9 Years in Israel - Elona's world

 

I haven't written lately.  I assume it's because things are good. 

 

I also find that when I do have some free time, the last thing I want to do is sit at the computer.

 

Barak and I are living together in a beautiful 6 BR house in a lovely community.  The kids all get along great.  Barak is doing well in his business, and so am I.  He is wonderful and I love him so much, as he does me.

 

Our home is filled with love, harmony and good food

 

Our last hike was in a huge natural crater in the Judean desert.  I'll try to get pictures up one of these days.  (no camels, though)

 

Alessia is in TAU (Tel Aviv University) doing her prep courses for something in the psychology field ... she will decide as she moves on what she specifically wants to major in.  She is still dating Doron, a wonderful guy, and are talking about moving in together in the near future.  She is lovely, fun, intelligent and learning so much about life.

 

Sagiv is a sergeant in the IDF Artillery.  He comes home once or twice a month for a few days and is out in the field the rest of the time.  It isn't easy but he is always smiling and positive.  He turns 20 this week and luckily was able to come home for the weekend, so we had lots of family get togethers, food and cake.  He told me today that they're moving him to Jenin ... so if I may ask that you say a prayer for his safety.

 

Edon is in 10th grade, on the student board, opening a radio station in his HS, learning to play guitar on his own, and will be getting his motorcycle license soon.  He's spoiled and gets everything he wants through sheer will.  I know this will of his will take him far in life, but he's 16 now, and I can't want until he gets out of this phase of his life. 

 

Tragically, my brother, Stacey, passed away last Summer.  I was in NY for the funeral and shiva.  It's awful and I don't really want to go into it here.  He was a good soul.  May he be remembered in blessing.

 

Since his death, my biological mother (Shelley) is talking about moving to Israel, too.  She isn't so young but if she makes the decision to succeed at this, she will.  She has grandchildren here and can make a beautiful life for herself.  She's more or less alone in the States, so it will be a good move, I believe ...

 

That's it for now.  It's late and I have work tomorrow.

 

Thanks for visiting

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

I wrote this really long email about recent events, and thought it was so good, that I'd post it!

 Here it is, after a few small edits:

 First, it should be known, that my birthday is on the way.  I'm not at an age where I should be getting excited anymore, but I still do, for no reason. 

 I got a present, a really nice present, an amazing present, on the eve of Yom Kippur.  They were from my biological mother who lives in Florida now -- mailed to the West coast somewhere (insured for sure) -- where my daughter's friend's mother took them on a plane to Israel. 

 Keep in mind that we were all in the mad rush before the fast, coordinating the whole family in TA, inflating mattresses, cooking, arguing with Alessia's roommates … Elisabeth (Alessia's friend, who's mother brought the present on the plane) comes in, and while I'm unpacking our things, she hands me this satin bag.  I said, "Let's do this a little later when the timing is a little better," and she understood.  So, a little later came, and Alessia saw that I had one of the rare moments where I actually sat down for a minute.  She gave me the bag, and I opened it.

 Then I opened the black box, which was in the satin bag.

 Then I was shocked.

 Alessia told me that they were real.

 Diamond earrings, about a 1/4 karat each!  Simple gold studs, beautiful.

 I immediately took off my opal earrings (which I never take off) and put the diamonds on.  I haven't taken them off since, and I have changed the rest of my jewelry to match it, meaning gold instead of silver.

 I don't think I'll want to wear them on a daily basis, but for now it's a very special feeling, and I'm enjoying it.  I did wear them to shul, of course.  I'll go back to silver when the holidays are over and save them for special occasions.

 Staying in TA was spectacular for Yom Kippur.  Logistics aren't all that easy, with cooking and sleeping arrangements, but I think the boys enjoyed it enough to convince them to do it again.  Candlelighting was at 5:04.  A few minutes before 5:04 you could just hear a lot less background noise … then, at 5:05, the whole city just went silent!!  Absolute and almost frightening silence.  We went to the front balcony and looked out.  Alessia lives on Nordau Boulevard, a very busy street.  There was one little kid, about 8 years old, with a dutch-boy kind of haircut, a white shirt, black pants and a kippah, skipping along right down the middle of the street with a huge smile on his face.  Not one car, no television sounds, no radio, no cellphones.  Little by little the streets began to fill with people walking, riding bikes, families, young, old, doing nothing but sitting, walking and talking.

 We sat to eat at about 3:45.  Chicken soup with noodles, honey roasted chicken, mashed sweet potatoes, string beans, beet salad, chopped liver … and at 4:57 I politely announced that whether you're done or not, we need to stop eating.  The rush was on.  Everyone gathered the dishes as quickly as possible, we washed dishes, wrapped the food, and drank as much water as possible with a bite or two of honey cake.  I covered my head and announced that I was lighting candles.  Elisabeth joined me.  Then, just as we were so rushed that we didn't know what to do, suddenly we had nothing to do!

 We went to shul, just missed Kol Nidre by a minute, but remained till the end of the Evening Service.  A nice ashkenazy shul where the women's section wasn't a total embarrassment (it wasn't totally closed), on the balcony with a nice view and only a very small lace curtain.  Alessia, Elisabeth, Erin (Elisabeth's non-Jewish friend from the States who came to visit with Elisabeth's parents, Paula and Bob) and me went.  Elisabeth is pretty good at this stuff, by the way.  Jewish stuff, I mean.  We did our best to keep up, and laughed a bit, too.

 After changing clothes, we walked down to the beach, and down to the Tayelet (the promenade) where again, the streets were just swarming with people walking and talking … one car, a security patrol, passed slowly and carefully.

 Most of the day was spent sleeping or talking.  Alessia's boyfriend, Doron, was there, too.  The boys told me that they wanted to go to shul, but when the moment came, they pooped out.  Too bad.

