Chanukah in Boston in Israel

Abba and the kids (minus Noam) spent the first night of Chanukah 5771 with the Bostoner Rebbe of Yerushalayim at the Boston Shul in Har Nof. Elisheva watched from the Ezras Nashim

while the boys waited patiently in their seats

well....

they waited as patiently as they could for a while, but the Rebbe's Chanukah lighting takes about an hour from beginning to end. (I was very proud of them for lasting as long as they did).

Then, it was time to give out the sufganeot [jelly donuts] and Chanukah Gelt.

When we got home, we brought home a sufganiah for Ima, and we were treated to homemade pan pizza and Latkes.

Hope that everyone in the extended Gersten Family is enjoying a Chanukah Samayach.

Life Behind Bars

Once these rascals start crawling and cruising around the furniture they are downright dangerous, willing to put anything in their mouth no matter how dirty or how much they resemble a 'choking hazard'.

There's only one thing to do with these outlaws. You gotta put 'em behind bars

Don't let that slobbery face and puppy dog eyes fool you.

Trip to New York - Part III

On Monday morning, Abba and Ezra dropped off Uncle Joshua at Lander College after Shacharis. Ezra was being shy, but we managed to also meet, Yakov Hill, Jeff Mally, Moshe Schaffer, Isaac Manaster and Jon Savage. We also gave R' Shmulevitz a copy of Saba's new book in memory of Savta.

Even though it was raining hard and Abba had to put a quarter in the meter, we still stopped off at the Towne Variety on Main Street to pick up Abba's new backpack. It was the same exact backpack and the same exact price as Abba remembers when he bought his last backpack there about 6 years ago.

We came back to Great Neck and did our banking and post officing. Abba dropped off Ezra and went to pick up Zeidi and bring him back to Great Neck. After 'trying' to organize the garage, we all went to Mincha/Maariv and then Zeidi treated everyone to Chinese at Cho-Sen Gardens. Zeidi and Ezra had the chicken nuggets and Abba and Avigdor had pepper steak. Saba stayed home and ate leftovers.

Trip to New York - Part II

On Motzai Shabbos, Ezra and Abba made a Shiva call with Grandpa to Margaret's daughters house in Great Neck. We also made another Shiva call at the Honigs, close friends of our family. Ezra met Shaun, Abba's childhood friend, and his family, and we looked at some pictures of when Abba was the same age as Ezra. We came home to help Grandma Libby and Aunt Merrill with their luggage and decided to go to sleep early and get an early start

Because Saba's car wouldn't start (he ended up getting a new car on Sunday), he needed to use the van and Grandpa decided that I should take his car (really Gail's car) while they were still in Israel (coming back Monday night).

So, early Sunday morning we dropped off Grandpa in Fort Lee and made it to Elizabeth in time for the 8:00 Elmora Hills Shacharis. Ezra spent the morning with Grandma Rhoda and Grandpa while Bubby was teaching until noon. Bentzy and Michelle came over with the kids and took Ezra and Abba to Costco to go grocery shopping. After a game or two of sequence, a Snow White movie and a big lunch of Yom Tov leftovers, Ezra and Abba got dressed to go to Landon's wedding

We drove up in time for the end of the bedeking. Saba was honored with reading the Kesuva, while Ezra and Abba went up to make the 4th of the Sheva Brachos. Ezra was one of only a few children their and had a good time dancing and making new friends. We also had a chance to see Aunt Lisa, Uncle Shimi, Yosef Avraham Elchanan, Uncle Avigdor, the Berns family, Lisa Felber, Aunt Jean, and cousins Rachel, Celia and George Blumenthal.

Ezra, Abba and Uncle Avigdor helped organize Sheva Brachos by Benching since all the other clergy seemed to have left already. We got home very late and went straight to bed.

Trip to New York - Part I

Abba and Ezra flew to New York on Hoshana Rabbah. We met Aunt Merrill and Jessica who were coming in from California and together took a taxi to Great Neck. Grandma Libby, Zeidy, Josh and Saba were also in Great Neck for the 3-day Yom Tov.

