Adina Chaya Gersten

We finally have a picture of Adina Chaya Gersten to share with the Gersten Family Blog faithful

A belated Mazal Tov to Uncle Eliezer, Aunt Basheva and the whole family

Chanukah in Mitzpeh Yericho

Here is a picture from the 8th night of Chanukah right outside the house in Mitzpeh Yericho.

One way to get the kids to smile for pictures is to bribe them with chocolate coins...

Abba's Trip (Part 2)

Monday morning began with Shacharis at the Frankel Shul. Only after breakfast when I walked to Avenue J did I begin to notice the effects of the Hurricane Sandy. Trees were down blocking certain streets turning one way streets into dead ends. It was the luck of the draw. On average one or two cars per block had a tree crushing it. There was one home on I and 19th with a tree that split right through it. But Baruch Hashem Flatbush was mostly spared. Never lost electricity and relatively no damage. Only one report of 2 people who were killed walking their dog the night before by a fallen tree. The dozen or so banks on Ave J were all closed, but the half dozen bakeries were open. You could also see they sealed off the subway. It seemed there was slightly less people and cars on the street, but overall a pretty normal day. I did a little shopping on J. My usual wish list: socks, undershirts, etc. But there were some other subtle signs that something was wrong, for example 1010 WINS had no radio signal and the stock markets were closed

When I got back to the house I started checking the internet for reports. Things seemed pretty chaotic from the internet. Kind of reminds me about how people think all of Israel is a war zone from CNN. Baruch Hashem the scenes I was seeing on the web were nothing like what I saw in Flatbush. Was a little worried about Gail & David and Zeidi. Weren't sure if they were in NJ or Manhattan Beach. Couldn't get through to them on house or cell phone. Thought about driving down to Manhattan Beach but I wasn't sure if that was such a good idea. Sent them an e-mail. Baruch Hashem by Wednesday we heard they were OK. Their basement got flooded, but of the house was OK, and they were able to share Tzippi's apartment in Flatbush for a couple of days while they recovered.

All of the schools the Rebbe and I were supposed to visit ended up being closed and cancelled on Monday and Tuesday. Since we couldn't follow our schedule, the Rebbe and I just rested, caught up on learning and did some errands. Tuesday the banks were open. By Tuesday afternoon we got word that some of the bridges and tunnels had reopened including the Verrazano and Goethals, so we could theoretically keep our appointment in Elizabeth, NJ, that evening. We called Grandpa to confirm that evening. The only problem was that most of NJ had no electricity, but the at least the home we scheduled appointments at had a generator, so we decided to go for it. Based on the best intelligence from the internet and radio, we avoided the Belt and took Bay Blvd to the Verrazano. Traffic was super light. It was the best time to travel and the worst time to travel. I don't think I've ever seen the Staten Island Expressway so empty. Was making record time to Elizabeth, but as soon as we got off the Goethals we got our first taste of NJ post-Sandy. All of the traffic lights were out, but after a while you get the hang of it. Everyone was going slow and treating every intersection as a stop sign, taking turns letting people go. It was pretty orderly. The problem was we couldn't cross 1 & 9. The police had constructed a metal gate barrier. So I had no choice but to head north on 1 & 9 and try to improvise my way to the Blashkas. I knew I could take 1 & 9 around to North Avenue by the Airport, but the question was could I make that left or would it be blocked by the barrier. As we were driving we got our first glimpse 'out of control gas lines'. I couldn't understand why all of these cars were lined up in the right lane, when there was very little traffic on the other lanes of the highway. And then we passed the actual gas station. It was filled with cops and you could see the line of cars going into the gas station, and people on foot with their jerry cans mobbing the place. B"H we had plenty of gas for now, but I guess we weren't going to try to fill up in Jersey to save some money on gas. I saw a car up ahead make a U-turn through a small gap in the barriers. There was a road sign that said no U-turn, but I decided doing the same thing would be the best and maybe only way to get to Elizabeth. I figured the cops had enough on their hands to worry about me making an illegal U-turn. Looking around it did seem a little like 'martial law' or at least that regular law was suspended for the time being. So with the Rebbe's permission we made the U-turn on 1 & 9 and were able to get back to Elmora Avenue. When we pulled up to the Blashka's it was almost time for Mincha. We had davened back in Flatbush, so we only had to worry about Maariv. The minyan was at Elmora Hills since it somehow had electricity, whereas JEC didn't. Something about Elmora Hills being in Union, NJ and on a different power grid. It was hard to find parking and by the time we got there for Maariv it was just before Shemonah Esrei, and we figured out why parking was so hard, because the place was packed as the entire community was there. When we got back to the Blashka's we ate dinner by candlelight. Baruch Hashem they had a gas for cooking and there was plenty of food as usual although options were limited without electricity. If felt sort of like Friday Night dinner. The Rebbe sat at the head with two large Challahs, all the candles and the entire family ate with us. Grandpa, Bubby, Devorah, Binyamin, Shlomo, Yudi and Avi. After dinner we walked down the block at the Rakovsky's who had the generator. I was surprised more people didn't come to see the Rebbe since it was practically the only house in the area with electricity, but we had about ten appointments over the next two hours. Now it was really dangerous driving back to Flatbush, since there were no traffic lights or street lights until we got back to Brooklyn. You would think in all of this madness they would let people through without paying tolls, but it still cost us $20 in tolls round trip. B"H we made it back to Flatbush without any trouble (and in very good time I might add)

