YOSEF'S WEDDING – ISRAEL, JUNE 2008
Another wedding in Israel! This time it was my eldest grandson's. Yosef was engaged to Miriam Kook, whom I'd not yet met, but who looked lovely in the few pictures I'd seen and who actually spoke English well.
Three separate sets of relatives were arriving hours apart, so a family pickup was impossible. Instead, I shepherded George, my seatmate from Chicago on his first trip to Israel, through the confusing airport arrival, over to the phone rental booth, and onto the sharut (jitney) to Jerusalem, pointing out the sights as we drove up the mountains early Wednesday morning. Yes, one really does go "up" to Jerusalem.
There'd been problems getting enough rooms in the area for us all to stay in, and mine wouldn't be available until Friday, so after the hugs and kisses and initial chatter I bunked in with Nechama, tripping over my suitcases. In one case, that tripping was quite literal, as the bruise still evident on my leg will attest to.
Wednesday is a bit of a blur, given that I don't sleep on planes, but I did get a chance to see Hadassah, who at seven months is a delight, laughing and cooing, and scuttling across the floor at an alarming rate. Her baby pushups are amazing – up on her fingers and toes – and she can even throw a ball straight, something I can't really manage even now.
The first of the big events was Miriam's visit to the house to meet the American contingent. Miriam turned out to be as beautiful inside as she appears outside, warm, unflustered by the noise level of fifteen people all talking at her at once, and, rare gift, she even gets my oddball sense of humor!
On Friday I moved my possessions two bus stops down hill (everything in Har Nof is either up or down the hill), inviting Howie's cousin Freyda to join me for the night. She and her parents had been staying at a hotel not within walking distance of the weekend festivities, so they had to move to temporary quarters closer by. With the shortage of rooms, it seemed simpler to just have her bunk in with me. Over the years we've become quite good friends despite the major difference in age.
It's customary for a groom-to-be to be called to the Torah to say one of the blessings on the Saturday morning prior to his wedding, and, in my daughter's community, it's customary for the groom's family to invite family and friends to various meals in celebration. Given the number of people involved, meals were served in the community room of a shul about half a block away from Sharon's apartment, which would not have held all the guests.
We had dinner there Friday night, my first meeting with Miriam's mother, sisters, and assorted relatives. The Kook family is a huge one, and I'm not sure I have them all straight even now! Lots of food and lots of speeches, although most of them were in Hebrew. Freyda and I walked back to our room and talked far later than we should have.
Saturday morning we decided it would be faster if we climbed up the stairs that run from street to street. Whew! The climb was about five or six flights in truly brutal heat, and then we still had to walk half a mile uphill to the shul Sharon and Howie belong to. We arrived, alas, just after Yosef's aliyah – there'd been a last minute shift in the order. The next leg was a short one, just across the street, where the kiddush, nibbles and bits both savory and sweet, was being held. After all these years, I know lots of Sharon's friends and people in the neighborhood, so I ate little and talked much.
Having had our fill, we walked back down the half mile to eat lunch, with lots more food, lots more talking and many more speeches. Back at Sharon's, I sat and enjoyed the air conditioning (did I mention it was hot?) and played with the children until the last meal of the day, again with a full house.
After Hadassah was born, Dovy's two grandmothers (one of whom lives in Israel full time and the other most of the time) and I formed the "Great-Grandmother's Lunch Club." Only one was available this time, so just two of us met in the city center for lunch, a light and cool one that somehow managed to take three hours. This made me late for my appointment with Shoshana, but she was later still, so no harm done. We spent the rest of the afternoon together, catching up while she did some errands.
On Monday Nechama, who had only half days of school as her term wore down towards its end, joined me on the bus to the Wall. No matter what else I may have to do, I always manage to fit a visit there in, and given the number of people I currently know with medical problems, this was a must for me again this year. We'd planned to wander around the Old City, but again the heat was too great for both of us, so we cabbed back to the city center and a leisurely lunch in an air-conditioned restaurant.
The highlight of the trip, of course, was the wedding on Wednesday, June 25th. We all
gathered at the Shalom Jerusalem Hotel, high on a hill in the Bayit Vegan area. As is customary at observant functions, the men gathered in one room and the women in another, on my side to greet the bride and women friends and relatives. Naturally, there were some refreshments – nothing seems to happen in Jerusalem without food every step of the way! Lots of pictures got taken, too!
