Dogs of War

I’ll share this story, which speaks a bit of how life on the moshav was before we moved to the “big” city of Rehovot last fall:

The first week of the war (July 2006), a semi-stray dog we had befriended had puppies. Beeka had them under a house 3 doors down but would come to our house each day to be fed. We’d go check every day to see if we could see the pups. About 3 weeks later, she brought them out. There were 9 of them! Our girls loved to play with them.

One evening we went to go check on the puppies. We took a flashlight since it dusk. We rounded the corner of the house and I got down to start looking under the house, and Stevy heard a HISSSSSSS, HISSSSSS, HISSSSSSS. I started shining the light looking around for the escaping steam, ’cause that’s what it sounded like to me. I caught the sight of something patterned and moving under a sign leaning against the house.

A snake! Yikes, a big one, too!

I jumped back and Stevy got everyone else away. He told the owner of the house, who had 2 kids in diapers crawling around. The next day, they called the unwanted-animal-control, who charged them 400 shekels to climb under the house and catch the snake. It was a “tzefah”, Palestinian Viper, a rare and extremely deadly variety. I’m not sure if it’s true, but we were told you have 17 minutes to get help if you’re bitten. Also, the skin is supposed to be poisonous 6 months even after the snake dies.

More than likely, this snake had come to make a meal of the puppies in the coolness under the house.

Well, thanks to good fortune, and some help from above, all the dogs of war lived to see another day.

Our Trip Down South

This last weekend, we went to the Arava, a valley that runs between Jordan and Israel from the Dead Sea down to the Red Sea. The valley is part of the Negev Desert, which in general is Israel’s Wild West. At times, I certainly felt that we weren’t even in Israel anymore. For starters, it’s very deserted in the Negev, as I guess most deserts are.

On the way to the Arava, we visited a Bedouin market in Beer Sheva, where Stevy was warned not to photograph or else risk having his camera broken. (He managed to sneak in a few shots, though.) He later wondered if the reason was because there were women in the market, most covered from head to toe.

In a corner section of the market, men — mostly Bedouin, some Jewish — sat playing backgammon and cards. Table after table was filled with men drinking mud coffee, playing games, and smoking cigarettes. (The younger men sat in cafe-like enclaves smoking hukkahs / water pipes). Zoe, Maayan and I were the only females in that part of the market, and I sensed that we’d broken some unspoken code by being there. A nice female shopkeeper warned Stevy more than once that we should be careful about the girls in the market. She never articulated what could happen to our curious 3- and 5-year-olds, but it was unnerving to be forewarned.

After Beer Sheva, we continued down past Dimona, where Israel’s non-existent nuclear reactor is. It’s surrounded by miles and miles of fence-off land with lots of warnings about not trespassing.

The sight we beheld as we crested the top of the mountains before entering the Arava was amazing. We drove, often alone for miles, unto our first destination, Kibbutz Lotan.

Kibbutz Lotan uses alternative building techniques to construct homes and public-use buildings. The kibbutz members give workshops on building techniques, and Stevy got to watch them in action for a while.

The homes there that used this mud-and-straw-homemade stucco were quite beautiful, decorated with glass and ceramic pieces. The girls enjoyed the donkeys roaming through a field of date-palm trees. (Lotan supports itself, in part, by growing dates.) When we were out in the fields, we were only about 200 meters from the Jordanian border. We probably could have walked right over. At night, we could see lights of a village rounding a slope of the Edom mountains in Jordan. The people of that village probably could have walked right over.

We had a flat tire when we woke up Friday morning, so we got the tire changed with the help of a man from the area around the Kinneret / Sea of Galilee. He was at the Kibbutz to learn alternative building principles. We headed off to have the hole fixed at a nearby kibbutz, where we learned that we really needed 2 new tires. The girls enjoyed visiting the camels and cows on the kibbutz. The camels enjoyed my hair.

With new tires on the rear of the car, we headed back north though the Negev to the Maktesh Rimon, “Israel’s Grand Canyon”. We had arranged to stay over Shabbat at the SPNI field school in Mizpe Rimon. The field school is one of several run by the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel. (I’d like to visit the others, too.)

All day Saturday, we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves. We began to know what it would feel like to be the last people on earth. That’s the amazing thing that the desert can do to you.

Purim

Purim in Yatzitz is over and we are exhausted. Ruth is right, Purim really is a big deal in Israel. Last night we went to hear Megillah reading at the shul in Yatzitz. Scratchy followed us to shul which is about 7 houses away from where we live but started chasing a horse that was on the sidewalk nearby. He chases horses just like he chases cars. The shul in Yatzitz is very pretty and we are starting to get to know some of the regulars there. Their services are according to Nusach Sefaradim and we are slowly getting used to the differences. Noa and Maayan have adjusted and found the “candy man” almost immediately. Noa has even picked up some of the Sefardi customs from Gan.

