It’s been a while since I posted anything here, but my
latest trip to Israel
was so packed that a reminder of what I did might serve me well for the future.
After a slight kerfuffle about flights, with El Al deciding
to send me out of JFK instead of Newark,
necessitating a night at a nearby motel to miss rush hour traffic on two
separate bridges, the flight was a fairly easy one – I even managed an empty
seat next to me. I got in very early
Tuesday morning, so decided to just take a sherut – a public car service that
nevertheless takes passengers right to their doors – and arrived while some
folks were still sleeping!
I was quite jet lagged (how do people sleep on planes), so just ran a few errands and chatted a
bit with whoever was around. Next
evening was Shaya’s party, on the night of his 13th birthday, so I
spent much of Wednesday greeting all the family as they dribbled in one by
one. Much as I love them all, I was delighted
to go back to my own little rented studio in the next building to dress at leisure.
We all trooped over to the hall across the street and spent the
evening listening to the music of our own boys’ band while we ate and talked
and talked and ate. Amazing how many of
the family friends I know by this time; Shoshana’s grandmother-in-law and I had
an especially long and lovely chat.
Much of Thursday and Friday involved alternately holding
babies and chopping onions and garlic (my specialty) for the feasting of the
week ahead. Friday night, of course, was
the Seder, with a table that just made it from one end of the room to the
other. To my delight, it turned out that
everyone in the family, plus a couple of very special friends, were able to be
there together. The discussions were
lively, the food delicious, and we ended the evening well past the witching
hour.
Saturday morning I was up early to trudge up the hill to
shul to hear Shaya chanting – and he’s very much worth hearing, too, with his
beautiful voice. Then back down the hill for lunch,
more playing with the little ones, and yet more food. For some reason we always seem to have twice
as much food around on Passover as we do when our menus are not limited!
Just being with everyone was a treat, but there were some
standout events. Howie’s brother and his
family were in Jerusalem, too, and we joined
them at Liberty Bell Park
in the more “touristy” part of the city for a picnic – all 24 of us! Moshe found an empty outdoor theater, faux Roman style, and we picnicked there in almost total
privacy, though once in a while someone peeked in to find out what all the
laughter was about. The boys played
ball, Tamar learned to ride her new
trike, little Moishey did daredevil stunts, Dovid performed, and of course we
ate and talked and talked and ate.
(Anyone notice a theme here?)
Moshe managed to set up four separate cameras for timed group portraits,
and they all came out!
Another lovely park that was fairly local, but in the other
direction, out in the Jerusalem
forest, was John
H. Kennedy Park, up in the hills
and delightfully cool on a warmish day.
We brought a couple of bikes, which everyone interested shared, and just
enjoyed the scenery.
Our final trip was out to a park whose name I never could
get my tongue around, south towards Beersheva.
We met with Dovy’s family (the two families have become close friends
since the wedding) for a picnic at the reservoir, a visit to a workout
playground, and some “old rocks” in the form of an ancient shul especially for
me!
A custom of my father’s I’ve continued is the occasional
visit to a shoe store with grandkids, this time Nechama and Yehuda. He bought fast, it took her two stores and a
far longer time to choose.
I’d seen most of the younger generations at Sharon and Howie’s, but Shoshana and Dovy insisted
that I spend an afternoon with them, so I did that, too, wandering from
playground to playground in Ramot, the suburb they live in.
With more vegetable chopping and more eating and more
talking and more baby holding, the days just flew by, and before I knew it, the
time had come to pack. There was one
last treat – dinner alone out, with just Sharon and Howie, only the adults,
and then the drive to the airport.
And so it ends – I can only look forward to the next trip. (More pictures on Picasa)
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