Echoes

Today I am beginning a New York journey with 19 teens from the synagogue. We begin at Ellis Island.....written in the entrance hall....

My feet are tired.
How must their feet have felt?
It's very loud in here, it echoes with voices and feet, laughter and loudspeakers.
Can this even be a fraction of what the noise was like?
What a warm day...
I can't imagine shlepping through here wearing all my worldly possessions.
Many visitors speaking many languages. And audio tours in all their tongues.
What would it be like without the tour? Confusing, heart-wrenching, head-hurting, overwhelming...

I am filled with awe at the leap of faith - a new land, new opportunities, new hope. The unknown life, the dream of America. To never go back. To never again hear the voices of those left behind, or see their faces. To turn a resolute back on the past and squarely face an undiscovered future. To create a new life.

Daily I am blessed by the choices made by those who came before me.
I am grateful for their bravery and courage, their fortitude and strength.

Their memories HAVE become a blessing. May they continue to do so.

Sent via Blackberry
Visit me at http://imabima.blogspot.com

Echoes

Today I am beginning a New York journey with 19 teens from the synagogue. We begin at Ellis Island.....written in the entrance hall....

My feet are tired.
How must their feet have felt?
It's very loud in here, it echoes with voices and feet, laughter and loudspeakers.
Can this even be a fraction of what the noise was like?
What a warm day...
I can't imagine shlepping through here wearing all my worldly possessions.
Many visitors speaking many languages. And audio tours in all their tongues.
What would it be like without the tour? Confusing, heart-wrenching, head-hurting, overwhelming...

I am filled with awe at the leap of faith - a new land, new opportunities, new hope. The unknown life, the dream of America. To never go back. To never again hear the voices of those left behind, or see their faces. To turn a resolute back on the past and squarely face an undiscovered future. To create a new life.

Daily I am blessed by the choices made by those who came before me.
I am grateful for their bravery and courage, their fortitude and strength.

Their memories HAVE become a blessing. May they continue to do so.

Sent via Blackberry
Visit me at http://imabima.blogspot.com

Missing?

I'm missing some random things.

My favorite headband.

A pink photobook telling Yael's birth story.

One of the plastic lunchbox containers.

And often, my keys. 

Hairclips.

Bracelets.

We've got our own little magpie.

I went to the Quilting Retreat....

...and all I did was finish my book.

Yep, no pretty quilts to show for it.

Sometimes just being around the pretty fabrics and all that creative energy is enough.

I had a great time.

The Heroes of Israel

What I love so much about Israel are the remarkable stories. “Only in Israel” is a phrase that I love to hear. On a visit to Israel in 2008, I heard this remarkable tale…

It was the War of Independence. Ilana was a teenager, a volunteer in Moshav Shafir. She, along with other teenaged volunteers, had been recruited as a saboteur. The tanks were coming, a long line of them, up through Gaza from Egypt. She and her fellow saboteurs were ordered to find all the explosives they could and place them under the bridge in Shafir, to blow up the bridge as soon as the first tank was on the bridge.

All the women and children had been evacuated from the area in anticipation of the arrival of the tanks, so the girls had been told. Ilana and her team stationed themselves directly under the bridge, awaiting their task.

The sound of a vehicle came, and they prepared to set the charges. Suddenly, Ilana said “Stop!” She heard something, something that indicated to her that this was not the tank they thought it was. She insisted to her compatriots that she heard the cry of a baby. As the vehicle came closer, they discovered that it was indeed true, the car held a woman with a new baby as well as another pregnant woman, being evacuated from a nearby town. Had they exploded the bridge…

Ilana, a young woman who became a heroine. Today Ilana is an older lady (she refused to reveal her age…a lady never tells), telling her story to groups of visitors to Shafir, standing on the bridge that she did not blow up. (The tanks never got that far.)

On the day we heard her story, another woman came over as Ilana finished telling her story. She was introduced to our group as “the pregnant woman’s baby” – Ilana had never met her before. But these two were forever linked by their story, their part in the formation of the young State. (The baby who cried, so they said, grew up to be a member of Knesset…) I felt goose bumps on my skin as these two women met and embraced. They were like long-lost sisters, joined by history.

The heroes of Eretz Yisrael are not politicians and soldiers (although they are so often heroes as well), but they are the ordinary citizens who have stories of their own to tell. These stories are what fill me up in the Land of Israel, and make the Land come alive.

Sixty-two years of stories…may the future bring so many more.

