Rosiesexcellentadventure

Our final weeks and days in Israel came with raw and mixed feelings. We had created a new world for ourselves, and had come to feel that Jerusalem and Israel were our home. Our life in Vancouver seemed distant, unreal. Adin was having trouble remembering his old friends. We had all made more new friends over the last year than we had in several years combined. In my case, I had made more friends in the last year than in the last two decades. Being a curmudgeon may have something to do with that, but somehow in Israel I was less curmudgeonly and more open to new relationships. With the exception of Adin, who invested much in strengthening his new relationships, our emerging circle of friends grew naturally; encompassing neigbhours, people met at synagogue, rekindled relationships ... read more

After shuffling home from the Jerusalem Marathon I stood in the shower for longer than Israel’s water shortage could ever justify and let the hot water massage away the heavy stiffness in all my muscles. After previous marathons, my body and brain instantly forgot how hard the run was the moment I crossed the Kav HaSee’um (the Finish Line). This was different. It took one very long shower and at least four hours before my internal auto-delete program began wiping away the painful memories, leaving only the highs of running the byways of my new hometown together with 1500 other meshuga’im(crazy people). By evening – thankfully Shabbat - my mind started reviewing the detailed schedule of gentle workouts provided by my running guru, Jerry Ziak of Vancouver Forerunners, in preparation for the fourth annual Tel Aviv ... read more

In the story of Purim everything is turned upside down. So it was fitting that our Purim story began on the Friday before Purim (February the 2nd) - the one day of the year in which “snow” fell on Jerusalem. In Israel, the prospect of snow, not to mention snow itself, causes a frenzy. Even though the weather forecasts all indicated rain, the talk of the town and all the media in the days leading up to Friday was of the possibility of snow. We even received an email from the school advising us to listen to the news media to see if schools would be closed. A similar occurrence took place two weeks earlier when there was a forecast for rain, yet everyone was abuzz over the possibility of snow. The radio was filled with ... read more

The run up to the January 12thTiberius Marathon began a couple of weeks earlier during our Hanukah road trip while camel riding near Shacharut in Israel’s southern deserts. At that time I learned an important and painful lesson about camel behavior: camels stand up back end first, then front end, such that if you don’t hold tight to the handlebar at the front of the saddle as the camel rises you’ll be thrown violently forward off the saddle and over the head and neck of the camel. The camel sits down in reverse order – front legs first, then hind legs – but the affect is the same. You are catapulted forward as the camel folds its front legs under its body. At the midway point of our camel trek, we stopped for a tea break. ... read more

It’s been so long since I’ve written a blog that I’ll focus here less on specific, time-linked events, and more on looking back over longer-term developments and changes. Also, some have responded to previous blogs with the observation that I’ve focused almost entirely on the boys, and given little space to Aimee and I. Consequently, here I’ll endeavour to include more about the “alter” (older in Yiddish) generation. At the same time, I’ll say by way of explanation, that the blog to date has reflected the fact that our adventure here in Israel is, at least in my view, ninety percent about the boys and only ten percent about us (and Rosie). Aimee’s developed what to me seems like the ideal schedule; glass twice a week in Givat Ze’ev with her mentors and friends Robyn and ... read more