Time is Flying By

We are realizing just how quickly time has flown by in our time in Israel and so we’re trying to pack in as much as we can in the short time we have left here, in and around my class schedule and the kids activities.

Gil is doing a ceramics class at an art studio in Talpiot and he is making amazing pieces. The kids are continuing to enjoy getting together with friends they made at camp, and we are enjoying invitations to Shabbat lunch after services. One way to keep cool in Israel’s hot summer is to get into the water. We have been in the Dead Sea, the Kinneret, the Jerusalem pool, and this week we went to Tel Aviv to the beach to swim in the waves of the Mediterranean Sea.

We’re also enjoying the rich cultural heritage of Jerusalem. It seems like there’s always some sort of production, show, musical theater, lecture going on. These next few weeks Jerusalem hosts Khutzot haYotzer, the Jerusalem arts and Crafts festival, going on in and around Sultan’s Pool and full of lots of artists, food, and music. We’re taking in the sights and sounds of Jerusalem and its history. Wednesday evening we enjoyed the night spectacular at the Tower of David, a multimedia presentation that reenacts 3000 years of Jerusalem’s history projected onto the city walls. We also learned more about the history of Jerusalem at the Time elevator, a presentation that whisks you through history. These are great interactive experiences for learning about Jewish history, that happened right where we are walking today.

And, we are reconnecting with our family’s history as well, visiting with my father’s cousin Sarah at her home in Rishon LeTzion. During my year in Israel at HUC, I was a frequent Shabbat guest for the weekend. It is amazing to me that it has been 16 years since I have seen her, and how could I have been away so long, and she looks the same to me, although she is really much older and not able to cook such a feast as she wanted to for our visit, and she apologizes for this many times. But the kids are happy with the chocolate treats and cookies and the boys settle into the kitchen and try to converse with their relatives, Sarah’s grandsons, who are dressed in their white shirts and dark pants, wearing tzitzit and kippot, while our boys are in colorful t-shirts and shorts. They get along well enough despite the fact that our boys don’t speak much Hebrew and they are too shy to try much of their English. It doesn’t matter, family is family. And then out come the photo albums and we try to decipher who is who and how everyone is related and when these pictures were taken, and I am again amazed and overwhelmed by hearing the stories, the stories of Sarah’s family and her long and arduous journey to survive and to come here to Israel and live here, where she can be free to be a Jew, to have a place to call home.