בס''ד

The Passing of a Patriarch......

The central theme of my blog Miriam’s Words is family. When my daughter Devorah and Hagai were married, Devorah was very fortunate to join a wonderful family, The Horevs.

This week is eleven months since Hagai’s father and Devorah’s father-in-law, Yitzchak Horev a”h passed away. On 5th of Kislev, the Horev family lost the patriarch of their family. And what a loss it has been!

This blog is dedicated to his memory.

I would like to give you some background about this man. First and foremost he was a tzadik. Reb Yitzchak suffered personally so that he could live in Israel. In his later years he would sit in the Beit Knesset and learn day and night. He started a Tehillim group [psalms] on the Moshav called Tehillim Melech David and through his inspiration, the men would learn Tehillim all day long. Because he was so skilled in reading, comprehension and writing in Hebrew, everyone on the Moshav that needed a letter read or written, would come to him.

Reb Yitzchak had a special relationship with his grandchildren. He would play with them and learn Torah with them. He had a walker with a seat and he would give the little children rides on his walker. The older grandchildren knew he was someone to turn to whenever they needed to talk and ask questions.

His funeral was no ordinary funeral. According to the Minhag of Jerba, when a learned man who is married and has children reaches the age of 75 he is called a Tzadik and is buried with the outmost of respect according to the customs of a Tzadik.

Rabbanim came from everywhere and all who gave eulogies spoke about this special man in glorifing words. His youngest daughter spoke from her heart and moved everyone.

Before the burial there were seven Hakafot [circles] around his Talit covered body. [In Israel we don’t usually use coffins]. All the men participated in the honour of taking part in the funeral of a tzadik. The shofar was being blown through out the Hakafot. After the hakafot and on the way to the burial they chanted the song Bar Yochai.

When his body was being lowered into the ground for burial, several of his young grandsons went to watch. When Devorah asked her son Gilad why he went when he was told not too, he answered her “I just wanted to see Saba for one last time.” His Saba was his hero.

During shiva, Rabbanim and ordinary people came to menachem [to mourn and show respect] the 16 family members sitting shiva.

Rabbanim would give shuirim all day long. There were 2 large tents set up in front of his home and the amount of bus loads of people who came each day and evening was mind boggling. From the first morning davening [prayers] at 6:00 a.m. until midnight everyday, people came to pay their respects.

I must tell you this very interesting anecdote: When Gilad was born he developed a very bad case of jaundice. At 3 weeks old, he still hadn’t had a brit.

In the meanwhile Devorah and Hagai had decided that they would name their baby son Gilad Eliyahu Raphael. Hagai’s father called him and said that that he had to speak to him. Hagai went immediately to his father.

Reb Yitzchak told him that he had a dream about a very prominent Rav from Jerba, Tunis, Rav Raphael Chadir Tzaban a”h. Rav Tzaban had passed away not long ago and he dreamt that Rav Tzaban came to him in a dream and said it is time for the baby to have a Brit. He asked Hagai if he could possibly give Raphael as one of the names. Hagai agreed immediately. His father said, “don’t you have to discuss this with Devorah.” Hagai, not wanting to tell him that they had already decided on this name just said that Devorah will like the name and will agree.

As far as Reb Yitzchak ever knew, Gilad’s name Raphael came from him.

Hashem certainly works in mysterious ways.........

Last night [Wednesday] was Reb Yitzchak’s Haskara [the Sephardim custom for a yartzheit]. More than 150 people came to remember Reb Yitzchak. Rabbanim spoke about how much he was missed and the good things that he did in his lifetime. Over the past 11 months, his sons have been learning mishnah once a week in their father’s memory. Last night the mishnah was finished and they made a Seum Masechet. [conclusion of a Mishnah.]

This past May, as a school project, Gilad had to write about his roots, to learn who he was and where did he come from. He wrote so lovingly and in great detail about his Saba Yitzchak that I decided to use his words.

This is Gilad’s project.

Name: Yitzchak Churi. [ Reb Yitzchak was an ardent Zionist and wanted to have a Hebrew name. He chose Horev because it means Har Sinai.]

Date of birth: 1925 [month a date unknown]

Date of Death: 5th of Kislev 5769

My Saba's a”h was born in Tunisia and his family lived on the Island of Jerba.

When my Saba was 20 years old, he decided to emmigrate to Israel. For an entire year, he participated in the course given by the Jewish Agency to prepare for living in Israel.

In 1946, Saba Yitzchak went alone from Jerba to Tunis,[ the capital of Tunisa] where he received a passport. His family came several years later.

He went to Algiers and was there for three months. After the three months my saba (and other immigrants) were put on a Greek ship and it set sail for Israel. On the ship there was severe famine and illness.[My Saba always said that the ship was so old it reminded him of a shell from a walnut.] When they approached the waters of Israel in Haifa, the British seized the ship and forced my Saba (and the other immigrants) to board the British ship.

They were taken Cyprus to a hard working prison camp. In the camp the food was not kosher. They didn’t have any beds, and the guards were forever humiliating the Jews. Saba tried to escape twice from the prison camp. On his first attempt my Saba and two friends managed to dig a tunnel underneath the camp. When the guard saw one of his friends who was the first to head out of the tunnel, he shot him to death. Saba and his friend quickly returned back and their lives were saved by a miracle. Saba decided to attempt the second escape as a woman to cross the checkpoints and tried to exit the prison as a visitor.

Saba got a woman's wig and a dress and shoes and managed to go through all the checkpoints of the prison except the last checkpoint. There was a women guard who was suspicious of the strange woman walking in high heels. She stopped him, stripped him and found he was a prisoner tryng to escape. He was put into solitary confinement until he was released.

In 1948 when the State of Israel was established, my Saba and the rest of the camp’s political inmates were released and sent to Israel.

In December 1948, Saba Yitzchak was sent to live Kibbutz Tirat Zvi in the Beit She'an Valley.

He later met and married my Safta Miriam ad120. They moved to the Negev and were co-founders of Moshav Sumara. In 1951 the Moshav moved to a permanent location and was renamed Moshav Sharsharet.

Life was very hard. They were living very close to the Arabs and they suffered persecution and killings of their fellow Moshav members. They had no running water, or electricity or permanent structures. In every respect they lived in substandard conditions. Saba was appointed from the Jewish Agency to be the person in charge of the Moshav. Saba was responsible for the distribution of food that they receive from the Jewish Agency.

He would go to work in Tel Aviv every Sunday, leaving his wife and children. Only on Friday he would return back home to the family. He later worked for the Moetza Sdot Negev [regional council] in charge the water control.

My Saba and Safta raised B”H 13 children. Today there are more than 75 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren.

Epilogue:

Saba Yitzchak taught his children and grandchildren to grow up in the way of the Torah and not to give up their principles.

Thank-you to Devorah for helping with the translation and in filling in the missing pieces.

It was my husband Avraham and my honor to have known Reb Yitzchak Horev. May his wife Miriam and their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren be blessed with good health and many years of happiness.

Feel free to comment and pass this blog around.

Until next time!

