First Rain in Israel Greeted with Delight

Summer is officially over. The festival of Succot has finished and we now start to pray for rain. This year rain was forecast just over a week after the Succot celebrations had come to an end. It prompted me to finally get around to rolling up the bamboo roof from the succah and putting it in its case. The rest of the succah had been neatly packed away the day after the holiday. The roof however, is the worst post-Succot job for me.

The bag is long, thin and far too tight; I always need to roll and then re-roll the bamboo sheet in order to squeeze it into the bag, which only opens from one end. I always think it must have been designed by a man (excuse the reverse sexism) as any woman would surely have designed a big slit along the length of the bag with a plastic zip.

A Poetic Moment

As my son and I finally managed to store away our succah roof until next year, we watched as the leaves and blossoms blew off the trees making a colourful carpet on the ground. Out of the blue he said, “I love the smell of Autumn”. This is not the usual type of comment my boisterous twelve year old usually makes!

Joyous Rain Dance

First came the warning clouts of thunder, followed by a sudden deluge of rain. He ran outside, dancing in the first cool shower of the year, closely followed by his brother and sister. All of them enjoyed the liberating and curious feeling of the first drops of rain in a country that is 90+ degrees for much of the year.

I reflected on how strange it was that my kids, born and raised in England during their early childhood, should exalt to so much in a shower of rain. Just when did rain become a novelty factor? Just when did my kids cease being English and become Israeli?

The Kids Prosper

Life has been moving forward at quite a pace and my blog seems to have been somewhat neglected.

Generally we are embedding ourselves deeper into our Israeli lives and England seems forever further away and increasingly 'foreign'... yet somehow we don't quite feel like Israelis yet either. We lap up Israeli culture and have become accustomed to the ideosyncrasies of day to day life here in Israel; which now feels natural and normal to us all.

Most of the time we barely think about being 'olim' and the weeks and months pass by with their usual share of family dramas. So let's catch up with the family.

A Black Eye and a New School

The other week my son did one of his 'specials' - another of his inexplicable, senseless acts that end up wrecking havoc. He decided to throw a brick at a deflating ball to see if he could puncture it - he didn't; it bounced back and whacked him in the face and giving him a black eye.

He has just started a great new school, having struggled in the Israeli education system since we got here. Over repeated years we have taken the decision to switch his school after it was apparent to us that he would not prosper where he was. This was frowned upon by many in 'the system' but we felt that however unsettling it was for him it was better to seek a good match than settle for a bad one. He was unhappy, he wanted to move, he wasn't working, he wasn't moving forward - so why stay put?

We made some wrong choices but finally, last year was the first year he felt comfortable in a school. Unfortunately though his age group all had to move up to the next level in the school system this year so we were left looking for the right 'next step' after several wasted years in schools that simply didn't suit him and that he was unable to thrive in.

Looking for Inspiration

Initial signs at the new school are hopeful; he reports that his new teacher talks to them, "with a smile on her face" and so far he is responding really well to her lessons - which are taught with the big masses of information and instructions all broken down into more manageable chunks and then subsequently recapped and re-inforced before the kids are asked to undertake tasks.

This seems to tick all his boxes in terms of being a second language speaker and also having poor concentration; he is participating more in class discussions and is keen to read from the board, give his opinion and answer questions. He is producing more notes and even, dare I say it, enjoying being educated. Now there's a turn up for the books.

After three long years of wrong choices and one year that put him back on track but was only ever going to be a single year before the changeover - could we finally have found his place after all this time?

In life you sometimes just need one teacher to believe in you or to inspire you. Maybe, just maybe, we have found someone to ignite his fire and unleash his potential.

Super Nanny on Wheels

Over the summer my elder daughter took to roller blading but is yet to master the art of balance - she whizzed around manically, arms waving to remain upright yet somehow has avoided major injury.

She has been amazing over the long (2 month) summer holiday, helping to take care of my 3 year old in the time between her coming home from nursery and me returning from work.

