Tisha B’Av – It seems quieter here, and all the TV shows (the first I’ve watched in 3 weeks, since we’re relatively idle today) are shows talking about the rift between Orthodox and Secular and the issues of sin’at chinam (baseless hatred, on the of reasons rabbinic sources site for the destruction of the Second Temple) and ahavat chinam (a term coined by early religious Zionist leader Rav Kook, unsolicited or baseless love – loving people because they are God’s creation) No matter which morning talk show you tune to, that is the topic of conversation, including among secular talk show hosts and news analysts.
Wednesday we went to Hod HaSharon to visit Linda Mosek and her non-profit, Click. Click provides the elderly of Hod HaSharon with day activities, meaningful work, therapy, companionship, and some workers receive compensation for their handicrafts. The also provide piecework, making gift items, embroidery, pillows, wall hangings for home-bound elderly. They run 5 neighborhood centers and are a unique model for Social Entrepreneurship. Linda, who has a doctorate in Social Work and an MBA runs dozens of programs, helps hundreds of people, and is an inspiring leader. The USYers made several different art projects with seniors with mental disabilities which will in turn be donated to kids in hospitals. We helped underwrite the cost of the art supplies and were able to leave a cash contribution with Linda to help her provide medical taxi rides to some of her workers who cannot travel by conventional means. The other half of the USY group met with Rina Kahan, administrator of the Non-Profit to Benefit Girlfriends of Fallen IDF Soldiers and Donna, one of the girl friends who benefited from the group. It was a very moving morning.
After our last (thankfully) USY box lunch, we returned to Jerusalem to meet with Ruth Schlossman, founder of Gift of Comfort, one of my favorite Mitzvah Heroes, who in response to the terror attacks of the beginning of the decade started an effort to provide 10 therapeutic treatments not covered by insurance (massage, reflexology (very popular here), acupuncture, etc.). Gift of Comfort’s entire budget for a year is $6,000, and Mitzvah Heroes Fund is very proud to be in position to provide about 40% of their funding this year. This project is very efficient with their Mitzvahs.
Danny and I had a quick dinner at Doron’s, and I did some clean up, read Eicha and went to bed early. Thursday is a day to get caught up a bit on phone calls and scheduling. It is very quiet in our neighborhood today. More later.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Surprise ½ Day Off – July 28, 2009
I guess when you leave a relatively clean life; occasionally unexpected gifts come your way. Last year, it was the gift of a cold Heineken on a warm Sunday night. Today it was the mistake of a bus company. We were scheduled to be with the largest USY group of 45, group 4 (Amy Easton, Amalia Cowan and Matt from Seaboard). With their 5 staff they are 50. Danny, Arnie and I are 3. We had a fourth, June Kraft, an educator from Tampa who was joining us. USY ordered a 53 seat bus, thinking that one person could sit in the tour guide Jump seat in the front. Alas, a 51 passenger bus arrived, so one of the group’s staff and I took the “bump” to get the morning off. But I digress, back to yesterday.
We had an exceptional group of USYers with group 6. Half went to meet Alice Jonah at the Diplomat Hotel (I wrote about her earlier in the summer). Half went with Arnie and I to Big Brothers/Big Sisters to meet Libby Reichman, who has really build something from nothing. There we also met former Washingtonian Shaiel Yitzchak and his little brother Ephraim, old friends of mine (Ephraim for 3 years, Shaiel since he was 15 so maybe 21 years), and more recent olah Naomi from NYC who is also a Big Sister. Their clubhouse is a great meeting place, we’ve been able to help them with some great mitzvah stuff (last year, professional banner signs for attracting volunteers when they do fairs, a projector for their movie nights and this year, a gas grill (and installation of the gas line to it) for their fun barbeque nights. It’s nice to see our efforts making people so happy.
In the afternoon, we again packed a couple of hundred packages with Moshe Kott and Lev Ramot, and the USYers were really tremendous. Our closing activities with them were the best we’ve had; they were cooperative and on time all day, and we rewarded then by finishing almost an hour early and giving them some free time.
Dinner was grilled fish at Doron’s (pre-Tisha b’Av special) with Fran and Bernie Alpert from Archeological Seminars.
Today was supposed to be my day to see Avshalom Beni of HAMA; I’ll have to figure that out later. I was able to meet with Yael Rosen from Atzum at 7:30 this morning, to fund an adult diaper service for 6 months for one of the Righteous among the Nations living here in Israel, someone who saved dozens of Jews during the Shoah. What was the old Army marketing line? “We do more before 9 am than most people do all day!” I went downtown to run a couple of small errands that otherwise would have waiting for my final days last week – a trip to Yad LaKashish, a visit to my friend storekeeper Mr. Yirmiyahu that Rabbi Leonard Cahan introduced me to over 23 years ago (who sold me the plastic protective covers for my tallit bags for 5 shekels a piece and kippot for 30 shekels that cost twice as much a few blocks away on Ben Yehuda. Then I stopped at one of my favorite used book stores, Stein Books on King George (please note, no stops for cappuccino, juice or pastries) where I made a modest purchase. I had time to finally go pick up my shirts that I left last week at the laundry, only to find that they are missing – perhaps given to another customer in error. Hopefully they will be returned soon. I’ve been using these guys for years and nothing like this has happened before. I can be patient – I have other things to wear for Shabbat.
So that’s the story – I will meet the USYers at 3:30 or so to help them process the day, have another quiet evening before tomorrow and our 4th and final USY group of the week. We will be going up to Hod HaSharon to see Linda Mosek from Click, and then Ruth Schlossman, Mitzvah Hero from A Gift of Comfort before beginning the fast of Tisha B’Av.
May have to take a nap after lunch – it’s too hot to be outside too much. This is the vacation part of the “working vacation”. Until there is more to report . . .
We had an exceptional group of USYers with group 6. Half went to meet Alice Jonah at the Diplomat Hotel (I wrote about her earlier in the summer). Half went with Arnie and I to Big Brothers/Big Sisters to meet Libby Reichman, who has really build something from nothing. There we also met former Washingtonian Shaiel Yitzchak and his little brother Ephraim, old friends of mine (Ephraim for 3 years, Shaiel since he was 15 so maybe 21 years), and more recent olah Naomi from NYC who is also a Big Sister. Their clubhouse is a great meeting place, we’ve been able to help them with some great mitzvah stuff (last year, professional banner signs for attracting volunteers when they do fairs, a projector for their movie nights and this year, a gas grill (and installation of the gas line to it) for their fun barbeque nights. It’s nice to see our efforts making people so happy.
In the afternoon, we again packed a couple of hundred packages with Moshe Kott and Lev Ramot, and the USYers were really tremendous. Our closing activities with them were the best we’ve had; they were cooperative and on time all day, and we rewarded then by finishing almost an hour early and giving them some free time.
Dinner was grilled fish at Doron’s (pre-Tisha b’Av special) with Fran and Bernie Alpert from Archeological Seminars.
Today was supposed to be my day to see Avshalom Beni of HAMA; I’ll have to figure that out later. I was able to meet with Yael Rosen from Atzum at 7:30 this morning, to fund an adult diaper service for 6 months for one of the Righteous among the Nations living here in Israel, someone who saved dozens of Jews during the Shoah. What was the old Army marketing line? “We do more before 9 am than most people do all day!” I went downtown to run a couple of small errands that otherwise would have waiting for my final days last week – a trip to Yad LaKashish, a visit to my friend storekeeper Mr. Yirmiyahu that Rabbi Leonard Cahan introduced me to over 23 years ago (who sold me the plastic protective covers for my tallit bags for 5 shekels a piece and kippot for 30 shekels that cost twice as much a few blocks away on Ben Yehuda. Then I stopped at one of my favorite used book stores, Stein Books on King George (please note, no stops for cappuccino, juice or pastries) where I made a modest purchase. I had time to finally go pick up my shirts that I left last week at the laundry, only to find that they are missing – perhaps given to another customer in error. Hopefully they will be returned soon. I’ve been using these guys for years and nothing like this has happened before. I can be patient – I have other things to wear for Shabbat.
