Rediscovering Efrat's Past with a Living Museum

Naomi and Ruth tell of their trials upon their return to Bethlehem from Moav

My hometown of Efrat has just celebrated its 30^th anniversary on these rolling Gush Etzion hills. So, it's natural that we look back at our beginnings three decades ago, and at at the growth of our town, our population, and even our positive influence on Israeli society. Efrat residents have many reasons to be proud, B"H.

Efrat's story, however, did not begin 30 years ago on these hill, or almost 100 years ago when Shmuel Holtzman purchased land here. 

Efrat in Jewish History

Abraham and Sarah

Our Jewish presence on these rolling hills stretches back to our patriarchs and matriarchs, Ruth and Naomi, King David, the Chashmonaim, Bar Kochbar, and yes, forward into time to the modern Jewish resettlement of this area, Shmuel Holtzman, Moshko (Moshe Moskowitz), Rabbi Riskin and our residents today.

An exciting way to teach residents the history of their town is through a Living Museum. A Living Museum portrays life and historical events through performance.

I proposed one last year when we began planning Efrat's 30th Anniversary. The Living Museum would make Efratians more familiar with their note-worthy history, and foster in our residents an even great connection to our beautiful city. 

Boaz, Naomi and Ruth

This year's Efrat's 30^th anniversary celebration was a perfect time to launch Efrat's LIVING MUSEUM. The Efrat Community Center's director Neta Magen and Local Council staffer Keren Claster were very supportive of the project, and helped make it happen.

Our Patriarchs Slept Here?? 

Jacob, little Benjamin and Rachel

This year's living museum explored our earliest roots here through conversations between Abraham and Sarah; Jacob, Rachel and Benjamin; Ruth, Naomi and Boaz. Hundreds of adults and children were able to meet our historical ancestors, hear their stories and even photograph with them. It was a humongously fun part of our celebrations.

I was excited to write, produce and direct Efrat's Living Museum program. Our Living Museum performers were Abraham - Betzalel Yablochnik, Sarah - Aviva Danziger Cohen, Rachel - Noa Choritz, Jacob - Brian Choritz, Benjamin - Akiva Choritz, Boaz - Peter Abelow, Ruth Bati Katz and Naomi - me (Sharon Katz).

Costumes were provided by the collections of the Raise Your Spirits Theatre, Noa Choritz and Sharon Katz.

Everyone wanted photos
with our Biblical figures

This year's Living Museum is only the beginning. IY"H, I hope we'll be able to expand it every year, introduce new Biblical and historical figures, and include more Efratians in this exciting program, where history and creativity come together. IY"H, I'm hoping its success will one day encourage communities throughout Israel to show their pride and their deep roots in their own towns.

What's Up, Efrat? Israel's Independence Day 2013

There's so much  going on in Efrat and Gush Etzion on Memorial Day and Israel's Independence Day. Find out all about it here on What's Up, Efrat?
http://www.voices-magazine.com/videoClip/256

On Sunday night, lail 5^th of Iyar, Matnas Efrat presents its Yom HaZikaron Ceremony in memory of Israel’s fallen soldiers and victims of terror. 7:50 in the Ulam Sport. This will be followed by appropriate activities for the youth in the Ulam Rakefet.

On Monday night at 7:30 PM, there will be community tefillot in synagogues all over Efrat to celebrate Yom HaAtzmaut.

Then at 8:30 until 10, we’ll join together at Park Asor for the greatest Yom HaAtzmaut Celebration ever – with a special 30 year torch lighting ceremony, a special spectacular program, local entertainment, honored guests, fireworks.

At 10:30, the party continues on with youth bands taking the stand after the main ceremony ends.

There’s more happening on Monday night, as well. At 10 PM, we’ll be SINGING YOM HA’ATZMAUT in Shdema. Gush Etzion Mayor Davidi Perl, as well as other dignitaries will be present. For more information 050-550-0834.

Also Monday night 11:30 PM, Matnas Gush Etzion is continuing its tradition of Singing Songs of Yom HaAtzmaut. Come on down to the Matnas Gush Etzion Lobby and join in. For more information 993-7999.