This morning we went to a parade in Mazkeret Batya. What a blast! Hundreds of kids dressed up and walking down the main street with their parents. We noticed that the most common costumes for boys was police officer and for girls was bride. Our two girls wore Chinese outfits from Value Village. The parade was made up of bands, clowns, acrobats and all the kids and parents. Everyone walked together and participated in it, not like the parades we are used to where people watch other people perform for them. Some parents were very creative and come up with beautiful costumes, some very elaborate.

Afterwards we took a sherut to Rehovot and passed yet another parade. Not wanting to miss it we jumped off the mini-bus and walked around a while longer.

We then walked to the train station at the north end of Rehovot (the girls have become excellent walkers) and arrived just in time for a train to Zichron Yaakov. Zichron Yaakov is a kind of sister city to Mazkeret Batya. Both were founded around the same time and have that quaint European feeling. Zichron Yaakov means “in memory of Yaakov” (Baron Rothschild’s father) and Mazkeret Batya means “a memory of Batya” (Baron Rothschild’s mother). We were heading up north to visit our friends Ruth and Menachem and their 4 kids.

This was our second trip on the train in Israel. The first one was when we went to Tel Aviv a few days after we arrived. At that point we approached the entrance to the train station and Noa froze. All public facilities here have guards outside. You can’t walk in to a bank, restaurant, mall or bus/train station without going through security. They examine your bags and in some places, such as bus stations, will put your bags through x-ray machines similar to those used at airports. As we appraoched the train station door Noa saw that there was a guard there with a gun. She had never seen a gun before and her understanding of guns is that they are used by “bad guys”. We had some explaining to do and since then she has gotten quite used to seeing guards with guns and soldiers with M-16s strapped to their backs walking down the streets or shopping at the grocery store. As I write this I think that I have also gotten quite used to seeing firearms on a daily basis here. It is part of life in Israel. When we were in Canada we talked to the girls about what life would be like for them in Israel. When we explained to Noa that after high school she would be going in to the army for two years like most other graduates, she announced to us that she wanted to be a ballerina in the army! We have seen all kinds of soldiers since we arrived, some in pants, some in skirts but so far we have not seen any soldiers wearing camouflage tutus. But in Israel you never know….

As it happens we spent the hour and a half train ride sitting together with a female soldier. The girls used most of the 90 minutes to eat their ice cream cones (it was very warm today) and talking with Ella, our new chayelet friend (female soldier) about her work in the army. Noa got to ask Ella questions about her dog tags, green beret and uniform. Ella shared with us her news that she received a promotion today and was given three stripes to make her a sergeant. We all congratulated her and watched as she removed her two-striped patches from her coat to make way for her new rank. Noa, our five year old with excellent interview skills, subtlety asked Ella if she had a “special” friend. Ella told her that indeed she did and took out from her wallet two small snapshots of Assaf, her boyfriend taken “before” and “after” the army. Alison noted that there was quite a difference in the way he looked in the two pictures. Ella smiled and explained that Assaf “grew up” in the army.

It did not take looking at “before & after” pictures of Ella for us to realize that this young soldier, sitting across from us, probably no more than nineteen herself, has also grown up, probably way too quickly, like most Israeli kids that are garbed in green, given guns and taught to defend our tiny slice of the map.

To Ella, who became a sergeant today, Happy Purim and Mazel Tov!

Purim & Elections – Let the Zaniness Begin

Purim & Elections – Let the Zaniness Begin

You can feel the buildup to Purim as walk you through the streets here. The stores are displaying costumes and sweets and for weeks kids have been shooting off firecrackers and lighting roman candles at night. Everywhere you go you see the preparations and feel the excitement as kids prepare their costumes for this annual holiday. Our friend Ruth sums it up simply: “Purim is a big deal here.” It really is. Coming from Canada, I can only compare it to Halloween, that fun holiday that other kids got to celebrate while we stayed home handing out candy to the neighborhood kids that came to trick or treat. Here, the whole country is celebrating a holiday that does not require fasting, encourages having fun and does not commemorate a tragedy in Jewish history. We forget sometimes that we are actually in a Jewish country where one of the leading news items is kids in costumes or the whole class in one school that dressed up as police officers (they were adorable) and the weather woman wishing us a “Happy Purim.”

Today the kids got dressed up in their costumes and had a celebration at Gan. They brought in a clown to perform for the kids. Speaking of clowns… the TV commercials started showing last week for the upcoming elections. They are something else. In a country where the world subtle is not known, the commercials are a real slugfest for votes. Some commercials extoll the virtues of their leaders with sappy “call home” type pieces that nobody believes and the next moment attack the leader of the other party. There are 31 parties running for the Knesset. The method of voting here is very low-tech. They don’t use electronic ballots or the old “X” on a piece of paper, you are given an envelope and you put a piece of paper inside that has a letter or combination of letters representing a party. Sometimes the letters will stand for a word or idea. The Labor Party uses the letters EMET which means “truth” while Kadimah will use Ken, which means “yes”. I don’t know if it is an accident or not but the “Party for the Struggle with the Banks” has chosen the letters “PUTZ” which is a Yiddish word and not complementary to say the least. Besides the Bank party there are a few other partys that have a single issue agenda. I wonder how “Strength to the Poor” and the “Green Leaf Party” (marijuahna) will deal with serious foreign affairs and security issues.

