Miriam's Words

Welcoming Shabbos to our Home...........

2012-01-30T09:25:00.002+02:00

בס''ד

Erev Shabbos! For me this is the most beautiful night of the entire week, the time for the four r’s …. reflect, relax, read and rest. I love to watch the flames of my shabbos candles gently flicker, as I wait for Avraham to come home from shul.

The lighting of shabbos candles is of rabbinic origin. [Maimonidies, Hilchot Shabbat 5:1] and it is traditional to light two candles, zohar to remember the Shabbos and shamor to observe the Shabbos.

Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it-Exodus 20:8

In our family, we have a tradition to light one candle for each member of the family. Baruch Hashem, I light twenty candles.

May we always have bright light!

Sitting around the shabbos table singing and welcoming the shabbos and knowing that we are not going to have to gulp down food because there are so many other things to do, is a welcome relief. No phone, computer, television to disturb the next twenty-five hours.

We 'welcome' the angels who accompanied Avraham home from shul by singing Sholom Aleichem, (May peace be upon you).

We learn from the Talmud that when you come home from shul [synagogue] on Friday night, you are accompanied by two angels -- a good angel and a bad angel. If the table is beautifully set and there is a peaceful atmosphere in the home, then the good angel says, So may it be next week, and the bad angel is forced to say, Amen -- so may it be! But if the house is a mess (both physically and emotionally), then the bad angel says, So may it be next week, and the good angel is forced to say, Amen!

The song praising the Eishes Chayil of the home is alphabetical, with lines beginning with all 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. It is a special tribute to the Jewish woman. This song, written by King Solomon, sings the praises of the “woman of valor,” extolling her for her love, work and the light she brings to the Jewish home.

Eishes Chayil is part of Sefer Mishlei, a Sefer of great wisdom. The Rabbis say that the “Eishes Chayil” in its deeper meaning, is speaking about the Torah.

After standing for kiddush, washing and making hamotsi, our Shabbat meal begins. The food that we have prepared L’kavod Shabbos has a sweet special taste, the taste of Shabbos.

Shabbat Shalom to everyone! May your Shabbos be restful, meaningful and quiet!

Until next time..feel free to comment and pass around.

Miriam

Out of the Mouth of a Bully...........

2012-01-23T13:47:00.001+02:00

בס''ד

We all know the famous sayings attributed to children……Out of the mouth of babes.... or Kids say the darndest things. Usually, the child is speaking his innocent view or understanding of life situations around him. We all laugh and say very sweet or something to that effect and share the cute comment with our friends and family.

But, what happens when what comes out of a child’s mouth is not cute, but instead hurtful, very hurtful at times.

Taunting or bullying in school, on the bus or on the playground is not new, but today, has come out of the closet so to speak and is a serious problem for today's youths.

Children complain of stomach aches in the morning so that they don't have to go to school. Young teens have been known to commit suicide because they could not handle the bullying. Facing another day for these children was just too painful.

The little children's poem "sticks and stones will hurt my bones but words will never hurt me" is just not true. Words do hurt and the pain can last a lifetime.

Why am I bringing up this subject. An incident happened last week to one of my grandsons that has upset me very much.

My grandson Nadav is seven years old, with an infectious smile, a heart of gold and peyos which he has had since he was three years old. Now he had peyos like his big brother.

Nadav is in Kita א [grade 1] in a Torani school and all last summer he couldn't wait for school to start. He was going to school not gan [kindergarten] with his older siblings. He would take the school bus with them and come home and do homework. He was so proud of his new schoolbag and supplies and showed them off.

Last Thursday, Nadav came home from school and after saying hello, his mother looked at him and said "Nadav, where are your peyos?" He replied, "I cut them off in school." Nadav then went on to tell his mother that one boy called him a very vulgar name referring to the peyos and was able to get some of the other boys in the class to join in and continue the bullying. Their teacher was not in class that day as she is off on Thursdays.

I don't know if they dared him to cut them, but Nadav saw no other option than to do so to stop the bullying.

Devorah sent a SMS to his teacher who called back and wanted more information. She said she would call this boys parents and deal with the problem immediately, which she did. The teacher said said that on Friday she would speak to the entire class about how much words can hurt.

Thursday evening, Nadav cried and wanted his peyos back. Devorah explained to him that they will grow back but it is going to take time. He didn't want to go to school Friday morning, but Devorah convinced him that his teacher will take care of him.

Since time is a concept that is difficult for young children...on Shabbat morning Nadav said to his mother...."did they start to grow back yet?"

Teachers must be on the look out for the child that has to bully others in order to raise their own self esteem. These children are screaming for help. Parents have to watch for 'friends' that always have to be first or play the game their way and carefully encourage other friendships.

Please feel free to comment and share.

Until next time

Miriam

Mouth Watery Apple Crisp.......

2012-01-15T07:55:00.000+02:00

בס''ד

There is nothing as pleasurable as walking into a house where the smell of freshly baked cakes, cookies and pies are emerging from the kitchen. The aroma gives the house a very warm and inviting feeling.

As a diabetic I am always on the look out for good diabetic recipes especially desserts that I can make for Shabbat and that my family will also enjoy.

A couple of weeks ago I came across an apple crisp recipe that looked just mouth watering and easy to make. I made it for Shabbat, it was delicious and I would like to share it.

8 or 9 medium size apples [use a mixture of colour and type]

1 cup flour [white or whole wheat]

1/4 cup matza meal

1 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup brown sugar or [brown sugar substitute]

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 cup oil

1/4 cup coconut [optional]

Slice apples [peeling optional] thinly and mix with lemon juice.

Place on the bottom of a 10 1/2in. x 7 in pan.

I used a tin foil pan but a round 10in. pie dish will also work.

Pan will be full but will melt down baking.

Combine all the ingredients together except the oil and mix well.

Slowly drip the oil onto your mixture until it is moist. [Start with 1/4 cup and increase slowly up to 1/2 cup depending how moist you want it.]

Spread your mixture over the apples evenly.

Cover with foil and place in a pre heated oven 350F / 180c and bake for 45 /50 minutes. 30 minutes covered and 15 to 20 minutes uncovered to brown. When finished remove from oven and covered immediately. Serve room temperature or warm for serving. I put the apple crisp on the pleta after I removed all the food. It was nice and warm by dessert time.

ENJOY!

Until next time please feel free to comment and pass along.

Miriam

Winter Gardening............

2012-01-04T10:11:00.001+02:00

בס''ד
I have written many blogs about our beautiful garden.

After many years of neglect, [we moved in 16 months ago] Avraham and I tackled the land cleaning, [more garbage than you can imagine], weeding, designing our garden and planting.

Our house is on a half dumun of land with many fruit trees more dead than alive. So we had our work cut out.

By the Summer, the trees were producing some fruit and our garden was blooming beautifully. Truth be told, Avraham did most of the work. He babied the land diligently watering and weeding.

Many neighbours passed to say Kol HaKovad..the garden never looked so beautiful. Then, Baruch Hashem the first rain came and so did the weeds. Once again he weeded and cleaned up everything.

But we all know what happens after a good rain and then brilliant sunshine....you got it... our weeds are growing and they are very healthy.

Our beautiful garden was a mess.

This morning, Avraham and I donned our work gloves, took out the turiya [hoe] and rake and started the ardent job of weeding down to the roots.

Overhead, very high up, we had the constant companion of helicopters circling Ma'agalim.

Our garden looks better. G-D willing, we will have more rain and the cycle of weeds will be back and Avraham will be out again tending our holy land.

Feel free the pass around
Until next time.......
Miriam

And so Goes the News............

2012-01-01T18:15:00.002+02:00

בס''ד

There are times that I wish I lived in a bubble…. never listening to the news, checking out news sites on the internet or reading the newspaper.

The news all around us is so horrible. Just this morning, I read about a demonstration the haredim organized Moetzi Shabbat protesting that the media is unfair to them.

Baruch Hashem, in Israel, if you have a cause and think your treatment is unfair you have the right to demonstrate. But, and there is a big but….why did they have to come out to the demonstration wearing large yellow stars on their clothes and their children decked out in stripped uniforms of nazi prisoners?

Do they think Israel is nazi Germany?. Do they think that the nazis would have allowed them to demonstrate the unfair treatment Jews were receiving on Hilter’s orders?

I wonder how brave these demonstrators would be if they lived during the war and had to really wear the yellow star. Sure they would be singing a different tune.

Shame on them.... what a chillul Hashem to the memory of Jews who were murdered for no other reason than they were Jews.

This nonsense blackened the good name of so many haredi individuals and groups who do so much for the Israeli population. Zaka, Ezer Mizion, the countless numbers of gemachim and the list goes on.

Other news items today that got my goat. A Quebec City mayor, known for anti-Israel remarks, proclaimed in a television interview that Israel has no right to exist.

A community police unit in Kiryat Gat was burned down Saturday night and so far no one has taken credit for the arson. Wonder if it was a terror act?

Mortars are still landing in the south and over 3,000 illegal aliens mostly Africans infiltrated into Israel via Sinai in December. Why is the border open in Sinai and why aren’t we deporting them?

I have to agree with my friend Yocheved Miriam Russo who commented on one of my Facebook posting “Some days it hardly pays to get up and read the news, y'know?”

We are living in difficult times in Israel. Our cousins want to destroy us. They send rockets to our cities and towns. Their goal is to kill and injure as many Jews as possible. We have helicopters, drones constantly. It is such a piety that we the Jewish people..Hashem’s chosen people can not get along.

A Jew is a Jew…nobody has stamped on their forehead.. I am left, right, religious, haredi or secular. If you are born to a Jewish mother [or converted according to halacha] you are a Jew. We need, no we must learn to all get along.

It is bad enough that our enemies want to destroy us, let’s not destroy ourselves.

Thank-you for allowing me to sound off.....feel free to comment and pass around.

Have a great week…

Miriam

Postscript!

According to an interview the founder of Zaka, Yehuda Meshi-Zahav gave to Israel Radio’s Reshet Bet Radio on Sunday afternoon, the hooligans are from the Neturei Karta sect who are now known as sikrikim.

Meshi-Zahav explained that these people are simply getting away with too much, and they are granted too much media coverage.

To read the entire interview The Yeshiva World

Ode to the English Language………

2011-12-11T05:19:00.006+02:00

בס''ד

For the past twelve years, I have been working from home, tutoring English as a second language [ESL] to Israeli children and running an English enrichment program for native English speakers.

Over the years, my students have shown me that for the most part the level of English that these children learn in school is on the low side, especially in the elementary grades.

I will never understand how or why children are taught to read in English but do not know the names of the letters or comprehend what they read. Many children only learn the sounds each letter makes. When it comes to spelling, forget it…

Now, I’m not talking about young children who are just starting to learn English.

I have some high school students who can read as well as I can, but when I give them a comprehension worksheet, they don’t know where to begin because they didn’t understand the story.

English should be, no must be a priority subject, as English is the language of business in most of the world. And if these kids are going to have a fighting chance to succeed in business, or whatever profession they choose, they need to speak, read and write in English.

I will tell you a personal story. Many years ago, my husband wanted to ask a question to the Rav who lived in our community. He needed to ask the question in English, as his Hebrew at that time, was not good enough.

Now I know this Rav’s father can speak English very well as I have heard him speak many times. We were sure that his son could also. To our surprised he couldn’t. The Rav apologized profusely in Hebrew that he didn’t speak English and told us to call the local Chabad Rav, as he does.

Several weeks later we met the Rav and he told us he was taking English lessons. He said that he never believed learning English was of any use to him, but he sees that he was wrong.

Recently on the English news, I heard this Rav being interviewed and his command of English was quite good. Actually it was very good!

Now I know that English is a difficult language to learn. With all it’s rules and rules that don’t apply to the rules. The c rule…i before e except after c or the silent k in words such as know, knight and knock…you get the picture. Never mind silent b in climb or silent d in Wednesday, silent g in sign or silent l in talk and the list goes on. The silent e at the end of a word to give the vowel a long sound is very confusing to new readers.

And don’t get me started on plurals and their rules…words ending with ch, sh, and x you have to add es to make it plural..y changes to i and then add es, but if y follows a vowel you only add s.

To plural the words that end with o you usually just add es, so tomato becomes tomatoes, but be careful because some words that end with o you add only s. One example that comes to mind is patio becomes patios.

And then there are words that change completely...tooth becomes teeth, foot becomes feet and mouse becomes mice. One moose, five moose…it never changes. Same for trout and elk.

Many years ago I came across this wonderful piece. I don’t know who authored it but he/she was certainly quick wit.

English is a strange and fun language.

The bandage was wound around the wound.

The farm was used to produce produce.

The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

We must polish the Polish furniture.

The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

Since there is no time like the present, he thought
it was time to present the present.

A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

I did not object to the object.

The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

There was a row among the oarsmen how to row.

They were to close to the door to close it.

The wind was to strong to wind the sail.

Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

Let’s face it, English is a funny language.
There is no egg in eggplant,
ham in hamburger, pine or apple in pineapple.
English muffins weren’t invented in England
or french fries in France.
Sweetmeat are candies and sweetbreads which aren’t sweet, is meat.

We take English for granted, but if we really explore we will find that
quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is
not from Guinea or a pig.
If the plural of tooth is teeth,
why isn’t the plural of booth beeth?
One goose, two geese, so why not one moose two meese?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what do humanitarians eat?

In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?
Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Park in a driveway and drive on a parkway? Have a nose that runs and feet that smell?
How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same,
while a wise man and a wise guy are opposite.
And why does an alarm go off by going on?

English was invented by people, not computers and it reflects
the creativity of the human race.
That is why when the stars are out they are visible,
but when the lights are out they are invisible.
And the last word, why doesn’t ‘Buick’ rhyme with ‘quick’?

I hope you enjoyed this English lesson.
Please pass along for others to enjoy!
Feel free to comment.

Until next time

Miriam

Little Bird, Little Bird..........

2011-12-04T08:47:00.000+02:00

בס''ד

Every morning, for many years, my husband and I have been feeding the birds. These little creatures have come to rely on the crumbs of bread that we leave them. Early each morning, we see them hovering over our back yard waiting for their treats.

The Negev is known for its birds. This area is a bird watchers paradise. There is this beautiful little black, two shades of gray and a touch of white bird with a yellow beak that has been coming to eat for some time.

This morning, as I was looking out of my kitchen window watching the birds eat, I saw my little bird enjoy her share and then fly away with a piece of bread in her beak.

This poem is for her……...

Little Bird, Little Bird

As I look out of my window
A little bird I did see

Nibbling on a piece of bread

That was left for her to enjoy.

