Mikey Szabo's Bar Mitzvah

On Monday the 23rd of Nissan (April 16th) we were invited to the Bar Mitzvah of Abba's second cousin from California. Abba went with Zeidy for Shacharis on the roof of the Aish HaTorah Center near the Kotel. Aunt Rochelle met us there later. Here is the view from the rooftop

Mikey (Betzalel Eliezer) read Parshas Tazria extremely well, considering the microphone in his direct line of vision and all of the Paparazzi taking pictures and video.

At the reception, Mikey's mom, Helen, overcame her public speaking fears and spoke from the heart about Mickey and her Hakaras HaTov to Hashem. Mikey's dad, Howard, talked about his Hakaras HaTov to Aish HaTorah and the day in 1982 when he came to the Kotel and put on a 'cardboard yamaka' and was approached by one of the Rebbeim from Aish HaTorah and the rest as they say is history.

It was nice for Abba to meet his second cousin for the first time and we hope to stay in touch and get together with the Szabo family in the future.

Another treat was meeting Shimon Sela at the Bar Mitzvah. Shimon is another second cousin that Abba met for the first time. He lives in a small Yishuv outside of Carmiel in the Galeel with his wife and family. He sent me a few pictures of when Zeidy visited Shimon's parents in Romania in 1967. Below is a picture (from left to right) of Mr. Sela (Shimon's father), Shimon (as a boy), Zeidy (with his trademark mustache) and Yossel Mordechai Szabo (Shimon's grandfather and Abba's great uncle)

Visit to the Kotel on Chol HaMoed Pesach

Chol HaMoed is a good time for Aliyah L'Regel and a trip to the Kotel. It's a far walk from Har Nof to make Aliyah with our actual Raglayim, so our Aliyah L'Regel is done by the #2 bus.

Abba took the boys to the men's side and Elisheva took her cell phone to the women's side. Abba davened Mincha and then we met back at the washing sinks for a picture. (We took one facing the Kotel, but it didn't come out well due to the position of the sun and my cell phone doesn't have a flash)

The kids wanted to take the 'light rail' on the way home so we walked out Tzion gate. We caught the end of a 'mini' concert there and then continued to stroll through Mamillah Mall. We found a little place there that had 'complimentary' arts and crafts projects for the kids so we joined in.

We finally made it to the train and went over the David's Harp Bridge, since the kids had never done that before and we took the #74 bus home from Kiryat Moshe. By then it was already sundown and the kids were cold without their sweatshirts - but all Abba could say was, "I told you so"

Chol HaMoed with Uncle Eliezer and the Family

On Chol HaMoed the Gerstens from Har Nof and the Gerstens from Beitar met halfway at Gilo Central Park (aka Zidenfeld Park). Here is Uncle Lazer with cousins Aliza and Henny. Elisheva and Ezra have come to Gan Gilo a bunch of times, but I believe Elazar and Noam had only been there once before.

Big sister Elisheva only has younger brothers, so it was nice for her to have some little girls to play with like cousins Esti, Aliza and you have to look really hard to see Tova (the purple hat over Elisheva's shoulder)

Although neither of us have cars, and we all take the bus, at least our kids can imagine what riding in a car is like - but I don't understand why there are multiple steering wheels??

In case you were wondering that is Elazar hanging off the side of the car.

With all the wonderful playground equipment, swings and giant slides, for some reason Noam and Elazar just like running up and down the dirt hill -- that is of course until they get a "boo-boo".

I never understood why an 'mistake/error' or a 'minor injury' is called a 'boo-boo', (I thought it had to do with Yogi bear's sidekick) but after watching this video it dawned on me that boo-boo is most probably related to the act of crying - as in boo-hoo - and parents created 'boo-boo' in their 'baby talk' language to refer to a situation when their toddlers started crying. But that is just my thesis. Feel free to share your own.

A Day at the Park with Zeidy

We spent the day at Gan Sacchar in Jerusalem with Zeidy, as well as Aunt Rochelle, Uncle Stefan, Michael, Elle and Shalva Somogyi

Uncle Stefan brought a big blanket, plastic chairs and ice pops for everyone and we found a nice shady spot.

Zeidy dusted off his sneakers and played some Soccer with Ezra and Elisheva. Here are some video highlights

Birthday Roundup

The kids just wanted to remind their friends and family that if they forgot to send a birthday present it is still not to late...

Noam turned two in January. Standard Gan party and paper birthday hat with his age written on it. Does this look familiar?

Ezra turned eight in March. Bubby ordered Ezra "The Original Perplexus" and sent a Birthday Cake care of Bubby's Gifts

Elazar turned four in April. Ima went the extra mile to make Elazar a special "train" cake to take to school and impress the pants (or skirts as the case may be) of his teachers.