By Wednesday only one of three schools was open, and we did end up going to Yeshiva Ketana of Queens in the afternoon. On the way, to Queens we stopped off at a warehouse in Brooklyn on Ditmas Avenue to pick up the Rambam Chametz U'Matzah that were sitting there in storage for over a year. We switched from the Jeep to the van that Zevy had made available to us, mainly to conserve gas and it was also bigger to handle all the sefarim from the warehouse. At Yeshiva Ketana the principal took the Rebbe around to classroom after classroom as I got to spend some time with Yakir. After Mincha, we caught some lunch in the principal's office. The Rebbe claimed it was his first time eating a pizza bagel. He ate it with a fork and knife, but I ate mine the old fashion way. We caught Maariv in Great Neck and stored some of the Sefarim in Great Neck. We met people at the Young Israel of Holliswood that evening. We were going to have it at Yakir's house, but they had no power. His family was actually in Great Neck by his parents. The shul did have power, and one woman even came into the shul lobby to use a hair dryer. Then back to Flatbush for a late dinner. We were starting to run low on gas I the van, but gas stations in both Great Neck, Queens and Brooklyn were now either closed or mobbed.

Thursday morning we had a full day ahead of us. We switched back to the Jeep with about half a tank. We had an appointment in mid-town Manhattan at about 10:30. The good news is that they opened up the bridges and tunnels into Manhattan. The bad news was they were still only allowing in cars with three or more people. So where were the Rebbe and I going to find a third person. On Wednesday we thought about sleeping in Great Neck and taking the LIRR into midtown, but we came up with a better plan. We arranged for Uncle David to join us in the Jeep. He needed a ride into midtown anyway, and the subways were still not going into Manhattan from Brooklyn as the subway tunnels and stations were still underwater, so he would have to take the train to Downtown Brooklyn and then transfer to a shuttle bus. So it was a win-win for all of us. I went to pick up David in Manhattan Beach and as soon as I turned onto West End Avenue you could see the difference. The roads were all full of dirt, like an ocean bed, with tire tracks everywhere. Sort of like after a snow storm when the trucks plow, but brown instead of white. I parked pretty much on Gail's lawn which wasn't very green. I made a joke about how Uncle David used to get upset when I would walk on the grass instead of using the concrete walk, but now I guess he wouldn't mind if I parked on the barren spot now. They didn't think it was too funny. I spent a few minutes with Zeidi while David got ready and then we headed back up to Flatbush to pick up the Rebbe.

Uncle David advised us to take Flatbush Avenue all the way up into the Manhattan Bridge and boy was he right. Yes there was traffic, but it was moving nicely and we made it into Manhattan about 45 minutes earlier than we allotted for. On the way, we saw the madhouse by the shuttle buses on Flatbush Avenue, and the police were checking and turning away cars that did not have three passengers. It felt strange going through a checkpoint like that in the U.S. I'm used to Israeli soldiers at the checkpoint on the commute from Yerushalayim to Mitzpeh, but not into Manhattan. Lower Manhattan was even stranger. There were four police at every intersection directing traffic as there were no traffic lights. I have never seen the streets of lower Manhattan so empty. It was like being in a parade, but instead of walking we were driving our cars. When we got passed 23rd Street things looked more normal. We dropped Uncle David off, found a parking garage and headed to our appointment on the 35th floor. The city sure looked different from 35 flights up. The check the Rebbe got was certainly worth the trip as it ended up paying for just about the entire trip. We went back to Flatbush for lunch, packed up our stuff for the weekend and loaded the car. Our next stop was Newark Airport, we didn't have a flight, but we figured the easiest way to get gas was to just exchange our rental car – and we were right. They charged us a lot extra for the gas, but it was much better than the alternatives out there. We saw that the gas station in the airport was reserved for airport employees only. Saba also told me that he was able to fill up at a gas station set aside for doctors and emergency vehicles, but they had no gas stations designated for Rebbes so we did what we had to do. With our new green Subaru Forester and a full tank of gas, we were off to Teaneck to meet with the Rebbe's lawyer. I was hoping to visit Dina at her inlaws while I was there, but she was leaving Jersey as we were arriving. Teaneck and Englewood was as bad if not worse than Elizabeth. No street lights, no traffic lights, and a lot of blocked streets from downed trees, lots of flares and police directing traffic. As luck would have it the lawyer's house also had power, the only one on the block and his house was like the salvation army for the neighborhood. People were coming in to eat dinner, give their kids a bath, etc. Next we drove to Passaic, which mostly had electricity and some working traffic lights where after a quick dinner at the Grosses we headed to the shul where the Rebbe would give the Parsha shiur, followed by Maariv. The local Kosher supermarket had no power so much of the food was being sold out of the shul. We slept in Passaic, although I didn't do much sleeping as I had to work on Torah Insights.