The commercials are part of the Israeli race to the Knesset and the TV news reports on the various messages shown in the ads as well as all the mistakes that were made. The best ad we have seen so far is for Meretz. The commercial showed different people at the Kotel each whispering their wishes. Very effective and did not attack anyone else.

One party had to pull an ad because they were attacking Charedim and yesterday we heard that Shas had to pull one of their ads that promised people who vote for their party would receive a place in the world to come. While waiting at the bus stop last week we saw a poster asking people to protest and instead of putting a ballot in the envelope the organizations request that people put a piece of toilet paper in instead.

P.S. Here are the answers to our Purim photo puzzler:
1) Dome of the Rock is gone; 2) Tree has moved; 3) Orange bags have multiplied; 4) Band on David Zvi’s sweatshirt is a different colour; 5) Stevy has a twin; 6) Strap on camera bag is larger; 7) Alison’s watch is missing; Zoe’s sleeve is longer; 9) Maayan’s sock is taller; 10) Why have just one Mishpacha Epstein, when you can have two? Chag Sameach!

P.P.S. If you haven’t receive our Purim photo, we apologize. E-mail us, and we’ll send you one.

A Friday Morning

Walking to Mazkeret Batya, in order to catch a sherut (mini-bus), is often a relaxing experience. Today was no exception. As I headed out to get our groceries for Shabbat, I passed the usual homes and farms, neighbourhood dogs Scratchy and Beka following me part-way, sun shining after a night of rain — the beginning of a good day.

At the edge of the moshav, I turned off the main road to take the shortcut we often take. (The walk into Mazkeret Batya is about 3 kilometres as the crow doesn’t fly.) The path cuts through an abandoned orchard. The trees have been uprooted and most of the wood hauled away. I’m not sure if it’s to give the ground a rest or even what sort of trees once grew in this field. Nearby are orange groves, so this could have been one once. But there are also many olive trees here in Yatzitz.

In addition to saving time, the shortcut offers a great view of surrounding fields and hills. Today I was surprised to see a flock of sheep walking toward me on the path. We often hear sheep bleating, but the only ones I’ve seen have been in a barn. I pulled out my camera phone to capture the scene.

An elderly man wearing a red & white kafiyeh, a young boy and an old woman were tending the sheep. “Cousins” is how we’ve heard Palestinans called. They said, “boker tov” (good morning), and the woman asked me in Hebrew how I was doing. “Be-seder,” (all in order / OK) I replied. I noticed how thin and sundried she looked. Her smile was yellowed and gap-toothed, and she reached out with the hand that wasn’t holding a cigarette to shake my hand. I smiled back, took her hand and asked, “tov?” (good?)

Kol tuv (all good).

Walking, I thought how I wish there were easy answers to the problems we cousins are having these days. I have to believe across the fence there are others who only want peace and to raise their children in happy times. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be enough of these cousins to make the difference. So we’ll have to wait awhile longer before everything is really “kol tuv”.

Returning from the supermarket — the groceries on their way by delivery van — I stopped again to take another photo of the view looking southeast.

Hills in the distance … possibly the mountains that climb up to Jerusalem … call to me: “See what a lovely land this is.”

Valentine’s Day

This evening our shed was installed beside the house. That means all the boxes that are filling our house get moved out! We will be able to hang pictures and put our down parkas away where we won’t see them. We saw photos of all the snow in NY and didn’t miss it at all.

We are reading the paper every day and are trying to learn as much as possible about the various politicians that are running for office. The choice is not great and I’m not sure which party has the most candidates that are being investigated or indicted. Svend Robinson, come on down!.

There is a billboard that I keep on seeing that has a photo of Olmert that says in Hebrew: “Kadimah to the 1967 borders.” It is a play on words because Kadimah is not only the name of Olmert’s party but also means “forward”, so the sign sends fears amongst Israelis that Kadimah is saying: “Forward to the 1967 borders.” The billboard is everywhere. Shas has lots of signs on the bus showing a photo of their number one candidate. Their number 2 man was demoted last week to a lower number because he has been accused of something or other. He went on TV showing his humble abode saying he never took those bribes… Hmmm, another member of knesset was found guilty of bribery yesterday and I have lost track of who else is being investigated. The Green Leaf (Marijuana Party) is looking better and better every day.

This is the first time Alison and I can vote in an Israeli election and we are being very careful about gathering information on the different parties. Even though I was a card carrying member of the NDP (New Democratic Party) in Canada, I am concerned that a party here that may be considered an equivalent does not address my concerns. On the other hand, I’m not sure the right wing parties have any answers on how to deal with security. Every few days we check with each other to see which way the other is leaning. We talk to friends and read whatever we can get our hands on.