Ezra came to shul all three days despite the rain. Moshe Jensen and his Abba made sure that Ezra felt welcome. Ezra collected a lot of tickets and will give them to Uncle Josh to enter him into the Great Neck Synagogue Youth Raffle.

Friday was Isru Chag for us and Simchas Torah for the rest of Great Neck. We danced with the Torah and the community, but when everyone else continued with Torah reading and Mussaf, Ezra and Abba went home to play board games and learn Chumash.

Elisheva's 'Bowling' Birthday

Sponsored by Bubby and Grandpa, the entire family headed to the Bowling Alley in Talpiot. Here is Elisheva before

and after

her first frame of the second game. We all bowled 3 games, which turned out to be too much. Abba and Ima were both sore the next morning.

Here is Ezra showing his bowling ball.

Ezra bettered Elisheva on the first game. Elisheva bettered Ezra in the second game. But Ezra won the tie-breaker 89 to 77 and took total pins as well 249 to 240. Elisheva and Ezra both had 3 spares

Elazar bowled a few frames here and there for Ima, but for the most part had more fun running around the bowling area. He enjoyed kicking the ball down the lane, but didn't really stick around to see how many pins went down. In fact the most fun Elazar had was driving with Noam

Part of New Rambam Sefer Dedicated in Savta's Memory

In memory of Henya bas Yitchak, we sponsored a section of the newest volume of the Mishnah Torah with Pirush HaMeir put out by the Bostoner Rebbe shlit"a, which should be available in bookstores in the next few weeks.

This section was chosen because it was the particular part of this book that Abba personally put the most work into. The entire volume was dedicated in memory to the Bostoner Rebbe zt"l.

Top Ten Signs That Your Kids Are Israeli

#10 When they talk in their sleep - it's in Hebrew

#9 They call Obama the Rosh HaMemshala of America

#8 They open their English books from the end of the story

#7 They prefer Bamba to Potato Chips

#6 They save up all their apricot pits

#5 They put a line through their number 7

#4 When they announce the time they read the digits off of their digital clock from right to left

#3 They use slang words from the Arabic like Yah-la and Sababa

#2 They eat cucumbers with the peels on them

#1 They worry all year long about what they are going to dress up as for Purim

Shabbos in Chevron with the Bostoner Rebbe

We went to Chevron with the Bostoner Rebbe and some of the families from Har Nof

We stayed at the Chevron Hospitality House on Avraham Aveinu street.
We davened most of our Tefillot at the Ma'arat HaMachpayla which was a five minute walk from where we were staying
It was very nice being there on Shabbos when there was an Avirah of about 500 people, but it wasn't super-crowded the way it is on Chol HaMoed

It was interesting for us to have Shabbos meals at the Rebbe's Tishin and meet some other families from Har Nof

I think the most interesting event of the Shabbos was the walking tour of Chevron
We walked through the city of Chevron and visited some of the families that live in the new neighborhood in Chevron included Baruch Marzel who spoke to the group. There was another group of Jewish apartments in the old Hadassah building. All looked very nice and came with plenty of playground equipment for the kids. We visited the graves of Ruth and her grandson Yishai, the ancestors of Dovid HaMelech

We only took a few pictures since we got there late Shabbos afternoon and left on Motzai Shabbos but it was quite a full Shabbos

Here's a few pictures from the beautiful playground in the Avraham Aveinu neighborhood on Friday afternoon

Here are some pictures from Motzai Shabbos in the room we stayed in.

Aunt Gail Comes For A Visit

Aunt Gail came to Israel to visit Aunt Rochelle who Baruch Hashem is doing wonderfully after back surgery. It was a short trip - but it was nice to get together.

