והשיב לב אבות אל בנים

It says in Malachi 4:6

והשיב לב אבות אל בנים ולב בנים אל אבותם

"And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers"

This week we saw a part of that beautiful prophesy. 

Mom (that's Elkies Mom) and Grandpa Mottie are visiting their/our homeland. They arrived last night on ElAL so far so good. They brought tons of goodies from Disney Land, I mean America. We got cereals, soaps and of corse lots of Marbles. That's a hot commodity here. Kids are playing and trading Marbles all day long. If you don't bring marbles to Israel when you visit you are definitely missing some marbles. We hope they love it so much that they come more often and for longer periods of time (or permanently). Next week it will be my Mothers turn we are all looking forward to seeing her and the rest of you as well. Rabbi Wein says we are living in a time where we see Bible prophesies being fulfilled every day. That's for sure.

We just got back from Shopping in town Fri. 

I saw the Monit (cab) driver had a tehillim open on the front seat. When I got in to sit down he closed and picked it up. So I asked him "what tehillim we are up to today?" he then started singing that entire chapter by heart with a Sefadic Nigun. We had a free concert on the way back home, along with a good shmooze. I asked him if he can sing the whole tehillim by heart, he said  "should I start now?" so I said we'll have to take a rain check. Many Cabbies learn Tenach while waiting for their next pickup. Bette then smoking cursing and drinking  booze.

This week we got a TV Tax bill. 

In Israel the Government controls all the media. So basically they can indoctrinated you towards whatever their agenda is, then they charge you a tax for being indoctrinated. Only Jews can come up with such a genius idea. Since we don't have a TV we don't have to pay the tax. How they know who has a TV and who doesn't is beyond me. Perhaps if you have cable, they get the subscriber list from them. Big brother is watching, but at least it's our Jewish Big brother.

Basic internet speed here is slower then in Woodmere NY. In NY Optonline started at 15MG download and 1.5MG upload. Bezek and Netvision here start at 1.5MG  download and 150K upload. That's 10 time slower. We tried the basic and the Vonage phone routers cut out to often. We just upped it to 4MG download. It's a bit better but we may up it to 5MG for a bit more NIS (New Israeli Shekel). Someone told me if you live in certain locations you can get up to 8MGs down. Israel is working on increasing internet speeds.

Israel needs Ebay. Perhaps one day someone will set it up here. I like to shop around and get the best deals.  Before internet I used to do it by phone and car, now it much easier to do it online. I needed an HP printer cartridge at a local store they wanted 175NIS for it, thats $43.75 at today good rate of $4 per 1NIS. I got it Band new on Ebay for half the price. The tricky part is to get it here. Hopefully Mom will bring it.

Finally! we had a CLATH TWIP THITH WEEK. 

That's right! Our Ulpan class had a Tiyul (trip) to Yerushaliam. Elkie could not come since she was getting ready for her Shabbos and getting Mom from the airport. We went to the High Court the Knesset, then the Menachem Begin Heritage Center Musium. http://www.begincenter.org.il/english/home.asp

It's very well done. You can lear a lot about Menachem Begin. Unquestionably Menachem ben Zev Begin born on Shabbos Nachamu was a great man and leader. No doubt he was brought into this world to bring some Nechama (Menachem) to the Jewish people. He was humble lived simple and and in his own words after he won he said he wanted to rule as "A GOOD JEW" He was a fighter and into Freedom from persecution and ideas. After hearing Zev Jabitinsky he was inspired and considered him his Rebbi and leader, although he disagreed with him later on on certain topics. 

On Menachem Begins Actual Lounge Chair

He headed the Irgun which was responsible for kicking the British out of Israel. He clearly stated that there will never be a Palestinian State since it would be a grave danger to Israel. He courageously bombed Iraqs nuclear program even though the entire world including America condemned him for doing so. 

However he did sign a piece agreement with Egyptian president Anwar Sadat. I thought that there was an underlying agenda in the museum to promote the piece agreement as if it were one of Israel's greatest achievements. I would have liked to see pictures of the Irgun Hanging the British soldiers in response the British hanging of Urgun soldiers. That was one of Beigins finer moments which led to the exit of the British and the creation of Israel. From the moment you walk in you see tons of pictures of Begin, Sadat and Carter all shaking hands and smiling. Although Sadat may have been a good man, he was assassinated, and today Egypt is letting Hamas smuggle tons and tons of ammunition and explosives into Gaza to be used against Israel. Egyptian sponsored Media and schools teach Passover Blod libels and Hatred of Jews and Israel. I don't think this is the kind of piece Menachem Begin envisioned. 

In last weeks Parsha Avraham Avinu made a piece agreement with Avimelech. The RAMBAN states that Avraham had no right to be making these kind of deals and was wrong for doing so. We need to learn from our forefathers good deeds as well as from their mistakes in order to prevent us from repeating them again. The only way this can happen is if we have leadership that looks to the Torah for guidance and uses Jewish values exclusively to lead Israel. With Hashems help, we sill see leadership like this soon.

