Brothers At Last

Brothers. Big brother. Little brother. Marx brothers. Jonas brothers. Parker brothers. Ringling brothers. Mario brothers. Smith brothers (cough cough).

Brothers can have a close terrific relationship that enables them to do great things, or they can have an angry unhappy one that lingers their entire life.

Today, Jews throughout the world began reading the Book of Exodus, the second book of the Bible. Exodus is the story of the miracles that G-d performed for the Jewish people in Egypt, and then their freedom from bondage.

Exodus is also the story of two brothers. Their names were Moshe and Aharon (Moses and Aaron).

My husband, Israel, noted today at the Shabbat table that the book of Genesis is replete with stories about brothers: Cain and Abel; Ishmael and Isaac; Esau and Jacob; Joseph and his brothers. However, all these stories are filled with hatred and jealousy. Cain killed Abel. Ishmael shot arrow at Isaac. Esau swore to kill Jacob on the day their father died. And Joseph's brothers wanted to kill him, but threw him in a pit instead and then sold him as a slave.

Hatred and jealousy - the seeds and the reality of Sinat Chinam (free-hatred), a characteristic that has plagued the Jewish people since....always. It is the characteristic that brought about the destruction of our Holy Temple.

Well, last week we closed the book of Genesis for this year (of course, we open it again every fall - Simchat Torah to be exact - as a constant reminder of the evils of Sinat Chinam and its terrible consequences). And this week, we turned a new page on the book of Exodus.

Here we encounter two brothers once again.

Aharon - the leader of the Jewish people in Egypt, the man to whom all Jews came for guidance and help.

Moshe - a humble shepherd whose goodness and caring were qualifications that caused G-d to appoint him the new leader of the Jewish people.

This scenario could surely have caused the jealousy and even hatred that unfortunately were such a prominent part of our ancestors' past. In fact, when G-d calls Moshe at the burning bush and commands him to go to Egypt, Moshe is reluctant. "Send whom you would send." My brother Aharon has always been the leader of the Jewish people, send him. If I take that leadership away from him, he'll be jealous of me. Don't choose me.

But G-d insists, Your brother Aharon"is coming forth toward you, and when he sees you, he will rejoice in his heart." Wow, could it be? Here we see a new set of brothers, two men who epitomized what brothers really are.

Moshe was reluctant to take away the leadership of his brother Aharon. And Aharon was glad in his heart that his younger brother would be given this mantle of leadership.

And what was the result of this relationship - a Dynamic Duo. A real Dynamic Duo who spoke to G-d, who represented Him to Pharoah and to the Jewish nation. Brothers who shared the burdens of leadership and who succeeded in remaining united until the end.

When we look at an example of brothers today, we must look at the "don't"s of the book of Genesis and look to the "do"s of Exodus. Unity, overflowing brotherly love, cooperation and selflessness were the characteristics that caused the success of the Moshe and Aharon partnership.

And it helped bring redemption.

These characteristics are still what we need in brothers - in our own homes and in Klal Yisrael (the entire nation of Israel) - brotherly love.

We have seen its results. It brought the redemption from Egypt and it can bring the ultimate redemption.

May we see it in our day.

Shemot - Coming to Israel

My eldest son will lain his Bar Mitzvah parasha in shul on Shabbat - SHEMOT (names). The parasha reads, "And these are the names of the children of Israel coming down to Egypt..." And then it proceeds to name all the children and grandchildren who accompanied Jacob to Egypt.

Shemot is the first chapter of the book of Exodus, and in a few more weeks we will read the story of the Jewish people's miraculous escape from the crushing Egyptian slavery.

My son came over tonight to review the parasha with his Abba. I was frying cheese pancakes in the kitchen as they began. I've heard that melody before. In fact, I've heard it every year for the past 17 years.

My son has just turned 30 (ad 120).

