My Open Letter to the President

My Open Letter to the President:

Dear Mr. President,

You may have recently “received” an open letter from a Jewish supporter of yours who lost her brother (In case you haven’t, here is the link: http://righteoustrayf.wordpress.com/2012/11/15/an-open-letter-to-the-president/). Like her, I am Jewish, supported your candidacy, and happen to have just lost my brother.  While she and I have all that in common, the message of my open letter will be quite different than hers.

Her letter appears on a blog that expresses her grief over the loss of her brother Alex and pays tribute to his memory.  I would imagine that anyone who reads her heartrending and poignant entries cannot help but be moved.  I know that I was.  Apparently her brother was an articulate, bright young man with a great sense of political awareness and social responsibility. I read with admiration of his energetic and idealistic activism in support of your campaign.  Alex’s sister (I could only find her brother’s name on the blog), seems to be no slouch herself.  She writes beautifully and intelligently; all the entries that I saw are worth reading.  Yet her most recent piece has gotten exponentially more exposure than the others – hundreds of tweets and 4,000 plus facebook shares.

After reading it, I felt I had to write to you too. You see, Alex’s sister expressed the disappointment that she and her brother felt over your positions and policies regarding Israel.  Your reiteration of Israel’s right to defend itself in the wake of the latest round of hostilities with Chamas was the last straw for her. She is hurt and ashamed. She suggests that you are betraying the growing pro-Palestinian Jewish constituency of your coalition that gave money and energy to your campaign. She thinks you are kowtowing to big business interests against those of the American people.

While Alex’s sister feels shame and disappointment, I feel a sense of relief. For me your statement was a validation of the vote I cast for you. Now you might not peg me as an obvious supporter.  I am an orthodox Jew living in Israel – not your strongest demographic.  Many of my friends claimed that your policies would be bad for Israel’s security.  I carefully read the links they posted on facebook and the arguments they made against you.  None of them were convincing to me.  Don’t get me wrong, I think you have made some mistakes, but overall I felt that you were a friend to Israel.  I cast my vote for you because I thought your presidency would be a better one than your opponent’s – better for the U.S., better for the world, and better for Israel.  

I took a lot of flack for my position. So when I returned to Israel this past week I became anxious about what your response would be to this latest round of hostilities.  I had been in the states with my family mourning the loss of my brother and had completely tuned out the news.  When I got caught up, my first thought was, how will President Obama respond. Having just won the election, will the president continue to express the support and understanding for Israel’s security needs that were part of his campaign?  Well, you quickly allayed my concerns.

Mr. President, I am not pleased with your response because I am a right-winger – I wouldn’t have voted for you if I was.  I consider myself sympathetic to both Palestinian suffering and national aspirations. I have travelled to Bethlehem to meet with Palestinian leaders and activists to hear their side of the story. Like you, I would like to see a Palestinian state thriving alongside a Jewish one. I just don’t think that sympathy for the Palestinian plight gives Hamas a right to indiscriminately bombard Israel with hundreds of rockets on a daily basis. You seem to agree.

Towards the end of her blog piece, Alex’s sister implores you to “prove your allegiance... to… the people who knocked doors for you, who made phone calls for you, who died getting you this 4 years more of opportunity.”  Mr. President, I didn’t knock on doors for you, I didn’t make phone calls for you, and I certainly didn’t die for you.  However, I did vote for you. That vote was based on my belief that when you said that Israel has a right to defend itself, you would stand behind it.  Thank you for coming through.  I hope you will continue to express these sentiments as Israel struggles to find the balance between self-preservation and co-existence.

                                                                                    Sincerely,

                                                                                    Ross Singer

                                                                                    Kibbutz Maale Gilboa

                                                                                                         Israel

Bounce, Bing and Boing

A pigeon decided to build a nest outside on our washing machine.  We named her Bounce.  I tried to discourage her at first (by dismantling the nest a couple of times), but by the Israeli law of "Homa and Migdal" (loosely translated/explained: if you have the permanent structures of a community built by morning you get to stay...), she completed the nest and laid eggs on it one night, and by morning it was hers.

Just so you don't think me cruel, the only reason I wanted to discourage her was because I didn't know how it would be for the little guys to be bounced around all day to the movements of our washer and dryer.  You could indeed see her eyes kinds of bouncing around in her head as she sat on them.  She also would get scared when I would switch loads, and often flew away, causing us concern that the eggs were not being sufficiently sat upon.

When the little miracles were born, they were so small and shrivelly looking that we feared the worst.  I contemplated calling in an expert, but I had heard that when people touch a nest, it makes the mom refuse to return, so we just waited and watched.  Meanwhile, we optimistically named them Bing and Boing.

And just like with Adin 6 years ago, those little scrawny helpless looking things have developed into strong, fine young citizens.  We expect them to fly off any day.  And we will miss them. 

Love,

Em

Bringing some of the "old country" into the new one

There was some back and forth on an Aliya listserve about how appropriate it is to complain about the challenges of Aliya.  Some felt that Olim need to give up their connections to their previous homes outside of ISrael and accept their new reality.  In response Emily wrote the following that resonated for many people who thanked her for writing it.


Hi,

I made aliyah with my family a year and a half ago. My husband and I feel very blessed to have this amazing opportunity to settle in Eretz Yisrael. Our aliyah has been pretty smooth, and our kids are integrating beautifully, tfu tfu tfu. 

Still, the process has not been without its challenges. We left all of our family behind in America . I am reinventing my career from scratch, starting at the bottom and often feeling inept at work, where in America I was successful and respected. And despite their great acclimation here, our kids miss their friends and family, and all four of them would go back tomorrow if given the choice. So while we are so glad we came, it is not always easy.

