Saturday night, Shabbos was over an hour ago, I'm waiting for the shemesh to heat up the water so I can do the stacks and stacks of dishes, there's homework to be done for ulpan tomorrow, and I'm just going to sit here and blog for awhile. How's that?

I only went to ulpan one day last week, so I have a feeling there's a lot to catch up on. Last motzei Shabbos I started to get a sore throat and by the end of the evening it felt like the top layer of my throat had been stripped away. I slept 11 hours that night! After a couple of days the nose stopped running and the throat felt better, and I went to class on Tuesday morning. Then - there were predictions of actual snow in Israel! It was so exciting! We were checking all the weather sites and they said it was to be the biggest storm of the last decade. It was really good news because up to now, from at least July 6 when we arrived here (and probably a good 3 months before then), there had been exactly 2 periods of rain (and we're not talking about full days, either). David thought it was funny that I wasn't studying Tuesday night; he couldn't believe I was hoping for a snow day! As it turned out, Yerushalayim got about 4 inches and we just got extremely heavy downpours off and on from very early Wednesday morning (starting around 2 AM) until late Wednesday night. So I didn't go to school because I wasn't about to pay for a cab and I wasn't going to walk a mile in the rain after just having had a sore throat. I heard only 4 people initially showed up and a few more trickled in, and they let everyone out early so I don't think I missed much. So it's actually been like 2 full weeks off (because of Chanukah the week before) and it will be hard to go back tomorrow. On Thursday morning, David called me to back to his office and pointed out the window. In the distance, near Beitar, we could see all the hills covered with snow! It was so pretty! We hadn't been able to see it the day before with all the clouds and rain. Today it felt like it was in the 60's, but someone said there may be more snow in the near future.

It's now 11 pm. Besides doing a mountain of dishes and finishing (almost all) my homework, I got a call from Tefilla, from the organization I worked for 3 days before ulpan started. She had an interesting proposition for me that David and I will have to think over very carefully before making a decision. But right now I have to shower and get to bed. More tomorrow.

It's tomorrow. Wasn't that quick? Ulpan was so much fun today! It was kind of cold and rainy, plus it was a fast day (the 10th of Tevet), but I dutifully trudged my way over to the matnas where I showed up exactly on time for class and was the only one there. We eventually got up to 8 people and it was actually (surprisingly!) a really fun day. Sarah, our morah, is frum and she frequently ties in things that we're learning with Torah. The whole first hour we talked about the difference between the words "emet" (truth) and sheker (falsehood) and how Hakodesh Boruch Hu (Hashem) is truly emet. Tied to the that was the reason for the fast day (Nebuchednezzer - probably spelled wrong - was the king of Babylon, whose army breached the walls of Yerushalayim and tore down our first Temple on this day which started a 70 year exile of the Jewish People from the Holy Land. He even spent 500 million dollars in the 80's trying to reconstruct the original Babylon and had 60 million gold bricks put in the throne room of the palace of Nebuchednezzer praising the ancient king). So think about this. Saddam Hussein was hanged yesterday. Who else was hanged? Haman, another evil guy. But get this - Hussein publicly likened himself to Nebuchednezzer throughout his "reign.". And where was he from? Iraq was Babylon! And just as Haman sought to destroy us and was hanged, Hussein got his just 'reward.' Only in Israel do you get a great dvar Torah while you're learning the language!

Near the end of class, we sat in groups and had to write a dialogue about giving directions. Ellen and I were laughing so hard and being really silly (that's what hunger pains can do to you). We were so proud of ourselves for our conversation because we used lots of verbs in atid (future) tense, and when we read it for Sarah she was impressed except that we really had only talked about going to the supermarket together and not about HOW to get there. So we started over and we got to present ours to the class first. It started off with me asking, "Ellen, effo anachnu?" which means "Where are we?" We had everyone laughing and she let us out a few minutes early. I know, I know - you had to be there. I wish some of you were! Here, I mean.

One of you is. It's almost 4 PM and when David comes home from mincha/maariv, he's bringing home Rabbi Greenwald, who I worked with at Aish in St. Louis and who's here in Israel for a little over a week. We haven't even seen him yet, but he's coming to break the fast with us. I can't wait to see him.

We had 2 other St. Louisans staying with us for Shabbos; it was really nice. A woman and her high school son had come to spend a couple of weeks with her older son who's in yeshiva here in Ramat Beit Shemesh. We had them for both meals, and the family downstairs (Coco's family) with the 3 year old twins also came Friday night. I think Emma enjoyed the company, once she stopped barking at them. She might be small, but she has a mighty bark, especially when people invade her territory. Of course, when Yakira and Hadar came in, she didn't stop licking them and climbing all over them all evening, which they loved.

I can't get warm. This is probably the coldest day we've had so far since we've lived here. In fact, in all the times we visited Israel, we must have dodged any real winter days, because I've never felt this cold in Israel before - and I've been here in December, January and February. We definitely need this rain, but the wind we can do without. Probably I'm just cold because I haven't eaten today. I don't have a problem fasting and this is a pretty short fast, but I'm looking forward to some very hot split pea soup in a couple of hours.

So, you're probably thinking I won't even remember that I started to write about Tefilla's phone call last night. My memory is getting much better these days (also I just re-read the blog to look for typos...). Anyway, she had previously called me before Shabbos to ask if I was interested in working for one of her fundraisers by making calls to the US. Yad Ezra V'Shulamit advertises on the internet and they get a lot of donations that way. My mission, should I choose to accept it, is to call the donors from the US personally and thank them for their donation, and then shmooze with them a little and get to know them. Then I call them back 3 more times during the year, sometimes just to keep in touch and sometimes to solicit them again. I get an hourly rate (extremely low) and a commission for anything I bring in over the initial amount. But then she called last night with a proposition to use a room in our apartment as an office for me and 2 of the fundraisers (both rabbis) who live in RBS. They both have large families and noisy homes, and going into the office in the evening wastes a lot of time (we have to call during American hours - 4 PM - midnight). The organization would put in the 2 extra phone lines to the states, and pay us "whatever's fair" for the use of our home. We can't come to a decision. It would only be probably Sunday and Monday evenings, but David wouldn't have much privacy because we have a small apartment and we'd have to set them up at the dining room table. Plus I can't make phone calls if there are other people in the room talking (or listening).

Guess what? It's about 5 hours later and I'm just getting back to this blog. We had a really nice meal with the rabbi, and David walked him back to where he's staying. It was so nice to see him.

We're not going to make our home into an office, we decided. I'm going to make the phone calls one night a week, but that's about it. After ulpan we'll see if I go into the office or look for something closer to home. Hopefully, David will have a good job by then...

We keep forgetting to turn the shemesh on to heat up some water, so we can't shower or even wash the dishes for awhile. Guess I'll have to say my daily tehillim now. I sure would love to hear from some of you folks back home (former home). Maybe you could just leave me a little note to say hi? I miss you!

Chanukah Sameach!

We spent the day in Yerushalayim today for our own personal tiyul. Unfortunately, we tried to do too much and didn't get to do everything we had planned. By the time we got off the RBS bus in Geulah and started walking up Strauss, it was already after 10:30 a.m. Then we ran into Yocheved Bienenfeld and spent some time speaking about their recent aliyah. It seems like more and more St. Louisans are arriving here all the time!

Our next impromptu thought (actually, my thought) was to go to Talpiot again to the drivers' license bureau, but it turned out to be a wasted trip. There were 47 people ahead of us (after we waited in another line for the first ten minutes), and we didn't have all the right paperwork with us, anyway. So we got back on the #14 bus and headed back to King George and Yaffo Streets. By then it was already 12:30 so we just went to lunch at Cafe Rimon. There we ran into Karen from our ulpan class and her husband, Al. We love running into people we know! Just as they were leaving, Avital showed up to meet some friends! She sat down with us for a few minutes and told us she was leaving Israel the middle of January. It's hard to believe she's been here a whole year. But now it's time for her to move on; after a 2 week visit in St. Louis, she's heading to Flatbush, in New York. I hope we stay in contact.