This beautiful bird

A creation from Hashem

Flapping her wings

As she floats through the air

With a morsel of bread in her beak

To feed her young.

Mother bird, Mother bird

What a wonder you are

Hashem has instilled in you

Motherly love and responsibility.

Little bird, little bird

So perfect in every way

Your colors are so magical

Oh, what a beautiful sight!

Enjoy and pass on!

Please note: I have added a box on the blog for you to receive my blogs directly to your e-mail. Please post your e-mail address and press submit.

Until next time.....

Miriam

Thank-you for the Magical Roller Coaster Ride...............

2011-11-27T19:24:00.001+02:00

בס''ד

One day last week, I received an e-mail from a long time friend from Montreal, Phyllis R. She sent me a link to an interview that was on radio station CJAD, a very popular Montreal station. The email said... this posting is for former Montrealers …. all nostalgia buffs out there, you will love this.

Montreal Memories

Being born and raised in Montreal, I clicked the link and heard an amazing interview between the radio host Aaron Rand and Barry Zbar a former Montrealer now living in Toronto, and who started a Facebook page a year ago, called Montreal Memories.

Montreal Memories Facebook page

Barry invited Montrealers and former Montrealers to join his page and enjoy a magical roller coaster ride of days gone bye.

I joined and told my husband to join and sent messages to some of my Montreal friends and family to come and have fun.

And fun it has been! Reminiscing where we went to school, favorite teachers, and not so favorite teachers, popular restaurants and hang outs that aren’t around any more, and pictures galore. Bus tickets that cost 15 cents a ride, Montreal Canadiens our famous hockey team, The Forum and of course Montreal’s Expo 67. What memories! A reunion online……..

I posted a note asking how many former Montrealers are now living in Israel. I am happy to report that there are a large contingent of us living all over the country from the North to the South and everywhere in-between. Some have been here 30 plus years.

Moetzi Shabbat [Saturday night] Avraham and I showed our son, who was born in Ontario in the 80’s, our life as kids and he was fascinated and really taken back. Eli-Chaim said to me, "your life growing up was much easier than when he was a teenager or teens today. Life was so much simpler then. Kids were kids. There wasn’t the pressure that kids have today." I had to agree with him.

Thank-you Phyllis for sending me the e-mail.You made my day!

Until next time

Miriam

Let it Rain! Let it Rain! Let it Snow!

2011-11-20T08:26:00.005+02:00

בס''ד

Although, over Shabbat the rest of the county was blessed with abundance of rain, Mount Hermon Israel’s winter wonderland received an abundance of snow.This will make skiers very happy.

Tel Aviv recorded the most rain with 200mm. I don’t know the official amount for Ma’agalim, in the Negev, where we live, but I can attest to the fact that we had a lot of rain and at times very high winds and it is still raining.

Lake Kinneret Israel’s major water source received some help from the rain, but the water authority said it is still in terrible trouble. The shortage has been disastrous for the past seven years and Lake Kinneret now is almost 68 centimeters under the bottom red line.

The last time I saw a major snow storm was in 1999 when I went back to Toronto to visit my mother a”h who was in the hospital. I remember walking in snow knee-high with the wind blowing and the temperature with the wind chill was -50F. Those were the days……..

Living in the Negev, we will never have snow… that makes my husband very happy, but sometimes I really do miss a good blizzard. Whenever the temperature drops and they forecast snow for areas 1 kilometer high and more, some of my grandchildren, who live in Gush Etzion, can hardly wait. Their kibbutz is 900+ meters high.

A few years ago when the area was having a major snow storm, my children and grandchildren who live in the Negev, came to the Gush, to play in the snow. They took back a pail of snow, to bring to gan [kindergarten] the next day for ‘show and tell’.

One day dreaming about winter and snow I wrote this poem.

Winter

The snow is falling,

the wind is gently blowing,

as I look out of my window

at the winter wonderland.

The trees are dressed

in their beautiful white clothes.

The children are playing and rolling in the snow.

I see someone built a snowman with a carrot nose

and charcoal for eyes and a mouth.

Cars are careful not to slip and slide.

The snow is still falling

the accumulation is starting to rise.

The weather report says 15 inches.

Tomorrow the sun will shine

and today’s beautiful snow

will start to melt.

A winter wonderland

has many beautiful sights.

BUT……………

For me

I’ll take the long lazy days of summer

with it’s cool, cool nights.

January 5, 2005.

Until next time

Miriam

'Play it Again Sam'..........................

2011-11-16T10:38:00.000+02:00

בס''ד

First a little background to explain this blog. Last November, I wrote a blog about an Israeli treat called Krembos. The other day, a friend and fellow blogger Batya Medad wrote a blog called Crembos or Krembos, The Taste of "Old Israel".

I sent Batya a blog comment saying that I wrote about krembos last year, and she suggested that I submit my blog to the The Krembo Challenge .

And so I did! This is the blog that I posted on November 11, 2010.

It’s That Time of Year Again…..

Traditions are wonderful and very important. We have personal and family traditions, religious traditions and country traditions.

Israel is no exception. Come late October, the chagim [Jewish holidays] are all over and life is getting back to a regular schedule with no more mid week days off of work or school.

At this time of the year in Israel, a tradition is happening on the grocery store shelves. Colored boxes of 10 or 12 Krembos are appearing. If you are not from Israel, I’m sure you are asking yourself, “What is a Krembo?”

Krembos are a very popular winter treat. They come wrapped in a colorful aluminum foil. Krembos have a round cookie base on the bottom and marshmallow cream on top, coated with a thin layer of chocolate. Krembos also come in vanilla and mocha flavour.

In Hebrew, the word krembo is the combination of krem (cream) and bo (in it).

The "krembo season" is from October to February. More than fifty million krembos are sold each year. Krembos are a part of winter as ice-cream is a part of summer.

According to a study funded by Strauss, Israel's leading krembo producer, 69% of Israelis prefer to eat krembos from the top down (starting with the cream), and only 10% start with the biscuit at the bottom; the rest had no preference.

In the Hebrew version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the character Dumbledore’s favorite sweet is a Krembo, rather than a lemon sherbet .

The Krembo has become a national icon. While considered a children's favorite, researchers have found that it is eaten and enjoyed as a comfort food of Israeli expatriates in the United States. Krembos are so popular that they have their own Facebook page. I Love Krembos.

Another Israeli tradition:

During Chanukah, Jews around the world, observe the custom of eating foods fried in oil to commemorate the miracle of the Temple Oil lasting 8 days when there was only enough oil for 1 day.

In Israel, the tradition is to eat, sufganiyot [doughnuts.] Sufganiyot are sold from after Simchat Torah [October] up to and including the 8 days of Chanukah. The most popular doughnuts are the ones filled with strawberry jelly and have powder sugar on top.

Bakeries and grocery stores sell sufganiyot individually and by the box, and they have become a favorite for school, home and office parties.

One of the largest bakeries in Israel, fries up more than 250,000 sufganiyot every day during the 8 day holiday. Every batch uses 100 kilograms of dough and makes 1,600 sufganiyot. That's a lot of doughnuts!

There are many homemade doughnut recipes. If you want to try your hand at making sufganiyot at home, here are several different doughnut recipes.

So whether you fancy krembos or sufganiyot, or both, relax and enjoy the sweet taste.

Until next time......enjoy and pass around.
Miriam

The Amazing Life Cycle of Nature.........

2011-11-14T08:57:00.001+02:00

בס''ד

The home we rented on Yishuv Ma’agalim in the Negev is on half a dunam of land. The family that we rented from bought the house as newlyweds and lived here for several years. During this time they planted many fruit trees.

As their family grew, they built a villa in Ma’agalim and decided to rent out this home. Every year or two they had new tenants and no one wanted to care for the trees and grounds.

When we rented the house, the grounds were so neglected, they were just one large garbage heap and the fruit trees were all dead! Or so we thought……..

Since I am very clean and organized and like everything in its place, the grounds made me feel up tight every time I walked outside.

And so I went to work, picking up the garbage, chip bags, pretzels bags, and the likes…plastics from freezes, disposable cups, cigarette butts, broken toy, little car parts, every bit of garbage you can think of was on the grounds.

My husband bought a hoe and rake and he dug up all the weeds. I made place for a flower garden and sectioned it off with nice rocks.

One day, a couple of weeks later, our landlord passed by our house and asked who cleaned up the grounds. When we told him that we did, he was shocked and said we did a great job. We told him that it was too bad that the trees were dead.

He said that the trees were not dead just dormant. All they needed was to be pruned and receive water on a regular bases and they would start to grow.

Now Israel has a shortage of water and because of this, water is very expensive.

Our landlord told us that if we wanted to cut a hole in the wall, from behind the washing machine, we could attach a hose and let the water from the washing machine water the trees.

He also said that bleach water from washing the floors was good water for the trees. [He knows all about trees because he and his family are the largest fruit,veggie and flower growers in the Negev].

If we were willing to pull a hose, he would come and prune all the trees. We agreed and a couple of days later we saw him pruning the trees.

Over the past year, almost all the trees came back to life because my husband gave them TLC. Uniformly, with every wash, Avraham moved the hose from tree to tree to the garden, so that each tree and flower would get a good drink.

Every bucket of floor wash water went to trees where the hose couldn’t reach. No water was ever wasted. Either the trees, garden or cacti got a drink.

We had almonds, figs, mangoes, oranges, and now clementineas. [tangerines]. The ramon tree [pomegranates] took, put it needed more water than we could give, so the fruit was not edible. I told my husband that he should have been a farmer, as he was outstanding in his field…

Our flower garden is beautiful. We planted 40 different types of seedling flowers that our land lord gave us, but a wild rabbit had a field day. I wrote a blog called The Tenacity of a Rabbit.

http://miriamswords.blogspot.com/2011_06_29_archive.html

We bought planters and planted cacti on the patio. Over the year we have had some gorgeous cacti flowers that only grow where it is warm.

The life cycle of nature is fascinating. It was just amazing to watch dormant trees come back to life and gave us the opportunity to say the Bracha for Terumah and Maaser as we picked the fruit.

Hashem works in mysterious ways.

Miriam

Our flower garden

Our cacti garden

Cactus flower

Clementinea tree

Fig tree

Mango tree

Hose cut from behind washing machine

Watering the orange tree.

2011-11-10T22:19:00.002+02:00

בס''ד

Birthday Bash………

Last night my children made a birthday party for me. Now this was no ordinary birthday party……for me it was very special. You see, now I was officially a senior citizen….so says the Canadian Government and I can collect my old age pension.

In Israel, you apply to Bituach Leumi for pensions and dealing with Bituach Leumi, well that’s another story for another time……

Yes, last night [Wednesday] and today 13^th day of the Hebrew month of Cheshvan is my birthday. The secular date was Nov. 7^th.

I can hardly believe that I am 65 years old.

So what does it mean to be a senior citizen? Am I supposed to feel different than let’s say I felt last week?

According to Wikipedia the definition of a senior is: Senior Citizen is a common and polite designation for an elderly person and it implies or means that the person is retired. So why can’t they just say the person is retired. Why do we need a title?

By the way, I am neither elderly nor retired. I am also not a “spring chicken.” A couple of months ago, when my daughter gave birth, I babysat for her 6 children during the day. Now let me tell you that the kids were great, but at the end of the day I was exhausted.

The baby had jaundice and so she was in the hospital for a couple of extra days.

You need to be young physically not just young at heart to look after the needs of young children.

I decided that since I am in a new faze of my life, I need to set some new goals.

Now back to the birthday bash. Although my children made the party, it was in my house. We were 16 people. Nine of our 13 grandchildren came. The others were either in Yeshiva, the Ulpana or our oldest who is in the army.

I told Avraham that I wanted the house decorated with balloons and I had so much fun stringing ribbon across the house, blowing up and hanging the balloons.

My daughters shared the cooking for supper. Meat lasagna, stir fried veggies and we had a variety of salads. Devorah made a brownie birthday cake. Just delicious….I had to taste a small piece, even though I shouldn’t have.

I had a little surprised for my children and grandchildren. I told them that since they were at a birthday party, they needed to get loot bags.

I had a great time buying little gadgets to fill the bags. It has been a very long time since I bought fillers for loot bags. Even the big kids [my children] got a bag filled with goodies and a lottery ticket. Hope they win!

I received really nice gifts. Avraham and my son Eli-Chaim gave me a book by Chief Rabbi Israel Meir Lau called Out of the Depths. His experiences as a child of the Holocaust.

From Naomi and Devorah and their families I got the most beautiful, wine colour blanket with sleeves called a Snuggy…..It is so big and soft. Devorah said that I could wear it while I type my blogs.

Three of my grandchildren, Neta 4, Chen 7 and Nadav 5 gave me very nice drawings.

My grandson Itamar had fun taking pictures. He snapped and snapped away capturing the entire evening.

All in all it was a great evening that I won’t forget. I have been very blessed all my life. I had great parents a”h and a wonderful childhood.

Growing up, Avraham and I have been married 44 years, we have 3 fabulous children, 2 super sons-in-laws, 13 precious grandchildren and for the past 17 years we have had the privilege of living in Eretz Yisrael!

Life is truly good!

Miriam

Naomi, Devorah

Eli-Chaim and Yair

Avraham and me

Giving out loot bags

Me and my snuggy

Eli-Chaim and me

My grandson Itamar

who took the pictures

2011-11-07T07:30:00.003+02:00

בס''ד

Growing Up Yesterday and Today……

This week is my birthday and the other day I was reminiscing about what it was like growing up sixty plus years ago. I remember so clearly, my mother a”h always reciting little ‘nursery rhyme verses’ to me. They became part of my first language skills.

As a very young child my room had framed pictures of ‘Mother Goose’ and other rhyme characters adorning my walls. The ceiling of my room was painted light blue with silver stars and a moon. A Twinkle Twinkle Little Star poster was on the door.

When I had children, there was not only Mother Goose, and the Disney characters, but the early Sesame Street friends came on the scene.

Everyone knew and loved Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Goofy and of course good old Pluto.

Big Bird was a very special friend, Count Von Count or just The Count taught my children to count to ten in English and Spanish. My daughters would love to show off how they could count in Spanish just like The Count.

Cookie Monster…me love cookies and Oscar the Grouch who lived in a garbage can were also special friends. My daughters had a large blue Cookie Monster and a very large Big Bird floor puzzle that brought them hours of fun and imagination. Sometimes the finished puzzle would be a boat and they would row and row. Oh, those were the days…..