Miriam

בס''ד

Our Special Dividends

The other day I received an e-mail from an old friend telling me that she and her husband were going to be first time grandparents in April. From her note it was easy to see her excitement and feel her joy. My friend can’t wait to become a grandmother. Her note inspired me to write this blog.

We learn that the cycle of life and family are the foundation of Jewish life and guarantor of Jewish survival. This Shabbos we will start to read Sefer Bereishis [book of Genesis], the first book of the five books of the Torah.

Over the course of many weeks we will read about some families, children and grandchildren of our patriarchs and matriarchs. The barren wife of Avraham Avinu, Sara who gave birth in her old age, sibling rivalries, and Yaakov, his wives and family.

Purim we read about Queen Esther and how she risked her life to save the Jewish people and the continuation of the Jewish family.

On Shavous here to we learn about family. We read in Megilla Ruth, about Naomi and her two daughters-in-law who are sisters. Ruth became the grandmother of David HaMelech [King David] and Orpah became the grandmother of Goliath.

The cycle of the family begins with a child being born. As children, we are totally dependent on our parents for all our needs. Our parents have the tremendous responsibility of caring for us, teaching us, showing us right from wrong, guiding us and helping to shape the kind of person we will be. Our extended family, grandparents, aunts and uncles also play a part in who we are.

As we grow from childhood to teenager, to young adult, to adult, our needs from our parents become very different, but our family is still the most important aspect in our lives. We are now able to be somewhat independent and stand on our own ‘two feet.’

The next stage of our life is meeting that someone special and marriage. Now a new family is ready to be started.

Quietly, we as parents pray to The One Above for His guiding Hand to our new couple.

Now it is ‘we instead of I’. The next 40 odd years will be spent by working, raising a family, marrying off our children, and waiting for the grandchildren to arrive to be the next generation and continue the cycle of the family. My father a”h would say that grandchildren are life’s dividends. How true! I can only imagine the thrill of having the Bracha to greet our great-grandchildren.

The cycle of life is an exciting journey. There are many stages in a person’s life and in order to fulfill and reach our potential, we need to experience each stage, one step at a time. In life, we experience many emotions, happiness, sadness, ups and downs. The kind of person we turn out to be and what we accomplish in life depends on our upbringing, environment and what goals we set for ourselves.

Each stage of life is very important. My husband and I have experienced many stages in our married lives. The excitement of waiting for our daughters to be born, the adoption of our son, as young parents and sometimes as older parents making some ‘mistakes’ in raising our children and enjoying our successes, to watching our daughters become mothers themselves and raise their children. The nachas [joy], the laughter, the happiness and the memories that our children have given us will keep us smiling in our golden years.

We have been truly blessed with three great kids, two daughters and a son, two wonderful sons-in-law and 12 precious grandchildren. Our family has grown from just the two of us to nineteen. B”H! We pray that our grandchildren, the next generation, will continue the shower us with Yiddish nachas.

During Chol H’Moed Sukkot we visited our children and grandchildren. And being typical grandparents we did what typical grandparents do.....we took pictures of the children.

Our special dividends:

From left to right:
Top: Nadav and Talia
Center: Neta, Adi and Chen

Bottom: Gilad and the Horev girls





















From left to right:
Top: Itamar and Bat-El
Center: Yoni and Oshrei
Bottom: Dvir and Michael

And while we are on the subject of grandchildren, our grandson Dvir went with his class to a Succot Fair in Nachalot, a section of Jerusalem, to see the Etrogim on display. A photographer from the weekly newspaper BeSheva snapped a picture of some of the children and it was printed on their front paper. Dvir [yellow hat] was in the picture. I told him that I would post the picture on my blog.

















Please feel free to comment and pass my blog around.

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

Miriam

בס''ד

Let the Fun Begin!

Shalom everyone! I hope everyone had an easy fast.

Now that the two biggies Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur are over it’s time to have fun. This Shabbat is the first day of Sukkot. We will have to wait until the first day of Chol H’Moed to wave the Luluv and Etrog.

On Moetzi Yom Kippur my husband and son put up the frame for our succah. It’s a tradition that after asking Hashem for forgiveness all day on Yom Kippur, that we start off on the right foot with a mitzvah of at least starting to put up the succah.

In our neighborhood and I’m sure in yours too, we could hear banging until very late at night.

Sukkot is very different in Israel than where I come from in Montreal, actually Chomedey, a suburb of Montreal. I can remember more than one Sukkot, my brother and I eating in the succah with snow gently falling all around us.

Boy was it cold! But we had a succah and we couldn’t let the fun and mitzvah of eating in the succah go to waste because of a little snow. The steam from the hot chicken soup would curl up to the roof. My father a”h would make kiddish in the succah and he and my mother a”h would then eat their Yom Tov meal in the house. One year, after I was married, it snowed on Sukkot and my husband joined my parents in the house. All I can say was that he was too ‘chicken’ to eat in the succah. I know of people who put heaters into their succah.

My parents would hang lollypops in between the decorations and on Chol H’Moed invite the neighborhood children to come and find a lollypop. Every kid on our street would come.

I have some great stories of my parent’s succah. Like the time when my parents who lived on a ground floor duplex and came home one day to find their Greek neighbor drawing a pattern for windows on the outside of the succah. He wanted to do a ‘mitzvah’ for them by cutting out windows to give extra light.

The succah is supposed to remind us of B’nei Yisrael who lived in ‘succah huts’ during the 40 years of wandering in the desert. Many people today live, eat and sleep in their succah.

Now in Israel it is easy to camp out in a succah. The weather is genually nice [we don’t usually get the rain until after Sukkot] but in Canada, the wind is already blowing cold air. It could be raining or snowing.

I remember one year in Hamilton, there was a terrible wind storm at night and in the morning everyone found their succah in shambles all over the place. Camping out in a temporary built succah shaking from the wind is no picnic.

So why do people do it? The answer is simple. Sukkot is a seven day [eight days in the diaspora] holiday of joy, where we express our complete trust in G-d. So what’s a little wind............

Since the succah is our temporary home for a week, it is fun to decorate and personalize our home.

In our family, decorating is my job and pleasure. Every year, I try to out do my decorating creations from the year before. Sometimes it’s fun not to grow up..........


Here are some pictures of our succah.

Wishing everyone Chag Sukkot Sameach!

It has become ‘fashionable’ in some circles to organize a boycott of Israeli products, universities & professors, team players etc. I would like to tell you about a group who is fighting back. Buycott Israel is a joint project under the coordination of the Canada-Israel Committee.

Their link is: http://www.buycottisrael.ca/about.php

This is their symbol.

I have written two previous blogs about being diagnosed and living with diabetes [see archives]. About a month ago, I started writing a blog about my diabetes for a health site called Everyday Health.

http://www.everydayhealth.com/diabetes/type2/understanding.aspx

This site has a daily newsletter called Managing Diabetes. If you are interested in seeing my blogs, they can be found at:

http://www.everydayhealth.com/blogs/diabetes-tpe-2-the-ins-and-outs

Saba Avraham and I would now like to brag and we are shepping nachas. Our 8 year old granddaughter Adi submitted a picture she drew to the Makor Rishon newspaper, and it was published in their last Shabbat’s edition....So to our published artist Adi....Kol HaKavod!

original picture

published picture

Until the next blog........