Friday morning we took the Rebbe to the Mikvah on the far side of town, and then came back for Shacharis. After a quick breakfast, we hit the road for our long drive up to Boston. First we had to stop off at a random family in Passaic that had a bunch of boxes and luggage for the Jacobs family. Baruch Hashem the Forester had just enough room. I had driven up to Waterbury with the Rebbe before, but I have never been more northeast than that in my life. The drive was exactly 4 hours with nice scenery and very little traffic. Was going about 75 on cruise control with the speed of traffic on the Interstate most of the way, with a quick stop for potato chips and a soda for the Rebbe at a gas station. The Rebbe seemed nostalgic getting back into Brookline, ignoring the GPS and telling me the directions from memory, telling me how this changed and that changed. I thought I might catch a glimpse of some of the historical sites of Boston, but it wasn't meant to be. The only 'historical sites' on this trip were shuls. Our first stop was the Beth Pinchas shul. It was after Chatzos and the Rebbe went to Mikvah while I had a look around. Next stop was Monica's house. Initially, the Rebbe asked to stay in the car and rest, but when Monica found out the Rebbe was in the car she had her son go to the car and invite him up. We schmoozed over cake and coffee. We stayed for about 20 minutes or so, one of Monica's kids started videotaping the Rebbe and I think the Rebbe got the feeling it was time to go. We drove our hosts the Cheses family in Newton and got ready for Shabbos. We were dropped off at the Adams Street shul celebrating its 100th birthday, and was reportedly the longest running continuous Minyan in the U.S. in the same location. The building had a national landmark plaque, a quaint shul inside with dark wood crafting, it could fit about 120 people, but only about 20 people came that evening. The Rebbe and I found a nice spot in the top left corner near Rabbi Weinberg. After walking back in a light rain we had dinner with the Cheses family and the Rabbi and his wife. The Tish saw another dozen or so people. I was exhausted from staying up the night before and the long drive and the Rebbe excused me after benching.

Shabbos morning davening had maybe 30 people. Both the Rebbe and I got aliyahs. After the Rebbe spoke we skipped Kiddush and walked back to our host. Lunch was with two other local families back at the Cheseses. I leined at Mincha and after Seudah Shlisheet and Maariv we got a lift back home. Melaveh Malka was in Brighton about a 10 minute drive at the Krochmals, about 20 people, bagels and lox, and we slept back in Newton

Sunday morning we packed our things and said goodbye to the Cheses family and headed to Brookline for Shacharis at Beth Pinchas. After Shacharis I introduced the Rebbe to A.J. who was finishing his Daf Yomi shiur. We went to Zalman's house for a gala breakfast with him and his kids. Next we stopped off at Baruch Minakur who was recovering from an back injury. He showed us a really cool clock. Next we saw Joe Roberts at the nursing home in Roslindale and then to the Goldman's house in Newton Center for a while. We caught Mincha at the Kollel back in Brookline, and then went to IsraelBookshop to visit the owner. We caught a late lunch on Harvard Street. I got a Rebbe a soup at Café Eilat and got myself two bagels at Kupel's bakery, and finished up the day with a meeting with Shirley and Beverly before heading back to NY. They gave us some grapes for the trip, which the Rebbe and I finished before we got to the NY State Line. We filled up somewhere in Connecticut to make sure we would have enough gas for the rest of our trip. We stopped by in Boro Park to pay a Shiva call and arrived at the Frankel Shul for Maariv around 10 PM, followed by dinner at Jacobs. We unloaded all of their stuff from Passaic and packed the rest of the Rebbe's stuff in the car. The next morning, we went back to Boro Park so the Rebbetzin could make a Shiva call before we headed to Newark airport. We stopped back at the Blashkas (who still did not have power) to pick up two suitcases of stuff for Ima and the kids. I dropped the Rebbe and Rebbetzin off at departures and returned the rental.