That's all for now folks, if you have real estate or stocks SELL SELL SELL.

Shabbat Shalom

Dippi'n 500

What is Dippi'n 500???  You'll find out pretty soon but first.

We were in Efrat last Shabbos by Elkies old friend Yael and Mark Struel, since we do not have our car yet Mark was a real gentleman and picked us up from Efrat and Drove us back to RBS after shabbat. It's gota be 20 degrees F cooler in Efrat what a difference. Efrat is real close to RBS using the back roads about 22min. Our house is 2 minutes from the main back road. On the way we said tefillat Haderech we heard some Arabs were making trouble on one of those roads. Although there are Chayalim around and a check point, you do drive past Arab Villages. In America I never really related to the words "protect us from our enemies" when saying Teffilas Haderech, but I guess living here gives you the opportunity to have more kavana in praying to Hashem. 

Big News! Google has now Mapped Israel. Now everyone can make Aliya

Tuesday we went to Dovid Thees son Netanels Bar Mitzva in Moshav Nachalot not far from PETHAH TIQWA we got a ride with Chavie's (Dovids wife's) cousins in RBS to their other cousins Eitan Himelstein in Beit Shemesh, then all 6 of us went together. Both cousins learned in Yehiva Chorev, Eitan was in Menachem Walfish class. Even though they have been in Israel since they were little kids they ALL spoke in English which was nice for us. Bentzi Thee played the music, of course it's not AISH! but he is very good.

Ok Now Dipp'n 500

Now that Yehuda is in Hebrew Gan, Elkie and I take turns walking him to and from Gan which is about a 3 minute walk from our house. As it turns out, when a local Kabblan (builder contractor) was digging up to lay a foundation on Nachal Raziel the block of the Gan he unearthed an ancient Mikvah. As far as I've heard it was created and used at least 1500 years ago. Which means people were Dipp'n in the Mik in the year 500 down the block from us, way before the Indians landed in America and before Britain France and many other countries were founded . I found the spot and took Yehuda up for a tour, now he wants to check it out every day on his way back from Gan. I guess it's better then going to the Mall.

This must have been the prep room or something.

The floor has very small stone tiles all hand made

They even had style.

The floor is sloped in a way so the rain water drains into the Mikvah. It's considered and archaeological site and no one is permitted to build there, although people (probably Arabs) threw some garbage down the Mikvah. It makes you appreciate flat ceramic tiles and running water. If someone came up with the funds, it could probably be taken care of and kept for proper display.

There's a new Rav in town, and Bar Haim is his name.

Last night Wed. Myself and an RBS friend, who I've previously only met and known though cyber space, arranged the 1st in a series of Shiurim given by the One and Only "Harav Dovid Bar Haim". I had never met the Rav in person but have heard many hours of his Shiurim and consider him a VERY fresh breath of Air. I was in touch with him via email a few times and was looking forward to meeting him. To put is simply he is NOT! your typical Rav. It says in the Gemora "Ein Torah Kitoras Eretz Yisrael" After hearing him many times I REALLY! came to appreciate this Gemora. He Promotes Torahs Eretz Yisrael in theory AND practice and takes a hands-on approach to furthering the Geula. He is very original, creative and makes people think. Everything he says is backed by Chazal, and he is very forthcoming in answering questions. He studied at Yeshivat Merkaz Harav for 10 years and has a very unique approach to understanding Minhagim and Halacha.

He has given Shiurim in the past in RBS but it is tough to get a crowd out on a weekly basis so my new friend Binyomin Lemkin and I took it upon ourselves to bring in as many people as we can to kick off the season. B"H it was a small but respectable tun out, we brought some refreshment to feed the body and the soul. The Shiur was given in Rav Salevetchicks shul (R. Yosef Beir Rosh Yeshiva of YU's great-nephew) who is apparently more open minded then other Rabamin in town. Not every person or Rav is ready to agree with what he has to say, but I am a big believer in using this thing on my shoulders called a head and the Brain Hashem has placed in it for myself.

His teachings can be found at www.machonshilo.org

He lives in Yerushalaim and came in with Benyamin. They picked up an older man then me on the way. I Shook his hand and told him it was an honor to meet him. In the car I said this is quite different then the US, I never got a ride to a shiur in Rabbi Wein or Rabbi Weinbergers car with them driving. (Although I did drive Rav Goldvict to his Shiur once). He set up 2 computers one to record the other had his notes and I think the whole Torah on it. People asked him good questions and he is quite amazing he clicked his computer a few times and gave answers quoting verbatim the RAMBAM, Gemara and sources all over the Torah. 

