a balloontwister’s aliya saga

Well, its thursday again.. and I’m very excited. I won’t be coming back for a week and a half as I’m working from home next week.

Its also been a tense time as there is alot going on Israel. What is interesting is the mood of even the moderates. If you read the Jpost a few days ago, President Katzav has spoke harshly against the disengagement and wonders why after giving up so much since Oslo is peace so far away.

What’s the big deal you ask?

The Israeli president usually never speaks against the ruling government and only “represents” in a diplomatic way. There was also a member of kadima that spoke about the lack of force over the past few months. Again, also significant bec. it was the Kadima party that is in charge of the government and that was formed by the leaders who wanted disengagement.

There is a certain rabbi that I knew who mentioned.. that while his heart is against disengagement, his head is for it…. I wonder what he feels today. The government has made the palestinians stronger and made their own citizens refugees. Does anyone think these are less people at risk now? More rockets are hitting our brothers and sisters. Can you imagine living and hearing rockets… wondering where your kids are. In the street? At Gan? How do we respond? … firing missles at empty hills. I personally feel that the government underestimated the palestinians…. All along even I felt that most arabs were either moderate or wanted peace and quiet. I was wrong. SO was most of israel and the government.

If you want some information, you should listen to israel national news radio.

After yesterday’s flyby over the syrian president house which hosts a hamas leader, there is also the concern about fighting up north.

Well, we have to daven for gilad and for our brothers and sisters who live in the negev area and the people up north and to all of klal yisroel. I’m confident that with H-shem’s watchful eye we will have a secure Israel.

J

Rachmana Litzlan.

Please say the Perek Tehillim below for Gilad ben Aviva - the soldier who was kidnapped by the Palestinians yesterday - don’t delay and pass on to many others. Tizku L’Mitzvos!
Eliyahu

The worst thing that can happen, has happenned.

A young soldier was captured by Hamas.

This hits close to my heart bec. just the other day at the ammunition hill museum we saw many soldiers. Some were catching some ZZ’s on the floor. Others were sitting around eating and later in the day as we were leaving we saw many davening mincha. The common denominator… these are just kids. High school grads. If you see Gilad’s picture thats the thing that resonates with me… he looks like a kid dressing up for purim.

Please say tehillim for Gilad ben Aviva. I decided against putting his picture up in lieu of the soldier’s davening picture.

j

nothing more fun than sitting in the terminal… with a plane delayed 40 minutes… I left a bar mitzvah for this? Such is life… A busy day that started out at Ammunition hill museum moved to the kotel, KFC at the HArel mall and then to the schneider bar mitzva. While the movie and information about the battle that led to the reunification of Jerusalen was a bit over the kids heads.. it gave me a greater appreciation for how a great zchus it is for us to daven there and how almost 200 soldiers gave their life just for the battle over this important jordanian stronghold.

Also interesting, on a different level was the dress code for tonight’s bar mitzva.

Were people going to wear suits? Most of the crowd does wear suits on shabbos.. were some going to wear just shirts? As is the Israeli custom…

Turned out it was a mixed crowd, with even a few guys with hats. I remarked that THIS is why israeli resent the new olim…. we overdress. People should really show up in sandals. At out table 2 guys had hats, a few had jackets with ties… had blue shirts..

I just couldn’t bring myself to wear a jacket or tie… I had a feeling there would be several israelis.. and if at least one guy was going to wear a shirt w/o a jacket… I didn’t mind being the second. I actiully wore a blue shirt and wore shoes… they were penina’s but.. hey…

Moshe was invited to the BM as the BM’s brother is moshe’s best friend. And the schneiders have 7 kids so inviting another wouldn’t really add to much.

But in all seriousness it was a great BM as the schneiders are a wonderful family and we are really lucky to have them as such close friends. They don’t even make a big deal when Tamar bites their daughter. (which happens..)

Well, I’m going to sign off. I want to save the laptop battery for the airplane. They threw alot of work at me… so Im going to have a wonderful flight by working instead 0f possibly watching a great jennifer lopez movie….If that is even possible.

Have a good week and a chodesh tov

u.d.

VERY hot in Beit Shemesh. Not humid like NY but you FEEL the sun…. Like its right on top on your head. On shabbos we had a bar mitzva at Rav Soloveichik’s Shul which is a 15 minute walk. By the time we made it back we were dripping with sweat. Of course feeling sweat on your back wasn’t the worse thing I felt.

