Aliyah 2020

 A scene from a street celebration on the first day of Chanukah.  Jerusalem is truly alive! More images from the celebration...Creativity abounds here! We are in the midst of a pandemic and people are truly wearing masks (most that I see) and not celebrating Chanukah in the synagogues (at least the ones that I would be going to).  We are not lighting candles together with Yehoshua and family nor having meals together. Yet, on the street, where fresh air is plentiful and space available for social distancing, there is a true sense of celebration.  I love that about this place!

  Like many of you here today, I had been hoping to celebrate Ben’s 100 th birthday with him in just a few weeks. As we gather today we do so to pay tribute to the 99 years that his presence graced this Earth and to express our sadness that he is no longer with us. Thinking about Ben now many of us might say that he managed to grow up without growing old.   What do I mean by that?   All of those of us who knew and loved him, recognize that he used all the days of his life in a way that made a difference to so many.   Yes, he was one of Tifereth Israel’s elder statesmen, but even up to the time when the synagogue went virtual in March due to COVID 19, he was not one to shy away from coming out for services nor programs.   I still have an image of him sitting in my family room last Purim, dressed in his costume, a bathrobe with a crown on his head ! No matter the weather conditions, no matter the time of day, Ben was present to lend support to those who gathered ...

 Our lift arrived and it was a thrill to see it finally make it arrive in Jerusalem.  128 boxes and furniture that we had not seen since August were now in our possession once again.  The crew from Sonigo that helped was incredible.  They worked rapidly, efficiently, and were very caring.  Abdeel Jaber who was head of the crew even said he would want to have coffee with me in the Old City where he lives one day after the pandemic ends!  Not everything arrived intact but we are going to work with the Furniture Doctor in Jerusalem to see if the necessary repairs can be made.  None-the-less, we did work very hard to empty the boxes, unwrap all the dishes and other household items, and then dispose of the packing paper. As you can see the amount of paper actually made a fun area for Shmuel to try to compact! We also took time to build 4 pieces that we ordered online from IKEA.  After 49 years of marriage, I'm pleased to say that we survived the experi...

 When we came on August 11th, we had two suitcases for each of us and one carry on luggage piece as well.  For two people moving across the world permanently, we did not bring very much with us because we knew we were limitted to 50 lbs. per bag .  We also sent our household furniture and effects via ship to Israel.  That ship has still not arrived. We've been living comfortably but with little of our own possessions.  The family upstairs (our family) has graciously lent us pots/pans/knives, mixing bowls etc. whenever we've wanted to help cook for Shabbat meals. So this week, we put together some of what we brought with us, arranged for a mover to take it to our more permanent apartment.  We also had the mover bring a high riser bed that the kids were no longer going to use.  We purchased two mattresses to use on the frame to be delivered a day later. That bed (2 singles) will be used in our guest room! 

  The way we recycle plastic in Israel looks quite different than how we did our recycling in Lincoln, Nebraska.  Here we collect all of our plastic bottles, food containers, and plastic bags in our apartment and then walk outdoors and down the block to find a bin with openings like the one shown above.  There is no charge for recycling via a recycling company and it appears that the city picks up from bins like this one several times a week.  The bins do fill up and people do take advantage of separating out their garbage.  There is also no fee charge for garbage collection.  Rather, we take our garbage to a corner collection point as well.  As soon as we move into our new apartment in the city center of Jerusalem, our bins for recycling and garbage will be in a common-use room in our apartment building.  Once again, there is no fee for garbage collection, but I presume that this option is available for the tenants because we will also pay a mont...

 We had heard much about the health care system in Israel, but we had never experienced it except for one time before arriving here to become permanent residents.  At the airport we joined the MACCABI Health care system (one of 4 kupat cholim here).  After we got out of bidud (quarantine) one of our first stops was to pick up a magnetic identification card from the Maccabi health center office.  We also set up an appointment with a family physician who was assigned to us and we were delighted that along with his medical qualifications it also said he could speak English. Charlie had an appointment with our physician about a week later and he was delightful.  Very good at listening, very helpful with setting up a full series of blood tests to be done in the coming week, and very accomodating with making suggestions about Charlie's current medications. So of course, Charlie did get his blood tests done, had an EKG done for his baseline here, and also saw an ear no...