Back To School News

The one thing I like about the first day of school is on the 6:00am news.

Every year, they announce how many children are currently studying in the Israeli education system, from preschools for age 3 through grade 12.  

For years, the number was "over one and a half million", which always made me smile - because that number, 1,500,000 is approximately the number of Jewish children, including my mother's aunts , uncles and sole first cousin, murdered by hitler and his helpers (may they all rot in ... forever).

This year, that number is "almost two million", which means that there are now over one and a half million Jewish children currently living in the Jewish Sovereign State of Israel, attending schools that not only are open to Jews without quotas, but have their Torah (and other) studies funded by tax dollars.  

The miracles that brought us from "that place" to where we are now are impossible to count.  So, every year, on the first day of school, I see that little 6am statistic as the "stars in the sky" - for which I say Thank You, Hashem, for allowing my children to be part of Your promise to Avraham.

Define Shomer Shabbat

Friday we went on a tiyul to welcome friends back to Eretz Yisrael.  I don't know if they felt it was a reward or a punishment, but we had fun.

At the ma'ayan were four cowboys. Older guys, with cool hats, swimming in their clothes and smoking those replacement cigarettes that help them break the habit.   No kipot.  

At 2:30, they jumped on their horses and galloped home to get ready for Shabbat and make it to shul.  (Okay, first they improvised troughs out of pop bottles to give their horses to drink.)

Lesson: Don't let the kipa or lack thereof fool you.  Shabbat is for everyone in Israel.

Silver Aliyanniversary

Yesterday, Shabbat, a lot of neighbours and friends suddenly appeared in our garden.  Our amazing, wonderful, fantastic, etc etc etc children ran around Friday and Shabbat after shul, to invite them (and others, apologies to anyone they missed) to celebrate that dh and I have been in Israel for 25 years.

Ds1 baked cakes and made whipped cream, and together the kids prepared a huge poster of 25 photos of us and themselves in various places in Eretz Yisrael.   

Our silver aliyanniversary - 25 years in Eretz Yisrael.  Significantly more than half our lives.   We have studied here, married here, done sherut leumi and army, broken our teeth till we feel totally comfortable speaking Hebrew (though no one will ever think we were born here), hiked, visited almost every museum, voted in local and national elections, campaigned, demonstrated, attended Tanach-song concerts, given birth, sent to school, read Israeli children's books and sung Israeli nursery songs, and are now preparing to send our children to sherut leumi and army...

We have so much to be grateful for, in these 25 years, that I cannot even begin to count.
 First and foremost is our health.   We have a wonderful health care system here, computerized, with excellent doctors, nurses and hospitals.
We have our fruit trees, with which we can keep mitzvot that aren't even discussed in many sifrei halacha, because Jews could not imagine them becoming relevant again.  We learn from our set of Aruch HaShulhan Ha'atid, filling in what is missing from the Aruch HaShulhan.  These fruit trees are described in the gemara as אין לך קץ מגולה מזה - there is no sign of the End (of Galut) as obvious as trees bearing fruit in our Land, which lay barren for over 18 centuries, waiting patiently for all of her children to begin their return.

We have our jobs, in which we are zoche to lead the world in technological advances.

And and and

And, we have our wonderful neighbours and friends, who are as family to us.  

And our family, our siblings, our cousins, dh's parents, and our children, who are here in Israel, keeping in touch, spending time together, writing this exciting chapter in Jewish history.

Thank you, HaShem and thank you to all of you.  

May we be zoche to celebrate our Golden Aliyannniversary with all our family and friends, in a building of gold, in the city of gold.  

Summer Vacation

Summer vacation in Israel is not just vacationing - it is connecting past, present and future.

We stayed in a campground in Yavne'el - in a cabin named "naftali".   The eleven cabins and the owner's house are named for the Shevatim, Binyamin conveniently being  the owner's surname.

We went to Giv'at HaMoreh - and reviewed the story of Gid'on.   And, because our children go to school in Israel, our daughter who just finished grade 4 has already learnt the story .  Oh, yeah, I also re-learnt it when I taught Tanach in a "secular" grade 4 classroom two years ago.   