My husband and I are considered (by people who know us) to be very low maintenance people. We are generally not the type to insist on having particular products, and we could live very well like native Israelis, purchasing only what is available in our local kibbutz makolet. Still, with all of the upheaval our family has been through, we have found ourselves swept up in the fever of trying to find (and sometimes import) American goods. There is something warm and familiar about our Friday ritual of Wacky Mac before Shabbat, and it is always exciting when someone brings us American Rice Krispies. And living in the North with few affordable English reading options, there is nothing like receiving our latest used books in the mail from Better World Books!

In preparation for my son's bar mitzvah a few weeks ago, I did things I never dreamed I would do. I agreed (even encouraged?) him to have a Baltimore Ravens theme party (I HATE football, and in America I would have considered a sports-themed bar mitzvah tacky -- though we are only talking about a few decorations here...). I went through hoops to order Ravens pennants and foil-wrapped chocolate sports balls. I had to order them to America , and have my only friend coming from North America drive to the States from Canada to pick them up and bring them. Another friend arranged to have us sent Sunkist candies for throwing after his Torah reading. This seemed ridiculous to me, but the kids were so excited about it. 

As the bar mitzvah approached, my son was disappointed that none of his American family or friends would be there. But on the actual day, he read his parasha beautifully and had an amazing time with his new friends and community. In shul, people loved the change from the usual candies (we live in a place with few anglos, so the Sunkist chews were a chavaya). At the party, the Ravens touch brought a little piece of his past (along with a video his friends back in Baltimore prepared for him), and his Bnei Akiva group even sang about his fondness for the Ravens in a song they performed for him. 

Did we need to bring things from America to make his bar mitzvah special? Of course not. But I have no regrets. There are always things we can do "better" in the world. We can give more charity. We can use less water and disposable dishes. We can smile more at strangers. But there are times when we are allowed to make choices for ourselves. When someone has made all the sacrifices they have in order to leave behind all they had before to come on aliyah, who are we to criticize someone for wanting a taste from the old country (like Rice Krispies) or something to make our lives a little easier (ziploc bags) or cheaper (American sneakers and Electronics) . 

I am grateful for this forum that has helped me find ways to make my aliyah a little easier, and it is a pleasure to share things I find that I think others will appreciate. 

If anyone is interested, I am attaching a link to an article about our kids' transition here that was published in a Vancouver newspaper. It is one of a 10-part series (7 published so far). The rest are easy to find if you are even further interested (or you can contact me for more links).

http://www.jewishin dependent. ca/Archives/ Nov11/archives11 Nov25-05. html

Emily Singer

Baltimore -- Maale Gilboa 2012

Shai in Tefilin for the first time!

An Introduction to the Education Profession in Israel

Hi guys! I am going a little crazy here, preparing for Passover while simultaneously making arrangements for Shai's bar mitzvah which is a week later.  Eek!  So I have decided to take advantage of the free time and write to you all. But seriously, I just have to share this before I forget.... So for those of you have been following my career path carefully, you will recall that I gave up on the idea of teaching after a less-than-successful stint of teaching English to inner-city classes of up to 40 middle schoolers, but then I reconsidered this year, when I was asked to do some small group lessons, and to teach at a home for girls at risk.  (I love this job!) To be a teacher in Israel, I am supposed to complete 2 courses-- one for a teaching degree and the other I need to receive a teacher's license.  The second course is only for new immigrants. and it is a series of mini-courses on Jewish subjects -- History, Civics, Israeli Literature, Hebrew Language, Bible and Jewish Customs.  I happen to particularly enjoy these subjects -- having studied all of them in college and graduate school (except Civics).  I have two bachelors in Jewish History and Talmud, and a Masters in Judaic Studies.  The problem is that the course is designed for people who have little to no background in the subjects, and whose Hebrew is very weak.  I asked if it was possible to get an exemption from the subjects in which I have university degrees, but I was told no. So I signed up for the course just over a month ago and I studied Civics for 5 weeks.  I actually found the course very interesting, though apparently this defines me as a big geek.  Everyone hears Civics and says oh no!  That is the most boring subject!  But I try to keep up with the news, and I found the class very helpful in understanding the political structure.  I also really enjoyed the teacher, who brought lots of real life fascinating examples to her lessons. I found it interesting, though the pace was excruciatingly slow, as much of the course was spent going very slowly over terms and vocabulary, and then going over the terms used to explain the terms and vocabulary, and then practicing writing sentences that could be memorized that would answer potential questions.  And this was all after spending 3 hours traveling on 3 buses to get there (and before another 3 hours and 3 buses back home...). There was a lot of information to learn, and a lot of new terms, but the teacher bent over backwards driving them home in our first 4 lessons, and spent a last lesson going over everything yet again for those who were unclear on the information the 27th time around, and writing more practice answers for the questions that the teacher seemed to have a pretty good idea would be on the test.  So when it came time for the exam, I did have to study very hard, but I knew exactly what was going to be expected.   When I show up for the day of the test, we are divided into 2 rooms.  Most students are adamantly refusing to be put in the second room (I missed the first course on History, which may explain why I didn't know the significance of the rooms...).  I went to the other room with a handful of people.  Our proctor was very meticulous about making sure that no one had any papers or anything anywhere near their workspace, and that we were very well separated.  Did she know that we are all adults and educators? (as it turns out, maybe that's why she was concerned....) As the test starts, the proctor announces the answer to number 4 of the "American questions" (that means "multiple choice" here...), saying we hadn't covered the material.   The woman next to me asks me what she said.  I tell her very clearly.  She moves over right next to me to look at my paper, asking me again to clarify.  I tell her again, but she keeps trying to look (I have already completed the rest of the section).  Finally she says, "Well, what's the answer to number 3?" I tell her the teacher didn't tell us that, but she persists, straining her eyes toward my paper, that I am actively curling out of her view, until she looks annoyed and goes back to her seat.   Over the next little while, this woman periodically turns around and whispers to people asking them for answers.  The proctor seems not to notice (I don't know how, though she is reading a book). Then one woman asks if she can go out of the room to go to the bathroom.  THe proctor says, "But you are in the middle of an exam."   She answers, "Yeah, I know, but I'm almost done."   I'm not sure why this is a reason to let her go right now, but anyway... the teacher says OK but she should leave her phone.  The student says "But I need to make a call."  She goes out with her phone, and is gone for literally more than 20 minutes. The proctor decides she needs to go out and look for this woman.  Big mistake.  The second she leaves the room, papers are flying.  Someone has handed their exam to the woman next to me for her to copy, and others are scootching next to each other to confer.  Somehow, as if they were in a movie, they manage to all find their seats and resume their test-taking poses at the last moment, Risky Business style, just before the proctor returns.   I finished early and left, but after the exam was over, I got a call from my friend Berta, who I know because she lives near me and we ride the bus together.  She is actually very honest and a good student, but she tells me about what went on in the other room.  She said that first of all, almost everyone had some sort of cheat sheet they kept under their table or slid inside their exam book.  Some of them had several pages.  But the prize goes to the guy who used his smart phone to look up answers on Wikipedia!!!! These, my friends, are my children's future teachers. After the last class I asked again if I could possibly get an exemption from the rest of the courses.  The head of the course (which is to say the proctor of the smart phone testing room) said it is worth a try.  They asked me to submit all degrees and transcripts with relevant courses highlighted.  I worked harder on the request then I did in the course (though it was less travel time...).  The application will take at least a month to process, so I will need to begin the next course in the meantime.  Israeli literature, here I come!  (This is actually the one I think could be the most interesting).  Wish me luck!!! And have a happy, health Passover!!!! love. Em