He started by explaining that a Kizayit, is actually the size of a Olive! WOW WHAT A CONCEPT! Which is about 3 or 4 grams and NOT 60 grams as some other Rabanim claim with out any proof. He explained that there are Olive trees in Israel over 3000 years old from the time of the Tenach still producing Olives that are the same size as todays olives. Perhaps the Rabanim in Bavel and European counties were not aware of the size of an Olive since they were not grown in those climates. So they compared them to eggs, which also vary in size, and so confusion and distortions set in. He is of the opinion we should now clarify things, since Halacha and the Torah have to make sense in reality with reason and logic. There never was, and never will be an Olive the Size of an Egg like the ones that we buy at the Makolet. This is the approach of the RAMBAM and Kuzari. I guess that means less time in the rest room on Pesach.

His nick name is the "Ba'al Hanusach" since he is at the forefront of writing a new nusach teffila based on the Geonim that is more appropriate and relevant to the reality in Israel TODAY. He already published a Sidur and other Teffilot. A simple example is in the current version of Ashenazik Benching. We ask Hashem to "Break the Yolk from our necks and quickly bring us to Israel". That's a fine teffila for people living outside of Israel. But how can one honestly and sincerely ask Hashem to bring him to Israel when he is already there!? At least I  know I can't. The Rav gave me a business card that contains Birchat Hamazon with the new/old Nusach Eretz Yisrael. It fulfills the Halachik requirement of "Veachalta Visavata Uverachta" (Eat, be satisfied, and give thanks/blessings) with the 4 brochos as indicated in the Gemorah. It's MUCH easier to say and I find it conducive to having more Kavana using this Nusach. Perhaps when more and more people in Israel start using this Nusach at some point it will become standardized.

That's all for for now, gota get back to fundraising for Moshe Feiglin, we NEED to get him in the Knesset. The Likud Knesset Slate/List vote is in about 30 days from now.

All the best Am Yisrael Chai and Shabbat Shalom.

ObamaNation

Make sure you read the next post Elkie's update "Hectic Week"

Just a quick note about the US elections;

(Because he WON!)

I told you so, I told you so...  

I'll try not to rub it in. (rrrrrggggg... boy this is tough)

I have a list of people who said "If Obama wins, I'm making Aliya"

Some of those people are reading this blog.

On a serious note many people are saying lots of things about this. 

Like Rav Lazer Brody: Obama and Aliya and Good News for Geula

The 1st thing that saddens me (but I am not surprised) is that 80% of US Jews supported him financially and electorally (if that's a word). 

But the main point I want to make is that I believe Hashem communicates with us even today though events in our lives. (That's what Chazal Says). The trick is to be tuned into those events, it's timing etc. and be able to hear and understand the message. 

When we say Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokeinu...  Shema means Hear AND Understand.

Barack Hussein Obama won the election on the week of Parshat Lech Lecha.

That is the Parsha where Avram אברם receives the 1st Mitzva given to the 1st Jew. Aliya! 

"Lech Lecha" - Go for your own good

Upon completing this difficult and rewarding test, Hashem gives him the Hey ה for Hashem in his name AvraHam אברהם

Hectic Week

Well, we've had a pretty hectic week with different things going on.

Last Friday we went to Oma's kever for her Yahrtzeit. we borrowed a car and took Yehuda with us since we had no one to watch him.

we arrived at the parking lot of the cemetery and met Ali, Rechi, and some of the relatives. we then walked together up to the Kever where we all said some tehillim.

it was a little hard for me since Yehuda thought it was a playground and i had to go chasing him around the cemetery, not something that you really want to be doing. so i learned my lesson that it really was not the place for him (he was the only child there) and i cannot bring him there again for many years but i really did want to be there. it was "nice" to be there and it certainly bought Nachas to Oma & Opa having so many of their grandchildren and great-grandchildren there.

Motei Shabbos Shloimy played at the Hilula

(Memory gathering) of the Aish Kodesh with Shlomo Katz. They also had a Cornerstone ceremony for the new Shul they are building. The Aish Kodesh is the Rebbe of Piazeczna, Harav Kalonymous Kalman Shapiro, zt"l, who wrote the inspirational sefer, "Aish Kodesh" during his all too brief tenure as the Rebbe of the Warsaw Ghetto. Shortly before he was murdered by the Nazis HY"D and the Ghetto was liquidated, the Rebbe buried his writings beneath the Ghetto's ruins with the hopeful plea that, after the war, the manuscript be taken to Eretz Yisrael. Rav Weinberger from Aish Kodesh Woodmere was inspired by this sefer and decided to name the shul after it.

A lot of people from Aish Kodesh Woodmere daven in Aish Kodesh RBS. In RBS the Rav is Rav Shapiro the great Nefew of Harav Kalonymus Kalman. He is a REAL Tzadik. The 1st time I saw him I was waiting outside on Simchas Torah and saw some man bringing out Kugel and Barekas for people to eat. Then Shloimy Came out and introduced me to that man who was Rav Shapiro the Rav of the Shul! He will not sit down at Seudat Shlishit until everyone has a seat and food WOW!