On friday night I picked up Tamar and put her on my shoulders…(you can probably see where this is going..) When I put her down I noticed she was wet…. about a second later.. I felt I WAS WET. Yup, I had to have her changed and I had to change my shirt. Not the best feeling to have a wet back… Don’t mean to get racial…sorry.

Today we’re heading to Jerusalem for a titul, I think ammunition hill museum is where we’re taking the kids.

Tonight we have a wedding which Dovid is going to, as we are going to the Schneider Bar Mitzva is fancy reishit. I only have a few hour window, so the Bar Mitzva of our neighbors in Beit Shemesh has kedimah over a wedding of our cousins in Yad Binyamin.

off to a 0-2 start here in my baltimore softball league. The good news is… no one really cares. I think most are playing to get the free t-shirt and drink beer. The game is one hour approx and they drink beer throughout the game and then drink for 2 or 3 hours afterwards. I cut out early to daven and head off to my ulpan teacher.

I guess at 36 if I dont embaress myself or get hurt TOO bad.. its a good night out. Also gives me a good reason to wear my baseball pants and socks. When I wear them swimming or at the gym… I REALLY get funny looks.

I had her laughing at me yesterday. Instead of saying brush my teeth. I told her I was reducing fractions in my teeth. I think I could do a standup routine with using the wrong words. I think I see dollar signs in her eyes when she looks at me.

Last night I also went out to buy some groceries and bought some hot dogs to take back for the kids and for neighbors of ours. I figured they wouldn’t rummage through our freezer (makpee is freezer in hebrew..fyi) if I bought them a package. Oh well… 10 dollar investment.

Michal got a 98 on her navi test and is putting in alot of effort as the year ends. With a daddy who can bring back american stuff… i.e. donuts, bagels, cheese curls.. and a CD player… she has been improving her schoolwork. She has her sights set on a CD player for camp which is in a few weeks… she has alot of “points” to get up to a CD player. Yoni has been crusing along with his tutor as is excited to come to the US and head off to camp. Penina mentioned he wants a hockey stick. I just hope he gets to play soccer at camp. He took it in Israel this past year and has been doing ok in it. Moshe and Tamar are doing well. Moshe is actually invited to a Bar Mitzva next week. A neighbor of ours is making a BM for their son and Moshe is best friends with the BM Boy’s brother. So he’s invited.

I’ll actually get to see our new park that was just put up in our area in RBS. Part of the arrangement with the contractor was that he would put up a playground and it finally went up. There was actually an ugly incident already last shabbos. One kid told a non sun gardens kid that he couldnt play in the park. The parent took their kids out and made some comment about getting kicked out by the “rich americans” … People are pretty upset over this as the policy is that its open to all… but the feeling is clear.

Americans making aliya are different in the eyes of israelis. Period.

Even if you are middle class in the US, you are upper class in Israel. Even amongst olim of 5 or 10 years ago, the new olim are different. Most newer olim have sold their houses and can afford a house in israel. A luxury for 99% of israelis.

Well, enough of being meraglish.

This week I’ve been following the stories of the kassams in sderot. For all those who thought leaving gaza would bring security and comfort to the area… just come to sderot and listen to the sirens that are blaring day and night. If you can’t be comfortable in your house, then you have no life. Its unbelievable that people are living like this without alot of action on behalf of the army and politicians. The defense minister LIVES there and he doesn;t seem to be very concerned.

Well, I’m going to sign off. Alot of work here in B’more and I have to finish it before I head home tommorrow afternoon.

Staten Island yankees…. unbeaten…. only 1 game.. but still…

j

Its Sunday night. Another blog entry as this has been a really busy weekend.

Today I went to D.C. to a nationals game as the Nats came back against the Yankees. Its very interesting seeing the yankees away from the stadium. As interesting as seeing the Red Sox in Camden Yards. TO see how many Yankee fans there are is remarkable. It also wakes up the home crowd. Most fans are sleeping until the yankee fans start cheering… THIS wakes up the boo birds. In any event, it was the largest crowd ever for a Nationals home game at 45, 157 and it came down to the last pitch. In our section there were 2 groups of taiwanese fans cheering on Wang, the Yankees pitcher, a former bochur of the SI yankees.

After the game I decided to take a different route on the metro than the route I took to the game.

Bad Idea.