Teaching a nuanced love for Israel or a simple trip to buy Tefilin ain't so simple

Tonight, Rivital, Shmuel, Abaye and I drove to Chispin in the Golan Heights to purchase Shmuel’s Tefilin.  He’ll start putting them on next week – one month before his Bar Mitzvah.  Friends of ours recommended the Sofer (scribe) we met with because he has a two-hour presentation about the meaning of Tefillin and a demonstration of how they are made.  He has samples of cow hides in their various stages going from simple pieces of leather to becoming the boxes in which the parshiot (Torah passages) of parchment eventually make their home.  It was really cool to see how they are made and sewn up.  We even got to place the parshiot of Shmuel’s Tefilin in the Batim (boxes) – well actually I did. Since Shmuel is not yet Bar Mitzvah, the sofer insisted that I put them in place – לשם קדושת תפילין. There is no doubt that being present as the scrolls were placed inside the Batim gave Shmuel and the rest of us a special connection to this Mitzvah and his particular set of Tefilin.

Besides this physical connection, the Sofer had an extended derash/shiur on the meaning of Tefilin.  His take on Tefilin is that there are essentially three themes in the portions of the Torah included in the Tefilin – The land of Israel, the People Israel and the Torah of Israel.  The first parashah (Exodus 13:1-10) which describes the exodus of Egypt into the promised land = Eretz Yisrael.  The second parashah (Exodus 13:11-16) which focuses on the first born = The People Israel (who are called God’s first born in Exodus 4:22).  The last two parshiot (Deut. 6:4-9 and Deut. 11:13-21) = the Torah of Israel.  So, in this Sofer’s understanding, laying Tefilin is an act of identification with trio of the land, people, and Torah of Israel.  (Here is a link to get a more elaborate explanation in Hebrew: http://www.soferstam.co.il/content.aspx?pageId=39&lang=he)

While perhaps a little to far from peshat (the straightforward meaning), I certainly appreciated the sentiment of searching out a deep significance for this new Mitzvah that Shmuel is on the cusp of taking on.  All in all it was worth the long drive + the extended presentation.

All that said, there was a piece of the presentation that I found disturbing.  Building on the explanation above, the sofer added another level to his drash on Tefilin.  There is a halakhah that the Parshiot of the Tefilin must written in the order they appear in the Torah (at least according to Rashi).  That means that in this Sofer’s scheme, first comes the parashah of the land of Israel, then the people Israel, and finally the Torah of Israel.  He suggested that this order indicates a hierarchy of values.  On the top is the land of Israel, followed by the people of Israel, and finally least important of the three is the Torah of Israel.  As he was sharing this approach, I immediately recalled Rabbi Yehuda Amital’s insistence that of these three pillars of Judaism, the people Israel is at the top followed by the Torah of Israel in the middle with the land of Israel being the least in significance of the three. It is R. Amital’s approach that I hold dear and try to live by (Here is a link to one of the articles where R. Amital lays out this position: http://vbm-torah.org/archive/values/04values.htm).

 

I was a bit ambivalent about this presentation of values that Shmuel had just been presented.  On the one hand, the placing the land of Israel on a pedestal above all else is a perversion of what I understand Judaism to teach. On the other hand, one of the struggles of our Aliya has been the kids' disappointment over leaving the states.  Of course they should be disappointed about leaving their friends and I need to accept that and to allow them that disappointment.  Yet, on the other hand I am not sure that they have a full appreciation for how significant Aliya is.  I don’t think they realize and share how important Emily and I feel the land and the state of Israel is.  On some level, I was pleased that Shmuel heard someone preaching the importance of the land of Israel, even if I had concerns that it was being overblown.

