Where in the world is Shari & Evette?

  Jerusalem, Israel
Wednesday, January 9, 2008

December 27, 2007

I thought I would tell you a little bit about our neighborhood & the surrounding streets.  A lot of the streets here have historical background.

We live in a neighborhood called Talbiya.  It was built in the 1920s and 1930s on land purchased from the Greek Patriarchate. Most of the early residents were affluent Christian Arabs who built elegant homes with Renaissance, Moorish and Arab architectural motifs, surrounded by trees and flowering gardens.

Many of Jerusalem's important cultural institutions are located in Talbiya, among them:

The Jerusalem Theater: Situated in the magnificent Talbiya neighborhood, the Jerusalem Theater is the capital`s premier performing arts and entertainment center with a capacity of about 23,000.  The complex features four world-class theaters and is home to several Jerusalem hallmarks, such as the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, the Jerusalem Centre for the Performing Arts, the annual Israel Festival and more.

The Van Leer Institute: (Evette attended a conference on Reform Judaism here) The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, located adjacent to the President's residence, is a leading intellectual center for the interdisciplinary study and discussion of issues related to philosophy, society, culture and education. The Institute gives expression to the wide range of opinions in Israel, and takes particular pride in its role as an incubator and creative home for many of the most important civil society efforts to enhance and deepen Israeli democracy.
Founded in 1959 by the Van Leer family from the Netherlands, the Institute and its mission are based on the Van Leers' vision of Israel as both a homeland for the Jewish people and a democratic society, predicated on justice, fairness and equality for all its residents.  

Our Street is Hovevei Tzion.  To get legal recognition by the authorities, the Russian branch of Hovevei Zion was registered as a charity and approved by the Russian government early in 1890 as "The Society for the Support of Jewish Farmers and Artisans in Syria and Eretz Israel." It came to be known as "The Odessa Committee." It was devoted to practical Zionism: establishing agricultural settlements. Its projects in 1890-1891 included help in the founding of Rehovot and Hadera and rehabilitation of Mishmar HaYarden.

Jabotinsky Street: Ze'ev (Vladimir) Jabotinsky: October 18, 1880 -August 4,1940) was a Zionist leader, author, orator, soldier, and founder of the Jewish Self-Defense Organization in Odessa. He also formed Jewish Legion in WWI, as well as founder and leader of the clandestine Jewish militant organization Irgun.

Ben Yehuda Street is a main avenue and a busy pedestrian mall in downtown Jerusalem, named after Eliezer Ben Yehuda. It connects with Jaffa Road at one end with Zion Square.  Eliezer Ben-Yehuda was one of the first Zionists and is credited with the revival of Hebrew as a modern tongue spoken by a renascent Jewish nation.  Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, was born Eliezer Yitzhak Perelman, in the Lithuanian village of Luzhky on January 7, 1858. Like virtually all Jewish children of that time and place he began learning Hebrew from a very tender age as part of a thoroughly religious upbringing.  As Ben-Yehuda wrote in the introduction to his dictionary, "If a language which has stopped being spoken, with nothing remaining of it save what remains of our language - (if there is such a language) can return and be the spoken tongue of an individual for all necessities of his life, there is no room for doubt that it can become the spoken language of a community."

Jaffa Road is one of the longest and oldest streets in Jerusalem. It crosses the city from east to west, from the Old City walls to downtown Jerusalem, the western portal of Jerusalem and the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway. It is lined with shops, businesses and restaurants.

Ussishkin Street: Menachem Ussishkin (1863-1941 ) was one of the leading and founding fathers of Zionism, from 1923 until 1941 he was the powerful chairman and member of the Jewish National Fund, the president of the 20th Zionist Congress, the permanent president of World Zionist Organization's Zionist Action Committee, and a member of the Jewish Agency Executive.

Keren Hayesod - (literally "The Foundation Fund")  An overseas funding organization for the World Zionist Organization. Keren Hayesod was established in 1920 at the World Zionist Conference in London. The resolution adopted called on "the whole Jewish people", Zionists and non-Zionists alike to do its duty through Keren Hayesod. Jewish communities throughout the world established local campaigns under the Keren Hayesod umbrella.