So that’s the story – I will meet the USYers at 3:30 or so to help them process the day, have another quiet evening before tomorrow and our 4th and final USY group of the week. We will be going up to Hod HaSharon to see Linda Mosek from Click, and then Ruth Schlossman, Mitzvah Hero from A Gift of Comfort before beginning the fast of Tisha B’Av.
May have to take a nap after lunch – it’s too hot to be outside too much. This is the vacation part of the “working vacation”. Until there is more to report . . .
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Trek South and Sderot Mitzvot
Since I last wrote Friday, I think I have most of 3 days. Shouldn’t be too difficult, since 2 out of 3 were very relaxing days.
Friday I spent a quiet morning drinking coffee, writing and returning e-mails and tasting Dina’s yummy homemade croissant (singular – honest, thought she made trays of them). Then I went with Shlomi to spend the afternoon at Moshav Gefen, eat a leisurly lunch and drink some 2005 Mediterraneo, one of my favorite wines. Shlomi and Hila drove me to Kibbutz Saad to stay with the Drori family for Shabbat.
Only 4 of the 6 children were at home; Omer, the oldest was with a Philadelphia partnership 2000 program in Jerusalem. Uriah, the 3rd eldest was with his grandparents in Tel Aviv. We became friendly with the Droris years ago when Ayelet and her sister Liat stayed with us in Maryland for her brother’s wedding. I stayed in a vacant home (with air conditioning!) and spend nearly all my time with the Drori’s (or in shul). I didn’t miss a minyan from Friday afternoon to Sunday morning. Friday night we drank a bottle of Tanya Cabernet Sauvignon I brought from the winery on Wednesday. They had friends from Be’er Sheva visit Saturday afternoon (we spent some time in the kibbutz pinat chai, kind of a petting zoo with a snake, owl, 2 horses, goats, rabbits, guinea pigs, two raccoon looking things, parrots and cockatiels, ducks and geese, some small arava deer, a chinchilla and I don’t know what else). We also celebrated Kanah’s 3rd birthday.
Saturday night I went with Ayelet to Kibbutz Beeri to see a panel of Israelis and Palestinians speak about beginning dialog on a personal level. I’ve seen similar things in the past – not meaning to be a pessimist, I haven’t seen them succeed, but it was an interesting evening nonetheless. It had to end by 11 pm since the Palestinians had to be back in Hevron at the checkpoint before the curfew at midnight.
Sunday morning I went to the dining hall with Noga (aged 9, my new kibbutz buddy) for breakfast, and then we went to Kanah’s gan for her gan birthday party (if we count parties instead of years I think she’s about 10 now, though she was 3 on Friday). It was fun to see how an Israeli kibbutz gan does a birthday.
Ayelet drove me to Sderot. As a kibbutz member she can check out a kibbutz car as needed, but she pays at the end of the month for the usage, and there is a fairly sophisticated electronic id program to get into the transportation office, reserve and check out a car, etc. Since I found out our USY group was late leaving Jerusalem, Ayelet took me to meet a guy doing volunteer work with Ethiopian High School students in Sderot, Barry Rockman (in Israel since 68, in Sderot for only a year because he thought he could help during the trouble there, and preparing to leave for the Moshav of Eshta’ot next month). Barry, originally from Birmingham, England is 74 years old (though he looks a lot younger) a psychologist and is a bit of a character. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with him. Then we met up with the USYers, gave them an overview of the non-profit Reut that we have been working with the last 3 years, and did some clean up and painting in a rocket-proof park in town. Pictured above is Odelia, a worker with Reut who moved her family to Sderot a few years ago, and Gilad, a Seaboard USYer painting a giant concrete catapillar in the Playground of Wishes. We had a lot of fun and were able to work mostly in the shade despite the heat. Then we headed back to Jerusalem for our wrap up.
We had a quick dinner on Emek Refayim, ran into Washingtonians Hillary Kampner (who I tend to see everywhere) and her son Koby and Susan Shevitz from Cambridge Massachusetts. I’m trying to rest up before another busy mitzvah day with USY. Half the group is going to the Diplomat Hotel, half to the big Brother/Big Sister Clubhouse in the morning, and then we’re all going to pack packages of food with Moshe Kott at Lev Ramot.
All part of the package. Have a good week.
Friday I spent a quiet morning drinking coffee, writing and returning e-mails and tasting Dina’s yummy homemade croissant (singular – honest, thought she made trays of them). Then I went with Shlomi to spend the afternoon at Moshav Gefen, eat a leisurly lunch and drink some 2005 Mediterraneo, one of my favorite wines. Shlomi and Hila drove me to Kibbutz Saad to stay with the Drori family for Shabbat.
Only 4 of the 6 children were at home; Omer, the oldest was with a Philadelphia partnership 2000 program in Jerusalem. Uriah, the 3rd eldest was with his grandparents in Tel Aviv. We became friendly with the Droris years ago when Ayelet and her sister Liat stayed with us in Maryland for her brother’s wedding. I stayed in a vacant home (with air conditioning!) and spend nearly all my time with the Drori’s (or in shul). I didn’t miss a minyan from Friday afternoon to Sunday morning. Friday night we drank a bottle of Tanya Cabernet Sauvignon I brought from the winery on Wednesday. They had friends from Be’er Sheva visit Saturday afternoon (we spent some time in the kibbutz pinat chai, kind of a petting zoo with a snake, owl, 2 horses, goats, rabbits, guinea pigs, two raccoon looking things, parrots and cockatiels, ducks and geese, some small arava deer, a chinchilla and I don’t know what else). We also celebrated Kanah’s 3rd birthday.
Saturday night I went with Ayelet to Kibbutz Beeri to see a panel of Israelis and Palestinians speak about beginning dialog on a personal level. I’ve seen similar things in the past – not meaning to be a pessimist, I haven’t seen them succeed, but it was an interesting evening nonetheless. It had to end by 11 pm since the Palestinians had to be back in Hevron at the checkpoint before the curfew at midnight.
Sunday morning I went to the dining hall with Noga (aged 9, my new kibbutz buddy) for breakfast, and then we went to Kanah’s gan for her gan birthday party (if we count parties instead of years I think she’s about 10 now, though she was 3 on Friday). It was fun to see how an Israeli kibbutz gan does a birthday.
Ayelet drove me to Sderot. As a kibbutz member she can check out a kibbutz car as needed, but she pays at the end of the month for the usage, and there is a fairly sophisticated electronic id program to get into the transportation office, reserve and check out a car, etc. Since I found out our USY group was late leaving Jerusalem, Ayelet took me to meet a guy doing volunteer work with Ethiopian High School students in Sderot, Barry Rockman (in Israel since 68, in Sderot for only a year because he thought he could help during the trouble there, and preparing to leave for the Moshav of Eshta’ot next month). Barry, originally from Birmingham, England is 74 years old (though he looks a lot younger) a psychologist and is a bit of a character. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with him. Then we met up with the USYers, gave them an overview of the non-profit Reut that we have been working with the last 3 years, and did some clean up and painting in a rocket-proof park in town. Pictured above is Odelia, a worker with Reut who moved her family to Sderot a few years ago, and Gilad, a Seaboard USYer painting a giant concrete catapillar in the Playground of Wishes. We had a lot of fun and were able to work mostly in the shade despite the heat. Then we headed back to Jerusalem for our wrap up.
We had a quick dinner on Emek Refayim, ran into Washingtonians Hillary Kampner (who I tend to see everywhere) and her son Koby and Susan Shevitz from Cambridge Massachusetts. I’m trying to rest up before another busy mitzvah day with USY. Half the group is going to the Diplomat Hotel, half to the big Brother/Big Sister Clubhouse in the morning, and then we’re all going to pack packages of food with Moshe Kott at Lev Ramot.
All part of the package. Have a good week.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Glimpses of the everyday, wine in the south.