But as I stand in the kitchen and hear him sing the parasha's tune, I am transported back to the beginning of our Aliyah. We came to Israel not knowing much about the education system. We didn't do well with the education of this child, an 11 year old at one of the most pivotal times of his life. We will feel guilty about it still today.

Jacob left Israel to go to Egypt, and we left America to start a new life in Israel. And with every new thing we learn about our new country, we feel that we are in a constant state of "coming to Israel".

Those early Aliyah days were not like today. There was no one to guide and advise us. There was no help in school for my son.

"V'eileh shemot ..." I can clearly hear the little boy, who can hardly speak Hebrew, who does not quite know what his teachers are saying, or how he'll make it in this Israeli society without being a real Israeli. His voice is so sweet. He plays baseball, roller blades, loves animals and is reliable in every way.

Suddenly that little boy is gone. In his place stands a self-assured adult - an Israeli, also an American, an Abba, an army commander, a businessman. His voice is still beautiful. He still loves animals and is reliable in every way. He is a cuddly loving tateleh, and he's 30 years old with a family on his own.

On Shabbat, he will read his parasha and his Abba will listen carefully just as he did 17 years ago. Mazel tov!

"And these are the names..." I pray that I will have the privilege to hear father and son review this parasha until 120.

Can you Hear my Tap?

Last week Those Tappin' DAMES, a dance troupe of which I am a member, performed in Ra'anana for the benefit of deaf and hearing impaired children. They might not have been able to hear our tapping feet, but they surely felt the beat and understood how excited we were to be performing for their benefit.

The performance starred the one-and-only Nomi Teplow, a performer who gives her all and is loved by audiences

everywhere.

The evening was billed as an evening of Broadway and Spirit.

Our tap was part of the Broadway, as well as the first part of Nomi's program. Then we launched into a simcha dance, and Nomi finished the program with beautiful moving songs that were indeed from and for the spirit.

The organization that invited us, AV Israel, is involved in early detection and diagnosis of hearing impairments. It trains children with hearing impairments to "listen and talk." It helps children get cochlear implants and helps hearing impaired children be mainstreamed into regular classrooms.

We were excited to dance for these lovely children, and I'm proud to say that WE WERE B'H FANTABULASTIC!!! The crowd cheered (which is super duper fun) and the sound man told my daughter, who was working with him while she videoed our performance, that he's seen a lot of dance groups and we were "exciting and out of this world."

Those Tappin' DAMES is a troupe led by our choreographer Judy Kizer, and supported by the Matnas of Efrat. We DAMES just love tapping for a good cause. And we're looking forward to the next time that our shuffles can be put to such good use!

Smaller Package, Bigger Price

Just got back from my Shabbat grocery shopping. I reached for Straus strawberry yogurt and saw a tag hanging off the container. "Coming soon. New packaging."

Every time something gets new packaging here, the new container is always smaller and the price is always bigger.

THAT IS VERY UPSETTING.

I'm happy to leave the old packaging, the old larger container and the old already expensive price.

If I am wrong about any of this, please let me know.

GRR. I'm upset!

Everyone in Israel is waiting for the Messiah. Of course, I am too. I'm hoping that in addition to peace on earth and good will toward men, etc., his arrival will bring FAIR prices in the marketplace.

Artists 4 Israel

I went to visit my kids on Bet El's highest hilltop and saw all the Moms, kids and strollers around the children's play caravan. It's called a Mischakia (playroom).

They were watching a bunch of graffiti artists paint the caravan - inside and outside.

Boy, their paintings looks really groovy and inspiring. Of course I pulled over. My daughter-in-law and grandchildren were standing there, admiring the artistry and enjoying the kibbitzing.

