Zeidie Jack ob”m

Tonight, the 6^th of Kislev, is the 38^th Yahrtzeit of my grandfather ob”m, Jack Weiss (Yaakov Yoel). Finally, after all these many years, I am taking the time to write about my Zeidie.

First and foremost, all my memories of Zeidie are very much intertwined with my memories of Bobby, Shirley (Chana Sarah), his beloved wife of 47 years who passed away almost 20 years after he did. The reason for that is that for most of the 19 years that Zeidie knew me, they were always at each other’s side. If I had to encapsulate in one single word the impression that I had growing up of the relationship between my Bobby and Zeidie, that word would be dedication.  Dedication to each other with no end. And selfless dedication to the family.

My Zeidie immigrated to the United States from Hungary with his family as a teenager in 1920. His father had already arrived alone before WWI and was living on the Lower East Side in New York.  He became a painter (not the Artist type) or like he would say, a “shmearer”, just like his father.

My Zeidie would marry his first cousin, American born Shirley Weiss, when he was already 28 years old. My Zeidie might possibly be the first “American Baal Tshuva” I ever met, long, long before the term became familiar. You see, Isadore (Yitzchak Isaac), his father, was not observant. But Isadore’s brother, Yaakov Yoel (Shirley’s father) very much was. Very, very much.

Yaakov Yoel was serving in the Hungarian army as an interpreter when he overheard how all the Jewish soldiers were going to be sent to the Front. Taking that as his cue, and with the blessings of the Munkatcher Rav, he emigrated alone to the United States in 1904, sending funds later on to bring over his wife as well.

Back in the early 20^th Century, when the United States was referred to as the “Goldeneh Medina” with its streets paved with gold, many Jews threw off the yoke of observance. “America is different” was often stated by these many Jewish immigrants arriving on American shores from the Old Country, Europe.

But not Yaakov Yoel. He was from the few that even decided, even in America, to keep his beard, something that was not especially in vogue back then (although I hear that it’s making a comeback in Brooklyn today! A man ahead of his times).

And it was to his Uncle Yaakov Yoel that my Zeidie was drawn to. Although Isadore and Yaakov Yoel maintained good relations, contact between the cousins was restricted. But still, my Zeidie was willing to make a lifelong commitment to Jewish Orthodox observance in order to gain the hand of his beloved Shirley.

And committed he was. Whatever it took, he would make sure that his children received a proper Jewish education even if it meant painting the school building to pay off the tuition. At a time when sending your child to Yeshiva was not in vogue.

Committed. Dedicated. To his family. To his Faith. And most of all, to the love of his life, his beloved wife Shirley. A simple Jew.

Zeidie painted everything; buildings, bridges, you name it. And it took a heavy toll on his health. The “famous” family story about him was how he was once hospitalized enclosed within an oxygen tent suffering from the paint fumes he inhaled regularly. The prognosis was not good. My father ob”m was a teenager at the time. Seeing his father in that state, my Father assured his father that if anything should happen he would step in to support the family.

My Zeidie would have nothing of the sort. “This won’t kill me” he told his son. “You leaving Yeshiva would.”

The personal relationship with my Zeidie was for the most part a long distance one. He lived in Far Rockaway, New York and I lived in Miami Beach, Florida. I also enjoyed the status of being his oldest grandson. His visits to Florida (via train! They avoided Air Travel) were special treats as were our summer road trips from Florida to visit both sets of grandparents living in New York.

Fortunately, I enjoyed four especially close years with them when I studied in Brooklyn, New York during my High School stint there. I would sometimes enjoy a cozy Shabbat in their modest Far Rockaway apartment, walking ever so slowly together with him, sometimes in the freezing winter, to daven in one of the local Shuls. He wouldn’t complain about the pain he suffered as he walked, again due to all his years working as a painter. In fact I never, ever heard him complain about anything.

And most of all, as he sat in his recliner after dinner, I enjoyed his retelling of stories of my father during his youth.

And even the times when I didn’t make it out to Far Rockaway for a Shabbat, he would make the long drive (of course together with Bobby!) to Brooklyn in order to visit me and to deliver to me my favorite, tomato and mayonnaise sandwiches!

And then (like all Zeidies and Bobbys) they moved down to Miami Beach. He even once loaned me his beloved automobile to take a road trip to New York with some friends. I never had the heart to tell him that we broke down one god forsaken night in North Carolina and replaced the water radiator.

As a teenager, having an elderly grandfather around made me nervous. What would I do if something happened to him while I was around? Would I know what to do?

That was the impetus to learn CPR. And sure enough, one year after receiving it, I had the opportunity to use it on an elderly gentleman who suffered a heart attack in front of my father’s bakery on Washington Avenue. I saved a life. But that’s another story.

So Zeidie moved down to Florida, and I moved to New York. Three months after I moved to New York my Zeidie died. I came back to Florida until the end of my father’s shiva and returned back to New York to continue my studies, eventually receiving Rabbinical ordination, just like my own father.

Eight years later, almost to the day, my 4^th child would be born and be named after my Zeidie, Yaakov Yoel. 29 years later he would name his 4^th child after my father Meshulom ob”m.

