Yom Yerushalayim in YERUSHALAYIM - 2006

Auschwitz

Some people say it has the status of a Makom Kadosh and others say that a visit there is a way of paying respect to the people who died there and some even say they experience a feeling of victory as the Nazi filth were ultimately destroyed and we subsequently, with the help of so many Jewish survivors of the Holocaust regained soverignity in our homeland after thousands of years. But for me, I mainly felt feelings of overwhelming sadness alternating with horror being at the site where my brethern were bruatlized and murdered in the most awful ways one could imagine. I felt that I was dirtied, somehow polluted by being in a place where such evil, unspeakable evil had taken place. At times I felt bad, like I was being a voyeur, seeing things that were inappropriate for me to look at. I think there are certain things we are not meant to see - why else do normal people regurgitate when they mangled bodies and other such horrific things. It also seemed to me inappropriate to see the mounds of hair and glasses and shoes and other belongings - I felt I was invading the privacy of the victims. I cound not bring myself to take pictures of these things.

Before going to Auschwitz, I was ambivalent- on the one hand I think it is important to have first hand witnesses to this place where the Nazis perpetrated their evil. But on the other hand, what possible reason is there to visit such a place. And these feelings pervaded during the hours I spent there.

Among our first stops was the only gas chamber still standing in Auschwitz. All the others were destroyed by the Nazis before they fled, in a vain attempt to hide the crimes they committed. Almost as soon as I entered the building, I experienced an undescribable feeling of sadness and dread- I had to leave it as quickly as I could.

Our guide was very knowledgable and understanding. She has been a guide for 9 years and it has obviously had a powerful impact on her- she is in the middle of completing a PHD at the Jewish studies department at the university in Cracow. But I was also ambivalent about listening to her- on the one hand it is important to know the gory details - to be able to bear witness - dates, numbers, places, processes. But on the other hand, what difference to all these numerous details matter - do we need to know more than anything except that Nazis murdered over 1,000,000 Jewish children, men and women in a systematic, efficient manner at this site. That they placed priority on killing Jews even as it cost them in their war effort- none of the other details really matter and even the things to see there can't teach you anything more. Too see a large room with no privacy, where hundreds of people were given 2 minutes to the bathroom. This was too base a sight for me to take a picture of.

The only small moments of comfort I found there were when I saw small little Israeli flags randomly stuck in places and seeing the beautiful young women from Avital's high school, Noga, walking there with Israeli flags draped around their shoulders.In applying some aspect of religion to the flag, Rav Soloveitchik zt"l found it to be likened to the garments of martyrs, a halachic concept that appears in Shulchan Aruch, in that the martyred soldiers were fighting to be able to raise the flag over captured territory.

The only spot there which provided a measure of quiet from the unsettled feeling of being there was a place in Auschwitz-Birkenau where the some ashes of victims were found. Almost all the ashes of the victims were dumped in rivers and fields in the surrounding area, but there was this one spot of ashes with tombstone like monuments placed in front. Here at least was a place where I could say the Prayer to be said at the Graves of Tzaddikim. At least here, I was able to have a small feeling of accomplishing something positive for those who had no one to aid them. To do something human and Jewish in a place where inhumanity ruled for 5 years.

Auschwitz-Birkenau is a vast area where almost everything was destroyed by the Nazis before they fled. The magnitude of this killing ground strikes you as you walk in this huge area. You walk and walk and reach the far end and look back and see the spot you started from way in the distance.

For one to internalize and imagine the events that happened there are too much to bear. I did feel it for brief moments - in the gas chamber and at one other time- when we walked through the barracks which had the personal effects of the victims there was one large glass case the held numerous Tallitot (prayer shawls) and I was consumed with grief for what was destroyed and the future generations which never born. These Jews packed few precious possessions when they were pushed out of their homes and among these they included their religious articles.


I don't think I would ever visit Auschwitz again and don't know if i would recommend it to anyone else. Perhaps it is important for teenagers to go there, but only with a Jewish guide who can put the place in the context of our people's history and beliefs, so they can also be inspired by the stories of goodness and piety which took places amidst the brutality.

Make Aliyah and See the World

Hi it is me, the husband of Ruth, making a special guest appearance here on our family blog.

Little did I know that when we made aliyah my new job would afford me the opportunity to visit so many places outside of Israel that I never imagined I would ever travel to. In my job in Canada, I did have the opportunity to visit many towns in rural Ontario within a few hours drive of Toronto but it was only after making aliyah that I had the chance to visit Philadelphia, China, South Africa and Poland in the space of one year. Fortunately, the trips have all been less than a week so I was able to be home for Shabbat with the family each time, except for my trip to North America where I was able to visit the alta heim for Shabbat. Although I have stories to tell about all my trips, I want to write down my impressions from my visit to Poland while they are relatively fresh in my mind.

