Post-Shabbos Update

Shavuah Tov!

It's 11pm here, Saturday night. We're resting and relaxing right now and most likely won't go out tonight.

Yesterday was a whirlwind of a day. Good news! Michael's bag came!!!

YAY for Michael having clean clothes!!! Finally!! Whoohoo! This is pretty much the only picture we have to show for the last couple of days. Because we had to wait at the apt for the luggage to come, we didn't do much anything else aside from shop for shabbos at the shuk. I can basically describe things to you ... I got slightly heatstroked and took a nap Friday afternoon. Shabbos we obviously don't have photos but it was wonderful!

We went to Michael's cousin Karen and her husband Roberto's house for Friday night. It was so lovely! I experience my first Yekkish meal. See, Roberto is Swiss and they have a very interesting custom. Friday night, before the meal, they wash first. Then they make kiddush. THEN they make Hamotzi. In that order. It was so interesting! The food was lovely and the company even better. They have 3 young daughters and they are quite entertaining and sweet girls. There was also some other guests there and they were lovely people too. It's so nice meeting new faces in new places and having much to talk about.

The view from Karen and Roberto's is amazing as well. They live high in a building complex and we ate out on their patio. The sun going down over the gorgeous panarama of Jerusalem was beyond words. After it was dark, the lights from the houses on the hillside shown like sparkling diamonds in the dark. Lovely.

This morning we woke up and davened at the Kotel. That was a whole other experience. We are actually much closer than I thought and after only a short walk through part of Meah Sharim, we were there at Jaffa Gate. I felt almost an electricity come up through my spine as I laid eyes on the walls of the Old City. Once through security (yes, that is ok on Shabbos -- or so the sign said) we were in. Half of the wall is under construction. It is breaking at it's base. It would seem the Arabs are tunneling under on their side for reasons one can only speculate. The official word is that they are trying to expand. The other speculations is that they are trying to steal Jewish antiquities and/or are on a quest to find the Ark. Either way, it was a little more cramped at the kotel due to the construction.

We walked back home afterwards and ate lunch that we had purchased the day before. Some lovely chicken and kebbeh as well as some other dumplings. We had olives, and techina, and yerushalami kugel. Yummie yum.

Tomorrow we are heading back to the old city. G-d willing we will book some tours as well there. We're going to do some shopping too. See, I couldn't really find good clothes in the U.S. for this trip. Most everything was really short sleeved and/or too heavy a material. I'm hoping to find some lovely skirts and more headware, for I only brought the minimal ammount of clothing with the idea that I would bring better clothes back with me. We'll also have more pictures tomorrow. :)

Lilah tov!

Jerusalem

So it's about 4am ish right now and I can't sleep so I decided to bring you all the update from yesterday.

We woke up in Tel Aviv yesterday morning, as I may have mentioned, and had stayed at Mike's uncle Mark's house. Here's another picture of Tel Aviv as taken from the balcony at Mark's ...


We got picked up by Mark's friend who also lives in the building named Eitan. Eitan drives a taxi and he was really nice. He took us to Jerusalem. Riding in the car was fun and a bit of an experience. As many reading this may already know, drivers are nuts in Israel. Eitan told us a phrase used often regarding drivers and people in general in here, "Mamzer Melech." Otherwise translates into, "Bastards [are] Kings [here]."

He was a little on the foul mouthed side. Talked a lot about politics. Eitan was a sniper in the Israeli army. He was wounded in the first Lebanon War in the arm and had to have operations. He became disillusioned with both the army and his country when, after he had surgery to fix his arm, the army burocracy forgot why he needed the surgery and proceeded to try and act as if his surgery was unnecissary and he needed to pay back the government he'd served so dilligently.

So Eitan left the army and refused to help Israel with anything it asked for. It was sort of sad. He said that ten years ago things were different and he didn't like what had happened to his country. He had a few choice phrases that I won't repeat to discribe the current administration in Israel, and he also seemed to have not so nice opinions of religious Jews in Israel (which I found interesting that he was so open about that because we looked somewhat frum enough to be dati at least). That and he told some fantastic jokes. All in all though, he was a really sweet guy.

But anyhow, he took us to Jerusaelem safe and sound and helped us find our apartment so we could meet up with the owner and take posession.