Please feel free to comment and pass my blog around.

Miriam

בס''ד

The New Year 5770 and More...........

Shalom everyone! Just a short blog this time.

With Rosh Hashana over and our new year 5770 just beginning, I hope you and yours had a wonderful and meaningful Yom Tov. May this year bring you good health and happiness.

The davening in our Shul in Netivot was so wonderful. We belong to a small Ashkenazi shul which was first opened about nine or ten years ago for the Russian community who live in the area. Today, it is a community shul with a very mixed and diversed congregation.

The Shul is only used for Shabbat and the Yom Tovim. During the year, the men who attend the shul help with the davening and reading of the Torah, but for the Chagim, the Moetza Dati* sends us a Baal Tefillah*, Baal Kriah*, Baal Mussaf* and a Baal Tokea.*

The voices that these men have are such a Bracha. We have had the same group of men for the past five years. They make the davening so beautiful and meaningful. The Baal Tokea blew his shofar with such ease that it sounded like it was singing a melody. What a pleasure!

*Moetzi Dati..religious community council
*Baal Tefillah..the man who leads Shacharit
*Baal Mussaf..the man who leads Mussaf
*Baal Tokea..the man who blows the Shofar

I added a new link for you to visit. The Crisis Center for Religious Women. The site is in both English and Hebrew. Click the ‘about us’ and view the video. It is eye opening.

Here is a little introduction from their site of the work they do.

Since 1993 the Crisis Center for Religious Women has been providing emotional support, advice and referrals for women and children who are in crisis.

Their goals:
• to help women overcome crisis through emotional
support by telephone;
• to prevent further occurrences of abuse, violence
and rape through education;
• to increase awareness within the religious community to these sensitive topics.

If you are looking to give tzedaka this Yom Tov, please keep the Crisis Center in mind.

The link is:

English:

http://crisiscenter.org.il/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=42&Itemid=62

Hebrew:

http://crisiscenter.org.il/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=42&Itemid=62〈=hebrew

Please feel free to comment and pass my blog around.

Gmar Chatima Tova

Miriam

בס''ד

The Yom Tovim and Diabetes part 3

Time passes quickly and Rosh Hashana is this Shabbos and Sunday. And when we have a Yom Tov, there is always alot of food. All week I have been busy baking and cooking. This spells disaster for me a diabetic, now in control.

Two and half weeks ago, the doctor took me off all my medicine. I am very concerned that I will eat too much and that my blood glucose level will climb. I plan to watch every mouthful, but you know what happens when it is yom tov time and the food is just there.

Since I do not cook for myself, but for a family, I have to be extra careful about what I prepare. The first thing I did was to write a menu. Foods that are very high in calories and high on the G.I. index [Glycemic Index]* were crossed off. This way I can prepare only traditional foods that have lower calories and low on the G.I.index. I’m very happy that the doctor said that I can a little honey on my challah and apple.

I plan to serve fish which is low on the G.I. index for the entrée, our favorite soup, chicken, also low and the main meals will be either chicken or beef. Both haven’t any G.I. value. I just have to be careful about the portion size and remember no seconds. That’s where the extra calories will come from. The stuffing will be made from Kasha instead of potatoes because it is only 54 on the G.I. index where mashed potato stuffing is 70.

For side dishes, I will serve a variety of cold and hot vegetable salads, roasted sweet potatoes and quinoa with stir fried mushrooms and onions. All are low on the G.I. index and low in calories.

As with the rest of my family, dessert time is our weakness. Although I would love to have a piece of chocolate cake, yummy cookies or apple pie, I think I will stick to fruit or unsweetened applesauce, a sugarless jelly dessert and my sugarless oatmeal and applesauce cookies.

For my family I will bake different types of cakes and cookies. No reason for them to ‘suffer’ just because I can’t have any. Both my dietician and doctor told me that I can treat myself a couple of times a month to a square of dark chocolate and a piece of plain cake. I plan to start the new year with a piece of chocolate.

I have so much to be thankful for. I have my family, my diabetes is in control, we live in Israel and the ‘sun shines’ everyday.

I would like to wish you and yours Shana Tova. May you be blessed with good health, happiness and all your prayers and desires be granted.

Am YISROEL Chai!

Please feel free to comment and pass my blog around.

Miriam

* Glycemic Index?
Not all carbohydrate foods are created equal, in fact they behave quite differently in our bodies. The glycemic index or GI describes this difference by ranking carbohydrates according to their effect on our blood glucose levels. Choosing low GI carbs - the ones that produce only small fluctuations in our blood glucose and insulin levels - is the secret to long-term health reducing your risk of heart disease and diabetes and is the key to sustainable weight loss.

High G.I. 70 and above
Medium G.I. 56 to 69
Low G.I. 55 and under

http://www.glycemicindex.com/

בס''ד

A Mixed Bag of Thoughts.........

Update: I would like to start this blog with an update from my blog Life with Diabetes
part 2.

http://miriamswords.blogspot.com/search/label/Diabetes%20part%202blogspot.com/search/label/Diabetes%20part%202

In this blog I wrote that I had to do a hemoglobin A1c blood test. This test checks the blood sugar over a period of two to three months.

Several people sent me notes off blog asking how were my test. I’m so pleased. To be in normal range according to Clalit you must be between 4.27 and 6.07. My results were 5.60. My primary care doctor said that with these results I am diabetic free. My diabetes doctor agreed with his assessment and took away all my medicine. Hurray!

I believe that everything happens for a reason and the reason that I was diagnosed with diabetes was to give me a wake up call to take charge of myself and be healthy for my husband, children and 12 beautiful, precious grandchildren.

To everyone, thank-you so much for caring. Your good wishes mean so much to me.



How Fast Time Passes When You Are Having Fun.......


















Tomorrow, September 7th, is one year since I wrote my first blog on Miriam’s Words. The title of my first blog was Grandparents Are Special.

When I first published my blog, I wondered if anyone would take the time to read it. Well, 5 people took the time to comment on the blog and several more readers posted kind notes to me via my e-mail.

Your warm words of encouragement gave me the courage to publish new blogs every couple of weeks. This blog will be number 31.


Rosh Hashana Goodies


















With Rosh Hashana just two weeks away I would like to suggest some yummy bake goods to serve at your Yom Tov meal.

Honey Cake:

Preheat oven to 180c or 350F
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
½ cup oil
1½ cup flour
1package baking powder [3 teaspoons]
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ cup cold strong coffee
½ cup honey

Beat eggs, sugar and oil. Add flour, baking powder coffee & vanilla
Mix very well. Add honey and continue mixing until all ingredients are blended. Pour batter into a slightly greased 8x8 baking pan or a loaf pan and bake 45 minutes.
For a 9x12 pan double recipe. Enjoy!