She would make up backpacks with picnics and take her to the park; she would invent imaginative games to keep her amused or choreograph dance routines which would be performed on my return.

One memorable day I got off the bus and as the doors parted, there they stood, dressed up in pretty frocks and necklaces, looking so beautiful and holding out freshly picked flowers. I just wanted to close my eyes and etch the sight forever on my memory and engrave it on my heart.

Bilingual at Last

My sabra is now three years old and has suddently become bilingual. Having struggled to understand everything my Hebrew speaker said, it is as if, suddenly, someone has flipped an invisible switch and her English has instantly kicked in. Just in time for the family visits over the summer!

So there we are, you are up to date now with my family as we settle further into our lives here and each of us finds our feet. We are hopeful that the year ahead will enable us to thrive further as individuals and as a family unit.

Wishing all readers a sweet, happy, healthy, productive year ahead where you follow your dreams and make a success of your chosen path. Shana Tova.

A Sleepover with a Difference!

My nine year old daughter often comes home excited about a planned sleepover at one friend’s house or another. She loves nothing better than to pack up a bag and spend the night sneaking snacks and playing cards under the covers.

This week she came home positively brimming with excitement. ‘Guess what Mum?’ she said, ‘I have been invited to have a sleepover with my teacher!’

Confused and Dithering!

So there I stood, totally confused with all sorts of thoughts and questions coming to mind. It turned out that a classmate of theirs spent the night at the teacher’s last week because no-one else could host her the night before a school trip that started early in the morning. The rest of the class got jealous and badgered the teacher to have a sleepover too. In the end she said three girls could stay over and my daughter was chosen as one of them as she had won the weekly class certificate for behavior and hard work.

There isn’t the smallest possibility of anything happening like this in the UK. I imagine that any school teacher making such a proposal would be promptly suspended and visited by social workers for thorough investigatation.

Our immediate thought was that it was totally inappropriate and to say no… but then we thought about it.

Yes or No...?

My daughter goes to a very small, close knit, religious, community school. Are we so tainted by modern social ills that we deny her the chance to enjoy feeling special and to have fun with a friend? Should we always assume the worst in people and deny individuals chances to carry out acts of kindness? Should we smear an innocent, well intended act with cynicism?

My daughter’s class teacher has two young kids of her own and lives fairly local to us. We live in the age of the mobile phone and can be in regular contact with her.

We have noticed that in Israel the teachers are much freer with the kids, particularly in smaller schools. In a previous school the teacher would stroke the kids’ faces and was always holding their hands and had a very close, motherly relationship with her class of young girls. It was particularly noticeable in contrast to the ‘no touching’ culture of UK schools.

Decision Made!

So anyway…. we let her go.

We worried the entire time that we were naïve, stupid, bad parents and more. I'd like to say we called her often to keep in touch and calm our nerves but our crazy 9 year old forgot to turn on her mobile! We felt jittery the whole time and to be honest, regretted our decision.

But... rest assured she had a great time! She loved her teacher’s young kids, she went to a show with her and her family and she came home having had a wonderful experience. We listened to her animatedly relating her stories and then breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Phew.

Did we do the right thing? Would you have done the same? Israel is a place criticized by the media as having a harsh, violent society with questionable standards. All I know is that family and community values are alive and well here in Israel whereas in the West the days of trust and innocence are well and truly over.

Simchat Torah - A Grand Finale

And so the holiday season has drawn to a close. Here in Israel, since the August break, life has never really wound back to normal. Instead we had a leisurely change of gear during September, with the return of work and school, but with many big projects, reorganizations, after school activities and normal school hours, not resuming until next week.

Whenever you asked something of someone over the past few weeks, the answer was always the same, “acharay hahagim” – after the holidays. Life in Israel was paused on half speed and today signaled the end of the festive season. But Simchat Torah is not really an ‘end’ it is surely a ‘grand finale’.