Related to this subject, Shmuel and I had an interesting interchange last week.  In school, Shmuel’s class had a presentation from one of the Gush Katif evacuees who told the story from his perspective.  Shmuel came home and shared with me what he had heard.  He told me that he couldn’t understand why we had left Gaza.  While I certainly appreciate those who opposed the hitnatkut (disengagement), I feel that the demographic problem of remaining in Gaza created at least as big a problem as the withdrawal did. I did my best to explain what the advantages were to the pull out, but he stood his ground.  I asked him how he would address the demographics and he said something like we should have moved a lot of Jews there to balance the population.  When I pointed out that that would mean Jews like us moving from the diaspora to Israel, he was caught a bit off guard.  Inadvertently, he had made an argument for the importance of his own Aliya.  I ended that conversation telling Shmuel that I was glad and proud that he had an opinion of his own different from mine and that he should continue to think for himself. I told myself, that I was glad that Shmuel had come to a realization of the importance of Jews living in Israel, even if I disagreed with him about exactly where in Israel they should live…

When one’s religious Zionism emphasizes the quality of the society built in the land of Israel (Am Yisrael) over the land itself – inculcating a love for the land can be complex.  I decided not to address what the Sofer had said at all tonight and just let Shmuel chew on it (after two hours of listening to the meaning of Tefilin he deserved a break no matter what he heard), however, I imagine at some point we’ll revisit this and I’ll share R. Amital’s position.  Maybe I’ll even recommend he read this post…

Twice Insulted (and Emily work update)

Hi, I have been dying to write, but things have gotten VERY busy around here.  Still, a few of you have noticed, and anyway, there is SO much to do that it is the perfect time to procrastinate. First of all, I just have to share a little story: In the land that invented the cell phone and the defibrillator, that broadcasts up to date TV series from America and Europe, and that releases Harry Potter books and movies before they arrive in the US, one thing has not made it across the ocean to our borders -- the concept of political correctness.   So I walk into the teacher's room at the school where I teach, and the teachers and principal are in a heated debate (this is saying it nicely...).  I don't totally get what's going on, though what I gleaned from afterwards is that they were discussing their tradition that for the Purim carnival every year, teachers go out and solicit prizes for their classes from local neighbors and businesses.  It seems that one woman didn't feel right about doing this, and she was suggesting that the different classes sell foods for the carnival, and then pool all the profits and get the same prizes for everyone in the school (or something like that).  This is all background.  The part where I walked in was when the principal screamed, "What are we-- kibbutzniks?!?!  WE ARE BETTER THAN KIBBUTZNIKS!!!!" After the meeting, as I was sitting there trying to decide if I was insulted (OK, I was really just sitting there giggling...), I overheard another conversation where teachers were creating a test, and they were debating the pros and cons of using "American questions."  Raise your hand out there if you know what an "America question" is.  OK, I'll just tell you-- that is what they call here multiple choice questions.  Tell me-- did America really invent the multiple choice question?!?!?!  [(a) yes, (b) no, (c) who cares?] And is that supposed to say something about us?  [(a) yes; (b) no; (c) probably, but I don't know what]. And people just have no idea how what they are saying will be perceived by the people around them.  Or they don't care.... Now then, about being busy: The year started relatively slowly, with me not working, hoping to take the year off to write.  Soon after the school year started, I got a call from a woman asking if I would teach for her.  She coordinates teachers in the area who pull small groups out of their English classes to work with them.  She wanted me to take 2 jobs, but I agreed to one, to leave time to write, and to make sure I like the work. Shortly thereafter, I got a call from my kids' school asking if I would teach an advanced English class for a group of kids in this special accelerated program -- one afternoon a week.  no problem.  Fun, even. Then I signed up for a writing course on line -- it's actually a manuscript workshop for a children's book I have been working on.  After I discovered the course on-line, my friend Tzippy from Toronto  actually recommended the course to me (not knowing I already knew about it and had contacted the teacher...).  And guess what-- Tzippy is in my class with me!  Very cool!  Between the time when I signed up for the course and it started, I got another call asking me to teach English at a home for girls in distress.  They want me to prepare girls for the big high school English exams (the bagrut).  One of the girls actually has a really good shot at passing the highest level exam (which is very unusual there), but they haven't been about to find someone else to teach her.  I don't have any experience with these exams, which are a really big deal here, and I told them that, but they hired me anyway.  I had no idea what I was getting into-- just finding out what will be on the exam has been a full time research project.  I finally think I know what it will entail-- a few unseen texts with questions, a few compositions, a project that she must do ahead of time (and getting the task for the project was one of the hardest, as I finally discovered that the reason the information is not readily available is because the teacher usually picks the task, but I am not qualified, and she's not really in a school, but someone finally helped me out and gave me a project...).  After the project, she will need to pass an oral exam, which will be partly about the project.  By the time she does all this, I feel like they should give her a PhD!   I work there also with 3 other girls who are amazingly delightful, and I just love it!!!  One girl was complaining about how studying English is always boring, and she doesn't want (but there's a limit to how interesting a teacher can make the work when the results-- the big exam at the end-- have to be very specific).  I made a deal with her that I would bring a pop song every week to share at the end of the lesson.  The girls all love this, and they also do great with the work.  The other girl in her class is highly motivated to pass her exam (which she won't be ready for for awhile, but she has amazing vision to stick with it anyway...), and she keeps the pace of the class going great.  Then the other girl I teach independently.  She is really starting form the very beginning, and it is hard to imagine that she will really get to a point where she is ready for the exam, but she is so sweet, and really fragile, and even remembering a word from one page and applying correctly on the next is a big deal, but she appreciates it.  I really love it there.  The director keeps telling me that the girls are doing great and they love the class, and that I have to come back next year.  But I have only been there a few weeks, so we'll see.  Like, we'll see how the first girl actually does on her bagrut.... So now that I have 3 different jobs that I basically really like, all of which require me to be an English teacher, I am rethinking my earlier decision not to pursue that route officially (which would entail a teacher's certificate course and a course in 6 basic Jewish disciplines for olim).  Both of these course were offered for free to olim (immigrants), and I didn't o them because they are far away and the hours are inconvenient.  But they don't know when they will offer them again.  BUT they told me that I could join one class late (the Jewish disciplines), starting NEXT SUNDAY.  I am DREADING the commute (it's in Haifa, where I always ALWAYS get horribly lost) , and it doesn't leave me much time for preparing for the other stuff and writing, but I think I gotta do it.   And did I mention that Shai/Shmuel's bar mitzvah is exactly two months from today? [(a) yes; (b) no; (c) Eek!!]  Have I done anything to plan for it?  [(a) zip; (b) zilch; (c) nadda].  Ross and Shmuel have been working like crazy to get his readings down and everything, but it is time to get moving on that (with all my free time).   So that's basically why I haven't been writing more, but I am realizing now that I owe y'all the story of my last adventure to Haifa to the Employment counseling center.  But I don't think I can write more now, and I can't imagine you want to read more now (It is 11:40 at night, for goodness sake!), but I will try to write it up soon, before I forget all the details, and have to make them up, like I did here.  Did I just say that out loud?  just kidding! G-nite! Em

