A Video Divar Torah ( from Rabbi Shafner for Tu Bi'shvat, the New Year of the Trees, from Harey Yihudah, (the Judean Hills) outside Jerusalem.

Video Divar on Parshat Bo-Watching the New Army Recruits

More Day to Day…

More Day to Day…

Sometimes the days are very long. The kids spend hours in a language they can’t understand. They come home tired and frustrated. All my plans for the interesting, exciting things to do are erased, and they spend a night vegged out on screens. A walk around the neighborhood seems too much. The last 3 days we have seen a lot of rain – good for Israel, not so great for us in our teeny apartment.

Ahhh, but tonight, was the kind of night that will make our trip memorable. We finally were going on the tunnel tour of the Western Wall. Something we had all been looking forward to and had to reschedule due to sickness. We decide to go a bit early to walk around the Jewish Quarter – the winding alleys and stone walk ways – a great place to explore. We found it teeming with activity. We are thrilled to find out that our tour coincides with the swearing in ceremony for the Chiyalim, the soldiers. We see everyone all together at the Kotel – religious, secular, all economic levels. The Army is one of the equalizers of Israeli society. It was inspiring.

We started the tour. It was fascinating to contrast the history of the Jewish people with our present situation of strength with the army ever present. The kids were completely engaged – good to see our Jewish education at work. They knew the history and were thrilled to see it come alive right in front of our eyes. The tour guide was amazing. We all left awed and inspired. As I write, Hyim is putting the kids to bed and I am listening to them talk about our history – the Jewish people. What more can I ask for?

"The German Colony of Jerusalem: The Value of the Everyday in Jewish Life"

Enjoying the everyday...

Hyim is recording these great weekly Dvar Torahs at the different places we have visited, the kids are enjoying their food blog, but I wanted to write a bit about our day to day life as I am not so good at emailing or putting things on facebook.

I feel so blessed that we have this opportunity to spend six months in Israel. Hyim keeps teasing me, “see it isn’t so bad to be married to a rabbi, you get to travel the world, India, Israel…)” I love St. Louis, it has been a wonderful home for us and the community has been so supportive of us all these years and I am thrilled that I get to raise my children in such a wonderful, warm, loving environment (ok, so we aren’t near family and that is a huge downside, but I am not going there now). Yet, it is a small Jewish community and I am so excited for them to see a larger Jewish world – to go to school with more kids and to see that there are more orthodox Jews their age then the 10 kids in their class back at home.

So many Jewish people here in Israel – of so many colors, sizes, and shapes (not just their kippot). It is an exciting place to be, (difficult as well, but I am not going there now either). School is an adventure – not always easy, but always interesting. As a parent coming in, I can’t even read the weekly Hebrew newsletter; I can’t just call the office to find out the schedule for the year or even to find out any basic information. Ugh, it is quite humbling to stand in the hallway of your kid’s school and have everyone ignore you, and when you try and talk in your broken Hebrew, they just look down on you. You wait and wait, turns out the secretary is off that day. But eventually the principal shows up, friendly as always, willing to help with a great big smile.

The dedication of the principals and the teachers we have met has been so admirable. They really believe in their schools and their students and we have been so impressed by their passion. Most importantly Yonah is finding his way. He doesn’t understand everything, but liking sports has won him immediate friends. The English speaking kids have been so helpful to him. A bunch of the kids ride the bus home. They have shown Yonah the ropes and he is having a great time with his independence and going home on the bus. Hava is also having a great experience at school. Her first day the kids all played tag at recess so they include her with minimal explanation in Hebrew. Hava’s school has gymnastics and a zoo at her school. Nothing else could make her happier. She has been begging me to let her bring a pet home from school – just not sure we have room for a bunny in our little two bedroom apartment, even if it is only for a week.

Ben has been in Ulpan – anyone who is on facebook can see that he isn’t so thrilled about 5 hours of intensive Hebrew Language a day. But in reality, it isn’t so bad – he just has to get used to those gruff Israeli teachers who tell you that you will never learn Hebrew. So, we are trying to see if he can move into school, at least part time. He will start at Himmelfarb when they decide he is “ready”. Of course the ulpan teachers think he needs six months of ulpan, but the principal of Himmelfarb (also very impressive) seems to understand that we want an experience that is more than just learning Hebrew. But, Ben has made friends with our neighbor – impressive as he doesn’t speak English, as well as many friends at Bnei Akiva, the local youth movement. He has already been invited to a bar mitzvah and bat mitzvah (of course, here they had out invites at Bnei Akiva.) Bnei Akiva has been great for both Ben and Yonah and it is twice a week. Ben is also excited that he will be starting in the Israel Baseball Association Baseball League staring in February. Yonah has started Basketball this week. They are both thrilled to be playing teams in other cities – in their mind a “travel team” and they don’t play on Shabbat.