We went to Tzfat to enjoy the cool air.  And to read the beautiful placards detailing the history of various sites.  We looked into ancient Batei Knesset.   We saw the davidka, which repeated the miracle of Gid'on by being useless as a weapon, but loud enough to make the enemy think we had the A-bomb and run away.  And, of course, the City of Tzfat has etched in stone Torah quotes next to the davidka.  

We went to Tenuva in Elon Tavor, which is closed from Friday morning to Saturday night every week.  ששת ימים תעבוד...

We ended our trip with a water-hike in Nahal HaKibbutzim followed by a bbq - which started with minha at the spot, and  ended with Arvit - a minyan made up of guys in bekeshes, guys in tzitzit but no shirt, and every form of clothing in between.   Someone screams out "tefilla be'od 50 sheniyot", and within ten minutes, you have a minyan of about 20 guys.  Love!! (and our E was sheliah tzibbur)

Medical Emergencies

Friday afternoon, a child has pain in her eyes.   After resting, the eye still hurts and is mildly swollen.

Almost 25 years ago, I had a teacher who became a friend, Rabbi Dr. David Applebaum, Hashem Yikom Damo.   Almost 25 years ago, he told a few of us students that he dreams of opening an emergency medical centre, so that people shouldn't have to go to hospital with smaller urgent issues.   And BH, he succeeded in opening Terem - first one branchin Yerushalaim, then another, one in Beit Shemesh, and other cities as well.  (I will BEH write more about DA another time....)

So, this past Friday, dh took dd to Terem. Within an hour, they were home, dd diagnosed and treated for a scratched cornea - antibiotic cream, not much else to do.   By the end of Shabbat, the swelling was down, she had played with cousins and friends, and all is good, BH BH BH.

AND, unlike "third world countries" such as Canada, her medical info is available to her doctors via her Kupat Holim card.   Our medical system is computerized, so that lab test results can be seen by her doctor (and by us) on the computer immediately - not two weeks later by fax....  

The only info not yet on the computer is Tipat Halav innoculation info.   Mister Litzman, are you reading this???

A few of my favourite things

Overthe past week or so, I have noticed a few "only in Israel" experiences that I want to share: .  This is by no means a comprehensive list of all that is Jewish in Israel, but it is all "only in Israel": 

- Natural springs are named for people, such as בריכת דובק, fixed up by high school students from Efrat, and named in loving memory of a tour guide (Dov Weinstock) who was also a mentor to mmany teenagers who had "lost their way".

- Every college campus has its own Beit Knesset.

- The Ministry of Housing builds at least one shul and mikva in every neighbourhood.

- Frum (of all flavours) special education classes and schools are provided, free of charge, by the government.

- Every calendar and diary has the Hebrew calendar and Jewish holidays on it.

- The course of study for a teaching diploma / degree requires several courses in Judaics, such as "The History of the Siddur".

- A chain of shoe stores is giving away canvas shoes.   While Lands' End tells you that cloth shoes are good for summer, in Holon the sales girl tells customers that they are good for Yom Kippur.

- No one blinks an eye at the "kupat holim moked" (telephone centre for making medical appointments) when you ask them for the Hebrew date of the appointment they  are offereing.

- Tu b'Av is a national "holiday" , with stores advertising special "love baskets" of chocolates; music festivals; and articles about improving relationships.   

- The farmer who takes children (and parents) ona tractor ride quotes Tanach, Hazal and Yedcid Nefesh about  plant and mountain that they see.  Of course, the mountains are all of Torah significance - this is Eretz Yisrael, after all!!!

- Everyone, in and out of Israel, expects Israel to be PERFECT and NOW-  forgetting that we are after 2000 years of Galut; only 70 years after the crematoria; that even now, 50% of the world's Jews have never seen a Humash; that all through the world and throughout our history, there have been famous and powerful self-hating Jews; that on average, 80% of the world's Jews are marrying non-Jews; that we have more deadly enemy nations and local terrorists than any country in the world; that we are still developing the desert...  

We forget that Geula is a process, because we know that we CAN do more.....

And, BEH, we will do more.   But it takes time....   

BEH we should learn to be better "parents" to ourselves and to other Jews, keeping our sights high, but with patience, CELEBRATING EVERY SMALL STEP.