With Challenges Come Opportunities

I am so flattered that people actually noticed we were late with the blog this week.  So sorry for the delay.  Life is getting pretty busy here in Jerusalem -- it is no longer just fun and games!  My work is in full swing.  Seth’s program at Pardes is full time now and Zoe has started school.  And so much is going on.

And then there is Hannah.  Hannah finished her job at Nefesh B”nefesh last week.  We really wanted to see her work before she retired so the Korelitz clan made our way to Givat Shaul.  She had a real office as you see.  

It has been an amazing experience for her over these past two years, being given so much responsibility from day one.  But Tel Aviv University calls.  She was properly feted in her last days and then she tried to catch up on sleep. And last Wednesday night, Hannah did what all real Israelis do before they start university: She left Israel. Right now she is Thailand with Elana Greenbaum and Yael Engelhart.  To say I am living vicariously through her is an understatement.  The first picture is pre-leaving and trying out the new selfie stick.  The next is of their arrival

and the final is just one of many of them looking happy in a spectacular place.  

May we all just take a moment and thank Chabad for being there and everywhere.  They are amazing.

So Zoe started school and it has gone really well.  The first day Zoe came back and said that she  understood almost everything.  Which is huge.  She says that the girls there comment on how good her Hebrew is.  May we all just take a moment and thank Akiva Hebrew Day School for her Hebrew education.

And while I am at it. I would like to take a moment to give a shout out to spinning in Israel.  It requires limited vocabulary and I think I have most of down.  מעולה!  Excellent! Amazing! לנשום! לנשום!  Breathe! The universal language of sweating on a bike.

A highlight of the week was a spontaneous grown up night in Beit Zayit with Allison and Benjamin Pollock at a magical restaurant called Derech Ha’Gefen which translates to “Through the Grapevine” which should give you a sense of the setting.

Beit Zayit is where the Pollock’s lived before they came to the States so it was nice to see their old haunts.  Could never have gotten there without a car to maneuver the very windy hilly roads right outside of the city.  Seth loved the landscape and it is how the true terrain of Israel appears in his imagination.

So now the crazy story about the electricity which is another one of those only in Israel stories.  Last week Seth was working at home and I left for the gym.  I come back and went into our bedroom to discover none of the lights are working.  I then discover that there is no electricity in half of the apartment.  But Seth hadn’t left the couch so we could not figure out what could have happened. I will try to make this adventure as short as possible.  We tried the fuse box.  We called the family friend who manages the apartment for the owners.  Seth remembered that he heard workmen in the hallway in the morning.  A call to an electrician suggested we go in search of the workmen.  I knock on doors and discover a world of workmen but not the ones who were working on the electrical next door in the morning.  I go upstairs to the Castros who are in charge of the Vaad HaBayit (sort of the like the condo association.)  I have had to talk to the Castros before which is always a challenge because they are French and speak no English. At least my Hebrew is better than my high school French.  I invite them down to the apartment because they want to see the layout.  They are planning on doing שפוצים  (She – Poo – Tzeem) or renovations.  (I love this word for some reason and I actually remember it because I think it is fun to say.)  So at one point we have the Castros flicking fuses, talking שפוצים in French, the apartment manager on the phone and me losing my mind thinking that it will take the rest of the year to figure out what is wrong and get it fixed.  But guess what?  I had to leave and the landlord sent the electrician who discovered the cause of the problem.  The electricians working at the next door apartment stole the circuit breaker supplied by the electric company that goes to our apartment; it was in a shared fuse box in the hallway.  Our electrician called the electric company and they said they would be out to replace it in three hours.  Well, now we are really annoyed.  Who steals the neighbors’ circuit breaker?  And the electric company in three hours?  Right.  But guess what?  A couple of hours later the electric company guy shows up and we meet him in the hallway and I tell him in really bad Hebrew what happened and he is annoyed for me.  While this is happening, the neighbor from that apartment comes out.  He had just moved in a week or two before.  He was so upset by the whole thing and called his electrician and asks him why he did such a bad thing and gives the phone to the electric company guy who also gives this moral-less electrician an earful.  And our neighbor introduces himself and offers to pay and we find out about each other.  And then the neighbor looks very thoughtful and says, “You see, from challenges come opportunities.”  And I stop and think that that is one of the greatest things anyone has ever said.  And he hesitated because he was not sure of the English and I am just thinking we should put that on a t-shirt.  And really, what else could there be to say?

Last images for the week.

The Jerusalem Wine Festival was held at the Israel Museum for three nights.  A group of us all met up there:  Jeff and Aviva Kashuk, Allison and I, and Brad Cohen and Aviva Bernstein.  This event is spectacular.  Dozens of vineyards are there selling their wares. You get a wine glass with the price of admission that you take from booth to booth to get sample sips.  Those sips do add up over the night.

This a must go to event for anyone who is in town for it.  

I had a moment of standing on this hill in Jerusalem and just being supremely happy. To be standing in the Billy Rose Sculpture Garden, one of the great sculpture gardens in the world, surrounded by this world class cultural institution, illuminated for the occasion, was a knock out privilege.  What this country has accomplished in less than 70 years cannot fail but impress.  And it was also just so fun.  There was a band playing American covers and great food to buy including Sushi Rechavia and huge bread and cheese plates (Israelis do not worry about carbs; they eat!) And as the only true Detroiter, I looked at these friends (Kashuks, Bernstein-Cohens, Pollocks) who were just passing through Detroit on their journey all united here in Jerusalem and thought about this great adventure we are on and where it will lead.  The band played LaBamba and the dancing got crazy and the crowd got younger and better looking and some of us decided to call it a night.

But as we walked out the gate of the museum I spotted someone up ahead.  And the night was complete.

This is Joy in Jerusalem.  L’Chaim!