(Ha)-Palmach - A Jewish military force in Palestine created with the cooperation of the British by Yitzhak Sadeh in 1941 to help defend Palestine against the possibility of invasion from Syria, which was under the control of the Vichy French government. Palmach eventually had a few thousand fighters and evolved into the underground spearhead commando force of the Haganah.

Gershon Agron (1894 - 1959) Journalist and Mayor of Jerusalem -Gershon Agron was born in 1894 in the Ukraine. As a child, he emigrated with his family to the United States.
In 1932, Agron founded "The Palestine Post", an English language newspaper, which became the "Jerusalem Post" in 1950.  From 1949 to 1951, Agron presided over the Israel's official (government) Information Service.  In 1955, Gershon Agron was elected mayor of Jerusalem and he remained in office until 1959. During his term, he played a key role in the development and expansion of the western sectors of the city.

Gershon Agron's diaries and letters were published posthumously, in 1964.

Alkalai, Judah (1798-1878) Rabbi and forerunner of modern Zionism. Alkalai was born in Sarajevo (now in Yugoslavia) and brought up in Jerusalem. He felt that the Jews should not wait for the Messiah to restore them to the Land of Israel but should make every effort to go there themselves to settle.

Benjamin Disraeli (1804-81)  Known as a dandy, a novelist, a brilliant debater and England's first and only Jewish prime minister, Disraeli (Earl of Beaconfield) is best remembered for bringing India and the Suez Canal under control of the crown. A Conservative, he was elected to Parliament in 1837 after failing to win election in four earlier elections.

Disraeli became prime minister for the second time in 1874 at the age of 70. Acting on his own, he purchased a controlling interest in the Suez Canal conferring the title of Empress of India upon the Queen and in so doing earning himself the title of Earl of Beaconfield in 1876. Disraeli represented British interests in the Congress of Berlin, 1878, which brought peace as well as Cyprus under British flag. His government was defeated in 1880. Disraeli died the following year.

Judah Leib (Leon) Pinsker (1821-1891)  Pinsker was doctor and a founder and leader of the Hibbat Tzion movement and author of Auto-Emancipation.  Born in Russian Poland in 1821; he inherited a strong sense of Jewish identity from his father, a Hebrew teacher and researcher. Pinsker firmly believed that the Jewish problem could be resolved if the Jews attained equal rights, but with the outbreak of anti-Jewish riots against Russian Jews in 1881, his views changed radically. Pinsker died in Russia in 1891 and his remains were brought to Eretz-Israel in 1934 and reburied in Nicanor's Cave next to Mount Scopus.

Mickey (David) MARCUS
Marcus' family is from Suchostaw, and Marcus (Colonel in the U.S. Army and General in the Israeli Army) died seven hours before the truce with the Arabs became effective on June 11, 1948.

December 27, 2007

We got up early this morning & decided we needed to get out of Jerusalem so we walked down to Kikar Tzion to catch a shirut (shared taxi) to Tel Aviv.  As we don't really have any money to spend right now, Evette brought school work  & I brought a book I'm reading (She's Come undone by Wally Lamb) & some crossword puzzles (I've been downloading my favorite puzzles from the Philadelphia Sunday Inquirer) & we headed to the beach.  We started out lying on the sand on a plastic tablecloth we brought with us.  Well, let me tell you, it was quite windy & cold.  After all, it is the end of December!  When we both had ingested enough sand, we packed up our backpacks and took walk along the beach. 

We really enjoyed watching what we later found out was kite surfing.  Kite surfing, also known as kite boarding, involves using a power kite to pull a rider through the water on a small surfboard or a kite board (a wake board-like board).