The thought of visiting Poland was unsettling to me for obvious reasons. I arrived late Sunday evening in Cracow and went straight to bed after arriving at the hotel. The hotel was situated in the heart of the former Jewish district of Kazimierz where 60,000 Jews lived, or about 1/4 of the population of Cracow. Although the Jewish population of Cracow is obviously very tiny, I set out early in the morning to see if somehow I could find a minyan in the area where more than half a dozen shuls still remain standing, although there are only services at one of them on Shabbat.

I set out early at 6:30am. As I walked down the still dark narrow cobble-stoned streets of Kazimierz with my tallis and teffilin in hand, I felt almost transported back in time as I could easily imagine the thousands of Jews who would have been accompanying me along these streets not so many years ago. My best chance to find a minyan was at the Rema shul, a 5 minute walk from my hotel. Tears fell on my cheeks at the thought of the fate of the Jews who lived here in 1939 and how the vibrancy of their lives and their community was turned to dust and all that remained was this shell - these beautiful shuls sitting empty of life and maintained as museums for tourists. I did not know how I would feel during a visit to Auschwitz but here where the shul buildings stand but where no real Jewish life exists anymore, I felt a deep feeling of sadness. The gates of the Rema shul were locked of course but there was a Polish man sweeping the courtyard beyond the gates. We babbled at each other for a bit and then he turned around and continued with his task. I just stood there for awhile off to the side and after a few minutes he opened the gate to take something into the street. I thought, perhaps 20 zloty could buy me access to the shul for 30 minutes to daven by myself. He let me in to the courtyard but he didn't have the keys to open up the Shul. I went back outside and looked at a small street map posted on a sign. I decided to walk through the streets of Kazimierz and pass by other shuls - perhaps one would be open. Again I thought as I stood in front of each shul I thought how, at this hour of the day, each one would already have been open for awhile packed with people davening, learning and saying tehillim. It is hard to imagine a similar scene even today with perhaps with the exception of some places in Israel like the Old City of Jerusalem where so many Jews lived the traditional Jewish life packed so closely together. Here lived over 60,000 Jews but a heartbeat in time ago. Each one of these shuls were not small shteibels but rather large magnificent edifices. The Nazis and the Poles turned a beautiful community in to a memory, a museum, now crowded with pubs and hotels catering to tourists. For most who visit here, it is a place of historical interest and not painful as it was for me. From the Rema shul built in the 16th century I passed the Popper shul built in 1620, now used as a cultural centre. I left Szeroka street by Jozefa passed by the High Synagogue built in 1560. Just before the High synagogue I note a Hebrew inscription and 2 stars of David on the facade of a former Beit Midrash. Then turn right on Jakuba, walked 1 block to Izaaka St where I find the 17th century Izaaka shul. the shul was restored in the 1990s but it too was locked with a big sign in front reading Memory of the Jews in Poland. An exhibition that includes life-sized cut -out figures of pre-war Jews. Here now they only have cut-out figures of Jews and a few real live Jews and maybe some other Jews who dont know they are Jewish or hide the fact from everyone. As i stood outside the Izaak shul a light rain started to fall, tears from heaven. So i walked back to my hotel and said to the oblivious clerk at the desk, All the synagogues are closed. she muttered something with a shrug of her shoulders. i went and davened in my room
R

The Holiday of Many, Many Fires..Lag B'omer

Hard to believe folks but this is our fiftieth blog entry, I cannot believe we have written so much. It helps us to feel connected to you and to know you have access to details about our life. I also find it very relaxing and enjoyable and I quite enjoy looking back at our experiences and milestones in writing.

Lag B'omer in Neve Daniel began weeks before Lag B'omer actually began. Soon after pesach we began to notice young children wandering around the yishuv pulling around sticks, branches oh and skids! This was the beginning of the great wood hunt which would continue on until the night of many fires. It was hysterical, driving home I would come across a group of little people, together, pulling massive pieces of wood to some site where it was counted and catalogued until the night. It was necessary to catalogue the wood because if you didn't keep track of what your shevet owned and what was in your woodpile, items would disappear. The kids clearly took this whole ritual very seriously and parents were subsequently pulled into the hoopla and could be found filling up their nice vans with old wood and shlepping it to their kids medura (bonfire) site. We couldn't imagine that the kids would manage to burn all this stuff, but that didn't seem to slow them down any, the wood was travelling and my kids kept going out with their shevets to collect. If you didn't collect with the shevet you may not be welcome at the medura.