Who was Mother Goose? We think of “Mother Goose" as a a friendly old lady riding on the back of a goose. The rhyme about Mother Goose actually points to Mother Goose as being a witch. She flew on a goose (rather then a broom) she lived alone in the woods. But the big tip off is the "owl at the door". It is an animal that witches were believed to be able to take the form of.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, people were very concerned with witches, because they were unaware of why certain things occurred (storms, diseases,) and needed to have some explanation. So, witches became a scapegoat.

And of course, what about the egg man that fell and broke his head. Good ole Humpty Dumpty. Humpty Dumpty was a term used in fifteenth century England describing someone who was obese. Humpty Dumpty somehow became an egg in the illustrations in Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.

Another thought is that Humpty Dumpty in this rhyme is believed to be a large cannon. The cannon was used during the English Civil War (1642-1649) in the Siege of Colchester (June 13, 1648 - August 27, 1648). The huge cannon, called Humpty Dumpty, was strategically placed on the wall. A shot from the Parliamentary cannon damaged the wall Humpty Dumpty sat on causing the cannon to "take a great fall". The Royalists or Cavaliers (all the King's men) attempted to raise Humpty Dumpty on to another part of the wall. They probably attempted to use horses to help lift it, hence all the king’s horses and all the king’s men.

I had to research the most famous of the Disney characters Mickey Mouse. According to Wikipedia, Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. He made his debut in November of that year. Mickey appeared in comics, movies and television. Mickey had a girlfriend named Minnie and his dog Pluto. There are toys, videos and theme parks that bear his famous name.

I remember watching the television series The Mickey Mouse Club [1955-1996] everyday after school. I knew the names of almost every Mouseketeer. My favourite was Annette Funicello.

Big Bird or sometimes just known as Bird was created in 1969. He is an eight-foot two-inch (249 cm) tall bright primrose-yellow Muppet bird. Big Bird can roller skate, ice skate, dance, sing, write poetry, draw and even ride a unicycle. Despite his wide array of talents, Big Bird is prone to frequent misunderstandings, on one occasion even singing the alphabet as one big long word and pondering what it could ever mean. Bird lives in a large nest behind the 123 Sesame Street brownstone.

Big Birds costume is a complete body suit and weighs ten pounds. The head weighs four pounds and according to writer Louise Gikow, the heat inside the suit is “unbearable”, and it's extraordinarily difficult to hold Big Bird's head.

Who is that fun loving big blue furry friend with large googly eyes? Cookie monster that’s who! Cookie Monster is a Muppet. He is best known for his appetite and his famous eating phrases: "Me want cookie!", "Me eat cookie!", and "Om nom nom nom" (said through a mouth full of food). He often eats anything and everything, including danishes, donuts, lettuce, apples, bananas, as well as normally inedible objects. However, as his name suggests, his preferred food is cookies. Chocolate chip cookies are his favorite kind and oatmeal cookies are his second favorite. Cookie Monsters signature song, "C is For Cookie", was first aired during the 1971-1972 season, and became one of the best-known songs from Sesame Street.

Oscar the Grouch is a furry, green Grouch who lives in a trash can on Sesame Street, in between 123 Sesame Street and Big Bird’s nest. In fact, he loves trash so much that he's rarely seen outside of his trash can. His trademark song is “I Love Trash” Oscar is Sesame Street's ultimate pessimist!

Oscar's mission in life is to be as miserable and grouchy as possible, and pass that feeling on to everyone else. When a visitor knocks on his trash can -- invariably interrupting him from a nap or an important task – Oscar greets them with a snarl. He complains that he wants to be left alone, although when he's left entirely to himself, he's dissatisfied -- there isn't anybody around to irritate or complain to.

As my children got older they loved to listen and sing Uncle Moishy and the Mitzvah men songs. Uncle Moishy and the Mitzvah Men is a Jewish American children's group based in New York City. Lead musician and singer is Moshe Tanenbaum. The songs focus on the religious aspects of Judaism that most easily relate to young children and the project began in Toronto, Canada, in 1979. The original band members were Tanenbaum, Zale Neuman, and Chaim Shainhouse.

Today, my grandchildren have a whole array of super-heroes, music, books, videos and friends to keep themselves very busy.

Growing up in the twenty-first century is a whole different ball game than when I or my children grew up. Technology is bursting everywhere. I’m not so sure this is really a good thing for children………….

Please leave a comment as to what you think about growing up and technology today?

Miriam

References:

nursery rhyme history

Mickey Mouse

Sesame Street

Big Bird

Oscar The Grouch

Cookie Monster

Uncle Moishy and The Mitzvah Men

2011-10-30T07:57:00.006+02:00

בס''ד

Rockets are Raining in the South

I live in Ma’agalim, home to four hundred families. Ma’agalim is an Yishvu [community], in the Southern Negev, just outside of Netivot, half hour from Beer Sheva and nine kilometers from Gaza.

We had just finished making Havdalah, saying good-bye to Shabbat Parsha Noach for another year. Shabbat had been a nice quiet relaxing day. The first rain of the season had just fallen.

Our 4 month old puppy Patches needed to be taken out and I said that I would walk her. Patches and I had just gotten down the street when the warning air raid siren went off. That meant in 20 seconds a grad missile would land.

I started to run home. The puppy was scared and running as fast as her little feet could. Just as I reached my home, I saw two flashes in the sky that looked like lightning and a ball of fire flying over my backyard.

Then boom, boom! The sight is mind boggling. The booms are so loud.

The flashes were not lightning but the iron dome getting ready to take out the rocket. The iron dome is a mobile air defense system.

The boom was the iron dome doing its job and destroying the rocket before it could land.

As I write this piece, rockets have been falling for over five hours. Almost every town and city in the south has been hit. From Beer Sheva to Netivot, to Sedrot to Ashdod to Ashkelon and every little town in between has had a siren.

In Ashdod an apartment building was hit and a car is on fire. In Ashkelon a private home was hit. In Gan Yavneh a schoolyard was hit. A number of the rockets caused extensive damages to buildings.

The IDF is reporting so far twenty rockets have landed in the Southern communities. Pikud HaOref ..our Home Front command has ordered all gatherings of 500 people or more be cancelled until further notice.

People living within forty kilometers of Gaza are to stay close to shelters. School is cancelled for tomorrow [Sunday] for children living more that 7km. up to 40 km. from Gaza. 200,000 children from gan [kindergarten] and up will be home. My grandchildren go to school in Kfar Maimon [borders Gaza] and learn in fortified classrooms. They have school. Instead of fire drills, they have kassem drills. Each and every child knows what to do if the warning siren goes off.

MDA Magan David Adom is reporting three serious injuries, more than 43 people were admitted to the hospital wounded by the rockets and many people are suffering from shock.

The man injured in Ashkelon has now died.

The police have raised the alertness level to second highest in the south.

The IAF is retaliating over Gaza. I can hear the booms.

Epilogue: 8 hours later:

Two grads were sent to Beer Sheva around 3:00 a.m. and at 5:00a.m. a grad was sent to Ashkelon. There is nothing worse than being woken up during the night with an air raid siren. The booming is continuing. I just heard two very loud booms.

The drones and helicopters are out. Egypt supposedly brokers a ‘cease fire’ to start at 6:00 a.m. This was already broken. The IDF is reporting thirty-nine kassamim, mortars or grads landed in Southern Israel.

We have nothing stopping us now. Hamas, Islamic Jihad and all the other terrorist groups must be put out of business for once and for all.

Terrorist own video: Shooting into Israel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9Bg5HGW8qY&feature=share

Miriam

2011-10-24T11:05:00.012+02:00

בס''ד

Good-bye Dear Rocky…. Patches, Welcome to the Family!

A year and a half ago June, our sweet dog Rocky passed away. Rocky was a ‘Heinz 57 mutt’ and we got him as a newborn pup. He lived for sixteen years. In dog years, 1 human year for every dog year is 7 years…so in dog years Rocky lived to be 112 years old. And you could see his age on his face.

He was our first dog and a beloved member of our family. I never believed I would be a dog owner and develop such an attachment to an animal.

How we came to getting a dog in the first place is a story in itself. When our son Eli-Chaim was 6 years old he asked us for a dog. My husband told him that our lease doesn’t allow pets, but if we ever moved to a farm he could get a dog. [we were living in a hi rise in Hamilton, Ontario].

Well that answered satisfied Eli-Chaim and we thought the matter was closed. Us move to a farm…you got to be kidding!

But as they say, man plans and G-D decides…6 years later we found ourselves living on a kibbutz in Gush Etzion, Israel.

One of the chaverim [kibbutz member] dog’s was pregnant and Eli-Chaim went and asked if he could have a pup. She told him that if his mother or father would phone and say it is okay, then he could have a pup as he was the first to ask.

Eli-Chaim came home and waited very patiently for Avraham to come home from work. The moment he came into the house, Eli-Chaim said,“daddy do you remember what you said about living on a farm and getting a dog. Well we live on a kibbutz, this is just like a farm. So now I can get a dog right? Chana’s dog is pregnant and I asked her for a pup. She wants you or mommy to phone her and say okay.”

Avraham was taken back that Eli-Chaim actually remembered the conversation and told him that he remembered. Since we made a practice of always keeping our word to our children, Avraham phoned Chana and he said it would be okay for Eli-Chaim to get a pup.

We were told that the puppies were due in three weeks and they had to nursed for seven weeks. Chana told Eli-Chaim she would let him pick a puppy when they are born.

Three weeks later, it was Pesach [Passover] and three pups were born. Eli-Chaim went to choose his pup. He decided that the first one that came to him, he would take.

Chana told Eli-Chaim that he could visit everyday to play with his pup but could only take him home after Shavuot. [7 weeks later] Eli-Chaim named his pup Rocky.

And so we became dog owners. We told Eli-Chaim he was responsible to walk the dog twice a day and to feed him. Eli-Chaim loved Rocky but the novelty of looking after him lasted a month.

Eli-Chaim and Rocky
5 years old.

By then, I was attached to Rocky. I would walk him in the morning and Avraham and I would go for a walk in the evening with the dog.

Rocky was truly a member of our family. Our grandchildren loved him and he loved them. The kibbutz kids would come and visit. Everyone knew how gentle he was.

No matter where we lived, it didn’t take long for Rocky to become a ‘star’ in the neighborhood. Both kids and adults who were afraid of dogs learnt very quickly that they didn't have to be afraid of Rocky. Everyone wanted to pat him and he was very obliging. Rocky would just sit and let them pat away.

After Rocky’s passing, friends asked me when I was getting another dog but I couldn’t think of it. Our Rocky was so lovable, good tempered and just a carpet…….. no other dog could be like him.

Time passed and my daughter told me that she had a phone call from a cousin whose dog was pregnant and they were looking for families to take the pups. Was I interested?

After getting the details we said yes. In the middle of July the dog gave birth and when the pups were two and a half weeks old we were invited to come and choose our pup.

Patches 2 1/2weeks old

All the pups were so sweet. Originally, we want only a male but the owner told us that the females were easier to care for and better temperament. The pup we chose was beautiful. She has the most magnificent large black eyes that looks like she is wearing too much eye liner and white fur with large brown patches. We named her Patches.

When Patches was 5 ½ / 6 weeks, the owner called and said to come and take her home. I really wanted to wait until she was 7 weeks but I was told that she is hardly nursing and already getting a little dog food.

Saying goodbye to her mother was the saddest sight I ever saw. Her mother nuzzled her and seemed to be kissing her good-bye. Patches was licking her and didn’t want to go. I wanted to cry……..

Patches's Mom

I'm so tired!

Coming home with such a young pup is like coming home with a new baby. Your life stops and every moment is spent with the pup. There is so much to learn. My husband thought she was part Beagle [the owner didn't know]and he researched the internet. Our vet confirmed that she is a Beagle mix.

Patches is now 4 months old. She is smart…probably too smart for her own good....totally trained, stubborn, sleeps all night and the word ‘no’ or my socks and my skirt bottom moving makes her bark like crazy. She thinks that my toes are her toys. She is afraid of anything that moves.

When you pick her up and tell her you love her, she is full of kisses. Patches loves treats and children and our grandchildren love her. She loves to park herself in front of the treat shelf and wait…….

Both Patches and our family are still learning about each other. I know we have one very special dog and when we get out of the puppy stage [won’t be soon enough] Patches will be something else.

Relaxing on the rocking chair

Patches today!
She thinks the sofa is hers.

A couple of weeks ago I saw this Puppy note posted on a dog site. [Beagleworld]. I don’t know who wrote it…but I would like to share it with you…….

I am a Puppy, This means that my intelligence and capacity for learning are the same as an 8-month-old child.

I am a Puppy; I will chew EVERYTHING I can get my teeth on. This is how I explore and learn about the world.

Even HUMAN children put things in their mouths. It's up to you to guide me to what is mine to chew and what is not.

I am a Puppy; I cannot hold my bladder for longer than 1-2 hours. I cannot "feel" that I need to poop until it is actually beginning to come out. I cannot vocalize nor tell you that I need to go, and I cannot have "bladder and bowel control" until 6-9 months. Do not punish me if you have not let me out for 3 hours and I tinkle. It is your fault.As a Puppy it is wise to remember that I NEED to go potty after: Eating, Sleeping, Playing, Drinking and around every 2-3 hours in addition. If you want me to sleep through the night, then do not give me water after 7 or 8pm. A crate will help me learn to housebreak easier, and will avoid you being mad at me.

I am a puppy, accidents WILL happen, please be patient with me! In time I will learn.
I am a Puppy, I like to play. I will run around, and chase imaginary monsters, and chase your feet and your toes and 'attack' you, and chase fuzzballs, other pets, and small kids. It is play; it's what I do.

Do not be mad at me or expect me to be sedate, mellow and sleep all day. If my high-energy level is too much for you, maybe you could consider an older rescue from a shelter or Rescue group. My play is beneficial, use your wisdom to guide me in my play with appropriate toys, and activities like chasing a rolling ball, or gentle tug games, or plenty of chew toys for me.

If I nip you too hard, talk to me in "dog talk", by giving a loud YELP, I will usually get the message, as this is how dogs communicate with one another. If I get to rough simply ignore me for a few moments, or put me in my crate with an appropriate chew toy.
I am Puppy; hopefully you would not yell, hit, strike, kick or beat a 6-month-old human infant so please do not do the same to me. I am delicate and also very impressionable. If you treat me harshly now, I will grow up learning to fear being hit, spanked, kicked or beaten. Instead, please guide me with encouragement, and wisdom. (For instance, if I am chewing something wrong, say, "No chew!" and hand me a toy I CAN chew) better yet, pick up ANYTHING that you do not want me to get into. I can't tell the difference between your old sock and your new sock, or an old sneaker and your $200 Nikes.

