My Home in Israel

Devra and I met doing the tour of the hospital to prepare for the birth of her youngest daughter, and my middle one. Please send some prayers/good thoughts, whatever you do forChayim Zvi Ariel

May everything go well today.

Today was the little girl’s birthday party at gan (childcare). Surprisingly enough, it was lots of fun for both her and us. They sang songs, played some cute games, and she enjoyed being the center of attention.

My favorite part of the party was when they sang the song “Meachorie HaHar” (Behind the hill). In the song they sing “one, two, three” (in Hebrew). The teacher got all the kids who spoke different languages (English, Hebrew, French, Danish, German, Arabic) and each one of them said it in their language. It was beautiful. (Note, the teacher taught them the Arabic, nobody in that class speaks Arabic)

This is my second baby sick day. The baby had a fever on Thursday and Friday, and today she has a rash. The doctor says it is probably something viral. While there I mentioned that she has been sticking her whole hand in her mouth…after a little investigation, it appears that my almost 5 month old (who weighs nearly 8 kilo) has a tooth!

So I guess we will the good with the bad.

In a rare turn of events, I finally took advantage of one of the perks of my job. I went to the opening of the “Eco Cinema” movie festival. The film I wanted to see was “Medinat Zevel” (Garbage Country). It is an excellent but depressing film about the culture of garbage in Israel, and how people don’t think twice about throwing garbage everywhere.

Before the main film, there was a short called “Think” which was part of the Live Earth film competition started by Al Gore. Here it is:

Interesting don’t ya think?

This is a good one! I agree with most of these selections. I wouldn’t want most of these toys in my house.
Topless Robot - The 8 Classic Toys Parents Classically Hated

The ones we already have are the popper, and superballs. (Hubby collects them.)

Please take a trip over to Gila’s blog, and take a look at her post about views about Israel’s development and direction. I think she is very accurate with her views, and still as Zionistic as she was when she made aliyah…which isn’t an easy thing to keep!

Other tidbits from the day:

• Little girl got sick on the bus when we were doing a spin around Givat Zev…
• The makeup used for the camouflage is Boaz Stein.
• I’m planning a post about Standing Together. If you have some money to donate, stay tuned!
• Don’t go into a tent that soldiers have been sleeping in for two nights (without a shower). Hubby did that not me.

We had a great Yom HaAtzmaut today! The plan of action was to go with “Standing Together” to do a barbecue (or “mangal” as they say in Hebrew) for soldiers at the Machane Ofer base–not the prison– outside of Jerusalem.

Unfortunately, when we got there, they had already eaten, so we were sent to Givat Zev, where a group of 150 soldiers had set up a show including tanks, camouflage displays, blowing up a car (we missed that) and other exciting exhibits. Apparently there was no food for these soldiers, so we went there and set up our grills.

The soldiers were very appreciative and enjoyed our hamburgers, hot dogs, drinks and other supplies.

The girls enjoyed the other fun activities, and the big girl got her face painted with camouflage paint.

Camoflage painting

Originally uploaded by safranit.

We got home at around 4:30 and are now resting from a busy day!

Sometimes I feel like I’ll never really be Israeli…that is something for my kids….but it doesn’t make me any less proud to participate in “Israeli activities” or when I remember to do something (generally for the kids) which is part of the “Israeli Lifecycle.”

The example of the former was this evening when we went to our synagogue’s Yom Hazikaron/Yom HaAtzmaut gathering. After the afternoon prayers (Mincha), they did an “Erev Shira” (sing-along) where they sang songs that are associated with the army. They put the lyrics on an overhead projector (remember those?) and we sang…well I think I knew one or two of the songs, and I knew several of the composers, but it was nice to hear people singing them. I should specify..not just people, but adults…mostly men in their 30s.

After the sing-along, there was an opportunity to talk about how people relate to Israel’s 60th birthday. It feels strange to hear people talking about friends and family they had lost during service in Israel’s army.

The evening ended with a prayer service where we said Hallel. There is a debate in some of the Orthodox Jewish world about the appropriateness of saying it regarding the State of Israel. It was nice to be part of a group where this wasn’t even an issue. I like that my girls will grow up with the reality of Israel. As to whether or not this is the beginning of the redemption, I will leave that to others.

The Israeli Lifecycle part, will be saved for next time…I’m off to watch fireworks on the computer! I can also hear them, but not see them from my apartment.