Well, Lag B'omer did arrive and after we had bought the mangal (BBQ) items that each kid was asked to bring for their bonfire, we set out to the first stop. We went to the shechunah chadasha, our future neighborhood, and there was a neighborhood medura happening. A huge , massive fire with hotdogs and marshmellows and music and singing and a lot of great people was a happening. Bubbie, of course, was with us and thought this all so interesting. IT was really just so much fun, eating burnt marshmellows, singing rebbe shimon bar yochai how much better does it get? The kids were all over the place just so happy to watch their wood go up in smoke. MOre than anything I think we felt , once again, this overwhelming sense of community, where everyone came together to celebrate together what was important in their lives. We looked out over the hills of yehuda and saw a landscape speckled with bonfires, beitar seemed to have a couple of massive ones happening. That day we had heard commercials and warnings on the radio reminding people about fire safety and how to build and maintain a safe medura! only in Israel!>


We finished up at the neighborhood bonfire and promised the kids we would visit each of their bonfires. So off we went Darrell, bubbie, myself and Sara to visit our kids bonfires. We arrived to the sites and were met with a long row of bonfires one after the other..........it was incredible.

Each bonfire was surrounded by a bunch of happy kids, preparing all their meat and food, potatoes were being wrapped to throw into the fires to bake as were whole onions, and grills were being prepared with MEAT for the late night eatathons that were about to take place. At one point I looked at Darrell and told him that clearly hashem and his angels were watching over the little children of Israel and their blazing infernos. How would I sleep knowing my children were out here with their madrichim and all these fires?

Oh, how things have changed! We said goodnight to our kids and gave them insane curfews, David 1:00 am and Yonatan 5:00am and Avital's was only starting at midnight so there wasn't a curfew per say. Now don't think we were completely negligent, each fire had atleast one madrich and sometimes a parent would stick around, I think security was circulating to check on the infernos and their arsonists. We walked home listening to the laughing , and singing of all the children.............."amar rabbi akiva, ve'ahavta le'reicha kamocha"! Oh, to be jewish in a jewish country.....

.

Yom Hazikaron/Yom Ha'atzmaut

There is nothing like Yom Hazikaron/Yom Ha'atzmaut in Israel, that is a given. I'll tell you though, Toronto did a pretty good job of recognizing the two days in a appropriate and meaningful way and it was always part of our routine. For me, this year, Yom Hazikaron began a day before the day. Let me explain, Avital had an appointment with a respirologist whose office was in Mea Shearim, with regards to her asthma. It was an evening appointment and the two of us headed out. The doctor Dr. Eli Pikar, was a lovely, warm, happy man who took care of us so nicely. He wore a kippa , was clean shaven and immediately put Avital at ease. He was asking us about our aliyah and wondering how it has been for us. The usual question of why we came was asked and a "kol hakavod" accompanied the discussion. He was going to Montreal to visit a brother on sabbatical and was asking about hechshers and food etc. He had the remnants of a French accent and clearly was not a sabra. We said goodbye, nice to meet you we'll see you again in a few months. B'hatzlacha he smiled (good luck). I dropped into my family doctor the next day and mentioned that we had been to Eli Pikar yesterday and how nice and lovely he was. She asked me if he told us about his son. My heart stopped, oh no what about his son? His 17 year old son was killed a few years back in the attack in Atzmona..........What that lovely, friendly person had lost his 17 year old son? Atzmona was the yeshiva where an Arab penetrated and went on a shooting spree, killing Eli Pikars son and others, including a son of Toronto Olim. What struck me most was Dr. Pikars demeanor, his strength to resume a face of compassion and warmth in front of what he must feel inside, anger, pain and loss.

Yom Hazikaron began with another gathering of our yishuv in the ulam. We all filed in quietly and took our places. The ceremony began. Words are hard to use to describe the palpable feelings in that room. I felt as though I could reach out and physically touch the pain, loss and sadness. I also felt that strength was also palpable there, but for the moment sadness was overriding. One of our yishuv members , a man who lives one street below us spoke about his experiences in the Yom Kippur war. He talked about his friends who did not make it and for a few moments he stood up there on the podium and cried out loud. He pulled himself together and apologized, totally not necessary, but he did pull himself together and continued on. The youth read from appropriate readings, poems and stories. The rav spoke. The choir sang. The siren rang. It was piercing. I looked around me at those sitting near, and wondered what was on each of their minds, who were they thinking about, what battles were they remembering, reliving? I felt my newness in this country and my lack of history here. The ceremony ended and we made our way out. I was pretty much sapped of all energy and found it a hard time holding any sort of conversation. We headed home, heavy and deep in our thoughts.

