The Penultimate Post

Things have been pretty quiet here the last couple of weeks, as we count down our days until we have to leave.  

Zoe just had her last day of school.  They had some end of the year celebrations, and on her own she’s gone on some small outings/farewells with friends. went to the Dead Sea with Sheryl and Sheryl’s old friend Erit Gill, and the three ‘fakers’ are going back up to Tel Aviv on Sunday.  

Since we couldn’t get Zoe (nor Hannah, for that matter) to contribute to the blog all year, we can report that she really seemed to have  fully committed to the experience this year: she volunteered, was active in Bnei Akiva, took judo every week, worked so diligently at her studies, and seems to have made some really good friends.  (We won’t brag too much about how successful she was this year at school.  We’ll just say that if Horev had an honor roll, Zoe would certainly have been on it.  A little bragging about Hannah, who actually was invited to join Tel Aviv University’s honor’s program for Art History based on her stellar performance this year.)  

Last week the three of us went to Hebrew Book Week.  It’s held in dozens of cities across the country.  It used to be a great time to get books at a good discount, but since the bookstores all discount these days, it’s not as big as it once was. It remains a big deal, but now it’s less about the discounts and more about the cultural/literary events connected to it. We didn’t do any of those, but we did walk around one night, wandering from booth to booth.  Eventually Zoe found a helpful, knowledgeable clerk (we’ve dubbed her the Colleen of Jerusalem) who helped Zoe pick out a couple of books.  This year, for the first time, it was held in conjunction with the International Book Festival (which is just what it sounds like, but who expected their to be a whole booth for books from Roumania?)

You wouldn’t have known it by the crowds we saw, but the newspaper reported that Israelis read less than they used to.  Still, close to half say they read a book at least once a week. (Does that include text study?!)  And the Culture and Sport Ministry says there has been a 25 percent rise over the last four years in book borrowing from local libraries.

And a love for books would still seem to be a big part of the culture.  A couple of years ago the Knesset started its own “recommended books” event to coincide with Hebrew Book Week: Members of Knesset read excerpts of literature which they find personally meaningful and worthwhile. You can read some of their choices here.    

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Sheryl had a quick visit with cousin Karen Berger here on a culinary JNF trip.We had a lot of special visitors this year.  Some came alone, some came with groups, some with spouses, some with families.  Without meaning to hurt anyone’s feelings, we think a late entry receives the award for best old-married couple.Yossi and Katy were here for a friend’s wedding, and we got to spend a little time with them.  We met up at the shuk and took them to Azura, a family style restaurant in the Iraqi shuk.  It was good food, but just plain fun hanging out with them.  #Y&K6318

Sheryl had to get one last exercise adventure in before the year end. Couple of weeks ago, she and Allison went to a spinning marathon together.  Nothing too unusual about that.  Well, a little unusual.  If you notice, yes they are spinning overlooking the walls of the Old City.  It wasn’t the best workout but gotta admit that’s a pretty cool experience.

Zoe and I had our own attempt at an Old City experience last Friday. We hadn’t been to the Kotel for Shabbes all year. Personally, I still remember my first visit to the Kotel as a high schooler and being disappointed that I didn’t have a more “spiritual” experience.  I know others feel differently, and I’m happy for them but for me, I don’t always love davening there.  Still, I thought it would be sad to go the entire year without at least a little Shabbes experience there, and Zoe seemed to agree, so we made our way over.

Can’t remember if we mentioned the Old City shuttle in any previous blogs.  I think we might have.  Anyway, there’s this nice service that picks you up at the First Station and takes you quickly (usually in about 10 minutes) to the Dung Gate.  On Fridays, it ends its run about an hour before sunset, and so Zoe and I got there about 80 minutes before sunset to be sure.  We were a little disconcerted not to see anyone else there -- I assumed there would be others wanting to go too at that time/by that means -- but weren’t too worried.  But as we got close to an hour before sunset and the shuttle wasn’t there, I started to give up.  Zoe said we needed to wait until at least 10 minutes after the time.  After five minutes, though, I gave up and we started to walk.  Of course, who pulled up just as we were leaving but the shuttle?!  The driver asked us what time it was, and though none too happy, relented to giving us the ride.  

Zoe and I made plans to meet up, and I headed in.  Took about three seconds before someone grabbed me for Minha.  Now, I may not always love minyanim at the Kotel, but it’s a diverse experience that you just don’t find everywhere. There I was with a Gerer (I think) Hasid, some yeshivish guys, a happy tourist from New Jersey, etc. I remember as a kid my mom pointing out how you could see license plates from all over the country when you are at Greenfield Village.  At the Kotel, not only can you see all sorts of Jews, but people from all over the world.  We mentioned this in the blog on Yoms, but it’s really an everyday experience there..

More of the same by the time Kabbalat Shabbat rolled around.  I was looking for a good minyan to join when I heard a boisterous group singing Yadid Nefesh as they approached the Wall.  OK, I thought, I’ll join them. Turned out it was the boys from HaKotel. (Probably not the best group for me to have joined, as it was their last Shabbat of the year, and so I had to wait for not one but two fairly long divrei Torah.  Still, it was some good learning and davening, so who am I to complain?)  But looking around, there was more of that diversity.  There were other yeshivot, some guys from a Birthright trip, an army group, ‘regular’ people just meeting up, etc.  While I love that as a celebration of Jewish peoplehood, the volume and cacophony is not my ideal aesthetic.  In the end, though, I was glad, as I said, that I made time for it before the year was through.  Zoe and I met up, struggled our way through the crowds of people heading in, and had a lovely walk home.

We had tried a couple of times during the year to get together with Heddy and Seth Jacobson, long-time Swedish olim whom we met early in the year at the Kashuks.  Finally happened last Shabbes. They had us over for lunch, and we had a wonderful time.  Just really great people.  After the Pollocks they are definitely our favorite Swedish Jews!  We walked part of the way home with other guests of theirs, and only figured out then that we had mutual connections.  It’s a small world.

Our world is getting smaller even as we type.  Just a few days to go for Zoe, and only a couple more beyond that for me and Sheryl. We still have one more post to make before we go, however. Stay tuned.

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