skip to main |
skip to sidebar
La Vie in French means The Life!! "C'est La Vie!!" "That's Life!!" can be good or bad according to the context. This week it was very good! Then again, it wasn't La Vie, but Kibbutz Lavi in the Western Galil, about 15 minutes from the Sea of Kinneret and the city of Tiveria (Tiberius).
Tiberius and this whole Galil area were the center of Jewish life during the time of the Mishna. In fact, the Lavi gardens have a large area of ancient oil presses that prove Jewish settlement from those times.
Filled with beautiful scenery and lovely quiet spots to sit, chat and enjoy nature, Lavi is a breath of fresh air, and more. Across from Kibbutz Lavi, Givat Avni (a growing mixed community) stretches out across the mountain top. What a view!
On the kibbutz, there's a gorgeous rose garden with a vast variety of all types of roses, as well as a fabulous and innovative play area for kids and adults alike.
But Kibbutz Lavi isn't only about the beauty and fun. It's one of the rare kibbutzim that actually makes money. The two biggest factors in Lavi's economy are the Lavi Furniture Factory and the Lavi Hotel. Both top drawer!
We took a tour of the factory and watched the carpentry shop workers preparing their latest order - for a synagogue in Australia.
The most exciting item in the factory was the Aron Kodesh (Holy Ark) being prepared for the new building in the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital. It was gorgeous, and so tall, carpenters had to work on it aboard a cherry picker.
May the synagogue furniture of Lavi contribute to the spirituality of Jews everywhere.
And may the restful hills of Lavi contribute to the relaxation of its guests.
I've gone to hundreds of dance rehearsals in the past many years of both dances in which I took part and those that I peeked in on, as producer of the Dames of the Dance performance extravaganzas.
As the show date neared, both dancers and choreographers grew a tad nervous and perhaps impatient. Friends, that is natural, and even more so.
In two weeks the chugim (extra-curricular dance groups) of the Efrat Community Center take to the gym floor to show their latest-learned steps at the Matnas Spring Dance Recital.
My four-year-old granddaughter is dancing, IY"H, along with 60 other girls in Choreographer Tzila Lensky's version of Thumbelina.
My granddaughter is a teeny leaf fairy.
I had the maple sugariest experience yesterday as I watched rehearsal for Tzila's youngest group, the very youngest of whom is three-and-a-half.
In their tiny pink ballet shoes and "big" sisters' hand-me-down leotards, these preschoolers obeyed Tzila's every word. The leaf fairies fluttered and twinkled in Second Position, Pas de Bras (or something else in French that sounded like chopped liver), balancee, battement, adagio (these are probably not the right words, but you get the idea and at least the four year olds understand), or whatever other French positions little Israeli children had to take on the dance floor, according to the instructions of their Russian teacher.
Truthfully, I sat in amazement at every movement of our magical little fairies, wondering how Tzila was able to teach these little skittily-jibbits anything.
And yet on Isru Chag Succot, the incomparable master Tzila Lensky will have girls of every age, level and ability, dancing their little toes out in Matnas Efrat in the balletic rendition of Thumbelina.
Humongous kudos to Tzila as well as the older girls, several of whom dance on pointe, who guide the little ones with lots of love and patience.
Moving around these 60 girls simultaneously throughout the performance is nothing short of a General Patton troop movement. I am in awe!!
As a ballerina's grandmother and future audience member, I thank Tzila for sharing her love of dance, her expertise and her tradition of ballet greatness with our little fairies, elves, flowers, butterflies and all of Efrat's future dancers as well.
And a thank you to the Efrat Community Center for appreciating dance, and supporting dance programs with such a full heart.
.jpg)
Chance has found me once again in the emergency room with a friend. My friend is running from department to department and I am just staying put.
The 65-ish man next to me sits in a wheelchair talking to a woman. While at first I think they are married, I soon hear (not on purpose) her conversation with a third friend. "Poor Yitchak," she says. "He was coming to have coffee with me, and the cars weren't used to the new traffic light, and he got hit by a car."
So their date ended up being in the emergency room.
A 25-ish Chareidi girl had come in at noon and was still waiting twelve hours later for some antibiotic drip. They didn't have it yet. So she said, "I'm going home! I'll come again tomorrow." I would have thought they'd be happy to have one less person in their overstuffed ER, but they told her that if she leaves now, she'll have to start the procedure all over again tomorrow. She stayed put.
An older lady, traditional grandmotherly type, walked around with sandwiches. The lady is from Ezer MiZion. She said she will be here all night if I get hungry. It's already 12:30 AM. And then I see my friend coming over with a tuna sandwich on a roll, courtesy of Ezer MiZion.