The Summer that Isn't

Well, unless you have recently returned from some extra-terrestrial journey, you are probably well aware of the present goings on here in the Holy Land of Israel. Many of you have expressed your concerns which is deeply appreciated. I assure you that albeit a bit shaken, we are all alive and well and continuing on with our daily lives, as best as possible considering the situation. Because of your concern, I am writing to describe our own personal experience during this time.

First of all, I have no work this week, hence the time to sit down and write this message to you. Thank G-d I enjoy a good reputation in the world of tour guiding in Israel which keeps me busy most of the time. One aspect of our business here is to grab all work you can when it comes your way, because you never know when those opportunities will suddenly dry up.

It's actually a good sign of sorts that I received a few cancellations due to the present security situation. Fortunately it means that I am busy to begin with! Cancellations obviously don't have much of an impact on Tour guides who aren't working to begin with. So I have this full week to spend with the kids, change some light bulbs in the house and other stuff like that. I am scheduled to begin a 10 day Birthright group arriving from London next Sunday. And so far it remains a go. So a little breather beforehand is a good thing.

The Summer season got off to a really lousy start with the kidnappings and murder of three Israeli teens on their way home. Then was the rioting and now of course the sirens and rockets.

The kids are in summer camp, and all their camp trips have been cancelled. That's a bummer. And on Thursday, we saw a rocket fall just to the side of the road while on our way home. That was scary. One day we'll all be able to laugh about it. Not just yet. And the tourists I was guiding last week in Jerusalem did not in any way enjoy seeking shelter when sirens went off. But we still managed to enjoy a great time.

So here is the bottom line. This is already our 12th summer since making aliyah. When we arrived in 2003 suicide bombing was all the rampage here. Those were the days of Saddam Hussein, buses being blown up and gas masks. And who can forget Lebanon war number 2 in 2006.

And still, life goes on. Let me give you a for instance. At the end of the school year, a special end of the year program was organized by the school. It was an opportunity for the school to show off the accomplishments of the students, not the academic accomplishments but the result of the extra-curriculum stuff sponsored by the school, stuff like taekwondo and dance.

We had both a first and fifth grader performing, Menucha and Nechama. Honestly, Ellie was not looking forward to sitting through another stretched out school program (in Hebrew!) without my company (I was busy at work), but ...

What Ellie saw made such an impact on her. The kids were great. The dancing was spectacular. But two things made the greatest impression on her.

First, that the school should invest so heavily in programs that truly round out the educational experience for the children. Who can even begin to imagine what the cost for these type of programs would be back in the States. And here it is something offered as part of the school program. Very, very impressive.

But was even more impressive was that a child with Downs Syndrome, who back in the States would have been "Sinai'd, resource room'd, labeled, etc was totally accepted by her classmates (and the system!), participating in the dance just like any other of her classmates. Of course it meant extra effort on behalf of the school and on behalf of the teacher. But they made it happen. It was one of the most beautiful sights you could ever imagine seeing in your life.

And it happened here. Don't be fooled by all that stuff you are being fed on CNN or whoever. Despite the challenges we have here, and there are plenty, they still do not take away from the quality of life we and our children and grandchildren enjoy here.

And that is exactly the reason why me made Aliyah, and exactly the reason why we are here to stay.

All our love. Thank you for your blessings. Be safe.

Parent Teachers Meetings

Ugh! Last night I attended another Parent Teachers meeting. Don't get me wrong. All the reports I received were positive. Except from the Sports teacher! But we'll get back to that later. The thing is, I have children already in their 30's! So yes, I also have a first and fifth grader, but shouldn't I get a pass on these meetings! I mean, almost 30 years of Parents Teachers meetings! It's inhuman !!!! And it's not necessarily because of all the waiting involved. You arrive on time for your 6:00 appointment only to find out that 5:20 (if you're lucky!) just entered. And of course 5:50 grabs 20 minutes of meeting time instead of the allotted 10. And that's just one teacher you need to meet!!! No. That's not what's so torturous. The underlying reason for the great discomfort we experience at these meetings is our unconscious awareness that it is not our children that the teachers are reporting on. Nooooooooooo. If that was the case, then fine. The bitter truth is that we are sitting there in judgement! The teacher is judging US! What kind of parent are you that your child sometimes doesn't complete their homework assignment! As we squirm uncomfortably in those small seats and hear the teacher's report, all we can think to ourselves is "Where did I go wrong?". Maybe it's in my spouse's genes! Why can't my child be like goody two shoes Johnny from down the street, always on good behavior, studious and helpful around the house! Fortunately, the reports I received last night were good (except for that minor thing with my first grader cheating on a math test). Except from the Sports teacher. "Your child is lazy". The Sports teacher! Give me a break!

Book Review

Open publication - Free publishing - More dershowitz

Trip to Israel - June 2010 Slideshow & Video

Trip to Israel - June 2010 Slideshow & Video: "TripAdvisor™ TripWow ★ Trip to Israel - June 2010 Slideshow ★ to Chicago, Safed and Tel Aviv. Stunning free travel slideshows on TripAdvisor"

Like a Hamster on his exercise wheel

Did you ever have one of those days when you feel just like that hamster running so fast on his little exercise wheel without really getting anywhere? Well, that was the type of morning I had. I guess it shouldn't have come as any surprise. After all, I was visiting a government office.