First I'll finish up Wednesday. When we got back to Har Adar we rested a bit, then went food shopping at Rami Levy in Mevaseret. One of the things I like about the way I structure my visits is I get glimpses of regular life. I take buses, cabs, Sheiruts (shared cabs) trains. I drive occasionally. I don't tend to stay in hotels, so I shop, go to hardware stores, pump gas, etc. Rami Levy is a great place - imagine a full service supermarket, all kosher, including wine and liquor, separate meat and dairy counters, etc.
After that Daniel really wanted pizza and we were all hungry so we went back to Abu Ghosh (at the bottom of the hill below Yossi and Dina's) and went to a fairly new, arab-run pizza place. It was good, clean and reasonably priced (55 NIS for a family size with 2 toppings and 1.5 liters of coke, about $14).
I crashed not long after. Thursday am we got up and headed south; Yossi had heard of some nice wineries in and around Gadera (near Ashdod). Gadera is a community from the first aliyah, founded in 1884. It's grown quite a bit, and is becoming a popular destination, with lots of boutiques, nice restaurants. Housing prices are rising there.
We had a hard time reaching winemakers by phone; we visited one winery in Gan Yavneh for about 2.5 hours. Meir Kfir started as a hobbiest about 8 years ago when he got laid off from his high-tech job. He now produces about 6000 bottles a year and is in the process of moving his operation out of his basement (which is lovely, he has an amazing home) to Arad since the Ministry of health told him he can't operate in a residential neighborhood. He has at least 12 varieties of wine, including whites, very unusual for a small winery. He experiments a lot, has three port style wines including a white (not my thing, my sweet tooth is diminishing) 2 Gewirtztraminers, a chardonnay, shiriz, petite syrah, Cab Franc and unusual for an Israeli winery, no Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot (there are plenty that do it well, he says). He enjoyed having guests who know and appreciate wines, and he treated us very well. He is starting to work with Malbec, fairly new here (I've only seen a couple here). he tried to help us reach other wineries, but alas, we were mostly unsuccessful.
We had a delicious dairy lunch in Gadera at Badolina; Yossi had a baked eggplant caserole with cheese, I had an omelet with Bulgarit (a low fat, feta type cheese) and mushrooms. The food and service were excellent. We then found a small moshav winery (the name is escaping me) where the winemakers were in; they showed us their vineyard, we had a barrrel tasting of a cabernet, and then, they offered us nothing else. We left surprised and a little dumbfounded. On the way home we stopped at a cheese shop in Tal Shachar (on Hwy 3 just south of Latrun) that makes all of its own Goats' milk cheeses. I was hot and tired at that point and wasn't so into it. It's a pleasant place, certified kosher, run by a pleasant young man, next to the Soreq winery (which said open but we called and they said it wasn't a good time to come), and worth another visit sometime - maybe during Pesach.
Thursday night was poker - smaller group than last time, and I lost only 7 shekels, but it ended a multi-year winning streak for me at this game. It's a great group of guys, I enjoy their company immensely, and wish I were here fore frequently to join them.
Friday I will be in transit, from Har Adar to Moshav Gefen to Kibbutz Saad (in the northwestern Negev) for shabbat. Sunday I will meet the USY group in Sderot. Then its 4 USY groups in a row Sun-Wed, and Thursday is Tisha B'Av - now sure how much writing will get done, but I will aim for some short posts and time permits. Shabbat shalom.
After that Daniel really wanted pizza and we were all hungry so we went back to Abu Ghosh (at the bottom of the hill below Yossi and Dina's) and went to a fairly new, arab-run pizza place. It was good, clean and reasonably priced (55 NIS for a family size with 2 toppings and 1.5 liters of coke, about $14).
I crashed not long after. Thursday am we got up and headed south; Yossi had heard of some nice wineries in and around Gadera (near Ashdod). Gadera is a community from the first aliyah, founded in 1884. It's grown quite a bit, and is becoming a popular destination, with lots of boutiques, nice restaurants. Housing prices are rising there.
We had a hard time reaching winemakers by phone; we visited one winery in Gan Yavneh for about 2.5 hours. Meir Kfir started as a hobbiest about 8 years ago when he got laid off from his high-tech job. He now produces about 6000 bottles a year and is in the process of moving his operation out of his basement (which is lovely, he has an amazing home) to Arad since the Ministry of health told him he can't operate in a residential neighborhood. He has at least 12 varieties of wine, including whites, very unusual for a small winery. He experiments a lot, has three port style wines including a white (not my thing, my sweet tooth is diminishing) 2 Gewirtztraminers, a chardonnay, shiriz, petite syrah, Cab Franc and unusual for an Israeli winery, no Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot (there are plenty that do it well, he says). He enjoyed having guests who know and appreciate wines, and he treated us very well. He is starting to work with Malbec, fairly new here (I've only seen a couple here). he tried to help us reach other wineries, but alas, we were mostly unsuccessful.
We had a delicious dairy lunch in Gadera at Badolina; Yossi had a baked eggplant caserole with cheese, I had an omelet with Bulgarit (a low fat, feta type cheese) and mushrooms. The food and service were excellent. We then found a small moshav winery (the name is escaping me) where the winemakers were in; they showed us their vineyard, we had a barrrel tasting of a cabernet, and then, they offered us nothing else. We left surprised and a little dumbfounded. On the way home we stopped at a cheese shop in Tal Shachar (on Hwy 3 just south of Latrun) that makes all of its own Goats' milk cheeses. I was hot and tired at that point and wasn't so into it. It's a pleasant place, certified kosher, run by a pleasant young man, next to the Soreq winery (which said open but we called and they said it wasn't a good time to come), and worth another visit sometime - maybe during Pesach.
Thursday night was poker - smaller group than last time, and I lost only 7 shekels, but it ended a multi-year winning streak for me at this game. It's a great group of guys, I enjoy their company immensely, and wish I were here fore frequently to join them.
Friday I will be in transit, from Har Adar to Moshav Gefen to Kibbutz Saad (in the northwestern Negev) for shabbat. Sunday I will meet the USY group in Sderot. Then its 4 USY groups in a row Sun-Wed, and Thursday is Tisha B'Av - now sure how much writing will get done, but I will aim for some short posts and time permits. Shabbat shalom.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Vacation Days - Skip if you don't want to read about wineries
An introductory note: I am getting less feedback from this blog, which I thought would be easier for people, than my former lengthy e-mails. It's a bit disappointing, and I can't tell if you are reading this. I haven't found a place on blogspot that provides statistics for who visits the blogs (I'm still new to this), so please write comments, or if you don't want to post something, send me an e-mail (steve@mhfund.org). I'm curious whether anyone besides my wife and daughter and one or two fans are reading this.
Note number 2: I am a fervent wine enthusiast (I am no expert). I love Israeli wines and by and large, have become friendly with many of the people involved in the wine industry. Enjoying wine is a great hobby, can be enjoyed by many different kinds of people with very varied budgets. I do charge a small amount to conduct wine tastings in Washington area. My credibility, relies in large part, on the people I get to meet during these summer trips. If you only care about mitzvahs and not wine, that's fine - you can still be my friend (Judy falls into this categort and I still like her a lot). Anyway, this entry is about wines and winemakers.
On Wednesday, Yossi, his son Daniel and I took off in a new direction, at least for us and we heading northeast into the Shomron. There we visited two wineries, both exceptional with exceptional people and wines. The first stop was near the village of Psagot to go to the beautiful new winery of the same name. The winemaker, Yaakov Berg, showed us around and because a large tasting and education program was going on in the main tasting room, we were in a smaller more intimate space, overlooking the barrel storage room. Yaakov is making over 40,000 bottles a year. We tasted a true Bordeaux style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cab Franc and Petit Verdot called Edom (more for mountains you can see from the winery than the color of the wine). We also tasted a wonderful light, barely oaked viognier (becoming one of my favorite white varietals). Psagot is kosher and I highly recommend going there for a visit. Its not more than a 40 minute drive from Jerusalem on Hwy 60.
