Kosher Cooking Carnival

Leora has posted the latest edition of the Kosher Cooking Carnival here. This is a round-up of anything having to do with kosher food, be it restaurant reviews, recipes, halachot (Jewish Law), or anything else. It is organized by Batya, who does a great job with it. There are lots of good recipes and interesting insights, so why don't you stop by?

And, again Leora, my apologies for not getting a post in....

A Personal Dilemma

We are kinda, sorta looking for a house. Really an apartment. You may have heard prices here in Modi'in have soared. A few years ago when we first started planning our Aliyah, we thought we could buy a decent place with a small mortgage, after selling our home in Cedarhurst.

That's not what happenned. By the time we got here, prices have spiked. Alot. The obvious choice would be to leave Modi'in. Friends of ours who made Aliyah at the same time we did decided to move to Ginot Shomron, a yishuv in the Shomron. It was a good decision for them; their kids are younger. We don't want to leave Modi'in. The kids are settled, socially (two-thirds of them are, at least) and I don't want to move them again.

We're keeping our eyes and ears open, hoping the dollar will strengthen and the real estate bubble will burst. We are not aggressively looking, but if my friend the realtor hears of something, she calls.

We went to see an apartment the other day. Price was a bit of a stretch but doable. The apartment was beautiful, a 5 bedroom 2 1/2 bathroom duplex. It was very spacious and had a beautiful garden.

But.

It wasn't a great location for us. Far from friends--both the kids and ours. Still, I could probably live with that. What got me is that the apartment is two flights down with no elevator.

Imagine the supermarket shopping. Or our parents coming to visit.

But.

It's a beautiful apartment. We'll never find something this nice at this price.

Today my realtor friend called me. She exerted a bit of pressure on me, telling me we would never find something this nice in our price range. I know she's right.

What would you do?

While you mull that over, you can review Haveil Havalim 177 at Simply Jews. There is lots to keep you busy over there. And once again, thanks to Jack for organizing Haveil Havalim. He's doing a great job. (I promise I'll host another one soon!) I can't wait to meet him at the Convention.

Tisha B'av

Today is the Ninth day of the month Av in the Hebrew calendar, the saddest day of the year for the Jewish people. Today we mourn the destruction of our Batei Hamikdash, the first and second temples and the beginning of what seems like a never-ending exile. Through persecutions and Holocausts we have dreamed of our return. And we are here, rebuilding and visiting and dreaming, yet knowing that redemption is not yet complete.

We await that day.


We had plans to go visit the Kotel today. It turns out that with the heat, and not being able to drink, none of the fasters are up to it. But we could if we want to.



Hoping your fast is an easy one...

Orli comes home (tomorrow)....

I haven't even mentioned that she left. I feel a bit guilty about that since I devoted two posts to Liat leaving. Orli went to sleep away camp for two weeks. She cried before getting on the bus. She didn't know anyone going and was very nervous. I was as well. With only two weeks for camp, she didn't have the luxury of a prolonged adjustment period. But she rose to the occasion and has been having a great time since her arrival. A sign of this is the fact that she never calls me. She looks really happy in the pictures on the camp website.

Israelis don't really do sleep away camps. They may have some 2 or three day overnights through the youth movements, but not camp, as in the experience we had when we were kids. The camp Orli went to is quite expensive and I'm not sure we'll be able to swing it next summer.

Tali chose not to go to camp, because all her friends were going for the first session, which was for three weeks. I didn't want to send her for the three week session, because, A. it cost one-third more, and B. if the fun part of the summer is over by July 24, I'm in trouble.

It's worked out well, because Tali has lots of friends here for the summer. They are doing nothing together. It's kinda nice for her. She sleeps late, calls a friend and they meet at someone's house or in the park. They basically just hang out. Last week 9 of them went to Tel-Aviv on the train together. I know you guys in America think it's crazy, but really, this is what's done here. There are some parents here who would not let their kids do it, but nine sets of parents thought it was okay. And it was.

So tomorrow all the seats will be filled at the Shabbat table. And even though it is a time of mourning for our people, I will be smiling for most of the day. All of my girls will be home.

Birthday Wishes and other musings

Warning: this is going to be a very random, rambling post.

The man of the house celebrated his birthday today. Lunar calendar birthday, that is. I still can't get into the Hebrew date thing. I mean I know the basics like this Sunday is Tisha B'av, but otherwise...old habits die hard.

[This thought just popped into my head. I work in a "charedi" ("ultra-orthodox") facility. Today I saw an old notice up on the bulletin board, it was dated 28 Iyar and then it said, "יום שחרור ירושלים"--Jerusalem Reunification Day. I just thought it was interesting that that particular reference would be made in a charedi place of work.]

But I digress.

No, it's not Ozzy's birthday, it's Isaac's birthday. I tried to make it a nice one, with his mom and sister coming for dinner. He got presents, I baked a cake, the kids made signs, we sang the song, took some pictures and called it a day. (DAY!!)



I was going to write a depressing post about how we're getting older (note: he's getting older than me) and how I worry about him....blah, blah. Or about the pressure of buying him a birthday present.

[Another head pop. I put as my facebook status "wondering what to get the man who has everything for his birthday". My friend CK responded with "the man who has everything? are you shopping for brad pitt?" Isn't CK a riot? If she doesn't already have an anonymous blog, she should definitely start one. Here's how the rest of the conversation on FB went:

Baila: LOLOLOLOLOL!!!! What do you think Angelina gets Brad for his birthday?