Last week I had the pleasure of waiting an hour at the tax office for something I really didn't need, only to find out that I was at the wrong place and that I needed to be at a different office in Jerusalem to get the thing I really didn't need.

Today my meeting was at the Absorption Ministry, a place I hadn't visited in a quite awhile. Now I remember why. This is where new immigrants learn very, very quickly about Israeli bureaucracy.

Two weeks ago, totally out of the blue, they phoned me to tell me that I was eligible for a 1,200 sheqel grant (about $325 - a days work)to subsidize the "taxi" driving course I took last year (which I took so that I could legally drive tourists around). I was pleasantly surprised by the call. I had been told previously that I had already received my quota of grants. But hey, who was I to argue!

The only thing was that I needed to set up a meeting immediately in order to bring in all the necessary paperwork. Easy enough.

And so I arrive 15 minutes early to my 9AM appointment today. I knock on the door. No response. I wait. Fifteen minutes later the door opens and (we'll use an alias) Ms. A asks me who I am, I tell her and she tells me that this will take an hour (an hour!)and to please come into her office and wait for her. After a few moments she returns and asks me for the reason for my visit and after I respond she says she has no recall of having ever called me (she phoned me twice, once to try to change the time of the appointment), but she does remember exactly what she told me to bring. So far so good.

Then she starts going through my paperwork. Nothing is good. She doesn't like the school's letterhead where I took the course. It doesn't look professional enough. (As if the file where it will be kept for eternity really cares). She doesn't like the syllabus - not enough details. She doesn't like the copy of the school's license. In short, she doesn't like anything. When she tells me that she doesn't have all day for this, I kindly remind her that she has an hour. She needs to speak with her supervisor. I chuckle to myself and tell her that I will definitely be writing about this experience. She is not amused.

She leaves the room for a few minutes and upon her return she says says that we will try our best. I suspect that her computer's internet connection is a dial-up modem. Each individual letter she types takes about 22 seconds for the computer to register. She spends a lot of time trying to figure out the code numbers for the responses I give to her inquiries. And when she finds out that I'm a tour guide, I suddenly become her best friend and she has about 45 minutes of questions regarding different locations around the country she would like to visit.

By now a line of people has formed outside the door with people waiting to have their turn. Some poor lady comes in just to get a letter which states that she doesn't receive any assistance. My clerk explains to her that she is tied up with me.

After an hour and a half I am informed that I will need to return with my wife in order to update our checking account information. Wipeedoo! Another visit to the office! I can hardly wait.

I walk back to my car only to find out that my quick park meter has malfunctioned and so now I have a 100 sheqel parking ticket to contend with.

And five minutes later they call me from the Absorption Ministry to apologize. It seems that after all, I am not eligible for the grant and only because the regular person was out sick did I mistakenly receive the call to come in.

Well, at least now there is no need for me to return with my wife. At least for now.

Happy Birthday Shmulie

Tonight (the 4th of Adar) I celebrate my 51st birthday. And so in honor of this most auspicious event, I wish my youngest brother Shmulie a very happy birthday with whom I share this occasion with.

Now I know what you're thinking. Big deal. So you share a birthday with a sibling. I mean after all, there are fifteen of you! Inevitably two of you are going to share the same birth date. So what's the big deal? OK. So it took 22 years for it to happen. Still, there are only so many days in a year to begin with.

The truth is, the odds of the two of us sharing the exact same birth date is quite low. Here I quote Wikipedia: "Because of the roughly eleven-day difference between twelve lunar months and one solar year, the year lengths of the Hebrew calendar vary in a repeating 19-year Metonic cycle of 235 lunar months, with an intercalary lunar month added according to defined rules every two or three years, for a total of 7 times per 19 years."

Simply put, the Hebrew calendar enjoys 7 leap years during every 19 year cycle, by adding an extra month at the end of the winter. (Why couldn't they have given us an extra month of summer instead? Go figure.)And so 7 times every 19 years we have an Adar I followed by an Adar II. And both my brother and I were both born in leap years, on the exact same date, 22 years apart, on the 4th of Adar I. If there are any mathematicians out there in cyberworld reading this, I would love to know what the odds are of that happening.

But here's the clincher. I am blessed to be the oldest of 15 children. (Yes. One dad with one mom - till 120. No twins. The hard way. 4 daughters, 11 sons.) Shmulie is the youngest. We are the so-to-say the "book-ends" of our family. Pretty cool - huh? I think so.

Now I'll be perfectly honest. I barely know my brother Shmulie. When he was born in Miami Beach I was already living in New York, one year away from my wedding. Shmulie will be 29 and my oldest daughter Tova will very soon be 28. I guess my relationship with Shmulie is more of an uncle - nephew one than a brother - brother one. I live in Israel, Shmulie with his family in California. It's been quite a while since we've seen each other. I'm not making excuses (or maybe I am) but that's just the reality. Facebook can do just so much.

