Looking Back to Look Ahead

Friday, April 27 / 12 Iyar
I slept in until 6am, and somehow still managed to leave late. We had the Kotel Tunnel tour scheduled for 9:40. First mishap  ... We couldn't figure out how to get out of the building. We were running around trying to find the door, and couldn't manage it. Finally, I said to retrace our steps and I went the way the other guy in the elevator did, which lead us to an exit. Next mishap, arrive at the tour to be told that we needed our tickets. We were already 10 minutes late. We run to where we were supposed to pick up our tickets, and run back. Luckily, they let us just join our group.

The tour was slightly different than I remember from last time. The heavy rain from the day before meant that the last stop had rain falling inside that was still dripping from the day before. Sheindy really enjoyed that tour, so that was great.
Next stop was next door for a virtual reality tour of the Bais Hamikdash. Big shout out to my friend Ora for telling me about it. That was my favorite part of the day. You really feel like you are in the Bais Hamikdash. I felt such a strong strong yearning for Moshiach. I can't wait to go to the actual one!

I davened shacharis by the Kotel, and then we were headed off to the Hurva Synagogue. Last time I saw a little of the inside. Zahava had asked if I walked around the top. I hadn't, so it was on the bucket list for this trip. It got checked off.

The tour guide we got was a hoot! A feisty little guy who had us in stitches. Sheindy said he's her favorite guide so far.

We stopped for some pizza for lunch. Sheindy was extremely happy to pocket a ten dollar bill she found!

Next, I was determined to show Sheindy around. We did manage to get lost ("How do you go wandering around in a strange city you don't know your way around?" Sheindy asks me. Very easily. Like this!) OK, I did manage to get us to the spot I wanted to take her too. At this point though, it's eruv shabbos and it's getting late. So we head towards the Yaffa Gate to get a cab to Har Nof. A little bit of bargaining and we were off in a cab with a Jewish driver.
I visited with Adam, the sofer who is writing the sefer Torah. It was so cool to see his progress. Now I need to get the aitz chaim and mantel!

Best part of being on vacation ... I got to light shabbos candles at the time everyone else does! I lit them 40 mins before shkiyah, as is the custom here.

Part 2 / Backpacks & A Mabul

After the Chevron tour, I was famished. So we met Zahava and Penina at Tommy's. As we were finishing up, I see a cop car come down the street the wrong way. I saw the officer get out, and he is running around. At first I thought, maybe someone got here. In America, often the fire department comes when someone calls for an ambulance. I saw the group of boys clear out of the restaurant as well. Meanwhile, as this is all going on, we hear thunder several times and dark clouds are rolling in. The weather report was calling for heavy thunderstorms. Penina bugged out to try and avoid the storm. We decided to call a cab. As we are leaving, there is another cop car blocking the street  The cab couldn't get in and we were going to walk to him. Then Zahava explains, there is a backpack that doesn't belong to anyone. They clear the area. If no one claims it, they blow it up. Our cab was turning around so we run over to him. After we get in, he turns the corner. There is a bus in the other lane going in the opposite direction. Some genius on a motorcycle decides to pass the bus on the left. Basic rule of driving, don't pass on the left, especially when the bus has its left blinker on. So we are coming around the corner on this narrow street and the motorcycle gets to close to our cab. His rear view mirror goes flying off. Our driver stops, opens the door, yells at the guy, then drives away. Ok then.
It was just starting to rain. No idea what happened with the suspicious package.
A while later, the skies literally opened up. The rain poured down like a broken water pipe gushing out. It might have even been hail. Zahava noticed her floor was wet. A lot of water had gathered on her outside sill, and the drain couldn't handle it. When I say it was coming down in buckets, you can't begin to imagine the amount of rain that came down. I saw a video that the neighbor below Shauly took off the road outside their window. Looks like the Negev when the water floods over there. Tragically, there are 9 kids who lost their lives from this freak storm. The videos of Mamilla Mall and Geulah are insane!
That sorta killed our afternoon plans of walking to the shuk. It's OK, cuz I got a nap in.
And that's the last two crazy Israeli adventures I had today.
Hoping tomorrow is a quiet, normal day.

Exploring Your Roots and A Mabul

Thursday April 26 / 11 Iyar
I think that the first spot to visit in Israel is the Kotel. Chevron is my second choice. I know not everyone agrees with this order, but it's my personal preference.
When planning this trip with Sheindy, we focused on what she wanted to do. She told me in no uncertain terms that she did NOT want to dragged around to a bunch of graves. I said OK with the exception of Meoras Hamachpaila, Kever Rochel, and Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. So today I dragged her up to the Avos.
My wonderful daughter-in-law Zahava was kind enough to walk me to the post office to pick up a package (which was a whole experience in and of itself  - - postal workers are the same everywhere it seems!). She then walked us to the hotel to meet our tour. Our first stop was at Kever Rochel.