Today’s, Simchat Torah celebrations were joyous and manic. I watched as the men raced around the bima, torah scrolls held in the air or over their shoulders, singing in unison; the women looking on, making their own circles to dance in; clapping and singing along. I smiled at the boy propped on his father’s shoulders, wearing his over-sized jacket and two hats stacked one upon the other. Everyone was happy, celebrating the end of one cycle and the beginning of another.

And so Israel cranks up another gear to something that resembles normal speed. The women all start their diets and the kids their after school clubs. Please G-d our year will be full of health, happiness and peace. Amen.

Sharona B
http://www.judaicamosaica.com/

Pre Pesach Mayhem!

When you make aliyah there are many changes in your life – some big, some small, some expected, some not.

One of the pleasant surprises for me was the different array of nature I saw on an everyday basis. Now I am not talking about giant cockroaches or tarantulas here, I mean that I look up in at the trees in my garden and see colourful birds that I have never seen before. It occurs to me that perhaps the creatures I admire for being a little exotic and differing from the norm, are probably the Israeli equivalent of pigeons in the UK. However, I have retained an awe of all the different species around me.

This last week however, there was a less welcomed feathered friend on our patch. A stray chicken (yes you read that right!) seems to have taken up residence at the front of our house. I regularly feed a stray cat and from time to time I now hear an annoying, ‘peck, peck, peck’ as this nuisance of a fowl locates the cat food. Annoyingly, the cat is actually afraid of the chicken and allows her to steal her food.

My husband thinks she would make a nice Shabbat meal but I just want rid of her. I have chased her, thrown sticks at her, put emails out over the local network asking if anyone is missing a chicken and finally, changed the location of the cat food to the garden. The chicken does not seem particularly bright and, so far, has not realized what I have done. I am hoping the removal of the food will encourage her to find another foster home.

So, enough of my feathered fiasco... it is time to get cleaning for pesach. Perhaps, before she departs, I should pluck a feather from the chicken to help me search for chametz!

This post goes out to all those currently surrounded by buckets of hot water, bottles of cleaning products and an array of dusters and cloths. There is something quite therapeutic about pre pesach decluttering and cleaning but it is one of those things that you don't really appreciate until all the hard work is over and done with - whilst in the middle of the task you just have a never ending mental checklist of places still in need of a good scrub. Happy cleaning!

Sharona B

www.judaicamosaica.com

Let It Rain

Aside from the ‘ceasefire’ and elections, the hot topic in Israel at the moment is water, or rather the lack of it. It seems that our water sources are drying up and our supplies are running out. Mismanagement, consumer wastage and climate change have, between them, given us a shortfall between demand and supply.

On arriving in Israel I found it bemusing that although people spoke of the need for rain, the sprinkler systems in public and private domains continually clicked on at regular internals, as if showing irreverence to the situation. Public actions were, and are, seemingly out of synch with governmental concerns.

Apparently, in the past, Israeli kids grew up singing songs in kindergarten about saving water. Today though, the passage of time appears to have eroded this ingrained respect for nature’s provision of water and seems to have been replaced with the assumption that, if you turn the tap on, water will come out.

For the first time, Israel, advisor to many countries in the world on advanced technology to manage water systems, is ironically facing a drought; not only a literal drought with taps being turned on to no effect but a drought of ideas on how to solve the problem.

There appears to be government level discussion, research and trials but, as yet, no clear decision on the way forward. Anglo discussion boards are full of posts submitting ideas on how we can all preserve water and reduce our individual consumption.

Last night we had a massive thunder storm; lightening bolts shrieking from the sky and violent rainstorms pelting down. We have seen little rain this winter and last night's storm will do little to redress the national water shortage.

Let’s hope we find a way to adopt those ideas which are the cheapest and most effective and, above all, develop a strategy so that the country can worry about all the normal ‘soress’ and get the basics right.

Sharona B

www.judaicamosaica.com

Cold Hands, Warm Heart

Israeli houses, like Israelis themselves, have a whole set of idiosyncrasies. Designed to combat the heat that is present for most of the year, they can be a tough experience during the winter months.