As to what I am doing. I told most of you that I was going to drink coffee and read books and then maybe learn a little. These first few weeks haven’t allowed too much of that, but now I feel that I am starting to ease into my day to day life. I just finished my first book – The Glass Castle. It was terrific and I would highly recommend it. I haven’t drank too much coffee, as I forget they don’t really do drip coffee here. It is just espresso and or instant. Truth is I prefer the coffee I make at home…I started Ulpan last week. I wanted a non intensive ulpan – I guess that is an oxymoron and that is why it was so difficult to find. I found one at our local community center in Baka (I feel at home at a JCC – I am even hoping to meet with the Jewish Life Director – yes they have on in the Israel Community Center, although I don’t know what that means yet). It is only 2 days a week for 1.5 hours a week. Downside is it is really above my level, but I am winging it and learning a bit. I have been twice to Aviva Zornberg’s parshat hashavua classes – she is amazing and glad she is teaching a few times around town so I should be able to go weekly. Thursday I will start a Tanach and Tiyul class at Pardes (you learn and then take a trip to historical sites about what you learned). Other than that, laundry is my life. A very small machine and hanging it out on the clothes line. But the weather has been beautiful, sunny and warm, so I can’t complain.

Jerusalem – so I wanted to live here. Hyim is so generously commuting an hour each way so we can live in Jerusalem. I think being away from a big city, you romanticize the big city life and gradually forget all the hard parts of city life. The teeny weeny parking space we have been assigned. The traffic – takes me one hour to drive the kids to school, I think round trip is 6 km. Hyim takes the car all day and I walk everywhere which I love. The only piece I don’t love is grocery shopping. How are you supposed to carry all the groceries home? Such arm muscles we are working. While I love walking everywhere, not sure the kids feel the same way. When I say something isn’t a far walk, they ask “by Israel standards or American?”.

So far every Shabbat we have gone to a different shul – there are so many, with so many different flavors and nuances. The kids would like to find “their shul:, but Hyim and I are loving all these different experiences. We have enjoyed everything from the Carlbach minyan and chabad down the street to Yedidya and Yael. We still have more Beit Knesset we would like to participate in on Shabbat. 6 months seemed so long and now we have to fit everything in.

We love having Hyim’s brother David and family near by. We spent our first Shabbat with them in Beit Shemesh and my kids can’t stop talking about it. They are ready to go every Shabbat – I think the combination of Aunt Ellen’s amazing cooking, Uncle David being the candy man extraordinaire and their older cousins Hillel and Ari hanging with them. What is there not to like? We are looking forward to returning for Shabbat on David’s birthday and for Pesach.

I hope this gives you a small taste of our life here. I look forward to hearing from all of you as well. All my best, Sara

Shafner Kids as food critics...

Since we are beginning this more than 2 weeks after arriving, we will start with our highlights to date:

Best Burger – Burger Bar wins hands down – Hava and Yonah both give it a 10 (out of 10)

Best snack food – Cheetos - it is amazing to eat American Treif, Kosher in Israel

Best Gum – Hubba Bubba – every time we go into a store Ben, Yonah and Hava have to try a different flavor or brand of gum. (not to mention all the other fun candy that is kosher)

Best Israeli Food – Everyone’s favorite is Falafel from the schuk and Schwarma from Schwarma Doron on Emek Refeim.

Best Pizza – American Pie, of course that is the only pizza we have had. For kids that only eat Simon Kohn’s pizza – watching them experience pizza is great.

Best Barekas - Ema's Barekas fresh out of the oven and right down the street

Best Sufgianot - Marziapans as recommended. We learned one of our first hebrew words there - Rabat Chalav(butterscotch) yum.

Best novelty - kosher candy everywhere including large kiosks at the mall - especially all those gummy worm and ring candys that aren't kosher in america. (not to mention seeing open spices and dried fruit in open bins in the middle of the mall)

More updates to come....

Yonah and Hava Shafner (with some input from Mom and Ben)