בנשמה

The holiday has finally arrived!!! And it's... well... different, and that's OK. For those who love peppermint lattes, the smell of pine, blinking lights and seeing cultures mesh together, the United States definately has that going (anyone else remember the glaring of lights blinking in your window as you were trying to fall asleep? At a certain point, it was kind of nice). It is also bizarre not to have a week of vacation off like I did for 7 years at Brandeis University. Or snow. Though the closest we've got to that is the Frozen pom pom hat our baby wore, purchased by his Baba Raba for which his second name is in honor of hers (and my dad).  In Israel kids get off of school. As do daycare centers for infants (at least, ours). For extra pay the municipality offers camp in one of the school buildings, but the kids really wanted time to just relax. In our case, since Josh works from home (and I soon will be too! - - contact me privately please if yo...

Today marks the shloshim of my mother. What's a girl to do...?  Well, approximately a week before I remembered my mom's love for Jerusalem. She would walk around, even on the warmest day and one time told me how she ordered soup (in the summer) and everyone thought she was crazy.  Taking a day off to commemorate her love of the Holy City made sense and we haven't been to the kotel since the first week of our aliyah in July. I woke up with a headache in the morning. Taking all three kids to school, we then drove to the cemetery where I have not one but two parents. I started to cry. Heavily. Immediately getting up from shiva and getting right back into work was a necessity, putting my deep feelings aside as if under a pillow. Reclaiming routine was the only option to move forward.  We spent an hour at the cemetery in relative silence.  My mother liked to learn. I reserved 3 sections of the mishna of Masechet Nidda, put my coat down ...

Drive 30 minutes south of Beit Shemesh, pass the hills of the Rama (short for Ramat Beit Shemesh), and you will find flat meadows that appear endless. Kind of like a scene of the Little House on the Prairie. The terraine is so green, while listening to Shabbat music on the radio you can't help but think "wow, זוהי ארץ נהדרת" (this is an amazing land). We spent shabbat in Carmei Gat, a newly developed town under the municipality of Kiryat Gat (kind of like what Washington DC is to Silver Spring - - especially when Woodside started and there wasn't a dedicated building). The government is investing efforts in this new community as the next hub of the South, that it will be approximately the size of Moddiin.  To give directions, this literally is yashar yashar yashar ve smola.  A mix of Anglo families and Israelis, there is a very nice balance of culture, out of town vibe where people ask where you are from, streets that make sense, quiet a...

This shabbat we visited our beautiful friends who made aliyah from Sharon, MA to Pardes Hana. Established in 1929, this charming 40,000+ family town was funded by the Rothchilds and named after Chana Rothchild. Walking to the large shul (Beit chneset hagadol) on shabbat day, a display of bulletin boards explained the history of the town, how it was mapped out and was embracing to teymanim that made aliyah pre the establishment of the State of Israel. Friday night we went to a pop up minyan led by the famous Yonina (Yoni) and Yitzchak Meir, who live in the neighborhood. The carlebach tunes were uplifting and much needed after a long week. The week prior members of this kid friendly minyan davened in a local park. This seemed to confuse members where to go.  Pardes Hana is increasing in real estate value thanks to the train station that connects the area to Tel Aviv within 40 minutes. There's a direct bus to Jerusalem that takes over an hour and 15 minutes. The flat house...