Nevertheless, I truly believe that in addition to our connection to each other as siblings, our shared birth dates reveal a deep connection between the two of us.

I was named after my mother's grandfather who thank G-d emigrated from Hungary before WW II - before the Nazi (modern day Amalek) invasion. My Great-grandmother probably gets the credit for that decision to leave. Her husband actually preferred Hungary to the United States, but they had the foresight to see the writing on the wall and left good 'ol Hungary while you still could.

But the forbear of my name would be Mordechai of Purim fame. The very joyous holiday of Purim is celebrated this month as well, on the 14th of Adar (15th in Jerusalem). Mordechai, although from the Tribe of Benjamin, is referred to as a "Yehudi" which typically meant coming from the tribe of Judah or the area of Judea. And so what we have here is a member of the Children of Israel being called a Jew in the Tanach (the Book of Esther) for the very first time. One one hand he is a Jew living in exile, in Persia, after the destruction of the First Temple by the Babylonians back in 586 BCE, but living just prior to the end of that 70 year exile when (thanks to his help - and Esther's) the Persian empire ultimately encourages the return of the "Jews" back to their land to rebuild the Second Temple. Cool. Most don't heed the call - not cool. As someone who only recently made aliyah, I relate.

The final verse in the Megilah (Book of Esther) which we read (twice) on Purim says it best; "For Mordechai the Jew was viceroy to King Achashverush - he was a great man among the Jews, and found favor with the multitude of his brethren - he sought the good of his people and spoke for the welfare of all his seed".

Whew! If only after 120 years I could live up to that! (Well, thanks to my parents I certainly have a multitude of brethren!)

My brother Shmulie was named after Rabbi Shmuel of Lubavitch (b. 1834 - d. 1882) (the Rebbe Maharash) who was the 4th "Lubavitcher Rebbe" of the Chabad Lubavitch chasidic movement, the 7th son of the 3rd Lubavitcher Rebbe. A most famous aphorism of his is "The world says, 'If you can't crawl under, climb over.' But I say, Lechatchilah Ariber--'At the outset, one should climb over.'" Another is "You cannot fool G-d; ultimately, you cannot fool others either. The only one you can fool is yourself. And to fool a fool is no great achievement." (Not to be confused with another famous quote of that same era "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time." attributed to Abraham Lincoln 16th president of US
(b. 1809 - d. 1865).

The forbear of my brother's name is one of the greats of Jewish history; "Shmuel Ha'navi" - Samuel the Prophet. Shmuel Hanavi enjoys the distinction of having anointed both the very fist King of Israel - Saul and his "successor" King David over 3,000 years ago. (The tomb of Samuel the Prophet, located just outside of Jerusalem, is one of my very favorite spots to visit in Israel).

In Jewish thought, a very important theme is the deep connection which exists between the very beginnings of something with its very end. Man/woman is the last of all creation, but only because all of creation preceding is for their sake. We have all been placed in this world with our own particular mission to fulfill during our limited years here on this earth. That is the ultimate purpose of "The Beginning" - creation.

Shmuel Hanavi and Mordechai Ha'Yehudi share a number of common factors. Women (like our own mother) played an extremely important role in their lives. Shmuel Hanavi's mother, Chana, was extremely distressed over being childess (like our own mother). Prior to Shmuel's birth, Chana dedicated her first born child to a life long service of G-d. The first 10 verses of the book of Shmuel I ch. 2 records her song of praise to G-d for answering her petition. According to the Zohar "There were two women who uttered songs and praises to the Holy One, Blessed is He, such as no man in the world ever uttered. Who were they? Devorah and Chana."

The all important woman in Mordechai's life was none other than Esther. And in the Talmud it states: "Who were the seven prophetesses? Sarah, Miriam, Devorah, Chana, A'veegayil, Huldah, and Esther."

That's common denominator number one.

Furthermore, both Mordechai and Shmuel lived in times just before the building of the Temple in Jerusalem; the first Temple "the House of David" would be built by King Solomon, David's son after the time of Shmuel and the Second Temple would be built soon after the story of Purim.

More connections can be made between the two. Both were beloved by their people; "All of Israel, from Dan to Beer-sheva, knew that Shmuel was faithful as a prophet to Hashem". And the most obvious connection has to do with the Holiday of Purim itself. King Saul of the tribe of Benjamin will lose his Kingship for failing to destroy Amalek as G-d had commanded him to do so. It will be the prophet Shmuel who (albeit not in time) finishes the job meant for King Saul; beheading King Agag of Amalek. Hundreds of years later, when Amalek again rears its ugly head in the guise of Haman (progeny of Agag's final night's stand) who seeks to utterly annihilate the Jewish people, it will be our hero Mordechai (and Esther) - "Jews" from the tribe of Benjamin - who get it right this time and bring about the demise of Haman - Amalek and his family.

I guess I could continue on and discuss the significance of the nummber 22 - the amount of years which separate the birthdays of Shmulie and myself (We always recite psalm 22 just before beginning the first psalm for the 4th of the month - our birthdate) but I'll leave that for others to ponder.