CK: I know he's into racecars. But he's so enamored of his kids, she probably gets him the same tacky things we get our husbands... photo keychains, etc.

Baila: Do you think she goes to those stands at the mall for them?

CK: Maybe she just uses the school pictures and slaps them in an acrylic one from Amazing Savings.....

Which leads me to another thought: Did you know that Brad and Angelina got paid 14 MILLION DOLLARS for the first pictures of their newborn twins, Knox and Vivienne, exclusive at People Magazine? 14 MILLION! Their first-born child, Shiloh, only got 4million. Now how do you think that's going to make her feel when she finds out? And as far as I know, the adopted kids got bubkas!]

But now I'm really off topic. Where was I? Oh, Isaac's birthday. עד מאה ועשרים, (until 120) honey!

Shoot! I missed Orli's birthday! Not in real life, but over here on the blog (although I have to say that I'm beginning to confuse the two). She turned 11 while she was away at camp. She is on Kibbutz Shluchot and is having the time of her life. I miss that kid so much. Can you believe my baby is 11?

Since this has been such a weird post, I might as well take care of some b--

Wait!!! It's 11:30!!!! My friend Benji told me to go check out Channel 1 at 11:30...I'll be back soon, don't want to miss this, even though I don't know exactly what I might miss....

Wow. Benji was interviewed on Channel 1 about the upcoming NBN Blogger's Conference and about being an oleh. IN HEBREW, ON NATIONAL TV!!!! I am so impressed. You are so cute in real life, Bahn. You did great. I kept waiting for you to mention me and my itty-bitty blog, but there's always your second interview. The guy did say he had a feeling he'd be seeing you again. You didn't look nervous at all. Were you? Nice plug for your blog and the convention. That thing is going to be bigger than the upcoming Olympics.

Where was I?

Can't remember. I'm going to sleep.

Sunday Critters

My friends Leora and Ilana-Davita are avid photographers and often contribute to photo blogs. I'd like to get into this area of blogging, but have to set some limits. Still, I couldn't resist posting the picture of this critter, captured by Mazi on our recent trip up North:



Nasty looking, I know, but it still is one of G-d's creatures. Mazi captured the little guy (gal?) scurrying along on the tayelet (boardwalk) of the city of Nahariya. In Israel, these critters are called "Jukim". Growing up in Brooklyn, New York City, we'd see 'em every now and then, and they absolutely terrified me. We called them "Water Bugs", but to me they are Giant Cockroaches. Blech. So check out the weekly posting of this and more cuddly creatures at Camera-Critters.

And while we're at it, Haveil Havalim is up at Little Frumhouse on the Prairie. Go check it out...

Teenage Invasion

This Shabbat was a particularly entertaining one for me. Liat had some friends over from the old country who are here on a six-week summer camp program (Sdei Chemed). Their parents are friends of ours. In addition, we had some other family friend's sons here who are on Mach Hach Ba'aretz . Seven teenagers filled my apartment. Good kids, all of them. It was fun for me to watch the two groups, initially awkward with each other, slowly relax and start to get along. They spent Shabbat playing games and talking in my living room.

Growing up in Williamsburg and going to a Bais Yaakov-type school I didn't have much opportunity to interact with the opposite sex. It was of course, frowned upon--to put it mildly--both in my neighborhood and in my school. It was not until my year in Israel, and after that, my involvement in Bnei Akiva that I started to have friends who were male. And that was fun. But "dating" was difficult for me. Many of my friends at that time coupled off and eventually got engaged and married. That did not happen to me and I had to start "dating", which I wasn't very good at. I didn't know how to be myself on a date and could never relax. I never really did learn the skill. When I met Isaac, he was relaxed enough for both of us and that took care of that. (I think I would be so much better at dating now, at my advanced age; but Isaac isn't into that sort of thing.)

Anyhow, it seems today, at least in America, that kids even in the relatively "modern orthodox" schools are discouraged from interacting with the opposite sex. They are expected to do a year or two of Israel after high school, come back, start "shidduch" dating, and get married.

To each his own.

I don't believe there is anything wrong with teenagers hanging out together. I like having a bunch of kids sitting in my living room, watching a movie (as they are doing right as I write.). I think it is actually healthy for them to learn how to interact with each other. Here in Israel, Bnei Akiva is a huge, religious youth movement, where teen-agers meet each other in a wholesome environment. I'm a little sorry that we came to late for Liat to feel comfortable joining this group.

I'm not naive about teenagers and their hormones. I know that there will always be kids who fool around and experiment. But I don't think others should be naive and think just because they keep the kids separate that this won't happen. As I said, I went to a Bais Yaakov High School. I knew nothing until one Shabbat a friend invited a bunch of us over and we were regaled with another classmate's "experiences". It was a very educational weekend for me. I never quite looked at a cucumber the same way.

I talk to my kids openly about the things they may encounter. They have my trust and I always tell them, I trust you until you give me a reason not to. I pray every day that they make the right choices because you could be the best parent in the world and still have a kid who does something really stupid. But I don't feel that separating them is what will protect them from themselves.

In the meantime, the kids are watching that movie. I sit here typing, but I keep stealing glances at them. They are beautiful in their intensity, in their joy at being together. I wonder at them, at their pimply faces, their braces, their self-consciousness.

Thank-G-d I'm not a teenager.