On Monday Shloimie went to Yerushalayim to take his road test. he felt that the test went well and got a call from his instructor later that day saying that he passed!!!! so on tues,. he went to Beit Shemesh to get his driver license. he thought it would have taken a lot longer but it wasn't too long and he finally got his license so now we can get our car when it arrives. he then called our Shipper to see what is happening with our car since it should have been here already. the shipper said that it just arrived in Israel!! he asked Shloimie if he got his license yet so Shloimie said "Of course i have my license, i'm waiting for you to call me about the car!!!". anyway, he said that he will let us know next week when we can get it. i hope it won't take too much longer till we get it.

Tues. night i had a bat mitzvah for Sora Baila Akselrud's daughter. the women were invited for dessert and dancing at 9PM. at about 5 pm there was a knock on our front door and it was judy and Aaron Akselrud. they came to say hello and brought us a housewarming gift, a beautiful challah cover. it was so thoughtful of them. they are the nicest people. they stayed for about 15 minutes bec. they were on their way to the Bat- Mitzvah. i didn't have to give them a tour since they've been here MANY times already but they noticed that the house was painted.

the Bat Mitzvah was very nice. the girls all had a good time and i really enjoyed some of those desserts!

This morning (thurs.) we had another Akselrud Simcha. our former tenants, Yudi & Penina made their son's bar mitzvah at the Kotel. they had a big breakfast after davening at a catering hall right outside the Old City. it was a really nice place and the food was good. Shloimie got a lift straight to the hall since he was playing the music. he had all his equipment with him and i went with a few neighbors after everyone's kids left for school so we also went directly to the hall. we felt bad that we missed the davening but we just couldn't leave any earlier. The Akselrud's also knew that most of the women would miss davening. we ate, danced, saw a video of the Bar Mitzvah boy and then we came home. luckily Shira got out of School early so she was able to pick Yehuda up from Gan so i didn't have to rush home....

Speaking of Yehuda's Gan, we finally decided on a gan for him. (for those of you who read the previous blog, you know what i'm talking about). we were debating where to send him and we settled on a Hebrew speaking gan for him. the Morah speaks fluent English so that made me feel a lot better since i know that he will be understood. i also asked Morah Tirtza to please repeat in English to him, whatever she tells the class so that he can understand what's going on.

On a side note, it is very important to understand what people say to you. my friend told me a story that happened to them on chol Hamoed.... Her family was in the car going on a trip and they had their son's friend in the car with them. this friend is Israeli and didn't speak english. so they are on their way and this boy, who was about 8 yrs old ( i think) said in hebrew, "ani tzarich lihaki." so they didn't understand him and just continued on their way and he said it again and again and again. they didn't know what he was saying so they basically ignored him and with that, this little boy threw up all over their car. so they said "Oh, we just learned a new word...lihaki must mean to throw up!!!" and they said that they will never forget that word again!!! my point is that i want Yehuda to understand and to be understood in gan so we chose this gan and we heard wonderful things about it.

when we picked him up the first day the Morah said he was great, he didn't cry at all. there are about 5 or 6 other kids who speak english so she told me that he found the english chevra, not to worry!!!

then on Monday, when he came home i asked him how they speak (since they speak hebrew and he doesn't know hebrew yet) so he said "mommy, they say cha cha cha, la la la cha all day." we were hysterical laughing from him that we just couldn't stop! then yesterday i asked him who did he play with. since i don't know the kids names except for 2 or 3 so he said "i played with chachi, moo moo, fufi, poo-poo, luli..." i guess he hasn't gotten their names down yet.

This morning i was getting him dressed and i was singing some song to him ( i don't remember which one) and he said shut up, which is a favorite word of his. but i very often choose to ignore it when he says it.(is that the correct parenting technique, Yael??) anyway, i continued singing and he said it again so i told him that i don't want to shut up! so he says to me "Mommy, SHEKET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" so with that i basically shut my mouth!(maybe tomorrow i'll pick a different song to sing to him).

so for the most part, he likes Gan and is happy to go. this morning he put on his knapsack at 7:30 AM and said "ok mommy, i'm going to my new gan now." i told him he had some time and that he can go back to making more trouble!

Speaking of trouble, the other day yehuda was playing on our mirpeset(porch) with our neighbor, yaakov, from across the street and he saw the hose. so he decided to try it out and he went over to the hose, turned it on FULL force and proceeded to DRENCH Yaakov (who's only 4 years old). we couldn't stop laughing! Shloimie and i were inside watching poor little Yaakov stand there dripping wet from head to toe, literally. the good thing was that Yaakov was laughing with us! so we tried telling yehuda to turn it off but he was so busy spraying the whole neighborhood from the Mirpeset that he didn't even hear us. he was shooting water EVERYWHERE!! we couldn't stop laughing but then i said that i hope Yaakov's Mother, Aliza, won't be upset with me. all of a sudden i see Aliza coming outside her front door and i opened the mirpeset door a crack so we won't get drenched and i told her that i can't open the door and she was hysterical laughing when she saw her son!! it was one of the funniest things ever!!! Finally, Shloimie decided to take charge. he took the umbrella and ran onto the mirpeset trying to catch the terrorist. During all of this Shmuel Sackett walked in to our house with two of his daughters. they were coming for a Manhigut Yehudit meeting with Shloimie, not even me this time. so in walks Shmuel and sees what's going on. he was dressed in a nice,clean white shirt bec. he was on his way to a wedding. i think he almost ran out of the house but luckily shloimie decided to step in. then i explained to Shmuel, why i CAN"T work! i think he understood very well and decided not to even ask me when i want to go back to work.