Oh yeah, today was Valentines Day and we didn’t even know it.

Aliyah

This was an article I wrote before we made Aliyah in December.

The theme song from that ’70s TV show ‘The Jeffersons’ has been playing in the background of my life for weeks. In quiet moments — rare in a home shared with a 3-year-old and a 5-year-old — I hear the words: ‘Well, we’re movin’ on up’

But instead of the Jeffersons, who went ‘to the East Side, to a dee-luxe apartment in the sky’, the Epsteins are going to a small rental house in Yatzitz, a moshav that is also Israel’s UFO capital.

Still, we’re movin’ on up. That’s what aliyah is all about. Not that I expect our standard of living to improve  by any stretch of the imagination. Rather, I expect life will be much tougher in Israel than it is here in polite and prosperous Canada.

And, therefore, the curious (Jew and non-Jew, alike) ask: Why?

The pioneers’ descendant that I am would like to answer: Why not? (I’ve always been a wandering sort, up for adventure, having moved from Texas to Missouri to Ohio to New York to Canada.)

But thrill-seeking and a change of scenery are not the reasons for this move. For starters, I’m not the only one involved. Unlike the times of my previous moves, I have a husband and children now. Secondly, ‘thrill’  is a relative term, especially when you’re 43 instead of 23.

The weather?

No. Frankly, I was relieved to leave the heat and humidity behind in Texas.

So, nu? Why?

It comes down to a belief that Israel is our Jewish home. Furthermore, I ‘we, Stevy and I’ believe the most complete expression of one’s Jewish life can only occur while residing in the land. Hence, we are movin’ on up to a deeper expression and understanding of Judaism.

After so many centuries of hoping for a return to Israel, davening for it daily, Jews finally can. And Jews worldwide should take Hashem up on His promise to give this land to His people.

That’s what we did. As we were making the important decision as to whether to make aliyah now, I prayed that if Hashem wanted us there, He would make it happen.

Door after door opened for us even before other doors closed. As we took action toward making aliyah, our anticipated obstacles failed to live up to our expectations. Our motto became: “You have to put your toe in the water before the sea will part.”

No doubt, after we make aliyah, there will be times when it will feel like the water is in our nostrils. At those times, we will have hold onto this rope of certainty that Hashem wants us there long enough to see the waters part.

And they will.

We hope many others will follow us as we follow those who have already moved on up.

Now is a good time for you in Toronto. Despite the valiant efforts of those who battle for equity in education, I doubt Ontario will ever fund non-Catholic religious education — certainly not to the satisfaction of the already-squeezed middle-class.

Now is a good time for you in Canada and the United States. Never in history have so many Jews had the ability to run to a place  ‘rather than run from a place ’ with more than the shirts on their backs. It’s a glory age that must come to an end.

History, as it always does, will repeat itself. I wish it weren’t so, but the signs are already there: in France, in the laughable rhetoric from Iran’s president (laughable until you remember he leads a country with nuclear ambitions), in Argentina, even in Montreal.

Anti-Semitism is on the rise again, as if it ever really went away. Though brave people attempt to beat it back, hatred always lurks in darkened corners. Waiting.

I don’t know if we’ll see horrors like those of the past in our lifetimes, but it’s very possible my children and grandchildren will. May their strength be found with Hashem and with our numbers in Israel.

We hope you’ll be joining us very soon.

— Alison Epstein

Shabbat

We had a wonderful Shabbat. It was my birthday and David Zvi joined us. The girls could barely contain themselves and had lots of questions for their big brother. Friday night David Zvi, Noa, Maayan and I went to shul and took our places where we have been sitting since we arrived. We discovered a few weeks ago that the man sitting in front of me is the “candyman”. The girls made several trips to him and after the second trip he turned to me and saw that I did not want them to have more candy. He looked at their cute smiles and gave it to them anyway.

Dinner was great and David Zvi told us more about his Yeshiva. Their method of looking at halacha is very radical but quite refreshing. Shabbat morning we slept in and after we davened we walked outside and showed him the parakeets that seem to be building a nest in the tree next to our house. Alison looked up the name and they are called Rose Ringed Parakeets. They are BRIGHT green and seem to be using a hole in the tree created by a woodpecker.

The other new animals we have discovered are also pretty exotic to us. Growing up in Canada I was always used to hearing the garbage cans crash as raccoons feasted on the week’s trash. There are no raccoons here but one night last week Alison and I looked at each other as we heard howling noises. I thought they were cats but Alison pointed out rightly that cats don’t “howl.” We did a little checking and learned that they couldn’t be wolves because the only wolves in Israel were in the Golan Heights, a long way off from the coastal plain where we live. The Internet is a great resource and in time we learned that they were Jackals and called Tanim in Hebrew. The next day we checked with Alex and Doris and they confirmed it. They are supposed to be pretty timid and mostly come out at night. My cousin Marilyn mentioned to me that there are poisonous snakes in Israel but we have not seen any slithering creatures except for a lizard. Alison thinks she may have seen one in the house so we have to get in the habit of checking our shoes before we put them on.