Chodesh Irgun 5772

Hey gang, Now that I've finally recovered, it's time to tell you all about hodesh irgun.  For those of you steady followers, you may remember it from last year, when Abaye dressed up as a drunken Russian, and went to the kibbutz store to try to purchase beer (strictly for the costume...). This year's chodesh irgun was AMAZING-- not just because it was actually amazing, but also because of the difference in the kids from last year until now.   Just to remind y'all, chodesh irgun is a month in which all the kids (4th -12th grade) work hard preparing a huge mural (covering their "headquarters"), a funny play (they were HILARIOUS), and a Shabbat meal.  The first few weeks, they work hard once or twice a week.  The last week, they are out crazy late every night.  They don't get homework, and school is cancelled that Sunday. This year, our kids took chodesh irgun very seriously.  While last year, some of them were still ambivalent about all the programming, this year, they were all on top of getting to everywhere on time and prepared, and they were all bouncing up and down to show us their murals over Shabbat.   Right after Shabbat, the kids go on a big parade around the kibbutz, screaming at the top of their lungs to make sure no one sleeps through the festivities.  They holler out chants like it is the last day of summer camp.  My favorite is the one that goes, "Are you really a kibbtzik?"  "Yes I'm really a kibbutznik!"  "If you;re REALLY a kibbutznik then say moo moo!" (or "koo koo rikoo" etc).  THey also do the hokey pokey in Hebrew.  In addition, they sing loud chants about how they are better than the other groups from other places.  It sounds very convincing and intimidating now, when there are no other groups around, but I can picture them when they actually get together with these other groups (which they do a couple of times a year or so), and they are the teensiest group there.  Still, they won't lose for lack of trying! Bnei Akiva is all youth led.  The counselors are all high school students.  And everyone is trusted with a lot of responsibilities.  When they do the chants, everyone takes turns leading, including Shmuel (who was so loud and smiley!), and yes, even Abaye. Abaye, formerly known as our very shy child, was the most enthusiastic of them all.  He chose to participate in the optional "daglanut" (which I like to call "flaginess, but it is better explained as dancing/marching with huge Israeli flags).  He took upon himself to  provide his entire group with all necessary costume equipment, and he acted brilliantly in his play (in which Snow White falls into a deep sleep after biting from an apple without saying a bracha, and then they hold a big "American Idol" (the Israeli version) game show to choose a tzaddik (a righteous person) to give her a kiss and then marry her).   When the 4 tzaddiks presented themselves, one was a black hat American yeshiva guy (with a frighteningly good American accent), one learned Talmud all day, one was a hippie with long hair and a tie dye shirt who had become spiritual in India, and the fourth was, of course, the guy who didn't really know so much, but at the end when everyone was screaming about why they were the best, he said that he didn't think everyone should be fighting.  Guess who won.  go on-- guess.  Abaye was one of the judges, Sleepy the dwarf.  He walked around in cute PJs, angry bird slippers (which I bought him for the occasion), a ski hat turned night cap, a sleep mask he received on the airplane last summer when we flew on his birthday, and one of those airplane pillows around his neck, falling asleep everywhere, and making funny comments about sleeping.  He was a riot! Tali's group is too old for the actual plays.  Their job was to do funny little skits between the plays.  They were very funny. Tali was in her element.  They were the group that received their official name (that will belong to Bnei Akiva people their age all over the world from now on for eternity, which they lit up in fire on a huge stand-- the name is Eytan, if you care.  It is a very big mysterious deal until it is revealed...).  Next year they will be counselors.  Shmuel also had a blast.  His play was a series of intentionally misinterpreted readings from the rabbis acted out.  I wish I could tell you some, but most of them kind of flew past us, being in Hebrew and all....  We could tell it was very funny.  But the amazing part was how great friends everyone seemed to be.  It was just so tremendous to watch.  After the late night, Rivital's counselors took them out to a restaurant for dinner.  She came home after midnight.   Aside from Hodesh Irgun, the boys are loving school.  They all adore their teachers.  Abaye is excited to go in the morning, and he jumps on every opportunity to sign up for extra things (like arriving early one morning a week for learning with tea and biscuits, and going once a week to build things out of mud).  He loves to talk about his favorite subjects.  He pretends that he will pretend to be sick on test days, but he never really does, and he aces them all.   Tali's school is not as great this year, but we are working on it.  The one good thing is that she was invited to join this elite program.  It is funded by some very wealthy people who want to make smart Israelis smarter.  It involves staying late once a week, and going on special trips to different labs and offices.  If she sticks with it, they will offer her scholarships for all kinds of things in her future, including special HS programs and college.  She didn't think she would like it, but she loves it.  It is supposed to be mostly science enrichment, which she claims to not be interested in, but for now it is Math and English.  She likes math (especially when it's challenging), and she is exempted from the English, so she just leaves early.  If she wants to continue next year, she will have to add either biology or physics, which she finds disgusting and boring respectively, but we will see.  Mom-- you can put in your 2 cents, but I'd wait until the time is closer and she is more convinced she loves it.  She is going on a 3 day optional seminar with them over Hanuka, so I hope that will open her eyes to the joy of science.... In adult news, Ross had been traveling like crazy so things have been hectic.  He is here now for a short time, but he leaves again this Thursday.  Meanwhile, I have started a job 2 days a week pulling small groups of kids out of English class and teaching them.  Very low stress.  Not sure yet how it is going.  Ups and downs.  But the school and the teachers are very supportive, and there is virtually no preparation, and the travel is not bad.  And some of the kids are very very cute.   I feel like there is more, but I'm tired.  It's OK, I know where to reach you if I think of something else. In the meantime, gnite! Love, Em