And so happy birthday Shmulie. I love you. Our namesakes have given us a lot to live up to, but thank G-d we are part of a family that has provided us with the tools necessary to be successful in all of our endeavors.

On behalf of Shmulie and myself, thank you Mommy and Daddy. This is our birthdays gift to you.

We love you.

Mordechai "Ha'Yehudi" Ha'Yisra'eli

L'Chaim!

THE JEWISH VOICE
AND OPINION
Promoting Classical Judaism
December 2009 Vol. 23 • No. 3 Kislev 5770

Israel Planning Its Own National Wine Route for Tourists

Rabbi Mordechai Weiss, the former head of Friends of Lubavitch of Bergen County who now resides with his wife, Ellie, and their family in Mitzpe Yericho, is convinced he has the best job in the world. As a licensed Israeli tour guide, he is always meeting new people and “enjoying a great time with them.”
“At the same time, I have the opportunity to see Israel as if for the very first time, through another person’s eyes,” he said.
This past summer, prompted by the three-day annual wine festival at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, Rabbi Weiss said his thoughts turned to visits to Israel’s wonderful wineries.

Major Industry
The festival featured wines from 33 different Israeli wine¬makers.
In all, Israel boasts more than 250 wineries. Together, they manufacture 33 million bottles annually. Of these, 150 are so-called boutique wineries that produce fewer than 100,000 bottles a year. Ninety percent of these smaller wineries were built in the last 15-20 years.
The Israeli wine industry is a $224 million business, employing thousands of workers in the vineyards, cellars, and offices.

Throughout the Country
“Our wineries are dispersed throughout the country, making it easy to put them on the itinerary,” said Rabbi Weiss, pointing out that there are wineries in the immediate area around Jerusalem as well as to the south, north, and west of the city.
“Up north, in the Galilee and the Golan, the list of wineries to visit is practically endless,” he said. “But you can also tour wineries in the Judean Mountains and the Negev. Each place has its own particular wineries and all of them should prove interesting to tourists looking for something different.”
Two recent additions to the wine route are the Psagot Winery just north of Jerusalem and the Adir Winery located in Dalton near Safed. Both Wineries boast great wine and beautiful new visitors centers to enjoy the wine tastings on your visit there. At the Adir Winery, an additional bonus is the opportunity to taste the goat cheese and yoghurt ice cream which they also produce on the premises of their dairy.
The maturation of Israel’s wine industry in recent years has led the Tourism Ministry to consider developing an Israeli wine route, similar to the ones found in the Napa Valley in California or the Stellenbosch district in South Africa.

Good for Tourism
Rabbi Weiss is convinced that promotion of such a route would be a draw for international tourists in addition to helping develop local businesses.
Last month, Israeli Tour¬ism Minister Stas Misezhnikov visited the Carmel Winery in Zichron Ya’acov, and came to the same conclusion reached by Rabbi Weiss. Mr. Misezhnikov said that after visiting the town and the surrounding area to learn more about the wine industry and its tourism potential, he was sufficiently impressed to call for a plan to implement the idea of a national wine route.
Zichron Ya’acov is located 22 miles south of Haifa and just 15 minutes north of Caesarea. Nestled at the southern end of the Carmel mountain range, overlooking the Mediterranean, it was one of the first Jewish settlements in Palestine. It was founded in 1882 by Baron Edmond James de Rothschild and named in honor of his father.
Rabbi Weiss said Zichron Ya’acov, with its wineries dating back to the 19th century as well as high-tech 21st-century models, is the perfect place to open a wine route.
“There are big commercial wineries like Carmel next to boutique family-owned micro-wineries,” he said.

Becoming Popular
According to Rabbi Weiss, wine tours are becoming popu¬lar in Israel and he is one of the country’s tour operators who offers such tours of Israel’s wine regions to interested individuals and groups.
“The differences between the various wineries and the personalities of the vintners make the tours informative and interesting. In each area, you really get a local feel, and the winemakers reflect that,” he said.
In addition to offering wine tastings, many wineries offer tourists the opportunity to en¬joy superb dining.
“There are all sort of wineries, ranging from rustic to high-tech modern facilities. When you combine the wine with quality food, you are in for a really great time,” said Rabbi Weiss.

Off the Beaten Track
Wine tours often take visitors well off the beaten track, away from the established ho¬tel regions on the coast and in Jerusalem. That can mean finding local bed-and-breakfast options, which is when a tour guide can come in handy.
“It’s also good to have a driver if the tourist intends to spend the day sipping wine,” says Rabbi Weiss.
According to the Tourism Ministry, the new wine route will provide maps for bike and walking tours as well.