The next morning I headed to the Gan before the siren. I had promised Sara I would be there with her for the siren, she is anxious about loud and sudden noises and I think she didn't understand what she was suppose to do and that upset her. So I came into the gan and was part of the mifgash, circle prior to the siren. The kids sat around in their circle. The teacher lit a candle and talked quietly and gently to the kids. There were pictures around the room of the flag, of soldiers, of memorials and she reviewed them with us. She talked about what we should be thinking about during the siren. "Remember children, we talked about some of you who have lost and are missing people who died protecting us...........Galia, you must be remembering your uncle yossi, and I am thinking about my cousin.........oh my Gd. here was a room of some 30 five and six year old kids, thinking about those they have and we have lost. I had a hard time holding myself together, but I thought of Eli Pikar and his son z"l........the siren began, thirty kids, two teachers and myself stood up. The teachers closed their eyes and looked down, the kids stood straight and looked at the ground, the siren moaned on and the kids stood straight and silent, I stood straight and silent too with tears rolling down my face, he was only 17, a baby! His family had to bury their baby and move on. Soon, the siren dropped in tone and began to taper off, you could again, hear it from the other yishuvim also tapering off. The kids sat down and the teacher began to say tehillim with them. After these deep moments of loss and sadness we turn back to Gd. and praise him and recognize his greatness, mercifulness, kindness..........ein amcha k'yisrael (there is no nation like Israel). I stayed a little longer and made my way home, slowly , because it took a lot of effort to drag my heavy self, actually my heavy heart home.

How appropriate in this country of ours that we go from great sadness to joy in matter of moments. We all gathered at our migrash prior to sunset for the end of yom hazikaron and the beginning of yom haatzmaut. There was to be a yishuv tekes, ceremony and two of our kids would be a part of it. This time it was Sara and Avital. Sara's gan was part of a dance and Avital had been asked to light a torch on behalf of olim youth. The ceremony began with the final siren of yom hazikaron and moved on to the celebration of israel's birth. There were poem's read and Sara's little dance was so cute. A whole bunch of little kids, decked in blue and white of course dancing in the shape of the Israeli flag. I must add that each and every event we have been to on the yishuv, in the schools, and gan are always decorated so beautifully and so too was the migrash with its big beautiful flag and balloons etc. Torch's were lit, twelve, one for each of the tribes of Israel, and Avital was called up to light hers. It is at these times when I feel the reality of what we have done, when I see my kids participating and being part of Israeli life, I have to pinch myself and then thank Gd. for the opportunities and the life he has enabled us to experience. The tekes ended and we joined our friends the Ports for a seudah chagigit, which was enjoyable as always. We headed home, or atleast some of us did, exhausted but happy, others went out to continue celebrating with their friends, as usual there were more activities organized for the kids.




The next day we were getting together with the Pomsons, our friends who had made aliyah from Toronto one year prior to us and live in Jerusalem. A few years ago at a yom haatzmaut celebration in Toronto Alex and Darrell were standing around together and Alex turned to Darrell and said that when we arrive to Israel, we would celebrate an Israeli Yom Ha'atzmaut together, and so we did.
Like the entire country we headed out for a mangal (BBQ/picnic). I must add that we started out late, because the Pomsons, were glued to the TV watching the Chidon Hatanach (world wide bible contest,the finals take place in Israel of course). What a place, on the day of its birth, chidon hatanach takes place on TV and the results are announced all day long on the news, and the radio etc. So we headed to Begin Park to find a suitable site for our long awaited BBQ. Well, I have to tell you that Israelis are PROFESSIONAL picnicers. First of all they were literally everywhere. Even along the highways, you could see spatterings of picnickers everywhere. And these were no regular picnickers, there were portable tables, major and minor portable bbqs, chairs set up in large circles waiting for large numbers of family members and friends to arrive, sometimes mattresses and hammocks were set up, some picnics were quiet, some had stereo systems going it was unbelievable and did I say they were everywhere? We found a nice spot and set up, we did not have so much to set up, the bbq, the coolers and some games we brought for the kids. The Pomsons arrived and we began. Well, all of us are technically Israelis now, but we have some practise until we are professional bbqers. Alex told us about this doohickey, which looks like a dustpan, which is to fan the flames, we could have used one of those. The next day I noticed in the supermarket the whole section devoted to bbqs and picnic paraphenalia, Yonatan declared that we too would have and set up a hammock next year. We had a fun afternoon, the kids loosened up and enjoyed also, although Avital and Anna spent a high percentage of the time sitting in the back of the open van, listening to IPod , crocheting kippas go figure.
We parents shared our aliyah woes and also some of the successes our children were beginning to experience. It was moving to see these eight kids in their new surroundings and environment celebrating the birth or THEIR new country. I still believe that despite the difficulties the day will come, probably later than sooner, when each child at their own time will thank us for bringing them here, that will be a great day. They say aliyah is the best gift you can give to your kids.........some of them just don't realize that yet. It was nice to be together and hopefully next year we will be a little bit more "professional" about it.



It was a wonderful first yom ha'atzmaut and we just really felt greatful to be here and be a part of our jewish homeland and its history in the making. After the picnic we headed off to the airport to pick up bubbie who was arriving for her six week visit.