And if you want to beat the rush, we should have another "Birth Day" coming up in late April or early May (B'Sha'ah Tova)

Pesach Seder 5772

This year we were home in Har Nof for Seder. We had two guests from Yeshiva, Ilan Levine from Columbus, OH and Yosef Abergel from Baltimore, MD.

Elisheva and Ezra asked some really good questions and took turns reading from the Hagaddah. Elazar was too shy to sing Mah Nishtana at the Seder so he did it at lunch the next day. Noam did a great job playing the "Sh'Aiyno Yoday L'Shoel".

As usual we were so full from the Matzah and Maror that we didn't have much room for Ima's wonderful Shulchan Orech. We finished the seder with Ached MiYodaya and Chad Gadya, but without Noam, Elazar and Ezra.

Thanks a million, Jean.

Chol HaMoed Tiyul in the Jerusalem Forest

On the first day of Chol HaMoed, Abba took the kids on a tiyul through the Jerusalem Forest. We first went down by Be'er Miriam to the forest road below. We looked for the "ancient well" we found last time, but couldn't find it this time.

About half way through we met up with the Nadel Family at the spot in the forest, where the Yeshiva has their bonfire on Lag B'Omer every year, but for some reason all of the playground equipment was gone and many of the picnic tables were damaged

We continued on to see if Chavot Beit HaYa'ar in the forest was operational. We have gone their in previous years with the kids. But all of the structures and the animals were completely gone and the places was deserted and filthy. We took a picture in an abandoned tractor tire

We headed up the mountain and found the Erez Path. Elazar enjoyed looking for the Blue and White markers along the trail. We continued the trail all the way to Beit HaKerem where we ended up at Gan Etzion, a small playground at the edge of the forest. The kids found some shopping carts from Mister Zol supermarket and connected them to make a "train" and pushed each other around the park while Abba rested.

It was time to head back to Har Nof. We took the steep path down the mountain. For some reason this picture doesn't do justice to how steep this path really is:

Abba showed the kids how to zig zag down the path and to walk sideways so they wouldn't slip. Abba also showed them how to use walking sticks to help them balance down the steep path. Elazar did his best impression of Moshe Rabbeinu in "The Prince of Egypt".

Mazel Tov to Dina and Zac

Mazel Tov wishes to Dina and Zac Eidman on the birth of a son from their cousins Elisheva, Ezra, Elazar and Noam, as well as Uncle Betzalel and Aunt Fay. Looking forward to the Bris via Skype

Here is a picture I snapped of Chanan Moshe in February when I met up with Dina and Zac in the city. כשם שנכנס לברית כן יכנס לתורה, לחופה, ולמעשים טובים

Elisheva's First Magazine Cover

It's official - Elisheva has landed her first modeling job. She has a three year contract with Chique magazine. Abba tried to keep her from the public eye as long as he could, but seemingly a parent can only do so much - eventually a child's natural tendencies will emerge in time.

Elisheva and Abba made a deal that she has to finish high school first before pursuing her modeling career full time

Noam's Chol HaMoed trip

Abba was going to take the three older kids for a long walk in the forest, which would be too strenuous for Noam to participate. So Abba took him for a ride on the bus to the grocery store to buy some produce and Kosher L'Pesach snacks for the later Tiyul.

Abba got off at Zol B'Gadol and after a quick purchase we spent a few minutes at Gan HaPas. Next we continued down Shaulzon to Zol Po for the remainder of our shopping. On the way home we stopped off at the Park on Ruzhin and Noam got all excited when he saw the street sweeper. We asked permission for Noam to take some pictures behind the wheel. The we went home for Noam to nap, and we took the older kids on their forest Tiyul

The One Day in Israel that it Snowed

The kids were waiting for this day for a long time. Every week Elisheva would come home from school saying, "My friends said it is going to snow tomorrow". Abba would check the weather forecast and say, "No, it's not". The one day Abba checked the weather and said, "There is a chance it might snow on Friday, the temperature low is supposed to be zero degrees Celsius.

And on Friday it snowed. Ezra actually went to school as it started snowing, and after one class they sent Ezra home. Elisheva wasn't feeling well and stayed home from school - but somehow when Ezra wanted to play in the snow Elisheva was feeling better

There are not exactly snow plows in Jerusalem on standby, so as soon as the snow starts to stick the buses will usually stop running. Abba had to do some grocery shopping for Shabbos and on the way back home, he took some video of Ruzhin Street (Har Nof) in the snow and children playing in their Chatzair.