 We went to Ne'ilah (concluding services), which I like very much since they end the praying with a final Tekiyah Gedola (big shofar blasts – which in this case were kinda weak) and then we sing "Bashana Haba'ah b'yerushalayim" = Next Year in Jerusalem!  Paula came with us this time instead of Erin.  Alessia also got into it, which was nice to see.  She pointed out to us that an elderly woman sitting behind us, who had been smiling at us the whole service, had a number tattooed on her arm.  It just made us think, and especially on this day, at this time, at this place.

 We came home to a big pot of mint tea and honey cake (Erin arranged that for us), which was good enough to hold us until the bagels had been warmed up and all the fish was on the table.  It's simply a tradition to break the Yom Kippur fast with bagels and lox (and all kinds of salty and smoked fish).  A shot of whiskey (courtesy of Steve, a work mate of Alessia's) added a nice zing, too.  This was followed by a shitload of handmade chocolates which Paula and Bob brought from the States … ooof!  If we're supposed to "suffer" on Yom Kippur … believe me, that stuffed feeling was unadulterated suffering, even worse than fasting!

 We got back to Elyachin at about 11:30pm, after packing everything back up.  Edon had school (woke up at 6:30 for that) and I had work.  Got home from work and decided to take Sagiv out for a nice dinner at an outdoor, mid-Eastern BBQ place.

 Sagiv had cut his hand accidentally the other night at a friends house and has three huge metal staples right below the juncture of where the thumb connects to the hand, so was told to stay home until Thursday.  It's good that he has some time off, but it means he won't be with us at Sukkot.  He'll have to spend Sukkot on the base, which might be kinda nice, too.

 I realized that all his weekends home are so busy with family that he hasn't had a chance to eat at a restaurant for months, so this prompted the idea to take him out to eat.  He has recently fallen in love with Fois Gras, which has been recently illegalized here due to the cruelty issues.  We went to one restaurant and they told us that you can't get it in Israel any more, we tried another place and he got the last portion!  He loved it.  I told him that he got the last two goose livers ever to be eaten in Israel for the rest of eternity.  He didn't believe me.

 I will probably take the earrings to a jeweler to see what he can do to make the back fastening more secure, maybe even just a larger, more secure clip, I need to check the options.  I'm deathly afraid that I might lose one.  I'm sure they can do something, but I want to be sure to go to a jeweler I trust.  I don't want to let them out of my sight.

 So here it is, 11:30, and I must get to bed.  It has been an exhausting couple of weeks, and the party isn't over yet.  I'm working tomorrow and Thursday, and then need to somehow cook for 12 people who are coming to eat in our Sukkah.  The gardener is coming tomorrow, and a cleaning lady is coming Thursday.  This will help, but I still need to somehow buy the food and the all the stuff I need to build the sukkah (and do it without a car) and then I need to cook a fabulous meal in the few hours that I have before the guests arrive on Friday afternoon.

 FYI:

 Menu:
2 Sweet Challahs
Wine
Side dishes/Salads:
    Spicy roast pepper salad
    Beet salad
    Moroccan carrot salad, cooked in lemon
    Roast Eggplant Salad
    Eggplant slices with lemon
    Celery carrot lemon salad

First course - Appetizer:
    Moroccan fish with tomatoes and olives

Second course - Soup:
    Creamed Pumpkin soup

Third course - Entree:
    Roast Beef (Prime Rib!)
    Roast rosemary potatoes
    Sliced mushrooms in the gravy
    Asparagus

Fourth course - Dessert:
    Fruit Salad
    Cake
    Mint tea

 All this, served in a crammed shack with palm leaves for a roof – go figure!  

 My Sukkah is 3 meters square – we figure that each person will have about 3/4 of a square meter … if we all stand.  I know I'll make it work somehow.

 Throughout the week, friends and neighbors will come to visit to sit in the sukkah, as well.  Edon will hang out there with his friends, of course, and following weekend, we'll have a smaller family meal to end all the festivities on Simchat Torah.

 I know that when all is said and done that I am creating traditions and memories for my children to have and to live by and one day to re-create when their turn comes.

 This thought is what makes it easy.

 When this is over, I have a project at work which may bring me to Istanbul for a couple of days in November.  I hope to close this deal, which will also ensure enough of a budget to get me that company car I've been waiting for.  Start-ups are a bitch!

 There's a huge multi-artist concert in Tel Aviv --- the night of the 26^th!  Alessia is getting us tickets!  I'm sure they arranged this concert especially for me, of course.

 The first weekend in November, Alessia and I are going down to Eilat, all expenses paid, by my company.  We'll be staying at Herods, I think, which is supposedly one of the best (if not the best) hotels in Eilat.  I'm taking Alessia because Agrexco (where Naftali works) does this for their employees every Summer, but Alessia's never had the opportunity to go.  This is my chance to spoil her a bit, and anyway, it's not like I could bring Edon to a club to go dancing or something!  I'm sure it will be great.

 Since I wrote the email, and now looking back, I must say that Sukkot was a huge success, everything was absolutely delicious and the people mixed nicely, enjoying the whole experience.  We made our sukkah a little longer than usual, and it fit all of us comfortably, it was amazing!

 Funny thing, the next day, after our huge meal, my Sukkah collapsed from the weight of the palm leaves ... I put before-and-after pictures here ... it was sad, but as they say, "It could always be worse."  Imagine if it had collapsed during dinner!!!

 Edon is on school break for Sukkot, so decided to visit Alessia for the rest of the week.  He's going to be able to surf alot there since it's a short walk to the beach.

 Sagiv is stuck on the base for another two weeks.

 ... and I'm busy busy at work.

 

Life is good.