Next we made a new friend, Yoram Cohen at the Tanya winery. His production facility is in industrial area of the town of Ofra, so we met him there, tasted his cabernet from the tank and some other wines from the barrel. Then we went to his home, which is a combination community center, visitors center and home of at least 10 (he has 8 children). There is a pool, billiard table, place to have events, a tasting room that feels like a cave, and a small place where he serves meals. He grilled us some steaks. We spent hours with him, tasted some blends, his cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot of several vintages. He is my age, warm, friendly, intuitive and apparently successful. There was no trace of politics, despite his chosen place of residence and business in the west bank. We had a delightful time. This is getting a bit long, and the poker game will be beginning soon, so I'll continue with Thursday later.
Note number 2: I am a fervent wine enthusiast (I am no expert). I love Israeli wines and by and large, have become friendly with many of the people involved in the wine industry. Enjoying wine is a great hobby, can be enjoyed by many different kinds of people with very varied budgets. I do charge a small amount to conduct wine tastings in Washington area. My credibility, relies in large part, on the people I get to meet during these summer trips. If you only care about mitzvahs and not wine, that's fine - you can still be my friend (Judy falls into this categort and I still like her a lot). Anyway, this entry is about wines and winemakers.
On Wednesday, Yossi, his son Daniel and I took off in a new direction, at least for us and we heading northeast into the Shomron. There we visited two wineries, both exceptional with exceptional people and wines. The first stop was near the village of Psagot to go to the beautiful new winery of the same name. The winemaker, Yaakov Berg, showed us around and because a large tasting and education program was going on in the main tasting room, we were in a smaller more intimate space, overlooking the barrel storage room. Yaakov is making over 40,000 bottles a year. We tasted a true Bordeaux style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cab Franc and Petit Verdot called Edom (more for mountains you can see from the winery than the color of the wine). We also tasted a wonderful light, barely oaked viognier (becoming one of my favorite white varietals). Psagot is kosher and I highly recommend going there for a visit. Its not more than a 40 minute drive from Jerusalem on Hwy 60.
Next we made a new friend, Yoram Cohen at the Tanya winery. His production facility is in industrial area of the town of Ofra, so we met him there, tasted his cabernet from the tank and some other wines from the barrel. Then we went to his home, which is a combination community center, visitors center and home of at least 10 (he has 8 children). There is a pool, billiard table, place to have events, a tasting room that feels like a cave, and a small place where he serves meals. He grilled us some steaks. We spent hours with him, tasted some blends, his cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot of several vintages. He is my age, warm, friendly, intuitive and apparently successful. There was no trace of politics, despite his chosen place of residence and business in the west bank. We had a delightful time. This is getting a bit long, and the poker game will be beginning soon, so I'll continue with Thursday later.
Mitzvah learning give and take
I have a couple of days to get caught up on. Tuesday was a busy day; I met with Mitzvah hero Libby Reichman at Tal Bagels for a breakfast meeting to get caught up on the status of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Israel, the grant process, talk about collaboration on a grant from a source in the DC area. Many US funders have cut back or stopped funding for the time being. Meanwhile BB/BS is still trying to save at risk youth by matching them with mentors and providing support to their families. I hope I make it sound as important as it really is.
Then I went with Danny and Arnie to HUC to meet with the first year graduate educators, cantors and rabbinical students to discuss tikun olam, halacha and volunteer opportunities for them during their year here in Israel. It was a big group, a great group, and gives real confidence in the future of the Jewish people. It helps that the coordinator of their program, Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback, is one of the good guys, a founder of the Tzedakah Fund Kavod, and we hope a future collaborator of ours.
Danny and I went for a late lunch at a great local middle eastern place, Rachmo (I had goulash, a very beefy stew) and then did some planning on the phone for future meetings, winery visits and shabbat plans. In the evening I met my friends Shlomi and Hila Zadok for a light, italian dinner with their girls (I ate a quarter of what I was served, a great lasagna - the rest is in the freezer in Jerusalem).
Then I went with Danny and Arnie to HUC to meet with the first year graduate educators, cantors and rabbinical students to discuss tikun olam, halacha and volunteer opportunities for them during their year here in Israel. It was a big group, a great group, and gives real confidence in the future of the Jewish people. It helps that the coordinator of their program, Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback, is one of the good guys, a founder of the Tzedakah Fund Kavod, and we hope a future collaborator of ours.
Danny and I went for a late lunch at a great local middle eastern place, Rachmo (I had goulash, a very beefy stew) and then did some planning on the phone for future meetings, winery visits and shabbat plans. In the evening I met my friends Shlomi and Hila Zadok for a light, italian dinner with their girls (I ate a quarter of what I was served, a great lasagna - the rest is in the freezer in Jerusalem).
Monday, July 20, 2009
Met my British counterpart
Just a brief update today. Mitzvahs were set aside for the morning so I could have some academic time with my teacher and colleague, Rabbi Morey Schwartz at Hebrew University (I took the bus up to Mt. Scopus). I gave him some dates from the field about some of the Melton materials I have been using and how I am bringing in more experiential and multi-media pieces into my teaching. He gave me some updates on alternative texts, materials make-overs and other good stuff. I always learn from my time with him. As a bonus, I got to see my dear friend of 9 years, Tamar Katz, who sends warm regards to the whole Washington Mini-School.
For lunch I met with Arnie and Danni (Danielle) Franks, Founder and Director of My Israel Charities, A British non-profit that supports some of the same people and projects we do, and some different ones. Danni is very earnest, very intense, very impatient and very driven. She raised about a half million pounds last year. We will stay in touch and share information where we can.
The afternoon I went back into town to run some errands and meet a few people. Used the wi-fi on Ben Yehuda and didn't see anyone I knew (Marcy, don't go into shock), had a very refreshing grapefruit juice, bought a few books (nothing too heavy - have to save the weight for wine). A pleasant, not too hectic day. Tomorrow's agenda - Big Brothers Big Sister of Israel in the morning, HUC in the afternoon, dinner with my friends Shlomi and Hila. I manage to keep busy. Hope everyone else is enjoying their summer as much as I am.
For lunch I met with Arnie and Danni (Danielle) Franks, Founder and Director of My Israel Charities, A British non-profit that supports some of the same people and projects we do, and some different ones. Danni is very earnest, very intense, very impatient and very driven. She raised about a half million pounds last year. We will stay in touch and share information where we can.
The afternoon I went back into town to run some errands and meet a few people. Used the wi-fi on Ben Yehuda and didn't see anyone I knew (Marcy, don't go into shock), had a very refreshing grapefruit juice, bought a few books (nothing too heavy - have to save the weight for wine). A pleasant, not too hectic day. Tomorrow's agenda - Big Brothers Big Sister of Israel in the morning, HUC in the afternoon, dinner with my friends Shlomi and Hila. I manage to keep busy. Hope everyone else is enjoying their summer as much as I am.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Shabbat was terrific as I expected. Shira Chadasha was very nice, ran into Geo Poor, formerly of fairfax and now from Worcester. The only mild disappointment was in not getting to the Milgrom's. I was too knocked out by the heat after the two mid-day walks from Yemin Moshe to Rehavia and Rehavia back to the apt to be good company at 5 pm. I did get a great nap in, and then met Jonah Layman for a bowl of soup at Masaryk (excellent as usual).
Shabbat dinner we drank a bottle of Galil Viognier- a favorite of mine and I have only one source for it in the US - here it was about $5 a bottle less expensive - (I need to look into becoming an importer). Today I met with Mary for a while before she left Jerusalem, then lunch with Arnie, Danny and Rena to celebrate, among other things, Rena's 10 anniversary of her Aliyah. I've set up meetings with Libby Reichman at BB/BS, Hebrew University Melton Centre (another line of my work) and Danni Franks, who runs a fund similar to MHF in Great Britain called My Israel.