Pomegranate and Apple Muffins

2 eggs
½ cup brown sugar
1/3 cup oil
1 package of baking powder (3 teaspoons)
1 tbs. vanilla
1 tbs. lemon juice
½ cup pomegranate juice
2 cups flour
2 apples chopped in small pieces
¾ cup raisins (soak for 1 hour so the raisins won't burn)

Beat eggs, sugar, oil, vanilla and lemon juice. Add dry ingredients and pomegranate juice and continue beating. Add apples and raisins and mix. Grease muffin tins and fill ½ full. This will make 18 muffins.

Topping

2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons oil
5 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons brown sugar
Mix well and sprinkles on muffin tops. Bake on 350F 30/35 minutes. Enjoy!

Safta's Special Cookies

1 cup sugar (or ½ cup white & ½ cup brown sugar)
7/8 cup oil
2 eggs
1 package baking powder (3 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon orange or lemon juice
2 ½ cups flour

Beat sugar, eggs, oil, vanilla & juice. Add baking powder and continue beating. Add flour and mix together until well blended. Line baking pans with baking paper. Using 2 teaspoons, drop cookie mixture.

Topping:

Sprinkle a mixture of cinnamon and sugar (alternatives: coconut, colored candy sprinkles, sesame seed or a drop of jam in the center of cookie).

Bake at 375F for 10/12 minutes or until brown. Let cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pan. Makes 5 dozen medium size cookies. Enjoy!

Sugarless Oatmeal & Applesauce Cookies [diabetic]

2 cups flour
1 ½ tsp. cinnamon
1 baking powder package [3 teaspoons]
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
½ cup oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ tsp. nutmeg [optional]
handful of raisins [optional] soak for 1 hour so they won’t burn]

Beat eggs, vanilla, oil together. Add oatmeal, baking powder & applesauce. Mix well.
Line a cookie tray with baking paper. Using 2 teaspoons drop mixture onto the tray. Makes app. 48 cookies
Bake 190C for 12 / 15 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before removing from pan......Enjoy!

Shana Tova!

May you and yours be inscribed in the Book of Life for a year blessed with good health, happiness and parnassa.

Feel free to comment and pass my blog around.

Miriam

בס''ד

Rosh Chodesh Elul is Here. What a Special Month!
The summer vacation is almost over. Yeshivot and schools are getting ready to welcome their students back. On the Jewish calendar, today and tomorrow are Rosh Chodesh Elul, a month of introspection leading up to the New Year. Elul is such a special month.

The four Hebrew letters of the word Elul (aleph-lamed-vav-lamed) are the first letters of the four words Ani l'dodi v'dodi lee -- "I am to my Beloved and my Beloved is to me" (Song of Songs 6:3). These words sum up the relationship between G-d and His people.

Sephardim start saying the prayer Selichot early every morning. Ashkenazim start saying Selichot the Moetzi Shabbat before Rosh Hashana.

Starting on Rosh Chodesh Elul until Simchas Torah, we say L’David, Tehillim 27 with its moving paragraph that was said by Dovid HaMelech [ King David] “One thing that I asked of Hashem, that shall I seek – that I dwell in the House of Hashem all the days of my life, to behold the sweetness of Hashem and to contemplate in His Sanctuary.”

The Shofar is sounded everyday except Shabbat after Shacharit [morning prayers].

For my family, Elul brings us two birthdays. My son Eli-Chaim on the 4th and my granddaughter Chen on the 16th. I have yartzheit for my dear father Eliezer David HaKohen a”h on the 28th.

During the month of Elul, we are busy shopping, cooking, baking and preparing ourselves for Rosh Hashana. Elul, the month before Rosh Hashana, is the time for reflection. What kind of person have I been this year and what kind of person do I want to be?

To all my loyal readers I hope that you have enjoyed my blogs. On September 7th will be one year since that first blog. I want to thank-you for taking the time to read my blog and for your comments. I wish you and yours a year of good health, happiness and prosperity. May all your prayers be answered!

A couple of years ago I wrote a poem about Rosh Chodesh Elul that appeared in the Hamodia.

The Message

Rosh Chodesh Elul has arrived.
The month we start to awaken.
Every morning the Shofar blows
a long toooooo……….

So many different shofars.
Short, curly, long and curvy,
each with it’s own beautiful sound.

What is the Shofar saying?
What is the message?
Awake, retrospect,
time to do Teshuva.

Shana Tova to everyone.
K’tiva V’Chatima Tova

Feel free to pass my blog around.

Chodesh Tov to everyone!

Miriam

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בס''ד

Remembering Gush Katif

On Tisha B’Av, the 9th of the Hebrew month of Av, we remember the tragedies that had befallen B’nei Yisrael of yesteryear. The next day, the 10th of Av, we remember another tragedy.

This is when a Jewish Israeli government disengaged its own citizens from our land to appease the American President, George W. Bush and the world. Prime Minister Sharon, known as the father of the settlement movement, wanted to show that Israel was a team player and willing to give up our land to advance the peace talks with the palestinians.

Our holy land, a gift from Hashem, was handed over to our enemy who wanted nothing more than to drive the Jewish people and Israel into the sea.

This year is the 4th anniversary of the disengagement and expulsion from Gush Katif and Northern Shomron.

http://www.archive.org/details/gushkatifexpulsion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gl-LmSNmOEo

http://www.gushkatif.net/

Gush Katif was a bloc of Israeli settlements in the southern Gaza strip for nearly 35 years from 1970 until 2005. In August, 2005, around 8,000 residents of Gush Katif were forcefully evicted from the area and their homes demolished as part of Israel’s unilateral disengagement.

Most residents did not voluntarily leave their homes or even pack in preparation of the eviction. On August 15, 2005, the forcible evacuation of the Gush Katif settlements began. Just a few days later on August 22, 2005, the residents of the last settlement, Netzarim, were evicted and the Israeli government began the destruction of all residential buildings.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://english.people.com.cn/200508/23/image
Note: When the google page comes up, type in Gush Katif and click on images.

The names of the settlements from North to South are:

Alei Sinai, Dugit, Nissanit, Netzarim, Kfar Darom, Tel Katifa, Netzer Hazani, Katif, Ganei Tal, Shirat HaYam, Kfar Yam, Neve Dekalim, Gadid, Gan Or, Pe'at Sadeh, Bedolach, Slav, Bnei Atzmon, Rafiah Yam, Kerem Atzmona, Morag

Many of the former residents are still living in makeshift mobile homes called caravillas. Unemployment is very high and family life is in shambles.

Check out this link for more up to date information about the Gush Katif families.

http://gushkatifbook.com/2009/07/

Last August, the Gush Katif Museum was opened in Jerusalem. It is located on Rehov Sha’arei Tzedek.

http://www.gushkatifmuseum.com/

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1218710379199

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3581315,00.html

Just after the expulsion, feeling sick and sadden that a Jewish government would expel its citizens, I wrote this poem called Remembering Gush Katif.

Gush Katif
paradise on earth.
In one week
destroyed and no more.

This beautiful land
so full of Kaddosh.
It’s residents settled the land
with honour and bravery.

Over thirty years ago,
our brave army
reclaimed our land
in a victory so bold.

“It’s the law
I’m just following orders,”
our soldiers told the residents
when they came to remove them
from their homes.
“You need to leave right now!”