I was able to say my tehillim that I had planned to say. However, my class's tehillim list is sadly so long that I wasn't able to complete it all. I figured I finish it at Maoras Hamachpaila. Chevron gives me the chills. The Jews who have chosen to live in this city seeping with kiddusha is just mind blowing! The day was cold and dreary  with heavy threats of thunderstorms coming. I learned some interesting facts about Meoras Hamachpaila. It started drizzling, so we headed inside.

Now, just so you know, these are not the actual graves, but more like symbolic markers. The cave is 100% beneath the building. The question is, where is it exactly? People have tried to find out, and it's very interesting if you ever want to Google it. The only "graves" we couldn't visit was Yitzchok and Rivkah. They are under Arab control, and Jews are only allowed in there about 10 days a year.

The palm tree is supposed to be where Adam and Chava are buried.

Last up was Yaakov & Leah. (Hey, three guesses who walked into the men's shul while they were davening trying to get to Leah's spot? Said person didn't realize it was set up as a shul because the last time she was there it wasn't. Big hint - - she doesn't look good in the picture but is willing to post it anyway because of the meaning behind it.)

Next stop in our tour was supposed to be to the Rebbitzen Menucha Rochel. However, there were workers on the road who were blocking it.

Sheindy (and Chanie) were both born on her yartzeit. I was able to get a picture of Sheindy next to a plaque dedicated to her. 

We stopped at the hospital that a bunch of women were holed up in. It houses that gorgeous museum inside. Last time I was so overtaken with the beauty of the walls that contrasts the horrors of what had happened there that I took no pictures. I wanted to rectify it. Our tour guide spoke to the group outside while Sheindy and I ran through there. We had 5 mins. I grabbed as many as I could. It's still on my list to come back to get again on my next trip to try and combine the two opposites in one visit.

That was our last stop, and we headed back to Yerushalayim. I think I'll write a separate post about after the trip. Ttfn

Headed for Greener Pastures

Tuesday April 24 / 9 Iyar ~ Wednesday April 25 / 10 Iyar
Anyone who knows me knows I am famous for being a last minute type of person. Why do it today when you can do it tomorrow? So if course, I waited until the last minute to pack. Tuesday morning found me running around, doing exchanges, and still trying to finish packing.

My husband advised me to go to the airport at 1, or 1:30 the latest. Waze however told me I only need three hours to get to BWI. So who do you think I listened to? It was raining all day, and my hubby is very smart  So yes, I picked Waze. I was also running around to the last minute, packing food, last minute items, you know  ... Image my distress when we hit stand still traffic in NOVA! I know, what a shock, right? Traffic in NOVA, who would have thunk, huh? Then we hit more traffic, and more traffic. The arrival time kept getting pushed back, and I did start getting very nervous. Shauly kept telling me, Tracht gut vet zein gut. So I put it in my head, I was going to make it. Missing the plane was not an option. We arrived at BWI at 6:30 for a 7:30 flight. Baruch Hashem I had the foresight to pay extra for Premium Access (or whatever it's called). At TSA I got to go on the shorter line! And since Sheindy is a minor, she had to go through the metal detector rather than that other machine. You know, the one that leaks radiation and stores naked pictures of you? I asked if I could go through it as well. The answer was yes, and we made it to our flight 10 mins before they were boarding!

That flight sat on the run way forever. Thankfully, Newark is a short flight. We saw one of those cars that drive people in the terminal, and Sheindy asked if we could take it. Another piece of hashgacha protis! When we got to the gate, there was only one woman standing in boarding section 3. I told Sheindy we were waiting in line. We stood there for about 40 mins, but again, Baruch Hashem, because there were so many people in line. Flights to Israel are always packed to the max, full planes. Overhead storage was going to be tight and I don't know how to travel light. That flight was 10 hours of pure torture. Every fliers worst nightmare  .... Crying babies. One baby literally shrieked for hours. The guy sitting next to me said the mother was sitting there doing nothing. I don't like to be judgemental, but in this case, it was so hard not to understand why that mother let the baby cry like that for so long. No one said anything, but everyone was upset. I got about an hour of sleep. I'm so happy Sheindy was able to get some sleep, as she really needs it.
Then the big moment  ... Our arrival in the Holy Land!