I am a puppy and I am not perfect, and I know you are not perfect either. I Love you anyway. So please, learn all you can about training, and puppy behaviors and caring for me from your Veterinarian, books on dog care and even researching on the computer! Learn about my particular breed and it's "characteristics" - it will give you understanding and insight into WHY I do the things I do. Please teach me with love, and patience, the right way to behave and socialize me with training in a puppy class or obedience class, we will BOTH have a lot of fun together.

I am a Puppy and I want more than anything to love you, to be with you, and to please you. Won't you please take time to understand how I work? We are the same you and I, in that we both feel hunger, pain, thirst, discomfort, fear, but yet we are also very different and must work to understand one another's language, body signals, wants and needs. Some day I will be a handsome dog, hopefully one you can be proud of and one that you will love as I am a Puppy, and I am a creature with feelings, and drives much like your own, but yet also very different. Although I am NOT a human in a dog suit, neither am I an unfeeling robot who can instantly obey your every whim. I truly DO want to please you, and be a part of your family, and your life. You got me (I hope) because you want a loving partner and companion, so do not relegate me to the backyard when I get bigger, do not judge me harshly but instead mold me with gentleness and guidelines and training into the kind of family member you want me to be.

much as I love you.

Your Puppy.

Until next time

Miriam

2011-08-28T09:25:00.018+03:00

בס''ד
Waiting For the Other Shoe to Fall.......

Once again, for the past week and a half, the cities and towns in Southern Israel have been under mortar, kassam and grad missile attacks coming from Gaza.

Large cities like Beer Sheva, [the capital city of the south] Ashkelon,the port city of Ashdod and the smaller communities,moshavim and kibbutzim have been bombarded with rocket attacks almost daily. One day, we had 90 rockets.

Over the past ten years that the south has been under siege, Hamas and other splinter groups have sent tens of thousands of rockets. Sedrot has a museum of rockets sent to their area.

When the incoming rocket siren goes off, you have between 15 and 30 seconds to find shelter. Shelter can be in the form of a street bomb shelter, a joint bomb shelter in the basement of an apartment building or in a store. Homes built after 1991 have a private safe room mamad in the house or apartment.

street public bomb shelters

In Beer Sheva and Ashkelon, the military has set up the air defense system known as iron dome which has worked quite well intercepting short range rockets and keeping them from exploding. Because these iron domes are very expensive, presently we only have two in the south.This morning as I was posting this blog, the siren went off near Beer Sheva.

Homes have taken direct hits, cars have been destroyed, adults and children have been injured from shrapnel. Some injuries have been life threatening. Many citizens of the south both adult and children are suffering from shock.We have had deaths. One man died leaving a pregnant wife in her 9th month and two small children. Another tragedy were two couples going on a weekend vacation to Eilat. One of the couples were waiting for the birth of their first grandchild. And they stories go on...

The sounds of the sirens and the booms from the rockets are so loud, your ears hurt. In my home, the windows and doors rattle when there is an explosion. You can feel the vibration on the floor.

One day last week, my family was rudely awakened at 4:40 a.m. by a warning siren. We have 15 seconds to go to the safe part of our home. We heard two explosions and about ten seconds later we heard another explosion.

You never know when or where the next attack will be. It’s like ‘waiting for the other shoe to fall’.

We have seen some miracles. In Beer Sheva, a school took a direct hit, causing extensive damage, but because it is summer vacation, no children or staff were in the school. I shudder to think the injuries or G-D forbid death that could have occurred if school had been in.

On Thursday, the new school year starts. Parents will have just one more thing to worry about as they send their precious children to school. Will their school be attacked? My grandchildren's school in Kfar Maimon, has been on the receiving end of many kassams. Our children learn in fortified classrooms.

In Ashdod, a group of men had just finished saying their morning prayers in a shtiebel [a small house of learning] when the siren went off. Most of the men were able to get out, but several were still inside the building when it took a direct hit. A rocket came through the roof and lodged itself into the floor. Miraculously it didn't explode.

The debate goes on as to how to put an end once and for all to all the attacks. Military action or restraint. Our politicians debate, argue or point fingers but don’t really have any suggestions. All the while, us citizens are sitting ducks.

The Jerusalem Post http://www.jpost.com/ has this poll question.

How would you rate the government's response to terror attacks in South?

Good, they eliminated attack's perpetrators without causing needless escalation
Bad, they should launch large operation to root out terror infrastructure in Gaza
Bad, they should show more restraint in the face of international scrutiny
Average, government response will neither improve nor exacerbate situation.

I'm not sure

As of this morning [August 28th] from a total of 29,621 votes.

Try to find a diplomatic solution to reinstate the cease-fire. 8.04%

The only way to end the rocket fire is to eliminate the rockets and those firing them. 80.69%

Israel's neighbors should share responsibility for regional safety. 8.58%

None of the above. 2.70%

Do you have an opinion? Want to have your say? Write to our Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu bnetanyahu@knesset.gov.il or the defense minister Ehud Barak ehudb@knesset.gov.il

They need to know what their citizens are thinking.

Until next time.......

Stay safe!

Miriam

Postscript

In the August 30th online edition of the Jerusalem Post there is a report that as of next week defense minister Barak will deploy a third iron dome near Ashdod. The report goes on to say that by the end of 2012, Israel will have nine operational iron domes.

2011-07-28T22:44:00.006+03:00

בס''ד
A Time of Sorrow

During the long hot days of summer, six weeks after Shavout, are The Three Weeks. A time of sorrow for the Jewish people. We are now in the second week of The Three Weeks.

The first day, the 17 Tammuz [July 19^th] was a day fast. The last day, the 9^th of Av, [August 9^th] is Tish B’Av. Starting from the previous evening, until the evening of the 9^th is a 25 hour fast. Seven weeks later, is the start of the Yamim Noraim [Days of Awe] beginning with Rosh Hashana and ending with Yom Kippur.

There are many laws pertaining to the three weeks. To learn more about time, I would like to recommend The Three Weeks Aish

A couple of years ago, I wrote a poem called Tish B"Av, A Day of Sorrow.

A day of sorrow,

the 9th of Av.

corresponding this year to

August 9th

The blackest day,

we Jews know.

Hashem commanded us to fast

and to give up our comforts.

We read Megillah Eichah

Lamentations

And say kinot.

Why do we have this terrible day?

Is it because we cried for nothing so long ago?

Hashem said “you want to cry,

I’ll give you something to cry about.”

So many tragedies

have struck

the Jewish people

on the 9^th of Av.

Many were murdered on the 9^th of Av

in pogroms and the Holocaust

for no other reason than

they were Jews.

We have suffered all through our history

Moshiach, Moshiach, where are you?

“We need you now”, our people beg

To restore our nation to its glory.

Today we have our homeland

Eretz Yisrael.

The land Hashem promised to

Avraham Avinu.

Please, no more fighting

Jew against Jew

or speaking lashon hara.

An united front

is what is needed

to prove

that we are worthy

of His gift.

And Tish B’Av

will be no more…..

Have an easy fast.

Until next time

Miriam

2011-06-29T13:15:00.004+03:00

בס''ד

The Tenacity of a Rabbit

In my last blog Our Special Flower Garden, I wrote how Avraham and I had moved to a house on Yishuv Ma'agalim and worked very hard to clean up our neglected yard. When we were finished, we made a nice flower garden. Our problems came when our neighbor's three rabbits decided that the flowers that we planted were delicious and ate or destroyed over 30 plants.

When we spoke to our neighbor, he told us he can’t cage the rabbits because they are too fast and they know how to get out of the cage. Basically, he told us to live with it.

We goggled rabbits and looked for ways to discourage them. One tip was to spray a mixture of vinegar and dish soap on the flowers. Another was to sprinkle tiny thorns all over.

We called the man responsible for animal control from our Moatza [regional council] for help in trapping the rabbits. Bottom line, rabbits are almost impossible to trap. Best he could do was speak to the neighbor and tell him it was against the law to allow the rabbits to run freely and he should cage them.

Our neighbor changed his story and told us that the rabbits were not his but that they made his yard their home.

He then gave us some hot red pepper chips and said to sprinkle them heavily everywhere and that the rabbits would stay away because the smell is to strong for them.

Well, that worked for a couple of weeks.

We started off with three rabbits. For the past couple of weeks only the beautiful black rabbit with a drop of brown running down his back is around our house. I don't know what happened to the other two. Maybe some kids caught them.

‘Our black rabbit’, is the most tenacious rabbit I have ever seen. He is so sure of himself, that he will let you get close enough to him to let you look into his eyes, but the minute you try to catch him, he is off…. This rabbit is always five steps ahead of us. Imagine if people were as tenacious as this rabbit.

The American Heritage Dictionary gives this definition for tenacious: Holding or tending to hold persistently to something, such as a point of view.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary says that tenacious means persistent and maintaining, adhering to, or seeking something valued or desired.

This little rabbit wants our flowers for whatever reason and is determined to get to them no matter what he has to do.

If our Israeli politicians would be this tenacious in standing up for what is in the best interest of Israel and its Israeli citizens, our country would be much stronger in the eyes of the world. We would have respect!

Personally, I don’t really care what the world thinks…..Israel has to do what is in our interest regardless of what the Americans, Europeans or Arabs says.

Our politicians need to learn how to say no, this is not in our interest. As long as we bow down to the world, Israel will always be the ‘friar’ country. The world is trying to push us into a peace agreement with a lie. The Palestinian Heritage story is the most fictional story around that is believed by the world.

The world refuses to look at their ‘history’ and our history. We have been a nation for more than 3,000 years. Jerusalem has been our eternal capital for all this time. The Palestinians only started to mention Jerusalem after the ’67 war.

The left of the country are siding with our enemies. They too don’t understand how precious our land is. Education is the key to all the answers. Our children must be taught to love the land. We need educators who teach with tenacity that our land is precious and must be protected at all cost and not given away.

A couple of years ago, the IDF made a discovery that many of their draftees had never been to our capital Jerusalem. Imagine that! These young people were born here and never visited Jerusalem. It is mind blogging.

Today, part of the basic training is a field trip to Jerusalem and the Kotel. [Western wall].

I hope that we solve our rabbit problem and I pray that our Prime Minister and his government learn to stand up and say no, not this time! This is what is in our best interest and we are going to do………………

Until next time!

Miriam

2011-05-25T08:59:00.001+03:00

בס''ד

Our Special Flower Garden

This coming Sivan /June, my husband and I will G-D willing celebrate our 44th wedding anniversary. Since the beginning of our marriage, except when we made Aliyah and rented a house on my children’s kibbutz, we lived in a duplex or apartment building.Never, did we have to look after the grounds and do any gardening.

I grew up in a house and when my husband and I were dating, several times Avraham would help my father a”h garden. Whether it was weeding or planting shrubs in the rain, it was always an enjoyable experience.

This past September, we rented a house on my daughter Devorah's yishuv in the Negev.

We have land all around our house with fruit trees growing on the side and in the backyard.

The grounds had really been neglected for many years. We told the owner that we would look after the fruit trees. He in turn told us to help ourselves to the fruit.

The front of the house was the real problem. I wanted to make a flower garden, but before I could start, I had to weed and clean up all the garbage that was over flowing and had accumulated over the years.

Cleaning up was no easy job. Using a hoe, and all the bending and picking up, was certainly giving us our daily exercise. The ground was so hard, even with wearing work gloves, I had blisters on my fingers..

After several hours of work, we were starting to see some results. We were so tired but it was a good tired, working this piece of Holy land.

I have a good imagination, and I could picture what I wanted our garden to look like. I would make the perimeter of the garden with large rocks and use brown lava rocks in between the plants. The rocks were easy to find, but boy
were they heavy. We had a good supply of the lava rocks which we found all over the property.

Next came the planting. A neighbour gave us some tall cactus to get our garden started. In the center of the garden we planted a branch from a water cactus that had broken off from my daughter’s plant. Around each plant, I encircled them with small white rocks. My little garden was taking shape and looking good.

All we were missing were flowers. We are renting our house, and the owner of the house is a farmer who grows flowers. I asked him for some flowers. He said sure! I thought he would bring us a few flowers, but instead, to our shock, he brought a bag of more than sixty different types and colours of flowers.

We had our work cut out. Moetzi Shabbat, the night of Lag B’Omer, Avraham, Eli-Chaim and myself started planting. Avraham and Eli-Chaim dug the holes and I planted. We worked like team work. I told them where to dig, they dug, I planted. One after another.

The air was all ready getting smoky and smelly from the bonfires around us, but I really wanted to finish at night. During the day, the sun is too strong and hot too work.

We planted forty beautiful flowers. I scattered the brown lava rocks everywhere, Avraham watered our flowers and we all enjoyed looking at the garden we had made.

I had a feeling of real satisfaction. I felt so privileged to live in Eretz Yisrael and have an opportunity to work and enjoy our Holy land.

But, my happiness changed to sadness a couple days later when we discovered one morning that a neighbour’s rabbits had gotten into our garden during the night and ate or destroyed most of the flowers. I wanted to cry.

When Avraham spoke to the neighbour, he acknowledged that his rabbits cause problems, but said he didn't know what to do with them. He tried to cage them, but they are fast and smart and know out to get out.

Basically, he said politely, live with it!

And so dear readers, if you know a way to keep rabbits out of the garden, please write a comment at the bottom of the blog and let me know how!

I now know how Farmer McGregor felt, in the story The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter, when Peter kept eating his veggies in his garden.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tale_of_Peter_Rabbit

Until next time!
Miriam

2011-05-09T07:12:00.004+03:00

בס''ד
A Day of Remembrance......
Yom HaZikaron
It is four a.m. and I am so wide awake thinking about the ceremony that I attended just a few short hours earlier. I had to post a blog.........

In the 17 years since I made Aliyah, I have watched many Yom HaZikaron programs on television. Never have I felt so moved, so touched and connected as I did last evening, when I attended a ceremony on our Yishuv in Ma'agalim.

The program started with Maarvi [the evening prayer] in the shul. While the men were davening [praying] the women and children were gathering on the shul promenade.

Chairs had been set out and the feeling was one of anticipation knowing that at 8:00p.m. sharp, the siren would sound and Yom HaZikaron would officially start.

For the past several years, a siren meant that a grad missile was on the way and people needed to take shelter. But not tonight! Tonight, the siren meant that the men and women who fell defending our country were going to be remembered and honored.

As the men came out of shul and found their seats, the master of ceremonies, was calling everyone to order. The siren would be momentarily.