Carrying the residents out one by one,
tears flowed all around
from both soldiers and residents.

One last Mincha was said in the Beit Knesset
and with dignity, tears and heads held high
they temporally said good-bye.

Was the expulsion the law
of a cruel government?
Or was this a decree
made in Heaven?

Only time will tell
when Moshiach will come
and our beloved land
will be in our hands once again.

Post Script:

68% Regret Supporting Disengagement
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/168645

The irony of the disengagement was that instead of Israel having peace and quiet from the palestinians that the world thought would happen, Israeli citizens in the south, especially S’derot, were bombarded with kassams, mortars & grad missiles almost daily. Last December, the IDF had to go back into Gaza and clean it up. So much for peace..........

Please feel free to pass my blog around.

Miriam

בס''ד

The Shuk!


Tuesday is shuk day in Netivot. In Hebrew, shuk means “marketplace.” For hundreds of years, Jews from all over the world have vended and shopped in marketplaces. Merchants would travel by ship to sell their spices, fine perfume, material etc. My ancestors going back to the early 1800’s on my father’s a”h side, traveled by ship from Spain to Romania, where they eventually settled, selling all their wares along the way.

I remember when I was a little girl, my mother a”h taking me to Rachel Market in Montreal. The shochet [ritual slaughter] had a stand in the shuk. I will never forget the sounds of the chickens squawking as they were waiting to be slaughtered.

Once a week in our city, merchants and farmers set up their wares and fruits and vegetables in the open air market. You can buy almost anything in the shuk.

Our market is on a large piece of land in the industrial area. Shopper’s crowd onto the bus with their shopping wagons and hand held baskets. Young mothers with babies in carriages and a toddler or two trailing behind are a common sight. Everyone is going to the shuk to look for bargains. And if you are patient and have the time to really look carefully, you will find the bargains.

And so last Tuesday, along with all the other shoppers, I shlepped my large shopping wagon onto the bus for the short ten minute ride to the Shuk.

The traffic around the entrance to the shuk was crazy. The bus driver was honking his horn as he wanted to pass, early shoppers were loading up the trunks of taxis, a vender was unloading his truck of dresses and hanging them on a rack and people were just mulling around. This was only 9:30 in the morning.

The shuk is a very interesting and entertaining place to shop. I stopped to ask one vendor how much his melons’ were and he told me 3.50nis. As I walked away, I had already seen it for 2.50nis, the vendor called me back “gaverette, gaverette” [literally Mrs.] “3 shekels, tov [good]?” I shook my head no.

The moshavim and kibbutzim in the area have a bus that takes it’s residents for an “outing” to the shuk. The older women love to meet and smooze. For many, it’s their only time away from home.

In Israel, most cities have a shuk day. The famous Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem http://www.fonerbooks.com/guide_30.htm and Carmel market in Tel Aviv http://www.inisrael.com/tour/telaviv/markets.htm are a must stop for every tourist.

No matter if you are a native or a tourist, if you have never shopped in the shuk, you owe yourself the experience.

Happy shopping!

Feel free to pass my blog around.

Miriam

בס''ד

The Three Weeks

Last Thursday, 17th of Tammuz was the first day of the Three Weeks. The last day is on Tish B’Av, the 9th of Av. We started the Three Weeks with a daytime fast and will end with a fast that goes from night to night. There are many do's and don'ts concerning the three weeks.

If you would like more information about the three weeks these links will help you.

http://www.aish.com/h/9av/oal/48943916.html

http://www.chabad.org/holidays/3weeks/article_cdo/aid/144558/jewish/The-Three-Weeks.htm

I wrote a poem called The Day of Sorrow about the ninth of Av.

The Day of Sorrow

The day of sorrow,
the ninth of Av
the blackest day,
we Jews know.

Hashem commanded us to fast
and to give up our comforts.
We read Megilla Eichah
and don’t greet our friends.

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 9th of Av.
Many were murdered on the 9th of Av
in pogroms and the Holocaust
for no other reason than they were Jews.

Mashiach, Mashiach, where are you?
Come now, come now,
For we have suffered all our history.
And bring glory to this nation.

Feel free to pass my blog around.

Miriam

בס''ד













The Graduate

Just a short blog this time with some family news.

Graduation is a milestone in a person’s life. After years of hard work we are rewarded with the title graduate.

We have many graduations in our life. The first is graduation from gan [kindergarten] to Kita aleph [grade 1]. We graduate from elementary school to high school, from high school or yeshiva to university or an advance yeshiva.

With each graduation we take with us an abundance of knowledge.

My husband and I had the pleasure to attend the graduation ceremony of our oldest grandson.

Yoni, graduated from his Yeshiva high school, Yeshivat Orot Yehuda in Efrat. In Elul, Yoni will start Hesder [part of his army service] in Holon.

Last night, our younger grandson Gilad [11 ½], graduated from his elementary school in Kfar Maimon. In Elul, Gilad will start his high school education at Yeshivat Yashlatz, part of Mercas HaRav in Kfar Maimon.

Saba Avraham and I wish Yoni and Gilad mazal-tov and hatzlacha in all their future endeavors. We pray that your dreams will take you to the highest of your hopes and to the most special places your heart has ever known.”

Saba and I are so proud of the two of you and all your siblings. May we only shep nachas and simchas from our children and grandchildren.

Safta Miriam

בס''ד

Diagnosed with Diabetes

Sunday morning started out like any other Sunday morning except that I had a doctor’s appointment. Little did I know the shock that I was in for later that morning.

I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. My blog is about being a diabetic. I have a need to write about my first experiences. The only problem is that I don’t know where to start. Do I start with the shock of being diagnosed or the 4 times a day I had to prick my finger to check my blood sugar or my new diet, where I have to watch everything I put in my mouth.

Do I write about the fears and frustration that I feel?

Desperately in need of information I spent hours checking out the web sites of the Israeli, American, Canadian and British Diabetic Associations.

These sites were full of practical information, recipes and good suggestions. Diabetes can affect your eyes, kidneys, cause severe fatigue and unusual thirst plus a list of other problems. I recognized that I had many of the symptoms that were listed.

But let me back track a little. I took some routine blood tests you know the ones we all do every now and then.

Checking my results, my doctor was shocked to see that my glucose number was very high...out of control high. ”This must be an error” he said to me as he took me to the nurse’s office and asked her to do a blood glucose check with her hand monitor. The reading...dangerously high 410......

My doctor shaking his head and said that the high glucose came out of nowhere. “Maybe you have an infection or you are very stressed out” he said as he ordered more tests.

Fortunately for me, the diabetic assistant to the diabetic doctor was in her office. She only works in our clinic one day a week. My doctor introduced me to Dalia.

Dalia is very nice lady who is professional, kind and understanding. She explained what the readings meant and how my life was about to change and gave me some helpful tips. When Dalia handed me a blood glucose monitor, her comment was, “this monitor is going to become your best friend.”

Dalia told me to be in touch with the dietician and said that I should make an appointment with the diabetic doctor for the following week. My doctor gave me a prescription for anti diabetic medicine and told me that he wanted the see my blood reading results from the rest of the day the next day.

