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

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 

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

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.

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

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

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

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