The waiting room is packed with a cross-section of Israel - young, old, Arab, Jew, rabbi, soldier, settler.
People pace back and forth. Others nod off. Then, using Disneyworld's method of people movement as an example, nurse call out ten names and move a small group inside the emergency room...to yet another waiting area.
It is a long night, and filled with the sounds of coughing, moaning, older folks shuffling, heart monitors beeping.
Through the night two conversations stand out above others. An old man in his eighties keeps screaming, "What have I done that makes you treat me so? I'm calling the police." The staff answers him calmly and with patience. "We are trying to help you. Do you have any family who might be concerned about you?" they calmly ask him. He answers that he has no one at all. His screaming continues through the night.
Another voice rings in my ears - that of a son speaking to his hard-of-hearing elderly mother.
"How are you now, Ema. The doctor wants you to move a little. You can do it. Do you need anything?" He stands over her all night, never stopping talking to her or helping the doctors witomorrow. She stayed put.
An older lady, traditionalth her.
Somehow B"H the morning comes. There is lots of talking in the area of the old man. He does have children - a grown daughter and son that, he said, did not exist.
As we all depart, I tell the boy that he should be blessed for all the chesed (loving kindness), he has shown to his mother. He blushes. Throughout the night it was evident that his natural devotion to his mother was very great.
It was an honor to witness this interaction.
B"H we left the hospital feeling thankful for being in good health. And we wish good health to you too.
As Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day) nears, I've been wondering about the best views of Jerusalem.
My favorite it the top of the Gilo Hill that leads of the Malcha Mall. Just as I am about to descend that hill, all of Jerusalem is spread out before me, a feast for the eyes. I want to make a blessing, and I think, "Blessed is Hashem, the Builder of Jerusalem."
I asked my friends what they thought were great Jerusalem sites. Here's an idea from Menachem Fogel, the Maiersdorf Faculty Club Hotel.
.
"The balcony of the guest house at Hebrew University Mount Scopus has the
BEST view of Jerusalem."
You decide.
This photo of Maiersdorf Faculty Club Hotel is courtesy of TripAdvisor
I love our garden.Every plant and tree added to our garden over the past 16 years have been planted with great thought, anticipation and some even by "mistake"/luck.
Every spring life begins again in our garden.
Coconuts
We began with my husband's dream - a coconut palm right in the middle of the garden. It will never have coconuts, the gardener said, and it will never grow too tall. Coconut palms are not indigenous to this area and don't agree with our climate. We still wanted it.
Three years ago I looked up at our over averagely tall coconut palm and saw little balls hanging on a branch. Coconuts???!!! No. Dates. Dates on our beautiful giant appreciated accidental date palm that now towers over our home.
Etrogim (Citrons)
The front of our home is guarded by three large etrog trees (citrons) that my husband grew from seeds. Their bountiful fruit (used for the holiday of Sukkot) are our pride and joy.
(We've got a date palm growing in the backyard that my husband also grew from seeds. More on that another time.)
Kumquats
Our kumquat tree was as tiny as our children when we planted it 15 1/2 years ago. It has given us a decade of magnificent fruit twice a year to fill the tables of our friends and lived ones.
Magnolia
Last year we added a magnolia. We had fallen in love with its dazzling flowers and shiny green leaves. Magnolias come in many colors. Ours is purple to offset our red and pink roses, and yellow daffodils.
Chinese Date
Last year year while visiting the Walluch's Nursery up north, we bought what I call a Chinese Date. In Hebrew it is called a Shazif. But it comes from China and looks like a date (and taste like a pear), so I'll call it what I want.
On Shabbat while walking through my garden I noticed teensy buds on my Chinese Date. Those will grow into its fruits. B"H many of them. Can you see them? The tiny buds will soon be fruits. All over my garden, B"H, life begins again.
Blessings to all.
The next issue of my monthly publication, VOICES Magazine, will dedicate most of its editorial content to Jerusalem in honor of Yom Yerushalayim, Jerusalem Day.
I know that many of my readers come from the far corners of the world. I thought this morning that perhaps I'd ask YOU if you have any inspirational or memorable recollections or thoughts on Jerusalem.
If you do, please share them with me through the comments of this blog, and I'll get back to you asap.
I think this could be an exciting project that we can do together. :)
Tiberius and this whole Galil area were the center of Jewish life during the time of the Mishna. In fact, the Lavi gardens have a large area of ancient oil presses that prove Jewish settlement from those times.
.JPG)
.jpg)
.JPG)
Posts