P.S.: we seem to be experiencing some difficulties posting pictures. I in my limited technical ability have not been able to solve the problem. I will seek help and update my blank entries, especially of note was the lack of pictures on the Sherman visit blog and sara's siyum. Some entries are accepting pictures and others not......so frustrating. When I get it all to work I will let you all know to look backwards to see the pictures.

Yom zicharon L' Hashoa Ve'legevura

This year Holocaust Memorial day fell out on Mon. April 24/Tuesday April 25. In Toronto, we always knew when yom hashoa was because the children all prepared for it in school and quite often we would attend speakers or a ceremony commemorating the six million. Once again, here in Israel the day permeated our lives in a way it only could in Israel. Fifty nine years ago, out of the ashes of the most horrific events in history, Israel rose up and NEVER AGAIN did we have to be defenseless as a people! What was amazing to me was that this feeling is so palpable here, even among the young! The feeling of the horror of the event and the helplessness of the six million to have any sort of control of their horrendous destiny. The feeling of the world standing by and watching this happen and there was no one to help us or care about us and nowhere to go. On the MOnday night, there was a yishuv ceremony in our ulam. I went with my mother in law and we met up with Darrell who was on his way home from work. I was amazed at how suddenly, the often leibadik israeli kids and even the little ones knew to be quiet. When the siren went off everyone stood and you could hear a pin drop!! Unfortunately, the siren is part of life here, and children grow up from infancy hearing the siren atleast four times a year, on yom hashoa and yom hazikaron, so they all know the seriousness of the moment. The ceremony was simple but so moving. There was the siren and prayers, there was a lovely woman, a mother of one of the yishuv members who stood up and spoke about her experiences in the holocaust. There was a choir of young girls who sang so beautifully. We sat their staring at their beautiful innocent faces and listening to their sweet sweet voices............how many of them had grandparents who were survivors?, how many of them were missing grandparents who didn't survive? The feeling of the founding of this state and the tragedy of losing so many beautiful souls because we had no state no home of our own at the time was literally palpable in the air. The feeling of being a people who is hated in this world was also palpable. But out of the ashes and the horrific events of the Shoa the Jewish people perserved as we always seem to do and not only did we survive but we have flourished! And thus, these beautiful sweet children singing in front of us and helping us remember our loss of six million and to feel the loss and pain of the survivors. For Darrell and I we also experienced the awesome feeling of now being a part of this place, of Israel, of our yishuv.........we stood side by side with our fellow Israelis and yishuv members and cried and remembered! We felt proud to now be a part of the answer to the Nazis and the world at large. The ceremony ended and everyone helped to put their chairs away and we filed out of the ulam, somewhat quieter than usual.

The next morning, approx. 11:00 am, the sirens sounded once again. I was home with my inlaws and we stood by the window, in silence and looked out over the Judean Hills while the alarm sounded. It is an eerie sound and cuts to your heart quickly. We could hear it from the hilltops of the surrounding yishuvim. From where we stood the traffic continued, mostly Arab traffic I'm sure. That's okay, I didn't expect them to stop. Darrell called to tell me how he was in the board room in his Tel Aviv office, when the siren sounded, he stood by the window and looked out on the busy street and watched the world around him come to a complete halt. Cars stopped and people stood by their cars in silence. Sara came home and asked why everyone looked at their feet during the siren. She didn't get all the hebrew explanations she had heard in gan so I tried to explain.

It was one of the most meaningful Yom hashoa days I had ever experienced and once again, we felt that we and our children had just experienced a day that we could not have in Chutz l'aretz.

April.....the month of Visitors, Reunions and the message of Massada

One week after ulpan the onslaught began..............I mean that in a good way!! First, Grandma and Grandpa Sherman arrived for their three week visit. The kids were so excited! Darrell's parents had always been such an integral part of their lives and that was one of the biggest losses of their move to Israel. Darrell called from the gate that he was driving in with them and we all ran out to greet them as they drove up. It was wonderful to see them and to see how happy they were to see the kids and the kids them. When we arrived inside, Grandma, who is one of quick movements and little patience when it comes to gift giving, quickly opened her Mary Poppins bag and began to distribute all the goodies to everyones delight (except Sara that is, who was not so content with her days of the week underwear). Two days later, Cory, Francine, Michael, Eric and barmitzvah boy Jonathan arrived and went straight to Tel Aviv. I drove up on the Sunday with everyone minus Darrell and Avital to visit them at their hotel. Another wonderful reunion which filled my heart to see the cousins all together. Probably the hardest part of aliyah is leaving everyone behind, and to see everyone back together and picking up right where they left off was almost a relief.