Everyone rose, stood quietly as the familiar, blaring air raid siren, filled the cold night air for one minute. In the background, we could hear the last few seconds of the sirens from the other moshavim in the area.

The program started with the lowering of our flag to half mast. Several men were called up one at a time to say appropiate readings. The names of the fallen from the yishuv were read. Even though I didn’t know these people, I felt much sorrow, knowing they died defending my land.

A slideshow was shown commenorating all the funerals our country has had to endure in it's short 63 years.

A music tribute to a young chaiyal [soldier] was also shown. Several years ago, when this soldier was killed, his family took all his letters and with his own words, a song was composed. Music was added later and a well know Israeli singer, recorded the song. What a moving tribute!

When the Rav of the Yishuv was called, everyone stood up to give him covet [respect]. Rav Moshe Elkabetz has been the rav for many years and is very well respected and loved. He spoke about his friend who was in Hesdar with him [a combination of Torah learning and army] and had died in war. His sadness was written all over his face. The Rav's remarks were short,and to the point for he knew that this was not the time for a long drasha [speech/lesson].

What I found interesting, our yishuv is a Sephardic yishuv. My husband and I are Ashkenazim. It is our minhag [custom] to stand for the prayer El Male Rachamim and Kaddash, but not the custom of the yishuv.

When these two prayers were been said, we stood up along with a couple of other people fulfilling our minhag. Although, our minhagim are different, the bond that holds us together is that we are all Jews and Israelis and we live harmoniously together.

Torches were then lit by family members of the fallen.

A special tribute was paid to Major Eliraz Peretz a”h who lived in Yishuv Eli, in the Shomron. He was killed in the Castlead- Gaza war and was the deputy commander of his elite Golani Brigade unit. http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Memorial/2010/Victims/Eliraz_Peretz.htm

Taking video from Israel channel 2, the major’s mother Miriam was interviewed. This is the second son she has lost to war. Around me, not a dry eye was to be found.

An hour later, the program ended with the singing of Ani ma-amin and Hatikva.

I am so proud to be an Israeli. When we came home from the ceremony, I lit our yarheitz candle to remember those who gave their life defending my country, so that I and my family can live in our G-D given homeland.

Am Yisrael Chai!

Until next time
Miriam

2011-05-02T12:12:00.008+03:00

בס''ד

Remembrances and Celebrations

Today in Israel is Yom HaShoah. While the world celebrates the death of one mastermind terrorist, Osama bin Laden, we the Jewish people remember man's inhumanity to man. Six million Jews were murdered in cold blood. Why you ask? For no other reason than they were Jews.

The Nazis marched from town to town, city to city, country to country rounding up Jews. They didn’t ask if you are Orthodox, Conservative, or Reform. They considered us one people. JEWS!

This is a lesson for today.

We are one people, G-D’s chosen people and we must never forget this.

_______________________________

Next Monday, on the 5th day of Iyar [May 9th] is Yom HaZikaron. Our Memorial day for the men and women who lost their lives defending our precious country. Yom HaZikaron is usually on the 4th day of Iyar but because of Shabbat the day before, the government moved the remembrance up one day.

The remembrance starts Sunday evening with a two minute siren. A second siren will ring Monday morning during which Israelis stop everything including driving and stand in silence, commemorating the fallen and showing respect.

The official ceremony to mark the opening of the day takes place at the Kotel [Western Wall], at which time the flag of Israel is lowered to half staff.

Monday evening, our flag is once again raised and Israelis everywhere proudly sing our national anthem. It is now Yom Ha’Atzmaut, Israel Independence Day, commemorating its declaration of independence in 1948. This year we are celebrating 63 years of independence.

And celebrate we do with flags hanging from balconies, cars, and windows. The smell of bar b’que is everywhere. Families travel to our national parks to have picnics and a wonderful day is had by all.

For me and my family, living in Eretz Yisrael is both an honour and privledge. Yes, many have to give up the so called good life in the 'old country', but I can tell you from personal experience, life in Israel may be a struggle but the personal satisfaction that you receive walking it's holy streets and living on percious land gives you a much better life.

COME HOME and enjoy the good life!

Several years ago, I wrote a short poem called OUR FLAG.
Our flag, our flag
oh, what a sight!
To see you proudly
dance in the wind.

Your blue and white colors
so very distinctive,
makes us grateful
we live in this wonderful land.

Our history is long,
many wars we have known.
May the Hand of Hashem
watch over our brave young soldiers,
as they diligently defend your honor.

Oh flag, oh flag
What a proud and beautiful sight!

________________________________
Israel's National Anthem
HaTikvah ("The Hope")
The words to Israel's national anthem were written in 1886 by Naphtali Herz Imber, an English poet originally from Bohemia. The melody was written by Samuel Cohen, an immigrant from Moldavia. Cohen actually based the melody on a musical theme found in Bedrich Smetana’s "Moldau."

Kol ode balevav

P'nimah –

Nefesh Yehudi homiyah

Ulfa'atey mizrach kadimah

Ayin l'tzion tzofiyah.

Ode lo avdah tikvatenu

Hatikvah bat shnot alpayim:

L'hiyot am chofshi b'artzenu -

Eretz Tzion v'Yerushalayim.
As long as the Jewish spirit is yearning deep in the heart,

With eyes turned toward the East, looking toward Zion,

Then our hope - the two-thousand-year-old hope - will not be lost:

To be a free people in our land,

The land of Zion and Jerusalem.

http://www.stateofisrael.com/anthem/

Until next time......
Miriam

2011-04-03T13:40:00.007+03:00

בס''ד
My Friend Catherine

Over the lifetime of this blog, I have written three pieces on seniors. The introductory blog: Grandparents are Special , The Third Generation and Is "The Third Generation" Really "The Golden Age"?

I would now like to tell you about my friend Catherine. The start of my journey with this special lady began a year ago last April when I replied to a posting on my local e-mail list. The posting title was A woman seeks help….. I clicked the posting and read………

Shalom,

A woman who is hospitalized at the Geriatric Center in Netivot is seeking a volunteer who can come and talk to her in English and a volunteer who can accompany her from time to time to the Lehava Center (across the road from the Geriatric Center). You can call………..

Years ago, before we made Aliyah, I worked in Shalom Village, an assisted living / nursing home in Hamilton, Ont. Canada and spent many personal hours being a volunteer visiting and running programs for the residents. I developed a very special respect and interest in the elderly.

When we made Aliyah I wanted to continue volunteering with the elderly, but because my Hebrew is poor, I wanted to visit someone who spoke English. The social services who run volunteer programs couldn’t find anyone for me to visit.

Reading the posting I immediately contacted the person who posted the note and asked for some background on this lady.

I was told her name is Catherine and she is an American who has been living and working in Israel for some time. Because of circumstances beyond her control she is now residing in the nursing home. Catherine only speaks English and she has no family living in Israel. Her sister lives in France and her son is in the states. I made arrangements to go and visit her the next day.

The nursing home in Netivot was built by the Lotto Corporation. It is a relatively new building [about 7 or 8 years old] and is beautiful. The lobby has a tasteful ceramic floor with a nice center pattern. Bright orange and red curtains and modern chairs and a couple of small tables adorn the lobby.

In one corner there is a piano. Opposite the front door is a door that takes you out to the most beautiful gardens where the residents and their guest can enjoy the outside.

I met Catherine in the common area of her ward. This is a large room with wall decorations, photographs, background music and where the daily activities take place. There are several tables that sit eight and each person does his or her own thing.

Catherine was reading a book when I introduced myself and said I would like to visit her and hopefully we could become friends. We then went to sit in the lobby so that we could get to know each other.

She asked my how I came to know she was in the nursing home and I told her about the e-mail notice. She seemed to be very surprised but pleased.

I told her a little about myself and my family and asked her about herself and her family. Catherine came to Israel as a temporary resident in 1982 and lived with her sister Ellen and her father on Ellen’s farm. She later applied for Aliyah status.

Catherine’s professional life was amazing. During her first years in Israel, she taught English at a local elementary school.

She worked for many years as the Chief Editor of one of Ben-Gurion University's international research journals, where faculty members published their scientific articles in English for colleagues around the world to read.

She also edited and prepared copy-ready pages (in English) of entire academic books for publication by German presses -- sometimes working over a year with the Israeli authors of such books to rewrite sections into good and understandable English.

Catherine told me about her love for animals and how she would take in dogs and cats whose owners didn’t want anymore. Sick animals would be nursed back to health.

It didn’t take long to recognize that Catherine is a very intelligent and caring person. I enjoyed my visit with Catherine and asked her if it would be okay with her if I visit her again the following week. She agreed.

And so started my relationship with this amazing woman and thru her I now correspond with her sister Ellen, her son and other family members.

Ellen told me that Catherine was much appreciated -- even beloved -- by so many faculty members in Beer-Sheva at Ben Gurion University, and also by article contributors from Hebrew University and Tel-Aviv University.

Because of the original posting on the e-mail list, Catherine found two more friends who visit with her regularly and are totally dedicated to her.

Last Thursday was Catherine 75th birthday. Her new Israeli friends made her a birthday party gathering at my home. Our little party grew from 6 to11 almost overnight. I was amazed and so pleased at the people who wanted to attend and honor Catherine.

Each of us wrote a birthday greeting and I had the family also send birthday greetings and photos. I compounded all the greeting into a special birthday book and presented it to Catherine at her party.

This is the poem that I wrote for Catherine’s book.

Dearest Catherine
What a privilege
to we had to meet you
and call you our friend.

You are a special lady
with a rich background.
Oh, how we wish
we had known you in your prime.

Leah and Ellen have told us about
your accomplishments professionally
your kindness to animals
and your love of Israel.

Today is your birthday
Mazal-Tov and Happy Birthday ad120!
May you be blessed
with better health
happiness and fulfillment.

My visits with Catherine have taught me to appreciate everyday…the good , the bad and the hard days. Nobody knows what tomorrow will bring.
_______________________________________________________

Update regarding my last blog about the small Tefillin. We are still waiting to have the Tefillin checked. I have spoken to a sofer and a Rav from Chabad. Both said that they want to examine the Tefillin carefully but because they know they are very old, want to be able to give them the time they deserve. They both told me that they will check the Tefillin. When and if they do, I will write that blog.

Wishing everyone a חג פסח שמח וכשר. [a kosher and happy Pesach]
Miriam

2011-01-22T22:38:00.016+02:00

בס''ד
Life……An Odyssey of Discovery……..Part 1

My husband Avraham’s father a”h passed away thirty-six years ago. One of the few possessions that he has from his father was his tefillin.

Now these tefillin are not like any other tefillin that you see. They are so tiny, that they can fit into the palm of your hand with room left over. They measure 2.2cm square. In comparison my son’s tefillin are 3cm square and my grandson Gilad’s tefillin are 4cm square. We never knew why they were so small and neither did anyone else.

Note the red box cover.

For the past thirty-six years, the tefillin have been in a dresser drawer. Truefully, we really never paid to much attention to them, they were just a keepsake.

This past December 2nd 2010, in the Shabbos edition of Hamodia [an English language religious newspaper], there was an article by Chana Sorele Teitelbaum called Chashmonaim..Under The Czar. With the permission of the author and Hamodia, I have posted her article and pictures at the end of my blog.

The article speaks about the hardships that the Jews of the day had to under take, that the boys were drafted into the Russian army at age 12 and stayed for twenty-five years. The goal of the Czar was to obliterate any and all connection to Yiddishkeit.

Some of these boys [at great risk for their life] would have a tiny pair of tefillin that they could hide in their uniform pocket.

In the article was a picture of the tiny tefillin. When my husband saw the picture he was stunned and said to me, these look like the tefillin that my father had.

And so the search for his family’s history began. We contacted all of Avraham’s cousins trying to connect what we knew [which wasn’t very much] and what they knew.We found out that my husband’s grandfather had written a brief history and one of the cousins had the letter.

With this information, we discovered that the family name was Guttman not Goodman. The name was change by the Canadian immigration. We learned that his grandfather was sent away from Odessa by his father at age 12 because he was going to be drafted. An older brother [we don’t know his name] accompanied him. There is no mention as to why the brother wasn’t drafted.

We learnt that at first they went to France and then after some time boarded a boat to Canada settling in Montreal. We also learnt that my husband’s grandfather had a sister [we don’t know her first name] who was married to a Rav or Mohel by the name of Goichberg and lived in the Bronx N.Y. If this name means anything to anyone or if you know of a family by this name, would you please let me know?

The brother didn’t like living in Montreal, returned to Russia, joined the Russian army and was never heard from again.

With the information we were gathering we still didn’t know the names of Avraham’s great grandparents or anything about them. We researched the database of Jewish Gen including the archives of Odessa. We checked the passenger logs from The Ships Lists archives trying to find the ship Avraham’s grandfather and uncle came to Canada on. I checked the archives of Canada immigration looking for landed status as I knew that they settled in Montreal.

We were at a dead end. I knew that Avraham’s grandfather died and was buried in Montreal and so I had an idea to call the only Jewish funeral home [they are still in business] at the time and see if they could help me.

Sure enough, they were a fountain of information. We learnt the names of Avraham’s great grandparents, Yisroel and Rachel Guttman, some dates and where they were from.

Now back to the tefillin. We now believe that the tefillin that Avraham always believed were his father’s, were not in fact his father’s, but his grandfather’s. If we are correct, then these tefillin are 120 years old. If not, and they are his father's then the tefillin are 88 years old.

We spoke to a Sofer and asked him to come and inspect the tefillin and give us his opinion.

I sent a note to the author thanking her for writing this article telling her about the tefillin we have and giving us just the push we needed to research our family.

She wrote back to me saying that her husband said we should have the Sofer check 'yud' on the 'shel yad'. In the three pairs that they [the author and her husband] examined, the yud is attached to the box in a very complicated way, thus making it extra mehudar. Also the width of the 'retzios' in even in the narrowest parts is no less than 2mm, size of a barley, the necessary shiur mentioned in Halacha.

Sitting at the computer looking for information became a real passion. I was determined to find out everything I could about my husband’s family and my mother’s family a”h. A cousin of mine had already researched and made a family tree of my father’s family history.

Someone asked me why I was spending so much time researching the histories. I told them that the information although very interesting for Avraham and me, it was not really for us but for the next generation and all future generations. Everyone needs to know where they came from. With intermarriage at such an alarming rate ones ‘yichas’ [background] is so important.

The search is still on. I contacted The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue in Montreal requesting whatever information they have on his grandfather. I am assuming that the family were members because my father-in-law and all Avraham’s uncles had their Bar Mitzvah’s in this shul. One uncle was also married there and Avraham’s grandfather is buried in their cemetery.