After lunch we walked down Agrippas Street, stopping at the Chofetz Chaim butcher shop to meet the owner who hails from Chicago (34 years ago). They deliver to RBS and I wanted to see what they had there. As we continued our way up Agrippas, I realized I hadn't stopped in the little girls' room before we'd left Cafe Rimon so we stopped at a mall we'd never seen before. It was mostly empty; the front of it faced Yaffo Street. Well, folks, let me tell you that there is a definite seamy side in the Holy City. I'm not going into detail, but the bottom floor of this building had some shops that had no place in Yerushalayim, much less anywhere else in the state of Israel (in my own humble opinion). And the blatant signs on the doors left no one unsure as to what was inside. How sad that places like those are allowed to operate here.

But we put it behind us as we entered the shuk. It's the first time I've been there since we moved here, and we had such fun. We lamented that we lived so far away; it would be nice to shop there every Thursday for Shabbos. If you don't know what the shuk is, you need to come to experience it yourself. It's a huge outdoor market that extendes from Agrippas to Yaffo Street over a wide area, and has stand after stand of fresh fish, huge fresh vegetables (you wouldn't believe the size of the radishes here!), barrels and barrels of fresh spices (I had no idea what any of them were; I need my friend Korey to come from America and go shopping with me), candies, toys, kitchen items, wines - you name it.

From there we headed to Geulah where, for the first time, we walked up and down some of the side streets instead of just staying on the main street that goes into Mea Shearim. David ducked into a bookstore for mincha near Uri's Pizza (bring back any memories?) where there are minyanim going on continuously, while I had a standoff with a kiosk (k-i-o-s-k) vendor selling snoods and scarves. I just don't have the haggling thing down yet. I found a navy beret I wanted and the guy wanted 79 shekels. I asked if he'd take 50. He laughed at me. He showed me the workmanship, the weave of the material, he compared it to snoods of inferior quality. I acted like the dumb new olah chadasha that I am (I'm sure he thought I was a tourist). He conceded to go down to 65 shekels. I said that I really couldn't afford it anyway. He continued to extoll its wonderful qualities. Then I said that I had to ask my husband who'd be there shortly. He got really angry and pulled it out of my hands and buried it in a pile, muttering to himself in Hebrew. Of course I came back, and ended up getting it for 60 shekels. Not too shabby, but I think I could have handled it a little better. You live and learn.

By this time it was getting dark and the temperature was dropping. It is definitely colder in Yerushalayim than in RBS. Shaina (our downstairs neighbor who watched Emma for us today) told me tonight that it was actually HOT in RBS today. Go figure. In the meantime, David and I took the #2 bus to the kotel and I was freezing. Everyone else had winter coats and I had a jacket. But I had a nice conversation with Hashem, said my tehillim, and inched my way to the Wall to give it a little kiss before backing out into the plaza (you shouldn't turn your back to the wall; it's not respectful). It's so beautiful at night; I'd forgotten. There were a lot of people there and it was just so nice to be there.

By then we were pooped so we waited for the #2 again to take us to Shmuel Hanavi to catch the #417 back to RBS. We waited a good 20 minutes in the cold for the 417. When we got home, we found a nice surprise. Emma is still a puppy. Even though I put the bathroom trash can in the tub where she couldn't see it, she pulled the roll of toilet paper out all over the bathroom floor and played with one of the bathroom rugs, actually dragging it out into the hallway where she pished on it! Not to mention that she also pished on the couch! She spent quite a lot of time downstairs playing with her friend, Coco, but obviously she was either angry with us for leaving her (we'd never left her for so long before) or she was really, really bored. I suspect the latter. She got a little potch, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't know why, even when I stuck her nose in it. We're going to have to leave the door to the back bedrooms closed when we leave her alone.

Our friends from Kochav Yaakov are coming to visit tomorrow. They sent us a link to some great video clips that someone on their yishuv made. Go to www.israeliliving.com and check it out. The video about Kochav Yaakov is great. The one about Ben Yehuda Street might bring back memories for some of you.

And for the next 2 Shabbosim, we have guests from St. Louis staying with us! None are people we know well, but they're visiting Israel and of course want to see fellow St. Louisans. Oh, yeah, I neglected to say that while we were eating lunch, we started to talk to the couple at the table next to us (who are visiting their daughter and her family for a couple of weeks), and it turns out they live in Baltimore right across the street from the Newmans who moved there from St. Louis, and who we stayed with on our Farewell Tour. Once again and not for the last time - it's such a small world.

As I'm sitting here writing, I glance out the patio door to my left and see our Chanuykia lit inside a little aquarium and sitting on our table on the mirpeset. We're supposed to publicize the miracle of Chanukah by lighting in a window, and many people here in Israel light outside. It was pretty cool on the bus as we passed apartment buildings in Geulah with the shining menorahs in all the windows, and again as we drove through RBS Bet and then Aleph (we're one of the last bus stops). What a wonderful place to live! I don't think I remember to thank Hashem every single day for this miracle. I feel so blessed to be able to be here.

I hope you're having a wonderful Chanukah!

It seems like longer and longer between blogs. Some days it feels like there's no time to even turn around, much less spend time writing. But it's the middle of a Tuesday afternoon, my mahj game fell through, David is in Yerushalayim until probably 9 or 10 tonight and I don't have ulpan again until Sunday, so - here I am!

I do need to go down to the chupat cholim around 4 to get a flu shot. We got some letters in the mail that they probably sent to selected people (read: old) to tell us we should go to the clinic sometime in December to get our free flu shot. But I'll be finished writing before 4. It actually looks like it may finally rain this afternoon. For some reason I can't get to the RBS weather website to check, but I'll just take an umbrella with me to the bus stop. Or maybe I'll actually just walk on down to the clinic; it's a long way but it's mostly downhill and I can use the exercise.

So David is no longer in ulpan. He really needs to find a job and from what we've heard from others, it could take up to a year to find one and we don't have enough money to last that long unless we spend every penny we have. Our sol klita (government checks) end at the end of January and we don't have much other income. David feels that all the IT (Information Technology) jobs are in programming and he's only done networking for the past many years, so he decided to hone up on his programming skills. He went to Machon Lev, the Jerusalem College of Technology, where Nathan went to for a year, and they're actually letting him sit in on a class 4 days a week - for free. David knows how to program; he just needs to learn the new languages. He's also on all kind of job email lists and has his resume in at a lot of places. Plus Nefesh b'Nefesh is also helping him. One job listing he showed me last night looked very interesting; the first two years they need someone to live in Barcelona, Spain. I think he should apply for it. It's only a 4 or 5 hour flight from here and he could come home for Shabbos or I could go there. You wouldn't even believe how many families move here, with a lot of kids, and the husband keeps his job in the states and commutes, coming home every couple of weeks or once a month. The wives are really suffering because they have to take care of the kids and all their needs, plus deal with all the other issues of moving here all on their own. But I guess it's important to them to have that American income, which is proportionally much better than Israeli paychecks. We personally feel we can get by on so much less than we did in the states, but then, we don't have a lot of kids to take care of any more, either. I do feel pretty bad that we won't be able to send our kids and grandkids and my nephew any Chanukah presents this year. Hopefully we'll be in a better position next year.

I also applied for a job yesterday. Our friend, Zvi, who is director of the Jewell program at Aish, forwarded me a job notice from the Aish Jerusalem office. They're looking for someone 4 hours a day to mostly work from home. That would be perfect for me! Someone in personnel called me this morning and I told her about my ten years with Aish St. Louis and my computer experience. She said there are always jobs opening up. I'm sure Rabbi Grunberger and Albert from Aish St. Louis would give me a good recommendation. But I really don't want to work while I'm still in ulpan. I don't even know where those 4 hours could be fit in right now and the pay isn't much (but average by Israeli standards). We'll see what, if anything, they offer me.

Tomorrow morning the ulpan is offering another tiyul, this time to Yerushalayim. I had signed David and I up, but we decided not to go. If we can get up early and catch the 6:30 AM bus to Yerushalayim, we're going to Nathan's Rav's son's bris in Har Nof. It was nice of the Rabbi to have called to tell us about it. I can't afford to buy the baby a gift, but I'll have to get a card when I go down to the mercaz later. If we decide not to go (we really won't know anyone else and I'm sure the men and women will sit separately for the seuda - festive meal after the bris), we'll just catch a later bus and go into Yerushalayim anyway. I haven't been to the kotel in awhile and it will be nice to walk around a little. David's class tomorrow is at 2 p.m. in Bayit Vegan (he says Givat Mordechai), and then I'll probably just grab a bus home so I won't be tempted to go clothes shopping in Geulah (they have great stores for women!).