We landed in some really nasty looking black clouds. Once I got in touch with Shauly I heard there was a horrible freak storm in Yerushalayim. Heavy heavy rain, with hail at one point. It's not even really the rainy season here anymore. If you read about my last trip, you may recall that when I arrived last time, Yerushalayim was getting a rare snow. What is it with me and crazy weather that I bring????
Of course, one of the anticipated highlights was surprising my grand daughters with our visit. My daughter-in-law prepared her a little by saying there was a special gift at home. Two of them. And when Rikki walks in, she runs all excited to ... Uh no, not us, but   ... Her sister Huvi! Who she sees everyday. She didn't even give us a second glance. Hilarious!
My "adopted" son Shmueli came to take me and Sheindy to the Kotel. I feel it's the most appropriate place to go to first in Eretz Yisroel.

After that, we tried to figure out where to eat. Gross greasy food was turning our stomachs. We decided to head to Yaffa Gate and take a taxi to Tommy's, the place where Shauly used to live. But when we got there, I remembered there are a few places to eat in Mamilla Mall. We walked through looking at all of them, almost gave up, but then went back to Rimon, a milchig restaurant. Shmueli let Shauly know, who rode over on his electric bike. (It's really cool, btw!) We had such a delightful time together.

Before we went to sleep, Shauly advised us to take melatonin. Nope, I know better. I was beyond exhausted, so I was really worried I would over sleep and miss my first tour. Maybe one of my goals this trip should be to learn how to take advise from others. Guess who woke up at 4am??? I guess it's good, cuz I'm not going to miss my tour. And it gave me a chance to post to my blog. And so ended the first day of our excited adventure, which for me was over 24 hours long!
If you follow me on Instagram, you will see more pictures that I post as we go along. Feel free to join the fun!

Staying in the Moment

Where your thoughts are,

there you are,

all of you.

One of my favorite all times quotes. Years ago I discovered it on one of my favorite sites, chabad.org.  It's a problem I've been plagued with for years and years. After I read it, I got to thinking. How many times did I pick the kids up from school, say HELLO! and then not listen to anything they said, cuz I was thinking of all the million and one things that I had to do, grocery shopping, laundry, cleaning, etc. My body was in the car, but my brain was elsewhere.  I really am trying harder to "get in the moment". My kids know that if I am on the lap top, or reading, they have to have eye contact with me to know that I am truly listening and hearing them. It's sorta sad, but it's the truth. My mind wanders so quickly.

Well, for the last few weeks, I've been checked out again.  So much so that not once, but twice I drove right by the street I was supposed to turn on to pick up for carpool. Ooops! 
Where is my mind? For weeks now, I've been living and breathing ... Israel! Yup! Guess who is headed back? Me! And Sheindy! Special mother daughter journey in honor of her becoming bas mitzvah this past February. 

Stay tuned for more updates  I won't wait 4 months to write again. 

Safe spaces cuz YOU'RE OFFENDING ME!

What a bunch of garbage! Safe spaces? A place where you will never get hurt? Doesn't exist. I was going to say once a person is in the grave, they can never get hurt, but it seems that some people believe in disparaging those who can't defend themselves.

Everyone is offended by everything now a days. You can't tell a woman she looks nice, that's harassment.  And don't you dare open a door for her, cuz that is implying she isn't capable of doing it herself.  Everyone gets a trophy for participating, because we are all winners. Don't wish someone "Merry Xmas", cuz they might not celebrate it. But don't try and wish them "Happy Holidays" either, because they may celebrate xmas and get upset that you didn't wish them THAT. Don't put up a nativity scene, because it's offense. Don't walk a dog. Don't buy pork products. Don't carry a gun. Don't believe in free speech. Don't think thoughts that the Leftist have deemed hate space, which includes liking our president, loving your country, or wanting to stay safe in your country. Don't be upset with people who break the law, cuz that is racist. Don't follow a religion because it's homophobic, and all the other isms. Unless, of course, your religion is Islam. Because then you can follow it to your hearts content. Rape women, beat your wife, mutilate your daughter, do disgusting unspeakable things to goats and other animals, but hey, it's ISLAM. It's OK to do that.

I say BULL! You can NOT protect yourself or your child from life. They will NOT always win. They may not get the job they apply for. They may not marry the person they hope to. They may be turned down for a raise. Worse things can happen.  I am not saying that I am in favor of bullying, but I do believe that need to know that the world doesn't revolve around them. Yossi a'h was teased in 2nd or 3rd grade by some classmates. He was such a sweet and gentle boy; he didn't know how to handle it. He had been taught "We don't hit". So when things got a little rough, he took it like a punching bag. Then we told him, "When someone starts up with you, you are allowed to finish it".  The next time it happened, Yossi punched the kid, and that was the end of that. Was this whole situation right? No. But kids will be kids. Kids will be cruel. They will form cliques and exclude others and make fun of kids who are different from them. As a parent, it is our job, our responsibility, to teach our kids, THIS IS WRONG. This is NOT acceptable.  This is where people are failing their children. By taking G-d out of their lives, they have no moral ethics, except what they deem is ethical.  The problem with this is that when you decide ethics from society, those ethics can change. It used to be that abortion was considered wrong. Now women brag about killing their babies. I grew up in a time when parents stayed married. I was the only kid with a single mom. Now, having two parents is weird.