I am in Golders Green London and walked passed the King Solomon Hotel -- one of the main sites of the infamous Singer family stranded Shabbat in London from 2001.

Big Hug not news?!?!?!

Hey gang,  I just wanted to give everyone a heads up that tomorrow, finally, after all these months, The Big Hug will be taking place in the Knesset.  I wrote a piece about it, but two major Jewish papers informed me that it's "not news" that two thirds of the Israeli Parliament is going to participate in a group hug.  One of them offered to put it in their blog, and the other is going to publish the story after it happens in their magazine, since of course, it's NOT NEWS.  The Hug will include representatives from all thirteen parties in the Knesset, including left wing and right wing, religious and secular, Arab and Jewish.  Can someone explain to me how this is not news?!?!   Even in Israel, it is hard to find evidence of the event.  Maariv wrote an article about the idea when it first started (back when only 10 members had agreed to participate).  Other than that, the only sign of it is on Beni's Facebook page (which I recommend you check out if you understand Hebrew-- there are videos showing live footage of Knesset members Daniel Ben Simone and Zeev Bielski, self=-appointed "ambassadors of the Big Hug"--  recruiting huggers in the hallways of the Knesset.   Today the news is about a massive rocket attack into Southern Israel.  A man was killed, a number were injured, and then there was the trauma to many others.  Just like when it snows in America and you turn on the radio for the school closing, there is a list of school closings here due to security concerns.  that's the news.  I get that.  But with all the reports of war and fighting, isn't there just a little space for a blurb about our elected leaders getting along?  Hugging, even?   Anyway, I won't tell you more about the story, since I don't totally know yet how this writing business works, but I don't want to infringe on my own copyright of a story I have been told will run next weekend, but I do want to let you all know that you can tune into the hug live (though everything will be in Hebrew).  It will be broadcast live from the Knesset floor from 2-4:00 israel time tomorrow (Monday).  If you live in Israel, you can turn on Galei Tzahal.  If you live somewhere else, you can go to their website and click on "listen live" (or the Hebrew equivalent of that?!)   I would have gone down to the Knesset to watch it live, but I have to go to an important program at Tali's school.  But I will definitely be tuned into the radio....   Anyway, that's all for now.  If I hear of anyone kissing, I'll be sure to send another update right away.... Em