Our apartment is great! Exactly what we wanted. There's some issues with the kashrus of the utencils. I'm good with kashering the flatware, but the oven is a bit of an issue. See, there's no oven built into the kitchen. It's a toaster oven and from my experience, one can't really kosher a toaster oven. There's also a bit of an issue with the plates and some of the pots and pans that have teflon coating. It isn't worth buying new because we're only here for a month (unfortunately) but so we're going to have to figure out what we're going to do with a mostly treif kitchen.

We were going to cook this shabbos or at least get something and keep it warm on a blech but there is not so much of that option. We're going to figure it out today when we go back to the market, but I'm getting ahead of myself...






So yea, it's a beautiful one bedroom apartment. Wifi (which enables me to be publishing this now, btw) and air conditioning included. The internet signal here is actually much better than in Tel Aviv. It still has its quirks but it's pretty constant, which is nice. It's also up high and behind a gate, so it feels very safe.

We settled in and rested for a little bit before heading out to the market, which was down the street, for some lunch.

This is where I fell in love with Machne Yehuda...


This place is a foodie's paradise. Being a major foodie, it was love at first smell and commitment at first taste! So many things to see and eat. We walked through one area and saw almost an entire front half of a lamb. Now we HAVE to figure out a way to cook at the aparment! We explored for a bit and then came upon a shwarma stand where I had my first authentic Israeli shwarma.

I have to say and I mean this with no offense to Morris, but The Place ain't got nothing on Machne Yehuda. Especially when it comes to its shwarma. I had the works, chummus, hareef, chips, more hareef. It was a delightful kick to the face and oh my goodness was it awesome.

And to top it off, we went around the corner to this bakery Michael used to frequent when he was in Yeshiva. The place was swarming with bees all over its baked goods. At first I was apalled because if you see bugs crawling all over food in the states, you do tend to slightly freak out. That and my hate relationship (sans the love) with bees due to their propensity to sting me and put me in the hospital, I wasn't very keen on all of this. But Michael persisted and we baught a quarter kilo of this chocolate rugalach.

Holy crap. This stuff was AMAZING! I now understood why the bees were all over everything. It all was so sweet! And everything was fresh from the oven. Warm, soft, mushie, sweet, and packed with chocolate. I am afraid to admit this almost, but Michael asked me and it's true, this is better than my beloved Krispy Kreme!







We then walked down to Ben Yehuda St to see what was going on. We found the "kosher" burger king (under the supervision of the Jerusalem Rabbinate not Mehadren so we won't eat there) and we also found something else that was pretty cool ...













Yes, there is a Coffee Bean in Israel!! And, yes, it's kosher l'mehadrin! Only thing is, it turns out, drinks are around $10 US, or so Michael said when he looked at the price in shekalim.

Needless to say, we don' need no Coffee bean here. But I just thought it was interesting that there was one (Stacy, I think you were wondering about that, right?).

Anyhow, by this time, we were getting pretty tired. It was very hot out and we had walked all over. We decided to head back to the apartment for a bit of a siesta and to cool off. So we did.

It was a great idea. We turned on the air and went to sleep. Unfortunately, I woke up at one point with a charlie horse because I was dehydrated. This was a good lesson to have. It reminded me to be more diligent in hydrating myself. I had had a bit of an issue back in Tel Aviv with tap water. Basically, I had a stomach issue after I drank some. So now I've been sticking to strictly bottled until my stomach feels a little more normal but because of this, I'd not really been drinking.

At any rate, after our nap we awoke and it was about 8 or 9pm. We decided to head out again and do some people watching back on Ben Yehuda St.

This was a completely new site to behold! Everyone was there and enjoying and eating and partying.

There were guys playing bongo drums while a bum danced and women playing harps and street food and wonderful smells and it was fantastic!

It reminded me in a way of New Orleans, only better. So much was going on and we walked a lot in search of our next bite to eat and some entertainment.

We found a lovely Chinese restaurant and it was very delicious. More food photo:

So basically, after we ate again we walked around a bit more and took in more sites and sounds. In a few hours, we hope to do some shopping for Shabbos and iron out the Shabbos food situation and then head over to the Kotel. I'm very excited about that and look forward to our first Shabbos in Israel!