At last it was time, a little while before sunset, to go up two floors to an open area for the ceremony itself. First, the groom was escorted in to view the bride – his first sight of her in two weeks – to make sure she was the right one, after which she was heavily veiled and the two were led separately to the chuppah. The view was magnificent, and at the very end, just as the light began to fade, off in the distance there were a few fireworks. They'd been dedicating a new light rail bridge (it looks something like an enormous openwork ship's sail), and the fireworks went off just in time to celebrate Yosef and Miriam's marriage, too.
Back downstairs, there was lots of dancing (I switched to my ballet slippers from my heels after the first set) and, again, lots of food and lots of chatter. It was the wee hours before I got back to my small but well-appointed and, most important, air-conditioned room.
During a Jewish wedding ceremony, seven special blessings for the couple are read, and then for the following week, each night someone makes a dinner party at which the blessings are again read. The first such party, on Thursday night, was held in Shoshana and Dovy's little garden, and I co-hosted with them. It was a relatively small, family-only dinner, which ended with Dovy coming up with games and jokes for the newlyweds. It was a beautiful evening, heightened by the view over all of Western Jerusalem as the lights went on.
The bride's parents traditionally provide the parties over the Sabbath, and the Kooks chose to hold theirs in Tiberias, at a hotel with a magnificent view of the Kinnert, also known as the Galilee. We arrived early enough for a bit of a swim – but in the hotel pool, not the lake. The huge Kook family and the smaller Tavin family wined and dined for three more meals, and, of course, there were more speeches!
The last such dinner I attended was rather special, because Sharon's students insisted on making it. It was fairly small and intimate, and, as far as I was concerned, the best in at least one way – all the speeches were in English!
Then it was Monday, time to pack, play my last little games with the children, give the last hugs and kisses, and drive off for the airport, already making plans in my head for the next trip!
A selection of pictures is at http://picasaweb.google.com/sandy.kozinn/YosefSWedding608
Another wedding in Israel! This time it was my eldest grandson's. Yosef was engaged to Miriam Kook, whom I'd not yet met, but who looked lovely in the few pictures I'd seen and who actually spoke English well.Three separate sets of relatives were arriving hours apart, so a family pickup was impossible. Instead, I shepherded George, my seatmate from Chicago on his first trip to Israel, through the confusing airport arrival, over to the phone rental booth, and onto the sharut (jitney) to Jerusalem, pointing out the sights as we drove up the mountains early Wednesday morning. Yes, one really does go "up" to Jerusalem.
There'd been problems getting enough rooms in the area for us all to stay in, and mine wouldn't be available until Friday, so after the hugs and kisses and initial chatter I bunked in with Nechama, tripping over my suitcases. In one case, that tripping was quite literal, as the bruise still evident on my leg will attest to.
Wednesday is a bit of a blur, given that I don't sleep on planes, but I did get a chance to see Hadassah, who at seven months is a delight, laughing and cooing, and scuttling across the floor at an alarming rate. Her baby pushups are amazing – up on her fingers and toes – and she can even throw a ball straight, something I can't really manage even now.
The first of the big events was Miriam's visit to the house to meet the American contingent. Miriam turned out to be as beautiful inside as she appears outside, warm, unflustered by the noise level of fifteen people all talking at her at once, and, rare gift, she even gets my oddball sense of humor!
On Friday I moved my possessions two bus stops down hill (everything in Har Nof is either up or down the hill), inviting Howie's cousin Freyda to join me for the night. She and her parents had been staying at a hotel not within walking distance of the weekend festivities, so they had to move to temporary quarters closer by. With the shortage of rooms, it seemed simpler to just have her bunk in with me. Over the years we've become quite good friends despite the major difference in age.
It's customary for a groom-to-be to be called to the Torah to say one of the blessings on the Saturday morning prior to his wedding, and, in my daughter's community, it's customary for the groom's family to invite family and friends to various meals in celebration. Given the number of people involved, meals were served in the community room of a shul about half a block away from Sharon's apartment, which would not have held all the guests.