The Cory Shermans were up North until Erev Pesach while I continued to prepare for pesach. We were all planning to be together at the hotel for the seder but I still had to prepare for shabbat and second day not to mention the cleaning. Israel , in all its brilliance,lets the kids off school atleast a good week before the chag, a real treat for parents getting ready for the most labour intensive chag in the year, especially for those not working in education. We celebrated our first Pesach in Jerusalem,with our family, and ONE SEDER! Driving into Jerusalem from Gush Etzion you could feel the added security and had to leave early to get there before yom tov, it was funny , I said to Avital who was with me, I feel a little uneasy about being in Jerusalem over chag. We chuckled because usually people feel the same about coming out to us. The seder was nice, hotel, chazzan, not really our speed but sometimes you have to do these things to be with family. That was great, to look down the table and see everyone together. The chazzan and his little singin' son was nice for one maybe two songs but it became a little bit of a show. The food was unbelievable, it almost felt sinlike eating food that didn't taste like pesach food! For me the most amazing part was being served and getting up and walking away from the table at the end of the seder. We stayed in Jerusalem for second day and it was really odd..........seeing all the chutznikim walking around in their yom tov attire and us jumping in the car etc. Thursday night, my father in law took all of us and Francine's family out to a barmitzvah celeberatory meal at Normans SteakHouse. It was too weird, being in a regular restaurant, eating very delicious regular food, on Pesach. It was weird and great at the same time..........only in Israel!

We headed home on the Friday to get ready for Shabbat, and the Cory Sherman gangs visit. It was nice to show them our home and our neighborhoods and I think they enjoyed. They did the lonetree thing, derech avot, our new house of course,the shul , it was nice! Next time they won't get away with not staying for Shabbat!!! Motzei Shabbat was a party organized by the barmitzvah tour group. It was nice, Sara danced up a storm! It was nice to see the Balitsky contingent.....Esti, Michael and Naama and again to just be with everyone again. The Shermans Sr. went off to Haifa for a couple of days, with the Balitskys. During the week we joined up with Cory , Fran and gang here and there with their touring. We took a day off of family to join up with the Kandler family, and I don't mean just the seven of them. We joined Orit and her extended family for a day south, you know past Chevron. This was the first time I had driven south of tzomet gush without bulletproofing and while I was nervous and not so happy about it, it wasn't horrible and I quickly settled into it. Still it isn't something that I will choose to do on a regular basis. We went to Carmiel a small yishuv where her now married brother is living. The kallas family lives there and showed us around the dairy, which was so fascinating. We stopped for lunch in a beautiful forest nearby and I chuckled as we Shermans pulled out our matzvah, cheese, jam, fruit and whatever regular stuff we threw in our bag as the Kandler/Cohen gang pulled out tupperwares filled with delicacies and real food and of course it all seemed so effortless and run of the mill. We went on to the dead sea where we were treated to snapelling "a la dubi". It was a fun and Israeli experience in that it was not a organized group thing. I don't know if Israelis appreciate that we North Americans normally don't just go into our machsan and pull our snapelling equipment out and go off with the kids to you know.....snappelon some cliff ! The Cohen family was so friendly and we felt welcomed.

Thursday bright and Early Darrell and Yonatan set out to Massada to climb at the wee hours and meet up with us later on for Jonathan's barmitzvah. We also set out early but not as early! We arrived at Massada at 8:00 and met up with the Sherman/Taras group. Up we went in the cable car , on our exit from the car we bumped into Yonatan and Darrell who had a great hike up and were waiting for us. The barmitzvah took place on the edge of the mountain in a special patio made for this purpose. It was beautiful and Jonathan of course did a beautiful job. Emotion was overflowing of course, first of all for the joy and pride in the moment itself..........standing on Massada and watching Jonathan lain was just overwhelming. But also, the absence of Francine's dear father was felt so acutely here and not just by Francine and her family but by all of us. Tommy zichrono l'vracha was a huge lover of Israel, Judaism and the Jewish people and so loved being in Israel..........he would have been so proud, happy and joyful to have been with Jonathan at this moment and those who knew him felt that incredible loss again. At the same time, I suppose, it helped to make Tommy's presence felt and the continuity of him in his children and grandchildren. The fact that they chose to come and celebrate this milestone in Israel meant that Tommy and his values are being carried forward to the next generation. And for that we are so proud of Cory, Francine, Michael, Eric and Jonathan!!!! Their tour guide gave them a little shpiel about the message of Massada. He spoke about how it represented an important idea for the Jewish People. How we are responsible for our destiny, that no more would we just surrender to our fate as determined by our enemies. It was about believing in ourselves as Jews and fighting for ourselves and our rights. He referred to the swearing in process in the army which takes place at the bottom of the mountain and the connection betweeen the two. That we also have to be willing to sacrifice for our people and country because we believe in ourselves. It was very emotional! He talked about how when you come to visit Israel you don't leave as the same person as you came and how important it is for all Jews to atleast visit Israel. It is true and made me think about what happens to people who come and stay what changes do they experience and does it stable out? In fact, I already felt that I as an individual had changed since we came, not drastically, but inside I somehow am not the same person that arrived last July. And so ended the barmitzvah celebration and with that more goodbyes again! We once again stood together hugged and cried and said goodbye at the bottom of Massada! We stood and waved to their bus as they headed down to Eilat and got into our car and went to the dead sea to spend a glorious day with the kids and Darrell's parents.