I'll leave this off with some more choice photos of Jerusalem night life.

The Trip

Boker Tov!

It's 7:24am in beautiful and warm Tel Aviv this morning. This is Joni typing. We had a very long and interesting journey to Israel and arrived earlier this morning around midnight (Israel time).

It is a story best told in a series of pictures ....

After a bit of a hecktic schedule trying to get to LAX, thanks to my mom we got there in perfect time to catch our flight. We checked in our luggage (more on that later) and headed up to the security check. They took Michael's deodorant, which was in his carry-on, because it was too much liquid but other than that, security was a breeze, B"H.

We waited for our flight and called our friends and family to let them know we got through security and that we were about to board. (the photo to the left is us in line at the Virgin Atlantic gate) Our first stop was London with a 2-3 hour stop over.

The flight was long and difficult. I still have my cold so I was chewing gum like a fiend to ensure my ear would not blow out or get infected. After take-off I wolfed down a delicious (and disgusting) pastrami burger that my mom got me from Jeff's Sausage in LA (the chicken apple sausage sammich didn't make it to be eaten).

During the "night" everyone else slept but me. I use the term "night" loosely because it was bloody daylight outside the window that the flight attendants forced us to keep closed. Michael said it was common courtesy. I wanted to look outside!

Michael was so tired and he slept peacefully beside me and I could not settle down. I watched "Be Kind Re-Wind" on my ipod touch and started watching "The Spiderwick Chronicles" but only got part way because I was not in the mood. Towards the end of the flight, I did watch on the monitor in front of me "Persopolis" which, in my opinion, was very very good. I highly recommend it.






















They did feed us dinner on the flight. I was excited to eat again (because my sloppy burger simply wasn't enough) but I feared that the kosher meal was not going to be as good.




Unfortunately, it would seem my suspicions came to fruition. Nastiest chicken ever. (big surprise) I don't think a single thing was edible in that meal. The only thing that we did like about it was the name. "Kosh-Air" ha ha ha. Even the little cake was like sugared Styrofoam. yuck.

"We want better foods!"

One very cool thing about flying Virgin, though, is the monitors. They had this really cool feature where you could track the progress of the flight in real time and it told you all sorts of things about the outside temp and what not.




After not having much to do all night, this thing became my best friend. I could zoom in manually and see the land we were flying over. It even told me at what altitude we were flying at. Now many of you reading this who fly uber often are probably thinking that I'm silly. Keep in mind, I haven't flown since G-d knows when so these things are new toys!






We were fed an actually very nice breakfast before we landed. The cinnamon bun from this kosher meal was fantastic. Really hit the spot. Believe it or not, I also drank coffee (dun dun duuuun) because I wanted to stay awake for the connection flight when we hit London. Suffice it to say, it tasted slightly less disgusting with tons of cream and lots of sugar.

Michael was still sleeping when breakfast came by so he didn't get one but I really should have taken one for him. Michael doesn't eat on airplanes so he didn't want it. I just wanted another cinnamon bun!

I would like to point out at this time how much we really love taking pictures of our food. LOL!






Finally, we were allowed to have our windows open. Michael went to daven at the back of the plane and I took the gratuitous "airplane wing out the side window" air shot. It was lovely. Bright beautiful sun over cotton clouds. You could see Ireland under these!




When we touched down, it was a different story. Another kinds of beautiful awaited us. A very wet and beautiful London!

We took a shuttle to the connecting flight for El Al. Here's some more London rain shots ...



We hung out in the air port for a little bit. Michael wanted to visit Whiskies of the world, of course we did. Got a bottle of Black Label and some Malteasers -- Avigail, those are for you!!! :D :D Something I found hilarious was the warnings they put on cigarettes.

In the U.S., it's "Smoking may cause 'x-problems'" In Europe, it's "Smoking will kill you!!!!" Right on the packaging. LOL!