What a week it was in the Walfish RBS Family.

Tomorrow we are going to our good friends, Yael and Mark Struel for Shabbos. they live in Efrat. i met Yael in Seminary many years ago. she is originally from England and we became very close since then. we stayed in contact for many years then lost touch for a few years. i always knew that she was going to make Aliyah and last summer when we came on vacation with the kids i met a woman from England who lives in RBS if she knows my friend Yael. she said that she lives in Efrat. we happened to be going to Efrat on Monday (this was shabbos) so on the way to efrat to visit other friends, i called my friend that we were going to and i asked them to look up Yael's phone number in the Efrat phone book and i got the number. i then called her and she knew who it was right away and we went to see her. we were hugging in the street at about 11PM like two little kids! so since last summer we kept in touch again and we are going to them for shabbos. they made a Bat Mitzvah about two weeks ago in Efrat and we went to that so we saw them already but we are looking forward to spending some time with them. her husband is very nice and he offered to take us there and back so we took him up on his offer.

then Monday night we have another bar mitavah. this time it's for Dovid and Chavie Thee's son, Netanel. we haven't been to a real israeli style bar mitzvah so it should be interesting!!

Hope all is well at your end of the world.

Now that you have a lovely new President, we are taking reservations for our hotel. don't worry, we won't charge too much and you can stay as long as you want. we really want you all to visit. i don't know if you should all come at the same time but if that's what happens, then just bring a toothbrush and a pillow and we'll squeeze you in.

love you all and miss you all, some more than others but we won't mention names!!

keep in touch and I MEAN IT!!!!!

good shabbos and Lehitraot for now,

Elkie

Aliya to the Temple Mount

Moshe Feiglin Ascends to the Har Habait (Temple Mount) every month on the 19th. This month it came out on Sunday Col Hamoed Sukkot. As soon as I heard about it I decided I wanted to join. This Sukkot is the one after Shmittah and there is a special Mitzvah to read from portions of the Torah on the east side of the Har Habaiyit facing the Kodesh Kodashim. It is between the place the Kohen Gadol prepared the Para Aduma on Har Zetim and the Kodesh Kodashim. When preparing the Para Aduma, they open all the gates and you can see straight though to the Kodesh Kodashim.

I told some friends I am planning on going, a few were interested in joining me. 2 ended up on coming with me. One is Daniel Michael who also made Aliya this summer from Brooklyn with his family, they live near us, the other was Spencer a single British guy the brother of a neighbor. Going to the Har Habaiyit is controversial many Rabbis disway people from going all together. 

The Chief Rabanut of Israel even has a sign saying it is forbidden by Torah Law to go on the Temple Mount. While Technically the rabanut of Israel is correct that there ARE areas of the Temple Mount that one is not supposed to go on, Like inside the Azara if one is Tamay Mess, their statement is misleading. The area around that, one can walk on even is he is Tamay Mess after following certain Halachas like going to the Mikvah, wearing non leather shoes etc... One can read a response to the Ban by Rabbi Chaim Richman of the Temple Institute at:

http://www.templeinstitute.org/aliya_temple_mount.htm

Or see what the RAMBAM and Rav Moshe Feinstein had to say about it: 

http://www.templeinstitute.org/rambam.htm

http://www.templeinstitute.org/harav_moshe.htm

I explained to my friends that you have to go to the Mikva 1st and forwarded them instructions in english http://www.kumah.org/harhabayit

They both are NOT frequent visitors to a Mikvah, Spencer was never in one and was quite nervous and perturbed about the whole thing it did not seem PROPER, but he was a good sport and we all went. We shared a cab to the Kotel Sun Morning and got there at 8:00AM just on time. We found the Manhigut group waiting online and joined them. 

Apparently a LOT of people wanted to ascend as well, and there was a VERY long line. The police do not allow Any NON Muslims to pray on the Temple mount or even bring a sidur or move your lips in prayer. So basically Jews can Pray in Auschwitz, but not at the Holiest site for Jews in the World. The police decided to let 2 groups of about 20 people go up at a time with an Israeli Security escort and 3 Jordanian WAKF arabs to make sure no one moved there lips in prayer.

We were waiting and waiting an waiting, in the hot sun. Some secular looking Jew with a pony tail wanted to cut the line since he claimed he does not NEED and escort so we should let him go before us. We told him we don’t NEED and escort either but that’s what the police want to do. Then he said well we (Kippah wearing Jewish Looking people) have and agenda and he doesn’t. So I asked him why he wants to go, he said to visit and tour around, so I told him so do I, maybe we can join you and we all won’t need and escort. He sort of backed off a bit. 