Until next time……….
My next blog will be part 2. The Sofer’s Report……
Please feel free to post your comments.
Miriam

Once again I want to thank Chana Sorele Teitelbaum and Hamodia for allowing me to post their article and pictures.

CHASHMONAIM UNDER THE CZAR

By Chana Sorele Teitelbaum
The artifacts shown in this feature are owned by a British antique collector who acquired them during his travels in his former hometown in Hungry. An expert on antiques as well as a student of the manufacture of menorahs, he determined that those shown in this article, which he discovered in an antique shop are genuine. He found the tefillin in the sheimos section of an old cemetary whose renovation he arranged for. Also found at that time were valuable documents proving that these artifacts belonged to the Cantonists.

Two thousand years have not dimmed the intensity with which Yiden perform the rituals of Yiddishkeit. The lifesaving tactic of quickly substituting a game like dreidel while sefarim and other religious articles were hidden from the eyes of the enemy, is one that the Jewish nation has used throughout the centuries - from Jews threatened by the Inquisition, to those suffering first under the czars and then behind the Iron Curtain. With unbelievable commitment and inner strength, Jews have resolved to see the 'light', no matter how outside forces attempted to extinguish it.

Yidden living under oppressive rule of various czars were determined to avoid demands that they abandon their religion. Undaunted by evil decrees, they devised ways to continue living as G-D fearing Jews despite the danger. Among these determined individuals were some Kantonisten or Cantonists- Jews who were forcibly drafted into the czar's army as mere children and were required to serve for twenty-five years. These heroes of the mid-1800's managed somehow to see light even in their darkest moments.

In these photographs, we see testimony of the incredible mesirus nefesh displayed by Kantonisten in Czarist Russia. These historic Jewish artifacts belonged to Jewish youths who served in the Russian army for long periods against their will and who were forced to give up their Yiddishkeit. Had they been found with these religious items in their possession, they would have been killed immediately. Instead, the innovative young men crafted for themselves palm sized menorahs and minature pairs of tefillin that could easily be concealed inside their uniform pockets or worn under their helmets. In times of crisis, they would turn to these religious items as a segulah for safety or to pray for a miracle.

What is remarkable about these soldiers is that did not perform the mitzvos of tefillin and lightning Canukah candles simply to fullfill the miniumum requirements. From these artifacts it appears that they were extremely well versed in halachah [laws] and that they invested their knowledge and love for Yiddishkeit in the performance of these mitzvos, to ensure that their observance was mehudar [extra observant].

The Kesher of the tefillin was made with a tiny sliver of retzuah and connected to the tefillin itself in a brillant masterpiece of handicraft that would normally be impossible due to its miniature size.

One menorah has only 'four' cups [indentations] for eight candles, but, as is discussed in Shulchan Aruch, this very rare menorah, which cantains eight notches for the wicks is deemed kosher.

2010-12-01T13:21:00.012+02:00

בס''ד
Time Brings Amazing Milestones ......
On Rosh Chodesh Tevet 5751, [December 17th 1990], on a cold Canadian, winter evening, our son-in-law Eliezer called and shouted, “Mazal-Tov, Mazal-Tov, it’s a boy. Naomi will call you later. I want to go and see my son.” And with that phone call my husband Avraham and I became Saba and Safta [grandparents] for the first time.

Our daughter Naomi had just given birth to our first grandchild at Haddassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem. Eight days later Naomi and Eliezer named our precious grandson Yonatan David. Yonatan because it was the 7th night of Chanukah and David, my father’s second name.

Naomi and Yoni

Three weeks later I had the pleasure of meeting my sweet grandson.

Safta Miriam and Yoni

Yoni had to wait four months and travel to Canada before he met his Saba Avraham.

Saba Avraham and Yoni

It is so hard for us to believe that our little Yoni is 20 years old and all grown up. Yoni is learning in a Hesdar Yeshiva in Holon and in March he will go into the army. The time has passed so quickly.

Mazal-tov Yoni and happy birthday ad 120 . May you always celebrate your birthday in good health and happiness. Saba and I pray that Hashem will watch over you and guide you all the days of your life. We are so proud of you.

Yoni all grown up!
____________________________________________________

The title of this blog is Time Brings Amazing Milestones. But what is time? One definition that I found was: Time is always changing. Time never stands still. Time is continuous, and not stationary. Time changes our perceptions, and our perceptions of time change continuously. Time is infinite; change is essential to time.

Another definition is: an indefinite period [usually marked by specific attributes or activities].

Time is something that we take for granted. How many times have you said, “I’ll do it tomorrow” ..but somehow tomorrow never seems to come, until we get to a point where the task must be done.

Time plays a very important part in shaping the family unit.

When a couple gets married they start off as two. G-D willing over the years children are born and with more time the children marry and sons-in-law and daughters-in-law join the family.

More time passes, we, the older couple, celebrate the birth of grandchildren and if we are fortunate enough, great-grandchildren. Avraham and I have been blessed with a beautiful family and twelve precious grandchildren.

Time also plays a part in Aliyah. Even though Avraham and I spoke about making Aliyah for years, when we finally decided that it was time for us to come home [2 daughters and 3 grandchildren waiting for us in Israel] our process didn’t take long. From our first appointment with the shaliach in Toronto in December 1993, we landed at Ben Gurion and came home, May 1994, 5 months later. The first thing our daughters said to us when they came to pick us up at the airport was “ show us your Tuedat Olay.” [certificate of Aliyah]

They couldn’t believe we actually made Aliyah.

Today we have been in Israel 16 ½ years. Our only regret was that we didn’t come home sooner.

Since I believe that everything is predetermined, I guess the time wasn’t right for us……..

Time plays a part in who we are and how we develop our characters. When you are five years old, someone 10 is considered old. A couple of years ago, I asked my young granddaughter’s how old is old, one said 25 and another said 40. The third granddaughter said very matter of fact, “Safta, you are old.” As time passes our thoughts and actions mature.

Baruch Hashem, today, Avraham and I are seniors according to the age that the government sets. Not that we feel, look or act like seniors…..but it is nice to get that pension cheque.

So the next time you have something to do, do it right away because time does not stand still for anyone.

Until next tme….

Chanukah Sameach to you and yours

Miriam

2010-11-11T11:34:00.002+02:00

בס''ד

It’s That Time of Year Again…..

Traditions are wonderful and very important. We have personal and family traditions, religious traditions and country traditions.

Israel is no exception. Come late October, the chagim [Jewish holidays] are all over and life is getting back to a regular schedule with no more mid week days off of work or school.

At this time of the year in Israel, a tradition is happening on the grocery store shelves. Colored boxes of 10 or 12 Krembos are appearing.
If you are not from Israel, I’m sure you are asking yourself, “What is a Krembo?”

Krembos are a very popular winter treat. It comes wrapped in a colorful aluminum wrapping. Krembos have a round cookie base on the bottom and marshmallow cream on top, coated with a thin layer of chocolate. Krembos also come in vanilla and mocha flavour.

In Hebrew, the word krembo the combination of krem (cream) and bo (in it).

The "krembo season" is from October to February. More than fifty million krembos are sold each year. Krembos are a part of winter as ice-cream is a part of summer.

According to a study funded by Strauss, Israel's leading krembo producer, 69% of Israelis prefer to eat krembos from the top down (starting with the cream), and only 10% start with the biscuit at the bottom; the rest had no preference.

In the Hebrew version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the character Dumbledore’s favorite sweet is a Krembo, rather than a lemon sherbet .

The Krembo has become a national icon. While considered a children's favorite, researchers have found that it is eaten and enjoyed as a comfort food of Israeli expatriates in the United States.

Krembos are so popular that they have their own Facebook page.
I love Krembo

And now for another tradition. During Chanukah, Jews around the world, observe the custom of eating foods fried in oil to commemorate the miracle of the Temple Oil lasting 8 days when there was only enough oil for 1 day.

In Israel, the tradition is to eat, sufganiyot [doughnuts.] Sufganiyot are sold from the end of October up to and including the 8 days of Chanukah. The most popular doughnuts are the ones filled with strawberry jelly and have powder sugar on top.

Bakeries and grocery stores sell sufganiyot individually and by the box, and they have become a favorite for school, home and office parties. One of the largest bakeries in Israel, fries up more than 250,000 sufganiyot every day during the 8 day holiday. Every batch uses 100 kilograms of dough and makes 1,600 sufganiyot. That's alot of doughnuts!

There are many homemade doughnut recipes. If you want to try your hand at making sufganiyot at home, here are several different recipes.

doughnut recipes

So whether your fancy is krembos or sufganiyot, or both, relax and enjoy the sweet taste.

Until next time.......

Miriam

2010-10-25T12:38:00.000+02:00

בס''ד

Wishful Thinking……………

Here it is the end of October and the temperature outside is like the middle of July. Today in the Negev it is 30c and the weatherman says that it will be hotter tomorrow and the next day. On Thursday it will be 39c with low humidity.

Last Shabbat we had to run our air conditioner because the house was warm and uncomfortable. This is crazy. My son can’t believe it is the end of October and he is still wearing shorts.

We dearly need rain. The ground is dry and the trees are badly in need of water. Our citrus trees are shriveled up. We are now watering them with the drain water from the washing machine. Where, oh where is the rain?

Every drop of rain in Israel is a Bracha, but if I could have my wish, I would wish for snow. Covering the earth with a good blanket of snow would give all that grows a well deserved drink.

Since making Aliyah from Canada 16 years ago, the one thing that I miss is a good blizzard. How I loved to look out of my window and watch the snow fall.

The last time I saw a real blizzard, was a freak snowstorm about 10 years ago, when we lived in Gush Etzion. It snowed so much that the cars were buried. The next day it was gone.

Children and adults alike had a blast playing in the snow. Fathers were out with brooms sweeping the snow of their cars. For many it was the first time they had seen a real snowfall.

I remember about 18 years ago, when our two Israeli sons-in-law and daughters came to visit us in Hamilton. Light snow was forecasted, but the light snow turned into a full fledge blizzard. You know the kind with high winds. In the end we had close to three feet of snow [that’s a lot of snow].

Both sons-in-laws [one from the Negev and the other from B’nei Brak] had never seen snow. They stood outside in amazement and couldn’t understand why it wasn’t going down the sewers.

Five years ago, I heard that Ontario [where we lived] was being blanketed with snow, and so I wrote a poem called Winter Wonderland.

The snow is falling

the wind is blowing,

as I wish I could look out of my window

at the winter wonderland.

The trees are dressed

in their beautiful white clothes.

The children are playing and rolling in the snow.

I imagine children building a snowman

with a carrot nose

and charcoal for eyes and mouth.

Cars are being careful not to slip and slide.

The snow is still falling

the accumulation is starting to rise.

The weather report says 15 inches today.

Tomorrow the sun will shine

and today’s beautiful snow

will start to melt.

A winter wonderland

has many beautiful sights.

BUT……………

For me

I’ll take the long days of an Israeli summer

And just wish about the snow.
Until next time……..

Miriam

2010-10-07T12:40:00.001+02:00

בס''ד

Mazal- Tov, Mazal-Tov!

The theme of my blog Miriam’s Words is family. I would like to tell you how a medical miracle brought happiness to our family.

This morning [Thursday], our family celebrated a miracle. Our grandson Gilad Eliahu Raphael, was called to the Torah for his first Aliya.

Celebrating with Gilad and his family were is classmates from ”Yeshivat Yashlatz”, where Gilad is a student in the 8th grade.

Shabbat, Parsha Noah, will be a Shabbat of celebration for our family. Gilad will once again be called to the Torah, where he will Lein [recite] the Torah portion and in the evening his parents will host a Melava Malka. Gilad, who is a Ben Torah, will give a shuir [talk] about Middot [good deeds].

Let me back track and tell you why Gilad’s Bar Mitzvah is a miracle.

After many years of marriage, my daughter and son-in-law made the decision to try I.V.F. in order to have a family. After some failed procedures, I won’t forget the day Devorah called and said the pregnancy test was positive. She was laughing and crying for joy so hard it was difficult to understand what she was saying.

On the 27th day of Tishri, 5758 [October 23rd 1997], my husband Avraham and I were blessed with a grandson.

Gilad, is the oldest child in his family and has five siblings, 4 sisters and one brother.

Mazal-Tov to Devorah and Hagai. May you always shep nachas and simchas from Gilad and your other precious children.

Mazal-Tov to Safta Miriam Horev, and the entire Horev/ Goodman families.

And a very special mazal-tov to our Bar Mitzvah boy. Gilad you have always been a source of pride and happiness to Saba Avraham and me. May you continue on the path of Torah and Mitzvot and be the best person you can be. We wish you B’hazalach [good luck] on all your endeavors.

We Love You!
Safta Miriam and Saba Avraham

Here are a few pictures from this morning's Aliya.

2010-08-15T21:36:00.000+03:00

בס''ד
Is “The Third Generation” Really “The Golden Age”?

Both the terms The Third Generation and The Golden Age are metaphors to describe senior citizens who are 65 years old or more. The question begs to be asked. Is the third generation really the golden age? You can answer this question at the end of this blog.

Ever since I was a little girl I enjoyed being in the company of seniors. I have so many pleasant memories of the time I spent with my Bubby Nevitt a”h, my mother’s a”h mother.

Bubby lived a couple of blocks from us in Montreal and I would go to her apartment after school and visit. She would always greet me with a big glass of milk and cookies. Although she had lived in Montreal for over 45 years, she could barely speak English, so we conversed in her broken English and my broken Yiddish.

Today, I converse with my grandchildren in broken Hebrew and their broken English. I correct them and they correct me. History is repeating itself!

Bubby and I had wonderful conversations. We laughed at each others language skills, with Bubby correcting me and me correcting Bubby.

Bubby loved to play cards and her favorite game was “war”. We would always play a game or two whenever I visited. I think she somehow cheated so that I would always win.

Sunday was family day and my mother and her siblings and all the cousins would visit Bubby. I didn’t like having to share her with my cousins.

I remember so vividly, one day after school, I went to Bubby’s apartment to visit her, but Bubby wasn’t there. Instead, my mother and aunts were busy packing up Bubby’s belongings.

I asked where Bubby was, and my mother told me that Bubby was very old and having a hard time looking after herself, so the family decided that she needed to go and live in a nursing home. My Mother told me that I could still visit her on Sunday. I will never forget the sadness that I felt.