Shabbat, being our only real day off at this point is our only time to sit and enjoy the newspaper and try and learn more about what is going on outside of the Moshav. We have subscribed to two papers and are trying to decide which one we will go with after our inexpensive trial period ends. Haaretz is a left wing Hebrew paper that started printing an English version. It also comes with the International Herald Tribune which keeps us up to date with world news. The paper is a good read but is a large broadsheet which makes it a bit difficult to read in our tiny bathroom. The Jerusalem Post is a different style and is turning out to be Alison’s favourite. Neither paper comes close to the quality of the National Post.
After Shabbat ended we walked David Zvi the 3 kilometres to Makeret Batya with the girls in their stroller and he caught his bus to Jerusalem.

A Hot Shower

Getting a hot shower in Israel during the winter isn’t as simple as it is in Canada or the States. Here, the sun either has to be shinning brightly; otherwise, the “dude hashmal” (I call it just “dude”) has to be turned on at least 30 minutes prior to pulling open the shower curtain. The “dude” is a electric (usually) water heater.

Israel has a long way to go on environmental issues. But one area where we’re miles ahead here is in the use of solar power — at least for hot water. Most homes and apartments have a “dude shemesh” to heat water. This applies to 300-year-old villas and brand-new studio apartments. By law, all new homes have to have a dude shemesh. (Shemesh = sun in Hebrew.)

With early-morning sun unreliable during the winter months, its often easier to “top ‘n tail” at the sink or forgo bathing altogether before getting dressed. Today, however, we turned on the dude, so I’m looking forward to a steamy-hot shower … and there probably won’t be another one this week until Friday, before Shabbat.

I recently read that women who lived in the United States 100 years ago only washed their hair once a month. Just think how far we’ve progressed: I get to wash my hair twice a week — if I remember to turn on the dude!

Another Week

We have been very busy here and this letter was started a week ago and finished today.

We just dropped our girls off at Gan and walked over to visit Beka and the dog next door which we have named Scratchy. Scratchy is now our buddy and will sit on command, especially when we have dog treats in our pockets. He no longer barks at us and Beka has finally taken some treats from us. She also has stopped barking at us. I think we have tamed this corner of the street and now have to turn our attention to the “triplets” who scare even tough dogs like Beka and Scratchy. We have to go back to Tzomet Bilu for more dog treats.

Our home is now only one quarter full of boxes. There is no place to store any additional boxes here. No basement, garage or attic. Could it be that Israelis don’t save useless stuff? How could it be that a people with a collective memory of over 5,000 years leaves it’s keepsakes in museums and in books? I can see that my packrat instincts are going to be challenged by a lack of space. Everything is small here. The apartments are small, the washer/driers are European style and the cars look like they are sold at Toys R Us. The Israeli mentality however is not to think small. Last week Alison and I went to visit the huge Ikea in Netanya during their aronei kir sale. Aronei kir are wardrobes that are either custom built or “off the rack” and contain all your clothes. Since space is always at a premium not many people use dressers since the space above the dresser is pretty much wasted. Aronei kir are typically almost as tall as the room they are located in and will have either shelves, clothing bars, drawers or any combination you choose. If you are lucky and have extra room in one you can fit in some of the stuff that may have gone into the attic or basement. Ikea was as they say in Hebrew a “Chavaya” or as we would say in English, an “experience.” Having made many trips to the store on Sheppard and Leslie in Toronto and tried to find a parking space close to the doors to avoid having to walk through slush and cold in the parking lot, we were pleasantly surprised to see rows of palm trees gracing the Netanya Ikea’s parking lot. After going through security and passing Ikea employees in bright yellow jerseys, some even with kippot and tzitzit hanging out we found the perfect aron kir to hold our clothes. We lined up behind the other shoppers and were told that it was out of stock. But, the helpful clerk in the bright yellow jersey informed us, the Hopen wardrobe in 60 cm was expected tomorrow and if we called first we could make sure it was available before making the trip to Netanya.

The next morning we called the number we were given and told that yes indeed the 60 cm Hopen wardrobe in brown did come in and we could come and pick them up. We extended our car rental for yet another day (thank you Budget) and we piled the girls in the car and scooted up to Netanya to make our purchase. When we got past the beautiful rows of palm trees, security and passing Ikea employees in bright yellow jerseys, some even with kippot and tzitzit hanging out, we were informed that the 60 cm Hopen wardrobe never came in. I won’t bore you with details but after three hours we left with a promise they would be shipped within 4 days. One hour before Shabbat we get a call from a driver asking us exactly which house is ours. We now have a place to hang up our clothes.