I'm hoping that Ellen and I are going to a play tonight at the matnas in Beit Shemesh. We forgot to confirm that in class this morning.

Ulpan is getting to be more fun. It's still frustrating and sometimes I'm totally lost, but I'm getting most of the "principe" behind what she's teaching. Surprisingly (or not), when I go over with David the stuff we're learning, he already knows it! He's doing his learning via computer (who would have guessed?) and also while he's no-saya (traveling) to Yerushalayim every day while on the bus (or train). He also feels he's learning more by being "out there" and trying to speak with people and hearing them speak, than by sitting in a classroom. Sometimes I get angry with myself when an opportunity presents itself for me to speak in Ivrit, and I actually know how to say whatever it is, and then without thinking I just speak in English. I just need to be more cognizant and try to use Ivrit whenever possible.

Last Friday night we had 2 couples for dinner from ulpan and it was so much fun! Ellen and Kalmon came, and Yosef and Joke (pronounced Yoke-ah) from Holland. We drank a bottle of wine and sipped some really good chocolate liqueur and just laughed all evening. Joke can't speak English well, but she understands it, and Yosef knows German, Yiddish, and English. The funniest thing was when Ellen told us about when she was a kid and her parents said they could get a dog. She said she had in mind a big, furry dog that she could call Butch. Then her mom brought home a little toy poodle and they ended up calling her Taffy. While we were laughing, David said, "I know what you mean. We also had a toy poodle, named Tinker Bell." We almost fell off our seats, we were laughing so hard. David continued, "Yeah, good old Tinky." Then we really lost it! I know - it isn't so funny now. It's one of those you-had-to-be-there kind of moments. But it was really a special night. Making new friends is so difficult. You spend all your time at the beginning comparing them to the friends you left behind and it's hard to open up your heart to make room for the new. But you know you have to, because you're here now and you need friends to spend time with and share with who aren't 6000 miles away. No one "gets" you yet; you have to start all over. As we say in ulpan: l'at, l'at (slowly, slowly).

Emma is such a cutie. She's up to 7 pounds. When we had to take her to her 2nd vet appointment last week for her next shot, we didn't know how to get her there. We didn't have the borrowed car any more and she is terrified of the pet carrier we bought. So we just called a taxi and held her the whole time. She just shook and shook, poor baby. She's really bonded to us. When I take her outside in the late afternoon, even if there's no one out in the park when we get there, within 5 minutes there are kids on all the balconies yelling, "Emma! Emma!" and pretty soon 8 or 10 of them descend on us. Sometimes Emma likes it; the kids chase her around or she chases them and licks them. But sometimes they keep picking her up or stand on her leash and she can't just roam around and smell everything or eat everything she finds. When Hadar and Yakira from downstairs see her, they get really excited and want Emma to come to their house to play with Coco and them. Even though there are other people with dogs, it's still something of a novelty here, so Emma's pretty popular, especially since she's so small.

It's getting a little chilly; I had to close the sliding glass door here by my desk. It's probably in the 60's, but the breeze blowing in feels colder. David just called from Yerushalayim. He said it was much colder there; in the 50's, but it feels like rain. The sun is actually trying to peek out here. Our weather couldn't be more perfect. I just wish it would rain every night and have sunshine every day, which is pretty much what we have except that it never rains. And we need it!

I found out this morning that a young woman I was davening for was nifter (died) yesterday. She is a fairly new newly-wed, and went into a coma after (during?) childbirth. That was a month or two ago and she never woke up. So sad. That poor young husband, and that child who will never know her mother. Baruch Dayan Ha-emet - Hashem is the True Judge.

Thank G-d Tehilla Grunberger went home last Friday before Shabbos. What a miracle! She'll still need physical therapy every day for the next couple of months, at least, but the fact that she was able to come home so soon is so wonderful. On Sunday night Aish St. Louis had its (our) Annual Gala Auction and I was told Tehilla went to it. Kol Hakavod! I also heard there were about 600 who went and it was a smashing success! Albert is a master at putting events together. Last week I did some signage and computer stuff for them every night, so I feel that I had a tiny part of it.

Emma keeps interrupting me to play with her. I'm going to save this so I can write more after I get back from getting my flu shot. I hope I can find it again!

It's now almost 10 p.m. I went down to the mercaz to get my flu shot and pick up some groceries. David didn't tell me that they make you sit for 30 minutes after the shot in case you go into anaphylactic shock, so it took longer than I intended. On the way back in the bus I got off at the top of Ayalon and stopped at Linda's, someone I occasionally play mahj with. Her daughter has a "source" for taping a certain tv show I used to watch in the states, and there were 5 episodes waiting for me on DVD. I was so excited! I didn't even mind the long walk home with 2 heavy bags of groceries. Everybody's got to have one vice, right? Okay, maybe not. I'm working towards not having any vices, and doing a whole lot better than I used to.

On a totally unrelated topic than vices, I thought I might give some mention to the fact that Nathan was in the Bahamas last week on a mostly paid for trip to Nassau to be in a poker tournament after winning an online poker tournament a few weeks ago. The top 6 players out of 194 (which included 12 world-renowned pros) would be on a televised tournament. Nathan hung in there until the very last day and beat out all the pros. In fact, he beat out (let me get my calculator for this) 166 other people and came in #7. I don't think he was so disappointed about just missing the last six; he was somewhat of a celebrity and made a lot of contacts to get into other tournaments.

I have mixed feelings about the whole mishegas. Nathan says it's not gambling because everyone pays the same amount of money to play in the tournament and are provided with the same number of chips at the beginning. The last one in is the winner. I don't know any of the halachic implications of all this, but I do know that it brought his self-esteem level up a few notches. I just pray, a lot, that somehow this leads to only good in whatever way Hashem has in mind to do it. I want to believe that my son can live a fulfilling life living by Torah and mitzvot. Plus he needs to give me some Jewish grandchildren already!

So Ellen and I didn't go to the play tonight. I actually made some calls and found us a ride, but the woman wasn't leaving until really late and we didn't even know if there'd be any tickets left for tonight's performance. I didn't really want to leave Emma alone again, since David had left this morning, and I was first at ulpan until 1:15 and then I went down to the mercaz for another couple of hours. Plus, David and I are going to be in Yerushalayim all day tomorrow and she'll be alone again. Except - I think I'm feeling repercussions from the flue shot. They said I could have flu-like symptoms for up to 3 days, and I've been feeling pretty achey (achy?) all evening. We already decided not to go to the bris, and it may be that I'll stay home tomorrow and we'll go on Thursday instead. We'll see how I feel.

Let's see, what else can I tell you? My head's really foggy and it's late, so this is a good time to end. Have a Happy Chanukah!

Here are a couple of pictures from our tiyul last week to Tel Aviv. The second picture is of Ellen and me. Ellen is in our ulpan class; her husband Kalmon is the one who walks at least 3 hours every day in the hills around RBS ( Ramat Beit Shemesh). Ellen and I are getting to be pretty good friends. It's strange how we've all bonded in ulpan. We made a list of all our email addresses just before the tiyul, and 3 people ended up sending us pictures because we hadn't taken our cameras.

I can't believe I have to go to class tomorrow. We were supposed to write a story about our family, using only words we already know. I have no idea if the possessive pronouns I used are right and/or if I put the words in the right order (adjectives firsts, pronouns after). I think Sarah really just wants to see if we used the past tense (avar) correctly: I was, he was, we were, they were, etc. I wrote "Hamishpacha sheli b'Missouri b'artzot habrite. Ima sheli hayta akeret habayit, v'abba sheli haya et roka-ach. Anachnu garoo b'shekoonah n'im. Babayit shelanu yesh haginah aval lo haprakim, rach tzeemtim. Abba ain lo sefarim. Hu ahav lsha-chake im han-kdim. Achshav yesh li c'aiv rosh m'cotevet et zeh." (It's supposed to mean: "My family lived in Missouri in the US. My mother was a housewife and my father was a pharmacist. We lived in a nice neighborhood. Our house had a garden but no flowers, just vegetables. Father didn't have books. He loved to play with the grandchildren. Now I have a headache from writing this.")

I have a long way to go, don't I?