It was really nice to come back to Eretz Yisroel. It was warm, no electricity or gasoline shortages or other chaos. When people asked me about my trip, I kept saying, "It's good to be back in Eretz Yisroel where its safe and quiet – New York was like a war zone".

Abba's Trip (Part 1)

Arrived in JFK on Thursday morning about 7 AM,  ran into Rabbi Riskin, helped him with his luggage, he let me use his iPhone to call Bentzy Mossberg since my TalknSave phone didn't work, (claimed there was no credit on phone - guess TalknSave forgot to pay T-Mobile), customs went through my box of Sefarim, waited with Rebbetzin Sima until Mossberg family came for her, headed to Hertz on Airtrain, found name on the board and went straight to the car, Volkswagen Jetta, thanks a lot Tzvi, davened in Flatbush at Landau's, 9:30 AM Shacharis downstairs (last minyan was at 11:00 AM), all three aliyahs of the Torah were fathers naming a daughter, I benched gomel and got galilah. Stopped by Anchie's to chat and picked up a raincoat. I asked Anchie where a good place was to buy a raincoat, and he told me he had a raincoat gmach in his office closet, leftover hefker from Landau's, found one in my size. Checked my email from Anchie's, contacted TalknSave to get my cell phone working and called Grandma Rhoda, but it was too short notice. Headed up to Riverdale to meet Dad and Grandma for lunch. Traffic was horrendous, took me over 1.25 hours even though I paid for the Battery Tunnel and Henry Hudson bridge to save time. Lunch was nice, Dad had to head back to Great Neck, I was going to head to GN later, but stayed and chatted with Grandma some more, before I knew it Dad called and said where are you, left with an hour to get to Mincha in Great Neck, bad decision, traffic on Cross Bronx eastbound was as close to a parking lot as you can imagine, major construction on Throgs Neck and Whitestone was also backed up, meanwhile the Rebbe and Tzvi called that they got in early from Chicago and were waiting at LaGuardia, I wasn't going to make Great Neck anyway, so I ended up davening Mincha in my car on the shoulder of the Grand Central Parkway westbound on route to LGA. Picked up Rebbe and drove to Flatbush. BQE westbound was empty (I think everyone on the planet was on the Cross Bronx) and we got to Flatbush in record time. Zev had dropped off his van and left the keys with Jacobs so we could have two cars while Tzvi was in town, Dinner at Jacobs, Maariv at Frankel Shul, redone since the last time I was there with Julius Kahn, moved into basement of Frankel house with Tzvi. Spent the night finished Torah Insights Parshas Breishis.

Friday morning davened at Frankel, after breakfast at Jacobs headed to Avenue J, Citibank wouldn't take RMER deposit because name on check did not match name on account, but they had a Kosher party in the bank to celebrate something or other, food was from caterer on Avenue J, found manager who was sister of student I used to teach at YMB, she said to come back on Monday with Photo IDs of RMER matching names, headed to TD Bank on corner of J and Coney for my own deposit, got a call from Gail who said she would meet me on J, made another deposit across the street at Chase for DEC, then found Gail parked on J and 13th, we drove first to Frankel so I could pick up the van, then I followed her to Tzippy's Apartment on 19th between M and L, met Azi who didn't seemed more interested in shadows on the wall then me

Aunt Gail and Azi

then followed Gail to MB to visit Grandpa, then headed up to Grandma Rhoda for lunch, spoke on phone with cousin Heshy Fass and made plans to meet on Shabbos in Flatbush, Grandma Rhoda wouldn't let me leave until I tasted her applesauce, back to Frankel to change and get ready for Shabbos

Friday night davening in Frankel shul, dinner and Tish at Jacobs, could barely keep my eyes open, Shabbos morning had plenty of time to learn Torah Temimah unil Shacharis started at 9:00 AM, didn't stay at Shul Kiddush, rather went to Frankel kiddush, I helped the Rebbetzin serve, lunch was small and quiet, too much Yiddish was being spoken, so I brought up what I though was a good question on the Parsha, why was Michael necessary to give news of child, Hashem already told Avraham exactly when Yitzchak would be born at end of Lech Lecha, not impressed with the Rabbinical attempts, I think Tzvi was going in the right direction (that I also caught myself) that Rashi/Midrash says specifically "to tell the news to Sarah", still needs work why Avraham or Hashem didn't tell Sarah and we needed Michael. No time to rest before Mincha. Seudah Shlishit downstairs in Frankel shul, actually heard to men discussing Torah Insights on Lech Lecha that I had finished up the day before. Caught Havdallah at Frankel home and headed in van for South Shore reunion while Tzvi took Rebbe in Jetta to Melaveh Malka in Boro Park