One Sunday morning, my mother said that I couldn’t visit Bubby that day because she had pneumonia and was very sick. I begged and begged to be allowed to visit, but the answer was still no.

Three days later, the day before Erev Pesach, my Bubby passed away. I was thirteen years old and my mother allowed me to go to the funeral so that I could say good-bye. Forty years later, on the day before Erev Pesach my mother passed away. My Mother and Bubby have the same yartzeit date.

Seventeen years ago, I worked at Shalom Village, a Jewish senior’s residence and nursing home in Hamilton, Ontario. I enjoyed visiting and talking with the residents. My mother-in-law a”h was one of the residents. At first she had her own apartment and when she became ill, she moved into the nursing home.

Being an only child, my husband and I had the task of packing up her belongings and selling her furniture. I couldn’t help but remember my mother doing the same task so many years earlier. What a painful responsibility!

The seniors at the home had amazing stories to tell about their lives and their families. Some were survivors and others were lonely and just wanted a visitor.

On most Friday mornings, I would make an Oneg Shabbat for anyone who wanted to join. I would invite a guest from our community and would serve juice and a baked desert.

Two of their favorite guests were the Rabbi who was the principal of the day school and a young man who had a beautiful voice and personality to go with it.

He would sing Shabbat songs and well known Yiddish songs that many of the residents grew up with. Everyone would join in either by singing along or just clapping their hands.

The Rabbi would tell wonderful Shabbat stories and would keep everyone ‘glued’ to their seats.

At first the attendance was small, but with word of mouth, and my mother-in-law bragging and shepping nachas that her daughter-in-law ran this program, our attendance grew. Before long both Jewish and non Jewish residents were coming to the program and having a wonderful time.

Several months ago, I was flipping through the T.V. channels to see if there was anything interesting to watch.

I came across a documentary that had just begun. It was about the elderly and how they are perceived and treated by their families. Since I had an interest in the elderly, I watched the program.

The show had a panel of 5 seniors, 3 men and 2 women between the ages of 66 and 85. The hostess was a young woman in her thirties and she asked the panel to introduce themselves with their name, age and a short comment.

The first man said he was 66 years old and that he was very able to look after himself and his affairs, but since he turned 65 and retired from his job his family treats him as though he were an imbecile. [his description, not mine]

Next was a woman who said she was 80 plus. Truthfully you could see that both nature and time were good to her. She said that she had always been a homemaker doing all the cleaning, cooking and baking. Today, she has a woman who comes in to clean [her decision] but she still loves to cook and bake. Her family thinks that her cooking days should be over and are always sending her food and deserts, things that she never eats.

Third panelist was a man who was around 70 and still worked part time to help pass the time. He told the panel that his family was always after him to quit the job because, in their words, he doesn’t need the money. He said that he loves his job and his coworkers.

Fourth panelist was a woman that was disabled and in a wheelchair. She said that she is a very proud and private person and doesn’t like to have others, even her children do things that she can do by herself.

The last man on the panel introduced himself as a young 85 year old senior who was Jewish. He went on to say that in the Jewish religion, there is a very important commandment to honor your parents. He said in his opinion, honoring your parents doesn’t mean imposing their will [the children] on your parents.

The hostess asked what he meant about imposing their will. He said that children should respect their parents and help only when they are asked. He went on to say that his children think he should be living in a seniors assisted residence instead of living on his own. They think that he needs ‘protection’ from the world, that they are con men out there to rob him blind.

This gentleman also said that he knows that his children only want the best for him but they don’t understand that even though he is a senior, he is still capable of looking after himself. He still drives [something they don’t like either], is relatively healthy and is very active.

The lady in the wheelchair then said that her children also want her to go and live in a nursing home and be ‘catered’ too. “They never walked into a nursing home.” She continued.

As the program went on, the hostess asked about children who ignore their senior parents. How do you solve this problem?

The consensus was that education was the key to solving the problems. If children learn at a young age respect of elders and being available if needed, most senior wouldn’t be ignored. Parents also have to learn that they don’t have the right to ‘demand’ that their children be at their beck and call.

The program ended with some very important tips on what seniors would like from their children.

1. Instead of just doing, give me the courtesy of asking. For example…can I cook or bake something for you, or what would you like me to do to help? Except no, not this time.

2. Treat me as an adult. I may be a senior and do thing more slowly, but I can still think and do for myself.

3. Let me ask you for help sometimes if I feel I need it.

4. Pick up the phone and call to ask ‘how are you today’, or what are your plans today?

5. Remember my birthday. And if you are fortunate enough to have both parents remember our wedding anniversary.

This past March, I wrote a poem on Miriam's Words that was also published on Chabad’s The Jewish Woman site called The Third Generation. I just wonder how many seniors are sitting at home right now and waiting for the phone to ring or a child or grandchild to visit…….

Now back to the original question. Is the third generation really the golden age? I would love to read your comments.

Miriam

2010-07-28T07:49:00.002+03:00

בס''ד
Goodman Family Moves part 2

Welcome back!

Our Challenges………..

When I ended part 1 [blog below this one] of my blog last week, we had found an apartment in a haredi building, received permission to install the YES satellite dish on our balcony and signed the lease. We called YES made the arrangements and they said no problem. Everything was working out beautifully…..

Two days later, Yaffa, our landlady, called to say that if we give her 2800 shekels we could stay until August 1st. She was going to rent an apartment in Beer Sheva for 6 weeks. We told her that we were moving on July 1st.

I should note that we offered her 2500 shekels, the rent we were paying plus an extra 100 shekels for the month of August when we told her we needed the apartment for 1 more month and she refused to even discuss the matter.

This was Wednesday, a week before we moved. My daughter Devorah and I decided to go to the apartment Sunday morning and see what needed cleaning and get the apartment ready for our move on Thursday.

We also wanted to bring some things over to the apartment since we would be moving a couple of days after the three weeks started [from the 17 of Tammuz to Tish B’Av with the first day on Tuesday. We were told by the Rav that if we wanted to move during the three weeks, we had to start the move before the three weeks.]

While we were cleaning the technician from YES came to the apartment to see where he could install the dish. Our nightmare was about to begin……..

Our lease was very explicit, the dish must start on our balcony and not go on the roof. We told this to the tech. but he said that even though we have 2 balconies, they both face the wrong direction for the dish to work.

He said that he has experience in haredi buildings and usually if you tell the people on the top floor what you want to do, there aren’t any problems. He said that he could put it up between the dudes [solar tank for hot water] and it won’t stick out.

With that, before we could say anything, he went upstairs to knock on doors. Two minutes later he was back telling us that the building has a rabbinical ban that there can’t be any televisions.

We called our agent, and he said that there wasn’t any ban on our street and the tech should put the dish on the roof. The tech said that he can’t because they told him if the dish goes up they will cut the lines and throw it off the roof.

Devorah called our owner and spoke to his wife. She said that she and her husband had no problems with us having the television but told the agent to deal with the neighbors before anything gets installed. The agent never spoke to anyone in the building.

I said that I didn’t want the apartment because the agent knew that we wanted YES and only agreed to sign the lease after we got the issur [permission].

We stopped cleaning and went home to discuss what actions we were going to take. On our way home we met a very respected Rav in our area and Devorah told him what had happened. He volunteered to go and speak to the person who was the most vocal.

An hour later, the Rav came to our house and said that they use the roof for ‘events’ [whatever that meant] but they had no objection if we put in HOT. [cable company]. Avraham agreed to call HOT and see if they would be willing to give us service since there wasn’t any infrastructure on our street.

After speaking to a fellow at their customer service and explaining the problems, the agent said that he would have to check with their technical department to see what can and can’t be done and said he would get back to us with an answer.

Two hours later, the he called us back and said that since our address is 26..the last house that had cable in the building is across the parking lot at 22, it would not be a problem to pull a line and give us service. He said that they do it all the time. He then proceeded to take the cable order and installation date and tried to also sell us telephone and internet service. He went so far as to give us his cell phone number and said if we had any questions we should call him directly. So far so good…...

We called the rental agent and the Rav and told them that we made arrangements with HOT and asked the Rav to inform the person he spoke to in the apartment building.

Thursday, moving day finally arrived. The movers were supposed to come between 7:45 and 8:00 and when they didn’t arrive by 8:20 we called the company and spoke to the owner. He said his workers didn’t show up for work and he was trying to get other workers. I can’t start to tell you what was going on in my house. Here we were packed and ready without any movers.

Twenty minutes later 2 men showed up at our apartment and said they were movers and that the truck would be there in 10 minutes.

The movers turned out to be terrific. They treated our furniture with such care. Every piece of furniture was wrapped with blankets and clear wrap and carried carefully out of the apartment onto the truck.

As they brought our furniture to our new apartment they were just as careful. They unwrapped the furniture and placed it where I asked them too. They certainly earned the tip we gave them.

With the movers gone we preceded to start to unpack and make our new apartment our home. We were expecting Bezeq [the phone company] and HOT.

Devorah came over with 2 of her daughters and brought us lunch.

Feeling exhausted, I was not prepared to have the phone company tech. tell me that he could not install a telephone outlet where I wanted it. He wanted to drag wires all over the walls. I just lost it and told him to leave. He opened the existing outlets and left.

Half an hour later HOT was supposed to come and install the cables on the televisions. When he was an hour late, we called HOT and they told us there was a slight problem and we would have service in 1 week.

This day was just getting too much for me.

That evening our other daughter, son-in-law and grandson, Naomi, Eliezer and Yoni came over to help us unpack and brought us supper and an entire Shabbos meal.

Day 1 in our new apartment was finally over.

Friday, day 2 went a little better. We unpacked a lot of boxes and the house was actually getting a Shabbos look. That evening, when I was washing the Shabbos dishes, I felt my feet getting wet. The drain pipe from the sink was blocked and it was backing up, leaking and we had water everywhere. By now, I was starting to hate this apartment.

Sunday morning, we called the agent and asked him to send us a plumber. Although the plumber said he would come that afternoon, he didn’t show up until the next day. Our plumber turned out to be a moonlighting handyman.

We decided to call our HOT agent and see what was happening because we didn’t see anyone working in the building to put in the infrastructure. The HOT customer service agent assured us up and down that the work order had been approved and it would take a week to 10 days and we would have service.

Back to the apartment. We have 2 balconies. Our upstairs neighbour has her air conditioner dripping water on the balcony off the living room. The balcony is unusable. We asked her to attach a hose and direct the drippings in another direction. She said she would call a service man. It is now 1 month later, my balcony is flooded and we have pigeons bathing in the pail that I put outside to try and catch some of the drippings.

As I write these words, I am so fed up, I am actually laughing.

I love pictures hanging in the house. Usually, one of the first things we do in a new apartment is hang up the pictures and curtains. This personalizes the apartment and makes it our home. This time I didn’t feel I could hang up any family pictures. The one exception was a ceramic picture that said Shalom that we hang outside our front door with a Bracha [blessing] for our home.

The shalom picture has special meaning to me because it was a gift from Naomi, the first time she came to visit Israel with my mother a”h. One morning a week after we hung up the picture, Avraham opened the front door and he called me. The picture had been stolen. Just the nail and the Bracha were left. I felt disgusted.

Back to HOT. Three days after being assured of service, Avraham called to see what the progress was even though we knew nothing was happening and was told that they didn’t want to pull the cable wire like they said they would to give us service. They didn't have the professionalism to call us and advise us they couldn't give us service, they waited for us to call.

I won’t bore you with the details, but you can just imagine the flurry of phone calls I made to managers. I was furious because we believed them and took this apartment. Had they not guaranteed service, we would have not taken the apartment, but waited for the apartment that was available in August.

HOT claims that they came to the building 5 days after we moved in to install the infrastructure but someone in the building threw them out. All I know is that no one from HOT ever knocked on my door to say that they weren’t being allowed to install their cables.

My son-in-law Hagai knows someone in management from YES. He asked him to go and see if anything could be done for us. Eli came and said short of putting the dish on the roof we would have to turn the building around to get service.

HOT and I were still battling and when I told them I was going to the media to say that they were dishonest and would say anything to get an order the strangest thing happened.

It was 9:45 in the evening three weeks later. The phone rang and the woman on the phone asked for me and said that she was from HOT and that the manager wanted to come to speak to me in person and when would it be okay. I gave her a day and time and she told me she would confirm the time with the manager and get back to me the next day.

The next morning when Avraham checked his e-mail, there was a 6 page e-mail from HOT saying that they were going to install HOT in our apartment and gave a time and date. The women never called me back and HOT never showed up on the day or time they chose.

Bottom line….we called the rental agent and told him what was going on.

He said that he would speak to the district manager of HOT [who was his friend] and try to get him to give us service. This past Sunday, our rental agent told us they gave him their final answer. To much work for just 1 family……….They don’t want to get involved in Haredi buildings.

That afternoon, we met with the agent and he agreed to break our lease and help us find another apartment.

Epilogue:
HOT is not a company to trust. They proved this to us by lying, cheating and will say anything to get the order. I am going to go to the media as I told them I would.

YES agreed to cancel our new 1 month old contract with them without penalties because they couldn’t give us service. In our next apartment, we will only use YES.

And oh yes, the water is still dripping, drip drop, drip drop……………..

So it is now back to the drawing boards and the classified ads …………………

I am sorry this blog is so long and I got carried away. In some ways, writing this blog has been good therapy for me.

Until next time [and I won’t be so long winded]
Miriam

2010-07-19T08:10:00.000+03:00

בס''ד

GOODMAN FAMILY MOVES part 1

This title sounds simple enough………

1] You check the newspaper for rentals or get a rental agent

2] Go and look at some apartments….

3] Find the one you like…..

4] Sign a lease…..

5] Order a moving truck…..

6] Pack up and move………

Very straight forward, something that shouldn’t take more than a couple of weeks, you would think.

Now let me backtrack a little. We live in Netivot and we were living in our previous apartment for 5 years and were very happy. We had great neighbors, a super location with good public transportation and close to shopping, our medical clinic, and shuls on very corner including one in the building next to ours. So why did we move, you ask?

Our landlady [Yafffa] told us that she was not going to renew our lease as she wanted to move back into her apartment. In Israel, except for not paying the rent, this is the only reason an owner can not renew the lease.

The problem was that she told us on May 25th which gave us only 5 weeks to find a new place to live. Most landlords give 60 to 90 days notice. Our lease was over June 30th. I said to my husband, “no problem. I am sure we will find something in our neighborhood in few days.” Boy was I wrong!

So started the search. In Netivot, as in many other communities in Israel, each Friday, the local magazines are available and they advertise everything from A to Z including several classified sections. Both private people and agents list what rentals and for sells they have. We had decided to find an apartment on our own and not use an agent because agents take a months rent for their service.