Then a bit later some dude wearing a Black Hat saw us from the exit ramp, and started SACREAMING at us that we are defiling the Har Habait and it’s because of people like US that Moshiach hasn’t come etc...  We all smiled and said CHAG SAMEACH loudly and started singing Yibone Hamikdash. Boy EVEYONE in Israel has an opinion.

After waiting almost 2 hours we went though a metal detector and had 29 people in our group with Moshe. 

Moshe explained that even though we will see Arabs looking like they own the place Mocking us we should not be depressed it is still the Chag and we should be Happy and smile.

From the moment we entered the Har Habayit the Arab WAKF was watching us intensely to make sure we don’t move a lip in prayer. Moshe was talking the whole time in Hebrew as our tour guide explaining where we were and what we were seeing. 

He 1st showed us residue of Gold that was on the pillars from the Beit Hamikdash. 

We then moved to the southern part of the mount and Moshe showed us HUGE pieces of wood that were found as the WAKF dug under the Temple Mount (Illegally) They were tested and were Atztei Shitim and other kinds of wood used in the 1st and 2nd temple. 

They were 2-3 thousand years old, in any country in the world they would build a museum just for those items, but under the current Israeli leadership the WAKF gets away with discarding these priceless items as rubble.

We then headed East and North, at one point Moshe stopped to show us something and the 3 Arab guards sat down and were talking LOUDLY the Israeli police was not near us. Moshe looked at them and said “Excuse me I’m talking here, please be quiet”. One guy said we can talk, and continued talking. 

I saw a twitch in Moshe face and he did not like that answer. He was thinking for about 10 seconds then dropped down to the ground and Prostrated himself fully on the ground with his head towards the Kodesh Kodashim. (This is only permissible to do ON the Har Habaiyit) I never saw guys jump up so fast, the Arabs Jumped out of their seats and started running towards Moshe SCREAMING, then before they can reach him he stood up. They continued yelling and the Israeli Police came, they started complaining to the Police... The police look at Moshe, and Moshe said “Hu Mafria Le, Ani Mafria Lo” - “He was bothering me so bothered him”. The police looked at the Arabs and said stop bothering Moshe looked at Moshe and walked away.  Moshe brushed of his shirt from some dust and continued the tour. It was AWSOME!.

We then went to the East side of the mount this time the Arabs where watching our lips VERY closely. Moshe explained that we were at the spot were they perform Hakel and said this is where the Kohen Gadol would read from the Torah and say thing like Shima Yisrael etc... Looking at us with hand gestures, he continued saying the entire Kriat Shema out loud right in front of the Arabs and they had no idea what he was doing. Then Moshe asked if there was a cohen among us, and one guy said yes, so he called him up, and said this is were the Cohanim said there blessing, do you REMEMBER what the TEXT is??? (wink wink) so he had the Cohen face us and say Birkat Kohanim as Moshe was counting the Brachos with is fingers. 

We all receive Birchat Cohen on the Har Habayit on Sukkot after Hakel, in front of the Arabs and they were clueless.

We then headed North and were walking. I explained to Spencer that the Arabs definitely would NOT be happy if I said Shir Hammaalos MiMamakim etc... and said two chapters of Tehilim to him by heart. 

We then saw and Arab school at the Northern part of the mount with kids playing ball, some of them came up to us staring at us fearlessly, I looked at them and smiled. Then some guy came and told them to move away.

We exited the mount at the West side going into the Arab Shuk, That is the Closest side to the Kodesh Kodashim. as were were all walking backwards, most of us said prays like “Shema” Hashem Hu Haelokim” etc... 

We were leaving anyway so there was little fear in them kicking us out.

When we were out they closed the door and we all made a circle and sang and danced to Yibone Hamikdash. Tourists were staring at us and taking pictures. 

It was a very moving and Happy and Sad experience one I will never forget. I hope to go again with family and friends.

To English Gan... or Hebrew Gan? THAT! is the question

I'll get to Gans in a minute, but 1st some other news. 

This past week we have heard some Helicopters during the day and some planes at night. We think it was after America Bombed Syria. The IDF is probably just making sure everything in Israel is Secure and safe. Although all of our protection comes from Hashem it's nice to know Israel has thousands of Jews actively protecting it every day. We should never take this for Granted. 

This week we had 2 Bar Mitzvahs. 

On Sunday one for Elkies cousin Glatt at Reishit in Beit Shemesh, we saw 2 friends of my in-laws from Oceanside there, Glatts and Fischberger. David Fischberger was our Boss in Camp Lavi, It was nice to see them in Israel.