Grandma and Grandpa Sherman stayed another week or so until the end of April. They became more adventerous taking, buses into town and even lifts. They went to the Begin museum and explored the city a little bit. It was wonderful to have them. I think they saw Israel in a completely new way than they did on past visits on tours etc. and we hope they were pleased with our new lives here!

Other events over pesach time were the Goldberger barmtizvah at the Kotel, the Hanachat Tefillin Of Noah Schwartz and Daniel Turk. The Shumachers came out and spent a glorious day with us in Gush Etzion including, lunch at the winery and an omega/zipline ride across a huge valley..........no just the kids did it! It was wonderful being with old friends and great to share our neighborhood with them. Then more goodbyes and now I had one week to get some kind of order and routine in our lives before my mother arrived for her six week visit. The month had been wonderful, but I was exhausted beyond and we were all in need of some more regular routine! So we said good bye to everyone and settled back down to regular living here in Israel, if there is such a thing!

The end of an Era........Ulpan finishes!!

A couple of weeks before Pesach, our ulpan finished. I was amazed how affected by the ending I was. When I think about it, the ulpan had been part of my routine from shortly after our arrival! For over 6 months, four days a week I came to ulpan and sat from 8:30 a.m. until 12:45 p.m. with the same people day after day, struggling to learn and perfect our new language. I started with Darrell in tow and soon after Avital joined us. Then in January Darrell went to work and by the end of February it was time for Avital to go back to school full time. I cannot describe how ulpan affected our lives and carried us through those first months of aliyah. We all started ulpan the week after the kids started school and by the second week our phones were ringing during class with teary kids on the other end begging to be picked up. We would walk back into class all distracted and distraught only to be comforted by the other parents and our morah sara. When events occured in the world and more specifically in our little country, we helped each other process and deal with them and of course morah sara was always ready with her more Israeli approach and opinions and helped us to see the bigger picture. She listened and encouraged us.........."you olim have a very important tafkid " she would always remind us.........."just because something has been a certain way for ages on end doesn't mean it is good and you olim have to help us see where change needs to take place and help us to do it. That doesn't mean that we will agree and listen to you readily, you may have to push and keep plugging away, but don't give up on us!". We would have many class discussions about many different issues, Sara would remind us that it isn't about the topic but about the language we use to express ourselves, but the topics were important too. They weren't always heavy some were funny and light , we talked a lot about parenting and the educational system in Israel. We talked a lot about our kids and our feelings around our aliyah. Each chag was celebrated in a unique way in our ulpan. I will never forget Tu B'shvat, which I think I wrote about, and how it was so important and meaningful. The story of the transplanted tree, wilting and then regaining strength and blossoming again so beautifully, still brings tears to my eyes and never have I so strongly related to a tree before. The connection that we have to the land, grew within me as the months past. We read Agnon and I was so touched by his writings, it was simply beautiful. Sara of course picked a beautiful story which was an analogy for the jewish people and the galut. We talked about our professions and working in Israel. We talked about building homes and putting down roots............and once when the boys were all absent we had a lesson about all the words we women need to know about our bodies for doctor appointments etc. I practically always went to ulpan and didn't miss too much. It wasn't easy , there was lots of work and there were days when I just wanted to stay at home and whatever. But I made a commitment to myself to make ulpan a top priority and work at it like a job, and that is the only way to really do it. My hebrew improved immensely, still lots of work to do though, but more importantly I grew as a person and as an Israeli citizen. I will never be a sabra, but Sara and ulpan helped me to better understand the culture into which I have been dropped and hopefully by trying to understand and accept rather than always resisting I will experience a smoother klita, at the same time remembering my very important tafkid here.

Thank you Ulpan Alon Shvut, I will never forget all of you my wonderful classmates and my most wonderful teacher who took three of us Shermans into her class and shaped the beginning months of our aliyah and thus will remain with us in our israeli lives always. I feel like a kid being sent off into the big wide world now, go and find your way!!!