I don’t know what I would have done without the internet. Dalia gave me good information, but truthfully I was in shock and when I came home I couldn’t remember anything that she said.

So started my daily routine of watching what I ate, checking my blood glucose and recording numbers.

I was so consumed. When I told my children, they were very concerned and had a million questions that I couldn’t answer.

The next day was Monday, I went to show my doctor my numbers, and he was pleased as they were down a little. I asked him for a requisition to see the dietician and he said that she was in the kupot [clinic] that day and called her to come to his office.

In walked Yifat, a young woman who tried very hard to speak to me in English. She was pleasant, professional and kept on apologizing for not having any reading material in English, but translated an instruction sheet line by line.

Yifat told me that I needed to eat five times a day, three small meals and two snacks and then said that I have to loose a half a kilo by my next appointment in two weeks. She gave me very specific foods and amounts I could eat and what I had to stay away from. She told me to exercise half and hour everyday and I could call her if I had any questions.

My husband, our dog Rocky and I go walking every evening. The exercise is good for the three of us.

Having to use the blood glucose monitor everyday posed a sheila [question] about Shabbos. Everything about the procedure and the machine was against the Halachot of Shabbos.

A question was posed to the Rav. He quickly said that he was not versed enough to answer such a question and said he would pose it to a Rav that specialized in Diabetes and would have an answer in a couple of days.

The answer for me was if I am taking pills and I feel okay then I can’t use the machine on Shabbos. I should check my glucose level just before I light the Shabbos candles and again Moetzi Shabbos. If don’t feel well during the day then I can use it. If I take insulin then I must use the machine as needed.
[Every diabetic has to ask their own question]

The week passed quickly, I was still afraid to put anything in my mouth and I lost 3 kilos. My numbers were constantly going down and I really felt okay.

Monday evening was my appointment to meet with the diabetic doctor and Dalia. The doctor, a professor at Soroka Hospital was a middle aged man, with a smile, a good sense of humor and he spoke perfect English.

He looked at my numbers which were getting lower everyday, and asked me when I was first diagnosed. I told him ten days earlier. All he could say was “interesting.” He then turned to Dalia and said, “You see what happens, when you follow a diet and take the diabetes seriously.”

The doctor said to me “I don’t know what you did to have these great results so quickly, but obviously whatever you did was the right thing, so keep on doing it.” He also told me that I don’t have to prick my finger four times a day anymore but only check it four times one day a week.

In two months I have to do all the blood work again. G-D willing my results will be good and my diabetes will be completely in control.

Having diabetes is just one more thing that Hashem has put on my plate, but I see His Hand everyday helping me. Everything fell into place. The diabetic assistant was in her office the day I was diagnosed, the dietician was in her office the day I went for the requisition. The diabetic doctor who only comes twice a month was going to be in his office a week later....but most importantly my glucose numbers are really good and I am feeling well..........

Miriam

בס''ד

So You Think Ketchup is Just for Fries...

While surfing the internet, I came across a headline on Yahoo that I just had to click...Five Surprise Uses for Ketchup

http://green.yahoo.com/blog/daily_green_news/43/five-surprising-uses-for-ketchup.html;_ylt=ArJf5td45EXRuh1haJk2rSkazJV4

Didn’t know ketchup was so versatile.

It is interesting to know that so many everyday products that we use, can be used totally different than what the product was meant to do.

For example toothpaste can polish your silverware to a brilliant shine. No need to buy expensive silver polish...

-Have a grease stain on your clothes? Rub a little dish washing soap on the stain before throwing it into the washing machine...

-Lemon juice and the sun can fade away any tomato stain.

-Vinegar is not only for salads. Your child doodled on the wall with a ballpoint pen and you don’t know how to remove it. Just dab some full-strength white vinegar on the "masterpiece" using a cloth or a sponge. Repeat until the marks are gone.

-Candle wax dripped on your wood table.. Vinegar and your blow dryer will do the trick. Soften the wax using a blow-dryer on its hottest setting and blot up as much as you can with paper towels. Then remove what's left by rubbing with a cloth soaked in a solution made of equal parts white vinegar and water. Wipe clean with a soft, absorbent cloth.

-Have gum rubbed into your carpets, use yummy peanut butter to clean the carpet. Scrape up what you can, using an ice cube to stiffen the gum, then rub a small glob of peanut butter into the fibers, and wipe up the whole mess with a cloth. To get rid of any left-behind peanut butter, just dab it up with a mixture of 1 tsp of dishwashing liquid in 1 cup of lukewarm water.

-Dandruff can be an embarrassing. Try massaging 2 tablespoons of lemon juice into your scalp and rinsing with warm water. Follow with a leave-in rinse of 1 teaspoon lemon juice in 1 cup of warm water. Use this daily until your scalp is free of dandruff.

One of the hardest stains to remove is grass stains. Here’s where the vinegar comes in handy. For fabrics (ie jeans) soak in white vinegar. On some fabrics it will work instantly and others it will need to be soaked for up to 2 hours. For non-colorfast fabrics, dilute the vinegar 50/50 with warm water. Note: DON'T use detergent to presoak grass stains- detergent will actually set them in!

Many of these helpful tips I have tried and use on a regular bases. Others I was told about by friends or read on line.

If you have any good ‘tips’ post them in the comment section and I will add them to a blog.

Hope you enjoyed my blog. Feel free to pass it around.

Miriam

בס''ד

Spring has Arrived in Israel















Welcome back!

I hope everyone had an enjoyable and meaningful Pesach.

A couple of week before Pesach, Spring arrives in Israel. Actually, Israel has only two seasons, winter and summer, but Pesach is known as a spring [Aviv in Hebrew] holiday. Children sing a song about Pesach being a spring holiday. Trees are in bloom and their blossoms are beautiful and some smell so sweet. My grandchildren, Chen and Nadav, bring their gan [kindergarten class] to their garden to see their almond trees in bloom.

Soon we will see many of the native wild flowers of Israel, with their beautiful sharp colors growing all over Israel.

My favorite Israeli flower is the Calanit. This flower grows wild and has the most beautiful deep red petals. The first time I saw a Calanit was on my daughter’s kibbutz in Gush Etzion. It was love at first sight. When my son-in-law told me that this wild flower is only a weed, I couldn't believe it. How could a weed be so beautiful?

http://www.sbc.co.il/mba/photo/victor1_calanit_big.jpg

To see some of the beautiful flowers that grow in Israel, check out this link.

http://www.flowersinisrael.com/plant_list_alpha-a.htm

Flowers are a very special gift to the world. They brighten up our day and bring a smile to our lips. Sending flowers to a loved one, sends a message of love. A bouquet of flowers on the Shabbos table adds to the dignity and grace of the table. And of course on a beautiful day, planting your favorite flowers in the garden or a balcony flower box is a great way to relax and spend the day. Whether you plant with seeds or seedlings, caring for your flowers and watching nature in action is a precious sight.

I wrote this poem A Precious Flower a couple of years ago.

A PRECIOUS FLOWER

Look at these flowers
so beautiful and dainty.
With just enough colour
and a faint smell of scent.