 

On Wed. another Bar Mitzvah this time at the Kotel for Seth and Rachael Keller's son. Elkie knows Rachel Keller/Kasden from Oceanside forever, they invited us and a small group of people to the Bar Mitzva at the Kotel and Breakfest at a restaurant Between the Arches located at the Back of the Kotel entrance. Amazing food! We really felt like part of their family. It's nice to share in Smachot with people from the Alter Land. Ariella came along and had her special time with us at the Kotel. The kids always like special time with them alone, like going for Pizza or Ice cream, but going to the Kotel and eating in a great restaurant is hard to beat. We hope we can do it more often

.

Going... Going.... Gan!!! 

Were going or have Gan Gan Gan Crazy! When we were still deliberating Aliya and if so when??? we started researching schools. B"H after a lot of phone calls and emails we felt like we got ALL the kids in the best places for each one. Gan really came last as there are Many choices and lots of people like to see the Gan before hand. The 1st thing you need to decide in Israel is, if you want a English or Hebrew speaking Gan. Well we picked an English Gan 2 doors away with a neighbor. We heard nice things about her Gan. The week we got here she had a baby B"H and it seemes like people must have known, so she only got 4 kids in the Gan out of 13. Before Gan started Yehuda kept saying "I go gan" after he started Every morning he kept saying "No go Gan" what a wimp! After a few weeks he kind of got used to it and is ok. But 4 kids is really not much of a Gan. Two of the kids who are brothers in the Gan just got pulled out by the parents to go elsewhere, so basically that Gan is over tomorrow. We have been looking for another Gan for a week now and all the English Gans are booked, except one, GREAT! Elkie spoke to the Ganenet, she seemed very nice, Elkie spoke to a parent who seemed happy, so we were just about ready to send Yehuda there. 

We knew our neighbor sent to that Gan last year and were waiting to here from her. She went to the Dead Sea for 2 days (tough life). When she got back Elkie spoke to her and apparently this Ganenet is VERY nice but runs the place like a Hefker Velt. Kids are flying all over the place, dirty diapers, lice, No Good. Our neighbor said We can NOT send Yehuda there, she even offered to quit her job and stay home with Yehuda so he doesn't have to go there.:( sounds pretty bad! As it happens we get eggs from a guy up the block for 22NIS vs 30NIS they come from local Moshavim. When I went to get some eggs I saw a small gan at dismissal, I spoke to the Ganenet she was very nice but it was a Hebrew speaking Gan, I went into the Gan to check it out, It is in her apartment very small but she is very clean organized and warm. Plus she has a Mirpeset WOW! We want Yehuda to speak English well that's why we wanted the English Gan. But since they are all booked we are now looking into Hebrew Ganim. Most people say if we ALL speak english at home and in the Street, Yehuda  will be completely bilingual and speak English perfectly fine. Plus the Hebrew speaking Ganim are less expensive. We just need to find the right one and go for it. B"H it will all work out.

Tomorrow our cousins the Thees get together at my Grandmother Omas Kever for her Yortzeit for a few minutes, we  hope to join them B"H.

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Thanks and stay tuned.

Shabbat Shalom!

After Chag Update

Hello all!!!

Now that the kids are back at school and we don't have ulpan today(yeah!!!) i decided to tell you all about our first yom tovim here in Israel.

rosh hashana was very nice. we davened by our neighbors across the street. they have a shul in their basement and it was really convenient. we shared a meal with 2 of our neighbors and we ate outside in our garage it's really a 2 car garage with plenty of room and it doesn't have any doors on it so it opens up to the street and since the kids would be outside playing anyway, we figured we might as well eat there. all the passers-by stopped by for a glance at our meal and some even had a piece of cake!!

Yom Kippur was a meaningful day. i finally got a chance to go to Kol Nidre which i haven't done in about 13 yrs! again, we davened by neighbors and the kids played outside. Shira sat in shul the entire time and really davened nicely. i sat upstairs in the living room with some neighbors and our little kids so they would not disrupt the davening. at some point during the day i went home with Yehuda to give him lunch and then he took a nap with me. by the time we woke up it was almost time for Ne'ela. the fast ended VERY early here since we changed the clocks. we broke our fast and then got started on our sukkah. well, 

Shloimie got started on the sukkah a lot earlier so that he could build our Pergola. for those of you who don't know what that is, it's basically a permanent awning on our porch that pple keep all yr to keep the hot sun out. we bought at Home Depot (in USA) all the wood and

 stuff needed to build this.

      

Shloimie had all the measurements so he knew exactly what to buy and we sent it 

all on our lift. Shira, Ariella and many of their friends helped paint it white 

which was a lot of fun for them all.

 

it took about 2 weeks to completely build the pergola. the reason why it took so long was bec. you can't go out on the porch until about

 4pm bec. it's so hot and then you only have until around 8pm to drill, bang, hammer.... bec. 

then all the kids go to sleep so it didn't give us that much time t

o do it but it got done and then all we needed to do was put a canvas around the whole thing and then we had ourselves a beautiful sukkah, thanks to Shloimie an kids!!! we bought a really pretty canvas with paintings of Jerusalem on the canvas and we had windows and decorations that the kids made. the day after sukkas when i was cleaning out the porch i found a box and what was in it?? well, the sukkah decorations that we were looking for and couldn't find!!! so now we will have some new decorations for next yr!