Week 1 in the search proved to be unsuccessful. The tenant living in the only apartment that we went to see told us that the drains in the bathrooms were blocked and that the shower in the master bedroom couldn’t be used because it flooded the bedroom. She told me that she has to pour bleach into the drains daily to control the smell.[we could smell the bleach] When I asked her why the landlord didn’t fix the drains, she said that he didn’t want to because it was an expensive job. Scratch that apartment.

We decided to place our own ad ‘Looking for an apartment’ in the largest magazine for the following Friday. Anxiously, we waited for the calls from people who had apartments for rent and were looking for good tenants. The only calls we got were from people who didn’t read the ad correctly and thought we had an apartment for rent.

Week 2 was back to the drawing board. We decided to speak to other people and ask them to keep their eyes opened for us. We take a lot of taxis, and taxi drivers in Netivot know everything. We asked the drivers if they hear about an apartment in our area to let us know and gave them a cell phone number to call. We also placed our ad in the magazine once again hoping for better results.

My daughter told me about an Israeli site for rentals. http://www.yad2.co.il/ We checked out all the rentals but there wasn’t anything in the area where we wanted to live. This site became our ‘favorite site’. Several times a day we would check to see if anyone posted a new apartment listing.

That Friday, the magazines came out ….. we called several ads only to be told that the building didn’t allow internet or televisions. These were haredi buildings. Now I should tell you that we were living in a haredi area…..The project that we lived in had 10 buildings with 6 families in each building. The majority of families in the project were haredi, with some of the buildings totally haredi.

In our building there were 2 haredi families, 2 dati leumi families like us and 1 cholini [secular] family. We all got along very well. Another owner didn’t want any young children in the apartment at any time. We have B"H 12 grandchildren………….

Once again, our ad didn’t result in any calls.

We were now entering week 3. Our computer repairman called us and said that his aunt had an apartment for rent in our project [the building with the shul] and it was available immediately. This apartment was 100 meters, [good size] had the amount of bedrooms we wanted, rent was reasonable. The only drawback was that it was on the 3rd floor. My husband and I are not spring chickens but we decided to go and see the apartment.

We know this building very well and knew that it had problems with the roof when it rained. I had heard that the top floor apartments had a lot of rain damage but I didn’t realize exactly how much damage rain can do.

When we walked into the apartment it looked like a bomb had hit it. The previous tenants destroyed the entire apartment. We were told that they lived there for 2 years but didn’t pay the rent and it took 18 months for the court to evict them. They broke all the trisim, torn the screens made holes in the walls and ceilings, totally broke the 2 toilets and shower hoses, broke the doors of the kitchen cabinets and left the kitchen double sink hanging by one bolt. The floor looked like it hadn’t been washed in the 2 years they lived there.

When we went to see the laundry room, we saw the damage cased by the rain. The apartment had a beautiful layout and I could picture it clean and furnished. The landlady was asking 2000 shekals a month to take it as is and we could fix it ourselves or 2200 shekals a month and she would fix and paint.

We agreed to go and speak to the landlady and arranged to meet her a couple of days later. Our children were very unhappy that the apartment was on the 3rd floor. They told us to remember that we had to shlepp heavy groceries. They and my husband were very concerned about the rain and the damage. My son-in-law said, “who is going to pay for your damage when it rains. You are moving into a freshly painted apartment and when it rains, you will be back to square one.” In the end we decided that this apartment was more trouble than it was worth.

We then saw another apartment where the laundry room was outside on the balcony and since there was a built in stove in the kitchen, I would have to put my stove outside. Since both my appliances are electronic, any dampness would have ruined them.

At the end of week 3 we were not any closer to finding an apartment. We now enter week 4 and we see an ad on yad2 for an apartment on our street. We called the owner and made arrangements to go and see the apartment.

This apartment was just what we wanted….location, number of bedrooms, rent etc. It had a beautiful kitchen with a breakfast nook. The balcony was small and off the master bedroom, [not good], but the master bedroom had a walk-in closet [very unusual in our area]. The apartment needed to be painted but basically it was in good condition. The only drawback was that it was only available for August 1st and we needed it for July 1st.

I really wanted to rent this apartment. We spoke to Yaffa [our landlady] about giving us an extra month, and she went bonkers. My husband told her that if she didn’t stop screaming he would hang up on her. She only screamed louder and so he hung up. Five minutes later, Yaffa called back threatening to show up on the 1st and throw all our furniture of the balcony. My husband just hung up on her.

We broke down and called an agent that we knew and asked him if he had any apartments for July 1st. He took us to see the dirtiest, smelliest and the most expensive apartment that we ever saw. Scratch this apartment. I still wanted the August apartment.

The next day, when Avrham went downstairs to get the mail, who did he meet coming into the building….you guessed it, Yaffa and was she ever ‘hot’. My husband invited Yaffa to come upstairs and talk quietly but once again she had a screaming fit and then threatened to have her friends come and beat him up and throw our furniture in the garbage.

Finally I just opened the door and said to her “Shalom Yaffa”, wow did she get angry at me. She told that this was her apartment and I can’t throw her out of it. I told her that I paid the rent, so it is my apartment until the lease is over so get out. When she finally left, I told my daughter about Yaffa, she said that since this was her second threat, she would call a police detective that she knows and asked what to do. He advised us to report her threat to the police and so this is what Avraham did.

Later that day, Yaffa called Avraham to tell him that she just spoke to an agent that she knew and that he had an apartment available for July 1st.

Avraham called the agent and we went to see the apartment. The apartment was a large 2 bedroom apartment, freshly painted and really in move in condition in a haredi building.

As I mentioned before, haredi buildings don’t allow televisions, internet or dogs. We had all three. We told the agent that the apartment was very nice but that we had a television with a contract from YES, the satellite cable company and a dog. [The dog has since passed away] We wanted permission from the owner to put up the satellite dish. If we got permission we would take the apartment.

He told us the dog wasn’t a problem but he would ask about satellite dish and would let us know the next day. We spoke to the agent early the next day and he told us that the owner gave his permission and agreed to write it in the lease as a clause.

That afternoon we signed the lease. Everything seemed to be coming together. We ordered our moving truck for the day we wanted and finished up packing. Little did we know.................

Until next time….. Im Yirtzeh Hashem next week part 2.......
Our Challenges [an unbelievable story]

Miriam

2010-05-30T06:26:00.002+03:00

בס''ד
From Two to Nineteen.....

Today on the Jewish calendar is the 17th of Sivan. And why am I writing about this date you ask? Well, today is my husband Avraham and my 43rd wedding anniversary.

We were married on June 25 1967 which was 17th of Sivan 5727 at the Young Israel of Chomedey, in Chomedey, Quebec. For those who do not know, Chomedey is a suburb of Montreal.

Believe me when I write that back then, it never occured to me that we would be blessed with 3 amazing kids, 2 daughters and a son, 2 super son-in-laws, 12 precious grandchildren, make Aliyah and live in Israel.

Oh yes, another fact that I would have never believed would happened is that I would have a pet dog. Truthfully, I am a little afraid of dogs, but for the last 15 years Rocky has been part of our family and a good friend.

Rocky

Our wedding was almost put on whole, because of the 6 day war in Israel. http://www.zionism-israel.com/dic/6daywar.htm and shuls were not allowing weddings with music to take place.

Fortunately for us and many other couples, Israel won the war in 6 days and our wedding was a happening.....

My wedding was a real princess wedding. You know the kind with all the trimmings. Being the only daughter, I was the princess of the family. Sometimes I think that my Mother a"h planned my wedding to make up for her wedding having to be just a chuppa [ceremony] in the Rabbi's study.

My parents were married in Montreal in 1943. Three weeks before their wedding date, my Father a"h, who was a soldier in the Canadian army was called up and received orders to be deployed 72 hours later to Europe to fight in the war.

They didn't know what to do. The time was during the nine days in Av, when weddings do not take place.

After asking a she'elah [question] to the Chief Rabbi in Montreal, the answer was that they must get married before my Father left and that he [the Chief Rabbi] would do the ceremony. The ceremony was arranged for the next day. Twenty-four hours later, my father was deployed for 3 years.

My mother told me that a couple days after my father left, the bridle store called to say that her wedding dress was ready and she told them to give it away. She didn't want to see it finished.

My parents's engagement pictures. Being the 9 days, the Rav wouldn't allow them to take a wedding picture.

My parents were only married for 37 years. My father passed away a month after their anniversary.

So much water has passed under the bridge since that wonderful Sunday in June.

May we be blessed to welcome great-grandchildren!

Our special family.

My husband Avraham and myself

Our son Eli-Chaim and me

The Horevs

Devorah, Adi, Gilad, Hagai, Nadav, Netta, Talia, Chen

The Pollacks
Eliezer, Itamar, Naomi

Oshri, Dvir, Bat-El, Itamar Pollack

Michael Pollack

Itamar, Yoni Pollack

Until next time..........

Miriam

2010-05-10T13:52:00.001+03:00

בס''ד
An Anniversary of Sort..........
My journey with diabetes one year later.....

Last year, on May 15th, my world was turned upside down. It was an ordinary Sunday morning except for the fact that I had an appointment with my doctor to go over the results of the yearly blood work I had done a couple of days earlier.

As my doctor scanned my results and he came to glucose he shook his head and said, "this must be a mistake. The reading is much to high. Maybe you have an infection." And with this he sent me to the nurse to manually check my blood sugar. My number was 410. It should never be more than 126, so he ordered more tests including the Hemoglobin A1C .

A couple of days later with all the blood work back, my doctors suspicions were confirmed. I had diabetes type 2. So started my battle with diabetes.

My primary care doctor introduced me to Yifat the dietitian and Dalia the diabetic nurse and expert. Together, they became my team. A week later, I met the diabetic doctor. He was very gentle, reassuring and non threatening to speak too.

If I tell you the shock, fear and frustration that I felt those first few weeks, it would be an understatement. Desperately in need of information I spent hours checking out web sites of the Israel Diabetes Association, American Diabetic Association, Canadian Diabetes Association and British Diabetes Association . I was determined to learn as much as I could about diabetes.

The main thing that I learnt was that type 2 can be controlled with exercise, diet and meds.

I decided that diabetes was my project and that I would do whatever was necessary and beat it. I printed out information that I felt was important for me to remember and made myself a diabetic journal to refer too.

Over the early weeks, I pricked my finger 4 times a day and slowly watched my blood sugar number go down.

Three weeks after my initial appointment, my diabetic doctor said to me, "I don't know what you are doing to have these great results so quickly, but obviously whatever you did was the right thing, so keep on doing it."

I faithfully followed all the instructions and advice of my team. I watched every mouthful I ate and I was losing weight. My clothes were getting big on me. I told my husband that I have to go and buy new clothes.

After 3 months, my doctor took me off my medicine. Every evening, no matter how tired I was, my husband, our dog Rocky and I religiously went for a walk. We still go walking at least 4 times a week. When we first started walking, it took us 20 minutes to go around the block. [It is a long block.] Now we can walk it in 9 minutes. It amazes me how far I can walk without getting tired. Truth be told, it is Rocky who has trouble keeping up.

At my last appointment, my doctor said to me "you are proof that type 2 diabetes can be beaten. You took the diagnosis seriously, followed instructions and today you are diabetic free."

Life with diabetes has been a major adjustment for me. I check every product that I buy for its sugar content and where the sugar is in the list of ingredients. I watch the glycemic index [G.I.] trying to eat only low and medium foods. I have given up some of my favourite foods even though I still make them for my family. I stopped noshing junk and I watch my portions because I know that if I cheat, I am only cheating myself. And pricking my finger to check my blood sugar is still no picnic. Fortunately, I only have to do it 4 times, 1 day a week, every 2 weeks.

Sometimes, I still get nervous thinking that I ate the wrong food or that I had too much and I check my sugar after 2 hours of eating. [the waiting period]

It is now one year since that Sunday morning and I lost around 15 kilos [33 pounds] and have able to maintain my weight and keep my blood sugar number in check. Today I am B"H healthy!

Diabetes is a serious health issue. The truth is diabetes, unlike many other illnesses can be controlled. Proper nutrition, close and individualized follow-ups, physical activity and proper medication can prevent complications and offer people with diabetes a better quality of life. I know this statement is true...I proved it!

Feel free to comment and pass my blog around.

Until next time..........

Miriam

2010-05-01T20:47:00.001+03:00

בס''ד

Shepping Nachas

Last Shabbos, Parsha Acharei Mot-Kedoshim (Leviticus 16-20), Saba Avraham and I joined our family to celebrate the Bar Mitzvah of our grandson Itamar Pinchas, at his kibbutz in Gush Etzion. Itamar is the son of our oldest daughter and son-in-law, Naomi and Eliezer.

Itamar leined his double parsha with ease, confidence and his voice was loud and clear. Itamar's many months of practicing had paid off. Truthfully, he was totally wonderful.

Itamar practicing with his brother Yoni.

After shul I asked Itamar how he felt and all he could do to breathe a sigh of relief.......

Five weeks ago, Saba Avraham had the honour of davening at the Kibbutz's shul when Itamar put on his Tefillin for the first time.

Proud Abba with Yoni, Itamar and Dvir.

After davening, Itamar invited his class to come to his house for breakfast.

Back to Shabbos. The Shabbos meals were in the Beit Medrash and for seuda shilshi, Naomi and Eliezer invited their friends and neighbours to join the simcha. At each meal, one of Itamar's great uncles gave a shiur. Itamar gave his shiur at the seuda shilshi.

The Bar Mitzvah celebrations continued on Tuesday when Naomi and Eliezer took Itamar's classmates and his kibbutz friends to Elk Farm Land in Gush Etzion,[click English link] where everyone had a blast rope climbing and doing other activities. Itamar on the ropes [turn on your speakers]. The Bar Mitzvah celebrations ended with a bar b' que.

All in all, the celebrations were very successful.

Mazal-Tov Itamar! You are a very special young man with a good heart and a beautiful smile. Saba and I are so very proud of you. We wish you much success as you grow and continue your learning.

Naomi and Eliezer, Mazal-Tov to you! You have a beautiful family and have given us wonderful grandchildren. May you both be well and shep nachas from your family! You have what to be proud of! Three more years until the next one...............

Im Yirtzeh Hashem, after Succot, on Parsha Noah, we will celebrate the Bar Mitzvah of our grandson, Gilad.

May Saba and I be well attend many Bar Mitzvahs and dance at our twelve grandchildren's weddings....

Simchas Only!

Miriam