בנשמה

It has been a long stretch of holidays, Corona isolation texts, testing, family visits, maternity leave and all the while trying to grasp some semblance of routine. Every Friday night, we enjoy reading Torah Tidbits and free newspapers that are distributed throughout the country. Advertised often are new building projects that are sold as what they call "from paper." These projects tend to be less expensive, but a huge risk. Something you wish you knew about 5 years ago and had the chochma (knowledge) and capacity to buy into (word to Jews in America, it's smart to buy and then have a property ready at your own liesure).  Taking advantage of a quiet return to three out of four kids back in school, we drove to check out what has been publicized as Ganei Chashmonaim, rather to find out that it's below an area by the name Ganei Modiin. Location matters in Israel. Driving from the sales suite in Buchman, Modiin, we visited an aquaintance in Ganei M...

Today we took a tour of a very hot Beit Guvrin with Adina Lebor. This gem of history is 20 minutes from Beit Shemesh that it is a crime not to go visit. As always, Adina made the content interesting for children and for adults. She has tons of patience given that our two-year-old was slow on the many steep steps throughout the park. He enjoyed counting the stairs and ice cream at the cafe area. We also managed to pick up souvenirs and a stuffed camel he would enjoy.  Beit Guvrin is expansive and filled with a wide range of sites from dove cotes to cisterns to mausoleums. The northern section of the park has an amphitheater that was used by gladiators. In this area there is also a Roman bath house and other sites to see. For months we would pass through the highway area on our way to Meitar and wonder about the lit up archeological site. The grounds are open, making it a great...

August in Jerusalem is HOT. Add onto that 4 children and getting stuck in every imaginable traffic jam....that is stressful. Which is why capturing those sweet pictures, that trump the craziness, makes it well worth it. One of those, save for the bar mitzvah montage pics.  Luck had it that our little guy spotted the Old City train. Worth it. Look at those smiles. 

Since Corona, we were unable to visit new communities and see friends. Today we went to see Merkaz Shapira, which is approximately a 40 minute drive from Beit Shemesh towards Ashkelon. Pre pandemic we had heard of an expansion project, what they call in Israel a "harchava." Our friends in Merkaz Shapira have been living there for 20+ years. Upon entering the community of 500 or so families, a clear yellow fence closes the area off on Shabbat. To the left is Yeshivat Ohr Etzion, a school for boys. We located a pizza shop, another eatery, electric store, a small grocery store (running joke is that it is called Super Hashlamlot instead of its real name). The streets have many round abouts, known as kikars, a large Sephardic shul, one large playground and area for ganim (school aged children). We could not locate the Ashkenazi shul or library, though we were told they have ...

Only in Israel. 

So here we are, commemorating our 3rd Tisha B'av in Israel. Tisha B'Av is the first of our holidays following our aliyah anniversary so, it always gives me a good opportunity to reflect on things.  As I usually do, I try to cram in as much of Rabbi Weinreb's Kinnot presentation as I can during the course of the day. This year I got in about a third of it, and it included two eulogies for those we have lost this year, one for Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks and the other for Rabbi Abraham Twersky. His overarching theme was that while Tisha B'av may never be an easy day to approach, it also teaches us never to despair.  I started the holiday with a poll on one of my Facebook groups: Are we closer or farther than ever to rebuilding the Beit Hamikdash? Surprisingly, no one answered “farther”! But someone did add the following option: Will we actually build a Beit Hamikdash or is this just being used as a metaphor for hope and endurance? This option got almost as many votes as “cl...