Wednesday night we got an SOS call from a friend living here from St. Louis. Her in-laws had come to visit for about 10 days and were supposed to have flown back that night, but all the municipal workers all over the country had gone on strike and there were no outgoing flights from the airport. She needed a place for them to stay Thursday and Friday nights. We have a pretty small apartment and not much privacy. It's okay for a couple of seminary girls or a yeshiva bocher (student), but this was a couple just a little older than us. But we said yes, and we ended up really enjoying their visit and having some great conversations. We actually knew them somewhat, but got to know each other better for the short time they were here. They left tonight for a 1 AM flight. Most of the time Nathanne and Richard stayed with their kids and grandkids; last night we all walked over to their house for Shabbos dinner. Today they walked over there for lunch and we stayed home by ourselves. David slept for several hours while I read and took Emma out to play in the park. I didn't even hold her leash; she just runs around and always come when I call. Five kids came running out when they saw her and she just let them all chase her for awhile. Once in awhile she'd stop and jump up on them and give them kisses and they all had a great time. We felt kind of bad that Emma barked at our guests the whole time they were here. She couldn't figure out who was invading her space and was very nervous. They were good sports about it.

The weather here has been absolutely gorgeous. Here it is the beginning of December and we have temps in the 70's during the day with not a cloud in the sky. And you guys in St. Louis with snow and ice - I'm so sorry! I don't miss the weather there at all.

It's almost 11:30; I'd better get to bed. If I'm still sleeping (or pretending to be) when David gets home from shul, he walks Emma; but normally I've already walked her and am already davening when he gets home. But that doesn't leave me much time to check my email, eat breakfast and relax a little before I have to leave for ulpan. Hopefully I'll wake up early and be ready to face the week!

I can't believe I haven't written anything in almost two weeks. And still, there have been over 300 hits to my site since I started keeping track! I think life has just caught up with me; between ulpan and then studying for ulpan, and getting places by bus again, and going to physical therapy 3 times a week (back pain) and taking care of Emma (our little sweetie), every day just whizzes by WAY too fast. We get home from ulpan by 1:15 and it's already dark three hours later. And it doesn't matter if it's only 4:30 in the afternoon - if it's dark out, it's late and I'm tired!

Today we didn't have ulpan - we had a tiyul (field trip) to Tel Aviv. Since I've never been there, and David's only seen the train station and bus stops, we decided to go. Most of the class went except for those with kids because we didn't get back until after 5. Our downstairs neighbor, Shaina, came up and got Emma for part of the day so she (the puppy) wouldn't be home alone for so long. In fact, Shaina is going to come upstairs to get Emma for an hour or more every morning when we're at ulpan so she and Coco can play and get some exercise together. I'll have to get Shaina a present for her "doggie day care."

So the tiyul was really nice. I was worried about the bus ride, but David and I sat in the front seat and I took my ginger pills and did all right. It was in the mid-70's, not a cloud in the sky, and we had a great tour guide even though he spoke in Ivrit and kept forgetting to repeat himself in English. Almost everyone understood him except for about 6 or 7 of us. The last half of the day I just stood near Toby, who's in the gimmel class, and she just translated to us as he spoke.

We spent a lot of time in Yaffo, which was the the part of the city built before Tel Aviv. It kind of reminded us of the old city of Tzfat. There were a lot of artsy and expensive shops there. Then we walked around an old part of Tel Aviv (it was first built in 1909 so it's not as old as Jerusalem). They gave us 20 minutes to find chairs in the lobby of a building and eat the lunches we packed. It wasn't so comfortable but it was 1:30 PM by then and most of us had already snacked on the lunches we'd brought. The best part of the day was going to Independence Hall. That was really spectacular. First they showed us a movie and then we actually sat in the room where Ben Gurion announced Israel's statehood. The guide there spoke English and she really told the story well; we felt we were in the room with Golda Meir and Ben Gurion and all the rest - it's a great story. Then she played an audio of part of the speech he made and then Hatikvah - I looked around and saw that I wasn't the only one crying.

Before we left to come back to Beit Shemesh, they allowed us about 30 minutes at the shuk. It wasn't like the shuk in Jerusalem; this one was mostly a flea market. Some of the stalls had stuff you wouldn't even sell at a garage sale; others had nice silver and chatchkes and furniture. When we gathered back together to get on the bus, the men decided to daven mincha right there on the street corner. They had to get the tour guide to join them because there were only 9 guys, and even though he wasn't even wearing a kipah, he joined them. David said that another guy just walking by on the street stopped to be the 10th man, but when the tour guide came over, he just walked on. Only in Israel!

This has to be short and sweet; I'm really exhausted. Just to end on a good note: the Grunberger kids are getting better all the time. Dovid is actually saying a word here and there, remembers things and recognizes people. Tehilla is getting more and more like her old self. They both have a long way to go, but Rabbi Grunberger's weekly email updates are so uplifting and powerful, with such bitachon and emuna in Hashem. Sadly, there was another family here in Israel on the way home from their son's wedding and were also in a car accident. I don't know them, but their Hebrew names were listed on the Beit Shemesh email list and it sounds like another large family and many are in serious condition. My Tehillim list just keeps getting longer and longer...

Here's some pictures:

Sorry - I tried to post pictures but was having problems. It will have to wait until I have more time.

I'm tired. David and I left for Yerushalayim early this morning and got back around 6 this evening. You may not understand that to get back here at 6 on the #417 bus means to leave from Geulah during the time everyone's getting off work, so the bus is crowded and the highways are crowded. It's been weeks since I've ridden the 417. Even though I took my ginger pill, I was pretty sick on the way back. It had been sprinkling a little throughout the day, in the 60's, changing from mostly cloudy to sometimes sunny. People on the bus were actually wearing anything from winter coats to short sleeves. It was so stuffy! I had David open a window before I passed out, which probably didn't make many people happy. We got off the bus way before our normal stop and walked home, which helped a lot.

I was pretty proud of the way we found our way around today. We first had to go into Givat Shaul for a (I'm whispering this) mammogram. I had to go to a clinic that is not covered by our chupat cholim, but I had been told by everyone, including my doctor, that it was the best place to go. It was off Kanfei Nesharim, kind of like an Olive Street or Manchester Road in St. Louis, so David just took off after we found the building. They had told me it could take about 3 hours, but I was out of there in one. I felt kind of guilty; there were women who were there before me still sitting in the waiting room when I left. It turned out almost everyone there spoke English. The woman who did the mammogram (owwwww!) said her sister and brother-in-law lived in St. Louis for awhile and worked for the Aish rabbi. I told her, "I worked for the Aish rabbi for the past ten years!" It turns out they were the Goodrich's who now live in Beitar, fairly close to where we live. She also knew other people we know. Before I left, she stopped me and asked for Tehilla and Dovid's Hebrew names to daven for them. (Speaking of that, Dovid is in surgery right this moment having a craniotomy. Rabbi Grunberger sent out an email; it sounds pretty scary. I read a lot of tehillim when I got home and read the email. Please pray that Rafael Dovid HaLevi ben Brocha gets through the surgery safely and will soon "regain his ability to move, talk, walk, run, play and learn, be"H (with G-d's help), all to be able to serve HaShem as a proper Jew." (quote from Rabbi Grunberger's email)).

So, anyway, the receptionist at this place is from St. Paul, MN where David's daughter, Erin, lives, and the female doctor who did the ultrasound (that's what makes this clinic so good; I've never had an ultrasound along with the mammogram) lives in Beit Shemesh and is from NY. Even though we had to private pay, compared with the US, it was pretty inexpensive (495 NIS - about $125).

I found David sitting in a restaurant with a cup of coffee studying his Ivrit (good for him! Especially since we missed class today and I just spoke with Ellen who said we have a LOT of homework for Sunday - including conjugating 20 verbs in past, present and future tenses which means about 10 words for each verb, e.g., the infinitive of to learn is l'limode. So you have: I learned, he learned, she learned, they (male) learned, they (female) learned, we learned, then you have different ones for present and future. It's not like you just add -ed to past tense and change the pronoun, or add the word "will" in front of a verb to make it future - each word for each pronoun is different. And depending on the verb "group" (there are seven, but we're only up to 4 and of course haven't learned all the verbs in each of those groups yet), the way you conjugate is different. Ellen said we've learned 67 verbs so far; I don't think I personally have learned that many! David was testing me in the bus on the way to Yerushalayim this morning and I did pretty good, even though I kept mixing up ozir (help) and chozar (to return or repeat).)