Heating houses which a) don’t have a heating system pre-installed, b) don’t have carpet, c) are open plan, d) have stone floors and e) have draughty windows, is both difficult and expensive.

Having been shocked at our electricity bill last year (which, I might add, was despite our efforts to be as economical as possible,) we decided that this year we would try to avoid an excessive bill. We bought a few heaters and these go on early morning and sporadically throughout the day but, alas, are not constantly pumping out the heat.

We have taken to old fashioned remedies. We use hot water bottles, we layer on our clothes, we shut the curtains at night and we eat lots of porridge. I would love to report back that all of these things have made a great difference but in truth, we are all still cold.

We are still cold inside the house that is. Many days, we venture outside and are shocked to find that it is 21°! We look around us at all the Israelis in their T-Shirts and jeans and feel a little foolish in our coats and scarves!

However much I get caught out, I still forget next time around. It just feels so cold that I automatically pile on layer after layer of clothing only to peel many of them off when I leave the house. My kids too are fed up with me making sure they wear their coats before they leave for school (zipped up too!) Israel just seems to be one of those places where you actually wear more clothes inside of the house than outside.

Maybe next year I will finally find a way to deal with winter in an Israeli house. Still, the phrase, 'cold hands, warm heart' springs to mind. In Israel we certainly have cold hands at the moment. The phrase also rings true for Israelis themselves, whose sometimes cold, tough exterior more often than not conceals the warmest of hearts.

Sharona B

www.judaicamosaica.com

Voting, Israeli Style

Yesterday was my first experience of carrying out my civic duty and voting in an Israeli local election. I guess that’s some kind of a landmark. I think however, those monitoring the election process must have wondered who on earth they had on their hands and whether I had the mental capacity to cope with voting at all! I must have seemed a little clueless whilst trying to cast my vote. The whole process is different to ‘back home’ and I didn’t really know what to do or fully understand the instructions I was given.

I was given two envelopes and for a while afterwards stood around searching for a ballot paper inside each of them and looking for pen to mark an x. After a while I realized things were done a little differently here and that I was standing the wrong side of a booth, which was hiding numerous slips of paper, two of which I needed to insert into my envelopes.

Having rectified the error I mustered as much dignity as I could and prepared to post my envelopes in the ballot box. The officiator, having surveyed my confusion repeatedly checked that I had managed to put the yellow slip in the yellow envelope and the white slip in the white envelope. I assured him that (even) I had managed this.

Later on I walked to the local supermarket and brought a trolley full of food. I asked for a delivery and was initially told there were none today (no reason given, just, ‘not today’). I stood for a while considering which items I needed the most and could manage to carry home. Suddenly the loud speaker unexpectedly announced that deliveries were back on.

Later on in the afternoon my delivery arrived whilst I was on the phone. I noticed the man deliver two boxes and then return to his van for more. I was conscious that I had a final box and assumed he was rummaging around in the van for this. Finally, call over, I peered outside to see what was happening. There was no sign of him. Realizing that my final box had not arrived I phoned the store. I established, in the best Hebrew I could, that I had just had a delivery but that my box of fridge and freezer food had not materialized. I gave them my name and address and waited for them to respond. The phone was passed around to a few people and finally I spoke to someone who acknowledged that one box was indeed missing. Rather than apologizing (An Israeli apologizing? Does that happen?!) I was asked whether they could now deliver my box tomorrow. As I needed some of the items that night I said, ‘no’. Their caring, customer-focused response was, ‘why not??’. I began to pull together a sentence in my mind in Hebrew, explaining that there were things I needed. Suddenly I realized that a better approach was simply to treat the question as an Israeli would. ‘Cacha’ I said (‘because’). Israelis rarely back up a ‘cacha’ with anything, a ‘cacha’ is simply enough. I am proud to say my tactics worked and my box arrived shortly afterwards.

So I guess I may be a little inept at all this new election stuff but I am starting to feel my way in dealing with everyday situations.

Sharona B

www.judaicamosaica.com