On Tuesday, Yom HaAtzmaut, the Pina Chama is hosting its annual Yom HaAtzmaut Barbecue in honor of all those soldiers who stay on duty that day. Thousands of burgers and franks – with all the toppings – will be handed out to our chayalim.

Thanks to all the good folks who work so hard from morning until night on this barbecue. This is your opportunity to bring over large salads, cakes, sodas to add to the menu. And your monetary donations are welcome too. Please call 050-8434797.

  Also on Tuesday from 10 AM to 3 PM – Efrat’s Most Spectacular Yom HaAtzmaut Picnic and Celebration Ever!!!

As Efrat turns 30, we’ll be celebrating with a giant Carnival and Street Fair. It’s so massic, it will stretch from Park Asor all the way to the Matnas.

Excitement EVERYWHERE!!!! Activities for the family: inflatable, mats and cushions, Fair Sales, stage and music festival, activities recreation and picnic areas, A LIVING MUSEUM, quizzes and all kinds of fun activities.

There’ll be food booths with everything for a hungry family – both dairy and meat - at affordable prices, tables and chairs, plus barbecue grills for free.

Plus exciting youth activities, like paintball, climbing wall, archery and more...

Admission is free. It's going to be a great day for Efrat, its residents and Israel!!

Also Tuesday, Yom HaAtzmaut, drive out to Nokdim from 9 AM to 4 PM for Gush Etzion’s Chanyon Tzahal, IDF Parking Lot.

 Not only will Nokdim be the base this year for many IDF vehicles of all kinds, but there’ll be state of the art surveillance and warfare equipment, and all kinds of special safety and emergency equipment. Plus inflatable castles, a petting zoo and a Military Band performing at 2 PM. Admission is free.

For more information: www.etziontour.org.il 050-2639549 (Rotem)

Happy Israel's Independence Day #65!!!

Happy Birthday Efrat #30!!!

** 
SAVE THE DATE: 

First ever trip in a series of trips for Efrat’s 50+ Club.

Save the date – 23/4/13 to the Judean Plain!!

It’s going to be fantastic. For more information - 9932936

Fighting over Granny

My mother, like many trans-Atlantic mothers, comes to visit our family for the major holidays. Usually it's Chanukah and Passover. (May she have the strength to make this trips for many years to come.)
Her visits are most often a month in length. That might seem like a lot, but each trip is split into two - between my brother's family and mine.
And as our children grow older, our family visits are subdivided as well.
There's nothing like a grandmother, and everyone wants his turn to be with "Bubby" (that's Grandma in Yiddish). Everyone wants one-on-one time and a bit of grandmotherly attention. 
That's all well and good, but all this subdivision makes our real time with my mother very short (and precious).
By the time she's settling down in my house, it's time to pack up to go visit my brother. And she could be getting comfortable there when one nephew or another requests that she come visit him. Besides the fact that although my mother's on vacation while she's here, most everyone else is in school or working, so their visiting opportunities are limited indeed.
There have been visits filled with such heated competition, some family folk, we'll call them JOHN, in point of fact counted how many days and parts of days my mother stayed at my house, and demanded exactly equal visitation.
It got ugly. :)
I'm happy for any of my friends whose parents come to visit. And I know they're all happy for me. 
I just wish all our trans-Atlantic parents and grandparents decided they'd rather be in the same country as their family than holiday commuters. And if they have to come only for holidays, perhaps they could make those visits longer, so we all could enjoy Bubby.
Until that time, may all grandparents have the strength to come and enjoy their family as much as possible.

The Right Wing Dilemma

Elections in Israel will be held, IY"H, on Tuesday. Personally, I can't wait until they're over. Like all elections, this one has had its share of nasty comments, attacks on parties and personalities, and all sorts of negatives that I hope will pass by the time the polls close.
Right wingers have a real dilemma in this election - for whom should they cast their vote?

