take a look at the yummy links, and please share the links and the KCC.  I'm sure you'll find plenty of very good recipes and stories.

I'll be hosting the next one here at me-ander, Rosh Chodesh Kislev, Sunday, November 27, G-d willing.  If you'd like to host one, please let me know. To participate, send in your link of any post that is connected to kosher food and kosher cooking via blog carnival.  The Kosher Cooking Carnival is more than just a collection of recipes.

Thanks, again to Yosef!

American Football Season in Israel

I guess you're not too surprised to know that when my family goes to a football game, they don't compromise.  There's neither "touch" nor "flag" football for my kids.  They go for the real thing, tackle football.  We were at a pre-season game Thursday night at Kraft Stadium, Jerusalem. 

I didn't take too many pictures, actually, no stills of my son playing or any that shows him all suited up.  There was a big crowd at the game.  We beat the Hammers 14 vs 12, great suspense at the end.

My camera's flash works best on video.

Suddenly Winter

Yesterday, I barely needed a very light jacket over summer clothes when I went down to Tel Shiloh in the morning, which I'll, bli neder, blog about soonish.  I was even able to go out without a jacket, later in the day when got rid of the recycling plastic.  I was amazed to see that the "box" is even fuller.  It's almost to the top.

This morning when I went to shul I was warm enough in a good linen jacket.  That was also what I wore when I went to a class early afternoon, but it was chilly when we walked home.  So, later in the afternoon when I took my walk, I had to put on my winter coat!  Usually the day gets warmer, but not today.

Even Thursday night wasn't all that cold.  We went to the IFL Jerusalem Lions tackle football game, and I didn't freeze.  I was wearing two light jackets, my work one and my "other one."

What type of winter will we have?  I really do need some more winter clothes, but I don't have the money to buy.

Making Money?

I'm just one of those people who doesn't really know how to make money.  Even my jobs.  I end up with low-paying ones, which is difficult.  And I never really planned my post-work life, pensions, very seriously.

I've tried marketing myself as a Diet Coach.  I end up sabotaging that by giving too much advice for free.

All I get from my blogs are free books to review which is nice, but doesn't pay the grocer.  Is it possible to make money from blogging?  Experts talk about the chances being dependent on the number of people who visit the blogs.  Well, I'm not there.  There just aren't enough of you.

My husband sent me a like about a job I'd never get, tasting for Haagen Dazs.  And if I did get a job like that, my weight would triple.  I just don't have the metabolism for it.  I treat myself to their mint ice cream when in the states; I don't got there too often.

I have some ads on my blogs, which I should really remove, since I haven't gotten any money from them for over a year or longer.

Sorry to sound like a kvetch.

The Best Thing About Life Post-Menopause

No doubt, quite a few people won't be interested in this post.  I guess the males haven't even bothered to look, and many of you female followers are more into babies than thinking of menopause.  I doubt if I gave it much thought all those decades ago.

Well, I must tell you something very important that you might not know.  And those who didn't know that side of me probably think that I'm exaggerating, but I'm not.  I used to be an awfully mean, easy to anger person.  That was for many reasons; one being the result of emotional abuse, a condition I only heard of close to middle-age.

A lot of you ladies, and the hardy men who are still reading, probably can guess the other reasons...

hormones

Many of us are controlled by our hormones, which, in a younger than me female, fluctuates in cycles.  They can make us moody and mean and worse.  Why do I say worse?  That's because at times we really have no control over our reactions to things.

Even before my hormones began to depart I started to try to correct/change my behavior.  At least, as per the Jewish Laws of Teshuva, Repentance, stage one was to recognize that I had a problem, a very serious one.  My angry, hysterical reactions to all sorts of things over most of my life did a lot of damage to me and others.

I hadn't realized how much I had changed until the other night.  I was dressed in nice, new for me clothes, attending a social event, when a neighbor splattered a ton of reddish salad dressing all over my light-colored wool jacket and pale beige cotton skirt.  I looked at the damage and felt nothing.  No uncontrollable wave of anger surged through my system.  I told her that it was OK, only clothes.  She was so grateful.  I tried to explain that "the new me" had been reacting.  The "old me" would have killed her. 

I told her that I have been working on changing myself for a very long time.

Another neighbor "tasted" the dressing, gave me laundering instructions and sent me home to change and wash it immediately.  I was so mellow, that I would have just sat there all dirty.  After putting the skirt in the washing machine and spot-cleaning the jacket, I returned to the party in different clothes.

Ladies, being post-menopause is something to look forward to!  I like the "new me."

Small World

These things actually happen quite a bit.  All by chance a number of friends from my past, people I knew from YU Seminars 45 years ago and from my Stern College class and other friends for decades are registered for the same classes I take at Matan.  Today was the first day for the classes I'm taking.  A newer friend, only over ten years of friendship just joined us.  Someone came over to her to say that she looks familiar.  I then mentioned that they both live in Jerusalem, so maybe they have something in common.
The woman told my friend what street she lives on.

"I used to live on that street."
"Maybe you both shopped in the same supermarket," I offered.

For some reason they both gave me a funny look.  They continued talking and discovered that they had actually lived in the same building.  It's one of the larger buildings where not everyone actually knows each other.  Now they're studying together...

This sort of thing happens all the time here.

Growing Interest...

... in recycling in Shiloh.

I usually have my camera strapped on, so I can photograph whatever catches my eye.  I trust it'll be emptied out next time I get there.  We also have containers for paper and cardboard.

You're Also Invited to Tel Shiloh

I rarely cross-post, that's posting the same on both Shiloh Musings and me-ander.  But I think that the reminder about Friday's Women's Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan Prayers at Tel Shiloh also suits readers here.

Women's Rosh Chodesh Marcheshvan Prayers at Tel Shiloh

G-d willing, this Friday, October 28, 30th of Tishrei we'll be at Tel Shiloh for Women's Rosh Chodesh Prayers. 

Women's Prayers at Tel Shiloh

Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan

Friday, October 28, 2011

8:30am

Shiur Torah, Short Torah Lesson

Please come and invite family, friends and neighbors

תפילת נשים

ראש חודש חשון בתל שילה

יום ו' 28-10 8:30

יהיה דבר תורה

נא לבוא, לפרסם ולהזמין חברות, משפחה ושכנות

Tel Shiloh is open for visitors, tourists and pilgrims on weekdays. For more information email office@telshilo.org.il or call 02-994-4019.