Let's see; where was I? For some reason I keep going off on tangents. Oh yeah, I found David and we got on the #35 to the Takanah Merkezit (sp?), the central bus station. It seemed like this entire day, when we got to a bus stop, the bus just magically showed up right then. I think it's David's mazel, not mine. When I'm alone, I sometimes have to wait 20 minutes or more. Anyway, once we got to the bus station, it was pretty comical if anyone had been watching us. David's map showed that we needed to take either the 7 or 21 to get to Talpiot. We had to take our paperwork and our American drivers' licenses and our teudat zehut and our teudat oleh (don't even ask) to the license bureau there (it's the only one in Yerushalayim) so they could take some money from us as well as the paperwork and give us other paperwork to take the next step in finding a driving instructor to give us the one mandatory driving license before we can take the driving test so we can get our Israeli driver's license. There may or may not be many more steps than those to get the licenses, depending on what kind of mood any of the people along the way are in, or if they want to get more money out of you by flunking you on your driving test and making you take another lesson, or if they decide that medication you take could hamper your driving ability (if you saw how people drive her you would not even believe that statement), they'll send you back and forth from your doctor to write a note to the head of the transportation department or to Netanyahu if they feel like making your life more interesting. And you get to just go back and forth from one agency to another with a smile on your face, saying "Toda raba" because all you really want to do is get it over and done with.

Where was I again? Oh, right, the bus station. So, we went up and down the street in front of the bus station stopping at each of the bus stops where there are signs posted as to what busses stop there. We were pretty sure what side of the street to be on, but there are also bus stops on the other side of the divider by the convention center where traffic also goes in both directions. There we were, walking up and down both sides of both streets, down through the tunnel, up again on the other side, asking security guys for help, when I finally said, "Let's go inside and ask someone at the information desk." Makes sense, doesn't it? So we went through security (they check every bag with an xray machine - EVERYONE carries a backpack in Israel - and each person has to pass through the metal detector), went up to the 3rd floor and found out we needed the #14. And we (okay, David) asked in Hebrew! The girl looked as if she was trying not to smile in amusement at his faltering question (something like "Ezeh kav autoboos ho-laych b'Talpiot?") Finally, we got to the right bus stop and the 14 came almost immediately. We went down Yaffo and turned onto King George, which was great because we had already decided to eat at either Yossi Peking or the Red Heifer, and they were both on that street. Yossi Peking had moved and we had their address, but David has been wanting a good steak since we moved to Israel and hadn't had one yet, so that was probably where we were going to go, even though I really wanted Chinese (but we've gone out for Chinese several times already).

So here we are on a bus to Talpiot, and all David knew was that the license bureau was near the mall. Except that when we got to Talpiot, there were LOTS of malls. In fact, we were in an industrial district that had car lots everywhere and all kinds of stores. We were in the back of a double-long bus, and I finally turned around and asked, "Does anyone here speak English?" The guy behind us did, and actually knew that we had to get off at the very next bus stop and cross the street and the license bureau would be right there. Hashgacha pratis once again! We got off, crossed the street, saw the building, walked up the steps - and the door was locked. It was 1:34 p.m. and guess what time they closed for the day? Yep - 1:30 p.m. Bid'yook (that means EXACTLY). While we stood there stunned, the security guard unlocked the door from the inside to let someone out and we (okay, I) begged him to let us in and he just shook his head and closed the door again. I started knocking on it, but he didn't open it for another minute or two, when he let another couple out. I told him that we had come very far, all the way from Ramat Beit Shemesh and this time he looked at least a little sympathetic as he said, "Lo!" and closed the door once again. Only in Israel. At least we knew how to get there the next time, and we saw what the hours were that were posted on the door.

So we went to the mall across the street (we were already there after all) and looked around, then walked back down the street to wait for the #14 going back the other direction. It came right away. Hashem likes to give a little, take a little - He's got a great sense of humor, no? So we got off on King George at the Great Synagogue, and found Yossi Peking, which turned out, disappointingly, to be a little hole-in-the-wall take-out place with a few tables. It used to be a great restaurant when it was off Ben Yehuda and in Beit Hakerem. So we headed for the Red Heifer, but when we asked an English speaking couple who were walking near us, they said it didn't open until 5 and it wasn't afeeloo (even) yet 3. Poor David. There are so many kosher restaurants here in Israel and where do we always end up? Cafe Rimon, of course. But this time we ate on the meat side, and David actually had a really good steak, so he was happy. And that made me happy. Whew!

But then we had to run (at least walk really, really fast) down Yaffo a couple blocks and then all the way into Geulah so David could daven mincha before it was too late (it gets dark here before 4:30 these days). Then we got right on the 417 which is where this whole long story started. Isn't it more fun to make a short story long then a long story short?

We were both in a hurry to get home to our little Emma, who had spent the day with her friend Coco, at Coco's house. Coco's mommy and the 3 year old twins, Hadar and Yakira, enjoyed having Emma there all day. In fact, Yonatan had just gotten home from work and was about to walk the two dogs when we walked in, and Hadar and Yakira were adamant that Emma stay with them. It was a tearful scene for all when we took Emma home. It's doubtful that they left Emma alone the entire day; our poor puppy has been so tired this evening she couldn't move! Yesterday when we went to ulpan, it was the first time in her young life that she'd ever been completely alone. She's always had other animals around if not humans to keep her company. She was so excited when we got home yesterday! She raced through the house for an hour without stopping after we got home; jumping in our laps and playing with all her toys like a maniac, going from one to the other. Now she has us for 3 days, but when we go back to ulpan on Sunday morning, she's not going to like it...

She's been sleeping in her little bed next to me while I've been writing, but her daddy just took her to bed. Usually by the time I go to sleep, she's right in the middle of where I sleep, and I have to move her over to get in bed. Then she cuddles up against me. She's such a little cutie pie!

Tomorrow is cleaning-all-of-Coco's-fur-from-all-over-the-house day. I hope the vacuum cleaner can handle it. I don't think Emma sheds, but Coco sure did...

By the way, I meant to tell you that I put a site meter on my blog so it can count how many hits I get. 95 people read my blog in the last week! Okay, so I know some of those hits are mine because my computer opens up to the blog, and some of you might read it more than once, but that's still a lot of hits! WHY DON'T YOU LEAVE ME A MESSAGE SO I KNOW WHO YOU ARE?! You can write me off-line at vickie@lecy.net if you prefer. It would just be nice to know if I know you or if you're just someone who found my blog by accident or whatever. Thank you!

It's been so long since I've blogged. You can't even imagine how much time it takes to take care of someone else's dog (she has to be walked 3-4 times a day, plus she wants you to take the time to actually play with her). Our dog, of course, is a cutie and very lovable and pettable and zooms around the apartment so much we don't need to walk her much. But she sure holds her own with Coco! They will both be very sad tomorrow afternoon when Coco goes home. And we will both be very sad tomorrow morning when we have to leave for ulpan a full half hour early because we'll be walking again.

Oh, great. For the first time in over 2 weeks we just heard a huge clap of thunder, and now Coco is going absolutely nuts. Our last night is going to be so much fun...

Last week, actually for about a full week, I was having horrible headaches and backaches. I have no idea what caused them, but I was using lots of drugs, went to the doctor who was nice but didn't tell me anything I didn't already know, had a GREAT massage, and started physical therapy. I think it was the physical therapy that did the trick finally. We went this afternoon for my second session, and the therapist could already see a big difference. I have to do all these lower stomach muscle exercises. The therapist thinks that my surgery last year and my enlarged liver are contributing to the problem. Now that we'll be walking again, maybe I'll start toning up a little. Of course, now that I have to get to PT every other day, and we have to get to Talpiot on Wednesday to do the next step in getting our Israeli drivers' licenses, it will be waiting and riding buses again. Everything will take that much longer to get accomplished.

There's a great shiur tonight with both Rebbetzin Tziporah Heller and Rebbetzin Tehila Jaeger at one of the larger shuls. I just wish it wasn't raining, and that I didn't have so much homework.