Eilat in Succot

Hey gang, I hope you all had terrific holidays. Last year over Sukkot, if you recall (or even if you don't...)  we drove two hours each way for an eighteen hour vacation at the beach in Achziv.  This year we thought we'd top that by driving twelve hours to spend forty in Eilat.   On Friday of chol hamoed Sukkot, we drove down to Elazar, where we spent Shabbat with our friends the Richters.  I am not sure exactly how we packed two tents, six sleeping bags, clothes for Shabbat and 3 days of camping, and food all into our seven-seater car that is the length of a corolla (literally), but we did! Shabbat with the Richters was awesome as usual.  It was a brilliant idea both because it is on the way so it broke up the drive, and because the kids are always excited to go there, so  it took their minds off the fact that we were dragging them to Eilat entirely against their will.  The boys just wanted to return to Achziv (the place they insisted they didn't want to go to last year...).  Tali was adamant that she hates Eilat (which she has never been to, so I think maybe she was reincarnated, and had been a colorful fish in a previous life...).   Sunday morning, our two families went together to Ein Bokek-- a water hike that follows a stream up a mountain, walking through small pools and waterfalls.  The kids tried to kvetch about that too, but as soon as we started the hike, walking the whole time straight through the stream, shaded by trees that looked like they were planted and shaped there just for us, there was really nothing for anyone not to like.  Everyone raved about it afterwards. From Ein Bokek, we parted ways with the Richters (the parents didn't want to join us in Eilat.  The kids begged us to take them with us, as our own kids begged us to leave them behind.  I was tempted to offer to swap, but i knew there would be a lesson in there somewhere.... So we drove down to Eilat, where we found the Field School and pitched our tents.  The campsite was perfect.  We went out for a very mediocre dinner (not everything can be fabulous...), and we went back to the capsite exhausted and ready for sleep.   The next morning was our day to "do Eilat."  The day after that we were scheduled to be at a barbecue with friends in Jerusalem, which would mean packing up our stuff and heading out by noon (presuming that no one would have to pee on the way).   We loved the Israeli breakfast, with the exciting omelets to order, and the latte machine that can make fluffy hot chocolate.   The three really Eilat-y things we felt we needed to do were snorkeling (hands down the most important), swimming with the dolphins, and hiking up a mountain from which you can see four countries (none of which are Canada).  The kids weren't really interested in the dolphins, so we let that one go.  They weren't really into the snorkeling either, but that was just too bad.  Come to think of it, they really didn't want to do the hike either.   Well, anyway, we did the hike first.  There were complaints of the heat (how come we can't just do hikes that are through streams and pools?!) and of the difficulty (not hard enough for Abaye and too hard for the rest), but that all changed about halfway up, when it because challenging enough for Abaye, and the others realized how proud they were of themselves.  When they realized there was a watchtower with soldiers at the top, everyone got all excited about offering them drinks.  The top was amazing, and Rivital couldn't stop taking pictures of everything-- the mountain, the view, Eilat, the boys.  (She has since posted all 200+ pix on her Facebook page).  On the way down, the boys ran ahead, laughing and playing, as Tali stayed behind to help Adin, walking with him hand-in-hand.  I felt like we were in a movie about a family who loves going on vacation together. After the hike, we went back to camp to decompress, and then headed for the snorkeling.  Tali said she wasn't interested, but Ross said he would rent her the equipment in case she changed her mind.  Adin and I stayed back in the shallow water, and Ross took the boys one at a time to snorkel around the coral reef.  It was unbelievable.  All the kids were blown away (except Adin, who couldn't be bother to look at the beautiful, multi-colored fish that were literally swimming around his ankles, but he was still having a lot of fun...).  Tali decided to give it a try, and guess what-- She LOOOOVED it.  She was apparently particularly skilled with using the equipment.  She and Ross overshot a turn, and ended up going on a much longer swim than intended.  When they returned, she just wanted to go back again.  Afterwards, she couldn't stop talking about how much she loves snorkeling.  She spent the rest of the trip planning next year, when we have to come back to Eilat.   After snorkeling, we were really beat.  We discovered a kosher pizza place in town.  There was no sukkah at the restaurant, but there was one on the corner that had been put up by Chabad.  By day it served as a place for chabad guys to invite strangers to come shake a lulav and etrog.  By night it was deserted.  It had absolutely no furniture.  But there was a big welcome sign on the outside, and it was totally empty, so we sat on the floor and enjoyed our pizza.  Afterwards, we bought s'more fixings and went back to make a campfire.  Shmuel was asleep before we got the fire started, and Adin and I were asleep by the time it went out, but the other guys headed down to the boardwalk late at night, window shopping and watching a huge ball containing people fly way up to the sky and back down, over and over again, everyone challenging the others to go on the ride. The next morning, I got our stuff together and packed before breakfast time, in hopes of maximizing our last morning.  Two of the kids were really excited to check out the wax "museum" that we passed the previous night, housed inside the Imax.   As it turns out, the only thing about the exhibit that made it feel like an actual museum was the price.  I would have called it the "Wax Lobby."  Still, the kids loved it.  It had many of their favorite musicians, movie stars, disney characters, and a whole section of Greek mythology that made the trip retroactively worthwhile for Shai.   We finished the entire "museum," including going back to the car for the camera and taking every conceivable picture possible, in 45 minutes, and it seemed like we had enough time for one more site.  Friends had told us about a place called "The Kings City,"  something about a ride through scenes of Biblical stories with a water slide at the end.  I thought we should check it out. After getting lost a few times, we arrived at The Kings City, to realize that it was much more than we realistically had time for.  Fortunately, we are not realistic, so we went in anyway.   We said we would go in and take advantage of as much as we could in the short time we had (already calculating that we would be late to the BBQ, but that that was OK).  When I gave the woman my credit card to pay, she said, "Wait!  With this card you have a two for one sale!  But you can't purchase the tickets here.  You have to call them."  So I went off to the corner of the lobby that had the least amount of insanely loud noise, and I proceeded to follow a series of complicated Hebrew instructions that, as it turns out, ten minutes later succeeded in procuring us one free ticket.  I got back in line to complete our transaction.  When it was our turn again, the woman explained, "This is only good for one ticket.  If only you had another credit card like this..."  I asked if Ross's would count, and she said of course, so I went off to my "quiet" corner and repeated the process.  When I came back with our significantly discounted tickets and our negative forty five minutes with which to see the place, the woman pointed out that in addition to everything else, every kid received three free amusement rides.  Yippee.  The BBQ was not looking good.   When we entered finally entered the Kings City, it looked amazing!  Everyone wanted to do everything. When you are working with negative time, it suddenly seems like you have so much of it.  It's like eating when your full-- you don't know when to stop.  So we began in the time elevator, that took us down into what was meant to feel like the bowels of the earth, to walk around and watch little mechanical scenes of Bible stories, interspersed with live animals such as snakes, gerbils and tarantulas.  To be honest, this was totally something my kids could have hated.  In fact, the Richter kids had not enjoyed the place.  But everybody was captivated.  No one would leave a station until they heard the whole scene play out from beginning to end. When we exited the time elevator, we saw the true brilliance of the museum designers.  Upon entrance to the museum, there are four exhibits to enter.  Each one takes you on a totally different course.  But magically, just like the mail room in Bugs Bunny, every one of the exits deposits you into the food court and souvernir shop!!  After the first exhibit, when it would have been a wise time to head home, we saw the restaurant and everyone was suddenly starving.  At this point we realized it was time to call our barbecuing friends and tell them we would not be joining them.  Their response was, "Yeah-- we had no idea how you thought you'd make it here...."   After lunch we split up, since the ride with the water slide was not appropriate for Adin.  Adin, Shai and I went to the room of Illusions, which was AWESOME!  It was like one of those science museums with lots of amazing hands on exhibits.  But in the interest of time, I will just share the coolest part.  After their ride, the other guys joined us and we headed for the exit.  We followed the signs, and found ourselves in a maze of mirrors, where to get out, you had to figure out the way.  Once you got through the mirrors, there was a similar maze, but with bars that made it look that you were always trapped.  At one point, no matter which direction you turned there were bars, so you were really trapped, until you realized that on just one side, the bars were made of rubber so you could walk through them.  This went on for awhile, followed by a hall of terrifying screams, and a narrow suspension bridge surrounded by a tunnel with rotating walls.  It was unbelievable.  The craziest part was that there was no indication that this part of the museum existed-- at least none we had seen, from the outside.  We were just following the exit signs.  When we finally made it out of all the labyrinths, guess where we ended up--  in a bigger gift shop!  From there we headed straight out to the amusement park rides that are just before the parking lot (Do not pass go; do not spend $200 in the gift shop...).  The rides are really for smaller kids, but after a whirl or two on the pitsky roller coaster, everyone had a great time taking turns accompanying Adin.   I think that ends the exciting part of our trip.  From there we went back to the Richters where we slept. Fun, but not exciting.  The next morning we stopped in Jerusalem for some American food shopping (Life cereal, Philly cream cheese, etc-- totally forgetting how packed our car was).  We managed to fit all the food by strapping Abaye in the very back seat, and packing all the food around him.  I don't think that boy had ever been safer.   We made it back to kibbutz with two hours to spare (and prepare for Sinchat Torah and for company coming, if you count Morey and Alissa as company.  They felt more like family, helping us through our raw challah crisis and all...).  Tali made challah dough which we figured we would bake on the holiday (because you're allowed to do that!!).  The rest of the food I was able to throw together before running off to shul.  In the middle of shul, Tali came to inform me that somehow our oven hadn't been turned on (or it had, but someone had hit the Shabbat switch by accident...).  We tried baking the challah in a pan on the stove, but it was just getting burnt on the bottom.  Then I had a sudden inspiration, and we fried the rest of them.  They were SO DELICIOUS!!!!!   I feel like that's enough for now.  Now we see the perils of my not writing more often-- I could go on forever.  But I think we covered a lot, class.  Next time we'll pick up where we left off.  Or in some totally different place.... Hope you all had great holidays, and that you enjoy getting back to normal life. Love, Emily