A kite surfer or kite boarder uses a board with foot-straps or bindings, combined with the power of a large controllable kite to propel himself and the board across the water.  It was really cool to watch.  Some of them really made some awesome jumps.  Others, who I guess were beginners, also entertained us with total wipeouts!  It is a very popular sport in Tel Aviv.  There is a whole section of the beach that seems dedicated to kite boarders. 
As we continued down the beach, we saw large stacks of beach chairs in front of a hotel.  We got ourselves a couple of chairs & sat for a few more hours reading & doing schoolwork until we could no longer stand the cold.  We packed up our stuff, took a bus to the bus station & took a shirut back home.  It is nice every once in awhile to get out of Jerusalem.  We were a little sad we could not bring Rascal because he loves the beach, but we could not spend the money to rent a car & they do not allow dogs on the shirut.  Oh well, we'll take him back to the beach sometime.    
            
December 31, 2007

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Americans and the English refer to the night of 31 December "New Year's Eve" but Europeans, Israelis and many others around the world refer to the celebration of the onset of the year as "Sylvester". Oddly enough, no one is quite sure just how this appellation came into use.

The Israeli term for New Year's night celebrations, "Sylvester," was the name of the "Saint" and Roman Pope who reigned during the Council of Nicaea (325 C.E.). The year before the Council of Nicaea convened, Sylvester convinced Constantine to prohibit Jews from living in Jerusalem. At the Council of Nicaea, Sylvester arranged for the passage of a host of viciously anti-Semitic legislation. All Catholic "Saints" are awarded a day on which Christians celebrate and pay tribute to that Saint's memory. December 31 is Saint Sylvester Day - hence celebrations on the night of December 31 are dedicated to Sylvester's memory.

Because his beliefs were not acceptable Sylvester was arrested during the morning of December 31st. After being charged with idolatry, fornication and conversing with the Devil, the 82 year old was placed in a cell and his former colleagues began to torture him in order to gain a confession. Several minutes before midnight, Sylvester died. His last words were: "The year ends and so do I".

I don't really get it either.

New Year's Eve, Israeli style:   Think Jews don't celebrate Sylvester? Think again: written by:  Rabbi Ben Yovits

 Jews do not celebrate New Year's Eve on December 31st.  No siree, we have our own calendar, thank you. So what do we do in Israel? We have "Sylvester parties." The main theme is getting drunk all night, while criticizing other people's clothing: Did you see the leather belt on her? What does she think she is, 12? And not too skinny, mind you...

Every year there's a silent competition concerning "The Best Sylvester Party." Meaning, the one held by the biggest, glitziest zillionaire around. Everyone tries to snag an invitation, but wind up going to their cousin's party in Ramla (Which is the rough equivalent of Boise, Idaho).

Jews do not wish each other a Happy New Year. Instead, they mourn the loss of the last one: Wasn't it a good year? Wasn't it filled with joyous memories? Why did it pass so quickly? Maybe we're growing old... Pass the wine, I'm depressed as hell.

After the alcohol kicks in, it's time for making optimistic predictions about the coming year. For example: I'm telling you Shmuel, we'll be lucky to stand here next year. If the Iranians won't bomb us, the Syrians will. It's the end, I tell you, the end. Any wine left?

At that point everyone agrees it's best to leave Israel and move to Canada or Australia. No one does.

The next day at work, everyone pretends to have forgotten last night's party. Sylvester? Feh, we don't celebrate that in our house. My bubbalah and I went straight to bed. Out like a light by 10 o'clock. It's a gentile custom, anyway. Why am I holding my head? My temples seem to be exploding...

And they make a solemn oath never to celebrate this "gentile custom" again. Never ever. The decision holds for 364 days.

So, this guy was really disappointed when he realized the holiday was not named after him!
Happy New Year all, don't drink and drive!

January 4, 2008

This morning we attended a Siddur ceremony at a Reform synagogue called Kol HaNeshama.  This is a ceremony at which the elementary school students receive their first, own personal prayer book.  It was a lovely ceremony.  The night before, the parents decorated their child's book.  At the ceremony, the children sang songs, prayers & performed little dances as well.