** Likud/Beiteinu
** Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home)
** Otzma Le'Yisrael
Likud/Beiteinu, a joint party of Binyamin Netanyahu's Likud and Avigdor Leiberman's Yisrael Beiteinu, is the party expected to get the most votes - 30 something.
Bayit Yehudi is the party of the quickly rising politician Naftali Bennett. It's the party that is attacked more on every side by just about every party. That must mean that Bennett and his party are worrying everyone else.
Otzma Le'Yisrael, the party of MKs Aryeh Eldad and Michael Ben Ari, is expected just to cross the threshold, but cross just the same.
They all have their pluses; they all have superstar right-wingers in their parties; they all have folks that have proven that ideology and action can go together; they have all declared their love and devotion to the land of Israel and its people to some extent or another.
They could all lead the country in positive directions if there were no outside pressures.
The problem is that:
** Right wing voters appreciate the decision by the Prime Minister to build in Judea and Samaria, but they're waiting to see if the building comes to fruition (freezes are easy; defrosts are months or years in progress). Right wingers don't know if the Likud/Beiteinu government (even though it does include many stellar right-wing MKs) will lean to the left to make a coalition.
Interesting note: American "movie stars" are coming out for Netanyahu. Should that sway Israeli voters?
** Right wingers appreciate Bayit Yehudi's dedication to Jewish education, yeshivot, hesder and mechina (pre-Army yeshivot) programs. They appreciate their connection to Jewish communities throughout Israel. They also don't know how Bayit Yehudi will stand up to the challenge if G-d forbid Jewish communities are slated for destruction, or if Jews are forced out of their homes. Rumors pass along lots of Bayit Yehudi quotes or misquotes, and hopefully folks try to discover the truth, but who really knows.
[Bayit Yehudi is currently under attack again - this time for Jeremy Gimpel's statement, "Let's say the dome was blown up, and we laid the cornerstone of the Temple in Jerusalem." That doesn't scare a right-winger, and everyone knows Jeremy Gimpel is a very fine and principled young man, so I think that attack has "blown up" against the other parties.]
** Right wing voters appreciate the devotion MKs Arye Eldad and Michael Ben Ari have always done for all of Israel, especially for Jewish rights in Judea and Samaria. They can always be depended upon. But are two, or even three members of Otzma Le'Yisrael enough to make a difference. Perhaps yes. But who knows?
So, it's Sunday night, and right wing voters are calling one another, "What do you think?" "I don't know." "Neither do I." And then they call someone else.
You'd think it wouldn't matter. Right wingers have three good choices. But, as in every election, Israel stands yet again on the brink of a precipice, and every action and decision by the Knesset can change the course of history forever. So, right wingers are considering their votes very carefully. They're hoping for some kind of inspiration. They're hoping that by Tuesday morning, they'll see a sign that will make them feel secure that they'll be making the right choice.
Good luck to all voters, and to the State of Israel. May the Force be with you.

Just Give Me a Snow Day

The economy may be shaky, the politics as dirty as ever, terror still haunting our roads, but give Israelis a snow day and all's right with the world.

Everywhere else in on the planet, after a heavy snowfall, citizens scream out to their Mayors, "Plow the streets. Plow the streets." But here in Efrat, Israel, when the snow plows rolled down our main street, passers-by started boo-ing.

Snow is such a magical and infrequent occurrence in Israel, that no one wants it to end.

As soon as the weatherman hints at the possibility of that four-letter-word, "S--W," all Israel is a twitter (and I don't mean the Social Media). Anticipation is higher than the best actor waiting for his "Oscar", higher than a father in the delivery room, higher than a trader on the stock market floor.

And when the snow doesn't appear exactly when the forecasters predicted, a gloom settles over the town, as if everyone had bet and lost Israel's highest-pay-off-lottery.

But when the first snowflake appears, the word goes out faster than an Indian smoke-signal.

Winter Wonderland

We awoke this morning to a white paradise. All was quiet and the sky was so bright, we had to wear sunglasses in order to see.

The whole town put on two or three pairs of socks, just as many shirts and pants, and at least one scarf, hat, pair of gloves and colorful boots. Everyone from child to adult looked like a bundled-up joke out of the Calvin and Hobbs comic.