We had dinner there Friday night, my first meeting with Miriam's mother, sisters, and assorted relatives. The Kook family is a huge one, and I'm not sure I have them all straight even now! Lots of food and lots of speeches, although most of them were in Hebrew. Freyda and I walked back to our room and talked far later than we should have.
Saturday morning we decided it would be faster if we climbed up the stairs that run from street to street. Whew! The climb was about five or six flights in truly brutal heat, and then we still had to walk half a mile uphill to the shul Sharon and Howie belong to. We arrived, alas, just after Yosef's aliyah – there'd been a last minute shift in the order. The next leg was a short one, just across the street, where the kiddush, nibbles and bits both savory and sweet, was being held. After all these years, I know lots of Sharon's friends and people in the neighborhood, so I ate little and talked much.
Having had our fill, we walked back down the half mile to eat lunch, with lots more food, lots more talking and many more speeches. Back at Sharon's, I sat and enjoyed the air conditioning (did I mention it was hot?) and played with the children until the last meal of the day, again with a full house.
After Hadassah was born, Dovy's two grandmothers (one of whom lives in Israel full time and the other most of the time) and I formed the "Great-Grandmother's Lunch Club." Only one was available this time, so just two of us met in the city center for lunch, a light and cool one that somehow managed to take three hours. This made me late for my appointment with Shoshana, but she was later still, so no harm done. We spent the rest of the afternoon together, catching up while she did some errands.
On Monday Nechama, who had only half days of school as her term wore down towards its end, joined me on the bus to the Wall. No matter what else I may have to do, I always manage to fit a visit there in, and given the number of people I currently know with medical problems, this was a must for me again this year. We'd planned to wander around the Old City, but again the heat was too great for both of us, so we cabbed back to the city center and a leisurely lunch in an air-conditioned restaurant.
The highlight of the trip, of course, was the wedding on Wednesday, June 25th. We all
gathered at the Shalom Jerusalem Hotel, high on a hill in the Bayit Vegan area. As is customary at observant functions, the men gathered in one room and the women in another, on my side to greet the bride and women friends and relatives. Naturally, there were some refreshments – nothing seems to happen in Jerusalem without food every step of the way! Lots of pictures got taken, too!At last it was time, a little while before sunset, to go up two floors to an open area for the ceremony itself. First, the groom was escorted in to view the bride – his first sight of her in two weeks – to make sure she was the right one, after which she was heavily veiled and the two were led separately to the chuppah. The view was magnificent, and at the very end, just as the light began to fade, off in the distance there were a few fireworks. They'd been dedicating a new light rail bridge (it looks something like an enormous openwork ship's sail), and the fireworks went off just in time to celebrate Yosef and Miriam's marriage, too.
Back downstairs, there was lots of dancing (I switched to my ballet slippers from my heels after the first set) and, again, lots of food and lots of chatter. It was the wee hours before I got back to my small but well-appointed and, most important, air-conditioned room.
During a Jewish wedding ceremony, seven special blessings for the couple are read, and then for the following week, each night someone makes a dinner party at which the blessings are again read. The first such party, on Thursday night, was held in Shoshana and Dovy's little garden, and I co-hosted with them. It was a relatively small, family-only dinner, which ended with Dovy coming up with games and jokes for the newlyweds. It was a beautiful evening, heightened by the view over all of Western Jerusalem as the lights went on.The bride's parents traditionally provide the parties over the Sabbath, and the Kooks chose to hold theirs in Tiberias, at a hotel with a magnificent view of the Kinnert, also known as the Galilee. We arrived early enough for a bit of a swim – but in the hotel pool, not the lake. The huge Kook family and the smaller Tavin family wined and dined for three more meals, and, of course, there were more speeches!
The last such dinner I attended was rather special, because Sharon's students insisted on making it. It was fairly small and intimate, and, as far as I was concerned, the best in at least one way – all the speeches were in English!
Then it was Monday, time to pack, play my last little games with the children, give the last hugs and kisses, and drive off for the airport, already making plans in my head for the next trip!
A selection of pictures is at http://picasaweb.google.com/sandy.kozinn/YosefSWedding608
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