Not Just for Kiddush
Israel’s wineries seem quite ready to accommodate a new influx of tourists bound for a national wine route.
Adam Montifiore, development director for Carmel Wineries, said his company’s transformation symbolizes the change in the Israeli wine
industry as a whole. Once a producer of a limited range of staple wines, used mostly for Jewish rituals and holidays, Carmel now operates five kosher wineries across the country, each with distinct features and characteristics.
Aside from its two 120-year-old wineries in Rishon Lezion and Zichron Ya’acov, Carmel also owns a state-of-the-art boutique winery near Arad, a five-year-old winery in the Upper Galilee, and an experimental micro-winery, also in Zichron Ya’akov.
“Israel is no longer a producer of mostly sweet kosher wines just for kiddush. It is gaining a reputation for mature wines enjoyed by sophisticated drinkers. Fortunately, many of them are still kosher,” said Rabbi Weiss.
In Zichron Ya’acov, Carmel recently opened a new wine culture center, an upscale ver¬sion of a winery visitor center, where guests are treated to a 90-minute wine workshop and extensive tasting, led by an Italian-trained sommelier.

5,000-Year-Old Story
According to Rabbi Weiss, a wine tour can be either the main purpose of a week-long visit or a fun day-trip for a family looking to spend time outdoors.
“Whichever you decide, a trip to a kosher winery is always a fun experience,” he said.
For more information, Rabbi Weiss can be reached in Israel at 201-353-7946, or by email, rabbiguide@gmail.com.
“Learning about the history of Israeli kosher wine manufacturing means delving into a 5,000-year-old story. It’s an¬other way of experiencing this very special place in the world. And, besides wherever there is a developed wine culture, good food can’t be far away,” he says.
S.L.R.

http://jewishvoiceandopinion.com/pdf/200912.pdf

The Best Job in the World

Reprinted from The AACI Jerusalem Voice

My very good friend Yehuda likes to tell me every so often that in order to "make it" in Israel, one needs to be extremely flexible when it comes to employment. Meaning, you can expect a couple of curves thrown at you after you make aliyah, and if you want to succeed, you better be ready to do something for a living that might not have been in your original plans.

I am fifty years old. Throughout my life I have been blessed with many great teachers, starting with my own father. In my teenage years I took it for granted that one day I too would be a teacher, just like my father. And so it was, but not as a school teacher.

My first gig as a teacher was volunteering one hour per week to teach basic Judaism to a group of elementary age children who attended public school. It was the only religious instruction they received. It was then that I learned that a good teacher gains more from his students than the students from him. Another fringe benefit of the job was that my boss introduced me to his sister-in-law, my wife to be.

Before our first year of marriage was up, we had settled down in Teaneck, New Jersey with our first child, where we would spend the next 21 years. I was hired by Chabad to serve as their Director of Educational Activities. With no building to call our own, I started giving Adult Education classes out our small two bedroom apartment along with the other community programs I organized. Eventually my boss would make aliyah and I would replace him as the Executive Director, building Teaneck's first Chabad House and opening up many more Chabad Centers around Bergen County, New Jersey. All during this time, my wife was busy at my side, raising our children, serving as the Rebbetzin and as a pre-school assistant at the local Jewish Day School. It was a great, great run.

Our oldest child made aliyah with her newlywed husband in the summer of 2000. In July of 2003 we all followed suit. The initial plan was for me to sort of continue what I was already doing and what I was pretty good at; fundraising. After two years, the dynamics at work changed and it was time for me to move on. But what to do?

It was then that I saw an advertisement in the newspaper for a Tour guide course which was to be given in English. When I had taken my brother around the country he had said that I would make a great guide. And so with my father-in-law's encouragement, and financial help, I took the plunge. The up-side was that the two years of the course was one of the best times in my life; New friends, outstanding teachers. The down-side was pretty much being unemployed for two years. Ouch!

But I did it. I also took the course for the special drivers license you need to transport tourists. And so now I have the best job in the world. I am teaching again, and the Land of Israel is my textbook. I'm teaching, but I'm constantly learning. I spend my time with some of the nicest people you could ever meet. People from back home in the States, from foreign countries, College students, young kids, seniors, Jews, Gentiles, all different types of professionals. You name it.

Each morning when I leave my house, the classroom will be different. Every day is another trip. And I am thoroughly enjoying the journey.

To Laugh and to Cry

Today is the first day of the Hebrew month of Av – Rosh Chodesh Menachem Av – which catapults us into the saddest period of time on the Jewish calendar. It was on the 9th day of Av in the year 70 when the exile of the Jewish nation began with the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans. All the many years of suffering, the inquisitions, the pogroms, the Holocaust, are traced back to that one single event, that one single day. It is a day marked by fasting and mourning.

If in the month of Adar, when the holiday of Purim is celebrated, we increase our joy, then in the month of Av we are to minimize our joy. In an interesting play on words we are taught that the way to minimize the effects of Av is by being joyous.

Today I experienced both. Joy and mourning.

Today I visited Jericho. Believe me, that's no small feat for an Israeli citizen. After the Six Day War in 1967 to visit Jericho was no big deal. For many it was simply the quiet Arab village one passed through when travelling north via the Jordan Valley. It was also a particularly popular location for archaeologists who have unearthed the remains of over 20 successive settlements dating back thousands and thousands of years.

It is also to the Jews that the city of Jericho is so important. It is mentioned over 70 times in the Torah. It is the key to the Land of Israel, the very first city in the land conquered by Joshua after having spent 40 years wandering in the desert with the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob after their enslavement in Egypt. Who isn't familiar with the story of the crumbling walls of Jericho? Both Prophets Elijah and Elisha are here, as well as King Zedekiah at the tail end of the First Temple period who is captured in the area. Hundreds of years later the Hasmoneans as well as King Herod will be here too.