Looking Up at the Moon

This is the post I wrote for the 60 Bloggers for Israel project in 2008. In honor of Israel's 60th birthday, 60 bloggers each posted over the course of 60 days leading up to Yom Ha'atzma'ut. Unfortunately, the domain is no longer active, so my links to that post (which, for some reason, I didn't cross-post) aren't available. Luckily, I saved my post and here it is.
---

It was living in Israel that I really became aware of the cycle of the moon. Was it the clearer skies? Was it the life lived by the Hebrew months? Or was it the metaphorical closeness of the heavens?  I believe it was all of the above. Only in Israel did the moon seem to guide my life, give me a sense of the date, greet my nights.

1.

Moses Montefiore’s windmill, Jerusalem, 3:00am, Shabbat morning.
Watching the moon rise and set over the Old City of Jerusalem…
talking, holding hands, waiting for him to kiss me for the first time.

2.

Mitzpe Ramon Crater, the Negev, 11:00pm
Laying on the rocks, looking up, the moon so close
we can reach out and touch it.

3.

Keren haYesod Street, Jerusalem, midnight, Yom Kippur
Walking on a quiet, car-empty street
the moon is half-there, growing in potential as we grow ourselves…


Wherever I am, wherever I go, when I see the moon, I am in Eretz Yisrael.

The waxing and waning of the moon has been compared to the Jewish people, always returning, always present, always renewing ourselves. The moon may be hard to see but it always returns, even more vibrant, more beautiful each time we see it. Israel is like this to me – no matter how many weeks, months, years pass between my visits, it is more vibrant, more beautiful.

“You are a crown of glory for those who are borne in the womb, for they, like you, are destined to be renewed.” (from Kiddush Levanah)

Eretz Yisrael…our crown of glory…may its shimmering light shine for us always.

13 Things I Love About Israel

In honor of Yom Ha'atzma'ut, Israel's Independence Day, here is one of my favorite posts, a list of 13 things I love about Israel...

(13 of the 13 bazillion...)

1. Felafel with cheeps and charif and pickles. Mmmmmm....

2. Walking on Ben Yehuda on Motzei Shabbat.

3. Watching kids play in parks that are full of ancient artifacts.

4. The whale sculpture in Old Jaffa.

5. Seeing Israeli kids riding the busses, hanging out, running around, just being kids and speaking Hebrew!

6. Spotting the blue paint in Tsfat.

7. Bumper stickers!!!!

8. The grottos of Rosh Hanikra, especially when the water levels are really high....

9. Watching the faces of first-timers when they really do float in the Dead Sea.

10. Reading Rachel's poems at her graveside.

11. Knowing that the young men and women carrying those big guns are Jewish kids ready to defend their homes and families.

12. Feeling Shabbat as it comes into Jerusalem...the frenzy of activity followed by the lovely calm. (And the shuk - rugelach and tomatoes and hummus and pita and spices and oranges and.....)

13. Feeling like I'm coming home.

Here's the post I wrote about my brother's aliyah - it's his first Yom Ha'atzma'ut as an Israeli!
Happy birthday, Israel! May each day bring more blessing to your land and people.

Chutzpah

On Friday night, services at my synagogue were packed. There were a number of Bar and Bat Mitzvah families, and it was First Grade Shabbat, so all of those kids and their families were there. We pretty much ran out of seats in the sanctuary. That's a lot of people.

My wonderful husband decided to bring Sam and Yael to services. They are not huge fans of sitting still, and they don't quite get why they can't come up on the bima with Ima, so they don't usually make it through much of the service. But practice makes perfect, right?

So, about 3/4 of the way through the service, they were hanging out in the lobby with Abba. The doors were closed to the sanctuary, but a well-meaning friend let Sam into the sanctuary. She never imagined what he would do next.

Holding a whole apple in his hand, taking bites as he walked down the center aisle, Sam walked right up to the bima and came right up to ME as I was leading the congregation in the prayer for healing. It's a relatively solemn moment in the service, people are thinking about their loved ones who are ill or seeking healing. But Sam came right up to me and I must admit, I was trying really hard not to laugh!

Since I basically ignored him (I put my hand on his head, but tried not to look since I knew I would totally crack up), he went and sat on the top step of the bima. He was totally unfazed by the number of people. He just kept munching on his apple.

As soon as we were finished with the prayer, I went to scoop him up and take him out. But then the other rabbi stopped me. He said, "Sam, thanks for coming in - you are the perfect illustration of what's going on here tonight..." and he proceeded to talk about our "Green Initiative" - we're serving whole fruit instead of cut fruit as part of it, and, it just so happened, Sam was also wearing a bright green shirt. When he mentioned Sam's apple, Sam obligingly held it up for everyone to see. I tell you, the kid is a (kosher) ham.

I'm so glad to know that my children aren't shy.

Potential

Spring is in the air.
What are YOU waiting for?

Passover in Pictures

Better late than never, right?

A quick recap of Passover in pictures...

See more great shots over at Tracey's place.

