shedding some light…
December 24, 2006Sorry about the long lay off.
Been trying to enjoy the family, chanuka and Israel…. so the blog had to take a back seat.
Chanuka is over.. .although a latke from last monday is still weighing down my stomach….more about that later.
Its been great. Its just great to:
a. Be in Israel to celebrate chanuka
b. NOT be in America so I don’t have to celebrate christmas.
(Although I DID see a few lights go up on derech chevron towards bethlehem…)
I get a few emails from my non frum co workers in baltimore..and its… WE had a ham lunch….at work… our family watched a christmas story…etc…
Glad to be away from that. Its nice not to be bombarded with that. I can honestly say that this year I’ve heard more divrei torah about chanuka than years past and have seen almost no xmas commercials…..decorations….. (the frum non jews of baltimore had their lights up for months..).
Out of sight and out of mind. We are a product of whats around us…and while things arent always perfect in Israel….. we are able to surround our kids with the chanuka menorahs and torah themes and not the “goyish” influences… enough about that… let me put the soapbox back in the …er…soapcloset? shower?
Its nice to see all the chanukiahs in the street… no better way to show how the greek decrees against public display of mitzvos.. .then to light in the street. LAst friday night I took the kids for a walk and pointed out all the chanukiahs in the street…. lit inside the “fishtank” covers…
The best part was hearing our Israeli Tamar pronounce Meno-CHa… not sure how to spell it . but its the israeli way to say menorah…. Its just too funny.
For 2 days last week we all packed up and headed down for 2 days to Mitzpe Ramon. Its a small desert town between beer sheva and Eilat. A hotel on the nice side…but a bit pricey.
As someone I met told me ” Its no more than a 75 dollar hotel in the US, because its israel, its alot more”
I couldnt agree more. In Israel if there is a pool, that puts the hotel in a different price range.
Things were going great until we heard the hot water pipes around midnight…. bing.. ping…
After complaining….we were given a free meal in the restaurant.. The night before the bill ran over 400 NIS … so not a bad “sorry we tried to screw you over with a room that has loud noises”.
Yoni had 6 hot dogs one night and schnitzel the next so he was happy. Moshe was Israeli. As we waited to be seated and pay… .we look up…. and Moshe has a plate filled with food and is on line for more.
It wasnt a very yeshivish crowd. SOme with kippa serugas. A few velvet ones. SOme without. but there were alot of chanukiahs around and donuts.
Again. It was nice to be able to go away and be in your own element. Be with your own people. Im sure most of you have been to israel for a yom tov so you know what I mean. A bit different than going to work where there is a huge tree and a small electric menorah.
Well, I’m going to head to mincha. Penina, michal and my mother in law are in Jerusalem….
I have the other kids….
LAter,
u.d.