Sometime between the 5th to 8th centuries the "Shalom al Yisrael" (Peace upon Israel) synagogue was constructed in Jericho. The synagogue contained a mosaic on the floor with drawings of the Ark and Menorah of the Holy Temple as well as a Shofar, Lulav and the inscription "Shalom al Yisrael". After 1967, the ancient synagogue was used regularly for prayers. Later on, a Yeshiva was developed in the place.

On May 13, 1994 Israel withdrew from Jericho. According to the Oslo Accords, Israel and the Palestinian Authority agreed to keep free access to the synagogue and to defend it properly. In September of 2000, the building was desecrated and set fire to.

That's where I went this morning to pray. Under very heavy guard by the IDF, permission is being granted for monthly prayer visits to the "Shalom al Yisrael" synagogue in honor of Rosh Chodesh – the first day of the new month. Rosh Chodesh is a festive day. It's about renewal. Having the opportunity to pray in this ancient synagogue in this ancient city gave me great joy. It was in fact the very, very first time in my entire life that I had ever visited Jericho, let alone pray there!

But the circumstances can make one cry.

We are told that the saddest day of the year will one day be transformed into a day of celebration, that in the destruction there is already the seed of redemption. I would like to think that the place I call home today epitomizes that idea of being located somewhere between the depths of Jericho, the lowest city on earth, and the spiritual heights of Jerusalem.

Rabbi Mordechai Weiss lives with his family in the Judean Desert community of Mitzpe Yericho, Israel which overlooks the city of Jericho. He served as a community Rabbi in Bergen County, New Jersey for more than two decades. He is a licensed tour guide. rabbiguide@gmail.com

Israeli Bus Drivers

As a tour guide, and as an Israeli who utilizes the bus system pretty regularly (we haven't owned a car since September), I quite often have the "opportunity" to interact with what we lovingly refer to here in Israel as the "nahag", or more simply, "the driver", or more specifically the (Israeli) bus driver. Taxi drivers are a category all unto themselves ("accidentally" taking the longer route to "avoid the traffic" (an impossibility) or overcharging you), but an Israeli bus driver …

I decided to write about this because of an incident which happened last week during the Pesach holiday as my 16 year old daughter Bat-sheva was making her way down south towards the Dead Sea by bus.

It seems that the bus driver had accidentally passed by one of his stops and it was only kilometers later that a passenger who needed to get off at the missed stop brought it to the driver's attention.

Now with Israeli bus drivers, as with people in general, but even more so, you never know what kind of reaction you're going to get from the driver. Listen. Bus drivers are taxed to the limit, and then some. Number one. Their passengers are Israeli. Need I say more? Number two. They are constantly being asked all kinds of questions regarding every single bus route in the country, they are busy giving change and selling tickets, they are fighting the traffic and dealing with an overcrowded bus with passengers arguing among themselves. Oh, and don't forget that all through this they are supposed to keep an eye out for suicide bombers. A dream job!

So sometimes your bus driver will simply refuse to drop you off at your designated stop, or sometimes he'll be especially kind and make a stop for you at an "unofficial" stop. You never know.

Anyway, getting back to my daughter's story. After the passenger told the driver that he had missed her stop, the driver pulled the bus over to the side of the road, got out of the bus, and for twenty minutes stood out on the highway with his finger stuck out trying to find a "hitch" for the passenger! Finally a police car stopped and they took the passenger back to their correct stop.

What a country!

A few of our major appliances are on the blink. Our freezer is out of commission and even worse (much worse) the washing machine broke down two weeks ago. The repair man has been out to visit us twice so far, but with the holidays … Anyway, with a house filled with kids and guests, you can almost imagine the "ba-la-gan" (mess) that not having the machine has created. The repair people now say Tuesday … We can only hope.

But in true Israeli hospitality, all of our neighbors have graciously opened their homes to us to use their own machines. One neighbor even insists on washing, drying, folding and delivering our laundry back to us! (Remember, we have no car.) But that's how it is where we live; neighbors knocking on your door for some milk and eggs, and you yelling out your kitchen window for some zucchini for the chicken soup.

Life on the Yishuv.
And so last week I finally had my knee arthroscopy. I was given an epidural, so I was able to watch the procedure on the computer screen as the surgeon did his work. Wow! I had the procedure done at Hadassah (Mount Scopus). The surgeon was great and I am, baruch Hashem, feeling great.

We enjoyed a wonderful Pesach, our 5th since making aliyah. (Just 7 days. Still feels weird). Again we participated in the catered communal meal on the Shabbat before Pesach. A life saver! Our married daughter Chaya with Joel spent the entire Pesach with us, as did Yaakov, Mazal and our grandson Uriel Tzion (They stayed on for a few extra days). The kids did some hikes, nearby and further away, and also found some time to go bowling. Ellie even found a few hours one day just to sit and relax in the sun. The weather has been pretty nice, except for the huge sandstorm that hit us full blast Wednesday night. Whew!!!