Not much else to report, but we found out we have another messenger coming to Israel July 30, so if you want to send a donation to Mitzvah Heroes Fund, it will get put to work right away,
Shabbat dinner we drank a bottle of Galil Viognier- a favorite of mine and I have only one source for it in the US - here it was about $5 a bottle less expensive - (I need to look into becoming an importer). Today I met with Mary for a while before she left Jerusalem, then lunch with Arnie, Danny and Rena to celebrate, among other things, Rena's 10 anniversary of her Aliyah. I've set up meetings with Libby Reichman at BB/BS, Hebrew University Melton Centre (another line of my work) and Danni Franks, who runs a fund similar to MHF in Great Britain called My Israel.
Not much else to report, but we found out we have another messenger coming to Israel July 30, so if you want to send a donation to Mitzvah Heroes Fund, it will get put to work right away,
Friday, July 17, 2009
Before Shabbat in the City of Peace
Just a short post. I spent last night with Yossi and Dina in Har Adar so Yossi and I could get an early start. We went to the equivalent of a dollar store and I bought stickers and kids books for school. Then we went to Moshav Shoresh to hang out with our dear friend Avi Yehuda and drink some of his outstanding wines. The Shiraz is not to be missed (though only about 180 bottles remain and I own two).
I came back to the apt in Jerusalem to cook dinner (Chicken Oregano - hard in an unfamiliar oven, zucchini, pasta, carrot salad) and get ready for shul. I'll be at Shira Chadasha. Tomorrow I'll go to the Turkish synagogue in Yemin Moshe (James Kugel, professor of Bible at Harvard gives the D'var Torah, lunch with Barbara and Marvin Silverman, afternoon at Jacob and Jo Milgroms and evening plans with Jonah Layman. I'm going to need a shabbat to recover from my shabbat.
I love this place, and hope through me you come to love it too, if you don't already.
Shabbat shalom,
Steve
I came back to the apt in Jerusalem to cook dinner (Chicken Oregano - hard in an unfamiliar oven, zucchini, pasta, carrot salad) and get ready for shul. I'll be at Shira Chadasha. Tomorrow I'll go to the Turkish synagogue in Yemin Moshe (James Kugel, professor of Bible at Harvard gives the D'var Torah, lunch with Barbara and Marvin Silverman, afternoon at Jacob and Jo Milgroms and evening plans with Jonah Layman. I'm going to need a shabbat to recover from my shabbat.
I love this place, and hope through me you come to love it too, if you don't already.
Shabbat shalom,
Steve
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Mitzvah Heroes - See four a day and call me in the morning
Exhaustion is a small price to pay for the great day we had. Mitzvah heroes are exhilarating, inspiring individuals. Today we got an update from Karen London, who works with survivors of terror through Atzum. We’ve decided to help a client of hers whose husband is 100% disabled to help her buy a mac so that she can do graphic desing from home (the National Insurance paid for her to take the course, but she can’t leave her husband and children alone during the day. She needs another $600 if you have a few Franklins lying around with no mitzvahs to do. We go an update on work in places like Sderot, Jerusalem and other places.
Then we spend a solid two hours with the Rabbanit Bracha Kapach, number one teacher of mitzvot in the world. She told the group from Olam Tikvah in Fairfax, Virginia, travelling with their rabbi, David Kalendar, her history in mitzvah work, her family history and about her grandchildren. She gave us all a bracha for health happiness and success. I feel better already.
Then we took the Virginians to the Meled High School to spend time with my teacher and friend, Menachem Gottesman. Menachem considers himself a worker in critical cardiac care – he mends sick and broken hearts. His educational philosophy, his patience, his skill and his results are all incredible. I learn so much from every encounter.
Mary and I walked from Meled to Crossroads (after a Middle Eastern lunch at Rachmo) and spent time with Caryn Green and one of her alumni. Over the years, I haven’t written too much about Crossroads, so it may be time. Crossroads provides services to teens in downtown Jerusalem. Some of these teens (about 60%) are Israel, many American and British. Some are here on year programs; some of the families have had difficult aliyah experiences. Crossroads has social workers and program staff that work with the teens, both in their center and in street. They help with social, legal, substance abuse, violence; they run GED classes, art, cooking, music dance classes; a job search service with resume writing help, school placement help – it’s really a great place. They’re a block from Zion Square, and we learned a lot from Caryn during our time there.
At this point it was nearly 6 – I walked Mary back to her hotel and walked the rest of the way to the German colony (we don’t have a scale, but I have to imagine I’m still losing weight). After a short rest, I ran into my group from the morning leaving their closing banquet at La Boca. I said good bye to them, went for coffee and a bagel at Holy Bagel and then Yossi called – they were coming to the neighborhood to meet friends for dinner and he had Friday free, so I went home with them so we can do a bit of wine tasting Friday morning before I cook for Shabbat.
Shabbat shalom. If you want to stop by, I’ll be at Shira Chadasha tonight; I usually sit near the wall in front (if I get there early enough).
Then we spend a solid two hours with the Rabbanit Bracha Kapach, number one teacher of mitzvot in the world. She told the group from Olam Tikvah in Fairfax, Virginia, travelling with their rabbi, David Kalendar, her history in mitzvah work, her family history and about her grandchildren. She gave us all a bracha for health happiness and success. I feel better already.
Then we took the Virginians to the Meled High School to spend time with my teacher and friend, Menachem Gottesman. Menachem considers himself a worker in critical cardiac care – he mends sick and broken hearts. His educational philosophy, his patience, his skill and his results are all incredible. I learn so much from every encounter.
Mary and I walked from Meled to Crossroads (after a Middle Eastern lunch at Rachmo) and spent time with Caryn Green and one of her alumni. Over the years, I haven’t written too much about Crossroads, so it may be time. Crossroads provides services to teens in downtown Jerusalem. Some of these teens (about 60%) are Israel, many American and British. Some are here on year programs; some of the families have had difficult aliyah experiences. Crossroads has social workers and program staff that work with the teens, both in their center and in street. They help with social, legal, substance abuse, violence; they run GED classes, art, cooking, music dance classes; a job search service with resume writing help, school placement help – it’s really a great place. They’re a block from Zion Square, and we learned a lot from Caryn during our time there.
At this point it was nearly 6 – I walked Mary back to her hotel and walked the rest of the way to the German colony (we don’t have a scale, but I have to imagine I’m still losing weight). After a short rest, I ran into my group from the morning leaving their closing banquet at La Boca. I said good bye to them, went for coffee and a bagel at Holy Bagel and then Yossi called – they were coming to the neighborhood to meet friends for dinner and he had Friday free, so I went home with them so we can do a bit of wine tasting Friday morning before I cook for Shabbat.
Shabbat shalom. If you want to stop by, I’ll be at Shira Chadasha tonight; I usually sit near the wall in front (if I get there early enough).
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Another Day of Mitzvahs
Ho hum. Taking 22 USYers to meet elderly Russian immigrants being treated with respect and living independently with dignity, then taking 44 USYers to meet Asher Elias, found of Tech-Careers, a non-profit dedicated to developing leadership in young Ethiopian Jews living in Israel and training them for careers is computer programming, Software Quality Assurance and coming this August Cobol programming (for banks and hospitals still using mainframe computers - hasn't been taught in Israel in 30 years). No big whoop.
Seriously, what a great day. We were with Group 3, a Poland Pilgrimage group led by LA's USY Shaliach, Zalman Spivak (who is terrific). I took about 7 teens to meet two women residents in their 80's Berta and Manya (picured here). Berta was an English teacher and her English was near flawless (loves to read large print English books if you are coming over and can bring some) and she translated for Manya, who survived the Shoah first in a Ukranian ghetto, then in a camp. She volunteers for Yad VaShem, telling her story to school groups. It was very moving. Then were were treated (to about my 5th) concert by the Diplomat's charming choir and dancing. Sima, the lead dancer and choir member pictured here is in her 80's and has been suffering with lymphoma for several years. You would never notice it to see her smile, sing and dance. Alice Jonah, our Mitzvah Hero at the Diplomat is like the cruise director, keeping everybody happy and healthy. Alice is here in the black jacket. 100% percent of the USYers got up to dance with the residents. What a hoot.