Oh Master of the Universe
You created a masterpiece.
So wonderful, so special
for young and old to enjoy.

We thank-you for Your gift
that brightens up our day.
These little flowers
so precious in every way.

Please feel free to pass my blog around.

Miriam

בס''ד

Delicious Salads to Adorn Your YomTov Table.

After you have served all the traditional Seder foods from the Hagada, it is now time to serve the Seder meal.

In Israel, it is customary to serve several different types of salads at Yom Tov meal with the entrée or first course. The salads go great with matza and chraine.

Colorful salads will dress up your Yom Tov table. Israelis love to make salads using cucumbers, tomatoes, different color sweet peppers and some chopped purple onion. When preparing an Israeli vegetable salad use fresh vegetables and cut the vegetables in very tiny pieces. Your salad can be dressed with an oil, vinegar and lemon mixture. Eggplants and colorful peppers both hot and sweet are very popular vegetables used when preparing salads.

Preparing cooked salads can be time consuming, but when you are preparing food for YomTov, it becomes a pleasure.

These salads are also wonderful to serve on Shabbos.

My daughter, who is a great cook and married to a Tunisian, has shared some of her Israeli salad recipes with me over the years since my family and I made Aliyah almost 15 years ago. Usually I make my salads a few days before I want to serve them so that they can marinate.

Here are a several salad recipes.

Eggplant and Tomato salad.
1 large or 2 small eggplants
1 small and ripe tomato
1 large onion
1 small red pepper
2 garlic teeth pressed
oil – for frying
¼ cup vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons tomato paste
¼ cup hot water
salt to taste

1] Cut all the vegetables into small pieces and fry until golden brown. Drain the oil well.
2] Place fried vegetables in a large bowl and add
sugar, garlic, tomato paste, salt and mix well.
Add vinegar, hot water and mix well.
3] Store in container and chill before serving.

Imitation Israeli Chop Liver salad.
1 large eggplant cut in small chunks
2 very large onions
3 raw eggs
oil – for frying
salt and pepper to taste
2 pressed garlic teeth [optional]


1] Fry eggplant and onions until they are golden brown.
Remove from fry pan and drain well.
DO NOT pour out the oil left in the fry pan.
2] Put the eggplant back into the fry pan and add beaten
eggs. On a low heat, stir constantly so that the mixture
does not stick to the bottom of pan.
3] When the mixture is dry [no more raw egg] place in a
container, add salt, pepper.
4] When cooled, put thru grinder to look like chopped liver.

Sweet Pepper Salad
6/7 roasted red/ yellow/orange peppers [mixture]
2 pressed garlic teeth
¼ cup oil
¼ cup vinegar
2 tablespoons hot water
1 tablespoon lemon
salt to taste

1]Roast peppers on a bar b’que or gas stove fire until well done. 2]Place in plastic bag for 1 hour [to make peeling easier]. When cooled, peel, slice and put peppers into a container.
3]Add all the other ingredients. Mix very well. Chill before serving.

Mushroom Salad

½ cup oil
½ cup vinegar
¼ cup water
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. garlic powder or 3 teeth of garlic
¼ tsp. white pepper
¼ cup sugar
Combine all of the ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil.

Add
2 small cans of mushrooms or 1 large can
1 cup diced red peppers
1 cup diced yellow peppers
1 cup diced green peppers
1/2 cup onions sliced in circles.
Simmer for 5 minutes

Remove from heat and add 2 tsp. basil [optional]
Chill overnight for the best taste.

And now for those who are not faint of heart. This next salad is very HOT. If you are not used to eating hot salads, taste with caution.

Nishweya salad [Hot pepper & tomato salad]
NOTE: cooked hot peppers can burn your skin. Hold by the stem and use a knife and fork.

10 straight hot peppers [mixture of red and green]
2/3 ripe tomatoes
2 tablespoon olive oil
6 sliced garlic teeth
juice from whole lemon
salt to taste.

1]On each hot pepper make a small x with a knife to keep the peppers from exploding and then roast on all sides on a bar b’que or stove fire.
2]Repeat with tomatoes.
3]Place all the cooked vegetables in a plastic bag for 1 hour. [makes peeling easier]
4]When cooled, carefully peel and dice the peppers and grate the tomato.
Add all the other ingredients and mix well. Chill overnight for best taste.

There are many delicious salad recipes and if you would like any additional recipes, please contact me thru the comment section at the end of this article.

Enjoy the salads. Feel free to pass the recipes around.

Have a good Pesach!

Miriam

בס''ד

Erez Yisroel is Calling You!

Israel is in the news everyday. We are just a small country surrounded by enemies who want to see our destruction. I fear for my country. Our precious homeland has known many wars in our short 60 years of the modern state. Politics is the most popular discussion, every citizen and non citizen has an opinion....and of course all kids play soccer and/or basketball.

Israel is the homeland of the Jewish people and we must always be the majority.

Israel has too double its population. We have room for every Jew. Aliyah is the only answer.

On May 31st, 1994, my family made Aliyah. During the past fifteen years our lives have been enriched in many ways.

We notice things that we never noticed before, even though they were in front of our face. We don’t have any more money than we had in the ‘old country’, but we always have B"H what we need. We have an appreciation for rain. We appreciate the quiet. We just went through a war. I love to look at the perfect blue sky sometimes with soft white clouds.

When you walk the streets of the old city in Jerusalem or Beer Sheva....you know this is where Avraham Avinu walked. I live in Netivot and the original old city where Avraham Avinu lived is just 5 kms. away. Today, it is a nature park with a small stream where families go to picnic, hike and just relax. My grandchildren love to go to the ‘forest’. Sometimes if you are lucky and dig down a little in the earth you will find artifacts from biblical times.

There are many only in Israel stories.... interesting things that happen only in Israel.

-like the time when my brother was living at the Merkaz Klita in Kiryat Arba. He was sitting in the front seat of the bus when the bus was rocked by arabs throwing boulders. My brother had is arms crossed across his chest when a boulder flew through the front window and broke both his arms. After receiving medical attention, my sister-in-law asked if there was any compensation he could claim as he couldn’t work....the clerk said nonchalantly, “are you crazy, just be happy it wasn’t his head.”

-or the time when Avraham & I were sitting on a very full bus. A lady we didn’t know got on from the back door with an infant. She plopped the baby in my arms, yes literally plopped her baby and said she was going to the front to pay. Just imagine if this would happen in North America?

-or the time when we were living in Modi’in and across the street from a very large supermarket in the middle of the city was an empty field. We watched in amazement as the Bedouins' brought their goats, sheep and cows to graze in the field. The animals would sometimes break away and run along the busy thrufare. One time there was a posting on the Modi'in e-mail list. The subject line simply was... this is not a joke posting. The city is looking for people to help round-up the cows because they ran away and were seen on different city streets.

-where Christmas lights and tinsel are used to decorate the Sukka.

But the best only in Israel story is.....traffic lights everywhere in the world are red, yellow and green. Red means to stop, yellow slow down and green to go. Only in Israel does yellow mean to speed up before the light turns red. I guess that is why Israelis are horrible drivers.