During chol Hamoed and we went on a trip with dovid and chavie Thee, cousins of Shloimie who live in Israel. we went on a hike with them, 

which is a very popular past time in this country. Everyone is always hiking here. it's a good thing i listened to my Mother and got good leather sneakers!! thanks

Mom! so we went on this hike and ended up in a bat cave. there were millions of bats flying around!! they obviously don't like light so of course everyone was flashing their flashlights on them and they were squeaking like crazy. it was fun. then we continued on to a natural slide made out of rocks. the kids had fun sliding down.

After the caves they came back to our house where we ordered pizza.

The next day we went on a nefesh b'nefesh trip up to Jordan. we traveled up north to 2 shomer shabbat kibbutzim, it was very nice. one of them manufactures their own spices which are exported to different places. i also met my friend's brother who lives on one of the kibbutzim.

then we went farther up north to Jordan. it was a little strange. we didn't need our passports bec., we were only allowed in the part that is still under Israel protection. the jordanian soldiers were quite scary looking. they didn't look like they wanted to be our friends but B'H we made it there and back safely. we didn't really even get off the busses bec. it was getting late but at least we can say that we've been to Jordan.

Frimi and Yitzchak and kids came for Shabbos and we really had a nice time with them. the 2 Yehuda's played very nicely together talking to each other in their own language but we were clearly able to hear them say "MINE" when they were playing (?) with the toys. chana was also very cute trying to get the toys from them but she stopped when they bopped her over the head!

Yitzchak did a good job "squeegee-ing" the floors before shabbos. we don't just allow guests here. they have to work for their food and he certainly earned a piece of cake for that!

On Sunday of chol Hamoed Shloimie got up early (yes, you all heard/read it correctly, SHLOIMIE GOT UP EARLY!!!) and went with our neighbor, daniel Michael to the Har Habayit. i guess he can tell you all about it but he really enjoyed it. he went with Moshe Feiglin and Shmuel Sackett and about 100 other pple and it was very inspiring.

I met Shloimie at the Kotel later on with Lea Michael (Daniel's wife) and all our kids. the Kotel was totally packed with tourists! it was amazing to see so many people there. we stayed for a short time bec. there were just too many people there for me and we went to Ir David, which is right outside the walls of the old City. it's where King David lived and we toured his castle, whatever was left of it. 

Then we went to ben yehuda. how can you go to Yerushalayim and NOT go to ben yehuda?!!! so we took a cab there and walked around for a while. we didn't see anybody that we knew except for our neighbors but it was still so crowded. we bought a bunch of gifts that we needed for upcoming simchas.

The next day was hoshana rabba and erev yom tov so we stayed local. 

the second day(s) of simchas torah was very leibidig. we again went to our neighbors for hakafot the first night. we ended 7:30 pm which we never ended so early in America but it was nice and then on  Simchas Torah day we went to Aish Kodesh which is where Shloimie usually davens. that davening was VERY long. it felt like an American Simcahs torah. we finished Shul at around 3pm.

so yom tov was really very nice and was enjoyed by us all. we really missed all of you guys and were thinking about you all the time,.

A funny story happened the other day. 

i was standing outside waiting to take Yehuda to gan, (which is 2 doors away) and i saw a neighbor of mine standing outside. she said to me that if i had 2 minutes i should go around the corner. why? i asked her. so she said that there were 2 donkeys walking down the street,. a mommy and her baby were taking a walk in ramat beit shemesh just looking at the scenery. so Yehuda and i ( & yosef was with us) went around the corner and saw them. they were being followed by a police car to make sure they stay safe. and of course Yehuda only wanted to go on a donkey ride so we quickly left to get him to Gan before he went donkey back riding!!...only in Israel!

Shloimie and i went to efrat the other night for a friend's daughter's bat mitzvah. it was very nice. that same night ariella had a friend/classmate/neighbor's bat mitzvah in beit Shemesh. she also had a fun time. 

tonight we are going to David Glatt's son's bar mitzvah in Beit Shemesh and tomorrow our neighbors from across the street are making a bat mitzvah in their house and they are using our garage to do the project with the girls, since our garage is big enough for a lot of people. then Wednesday morning we are going to the Kotel. My very best friend, Rachel Keller came from Woodmere on friday for her son's Bar Mitzvah so we will join them at the Kotel and breakfast. we are very excited to see her and some familiar faces.

Anyway, i did a lot of laundry today and i moppped the floors already ( and i got bleach on my skirt when i was mopping which i really annoying) and i folded a bunch of clothing and i took a break to fill you in on our lives until now.

i have to get back to my laundry so i hope to hear from all you soon. we miss you all like crazy and we can't wait to seen Grandma very soon and then Savta shortly after. anyone else who wants to come is more than welcome to visit us!!

Hope you all had nice yom tovim and please send our love to all of your families!!

Love, hugs and kisses from the holy Land,

Elkie