March 28/06..........Election Day

Well, who are you going to vote for? Who? Why?............Who are you going to vote for? And so on, and so on and so on............and you can't answer I don't know yet, because whoever is asking will proceed into a discertation about who and why you should vote for! And if you even dare say, I rather not say............well, you're asking for it.............then EVERYONE will know that you are from North America (as if they didn't already know!). It was a huge day for us new olim, to cast your vote and be counted among the jewish people in the jewish nation. At the same time, it was a difficult time for us because we sort of felt that this year, it didn't mean much! The writing was on the wall, and our vote wasn't going to change anything. We felt frustrated with the whole electoral system here, that made us feel powerless. There is a disconnect between how votes are cast to what ends up in the knesset, it feels somewhat like a will you dance with me and in return for what sort of process. We also felt saddened by the pre-election hullabaloo and the rifts and lack of any real understanding between different segments of Israeli society. Some of the ads were downright disgusting and untrue........on both sides. As we have felt many times over the year, there was a saddness we couldn't beat about the lack of knowledge and connection that so many people here feel. There was also this worry, about the results, and how this would affect are day in and day out regular lives..........in other words, it was all so real and so intense!


In Israel, voting day, is a day off! Darrell, wouldn't commit to having the day off, until the day before, only because he couldn't believe he was going to get the whole day off to go into the ulam on our yishuv and vote, which would take maybe 5 minutes. Well, he realized that this was going to happen and we would vote in the morning and .................have a SUNDAY!!!!


In ulpan, we had gotten a lesson on the how to's of voting which I had given over to Darrell. You go in, show your teudat zehut, they cross your name off, you go behind the curtain, where you will find a hodge podge of white pieces of paper, many many pieces of paper, each with a letter or group of letters on it in black ink(each piece represents a different party). You choose your letters, fold it, put it in the envelope provided to you by the people who crossed your name off, and seal it. You come out from behind the divider and put your envelope in the box! Ve Zehu! You may now go and have your Sunday.At six in the morning , Darrell was up and anxious..........okay, let's get ready, gotta go vote, it opens at 7:00, get up , get ready............we're voting today!! Okay, okay Darrell, it's only six the poll is a 5 minute walk from the house. No that wasn't good enough.......every five minutes I got a countdown to the poll opening hour...........I felt like Mufasa in lion King when simba wakes up at the crack of dawn and is jumping all over simba to get up and get going on their little tiyul together.....come on Dad , come on let's go. We finally did get out of the house at the more decent hour of 8:00 am. We waited in line with everyone else, and had to endure many comments about "oh, first time voters, how do you feel?" It was exciting and monumental for us, and although we knew the results would not be to our likingthe fact that we were standing up and somehow were being counted was important. We cast our votes, and then we were off to Wadi Kelt with the Beit Sefer Sadeh (field school) of Gush Etzion, who had organized many election day tiyulim.


It was a great day, beautiful and fun. We spent the day in the Judean Hills/desert with our fellow Israelis and we had a great time. We wouldn't know the results to the next day............maybe..........and then how long would it be until we knew who was in the cabinet ..........???

Sara's Siyum Sefer Bereishit

Soon after purim we were invited to Sara's gan for their siyum sefer Bereishit. This was my first Gan event so I was unaware of the calibre of the show to be. Darrell was unable to attend as he was working but I promised all to video the extravaganza and we would watch at home together when Abba came home. We were greeted in the gan by a group of 30 happy, excited kids dressed up as Jews in the time of Avraham Avinu. The show began and the kids went from song to song, welcoming us and then going through the story of Sefer Bereishit. Sara and her buddy Rivka were also excited and we wondered how much they would be able to participate or would they shy out. To our great surprise, the two of them were stars singing away in hebrew and acting out the stories just like everyone else!!! As happy as I was to see Sara singing away and participating, it was seeing Rivka smiling and singing away unabashadly in hebrew that really did me in. I knew that Sara was able to speak hebrew and had begun to do so in school on a regular basis. Rivka was having a harder time and while I know she understands she has not been ready to say much in hebrew. So when she stood beside Sara and sang away in hebrew I felt a huge lump in my throat and was flooded with emotion. To see these two little girls who were plucked from their nice comfortable , english environment and pluncked down into a place where for a long time they did not understand anything going on around them and to see them part of a greater group, participating and being happy.............it was beyond. The content of the show was also very touching to us as olim. When the little Avraham avinus stood around a map on the floor and sang a song about how hashem promised them this land, I looked out the huge gan windows and thought yes it was exactly here where this happened, they were acting out a story which is right out their window. When they sang "ata etein et ha'aretz hazot"...........again, just look outside your window. Schools and teachers work very hard to help kids internalize the torah and its beautiful stories, yet here I don't think it is as hard a job, just look outside your window!!! It was a beautiful show and both the Frankls and I were overcome with joy and pride in our little girls! Wow, they have come so far and overcome so much and here they are singing about their torah and their inheritance of eretz yisrael and they are looking out the window!!