Stopped first in Great Neck, since I never made it on Thursday, to pick up Rebbe's Rambam Sefarim that were in storage there since February, met Joy, headed to Motti's on Longacre, everyone else was already there and ate pizza already, nice to see everyone: Yakir, Elisha, Brian, Judah (from NJ), Motti (and Shani); Kobi was the mystery guest from YG of the Five Towns, Yakir and I stayed until very late with Motti and Shani, (glad we got together before the storm), slept back at Frankel

Sunday morning at Frankel shul, winds already picking up Sunday morning, Rebbe claims a wind gust almost knocked him over, breakfast at Jacobs, had to drop Tzvi at Airport so he could fly to Boca Raton, went to Avis and Tzvi got free upgrade from Jetta to a Jeep (and a fresh tank of gas), since I was already at LGA, went to Kew Garden Hills to visit Lisa and the kids, windy but not raining.

Racheli Sigal

Sara Sigal

Yosef Sigal

took them out for Frozen Yogurt on corner of Main and Jewel, and then went to Amazing Savings and let the kids buy any one item in the store that they wanted from Uncle Betzalel, when I got back to Flatbush spent afternoon tracking the storm and trying to figure out plans, thinking about sleeping in NJ so in case they close the Hudson River crossings we could still spend Monday in NJ, scheduled to be in Noam Academy Monday morning and Passaic Monday afternoon and evening, by the time we davened mincha/maariv and had dinner all crossings were closed, smart decision not to go to NJ, shuls in Flatbush were closed up by 7 PM, actually had one Flatbush couple come to Jacobs for appointment that night, no rain just strong winds in Flatbush. Walked back to Frankel house to sleep about 10 PM, traffic light on I and Ocean Ave already out of commission, took advantage of early night and went to bed, slept very soundly, basement well insulated from cold and noise.

stay tuned for Part 2 - Aftermath of Superstorm Sandy starting Monday October 29th

Eli visits us in Mitzpeh Yericho for Shabbos

Cousin Eli came for Shabbos, he looks a little different from the last time he was featured on our blog shana bet as our Shabbos guest, but then again so do the kids. Noam wasn't around then and Ezra and Elisheva also look just a little bit older.

Now he is shana....what number are we up to? He is in the Mir now and currently available (read:actively dating).

Shabbos was nice. The kids always like when Eli comes by. Eli learned how to hitchhike in from the Mitzpeh Yericho Trempiyada spot. Now the we have the new house, Eli enjoyed his own guest room with private bathroom, instead of crashing on the couch the way he did in Har Nof.

Abba and Eli started Makkos together when Eli visited shana alef, and try to learn a little bit every Shabbos that Eli visits. They hope to finish this year with a few more visits...

More Chol HaMoed Tiyulim

We recently bought a yearly family pass to all the national parks in Israel. There happen to be a bunch right near us. This one we went to on Chol HaMoed is called  Einot Tzukim (עיינות צוקים), about 20 minutes from our home in Mitzpeh. It is basically what used to be the Dead Sea, but due to the continual shrinking of the Dead Sea over the past 35 years, the park keeps getting bigger and bigger.

There are signs throughout the park stating, this is where the shoreline used to be in 19XX. There are even 'lounge chairs' and 'stairs' left behind just to show that this was where the Dead Sea 'beach' used to be.

There were many pools for the kids to bathe and swim in, as well as trails with the local flora and fauna.

Ima also decided to take the plunge with Elazar and Noam. Abba was all too happy to stay back with baby Talia on shore

Even in the middle of nowhere in this National Park you can find a Sukkah on Sukkos (only in Israel). You can see the cliffs in the background which are on the other side of the highway. Masada is down the road, approximately 20 minutes south.

Tashlich by the Dead Sea

Since we live in the desert, Tashlich is a little hard to come by. People will say Tashlich by a sewer drain, a sink, or by nothing at all. So even though the widespread custom is to do Tashlich on Rosh Hashana, Abba usually waits until Aseres Yimah Teshuva so he can drive to a body of water, relying on the commentaries that hold Tashlich is meaningful until Hoshana Rabbah

I actually thought I would go with the boys up to the shore of the Dead Sea, but entrance to the beach was 50 NIS ($12.50) a person. So we may do with this view from the parking lot.

