Blog/May 2011/May 27th

May 27th (See this week's devar torah)

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Hi, again!

The big news this week is that Daniela returned home from the Exile, and is here for the summer. Yay! And she brought her boyfriend (Jeremy) with her, who will be here only for a week. So I won't talk about the tête-a-tête between the leader of the free world and the man in the White House; nor about how that man got told by the Queen of England. Another time, perhaps.

The "kids" came in on Tue late afternoon, and the three of us went to the airport to get them. As usual, Daniela was one of the last off the plane, but B"H she did get off the plane! We ferried them back to chez Aaron without incident, and let them rest up. The following day, Esther took them to the Biblical Zoo, where they got caught up on the far-flung members of our family tree.

Then yesterday, I took a day off work (which even though I had told my boss about it by email, and reminded him of it face-to-face, he seemingly forgot and wondered where I was. <sigh>). Anyway... we went to the Gush, where we first visited the Teva Naot outlet where I handed over my sandals for repair, and the distaff members of our group purchased new shoes. After that we headed over to Deer Land, because... well, I'm not sure really why we went there except that Esther had a bug about going on the "zip-line", and Daniela insisted on going. If you want to go on a zip-line, it's fine; but otherwise it's a rip-off.

After that we ate lunch at the Gush Etzion Winery -- which is always a pleasant experience. Picked up a couple bottles of their fine wines, but you need to know that it is cheaper to get their wines at the Maḥane Yehuda shuq than at the winery!

Following our meal, we went to Derekh Haʼavoth (Patriarch's Way). That was a main road in Temple times for pilgrims from Ḥevron to Jerusalem. While there, we came across a rather large flock of goats, tended by an older Arab man and a young man I suppose was his son. I told the older man salaam aleikum, and he asked me in Arabic how I was; then he shook my hand, and he and his flock (and his son) moved on. The scene was one which would have been familiar to the Patriarchs indeed! But the son was listening to his MP3 player and didn't even notice me, I think. I doubt Yaaqov would have let his sons zone out while tending the flocks...

After returning home from our perambulations, I spit-roasted a lamb forequarter and we made our own shawarma in laffa. It was really good, even if I say so myself! Too bad I didn't think of asking the Arab shepherd how much a goat would cost me. Could have had goat shawarma.

Today my girls and Jeremy went to Tel Aviv so Sarah could show them around. We'll only find out this afternoon how it went... in the meantime, Esther and I are "home alone" and preparing for shabbat. Slowly.

From a posting I made earlier in the week on Facebook:

I love Israel! You who don't know her, who hear about her only from the anti-Israel press -- won't believe that she is the freest country in the middle-east, and one of the freest in the world.

Unlike that bastion of "moderation", Saudi Arabia, in Israel women have full rights. Minorities are protected both as a matter of law and as a matter of fact. One of the ministers in the Knesset (parliament) is a Muslim Arab woman, in fact (who openly calls for the destruction of the very country which pays her salary). Where are the Jewish ministers in Saudi Arabia (or any Arab country except Bahrain)?

When I go to work I am surrounded by people from every corner of the globe, from every ethnic background, speaking a plethora of languages. It's a beautiful thing.

But best of all, I'm in my own land, even if her leaders think they need to kowtow to the United States most of the time, she is a great land. I love Israel!

And on that note, this week the OECD published a report on living standards in the various member countries. While Israel ranks low in size of housing, in work-life balance and civic-engagement, it ranks towards the top in "life satisfaction". That is, despite whatever problems they face, Israelis like being Israelis.

This week we've got all four of us, and Jeremy, and one of Sarah's friends. We'll attempt to consume: baked chicken, veggie stuffed artichokes, fatay, quinoa tabbouleh, ḥummus, ṭeḥina, fried eggplant, vegetable soup, green beans, brown rice, carrot kugel, peach pie, "just cake", regular "vuzvuz" cholent, egg salad, smoked mackerel. Wish us luck!

Until next week,
shabbat shalom!

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