But everyone was so excited to get out into the snow, kids didn't even complain when their mothers added yet another scarf or ear muffs to their anti-cold collection.

There was no school, no work, no shopping, no chuggim (extra-curricular activities). There were just friends and family, snowmen and snowpets, igloos and snowball fights. There were photos and photos, facebook uploads and internet albums.

There were no competitions or pressures or worldly tensions. There were encouraging words, "Wow, your snowman is terrific." "We love your sled." "We saw you sliding down the hill on a plastic tray. Cool." There were shiny cheeks and big smiles.

Yes, there were folks stranded in the wrong places. There were slippery steps. There were sniffles and frozen toes.

But there was a feeling that life had been suspended in a place between time and space, a place of all good, all soft, all shine, all happy, all blessing, all snow.

Thank you, G-d, for the snow. We'll remember today with great joy for a very long time.

Doublelife - From Intermarriage to In-Marriage

When Harold and Gayle Berman married 23 years ago, neither would have guessed that their family would one day be living the lives of Torah Jews in Israel's Judean hills.

Brought together by their love of music, Harold was an assimilated Jew from upstate New York, and Gayle was a Christian farm girl from Illinois. 

But after more than a decade of searching and learning, growing and evolving, they became, as Harold wrote, "a Jewish family, not by fate, but by choice, by design and by destiny".

Their journey was not a simple one. It was filled with challenges, heartbreak and miracles. During the majority of their early married years, they lived a double (even secretive) life of an interfaith family, involved in both Church and synagogue, Christian institutions and Jewish community, until they realized their double life could not continue. They decided to become an in-faith family. And to their own surprise, they both wanted the foundation of their home to be an Orthodox one, filled with all the beauty, chesed and values of an observant Jewish family.

Harold and Gayle have brought their story to the public in a touching and eloquent dual autobiography, Doublelife – One Family, Two Faiths and a Journey of Hope. This is Harold's second book. He authored Jewish Adoption - Unique Issues, Practical Solutions, plus articles that have appeared in numerous publications. He is also the former Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts. Gayle was a celebrated opera singer and Church minister of music. Today she teaches privately, and serves as music director of Emunah v’Omanut College and the Raise Your Spirits Theater production of "ESTHER and the Secrets in the King's Court".

Through a series of letters written to one another, Gayle and Harold detail with great sensitivity and candor, the path along which they walked and tripped, plodded and ran toward a new life. Harold said, "To have a book that would be interesting and credible, you need to reveal some things. Otherwise you're left with, 'We were an intermarried couple. We woke up one morning, and saw the light.'" Gayle agreed, "We had to give examples of issues that arose, and how we dealt with them."

The Bermans have met many intermarried couples over the past two decades. Lots are totally and unchangeably assimilated, Harold said, but others are searching and don't know how to access help. Both Harold and Gayle hope Doublelife will be a kind of guidebook for those looking for a real life example of the journey toward Jewish family life. It is also an inspirational book that reminds everyone of the beauty and meaning of a Torah life.

And the Children Shall Lead the Way

Despite the fact that Gayle was not Jewish, the couple, like many intermarried families in America, sent their son Micah to a Jewish preschool. Perceiving Micah's enthusiasm and love of Biblical figures and Jewish tradition, plus Harold's growth in Torah-observance, Gayle understood their lives would be better if they were a fully Jewish family.

As she explored the path to Judaism, Gayle explained that she sought out "every convert story I could. I wanted to find someone who had dealt with the dilemmas that I was experiencing."

She and Harold decided to be the guideposts of future couples who may be considering changing their inter-married to an in-married status. Harold hopes Doublelife, www.doublelifejourney.com, will be "a living example of what Judaism and living a Jewish life could be."

After writing the book, Harold founded J-Journey, www.j-journey.org , to provide a peer mentoring network with couples like themselves who can guide inter-married families who are interested in “taking the journey, or are already on the journey”. The idea is to complement rabbinical law, not replace it. So the site will include an Ask the Rabbi feature (with a rabbi involved with conversion for 25 years) and an Ask a Friend feature for questions like, "What did you tell your parents?", "How did you know it was the right time to convert?"