The artists, all well-known graffiti artists from all over the world, guys who are not even Jewish, came to Israel on a painting mission from Artists 4 Israel, a community of creative individuals who collaborative in their art to express Israel’s right to exist in peace and security

When so many misguided performing artists are announcing proudly that they're not going to perform in Israel, because they want to be part of the Arab-inspired boycott, Artists 4 Israel are coming here and are calling to all artists and performing artists to come to Israel, learn about its people and see the real Israel from north to south.
How lucky I was to be in Bet El when some of the guys from Artists 4 Israel were there. Actually on the same day, their famous graffiti artists were in lots of different communities, showing their support for Israel through their mural-ity, with messages of hope and unity on walls and murals, buildings and roadside junk.

Their artistic swirls and swiggles have turned plain or burned out buildings into works of art. They have given residents of areas from Sderot, Bnei Netzarim, Bet El, to the chareidi neighborhood of Neve Yaakov real chizuk (strength) with their graffiti messages - full of life, excitement and joy.

I had an opportunity chat with the artists, and IY"H, I will upload the video of their mural painting. They're honestly good people who feel Israel has been handed a raw deal in the media and among other artistic types.

In Bet El, they drew Jacob's ladder (of course - well, it was only a few steps where Jacob had the dream of the angel-filled ladder), the Holy Temple and a call for the redemption. With these hundreds of cans of spray paint (every color you can think of), they did an incredibly inspiring job.

You can find out more about it in detail here on the Artists 4 Israel website.

Home, Home on the Shooting Range

I renewed my gun license today. Yay, one more of life's bureaucratic items out of the way.
I've come to dread those renewal sessions. I worry that my gun belt won't close on me any more (it did :) ). I worry that I won't be able to see the target (it wasn't as easy as it used to be). I worry that I'll be embarrassingly bad on the range.
Well, first let me tell you the last, by the end of the session, I was shooting very well.
Now, the beginning. I had started thinking, "Maybe I don't need a gun anymore. How many grandmothers carry guns anyway? It's so heavy, who needs it?"
My instructor Avi Dobuler explained the importance of carrying a gun, being prepared and reacting safely and immediately. He said, "You should never need to use your gun. But if knowing how to use your gun properly can save a life, then you'll be ready."
His patience with me was extroardinary. His guidance to my shooting was great. I began by hitting the outer outer target area, and then later, getting right at the heart of the target.
I tried to act cool and nonchalant, but when I saw all those bullet holes right where they were supposed to be I wanted to bounce, "Yeah, yeah, I got it. Oo ooh. Yeah, yeah, I got it."
We practiced walking, hearing a boom, and then taking action.
We practiced all kinds of exercises around invisible innocent people. (B"H, I never hurt one.)
I did pretty well. Now if I can just get the speed needed, watch out bad guys!! Here comes Savta (Granny)!!
We practiced shooting straight, fast, exactly, different targets.
My worst problem was speed. I can draw my gun, aim and shoot, but the bad guy's going to have to eat dinner or stop for a smoke, while I'm getting into position, because that just takes me quite a long time.
Avi announced, "Boom." "Fast, fire." And I carefully got my hands into the perfect condition. He kept saying, "Hurry, hurry, the bad guy is coming right at you." (Hm, that guy's just gonna have to wait).
Well, I finally picked up speed, but I probably still look like shooting in slow motion.
I decided I'm going to try to ask my friends if they'd like to practice shooting once a month with me.
I'd like to be an effective and secure gun-toting-grandma.
Keep safe, everyone.
For more information about shooting, contact Avi Dobuler - 052-329-9945.

One Cold Per Season

I usually average one cold a season. This year, I was thrown for a loop, one cold on top of another. And it's not even freezing yet.I've had my share and then some, and now I've learned my lesson.
I'm wearing my sweaters and preparing extra blankets. I'm taking my vitamins and getting more sleep.
I'm trying to take better care of myself so that I can stay "above" instead of "under the weather". In fact, I just wanted to say, "Hi, I'm back HOPEFULLY," and I'll see you all tomorrow, IY"H.
I really am feeling better, and when I finally can stop coughing, I'm going to be thrilled.