On the way there we stopped off in Almog on the way to get gas. The boys wanted to go on the live camel that just sits at the rest stop 24/7 with its Arab owner. Thankfully, the camel was sitting on his legs with his eyes close, so I told the kids, "the camel needs his rest - we shouldn't wake him", but I let the kids get a good close up look from inside the car

Thankfully, there was a playground by the reststop with a cafe, and bunch of tourist traps. Noam was thrilled to "drive the car" and "fly the helicopter". That's what I love. Kids with imagination.



But Elazar at 4 years old seemed to lack 'imagination'. Instead, he exerted his 'intelligence'. After playing for a little while happily, Elazar explained to Abba that he thinks if we put money in the rocket it will work. I suggested that maybe the rocketship was just broken, but Elazar repeated that he was pretty certain if I would put a coin in the slot, the whole thing would start to move. I showed Elazar that I only had bills and no coins. So Elazar said I should get change from the man at the kiosk nearby.



That was when I looked at the clock on my cell phone and said, "It's getting late, we should get back in the car and continue on our trip..."

Horseback riding

Over Chol HaMoed we went to the local Horseback riding stables. The two younger kids have really got into horses. They have a bunch of Playmobile horses and like the movie Secretariat that Ima shows them sometimes

Noam was very excited and wanted to go first, but after one time around was afraid of the pony and wanted to come down


Elazar originally was scared and would not get on the horse, but after one time around with Ima he was OK

Then the older kids got some of the bigger horses. Here is Ezra on his "stallion"

 

Elisheva was even allowed to take the pony around by herself

Rosh Hashana

Our first Rosh Hashana in Mitzpeh was our first opportunity to take some pictures of the kids in their new Yom Tov clothes in the new house.

Ezra was the first one dressed

Then Elazar

Then everyone else

No guests and no meals out. Just the family, apples and honey, Ema's challah with raisins and plenty of quality family time.

How The Kids Spend Their Afternoons

After school its still pretty hot out, but around 2 hours before sundown its starts to cool off a little bit. The older kids have the freedom on the Yeshuv to go to their friends houses or take their bicycles/rollerblades/scooters just about anywhere. You can probably walk to any part of the Yishuv in under twenty minutes.

The younger kids have to stay a little closer to home still but Elazar and Noam find things to do

Which usually involves designated times each day for crying on the floor

And of course, Tali happily spends most of her daytime hours in the swing

Binyamin comes for a visit

Binyamin and Talia

Binyamin and his father Yitzy came to Israel for an end of the summer trip.

Abba was actually the first to see Binyamin. When Abba showed up at the Bostoner Rebbe's for work one morning, Binyamin was sitting at the dining room table. It seems Yitzy remembered R' Mayer from his yeshiva days at Sha'arei Yerushalayim, when they used to rent space at the Boston Shul. While the Rebbe was talking with Yitzy, Abba took Binyamin for a tour of Har Nof, including Derech Etz Chaim, Ezra's old school and the candy store.

Later in the week, on their way back from the Dead Sea and Masada, Binyamin and Yitzy stopped of at our home in Mitzpeh for a shower and dinner. Yitzy got a chance to catch up on his e-mails while Binyamin had a chance to play and shmooze with his cousins. After hotdogs, french fries and Maariv at Yagel Yaakov, Binyamin and Yitzy headed back Yerushalayim.

Zaidy Betzalel's 46th Yahrteit - 17 Elul 5772

I don't know how many of you were able to visit Zeidy Betzalel or remembered to commemorate his Yahrtzeit on Tuesday so I had everyone in mind that I could think of when I said the Tehillim from 118 with the letters of his name and lit a Ner Nishama by his Kever.
(There is a small crack between the bottom of the kever and the ground that is big enough to fit a 24 hour candle - and you just have to protect the flame from the wind with some rocks)

I was there around 5:00 PM on Tuesday afternoon on the way home from Har Nof. It was pretty quiet and not nearly as hot anymore with a slight breeze.

I looked for Howard's father's kever, Yizchak Szabo, and it was exactly where he described it along the front left rim. Across from Yitzchak's kever is actually a convenient place to park your car, there are about two or three spots there without blocking the road. 

Just a reminder that mom's 3rd yahrtzeit is Sunday night / Monday the 23rd of Elul. IY"H, I'll be making a siyum on Meseches Brachos at Derech Etz Chaim during Monday dinner before Shkiyah.