This last generation is becoming a generation of fragile, delicate, snowflakes. (Yes, I called them that!)  You can't hurt their feelings in any way. It may damage their self esteem, which is the most important thing in the whole wide world. If you try to say something that is offensive to them, they run to their "safe spaces" where you can't say those hurtful things.

So let me ask you this -- Where was the safe space for my children in 1997 when we had to tell them their brother had leukemia? Where was that space in 2001 when I had the pleasure of telling them that their brother had died. Yes, actually DIED. I'll tell you where it is. It doesn't exist. Where is the safe place for the kids who have been molested? Where is the safe place for kids saw their parents murdered by rabid arabs right before their eyes? And where is the safe place for kids whose parents get divorced, get sick, lose their job, or whatever else life throws at them.

You wanna know where these safe spaces are? They are INSIDE of you. It's that place where you dig deep, pull up your big girl (or boy) pants, and pick yourself back up. It's the inner strength you get from going through a hard time. It's that sensitivity you develop towards other going through a similar painful experience. If you shelter your kids from life, you are actually doing them a disservice. You are turning them into a selfish person who doesn't empathize. You are actually turning this whole world into an UNSAFE space for the rest of us. You are making it so kids can't handle anything they don't agree with. They can't hear conservative speakers. They can't hear different ideas. They feel entitled. They feel that you have to treat them with kid gloves because they are so special.

Well, chickadee, let me tell you. Yes, you are special. But then again, every single person in this world is special. You are not more equal than any of us, despite what your mommy told you. Yes. I just said that. I know, so hurtful. Such hate-speech. So disgusting. Well guess what, I stand by what I said. 

thoughts on fire

As a Yid, we use fire a lot.  I mean, we use fire A LOT! We light candles every Friday night to usher in Shabbos. We use a multi-wick candle to usher it out.  We light Chanukah candles and before Pesach we burn our chometz (leaven).  Sometimes, when you are around something too much, it becomes common, and a person could forget to use proper fire safety.

Years ago, it was second days of Pesach.  I lit candles, and went into my room to go get dressed. Soon my mother in law is screaming "Fire!".  Back then I used to reuse my little foil candle holders, and I used regular shabbos candles.  One of the candles must not have been in well, because it tipped out and fell onto the table. Which, because it was pesach, was covered in several layers of table clothes and one plastic one on top. Within seconds, the entire length of the table went up in flames. The table was pushed against the china cabinet, which was closed off for pesach. With ... you guessed it ... I was lazy and just tossed a sheet over it. So within the span of a few minutes, the entire length of the table went up, as did my china cabinet. Thank G-d we had a fire extinguisher! And because of pesach cleaning, I knew exactly where it was because I had moved it to clean around it.

Years later we had another shabbos candle accident, where a candle tipped over and set the dresser on fire. That happened because some napkins had been left near there. (Not smart!)

Lesson finally learned ... there are no more shabbos candles in my house. I use tea lights, which fit right into the special tea light holder.  The candles are on a base and there is nothing flammable around it.

Last night in Brooklyn, there was a horrible tragedy.  Before the night was out, half a family was wiped out from a horrific fire.  A mom, and her three kids are no longer living, leaving behind a father with three kids.  It is a tragedy beyond words! Such devastation, such horror ... The Baal Shem Tov said that anything we see or hear is for a reason. Who knows why I had to hear about this. (Goodness knows I try so hard to avoid hearing of such things!)  Maybe it is a wake up call to me and all of us that it is time to review fire safety.

As you can see above, the chanukah menorahs are on foil, which rests on a metal tray. This year I was lazy and didn't put foil UNDER the tray, but before we light tomorrow I will.  I try super hard to remember not to leave the pot holder on top of the soup pot that is cooking over night. And now I am questioning if it is smart to leave a flame burning overnight.  I never use dish towels near the stove, and I try very hard to make sure nothing comes close to the open flame.

We also own two fire extinguishers. I was about to post about them, but it turns out there is a HUGE recall on them.
Kiddie Fire Extinguisher Recall info

and info on how to use one, and what to look for when buying it:
Consumer Reports Buying Guide

Yay, turns out mine is unaffected by the recall. Whew.

This one was the top rated one on Consumer Reports.

Next up ... make a real plan what to do chas v'shalom if there is a fire!