After lunch at Agron (great salads, way better and healthier than a box lunch) we headed out to Kibbutz Nachshon to visit Tech Careers (described above). This was the first time I had heard Asher's whole life story. He is an impressive, warm and brilliant man who is doing more than most social agencies to improve the lives of Ethiopians in Israel. We were all very inspired.
After a great wrap up with the USYers back in Jerusalem, Danny, Arnie and I went to Burgers Bar (I've cut back from the 220 gm to the 150 gm burger) for a quick review and dinner; then Danny and I ran into Barbara and Marvin Silverman (our lunch hosts this coming shabbat, so more about them later) and schmied around the craft and music show at the Music school across the street. Later in the evening my friends Yossi and Dina surprised me by coming into town to check that out and we got so spend some time together.
Tomorrow is mostly meetings, maybe a trip to the shuk to shop for shabbat, Mary and Neal Meyerson's arrival and a chance to check out the apt we hope to rent for Pesach 2010.
Sha'alu shalom l'irushalayim (Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem)
Seriously, what a great day. We were with Group 3, a Poland Pilgrimage group led by LA's USY Shaliach, Zalman Spivak (who is terrific). I took about 7 teens to meet two women residents in their 80's Berta and Manya (picured here). Berta was an English teacher and her English was near flawless (loves to read large print English books if you are coming over and can bring some) and she translated for Manya, who survived the Shoah first in a Ukranian ghetto, then in a camp. She volunteers for Yad VaShem, telling her story to school groups. It was very moving. Then were were treated (to about my 5th) concert by the Diplomat's charming choir and dancing. Sima, the lead dancer and choir member pictured here is in her 80's and has been suffering with lymphoma for several years. You would never notice it to see her smile, sing and dance. Alice Jonah, our Mitzvah Hero at the Diplomat is like the cruise director, keeping everybody happy and healthy. Alice is here in the black jacket. 100% percent of the USYers got up to dance with the residents. What a hoot.
After lunch at Agron (great salads, way better and healthier than a box lunch) we headed out to Kibbutz Nachshon to visit Tech Careers (described above). This was the first time I had heard Asher's whole life story. He is an impressive, warm and brilliant man who is doing more than most social agencies to improve the lives of Ethiopians in Israel. We were all very inspired.
After a great wrap up with the USYers back in Jerusalem, Danny, Arnie and I went to Burgers Bar (I've cut back from the 220 gm to the 150 gm burger) for a quick review and dinner; then Danny and I ran into Barbara and Marvin Silverman (our lunch hosts this coming shabbat, so more about them later) and schmied around the craft and music show at the Music school across the street. Later in the evening my friends Yossi and Dina surprised me by coming into town to check that out and we got so spend some time together.
Tomorrow is mostly meetings, maybe a trip to the shuk to shop for shabbat, Mary and Neal Meyerson's arrival and a chance to check out the apt we hope to rent for Pesach 2010.
Sha'alu shalom l'irushalayim (Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem)
Monday, July 13, 2009
First USY Day - Horse and Hunger Relief Mitzvahs
First, a few general updates. The economic crisis is worldwide. Many familiar storefronts and restaurants here in the German Colony have changed since I left 11 months ago. Joy Express was merged with Shnitzi, the wine bar next door, the upscale place next to it (next to Masaryk), Michal Negrin, Tarantino, all gone. Jaffa road is completely torn up except for one lane. The Light rail construction continues at its glacial pace - the odds of the Messiah coming before the light rail opens is something like 5:2, if you can get odds at all. There is some small amount of inflation here compared to the US, and prices for most basics are higher. Gas is of course, outrageous, between $70-$80 to fill a 12 gallon tank.
Today we worked with our first USY groups of the season, meeting them for a sumptuous morning youth hostel repast (actually its not bad) at 7:30. After an introduction and some sharing of information we boarded the bus for Netanya to visit the Israel National Therapeutic Riding Association (INTRA). The teens were able to meet with the founder and force behind all therapeutic riding in Israel, Anita Shkedi at INTRA's beautiful site overlooking the Mediterranean. It was hot and muggy but the USYers helped shlep building materials, painted the rider's lift and shovelled some muck, contributing about 40 hours of labor. We ate our box lunches overlooking the sea, and got back on the bus at about one to go back to North Jerusalem.
There we met with Moshe Kott of Lev Ramot, a grass roots food recovery non-profit that serves about 250 families around Jerusalem. They collect uneaten food from Caterers and restaurants, overstocks from food producers (like osem, strauss and tenuva) and purchase staples at a discount which they then deliver in the most respectful ways - volunteer delivery person and recipient never meet, no one stands in line. A call is made to say the package is coming, and then the delivery person (a volunteer using their personal car) knocks on the door, leaves, and only then does the recipient pick up the package. The USYers packed a couple of hundred packages with canned goods, dried beans, oil, sugar, pasta, rice and other provisions that will be delivered this week. I also got a few minutes alone with Moshe where gave me some very good advice. We were able this summer (with your help) to double what we gave Lev Ramot last year and increase by about 40% what we gave them at Pesach. The USYers worked hard in the hot sun to finish the job and would have done more if more was available.
We went back to Agron Street for a wrap up session, I did some business with the USY office, and then Danny and I went to dinner at a great neighborhood Yemenite place (Marvad HaK'samim). Other that writing this and a short walk, turning in early - back-to-back USY groups is a lot of work - in two weeks we have 4 groups, Sunday through Wednesday without a break.
Look for more Mitzvahs tomorrow. Life doing this work is very good (tov me'od).
Today we worked with our first USY groups of the season, meeting them for a sumptuous morning youth hostel repast (actually its not bad) at 7:30. After an introduction and some sharing of information we boarded the bus for Netanya to visit the Israel National Therapeutic Riding Association (INTRA). The teens were able to meet with the founder and force behind all therapeutic riding in Israel, Anita Shkedi at INTRA's beautiful site overlooking the Mediterranean. It was hot and muggy but the USYers helped shlep building materials, painted the rider's lift and shovelled some muck, contributing about 40 hours of labor. We ate our box lunches overlooking the sea, and got back on the bus at about one to go back to North Jerusalem.
There we met with Moshe Kott of Lev Ramot, a grass roots food recovery non-profit that serves about 250 families around Jerusalem. They collect uneaten food from Caterers and restaurants, overstocks from food producers (like osem, strauss and tenuva) and purchase staples at a discount which they then deliver in the most respectful ways - volunteer delivery person and recipient never meet, no one stands in line. A call is made to say the package is coming, and then the delivery person (a volunteer using their personal car) knocks on the door, leaves, and only then does the recipient pick up the package. The USYers packed a couple of hundred packages with canned goods, dried beans, oil, sugar, pasta, rice and other provisions that will be delivered this week. I also got a few minutes alone with Moshe where gave me some very good advice. We were able this summer (with your help) to double what we gave Lev Ramot last year and increase by about 40% what we gave them at Pesach. The USYers worked hard in the hot sun to finish the job and would have done more if more was available.
We went back to Agron Street for a wrap up session, I did some business with the USY office, and then Danny and I went to dinner at a great neighborhood Yemenite place (Marvad HaK'samim). Other that writing this and a short walk, turning in early - back-to-back USY groups is a lot of work - in two weeks we have 4 groups, Sunday through Wednesday without a break.
Look for more Mitzvahs tomorrow. Life doing this work is very good (tov me'od).
Mitzvah Heroes Dinner
Blog Entry 7-12-2009
Hard to put into words, even for me, what happens when you put about 35 Mitzvah heroes and about 40 guests in a room for what was a very quick 2.5 hours. To share a meal with living legends like Hadassah Levy, The Rabbanit Bracha Kapach, Kalman Samuels, Anita Shkedi, Alice Jonah, Shmuel Monk, and with younger or lesser known heroes, emerging stars like Harel Moyal, Linda Mosek, Caryn Green, Libby Reichman, Ruth Schlossman, Dr. Menachem Gottesman – it is simply overwhelming. To share a word of torah with Shmuel Monk, who literally takes broken desperate adults, finds what is good in them and uses that to fix them, Anita who fixes broken bodies with her equine co-therapists, Libby, who finds volunteers to mentor and nurture children with difficult home situations, to discuss tikun (repairing the world) with Menachem Gottesman who teaches teens in crisis with hugs instead of a raised voice or a negative thought – these are the people that I spent my evening with. What a tremendous honor it is for me to represent you as your shaliach, for me to look like a hero in their eyes -- because of the tzedakah funds you trust Mitzvah Heroes Fund to distribute. It is humbling, and a privilege I don’t take lightly.
