Our latest attraction in our mayor's drive to draw more tourists to Jerusalem is a mini-city made of ice - by Chinese artists. It opened before Pesach, as the tourists started to arrive. I guess it could be impressive. For me, mostly it was cold! They have to keep this old train station at -10 Centigrade (14 F). I went with friends and we wore all our winter clothes - for me that means 4 layers including the winter jacket. They gave us additional jackets that we put over ours. I wore gloves, but my hands ached from the cold, and even more so once we were out and I started to thaw. Below is a copy of the monster slide in Kiryat Yovel. I wore a corduroy skirt which didn't slide too well. In case you're coming, they just extended the exhibition until the end of May.
I took the kids to my apt. the day before Pesach to do a project. They love these art projects, which is not really my strong suit, but I'm learning. We were making bag puppets of all the plagues to use at the seder the next night. Their personalities really come across in how they work. Akiva is very deliberate and a perfectionist. Ariella rushes ahead with great confidence - she completed 4 of the 10 herself. Miera wanted my participation in the ones she did.
Ariella's wild beast, and Miera's lice and cattle epidemic. Akiva doesn't pose - I always have to catch him unaware.
While we were away, Saul and Shifra finished making their whole kitchen kosher for Pesach, I'll skip the explanation and photos of our kitchens covered in very heavy duty foil. This year I hired two yeshiva boys who were able to scrub down and cover my kitchen in about 2.5 hours - worth every shekel!
When I brought the kids back home, everyone was hungry - we could still eat leavened bread, but couldn't have it in the kitchen or really anywhere in the house which has now been completely scrubbed clean. So what's to do? Like Jews all over the world, take out is the answer! Kosher restaurants with chametz make a killing on this one night alone. We ordered out and Shifra put plastic on the floor. Here she and Yehuda are sitting in the dairy section where pizza was much enjoyed.
Saul held court over the meat section, where burgers, onion rings and fries never tasted so good! I started with the pizza and moved on to share a burger with Ariella - probably my first in years, and it was definitely worth going off the "no meat" wagon.
After the house has been thoroughly scrubbed, 10 pieces of bread are held back and hidden about the house. The head of the household does a search - and only after finding all of them, declares anything that may be somehow still on the premises null and void. Shifra hides the pieces, and Saul and the kids search. Shiff doesn't make it easy for them. I do my own hiding and searching and the funny part is that I always have trouble locating at least one of the pieces. It's great being old!
The morning before the seder, there are fires all over Jerusalem to burn whatever pieces of chametz we have. I went to the local Chabad where of course, they made a party of the whole thing with a big bonfire and lots of music.
Of course, there are no pictures of the seder itself, which was really special this year. It was Saul and family, and Shifra's 2 younger siblings and their families. Saul did a great job leading. Because it was relatively small, the kids participated for the first time. Saul kept a bowl of candies by his plate and whoever asked a good question, got a candy. Ariella really learned her stuff this year and starred in the question department. Her little cousin, Batya so badly wanted one also, and everyone tried to explain that she had to ask a question. Finally, she asked, "Can I have a candy?" That's good enough for a 2 year old - and she was happy. There were also lots of interesting Torah conversations with the adults - and Shifra did a bang up job on the meal, as usual.
We had 4 days between the beginning and ending days that have holiday status. I slept late every day, turned my work phone off and just really enjoyed being here. I went with a friend one day to the renovated Israel museum which I haven't explored since I moved here. It is huge - with some very impressive permanent exhibits and a really spectacular contemporary art section. My favorite is still the sculpture garden just outside the museum. They've spread it out over more area with the walkways made of pebbles, which really gives you a workout when walking - so art and exercise too - cool! This piece below is huge - a couple stories high, reflective in 360 degrees, and top and bottom.
This one wasn't here in the 80"s (my last visit). It is also huge, with a human figure suggested in the center. I loved discovering it looking through the surrounding trees.
Their most famous piece by Henry Moore.
Another day, this same friend - Linda and I drove south through the Gush communities. This was an area that was settled by religious Jews who taught themselves how to farm, and just as they were getting the hang of that - the war of Independence broke out and they became the front line defense of Jerusalem. They then had to become soldiers - most were slaughtered. Before the war, they sent their children into Jerusalem and those children came back and reestablished the communities, which are now thriving modern suburbs in the mountains and forests just south of Jerusalem.
We stopped at a recreation spot in the forest - a zip line, a ropes course, and some animals. This is the closest I've come to wildlife here.
In one of the newer developments, Neve Daniel, an architect built this house. He's into Kabbala and all things circular. Remember the Jetsons?
Another day, Shifra and her two sisters and their families made a barbeque in a park near me. The kids, especially Akiva, really miss their cousins who moved from the Old City to Ramot, so this was a special treat to spend time with them.
Yup, that was Uncle Saul in the crawl tunnel.
The brothers-in-law and good friends, Saul and Gabi (married to Shifra's younger sister, Raizy)
Yehuda has Uncle Barry's boomarang.
Akiva at the end of a great day - tired and dirty.
This is actually another day when I took the kids to the park in the Old City. Ariella demonstrates why girls are required to wear tights!
She always finds an alternative way to do things!
She goes back and forth easily now. Think she's a tomboy?
And back at the house, Hoody engaged in his favorite activity - eating. He gets up on hands and knees, and moves them all, but hasn't coordinated them into a real crawl yet. The other night, he rolled himself under the table and found a dropped baked potato - boy, was he happy!
Ariella feeding him bits of hamburger. He has no teeth, but he's been chewing for a long time, so eats pretty much everything.
Pesach is my very favorite holiday - even with and maybe because of all the preparation. It's the beginning of us as a Jewish people on our way to the promised land - and the slavery to freedom theme really touches me - makes me so grateful to be alive and where I am spiritually and physically. This year was especially moving in that way - I soooo did not want it to end!
The best thing about it ending is that it is WARM!!!!! No more winter - that goes pretty far with me!
Lots of love,
Rina