Making Aliyah is a difficult decision. It affects every member of your family. Living in Israel is both a honour and priviledge.

I wrote a short poem called Erez Yisroel is Calling You!

Jews of the world......
Erez Yisroel, the land of our people
is yearning for you.
This Holy land, a gift from Hashem
needs it’s children to come home.

You say, “how can I leave my city,
my job, my home, my security.
My family and friends will miss me so much
to go to a land with such uncertainties.”

“Where will I live?
Where will I work?
And to learn a new language
oy vay, oy vay
this pressure, I do not need.”

Our Holy land needs more Jews
to settle and populate.
The world thinks Israel is a puppet on a string
and our bitter enemy deserves our land.
Jews of the world, your country is calling YOU!

The One Above gave us this land
not to give away.
G-D forbid,
if we don’t populate
in years to come
we will be a minority in own homeland.

It’s up to you
Jews of the world
to fulfill the prophecy
Erez Yisroel, the homeland of the Jewish people
is here for now and all eternally.

Feel free to comment and pass around.

Miriam

בס''ד

Cookies, Cakes, Pies & More.

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

Over the years I have accumulated many wonderful recipes, and with Purim just around the corner, I would like to share some of my families favorite baked goods.

All of my recipes are very easy, inexpensive to make and will bring loads of compliments.

Hamentashen Cookie Dough

3 eggs + 1 single egg to use at the end.
1 cup oil
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
½ cup water
½ cup orange juice
1/8 tsp salt
4 cups flour plus 2 more cups on the side for rolling etc.

Combine ingredients in order, using enough flour to make a soft but not sticky dough. Let sit 20 minutes before handling. Divide into 4 parts. Roll ¼ thicknesses on a floured board. Cut in 4 inch circles. [use a coffee mug]. Place a spoonful of filling in the center of each circle. Form triangles by folding sides into the middle. Brush with beaten egg. Bake at 350F or 180c on a lightly greased baking sheet or use baking paper for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Makes about 5 dozen.
Preparation time: appox. 45/60 minutes.

Fillings for hamtentashen.

1. Prune filling.

1 lb. or 460 grams prunes, stewed, pitted & chopped
1 cup raisins chopped
¼ cup chopped nuts [optional]
½ lemon juice & rind
½ cup sugar
1tbsp. honey

Combine all ingredients and mix well.

2. Poppy seed filling

½ lbs. or 230 grams poppy seed
4 tbsp. honey
2 tbsp sugar
juice of ½ lemon

Soak the poppy seeds in boiling water overnight. Drain well, dry and grind in food chopper using finest blades. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

Apple muffins

½ cup water or apple juice
1 egg
¼ cup oil
1 cup chopped apple
1 ½ cup flour
1 package baking powder [3 tsp.]
½ cup brown sugar
coconut [optional]

Combine egg, water & oil. Beat well.
Add dry ingredients and beat.
Mix in the chopped apple and mix well.
Grease muffin pan and fill ½ full.
Sprinkle muffin tops with coconut
Bake 180c for 30/35 minutes or until done.
Preparation time: 10 minutes

Raisin and Pomegranate Juice muffins.

2 eggs
½ cup brown sugar
1/3 cup oil
1 package of baking powder
1 tbs. vanilla
1 tbs. lemon juice
½ cup pomegranate juice
2 cups flour
¾ cup raisins [soak for 1 hour so they won’t burn]
1 cup chopped apples [optional]

Beat eggs, sugar, oil, vanilla and lemon juice.
Add dry ingredients and pomegranate juice and continue beating.
Add apples and raisins and mix.
Grease muffin tins and fill ½ full [makes 18 muffins]

Topping

2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons oil
5 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons brown sugar
Mix well and sprinkles on muffin tops.
Bake 180c 30/35 minutes.
Preparation time: 15 minutes.

My husband and I have been blessed with 12 grandchildren. When the grandchildren come to our house the first thing they want to know is “where is Rocky” [our dog]? Next question is “are there any cookies”, even though they know that the cookie jar is always full. Safta’s cookies are their all time favorite. Even the big kids, their parents enjoy my cookies with coffee.

Safta’s Special Cookies

1 cup sugar [or ½ cup white & ½ cup brown sugar]
7/8 cup oil
2 eggs
1 package baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon orange or lemon juice
2 ½ cups flour

Beat sugar, eggs, oil, vanilla & juice. Add baking powder and continue beating.
Add flour and mix together until well blended.
Line baking pans with baking paper. Using 2 teaspoons, drop cookie mixture.

Topping

Sprinkle a mixture of cinnamon and sugar [optional coconut, colored candy sprinkles, sesame seed or drop of jam in the center of cookie.]
Bake at 190c for 10/12 minutes or until brown. Let cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pan. Makes 5 dozen medium size cookies.
Preparation time: 15 minutes.

We always like to end the Shabbos meal with dessert. Two of the favorites in our house are fruit cocktail upside down cake and lemon meringue pie.

Fruit cocktail upside down cake [optional- you can use pineapple chunks]

Topping

¼ cup oil
½ cup brown sugar
1 can of fruit drained, save juice
Mix oil and brown sugar and stir into a large round baking pan.
Place fruit in pan and arrange so that the bottom of the pan is covered.

Cake

1/4 cup oil
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup of saved juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 package of baking powder
Combine oil, sugar, eggs and beat well.
Add dry ingredients alternately with juice.
Pour batter evenly over fruit mixture. Bake 180c for 40/45 minutes.
Cake should be dry when tested with toothpick.
Remove from oven and allow to stand 5 minutes before flipping cake onto a cake plate. [tip: to remove cake easily, place cake plate over the pan, flip gently and cake will left out perfectly]
Preparation time: 15 minutes

Lemon meringue pie

Crust:

1 ½ cups flour
½ teaspoon salt [optional]
½ cup oil
3 tablespoons cold water
Combine all the ingredients in a large round slightly greased pie plate.
Gently knead with your hands until you have a ball.
Cover the bottom of the pan with the mixture.
Bake 15/20 minutes 180c or until dough is dry. Remove and let cool 5 minutes.

Filling:

1 ¼ cups water
¼ cup lemon juice
1 cup sugar
Bring to a boil.
Separate bowl:
3 egg yokes separated [save whites for meringue
¼ cup cold water
¼ cup corn flour [optional corn starch and potato starch]
Beat together and on a very low fire, add mixture to boiling liquid.
Continue stirring until lemon fill become desire thickness. Filling will burn if you stop stirring.
Pour lemon filling into pie crust. Top with meringue.

Meringue:

3 egg whites
1/3 cup of sugar
Beat egg whites until thick adding sugar slowly.
Brown meringue in hot oven 200c for 5 /10 minutes.

Option:

Prepare the same recipe in a large square pan and cut as squares.
Preparation time: 20 minutes.

Baking is fun whether you are a new baker or an experienced baker. It is fun to experiment and see what else you can do with the recipe. Happy baking and enjoy the recipes.

Chag Purim Sameach!

Feel free to comment and pass my blog around.

Miriam