I walked around in a complete circle for 25 minutes. On the positive side I got a free tour of Downtown D.C.

After getting back to B’more, I went to work for a few hours and hit the gym. SO I got back to my apartment 13 hours after I left in the AM. whew.

I did give me a few more momens to reflect on the shabbos aufruf. For example, After the seudah friday night at around 11ish, I picked up my gemora and tried to catch up on the daf as Avi was sleeping in the room. I thought for a second, and I tried to remember the last time I slept in the same room with my brother in law, avi. Turns out when Penina and I were engaged her grandparents made a kiddush for us on the upper west side. I slept in the same room with avi that friday night. A bit different though. We were in different beds this time. Also different was the amount of sleep he got and the lack of sleep I got over shabbos. Boy am I jealous.

Penina and the kids are doing well as today Michal and her gymnastics chug had a ….something…. Her friends, Penina, sara b …all went to see her perform. Michal also called to wish me a happy fathers day. A big deal bec. in Israel there is no mention of yom Av… or yom abba.

well, thats about it for a busy Sunday. Heat and Mavs are tied and I have it on the internet radio. 1:20 left.

Good night,

j

well, I have some news.

The sleeping pill does NOT work when you spill a hot tea on yourself. It kind of really wakes you up. LAst night (or this morning) I decided to have a tea after my meal on the plane. Not a good move. Well, long story short I had to get some kind of gel from the flight attendant as I spilled the entire cup on my lap.

Yup, there too.

It seemed to do the trick as 99% of the pain is gone.

The plane ride was interesting as I met a fellow that works for SAP in Israel so I took his card and forwarded him my Resume… you never know.

Yesterday we went to find the Bat Cave. There is a cave that is near Beit Shemesh known for its bats as well as a Rock slide. We had problems finding both but as the family went back to the car I met 2 yeshiva boys who showed it to me. The loudest shreiking you ever heard. One of the fellows pointed his parneis (flashlight) to the ceiling and dozens of bats started flying around. I don’t think the kids would have enjoyed this too much. Its dark. Damp. and there are bats all over the place.

After leaving I found the rock slide. Its a slippery rock that is a slide. Pretty interesting. Before we found it. The kids and I thought it was a different rock. So they pushed me down a slope… that wasnt slippery at all. Not as much fun. Jeffrey Kazan was busy so he couldn’t make the trip with us but I think he was busy enough driving around with Jay Berkowitz’s Brother in law Motti Levy. Perhaps when the Kazan’s come back we can hit up the cave again. I’d like to see Dee Dee eat some bats.

After the slide Penina and I made our way to Daniela Kagan’s Bat Mitzva in Beit Shemesh. I knew only a few people which is fine. Noam Novick, a former SI’er was there and he gave me some news about yosef Kaplan and sends regards to Korn. Penina’s cell phone went off in the middle of the kids speech. Boy she was not happy when I called. The table thought its was though. I was supposed to make balloon centerpieces but last minute the caterer supplied them so I was off the hook. I brought balloons anyway and turned out to be a popular move. I actually owe a hakaras hatov to the Kagans as they helped us make the aliya decision. I spent some time there as I did some job searching last year. As Simcha told me once. ”
“A jew out of Israel is like a fish out of water.” It was a very nice simcha as Mr. Shlock Rock played keyboard. Lenny Solomon is a neighbor of theirs.

Penina and I commented how we have to give it a bit of thought about Micha’s soon. In a year and a half, Michal will be a Bat Mitzva, G-d Willing.

Well, I’m going to sign off and continue to do some work here. Just remember one bit of wisdom that I just came up with.

Be careful when drinking tea Or you’ll be sitting in hot water pretty soon. Ouch.