As the Bermans grew in interest and dedication to a Torah lifestyle, they began looking for a stronger Jewish environment than their Massachusetts community. They considered moving to New York and New Jersey, and then decided to explore a future in Israel.

Harold had visited Israel several times, leading groups from the Jewish Federation of which he was a regional director. They'd also visited as a family. On August 14, 2008, Gayle, Harold, Micah and Ilana Berman moved to Efrat.

Happy new beginning.

Doublelife will enliven your spirit, remind you to appreciate the values of the Torah, and inspire you to grow further in your Jewish identity. Totally absorbing and surprisingly honest, you’ll laugh and cry with the Bermans, and then cheer at their triumph of faith.
Doublelife will soon be available in bookstores, on Amazon.com and Kindle. In the meantime, Harold and Gayle invite you visit www.doublelifejourney.com to register for a discount coupon.

Watch VOICES-TV's interview with Harold and Gayle Berman:

http://www.voices-magazine.com/videoClip/255

Israeli Politics - Nothing Changes

Newspaper article from HaMODIAH, September 3, 2009, titled,
"Settler Leaders: Netanyahu Gov't 'Humiliating' Us"

I was cleaning out the upstairs den (yes, I'm sure you're all shocked) when I came upon this article, "Settler Leaders: Netanyahu Gov't 'Humiliating' Us".
The leaders of Judea and Samaria were upset, because Prime Minister Netanyahu had promised them building and growth for the communities of Yesha, before the previous elections. But as soon as he was elected, BOING, suddenly everything was frozen
We know there has been no building in Efrat for ten years, but this article was talking about Maaleh Adumim's  E-1 (does that sound familiar?) and Ariel. Even former Gush Etzion Mayor Shaul Goldstein exclaimed that "Gush Etzion is totally frozen." And Bel El Mayor Moshe Rosenbaum claimed that his community was up against a "sealed wall."
Well, it's more than three years since that article. Nothing has changed.
This article could have been written this week (except that Davidi Perl is the new mayor of Gush Etzion.)
Again, the Prime Minister has promised the Jews of Judea and Samaria that they will build - three hundred units here, two hundred there, three thousand total. That sounds great, doesn't it.
I'll believe it all when I see those buildings built and filled with Jewish families.
Until then, it's all just politics.
Right Wing Government - Cough Cough
Another political note: I was sitting together with a bunch of friends who were acting as giddy as school girls (while they were far from girls in age or gender), as they spoke about the next government, which would be a strong partnership of the right.
"Bayit HaYehudi is the natural partner of Likud. They should ask for this ministerial position...and that. When we're in the government, this will be different, and we'll take care of that." Everyone glowed in the warmth of coalition dreams.
Wet-blanketly, I told them, "The Prime Minister will go for every other party in the government before he even thinks of including Bayit HaYehudi, if he even thinks of such a thing. I doubt it."
They pish-toshed my words, and absolutely turned around to continue their joint-dreams.
I said that every time I hear a Bayit HaYehudi person say, "When we're in the government, we'll...", I have to laugh.
Look, I hope I'm wrong. But even yesterday's newspapers carried Netanyahu's olive branch to left-wing parties to join his coalition. I didn't hear him calling out to Naftali Bennet or Aryeh Eldad.
So, Bibi is promising Yesha thousands of new homes one day, and inviting the left to join in on the next. In addition, he reminded the country three days ago that after the elections, he is ready to return to the negotiating table with the Palestinian Authority.
Good luck to the right wing parties, and I hope I'm wrong about my gut-feeling that they'll be outside the coalition of what right-wingers had hoped would be a right-wing government.
Good luck to future housing buyers. I hope I'm wrong that they'll be waiting quite a long time for those promised apartments in Judea and Samaria.
Sometimes I am wrong. I hope this is the time. But, we've all got to admit it. Nothing changes in Israeli politics. The same dirty tricks are repeated all the time. Let's just not act surprised.