Ulpan is starting to be more than challenging; it's downright frustrating. The only good thing is that I know everyone else is in the same boat. For a long time we were concentrating on present tense verbs and infinitives. Now she's throwing past tense (male, female, them, her, his, he, she, yada yada yada) as well as future tense (so far just male and first person) at us. Sarah (our morah) spends the first half of class reviewing and throwing out questions that we have to answer, or answers we have to come up with questions for, or giving us a word that we have to conjugate or give the plural of, and then asking us to repeat what someone else answered, i.e., "Vickie omerit s'he..." After the hefseka (break) she's been giving us about 30 questions. We have to first translate them into English (or Dutch or Spanish or French, whatever works for us), and then without looking at the Hebrew, we have to re-write it from our translations for homework. I have to look up so many words! But, Baruch Hashem, my husband had enough navua (prophecy/forethought) to buy about 7 or 8 different Hebrew/English dictionaries (that I know of - who knows how many more are lurking about...).

So we're well-equipped for learnng Hebrew; the only thing we're short on is time. Hopefully when Coco goes home (she is now drooling all over me and the floor and trying to jump up in my lap even though I closed all the doors and windows and turned music on in all the rooms so she can't hear the thunder {even though there was actually only one clap of thunder about 45 minutes ago}), we'll buckle down more than we have. By the time we get home from ulpan at 1 or 1:15 PM and have lunch and check our email (and one of us does the laundry or dishes or cleaning), it's already dark and time just slips away... Now that I read that over, it sure sounds like a lot of excuses, doesn't it? I guess if you read between the lines, you can tell the real culprit is the computers. They are evil, evil things that eat up precious time that could be better spent on more important things - like learning Ivrit or Torah. Notice how I've passed the blame onto the computers and away from our own addictions to them. We're not actually on them ALL the time, just way too much time.

Right now I have to read my portion of Tehillim I say in the merit of Tehilla and Rafael Dovid Grunberger. It's been 4 1/2 weeks since the accident. They're still in the hospital. I haven't heard any updates in a few days, but I know they have a long way to go. I pray Elazar and Brocha are holding up, and that Hashem gives them strength to deal with all their childrens' needs as well as their own.

40 minutes until the shiur. What shall I do?

Here's more pics of Emma and her friend, Coco - on the couch, in our bed. I was so happy to move here and know that without Anton, I could wear black again and not have dog hair all over me. Hmmm. Guess there are choices we make!

We took Emma to the vet last night to get her first shots; she was so good! We were in for a surprise, though. The vet said she was less than 3 months old - and that she wouldn't grow past 10 kilograms. That's about 22 pounds! I'm going to kill Michal when I see her again! She was the person we got Emma from and she told us Emma wouldn't grow much bigger. The vet said she probably wouldn't get much taller, but would fill out a lot. We like her tiny and cuddly...

It's only 12:30 p.m. and the challahs are out of the oven and the soup is simmering on the stove. The sun is bright, there's a refreshing breeze blowing in the windows. Emma's lying on the floor next to me in the sun by the sliding glass door, Coco's out on the back mirpeset soaking up the sun. I still need to clean the salon and the kitchen floors, but everything else is ready for Shabbos. Maybe I can work on my homework this afternoon so I won't have to do it all motzi Shabbos. David and I are having a machloches (difference of opinion) over whether I can study my words over Shabbos. He says it's preparing for after Shabbos; I think it's just learning the language of the country we're living in. Any other opinions?

I wish you good health, contentment in your life, happy surprises, and a wonderful, fulfilling Shabbat!

Finally - blogger let me download some pictures. Some days I'm able to and some days it just won't let me.

The first one is Emma on the couch, although it's not so flattering. She kept moving every time I clicked a picture. We should have named her Speedy Gonzales; she races from here to there and everywhere in between so fast you can barely see her. The other is Emma on her daddy. I have pictures of Jared and Nathan on the couch as babies with their daddy, too... Too bad you can't see her face; she's really cute.

Grunberger update: Tehilla and Rafael Dovid are still in the hospital. Tehilla was moved to the rehab unit at Children's Hospital. I believe the trach has been removed, and she is making significant improvements. She has been able to brush her hair and write on a white board. Rafael Dovid is off the respirator and has been moved from the ICU to a step-down unit. He has not awakened but is breathing on his own. They believe he can hear as his heart rate quickens when a family member speaks, reads or sings to him. Test results show no damage, Baruch Hashem, to his neck or spinal cord. Brain damage is yet to be determined. Both still need our prayers. The other kids are back in school.

On a brighter note, big sister Sora Liba just had a healthy baby girl (she has two other little ones) and another big sister, Leah, is engaged. The family has had its share of ups and downs in the past 3 weeks!

We went to the Turners to pick up some boxes of our winter things. We haven't had any more rain but it's a little cool in the mornings and evenings. Right now the sky is clear but the sun will be setting soon and it's just gorgeous out. I've taken Emma and Coco downstairs to Coco's yard twice today (David has walked them), and they were so funny playing with each other. I need to remember to take the camera next time. We bought Emma a little bed but she prefers to snooze in the corner of the couch.

Tomorrow night for Shabbos dinner we're staying home for the first time in a long time, just the two of us (I guess I should say 4 of us!). We had some invitations but we just wanted to be at home, especially since we're going out for lunch to someone in our ulpan class. I got a lot of cleaning done today, but more to do tonight. For the last 6 or 7 years I've had someone to clean the house every other week for 4 hours, but there's no reason to here. Our place is small and we can't afford it, but I'd forgotten how much I didn't like doing it! Coco sheds a lot; hopefully Emma won't.

After David gets back from mincha/maariv we're going into Beit Shemesh to the vet to get Emma her first shots. I hope she doesn't piddle in Shaina and Yonaton's car. We probably should buy her a little carrier, especially if we're going to have to take her places in cabs or on the bus. I don't even know if we can take her on the bus.

There are kids outside with what sounds like a basketball, there's a little traffic on Hayarden, and it just sounds so nice and peaceful out. I wish you could experience what it's like here.

Yesterday we played mahj for the first time in over a month. There were even 4 of us. We only played 4 games because everyone was so slow, but it was still fun and nice to socialize. Bracha even brought me the first 4 episodes of Gilmore Girls from this season on a CD. Her friend knows how to download tv shows for free. David probably wasn't happy that I was watching it, but it was such a treat. I'm not very happy with Lauralai, though. How could she possibly give up Luke for Christopher? And I hope Logan is good and jealous, thinking Rory is seeing other guys while he's in London for a year, even though of course she's not and she misses him a lot. Oh man, I sound like my grandmother, with her soap operas! I'd better be careful what I write; I heard that some of the seminary girls read this blog. Hmmm, I wonder where I can find episodes of ER?

Just kidding; I don't really want to be watching tv; I'm on my computer enough as it is. I really would rather be studying ivrit and doing my homework. Besides I didn't come to Israel to watch tv; I was hoping to pursue more spiritual pursuits.

Who actually reads this blog, anyway? People keep telling me they read it, but no one ever posts any comments. For awhile you couldn't, but I changed the settings, so it would be soooo nice if you want to leave me a little message. Yes, you!

It's been so long since I've blogged! We've been so busy with ulpan, and now with Emma and Coco. Coco is a dog we're dogsitting for. Her mommy and daddy went to the states for 3 weeks, so we got Coco and their car. Let's see, do I talk about the car first or Coco? Let's start with the car.

Does anyone really have any idea of what a car means in their life? It's such a different lifestyle to have a readily means available to do whatever you desire at the drop of a hat. Need to go to the post office for stamps? Pick up some milk? Drop something off at someone's house? Go to a government agency to do some paperwork? Just jump in the car and do it.

But what if you didn't have a car? Can you even imagine what the smallest errand would entail? Find out the bus schedule. Have enough change to pay for the bus. Walk to the nearest bus stop. Wait for the bus. Travel on the bus. Get off the bus as close as possible to where you need to go. Get your business accomplished. Make your way back to the bus stop, possibly with a bag or two or three. Wait for the bus. Travel on the bus. Get off at your bus stop. Walk home. A simple task could take hours.

Every time you get into your car, appreciate it. Appreciate that Hakodesh Baruch Hu blessed you with such a gift. He does so much for us that we just take for granted. If everyone had to do without one major thing for just an hour a day (blindfold yourself, put in ear plugs, use crutches, turn off your cell phone), we would understand so much better all the gifts we have in our lives that we don't even realize. We're going to be so spoiled when Shaina and Yonaton come back and we don't have a car any more. We leave for ulpan at 8:25 to get there by 8:30 in the mornings, instead of leaving at 8:05 to walk. We stock up on groceries (especially bottled water) so we won't have to shlep so much after we give up the car. We went into Yerushalayim last week, and while we didn't drive (it was raining and we don't know the streets yet, plus the drivers here are, well, not the best), we left our car at the train station and when we got back late that night in the rain, we just had to hop in the car to come home. It was such a blessing!