Anyhoo, the El Al flight was late (big surprise) so we had plenty of time to goof around. We did have some trouble finding the right terminal, as there was this troll of a nasty German woman who would not let any of the people for El Al pass. She was from United and had a very, very bad attitude. A bunch of Israelis were arguing with her, but I had no idea what was going on and just wanted to find the terminal. I walked up to her and asked very sweetly if she just knew where the terminal was and she was very rude and nasty. I couldn't believe it. She was telling us all to sit on the floor. The others had been there for over an hour. I started antagonizing her a bit. Telling her that I was being nice to her and it wasn't right that she be so rude. Of everyone there, I told her, I'm the only friend she's got because I was being nice. Then the mob of Jews started threatening to bum rush her. In the nick of time, the El Al terminal agents came and let us into the El Al wing. I should have taken a picture of the rude German woman. We asked for her manager and she said there was none.

Anyhoo, here are some pictures waiting for our very late flight.





Finally, the flight came and we boarded. The flight to Israel was a bit bumpy at times and I got a bit nauseous so there's not many pictures of that.




They had a similar navigation system on the El Al flight that tracked our whereabouts.



Finally, we arrived in Israel at about midnight (Israel time). We went all through the air port and got our passports stamped. I changed in the bathroom because I couldn't stand it anymore. I thought this picture of a goat was particularly creepy so I had Mike pose with it. The Ben Gurian airport is beautiful!

Unfortunately, we ran into one last snafu. . .




We got all of our luggage back, except one. Michael's. My poor husband has only the clothes on his back. Needless to say, we were not amused. They said they thought it would be on another flight because our itinerary changed. That flight was due to arrive at 5am this morning.

Now that I'm at the end of this blog, it is now 10:00am and still no sign of Michael's luggage. He borrowed some clothes from his Uncle, who we are staying by right now and are about to leave for Jerusalem. Looks like it might be on another flight this evening.

Looks like we're going shopping. I feel awful because everything in his bag was brand new, purchased for this trip specifically. I'm being told I must get off now so we can catch our taxi to Jerusalem. Will write more later!!!

Some quick notes ...

Joni again. In approximately 24 hours, we'll be boarding our airplane. We still have yet to pack.

Some may not have been aware, but since last Monday, I've been pretty sick. I happen to be in bed right now, still with my cold. This is my last ditch effort to get better before we fly.

Since I have nothing better to do right now other than try and nap, I thought it might be nice to share a few quick notes on some interesting halachos that we need to recognize for this trip. Many might already be aware that this year, 5768, is a shmitta year. Shmitta, or otherwise known as the "sabbatical year," is the time in which farmers in Israel are required by Jewish law to keep shemitah, letting their fields lie fallow for a full year, once every seven year. This is a Mitzvah (or commandment) directly from the Torah.

Shmitta starts on the 1st day of the month of Tishrei (Rosh Hashanah of the seventh year of a seven year cycle). Likewise, it terminates with the entry of 1st of Tishrei the following Rosh Hashanah.

Naturally, if you're going to Israel, this makes produce shopping a little more difficult. If you live there, it's a similar story but on a much larger scale.

I borrowed a book from the Torah High Library in order to help us in our travel and to gain a better understanding of these halachos. The book is called "Gateway to Shmittah" by Rabbi Dovid Marchant. It is incredibly helpful thus far. Real eye-opener. I'd love to share with everyone some very interesting information from it. :)

For example, the fact that ALL Jews are affected by the shmitta year, both in Israel and diaspora. In some way, you are effected and need to be aware of it!

If you live in Israel, certain agricultural activities are prohibited. This ban then applies to ALL parts of the Land and it affects the large Israeli farms that produce fruits and vegetables for the consumer. Israeli homes are effected even in personal gardens!

The very fruits grown in Israel are imbued with a special kedushah at a particular time during shmitta. The Torah dictates that they must be treated in a certain prescribed manner unlike the fruits that the Land produces in other years. According to various poskim, this also applies even to flowers! Vegetables grown in Jewish owned land may be forbidden for consumption depending on their time of growth.

If you observe the halachos of kashrus, you will inevitably have to observe the halachos of shmitta. Even if someone living in Israel were not to eat any fresh fruits grown in Israel during shmitta, they might consume other products made in Israel that may contain fruit or vegetable products. Even cotton is affected!

So as you can see, we're going to have a rather interesting time when it comes to food in Israel and other things. I personally am very excited to be given such an amazing opportunity to fulfill something so huge!

More on shmitta later. Napping for now. :)