A Great Party

...even the cows had fun!

I have to say, it is with some mixed feelings that I write with tremendous excitement about today's big party.  You'll see what I mean....

They had been advertising for several days that there will be a big party at the refet (the dairy farm) to celebrate the new "haschacha" (whatever that is...).  A few days is more notice than they give around here for some weddings and bar mitzvahs, so you could tell it was gonna be big.  Today was the big day, and we were about to head down, when the sky opened and it began to pour.  We waited out the heavy part of the rain, while I was trying to picture what was happening to the moon bounces that were promised.    When the weather was down to a drizzle, we put on raincoats (except Shmuel), and headed down to the refet.  

Sure enough, there was a moon bounce and a big blow up slide.  Israeli-style, there were no rules, and kids of all sizes were trampling all over each other.  But no serious casualties, and lots of fun.  There was also a popcorn machine, ice cream, drinks, and a game where they made a pit full of hay and the kids got to climb in and search for candy inside.  

It felt like the whole kibbutz was there.  I am not good at numbers, but I certainly didn't notice anyone missing (except Ross and Tali, who were at Tali's piano lesson).  

When it came time for the afternoon prayers, instead of trekking up to the shul, since everyone was at the party, they just prayed right there (there must be a special religious dispensation for kibbutzniks to be allowed to pray surrounded by the smell of the cows...).  

After the afternoon prayers, there were speeches.  The speeches were very short and to the point.  One of the head administrators of the kibbutz got up to make some "thank you"s.  He began by saying he wants to thank those with whom this day would not be possible.  He said, "I'd like to thank 3219, 3457, 2984, 3542, and 1914 for their contributions."  It took me a minute to realize he was referring to the cows, who are stamped with numbers.  It was hilarious, while at the same time touching a nerve.  It makes me crazy to see all those cows cooped up in little pens with big numbers tattooed on their sides.  

Anyway, he gave some other thanks, and then another guy got up to talk about how much milk they had produced and what a successful year they had had.  He mentioned one particular cow, Felix, "may she rest in peace", who had apparently broken a national record for lifetime milk production.  He said that thanks to their great success, they were able to increase the business, leading to the dedication today of the new "sechacha" (which is, it seems, I don't know how to call it, but like a roof without walls that will make space for more cows).  

The first guy had already thanked the Arab contractors who oversaw the project, but another guy got up later to elaborate how very proud they were to work with such high quality contractors, who took great pride in their work.  He said he thinks it is amazing that we are about to cooperate so well together with our talented fellow Arab countrymen.    

The guy who was speaking last announced, "And now the part of the evening you've all been waiting for....  The hot air balloon will be arriving momentarily... just kidding folks, but seriously... the kids of the kindergarten and preschool will come up and sing."  Then Adin and 40 - 50 other kids got up and sang "Eretz Zavat Chalav" and "B'Rosh Hashana."  That was indeed the highlight.  Except, maybe, for the next part....

After the musical performance, we were all invited back to the "sechacha," where the refet staff said "Shechechiyanu" and cut the ribbon that had been tied in front of the gate.  then they blasted music, and opened the gate.  The sechacha is huge, and the cows started entering just a few at a time.  (here's where my excitement with the evening and my mixed feelings really fought it out...)  As they trickled in, it was like they couldn't believe how much space they had.  They began walking in slowly, but when they saw the space before them, they got so excited they started to leap.  Then, I kid you not, they were DANCING!  They were bucking about back and forth (seemingly) to the music, while everyone clapped and cheered.  You could see the fresh excitement with each new cow that entered the space and saw the dance floor before her.  Until finally it was all crowded like the other sections, and they were back to just standing there, looking around on the ground for food.  So that was the sad part.  I wanted them each to get their own big sechacha.  Oe maybe they could divide them up into a few cows per sechacha, so they could dance together (Don't worry-- no mixed dancing-- they're all girls!!), and then maybe they could sit and drink some tea and play Scrabble.  It's weird-- when I suggested they hire me in the refet to implement my new ideas, they turned me down.  But they did say I could come down one day and give an English lesson to the cows, like I did at Adin's gan last year.  So that could be fun....

Stay tuned for the next update, when I will teach the cows to say "Moooooo...."  

Until then, Good night, good day, and a Happy and Healthy New Year!!

Emily