Things have not gone as smoothly with our documents. We had to deal with many errors in our National Identity Card and thought all the mistakes were worked out until we found another serious error yesterday. We wanted to register for our health card but when we went to the Post Office we were told we had to go to the National Insurance Organization (Bituach Leumi). Since they were on strike we waited and yesterday Zoe (now calling herself Noa) had an earache. We went to town and lined up at the Bituach Leumi office. We were given a slip of paper and told to go to an office down the hall. We waited patiently outside her office till she was ready to see us. By this point Noa was in Alison’s arms sobbing and moaning. We sat in front of the bureaucrat and she asked us to fill out some documents. We did and while she was looking them over she received a call on her cell phone from her friend Penina. They were having a great time talking on the phone to each other and were making plans for after work. Penina was going to pick her up when she finished. Our bureaucrat was going to wait downstairs for her and they were going to be on their way. After about five minutes I questioned if perhaps she and Penina might be able to talk another time, maybe after my daughter is seen by a doctor. Our bureaucrat, not impressed, turned to Tziona, the bureaucrat at the next desk and asked her why she was not serving anyone? She sent us to her. Tziona understood the severity of the situation but after checking her computer discovered that Alison and I were married on March 1st 1980. I did not go in to details with Tziona but on March 1st 1980 I was sharing a room with my friend Dov Kempinski as we made our way across Eastern Europe photographing Jewish communities. Yes, the two of us were close but married? I think not! Alison pulled out an official marriage certificate showing that we were married in Toronto on Aug. 25 1997. Here I said, now we can correct the error and get our new card? No, she answered, now you have to go to the Ministry of Interior to correct THEIR mistake. I don’t know why the error had to be corrected but it was too much of a problem to issue our cards. We left. It reminded me of when I was being processed at the airport in the Congo. The difference is that in the Congo a two dollar bribe gets amazing results.

We got in a cab and went straight to a clinic hoping they would see us without a card. We waited again with Noa moaning in Alison’s arms. We received two reactions in the waiting room. The 1st was the woman sitting across from of us who pulled out a surgical mask and donned it so she would not be contaminated by whatever bug Noa was carrying and the second was another person who allowed us to take his place in the line. When we got to see the doctor I explained the situation and that we did not have a health card yet it was to be issued very soon and we would be members of her plan. The doctor was aghast and told me she was not going to examine Noa. I was stunned. Our concern was not the payment it was just seeing a doctor. I had heard this could happen but I could not believe it was happening to us. The “doctor” picked up the phone to call the front desk to ask what to do and at that moment I raised my voice loud enough for all parties to hear asking if she was really a doctor and if she actually took the Hippocratic Oath. Then I called our contact at Nefesh B’Nefesh who spoke to her on the phone and she agreed to examine Noa. Ten minutes later we walked down the street to the pharmacy with a prescription for two drugs. Today Noa is back to herself. We are exhausted. First thing this morning we got in a cab and went to the Misrad HaPnim (Interior Ministry) with our marriage certificate. We went through the metal detectors and took and number. When we eventually sat down with the clerk she explained that her computer had the correct date. We were stunned. She offered us a document that we could bring back to Tziona and prove that August 25 is our correct date of marriage. We took the document back to Tziona who kindly asked about Noa and we wished her mazel tov (we learned that her daughter had her 1st child today) and gave her our other forms. She said thank you and gave us a phone number to call in a few days to see if “everything is ok.” I’ll update you when we hear more…

OK, if you read all this stuff you really must be either close family or not have much to do today. To fill you in on other stuff…

Alison has been doing some work for Canadian clients. We found a company that makes plastic sheds that we can buy and install beside the house to hold our extra “stuff.”

Alison has been venturing out on her own and is comfortable now enough to go to the bank, the grocery store, post office and hardware store using her basic Hebrew and English.

Noa knows how to write her name in Hebrew and the Gan staff are impressed with her apparent understanding of Hebrew.

Maayan is not sure what to make of Hebrew. Her response so far is to make up a new language which I am sure is as much gibberish to her as much as to us.
This past Shabbat we were walking down the street and Beka and Scratchy came to greet us. They now are our foster dogs and come to us several times a day for treats. On this particular day a new dog (looks like a German Shepherd/Collie mix) came to check us out and he was not too friendly. He ran up to Noa and she got scared and started to scream. Almost immediately Beka pounced on this dog and had her teeth around his neck. He was on his back, defenseless against Beka the wonder-dog. We were amazed at how loyal Beka was to Noa.

It is now late and I will sign off. We are all exhausted from all the running around we are doing and emotionally drained from the experience. We are looking forward to a relaxing Shabbat.

Arrived Home

It is Sunday morning and Alison and the girls are still asleep so I thought I would take a few minutes to write about what is happening in our lives. The week starts again today, children go back to school and Alison and I go back to fighting the beauracracy here. I miss sleeping in Sundays already. Some people argue that Israelis have a two day weekend that starts on Friday. Friday is that strange day in Israel that is not a weekday and not a Sunday. Many offices are closed and kids are in school so we have a few hours to shop and cook for Shabbat. Our dream is to be well organized and have all our shopping and cooking done on Thursday evening to allow us to travel to the beach and other Sunday type activities on Friday mornings. I suspect that Sundays will be one of the hardest things to let go of.