Gail was able to come by a couple of times. We had dinner together one night and another chance to catch up the following afternoon. Fay and Gail also went shopping together in Mercaz HaIyr on the Sunday that Gail headed back to the States

As a punishment for making bunny ears, we had to cut 'someone' out of the picture
Hopefully we'll get some other nice pictures sent to us from Aunt Gail's camera

Binyamin visits his cousins in Israel

Binyamin was visiting Israel with his family and was able to spend some time with his cousins in Har Nof. Here's a picture of all the kids on the couch.

Elisheva & Noam; Binymin & Gabby; Ezra & Elazar

Binyamin was trying to convince Noam to get back to his ancestral roots and become a Mets fan, but Noam is a die hard Petach Tikvah Pioneers fan (as well as Grandma's Little Matzahball)

Isru Chag at the Zoo

Shavuos was Wednesday. Ima took Elisheva to a special program at her school on Leil Shavuos. Abba learned Chumash with Ezra, Elazar didn't touch Ima's delicious cheesecake, and Noam stayed up all night on Leil Shavuos.

Thursday, the kids have off from school, and we decided that we haven't been to the zoo in a while. When we got to the zoo we found out it was a Bar-Mitzvah party for every son of every Border Patrolman in the country. In other words, it was a little crowded.

But, there was a lot of music and other festivities. Not for us of course, but we could at least stand around and enjoy them too. All the kids wanted to go on the pony rides, but Abba of course was very thrifty and decided to go another route.

Racheli's Bat Mitzvah

Mazel Tov to cousin Racheli on your Bat Mitzvah
Hope to see you soon in Eretz Yisrael!!!!!

Here is a nice picture of Eli, Yoni, Racheli and the new car that Racheli got for her Bat Mitzvah :)

Elazar's 2nd Birthday Party in Gan

Elazar turned two before Pesach, but here's a picture from his Birthday party in Gan that we forgot to post to the blog.

Some Pictures of Baby Noam

Here's a variety of shots of Baby Noam just being his cute self

And one of Elazar and Baby Noam

REMEMBER ELAZAR "Only looking - no touching!!!"

Yom HaAtmaut Barbecue with the Foxes

We made the 12:50 bus, which takes us from Har Nof to Gilo. Elazar was in an independent mood today. He wanted to sit on the bus by himself and wouldn't let anyone sit with him or touch his sunglasses (which belong to Elisheva)

This year we decided to start at Park Gilo (aka Zidenfeld Park) about a ten minute walk from the Fox family. We always see the giant slides when we drive by on the bus and the kids always clamor, "Can we go on the slides!!", and we always respond, "Maybe next time". So this time, we planned it into the trip.

We found the locals canvassing the park with their grills, picnic tables and blankets. We walked around the park, which was considerably stroller friendly, and the kids tested all of the playground equipment until it was time to go to Harry and Linda.

The official start time of the barbecue was called for 3 PM. We were running a few minutes late, but from experience we knew that we would easily be the first guests to arrive. The Fox home in Gilo has been our annual Yom HaAtzmaut spot. Harry always cooks up a storm on the big grill, Linda takes care of all the other details, and the kids like playing with all the riding toys in the backyard.

Ilana and David Zeevi met us there with their kids. Ima's Chocolate Cookies were well received. We have yet to see Motti or Sheppy on Yom HaAtzmaut

However, we always manage to reminisce about the good old days in Great Neck: Little League, North Shore Hebrew Academy, barbecue's of years' past and how all the children did/didn't get along. Reminds me a little of sitting around the Pesach Seder and fulfilling Sippur Yitziyas Mitzrayim, except there are buns instead of Matzah and an abundance of flame-broiled meat

Nissan Tiyul in the Forest

On a day off from school, Abba will often take a kid for a walk in the Jerusalem forest surrounding Har Nof. There a many paths and many places that we have never been before, so we put on our 'Dora the Explorer' hats and chart a course. We will eventually find picnic benches and some playground equipment, courtesy of Keren Kayemet L'Yisrael (Jewish National Fund), which are scattered all throughout the forest along with donor plaque stones.