On Thursday I’ll be taking an adult group from Congregation Olam Tikvah in Fairfax, Virginia to meet the Rabbanit Kapach and Dr. Menachem Gottesman, head of the Meled School (www.Meled.org.il). There joy and willingness to introduce them to my friends and students; it’s just amazing that they allow me to bring strangers into their homes and schools for the purpose to using them of living examples of a life of mitzvot and the satisfaction of occupying yourself with the helping of others.
One quick anecdote – I’m sitting with Harel, who owns a body shop. As the gabbai of his congregation distributes a lot of tzedakah, some of it from us. I met him two summers ago when he fixed my friend’s air conditioning on a car I was borrowing. He sees a customer of his, Mechachem Gottesman, and wonders out loud to me, “What is he doing here?” I tell him what Menachem does at Meled and his face lights up, and he starts to understand, how you never know about the people, like Harel, like Menachem, like all the Mitzvah Heroes; how they are unassuming, modest, don’t boast about their great works of the lives they save, and just go about their business because it’s “nothing special, just what I do”. Another lesson; treat everyone with respect – you may never know what great mitzvahs they do when you are not watching.
So that you know that it’s still Steve writing I will say that besides meeting with Arnie this morning and taking care of some neighborhood errands, I did get the first (half) schwarma of the season as well as a delicious carrot juice. The Tishbi Sauvignon Blanc I’m drinking as I write this (2 for 50NIS or $6.25 a bottle) is a great way to end a great summer day.
Tomorrow we take a group of USYers (with my longtime friend and colleague in USY, Michelle Rich) to INTRA (The Israel National Therapeutic Riding Association – google it to get their contact info, they have a fairly new “American Friends 501(c)(3) to accept donations) and Lev Ramot (website under construction) a food recovery and distribution non-profit in North Jerusalem. We’ll be packing boxes of food staples (should sound familiar to my Bnai Tzedek 7th and 8th graders – it’s the same kind of work we do at Manna in Rockville) for about 270 needy families in food jeopardy in the Ramot neighborhood of Jerusalem. More on that, but it may take a couple of days since these 11 hour USY days tend to be physically and emotionally exhausting.
Lehitra’ot from the beautiful, meaningful, welcoming city of Jerusalem.
Hard to put into words, even for me, what happens when you put about 35 Mitzvah heroes and about 40 guests in a room for what was a very quick 2.5 hours. To share a meal with living legends like Hadassah Levy, The Rabbanit Bracha Kapach, Kalman Samuels, Anita Shkedi, Alice Jonah, Shmuel Monk, and with younger or lesser known heroes, emerging stars like Harel Moyal, Linda Mosek, Caryn Green, Libby Reichman, Ruth Schlossman, Dr. Menachem Gottesman – it is simply overwhelming. To share a word of torah with Shmuel Monk, who literally takes broken desperate adults, finds what is good in them and uses that to fix them, Anita who fixes broken bodies with her equine co-therapists, Libby, who finds volunteers to mentor and nurture children with difficult home situations, to discuss tikun (repairing the world) with Menachem Gottesman who teaches teens in crisis with hugs instead of a raised voice or a negative thought – these are the people that I spent my evening with. What a tremendous honor it is for me to represent you as your shaliach, for me to look like a hero in their eyes -- because of the tzedakah funds you trust Mitzvah Heroes Fund to distribute. It is humbling, and a privilege I don’t take lightly.
On Thursday I’ll be taking an adult group from Congregation Olam Tikvah in Fairfax, Virginia to meet the Rabbanit Kapach and Dr. Menachem Gottesman, head of the Meled School (www.Meled.org.il). There joy and willingness to introduce them to my friends and students; it’s just amazing that they allow me to bring strangers into their homes and schools for the purpose to using them of living examples of a life of mitzvot and the satisfaction of occupying yourself with the helping of others.
One quick anecdote – I’m sitting with Harel, who owns a body shop. As the gabbai of his congregation distributes a lot of tzedakah, some of it from us. I met him two summers ago when he fixed my friend’s air conditioning on a car I was borrowing. He sees a customer of his, Mechachem Gottesman, and wonders out loud to me, “What is he doing here?” I tell him what Menachem does at Meled and his face lights up, and he starts to understand, how you never know about the people, like Harel, like Menachem, like all the Mitzvah Heroes; how they are unassuming, modest, don’t boast about their great works of the lives they save, and just go about their business because it’s “nothing special, just what I do”. Another lesson; treat everyone with respect – you may never know what great mitzvahs they do when you are not watching.
So that you know that it’s still Steve writing I will say that besides meeting with Arnie this morning and taking care of some neighborhood errands, I did get the first (half) schwarma of the season as well as a delicious carrot juice. The Tishbi Sauvignon Blanc I’m drinking as I write this (2 for 50NIS or $6.25 a bottle) is a great way to end a great summer day.
Tomorrow we take a group of USYers (with my longtime friend and colleague in USY, Michelle Rich) to INTRA (The Israel National Therapeutic Riding Association – google it to get their contact info, they have a fairly new “American Friends 501(c)(3) to accept donations) and Lev Ramot (website under construction) a food recovery and distribution non-profit in North Jerusalem. We’ll be packing boxes of food staples (should sound familiar to my Bnai Tzedek 7th and 8th graders – it’s the same kind of work we do at Manna in Rockville) for about 270 needy families in food jeopardy in the Ramot neighborhood of Jerusalem. More on that, but it may take a couple of days since these 11 hour USY days tend to be physically and emotionally exhausting.
Lehitra’ot from the beautiful, meaningful, welcoming city of Jerusalem.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Pre-Mitzvah Work, Pre-shabbat and Shabbat
It’s 12:15 am as I begin this, after Shabbat. Sorry to leave you all hanging about the poker game; I’ll tease you just a bit longer.
I did get to the Shuk HaCarmel Thursday afternoon, and for those who saw my fb status, I did actually travel by the following conveyances: car to Herzliya, train (3 times) bus (2x) , cab once and sheirut (a mini-bus/shared cab that is sometimes cheaper than the bus and air conditioned) once. I wandered the shuk for an hour, had a great carrot juice (very sweet here, way better that Robeks, feh!) and half a falafel. Got back to Herzliya to go to the Game in Karkur. Great guys, great fun, lost NIS 10.5 (about $2.75) and Yossi and I stayed over at Uri’s since we had to be in the area the next day.
After a quick cappuccino and a couple of small errands, we made our way to Raanana, for an amazing brunch at Makom BaLev for Inge David’s 80th birthday. On our way back to Har Adar, we stopped (just a bit out of the way) at the ever-growing winery of Yossi Yitach at his Katlav Winery. Yossi’s wines are very high end, kosher, and usually out of my price range, but he made it worth the trip. Yossi’s wife Malki is the niece of Tzvi and Ruth Assal in Bethesda (my connection to him, as Ruth was the Kindergarten teacher for both Abby and Michelle). Yossi and I discussed plans for a visiting group of Judean Hills winemakers to DC for the late winter/early spring (I’m on the committee from the DC end of things).
A lovely Shabbat dinner hosted by Yossi and Dina David, including our friends Shlomi and Hila Zadok and their beautiful daughters. Dina is in month two of a professional baking course (5 days a week) and last week was pie week so we had a beef pie and a terrific apple pie, some of Shlomi’s (Ben Hanna Winery) Shalem 2004 (a Merlot varietal) great salads including cole slaw made by Yossi. I crashed toward the end of the evening, the heat and travel catching up with me.