J

Well, Its been an interesting a hectic shabbos. Bar Mitzvah yesterday,rav Mechaber last night… a Bat Mitzvah tonight.
For starters Yoni’s Pirates won little league. Not clear on any details. YOni PLayed right field… the team came back from 9-0… we fell 2 times running to first. The boy is going to be a novelist someday. I really can’t get a sentence that makes sense out of the boy but.. I DO know that the team won. I’m proud because he stuck with it. Unlike in SI where the entire class was on his team (Fishy chose the team), here not one kid from Yoni’s class was on his team. SO without me there coaching for half the year he stopped going for a few weeks.. but he came back and stuck with it and The pirates are the Little League champs. Not a small thing. In SI 2 years in a row YOni’s team lost in the final game. I never won a final game either… well, actually.. in the late 90’s my company team had a basketball team that I played on and we won ….. I didn’t play that much but I was the best white guy on the team.
Mendy’s brother shmuel and Avi Pretter were in RBS shabbos and we did some catching up. I actually got a big hug from Mendy as I brought him 2 bagels from Goldman’s in Baltimore. After a minute he learned that I should have gone to Goldberg’s and not Goldman’s. SO I went to the wrong place.
Im actually a bit nervous.
If he hugged me after getting the WRONG bagels - I’m a bit concerned as to what he will do when I bring him the correct ones.
Shabbos we walked a few blocks to Zechariah Berkowitz’( Zacky) Bar Mitzvah.
Not too many Staten Islanders but the neighbors here came down and participated in the simcha. Buddy was NOT there. Must be difficult to make a simcha without family and friends. Jeffrey kazan was there as he came last week bringing 200 wee wee pads. I think they are for deeDee the dog when he comes succot time.. .but I’m not sure.
Well, I’m going to have to post another one soon. Penina and I are taking the kids out for breakfast.
Later,
Yehuda

Last night we won 15-0. Let me take step back… the Israeli team I’m on won. I didn’t play on it but lets still say that I won. I think Dovid played….

hmm…. I just had a thought.

LAst time I played without dovid we LOST 15-0. LAst night he played without me and they WON 15-0. I wonder what that means. I probably have to have another coffee or two and really ponder this one over.

Last night I DID practice with my baltimore team. The season starts next week and I think I’m slated to play centerfield. I think I’m in a centerfield mode although I’ll be playing on a new field against players I’ve never seen before… so it will be interesting. It usually takes me a few games to get comfortable in the outfield in a new place. Oh well.

Speaking about Softball. YOni has his championship game on Friday. I am impressed with him as he stopped going when I started doing my commuting. He has kept up with it and while his hitting comes and goes, last week as catcher he picked up a bunt and fired to first and is getting alot better. You also have to realize. The kids play baseball with a rubber baseball. SO its a bit more difficult to hit the ball and with the field surface resembling the grand canyon its not that easy picking up ground balls. Hmmm.. I just realized something else.. when I coached the Pirates the team wasn;t playing that well. When I started doing the commuting… the team started winning and is now playing for the championship… hmm…. weird coincidence. I wonder if there is a connection here.

Probably not.

Have a good day,

j

6/6/06 today or in israel… 6/6/06 (they switch the days and months).

Well, I came up with a definition for messy.

If your room or apartment looks like it was ransacked by a burglar and you’re not certain if it was or if it was just really messy… THAT is an indicator that it is messy.

This morning I also did something for the first time in the 6 weeks that I had my apartment here.

I threw out the garbage. I figured the apartment wasn’t going to smell better with garbage in it. So what the heck. I was also going to clean up the place and buy a broom… but… baby steps.. baby steps.. TOday throwing out the garbage… Maybe next week I’ll sweep. OR next month. I’m actually using the blog to appeal to the millions who read it especially in the Baltimore area to chip in and get a cleaning lady. The shameless appeal to have cakes flown in hasn’t materialized yet… so.. here’s hoping I guess.

In Israel tonight is Zachary Berkowitz’ Bar Mitzva. I think Penina is going to sit with the other women whose husbands are away. Shabbos the kid is layning and I’ll be there for that, G-d willing as I am heading back to Israel for shabbos. I think this will be the first time that I flew back after being in states for 5 days. We’ll see if my snoring doesn’t bother Zachary as he layns this week.

Well, gotta run. The people here at Hopkins are freaking out a shtickle. The date for the training to be completed here in January 1, 2007. That means 283 courses have to be completed before then. SO far … none have been. SO they are putting alot of pressure on the developers to work onsite more. So I’m going to have to put in longer days and find a better escape route when I try to break out thursday afternoon to catch my flight home.

On the positive side… I had no time to get lunch yesterday so I tried on a new shirt today size medium. First time in a while that I tried to pull that off (or on). I made up for it at Dinner as I went to Floyo morgenstern (or fro yo) last night before I went to my ulpan teacher. It was nice to see him as he has a nice house in Baltimore and looks like he is happy. Of course everyone is happy when they are having meat for dinner, no?

Just an observation.

J