It's hard to get lost, since you can almost always see the apartment buildings of Har Nof in the horizon, or some other landmarks to give you point of reference.

Ezra and Elisheva like to explore

Elazar likes to stay close to Abba and watch his older siblings explore

Pesach at the "Beach"

Aunt Gail hosted a host of mishpacha at 242 on Chol HaMoed Pesach. Monica and AJ with the three youngest, Lisa and the kids, Tzippi & Andrew, Zeidi and Margret. Even Uncle David was able to come home early from tax season (14 days left to file !!!)

It was really nice to see everyone relaxing and enjoying each others company


Here's a picture of Zeidi with Aunt Lisa and the newly crowned Yosef Avrohom Elchanan Sigal born Rosh Chodesh Nissan, Rosh Hashana L'Melachim V'Chodashim

Chol HaMoed Pesach 5770

We thought it was a great idea for Abba to take the three older kids to Gan Saccher on Chol HaMoed, so that Ema could rest at home with baby Noam. Too bad everyone else in Israel had the exact same idea.

We borrowed a car from a 'good friend' and loaded all the kids' bicycles in the trunk.
Unfortunately, the tire on Elisheva's bicycle popped as we were entering the park, but Ezra was nice enough to share his brand new bicycle that he got for his birthday (thanks Bubby and Grandpa) after Abba's moderate persuasion.

We didn't realize we were supposed to bring our mangal [barbeque], a folding table and chairs, a blanket, a soccer ball, and our dog, as we found ourselves to be the only individuals in the park without these 'standard' items.

We met up with Aunt Rochelle who lives nearby and walked over. She must know a thing or two about winning over young kids. She brought marshmellows and treated the kids to ice pops (Lilo Chashas Kitniyot).

Spring is Here, Pesach is Coming

It takes a lot more effort then you might think to get all the kids smiling in one picture.

For the first year we are having Pesach Seder with just the immediate family - no yeshiva boys or seminary girls - no Bubby, Grandpa, Eli or other extended family. We will try to focus only on the kids and 'relate to our children that Hashem took us out of Mitzrayim with a strong hand and an outstretched arm'

If you have any Chol HaMoed ideas please let us know as we are open for suggestions.

Shushan Purim 5770 in Har Nof

Purim was kind of quiet this year. The weather from Friday through Sunday was rough and wet. Threatening skies loomed the entire day Monday, but the weather held allowing us to deliver our Mishloach Manos around the neighborhood.

Purim morning Abba read the Megillah for Ima and the kids in the house. Elisheva and Ezra did a nice job following the Megillah and Grogoring Haman at the right places, but Elazar didn't have the zitzfleisch for it. Needless to say we had to pause a few times for technical difficulties.

For the past few years we have been making Purim Seudah with the Zeevi's. For the first time we had them over in Har Nof, and it was a mechaya not to deal with Purim traffic. As usual the seudah was a well balanced Avodah with good food (complements to the Imas), lively singing and d'vrei Torah (complements to the Abbas) and a relatively calm and accident free day (complements to the children).

Enjoy all of the Purim Costumes

FEATURING:

Elisheva Wong


Alter Zeida Ezra


Elazar Bob the Builder
and Fire Marshall Noam

Bubby and Grandpa's Visit

For vacation, Bubby and Grandpa spent a fortnight at Hotel Gersten on the scenic mountain of Har Nof (translation: Mountainview). They arrived the day before the Bris and stayed long enough to miss the first blizzard in NJ, but got back in time for the second one.

Grandpa and Bubby took turns holding Noam, so that Ima could rest and Abba could do all the things that Abba does all day.
Aside from a day trip to Ramat Beit Shemesh and an overnight to Be'er Sheva, Bubby and Grandpa spent most of their afternoons were with Elisheva, Ezra and Elazar.

Thank you Grandpa for making sure the fridge was always stocked with Strawberry-Banana juice and thank you Bubby for tidying up the house, even though you promised us you wouldn't.