December 5

I don't know that I can keep up with snazzy titles for each post.  Too much pressure, and the point of this is to stay in touch with people in the US, not to write my Magnum Opus!  So unless there's actually an obvious theme, I will just stick with the date.

Judah has left for his trip to the US, recruiting for the Yeshiva in LA, SF Bay Area, Atlanta, Kansas City, NY & NJ.  He will have his first Shabbos in Oakland which promises to be a lovely experience and then be with his mom in NJ before flying home.  We'll have dinner with Shimona (my SIL) and Erez & family and I have the older three kids out for lunch at friends and I will either be at home or at a neighbor's house, depending on Hodayah's preference :)  We miss him, but it's fine, and the kids are looking forward to his bringing back all the things we have been ordering online and having delivered to my MIL's house in NJ...

OK, I promised pictures of the living room with the bookcases:

The remaining steps before it's "done" are finish unpacking boxes, install light fixtures, crown molding, finish painting and put up curtains and pictures.  Not much :)  

OK, taste-of-local-living moment.  In our local Rami Levy (not the one where there was the attack on Wednesday, though we had amazing security on Thursday!) you can of course find a selection of Chanukiyot, since it's Kislev :)  

And, for the gluten free, borekas and malawach without gluten (they actually have a whole gluten free section in the baking aisle)

And I still get a kick out of finding that the very strange and difficult word in Hebrew is actually English...

There is a shul in the "Merchav Mugan" (literally "Protected Clearing," aka bomb shelter) in the back of the store and a daily mincha minyan at 3:00 pm

Here is Hodayah's library at school 

And her reading corner which she points out she likes because it's right next to the English section

And cool bottle cap art on the walls of her school depicting shivat haminim (the seven species)

I attended a meeting last Thursday that was the first of a series that will go through March.  It was an interesting experience and I am considering that before I do much here I need to get educated about the lay of the land (no pun intended) and where everyone is holding.  Slowly, slowly!  It was a small group comprised of Jews, Muslims and Christians from around and I figure that if nothing else, I will learn more about the relevant perspectives.  I do feel more and more often like I am itching to get back to work but when I think about it rationally, I don't think that it's a smart time to commit to a regular job.  It is, however, a fine time for reconnaissance and meeting people, so there we have it.  Hillel spent the day with my sister in Katamon (in J-m) and he did great!  She runs a small daycare and apparently he went to sleep at nap time with no trouble and had a fun day.  Maybe he is ready for school :)  

This morning I went to a lecture at Givat Oz VeGaon, a nature preserve near the main intersection down the highway given by Miriam Adahan who, in addition to being an accomplished author, therapist and speaker is also an old friend of my mother's from Berkeley and I wanted to say hello.  Remarkably, Hillel was great and played around and was very sweet and I just stood at the back, right outside the tent and she was using a microphone so I could hear just fine.  She spoke in Hebrew and someone was offering a simultaneous translation in English for people who needed it and they had headsets.  It was a good setup and it was interesting for me to see how someone here does a presentation on positive parenting;I noted how much overlap there was between what she said and what I have heard from Hedy and elsewhere, so it was all very familiar (good thing if I want to do something similar in some context!).   Anyway, at the end she mentioned that she was working to get her system (re. helping kids learn to exercise control when they become upset and feel better about themselves) incorporated into the school system and she gave me her card and we will be in touch.  

I am impressed by the movie selection at the local Matnas (like a JCC).  Last time they screened "Bethlehem" and this week they are showing "Honor Diaries."  These are serious films that deal with difficult and sensitive topics.  Sometimes I feel disappointed when I hear people in my social circles talk politics, so it's especially nice to feel that the movies are avoiding complacency and encouraging thought and awareness of different perspectives.  

Kids continue to feel mostly better.  Now someone says that "Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays are okay days" but it's a lot of two steps forward one step back (or some variation on that theme).  When I hear the American kids who have been here longer speaking so fluently I look forward to when our kids will be able to do that.  I believe they will, despite their environment which has many Anglos in it, and it's just a question of time.  

The process for getting Aharon Akiva into High School has officially begun with an information night which I did not attend, though I did appoint a friend to download what I missed.  She brought back a handout which is essentially a series of deadlines and procedures and I have yet to look at it carefully or get the report on the meeting.  She did say it was nothing groundbreaking.  One of the big questions on that front is dorm school vs daily commute.  Even the dorm schools they come home Tuesdays and on Thursday for Shabbat, and sometimes more.  I don't love the idea but mainly want him to be in a school that's a good fit for him.  

Construction has not been making progress :(  Mustafa, our contractor, came by yesterday afternoon and brought color swatches for the cabinets, which, of course, are not made anymore because that company went out of business.  We'll find something pretty close and it will be fine, but he said he would send the carpenter by again.  Well, he came by this morning while I was at the parenting lecture.  I know that there's a culture of casual, but I would have voted for some communication before showing up and hoping that I'm home, especially since they prefer not to communicate by email so I can't send sketches or photos etc.  Oh well, all fine.  I am not really in a hurry, but Judah wants to be able to host his students for Shabbos and I would like to have the cabinets and countertops in by then.  I figure if I set my standards really low for house construction and repair progress, then I won't be disappointed!  I am not prepared to be more intense about keeping everything moving (even though my neighbor asked me, "Are you being tough enough?  You gotta stay on top of them!") and honestly, sometimes I adjust my ideas of what I want as I spend the weeks living here and letting the ideas percolate.  So it's all good.  

Oh, I was able to get the video of Hillel puddle running off my phone and to the computer: 

My high school principal has been visiting Israel and the school asked me if I would help set up his schedule for visiting the various gap year programs while he is here and set up dinners with alumni.  So I have been a bit busy with that and it was fun that there are so many connections, even just setting up the meetings.  One secretary says are you married?  To whom?  Judah Dardik.  Oh, send him and Shimona my regards (they were in camp together).  The contact person for Mechon Maayan is my neighbor up the street, the one for Midreshet Moriah lives on the top of the Yishuv and are friends of ours.   The director of Torat Chessed is the son of our Mesader Kiddushin who is also Judah's family's rabbi in NJ since forever.  The person he will meet with at Midreshet HaRova also lives in Neve Daniel etc.  Small world and then some!

Bnei Akiva just finished their "Chodesh Irgun" which I admit I don't totally understand, but the kids spend extra time at the "snif" (local branch of the youth movement) and prepare dance presentations with lots of synchronized flag action, repaint their walls, and there's a changing of the guard with the counselors and leadership.  Shoshana will be able to start in a few weeks.  I was in Ezra when we lived here and we never had anything like this.  The kids are even allowed to miss school the next day and the busses all come on time and then again 3 hours later.  Aharon Akiva participated more than Tiferet and I am kind of glad to be back with the routine.  

OK, moving on with my Friday.  Feel free to ask anything I am not covering here :)

Shabbat Shalom everyone!