So, Coco is a very sweet dog, much like our dog Anton we had in the states. Her only bad quality is her tremendous fear of thunder and lightning. And since the rainy season officially started, the first couple of days were not fun. It's only actually rained 3 times, and the weather here is actually gorgeous. No more temps in the high 90's; lots of breezes and things are starting to turn green after not having rain (ANY rain) for 6 months. Everything is starting to bloom; they say it's beautiful here in the "winter" months. I went to Rabbi Winston's shiur last night and there were women there in sweaters and jackets and scarves - it was in the lower 70's, maybe upper 60's! When we were in Yerushalayim last week for a doctor's appointment (it was at 7 PM), we got off the bus to pouring rain. We had umbrellas but no jackets since it had been clear earlier in the day when we left Ramat Beit Shemesh). There were people in ear muffs and winter coats - I couldn't believe it. I usually get cold easily, but even with the rain I was comfortable. Maybe I could get a good price for the wool coats we brought with us that we'll probably never wear...

So - after we had Coco for one day, we got Emma 2.0, our new puppy. You may remember we had an Emma in the states and she got out one day and we never found her. But we like the name, so we figure she's just a newer version. Emma is 5 pounds and won't get any bigger. She and Coco get along great, although Emma has boundless energy and Coco doesn't quite know what to do with her most of the time. Blogger isn' t letting me upload any pictures again. I'll try to do it after I finish this post. We're having so much fun watching Emma steal bones from Coco and jump up on her hind legs to put a paw on each side of Coco's face to kiss her. Coco just has to sweep her paw over Emma to knock her over, but she's so sweet and gentle with her, even when Emma is running circles around her and jumping all over her. I hope Emma stays happy when Coco goes back home.

Guess what? I'm actually doing pretty good in ulpan! At first it was overwhelming, but I'm actually getting it! Remembering all the words is the hardest, but I'm understanding the processes of putting the sentences together and also all the verb tenses. Ahnachnu tzreekim l'diberet ivrit habayta (babayit? Labayit? labayta?). If I went to get my notes I'd know if it was l' or b' or h' or m' or whatever. Gam, anachnu tzreekim l'lechet b'Beit Shemesh l'pet store po. L'hit r'ot!

On Tuesday night of Chol Hamoed, the Turners had a St. Louis simcha bais hashoeva (sukkah party). We came with Avital (Rivki had other plans), plus the Gitts, the Bar Leibs and the Newmark’s (who have been in Israel for several years) came. We had such a good time! We got there around 3, and Avital and I didn’t get home until 11. Even though not everyone knew each other and had lived in St. Louis at different times, everyone knew people in common (like the Grunbergers and Yaris, etc.). It was a phenomenal evening!

We had our own sukkah party on Wednesday night of Chol Hamoed. In the first picture from left to right are Avital, Ellen Kolman, me, Toby Friedman and Karen. Toby and Ellen are two of my closest friends (here in Israel). In the second picture is Al (husband of Karen who is in our ulpan class), Zvi Friedman, David, and Kalmon and Ellen Kolman (Kalmon’s English name is Ken. He’s the guy David hikes with). Two days ago we went to the pidyen haben for Toby and Zvi’s grandson. Pretty fancy shmancy. Toby has 3 sisters and both her parents who live in Israel and all their families. They’re so down to earth and fun to be with! Zvi made it clear that after ulpan I was coming to work for him at Jewell. He reminds me a lot of Shmuel Greenwald, which is why I think we like them so much!

This is our sukkah! The second picture is the back of our building. The other pictures are buildings in our neighborhood. And I forgot to write that Avital and Rivki were in the pictures below in our sukkah when they came to stay with us.

The first 6 pictures are from our tiyul (trip) to Ne’ot Kedumim with the Turners, on the 2nd day of Chol Hamoed. It’s a forest (several, actually) of the 4 Species, plus lots of other trees that CAN’T be one of the 4 species (come hear their shpiel if you want to know more…). There were also about 30 different kinds of sukkah; David is standing next to a VERY tall one. There were beautiful date palms with bright red and yellow dates growing on them, and a lot of rimonim (pomegranate) trees; Rebecca and Josh had fun picking them and eating them.

Okay, I'm going to try this again. Last night I wrote one of the longest blogs so far, and then after I previewed it and tried to go back to it - it disappeared. Poof! Just like that. And it was so well written, too - lots of news and some witty remarks. I'm not usually so humble.

BREAKING NEWS!! I just heard that Laya, the Grunberger's 2nd oldest daughter, is a kallah! She's here in Israel as a madricha (mentor/dorm counselor?) at Eyhat, a women's program at Aish. The family needs some good news right now! Under normal circumstances the wedding would probably be here in Israel, but since hardly any in the family can travel right now, I would assume the wedding will be in St. Louis. I'm so happy for her, and for the family!9

Here's an update that Rabbi Grunberger sent out yesterday morning, so the information may be a little old by now:

Again, I thank everyone for their tefilos and efforts to create zechusim for Rafael Dovid and Tehilla. The achdus, tefilos, learning, and mitzvos in their merit is absolutely working, bli a"h.

Tehilla had her jaw surgery today and the Doctor feels very positive and optimistic. They didn't need to wire her jaw as originally thought. At this point her leg fracture, jaw fractures, and head injuries are healing. They hope to wean her off the respirator tomorrow and hopefully she'll respond in the best way that can be expected. We daven for a COMPLETE recovery and that she'll have no limitations or consequences from the injuries. The Doctors have no way of saying for sure but are very optimistic based on the xrays and CT scan, B"H. The tefilos will make the difference.

Rafael Dovid has been stable for the last 48 hours. They now hope to start weaning him off the different medications. Today they started giving him little doses of nutrition. He's still in very critical condition but it's like an official turning point for the better, B"H. The next 3 days will be very telling and as he continues to respond positively with stability, they will wean him off the respirator as well. As the swelling around the brain subsides, they will then try to assess the impact of the injury. Here too, it's all in HaShem's Hands and we daven that he will come through with no deficits, limitations, or handicaps but with a refuah shelaima.

Elisha is BE"H coming home tomorrow morning. He's in good spirits. He has a broken thumb and clavicle along with his impressive gash on his left forehead. Visitors are allowed to speak with him between innings during the playoffs. He'll be coaching Pujols after school hours and wants to retire LaRoussa and take over. (may this be the only affect of his head injury). He's turning 12 in a few days and will continue all his various extra learning projects to make siyumim during the year and for his Bar Mitzvah.

Chaim (Eliyahu Chaim- age 9) is healing. He's confined to a wheel chair for a while and then back to crutches. His fracture should be healed in 6 weeks, be"H. He has memorized 121 mitzvos (Sefer Madah, Ahava and Zemanim) which we reviewed today. The plan is for him to hopefully return to school tomorrow for at least part of the day.

Aviva (15) returned to school today for a few hours. She's doing well.

We deeply appreciate HaShem's kindness in answering the outcry of the many tefilos around the world. The chapters of the "master plan" can play out in any number of ways. We thank HaShem and continue to daven that this chapter and the chapters to follow will be filled with joy, yeshuos, nechamos, and clearly evident of the Yad HaShem in every detail that goes on around us.

With deep appreciation to HaShem and to everyone,

Elazar Grunberger

How's that for emuna?

I've been trying to download for the last hour (with David's help) to download a whole bunch of pictures from Succos, with no success. I just spoke with Rivki to get some help, since she has gorgeous pictures of Succos on her blog (see my link - Inspirations from the oOly Land). I'm going to end here and see if I can download the pictures separately.