Haveil Havalim Strikes Again!

My bosom friend FrumeSarah has put together an excellent Haveil Havalim* for your reading pleasure...go visit her and say hi!

*Haveil Havalim is the Jewish and Israeli Blog Carnival, a weekly roundup of the best (well, self-selected) of our work from this week. Not surprisingly, we Jews have a lot to say.

Riding the Train...

Life is like a train....

we all get on at the beginning and we ride around...

Everyone experiences it differently.

Photo credit: my dad
Some people like to stick their heads out and look around.

When you're riding the train at the zoo, it's about the journey.

The destination?

Right back where you started.

Photo credit: my dad 
No one seems to mind.

For sure, the journey is best when shared.
I promise (b'li neder), regular blogging will resume next week.

How to Get Your Kids to Love Passover

Many many of my friends and their families have a hard time with Pesach. I know, it seems like a tricky holiday. After all, there are so many rules and things that we can't eat.

And I know that some people reading this can't quite relate to the way that I keep Pesach - since I'm not overly stringent about certain things and I do eat kitniyot. But this is what my family does to keep Pesach and how we make it as interesting and fun as possible...because I want my kids to LOVE Passover as much as I do.

So here goes, my get-kids-to-love-my-favorite-holiday rule:
say YES to as many things as you can.

Chocolate cereal that mom won't buy any other time of year (even tho it's the matzah stuff)? Yep, it's Pesach!

Potato chips for snack? Yep, it's Pesach!

REAL maple Syrup AND chocolate chips on your matzah meal pancakes? Why not? It's Pesach!

Ice cream for a snack (or...even, gulp....breakfast)? Yep, it's Pesach!

Israeli chocolate spread on matzah? (or even...on a spoon) Yep, it's Pesach!

Basically, I make it about what you GET more than what you don't get.
I make as many playdates at OUR house as I can, I bake brownies and offer chocolate spread on matzah for any meal they want.(Oh, and I clear the house of all chametz, of course. So it's just not there if they ask. They can look in the cabinet and take anything they see...out of sight, out of mind.)

Meals are simple - we do eat a lot of fish and potatoes, but everyone likes my Farfel-Cheese Casserole which I make at least once. I always make a few batches of matzah brei as well, which goes over pretty well. We eat eggs for breakfast and sometimes for dinner or lunch. I don't worry as much about nutrition except for one key element: lots of fruit. I splurge and get as many kinds of fruit as my kids will eat. (Gotta keep them...um...regular.) I make sure that every meal has a piece of fruit attached to it and while I'm happy to offer all that junk food they want, I still suggest a pear or apple as the FIRST idea for a snack. Sometimes they take me up on it!

This year we went to the zoo, and we packed a picnic, which we ate before we went in. This worked because even though I put all the stuff in the cooler, it was pretty hot and I would have worried about it if we tried to leave it in the car while we walked the zoo. The kids had matzah crackers with cheese, carrots, macaroons and clementines. I brought a big bag of potato chips and salads for the grownups. It worked great and no one went hungry. (Including the goose who tried to crash our picnic. He got the leftovers...)

We are not as absolutely strict as some people so I usually schedule one trip to New York Slices where they make matzah pizza and one trip to Max and Benny's for their Pesach menu (we didn't get there this year) which breaks up the monotony of eating at home, too. But even if you don't do that, my method would still work well.

The other problem is that so many other people around my kids don't actually keep the holiday. I generally solve this by doing as much fun stuff as a family as we can (want to watch a movie? Sure, it's Pesach!) and inviting other kids to our house for playdates instead of the reverse. The other kids don't seem to mind matzah with cream cheese and it keeps my kid away from having to explain anything.

Side note: This year I made THESE amazing brownies from Marcy Goldman's great Jewish Holiday Baking cookbook and I plan to make them every year....so good. Seriously. You wouldn't believe they're Pesadik.
 

At the end of the day, Passover is my favorite holiday. Yes, it's a challenge, but I love that. It helps me feel special and different, it helps me think for a whole week outside the box, it helps me create something that my kids remember from year to year. And I think that while they might not love Pesach quite yet, they don't mind it at all. And that's good enough for me at this point. I can only hope that as they grow older, they'll love it as much as I do.

 

I feel connected to the story, I truly feel that I walked out of Egypt and I get choked up as we read the lines from the Haggadah..."and you shall say to your children on that day, this is because of what God did for US when WE went forth from Egypt."

 

We've watched Prince of Egypt at least 3 times this Pesach and I find my eyes get moist each time we are freed from slavery. And each time we watch it, I ask my kids "who are those people leaving Egypt?" and they've learned to answer, "that's us."

 

That's what I want.

 

So...What do you do to make Pesach special in your house?