Friday we walked the girls to Gan (kindergarten/daycare) which is right across the street from where we live. Maayan didn’t want to wear a long sleeved shirt which we felt was more appropriate but we were too tired to fight with her and the day will probably turn out to be as beautiful as all the other days we have experienced since our arrival. When we left the Gan Alison and I went home to get some bread to give to Beka, the dog that lives 2 doors away. She scared me one night when we were here in September when she suddenly chased our car barking all the way down the street. Since then we have learned that she is pregnant and her owner has offered us a pup from her litter. After all he explained, it would only be fitting since Beka came from a litter that Doris’s (our landlady) dog had two years ago. Not too untypical of life here in Israel where everything turns full circle sooner or later and the bark of most Israelis is worse than their bite. We offered some fresh bread to Beka who we learned by the telltale leg between the legs, afraid of us. A mangy Golden Retriever showed up who we suspect is the father of the litter and quite happy to accept our contribution of food. It will take some work but we feel that we will win Beka as a friend and we hope she will not scare our girls when they ride their bikes down the street.

As you may have picked up we are dealing with the micro-level now. We did not know that Prime Minister Sharon had been rushed to the hospital until my mother in law called from Texas to give us the news. We are living on a farm without TV or radio. We finally have our internet connection and have been catching up via CNN, CBC and Haaretz.

The Moshav we are living on was built by (Italian) Jews from Tripoli, Libya and like most kibbutzim and moshavim ran in to difficulties. The government allowed them to sell off some of their agricultural land for housing. The result is the moshav is made up of two neighbourhoods, one farming type with dogs like Beka chasing cars, chickens running around people’s yards and a second neighbourhood with a street with monster houses and sidewalks. We live with the farmers and last week after leaving the local shopping centre with some new appliances had the experience of driving down the road that leads to the moshav and having a car coming towards us flash their high-beams on and off. I checked to make sure my lights were turned on but realized the driver was warning us that there was a gray donkey about to cross the road in front of us. The donkey passed and we drove home with our new microwave, toaster, flat screen TV and DVD player. This is a country where Asia meets Africa, East meets West and history plays a significant role with the present.

The whole process of our Aliyah has been made easier by people like Veronica and Dina at the Toronto Aliyah office as well as the many people at Nefesh B’Nefesh. The Aliyah office took us through all the steps and held our hands as we prepared for the move. The people at NBN started their real work on the plane working side by side with officials from the Misrad HaPnim (Ministry of Interior) who processed our papers on the plane while the girls slept. Yes, there were mistakes which mostly happened as a result of my previous status in Israel. That most important document the Teudat Zehut (citizenship certificate) which is a laminated card with a separate piece of paper in a pouch much like a TTC Subway pass must be shown as proof of identity when opening bank accounts (only took 2 hours), returning defective kettles to the hardware store (it boils over when you fill it) or when you want to register your children to gan. The people at the municipal office were not pleased that my TZ had one address and Alison’s had another and did not want to allow the girls to start school. They finally agreed after pleading our case to a sympathetic clerk but only if we produce the corrected documents within two weeks. A driver from NBN is coming by today to pick up our TZ and take them to the Tel Aviv office to have them changed. What service, someone else is going to stand in line for us. No wonder Americans are referred to as “spoiled Americans.”

Last week I had my first job in Israel. It was pre-arranged with my contact at UJA/Federation in Toronto. The pay is not what I am used to for a day’s work but it felt good to be working in Israel and especially with a client I have worked with for 15 years. The job was to photograph a family mission to Israel and 4 Bar/Bat Mitzvahs at Massada. We rented a car and I took the family with me. The girls enjoyed the cable car ride up the mountain but are too young to appreciate the history. I am sure they will make many trips back to this historic place with their schools. It was great to see some familiar faces with the mission, the Kassels, Morrisons, Gottesmans and the Glowinskys.

I will upload a few photos from our trip. It starts with Zoe making snow angels, movers, Shabbat with the Rosenberg’s, the airport, the plane and coming home.

http://www.bigdipperphotos.com/israel-week1

Our VoIP line is now working. Keep in mind that there is a 7 hour difference with Toronto.

I just heard the rain starting to fall. It is a great sound to hear in such a dry country.