Shabbat in Har Adar can’t be any quieter. I unfortunately got up early enough (6am) to pray outside in the shade, enjoy 2 cups of coffee, read my book (The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, a very enjoyable read) and do the dinner dishes, all before anyone else was awake by 9. We spent the day schmoozing, reading, noshing (I’m trying to lose weight so I kept myself mostly to watermelon, cheese and a couple of crackers) and napping.
I got to Jerusalem by 9:30 or so, ran into Caryn Green from Crossroads, Rachel Lieberman, a friend of Abby’s and the family’s from Potomac, Rabbi Vernon Kurtz, a colleague of my brother’s from Chicago. Not bad for the first 15 minutes in the neighborhood. I avoided all baked goods and ice cream and finished writing this.
Tonight is the Mitzvah Heroes dinner at the Village Green, so there will be lots to report on Monday.
Shavua tov (A Good Week) from the holy city of Jerusalem.
I did get to the Shuk HaCarmel Thursday afternoon, and for those who saw my fb status, I did actually travel by the following conveyances: car to Herzliya, train (3 times) bus (2x) , cab once and sheirut (a mini-bus/shared cab that is sometimes cheaper than the bus and air conditioned) once. I wandered the shuk for an hour, had a great carrot juice (very sweet here, way better that Robeks, feh!) and half a falafel. Got back to Herzliya to go to the Game in Karkur. Great guys, great fun, lost NIS 10.5 (about $2.75) and Yossi and I stayed over at Uri’s since we had to be in the area the next day.
After a quick cappuccino and a couple of small errands, we made our way to Raanana, for an amazing brunch at Makom BaLev for Inge David’s 80th birthday. On our way back to Har Adar, we stopped (just a bit out of the way) at the ever-growing winery of Yossi Yitach at his Katlav Winery. Yossi’s wines are very high end, kosher, and usually out of my price range, but he made it worth the trip. Yossi’s wife Malki is the niece of Tzvi and Ruth Assal in Bethesda (my connection to him, as Ruth was the Kindergarten teacher for both Abby and Michelle). Yossi and I discussed plans for a visiting group of Judean Hills winemakers to DC for the late winter/early spring (I’m on the committee from the DC end of things).
A lovely Shabbat dinner hosted by Yossi and Dina David, including our friends Shlomi and Hila Zadok and their beautiful daughters. Dina is in month two of a professional baking course (5 days a week) and last week was pie week so we had a beef pie and a terrific apple pie, some of Shlomi’s (Ben Hanna Winery) Shalem 2004 (a Merlot varietal) great salads including cole slaw made by Yossi. I crashed toward the end of the evening, the heat and travel catching up with me.
Shabbat in Har Adar can’t be any quieter. I unfortunately got up early enough (6am) to pray outside in the shade, enjoy 2 cups of coffee, read my book (The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, a very enjoyable read) and do the dinner dishes, all before anyone else was awake by 9. We spent the day schmoozing, reading, noshing (I’m trying to lose weight so I kept myself mostly to watermelon, cheese and a couple of crackers) and napping.
I got to Jerusalem by 9:30 or so, ran into Caryn Green from Crossroads, Rachel Lieberman, a friend of Abby’s and the family’s from Potomac, Rabbi Vernon Kurtz, a colleague of my brother’s from Chicago. Not bad for the first 15 minutes in the neighborhood. I avoided all baked goods and ice cream and finished writing this.
Tonight is the Mitzvah Heroes dinner at the Village Green, so there will be lots to report on Monday.
Shavua tov (A Good Week) from the holy city of Jerusalem.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Israel, The Experience
The change of planes in Madrid was a hassle, and I had luggage issues (damage to a new bag) but I got to Israel whole, sailed through the airport and got my first errand out of the way for a student, a trip to the Elvis Shop in Neve Ilan for Mr. Max Hyman, whose mom Rachel works with me. Yossi took pictures (they will be uploaded from his camera later) of me with the King. We had a light dinner and I unpacked some of the stuff I brought.
This morning, up at 6, rode with Yossi to Herzliya where I hung out and used a computer for an hour. Then to a store that sells electrical supplies to buy some adapters and then the train to Tel Aviv University to see the Diaspora Museum; it has not been updated since my last visit over 20 years ago, and for me, not worth the price of admission (or the 20 minute walk in the heat from the station) - they mostly have replicas and dioramas of things most America visitors (at least those in my circle) would be familliar with - scenes of weddings, shtetls, synagogues. It really was unremarkable. I then got back on the train to meet my friend Shlomi Zadok (I'm using his office's wi fi to write this) to hang out for a bit because its CRAZY HOT here; I'm avoiding the heat of the day right now. Later I plan to go to the Shuk Carmel and then back to Yossi's office so we can go play poker together (hoping to do some fundraising while I'm fun-raising)
Maybe another entry before shabbat, maybe not. There may be a winery or two on tomorrow's agenda.
This morning, up at 6, rode with Yossi to Herzliya where I hung out and used a computer for an hour. Then to a store that sells electrical supplies to buy some adapters and then the train to Tel Aviv University to see the Diaspora Museum; it has not been updated since my last visit over 20 years ago, and for me, not worth the price of admission (or the 20 minute walk in the heat from the station) - they mostly have replicas and dioramas of things most America visitors (at least those in my circle) would be familliar with - scenes of weddings, shtetls, synagogues. It really was unremarkable. I then got back on the train to meet my friend Shlomi Zadok (I'm using his office's wi fi to write this) to hang out for a bit because its CRAZY HOT here; I'm avoiding the heat of the day right now. Later I plan to go to the Shuk Carmel and then back to Yossi's office so we can go play poker together (hoping to do some fundraising while I'm fun-raising)
Maybe another entry before shabbat, maybe not. There may be a winery or two on tomorrow's agenda.
In transit
Blog entry – 7/7/09 Dulles Airport
Airports are good places for me to write – I’m less likely to get interrupted here than the coffee shops and bagel places of Rockville (or the German Colony of Jerusalem, for that matter). We’re leaving for the summer with many good meetings already set up with Mitzvah heroes, and having nearly reached our goal of having $15,000 to distribute. We’re closer to $13,000, but money kept coming in during the days leading up to departure. This is about 60% more than we had to allocate at the same time last year, so progress, any progress in a weak economy is a good sign.
The new computer is holding up fine and doing its job. The trip to Israel is about 50% shorter than the trip home due to the gulfstream and layovers. It will be a busy few days ahead – travelling most of Wednesday, in Tel Aviv most of Thursday (poker Thursday night), celebrating Inge David’s 80th birthday (mother of my friend Yossi) Friday morning, getting ready for Shabbat, and then right after Shabbat, moving to Jerusalem.
There will be a few mitzvahs to report from the end of the week, and if I get my way, one or two wine tasting notes to share. It’s been a dry week so I’m overdue. More tomorrow or Thursday from the Holy Land.
Airports are good places for me to write – I’m less likely to get interrupted here than the coffee shops and bagel places of Rockville (or the German Colony of Jerusalem, for that matter). We’re leaving for the summer with many good meetings already set up with Mitzvah heroes, and having nearly reached our goal of having $15,000 to distribute. We’re closer to $13,000, but money kept coming in during the days leading up to departure. This is about 60% more than we had to allocate at the same time last year, so progress, any progress in a weak economy is a good sign.
The new computer is holding up fine and doing its job. The trip to Israel is about 50% shorter than the trip home due to the gulfstream and layovers. It will be a busy few days ahead – travelling most of Wednesday, in Tel Aviv most of Thursday (poker Thursday night), celebrating Inge David’s 80th birthday (mother of my friend Yossi) Friday morning, getting ready for Shabbat, and then right after Shabbat, moving to Jerusalem.
There will be a few mitzvahs to report from the end of the week, and if I get my way, one or two wine tasting notes to share. It’s been a dry week so I’m overdue. More tomorrow or Thursday from the Holy Land.
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