Mollie and Yechiel

Racheli came to Israel this summer to stay with us for a few weeks. When she arrived on Monday night, she inadvertently left her cell phone in one of the El Al offices. As luck would have it, Abba had to return to the airport on Wednesday night to take Bubby to the airport. So we decided to make a sleepover out of it. Abba took Elisheva, Ezra, Racheli and Bubby to Molly and Yechiel who live in Nechalim, outside of Petach Tikva, and minutes from Ben Gurion airport.

When we got there, Elisheva, Ezra and Racheli helped Molly make a dinner to feed a small army. After dessert and some goodbyes, the kids got ready for bed (well at least they were supposed to) while Abba took Bubby to the airport, retrieved Racheli's phone and returned to Nechalim to sleep over.

The next morning, after davening, we had a nice big breakfast, and walked around the dairy farm until about 11 AM when Molly had to go to work and Yechiel went to visit someone in Tel Aviv.

On the way home, we stopped by Modiin, and went boating at Anbel Park, followed by Gavriel Butel's 4th birthday party. We ordered a giant pizza from Giant Pizza and it really is the biggest Pizza you have ever seen. After some jumping on the trampolene, and when the guests started to arrive, it was our cue to start heading for Yerushalayim.

Saba's Visit

Saba came for about a week in the middle of July, spending the first couple of days by Uncle Eliezer and Shabbos by us. We went to pick up Saba on Wednesday in Beitar so the cousins could get together.

 

We had a nice Shabbos together with Saba and Bubby. We mostly davened at the shul down the block, Yagel Yaakov. Ezra, Saba and Abba also learned some Chumash together. Noam showed Saba that he new the words to Dror Yikra that Abba taught him, 'Bat...Bat...Bat...Shabbat'. On Shabbos morning we went to the main shul up the hill, so Saba could see a little more of Mitzpeh Yericho.

We woke up early and already had to drive Saba back to the airport early Sunday morning. It was a short visit, but it was wonderful to spend time with Saba all the same. Saba wrote some parting poetry for each grandchild which we still have posted on the fridge

Bubby's Visit

About a week or so after we moved in, Bubby moved in for about five weeks. We still didn't have air conditioning downstairs, but somehow Bubby was OK with a couple of high powered fans in the office/guest room.

Bubby helped Ima with the baby and the kids and the general task of getting us unpacked and settled after the move. This included a mandatory trip to Ikea, and a few other trips to local destinations to buy all the little things we needed (and wanted) to make our new home more Heimish.

The climax of Bubby's trip was the Schwadron Bar Mitzvah in Beis Shemesh on Parshas V'Eschanan (Shabbos Nachamu), followed by a 3 days and two nights at the Holiday Inn in Ashkelon.


We picked the place because they advertised separate swimming for men and women, but it turned out to be 8-9 AM for men and 9-10 AM for women, with very little privacy at the outdoor pool.

The kids enjoyed the beach as well, equipped with their sand toys, courtesy of Bubby. No this is not one of the kids para-sailing, but the kids certainly enjoyed watching


On the way back, we also stopped off at the caves of Beit Guvrin, before returning to Mitzpeh Yericho on Tuesday evening.

The Big Move

Well we finally did it. We moved into our new house about two weeks ago. Abba and Ema and all the kids wanted to thank everyone who helped make our 'dream' house possible. We hope to have our Chanukat HaBayis soon and have as many of you over as we can


Right now Bubby is visiting for about a month and helping us get settled. She and Fay went to Ikea today to get some more 'stuff' to help organize the 'stuff' that we brought with us from Har Nof. Saba bli neder should be arriving on Thursday and staying for Shabbos. So while the older kids are in camp, Noam and Abba are home with nothing better to do than to take some pictures and give you a virtual tour of the house until you get a chance to visit

This is the entrance way to the house. Front door is on the left and the sliding door is to the right. Right now we are the only people who have moved in on our block in the new project known as Mitzpeh Raphael, but we expect more families to be trickling in over the summer as we get closer to the start of the school year.




When you walk in you have the big "salon" living room/dining room/kitchen. Stairs to the left go to the second floor. To the left of the stairs is a little "indoor patio" which will be our Sukkah and a place for the kids to eat outside (and for now to store all of their bicycles, etc.)



And in the back of the main room you have the door to the backyard, and a hallway that turns to the left to the bathroom and two back bedrooms; one of which we are using as an office/guest room and one of which we have made into the playroom.



Next, we move upstairs to the three bedrooms and one bathroom. Elisheva has her own room (for now). Ima and Abba share a room with Talia, and the boys all share one room with their bunkbed



We also have two big balconies (Mirpeset) upstairs on the two ends of the hallway. Here is a picture of the larger front balcony that faces the street. We hope to someday get permission to make this into a master bedroom, but for now its a nice play area for the kids to use



And just in case you forgot, we have moved to Mitzpeh Yericho, about 10 miles east of the Jerusalem border. Sort of like Mister Rodger's Jewish Neighborhood in the middle of Nevada. (Grass not included...)