Daily Life

I enrolled in an ulpan (Hebrew classes) to brush up on my Hebrew. 15 years at Associated and CHAT gave a great background in Hebrew but it has been over 30 years since I have read an Israeli newspaper or tried to write a letter in Hebrew. They put me in a class that started two months ago and although my conversational Hebrew is on a higher level (thank you Dr. Jacober & Mr. Burke) I am finding the written assignments to be useful. Sitting in the ulpan is an experience. I look around the room and am amazed at the wide assortment of people in my class. Many of the students are from the former Soviet Union, some from Russia, Byelorussia, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and the Ukraine. The two women who sit right next to me are a mother and daughter from Russia, across the room is a very religious woman who must be in her 70’s also from FSU. The ulpan is taught all in Hebrew and only after a word is taught will the teacher look in a dictionary for a Russian and English translation. Besides those two languages there is a student from Sweden, a few from England (their English is OK), a student from Taiwan, Turkey and another from Norway via Austria. What an assortment of people, all coming to a new land, choosing to learn an ancient language and adopt new ways of life. Ulpan is not just a place to learn Hebrew, it is a mini-melting pot that takes people from around the world and teaches them the way things are done here. Part of today’s class was dedicated to dealing with utility bills and payments at the bank.

I have learned that things are not always done efficiently here and after another negative experience with Tziona at Bituach Leumi I changed tactics. I spoke with her supervisor and informed him that we were working on an article about our experience with Bituach Leumi. I have to tell you that Israeli bureaucrats can be extremely efficient when they want to be. Over the next hour I received 5 calls from their office with the final call from the supervisor informing us that we were now registered. My sister Suri suggested we carry dog treats with us not only for the stray dogs that run up and down the Moshav but also for the clerks we encounter on our journey here.

We are beginning to get into a regular routine now. Life starts earlier and ends earlier. The alarm clock goes off and we try and ignore it for a while. Maayan, her new cheerful self, announces “it’s the day, it’s the day” and Noa turns over to get in a few more minutes of sleep. The radio station we use on our clock radio announces “boker chadash” a “new morning”. Alison and I often reminisce about our relief work in a Duzje, Turkey right after the earthquake in 1999. We slept one night in the Israeli army compound and they woke us up way too early with a loudspeaker shouting “BOKER TOV DUZJE” in the same tone as Robin Williams in Good Morning Vietnam. After breakfast we take the girls across the street to gan and say hello to Beka and Scratchy on the way. Those two dogs have attached themselves to us and accompany us as we walk down around the Moshav. Last week Alison and I walked to Mazkeret Batya which is about 3-4 kilometres away and Scratchy followed us the whole way to town. Beka will have her litter any day now and we have already decided we will not take one of the pups that will be offered to us. Alison, ever a softie for cute puppies may buckle.

Our lives have become very simple here. I have one key on my keychain and a one credit card in my wallet. The phone rarely rings and when it does it is more often than not a wrong number. We have not taken the tests to get an Israeli driver’s license yet and don’t have a car. There is only one bus to town and when we need to go in we either walk or “tremp” as they say in Hebrew. Tremping (hitchhiking) is a fine art in Israel. Drivers often will point down when they pass which is a polite way of saying “I am not going to town, I’m staying here”. Once we get to Mazkeret Batya we can hop on a bus or a mini-bus which carries 10 passengers and follows the same route as the buses. We get two channels on our TV, both Israeli and we try and watch the news every night even though we don’t understand most of it but we enjoy looking at the pictures and are trying to get used to hearing Hebrew.

Life on the Moshav is pretty relaxed and when we make it to shul on Shabbat many of the men are dressed in regular weekday clothes such as jeans and sweatshirts. Very different from the fashion shows many North American shuls have become. We enjoy it here and enjoy the slower pace of the farm to the frenetic city life we had been living in Canada. Last week we went to Jerusalem for an interview and a short shoot and we felt like country hicks visiting the big city. Everyone was dressed up and building were so tall…I know that ultimately we will leave the Moshav and move to a larger community. It may be Mazkeret Batya or Rehovot which is about 6-7 miles away but right now we are enjoying life here.

My bus to Rechovot in the morning passes through Kiryat Ekron, a small town, a little bit larger than Mazkeret Batya, the village we hope to move to next year. I sit with my iPod, listening to the soundtrack of Garden State or some old Joni Mitchell songs as the bus fills with people, young and old on their way to the city. There are many Ethiopians that get on this bus. This morning an elderly Ethiopian man sat across from me. He was wearing a suit with the label still intact on the sleeve and was wrapped in traditional white fabric on top. He wore a white turban and used a cane for support. I look at this little man in amazement. Westerners can navigate the system here with a little Hebrew and English but someone who only speaks Amharic is not likely to get their message across. He joins the others that are holding on to their seats as the driver weaves his way through the various neighborhoods.

I have been busy this week and have not sent this out on Sunday as I should have. I had to see the doctor this week and am very impressed with the medical system here. More on this in another update.

We just launched a new website featuring our Bar Mitzvah in Israel. If you of anyone who is thinking of making a simcha here and needs a photographer or advice please point them to our site..

http://www.barmitzvahinisrael.info

It is now almost Shabbat and are getting ready. David Zvi is with us and the girls are bouncing off the walls. Suri is making a Bat Mitzvah this weekend and we find that we don’t miss many things from Toronto except for family and friends.