Sukkot is over. All the holidays are over; Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur. For us, it was a time of introspection, of reflection. Actually, that's how it's felt since we've been here. From the minute we stepped off the plane at Ben Gurion I've marveled that we actually quit our jobs, sold our home, packed everything up, said goodbye to family and friends, and moved to a new country. And here we've been for just over three months, basking in the wonder and awe (and frustration) of starting over, settling in, making new friends, finding a new place for ourselves. And then,

BAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hashem hit us with a right hook that no one could see coming. When I say "us" I mean a whole lot of people. The war in Lebanon and Gaza was big when we first got here. But when an unexpected event happens so close to your heart that you know you will be changed forever, even when it doesn't personally happen to you but to people you know well and who have had a major impact on your life, it's as if all the breath is literally knocked out of you and you wonder if there will ever again be a phenomena known as "normal".

Living 6000 miles away doesn't change anything. Every time you think of a new ramification of this event, it's as if the horror is beginning all over again. You can only think, "Oh, my G-d, oh my G-d, please help! Please let them be all right! Those who were in the accident and those who have to sit by the bedsides of those who were injured. Please, G-d, let them be all right!!"

Remember how I asked G-d about "do-overs"?

Here are some specifics as I know them second hand: Rabbi Grunberger and his 15 year old daughter, Aviva, were in the front seat. They had air bags and although both had concussions and were pretty beaten up, they were both released from the hospital the first night (last Wednesday, October 11). Chaim, age 7, suffered a broken hip or leg, I'm not sure which. He had surgery on Thursday and was released from the hospital before Shabbos on Friday. Elisha is still in Children's Hospital. He broke his collarbone, one eye is swollen shut, he has a gash on his face and may have internal injuries. But he is out of intensive care and is no longer intubated. He may even be released from the hospital later this week. Tehilla, 17 and a senior at Bais Yaakov, is at St. Louis University Hospital. She broke her jaw in 3 places, hit her head and has a very bad break of her leg/tibia. They did surgery Thursday on her leg and plans are for surgery on her jaw on Tuesday. They’re keeping her heavily sedated because the pain would be too much for her to bear.

And then there's little Dovid, age 7. Dovid was thrown from the car and landed on his head. There is severe swelling, even after surgery last Wednesday night to try to reduce it. The doctors say that if he makes it through the first week, his chances are better. As of this writing, the swelling is getting worse. He's in a third hospital (they were all airlifted from the scene of the accident to 4 different hospitals).

It's a miracle that none of them died at the scene. Two of them were never unconscious and remember everything, which will no doubt live with them forever.

How are we to understand this? I keep asking rabbis and other people, and of course, there are no answers. I hear that there are scores of people at all the hospitals, people arranging rides, cooking meals, trying to feel that they are helping in some way. Tehillim is being said all over the world, mishmeres groups have been formed (not speaking, listening, or writing gossip for a one or two hour period each day) in the family's merit. People are learning Torah in their merit, donating money, doing acts of kindness. In the face of this personal tragedy for this family and those who know them (and many more who don't), so many people are changing their thoughts, speech and deeds, so many people are beseeching Hashem for His mercy, so many people are thinking twice when they put their children in their car and fasten their seat belts, so many people are thinking about what's really important in their lives and changing their priorities. Is good coming from this nightmare? Yes, I guess it is. There has to be some meaning to it. We'll all be trying to find that meaning for a long time to come.

Sorry, I meant to write that Tehilla and Chaim are having surgery right now.

There's so much I want to write about this week of Chol Hamoed, but it all seems so insignificant now.

Hashem shows us in so many ways that He is in control. Happiness and tragedy can each happen in the blink of an eye.

Tragedy struck yesterday. My Rabbi in St. Louis, the person responsible for my changing my entire life 13 years ago to a path that I bless and feel grateful for each and every day, a person I worked for the past 9 years, was in a horrific car accident with five of his (10) children.

Baruch Hashem no one was killed. But from what I understand the car flipped over several times and the youngest child, age 7, was thrown from the car. They were airlifted to several different hospitals where four remain. Three of them are in serious but stable condition, but the fourth, the youngest, is in very, very critical condition. There is excessive swelling in his brain, and even though he had surgery this morning, the swelling is not abating.

Please pray and say tehillim for a complete recovery for:
Dovid ben Bracha
Tehilla bat Bracha
Eliyahu Chaim ben Bracha
Elisha ben Bracha

David and I got several calls and emails this morning, and we went into Yerushalayim to daven for them at the kosel (western wall). All of the young people from St. Louis who are here learning have organized that all of tehillim be read on a daily basis, and there is a minyan going on right now at the kosel (10:30 PM) with St. Louisans from all around Israel.

The children are in 3 different hospitals in St. Louis. The entire observant community there has rallied to help: they said tehillim last night and different people are staying with Tehilla, Elisha and Chaim in 2 of the hospitals while the Rabbi and his wife are staying with Dovid. Tehilla and Dovid are having surgery right now for broken bones. It's a nightmare.

May Hashem send them a complete and speedy recovery and may we hear b'sorot tovot.

I never know how to start off "blogging." My first inclination is always to say, "I love it here!" But that gets boring for you, I'm sure. The only problem is - I really, really love it here!!!"

Succos in Israel is simply indescribable. Everyone has always told me that, but this is our first experience. And to be here as an Israeli and not a tourist - there are no words.

But I'll try.

Let's see. One day Yom Tov. 6 days Chol Hamoed. Sitting in our beautiful sukkah the first night with our friends, Ellen and Kalmon and their son, Moshe. Hearing everybody else in their sukkahs all around us. Shabbos lunch going upstairs to our neighbors on the top floor and eating with them (originally South Africans but have lived here 18 years) and listening to the beautiful harmonizing voices of Shimon and his 4 sons and 1 son-in-law and laughing when people in other sukkahs started applauding, going to a motzei Shabbos simcha bais hashoeva (sukkah party) at our shul where we saw many of our new friends and heard Rav Avraham Twersky speak about simcha (happiness). The first day of Chol Hamoed taking it easy and then having the former Donna Wethington (now Dvora Lowenthal) and her husband Azriel and their 4 very (very, very, very, very, very) active and cute children for dinner (they took the bus from Beitar, an extremely hareidi, religious, town which isn't too far from us). Yesterday (Monday) we went with the Turners to Ne'ot Kedumim, an interesting place not far from Modi'in and Ben Gurion airport. We joined a tour group of Chabad of the Cardo (from the Old City) who had come by bus. We were blessed to have actually ridden in real live cars! What a treat! Chabad provided a lunch, and then we divided into 2 groups to tour the gardens, which were really forests that grew the 4 Species, plus other trees that were candidates for one of the species but were ruled out for whatever reason (I kind of tuned out the tour guide for a lot of it and just enjoyed the scenery). And then we saw about 30 different kinds of sukkahs, with signs by each telling if they were kosher or not. That was pretty cool! There were double decker sukkahs and teeny tiny ones and one that was about 3 stories high! At one point a bunch of guys got a mincha minyan together in one of the larger sukkahs. There was a treehouse sukkah and one in the back of a donkey cart. It was pretty interesting. There was also arts and crafts for the kids, and a lot of ponds which you don't see very often.

Traffic on the highways was unbelievable, but probably common for this time of year. Chanoch drove his car with David and Eric and Josh, and I was in Yocheved's mini-van with the girls. We drove home a back way and had no problems.

Then - began the vigil waiting for Avital and Rivki to arrive from Yerushalayim. They finally got in late, and then we (and my friend, Ellen - David opted out) took a cab to the concert in Beit Shemesh. Let me tell you about this concert. There is probably no where else in the world where a bunch (we're talking 1000's) of frum kids and even old people like me and Ellen) can go to a rock concert. I felt like I was back at Southern Illinois University where we used to go to outdoor concerts about 30 (oh my G-d, 30?!) years ago. Except there wasn't any of that funny smelling stuff, just kids screaming and singing along and waving their arms. Shlock Rock started the concert off, but we didn't get there until way later, when the hard rock music was playing. The bass sounds vibrated right through you. Old hippies in payes were sitting on blankets in the back with their tots while the younger generation was down in front. They had 2 huge projector screens on either side of the stage so you could see the band if you weren't close enough. You haven't lived until you see a young kid singing Sholom Aleichem to booming rock music. It totally freaked me out, man!

Now it's Tuesday morning and we're all davened, breakfasted and ready to check out Beit Shemesh. We were supposed to go to a Kite Festival in Gush Etzion and we even got places on the bus, but we have to be at the Turners at 3 for a St. Louis BBQ. I'll write more later in the week when we have some pictures of all the sukkahs.

Chag Sameach and Gut moed!