Yes, those are sand dunes that surround the Yishuv on three sides with the eastern side overlooking the Jordan Valley in the distance. This is the side view from our front balcony in the WSW direction, directly inline with the Old City of Jerusalem, and the direction that all the shuls in the neighborhood daven towards.

Parental Controls

No Pictures Please...

I'm ready to take Elazar to school, and when I find him by the door, I see that he wants to wear the hot pink gloves he found in the drawer with all the winter stuff. Mind you it is 85 degrees outside. But sometimes as a parent you have to know when to not make a big deal out of something.

The voice in your head is telling you that as a parent you have an obligation to "teach" your children what they are doing is "wrong". Now I could try to explain to Elazar the logic of why gloves are unnecessary in June. Or I could explain that he can play with them in the house, but if he takes them to Gan there is a high probability that they will get lost.

But knowing Elazar, there is a much higher probability that he these words will initiate a temper tantrum, which would only make us that much later getting out that morning, and if I eventually gave in to him, it would only reinforce that if he cries and screams then he can get me to change my mind.

So I just said, "Elazar, what pretty gloves you have on", to which he flashed me his 'I know I'm doing something I'm not supposed to' smile.

So what if we were getting weird looks from all the people in the bus stop, and on the bus, and everyone else we passed that morning. By the next day, he wasn't interested in wearing gloves anymore. I guess he figured out everything by himself without having me tell him what he already knew.

A parent has to know when to control the situation to protect his/her child. However, a parent has to also know when to control himself/herself when the situation may not be perfect, but there is no detriment to the child.

Lag B'Omer with the Gerstens

Kids sitting on "artistic hand chairs" outside the Children's Section of the Israel Museum

Lag B'Omer in Eretz Yisroel is slightly different than in the US. Aside from being permitted to light bonfires almost anywhere, it is also the custom to allow all kids, regardless of age, to stay up all night long with said bonfires. This by the way is the 50% of the country that did not travel to Meiron for Lag B'Omer

So even though American-born Ema and Abba just don't get this holiday, and would prefer that everyone gets a good night sleep (including Ema and Abba), the schools purposely give the kids off the next day on Lag B'Omer, and the pressure of "I'll be the only kid in my class not at the bonfire" becomes too much to bear.

The good news is that you don't have to travel far to the bonfires as they are everywhere. The problem is that no one wants to light the bonfire, until all of the children who made the bonfires showed up. So if you get their early, your just waiting for all the people who come late. You see, kids start collecting (read: snatching any wooden objects from everywhere without bothering to find out if it belongs to someone) wood from the day after Pesach. So for weeks, lining the streets are piles of wood and kids take shifts day and night guarding their piles while others find more wood to add to the pile.

Before the inferno...

It takes a few minutes to the fire to catch, but once it does WHOOOSH, the chill of night is gone and you feel like you stepped into an oven. But that only lasts a few more minutes depending on what the bonfire is made of. Just enough time to sing Bar Yochai at a safe distance.  Then we get to come home with our clothes smelling from smoke

Not too close, kids...

The next day, all the museums are free, so its a good time to check out the museums. When Abba comes home from shul after Shacharis, Ema flips the 5-Shekel coin, "Heads I stay home with the baby, while you take the kids to the museum -- Tails you take the kids to the museum, while I stay home with baby".

So I took the four older kids on the bus to Museum Street (it's actually called that) where all the Museums are. Since the kids have already been to the Science Museum many many times, we started at the Biblical Lands Museum. However, after being there for a few minutes I realized that Elazar and Noam could break a lot of ancient expensive artifacts that were on display, we left to go next door to the Israel Museum.


Baruch Hashem they had a kids section to the Museum, and after looking around at mostly ridiculous exhibits about "sleeping" (I'm not kidding) we found a place the kids could jump around, and then we found a great library with hundreds of books. The kids like reading and listening to stories so we spent about an two hours in the library, just reading and lounging and enjoying the A/C (they had these great bean bag mats and chairs for the kids and Abba to lounge on). Granted any library in any town in the United States is bigger than this library, but for Israeli Standards this was perfect. Hundreds of children's books in both Hebrew and English. 

They even had these Jumbo books of "Curious George" and "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"

A Whale of Tale...

After we ran out of food and drink supplies, and we fulfilled our quota of "out of the house time so Ema can rest" we headed back home for an early dinner

All the best,
Betzalel