In another two weeks I begin a pretty full schedule of guiding. I'm pretty much booked up into July (including a 13 day Birthright trip), baruch Hashem, although I have not heard yet from the Pope and Obama who will be visiting here soon. So in the meantime I'm catching up on my writing (Isratimes), waiting for the publication of my book (September?), laying off the blackberry but spending time on Facebook with my Birthright alumni, and preparing a talk on time management for the Refuah Institute in Jerusalem.

The kids are back in school and Ellie is back to work, but before you know it will be more vacation days (Yom Ha'atzmaut, Lag Baomer), Shavuot (Ellie will be joining me in Jerusalem with a Birthright group), school graduations (Mendel into High School, Shimon into Junior High, Nechama into first grade) and birthdays! (Menucha Rachel 2, Shimon 12). Still another year until Menucha begins pre-school. Getting her to wear her eyeglasses continues to be a struggle.

We are still looking for tenants to rent out the apartment we renovated a few months ago. Hopefully soon. We got to see a lot of the family just before Pesach at a family wedding. A son of my brother Yosef got married. The kids had a ball. And it's real nice seeing all the construction going on in my neighborhood. Bunch of new homes going up. Wonderful.

And so I took this family from Chicago down to the Dead Sea before Pesach. On the way, traffic was stopped for about a half hour for a suspicious object to be removed from the road. And at Masada we got held up while we watched a daring rescue operation as a rope was lowered down from the cable car to recue a tourist who had slid down the snake path up to Masada.

Now this was stuff my tour guide course did not prepare me for.

Stay in touch. All our love.

Mordechai

#50

So as I was surfing my BlackBerry this morning and reading all the nice birthday greetings which were sent to me via Facebook (including the operating system of Facebook itself!) I imagined what it must have been like 50 years ago today when I was born. Was my father surfing his blackberry too checking out all those mazal tov greetings to him? Oh yeah! Back then a blackberry was a wild fruit and a smile came across your face when you read a good book. Thank G-d for progress. The world is such a better place. And by the way, how come Lincoln got a new penny for his birthday and I didn't even get an agurah? My beard is just as long as his!

All is well. Tuesday was a national holiday here in Israel. Election Day. No wonder they have elections so often here. You get a paid vacation day every time there's another election! No wonder so many people are hoping coalition talks fail and then there will be another day off... I mean election. This is a really great country. I was given 33 choices at the voting booth. 33! So Jewish. Sort of like living in a community with 300 families ... and 12 synagouges. (My place.)

I've been busy guiding. Had a great time with the students from Swathmore here on Birthright. Enjoyed a most meaningful time with a group visiting Sderot and its environs. In another week I'll be guiding a Federation mission from Houston, and then after Purim another Birthright group.

My latest learning curve here has been trying to navigate the Israeli tax system. And each time I think that I'm getting close to getting a handle on it ... WHAM!!!! I find out about another agency ... form .... regulation .... don't ask! Baruch Hashem.

Chanukah Travel

• Shiur Times

(Maccabees I, Chapter 6, verses 32-46)

When writing about different locations associated with Chanukah, some obvious places would be Modiin, where the Maccabean revolt against the Seleucid Greeks all began, and Jerusalem. Alternatively, one could write about the different battle sites such as Wadi Haramia, near modern day Ma'ale Levona, Beth Horon, Emmaus or Beth Zur north of Hebron, Adasa or Elasa near Ramallah. For your enjoyment, I have decided to write about a battle site which did not have a happy ending for the Jewish rebels— the Battle of Beth-Zechariah located just outside Alon Shvut in Gush Etzion.
In 164 BCE, Yehuda HaMaccabee (Judah the Maccabee) defeated the Syrian Greeks at the Battle of Beth Zur, and restored the Beit Hamikdash in Jerusalem. However, Seleucid forces still controlled the Acra, a strong fortress within the city that faced Har HaBayit (the Temple Mount) which served as a symbol to remind the Jews that their land was still occupied [by the Greeks]. Two years later, in 162 BCE, Yehuda HaMaccabee laid siege to the fortress. The Syrian Greeks then took the field against the Maccabean army.
With an army of about 50,000 infantry and thirty war elephants, along with cavalry and chariots, the Greeks approached Jerusalem from the south and besieged Beth-Zur eighteen miles from the city. Yehuda HaMaccabee lifted his own siege on The Acra, and led his army south. The Jewish force of about 20,000 positioned itself on the high ground across the road to Jerusalem — directly in the path of the Syrian-Seleucid army.
After the Syrian Greeks captured Beth-Zur, they then marched on to Beth-Zechariah. Yehuda HaMaccabee used traditional field tactics and fought the Syrians in their own fashion. The result was a defeat for the Jews.
The war elephants unnerved Yehuda’s troops. As the Jews began to break for the rear, the Maccabee's younger brother, Elazar, attempted to show his fellow men that the elephants were vulnerable. Charging into the mouth of the Syrian assault, he spotted a large elephant bearing the royal seal. Elazar cast himself under the animal and thrust his sword into its soft belly. The elephant died immediately and fell onto Elazar, killing him.
Today you can visit the settlement of Elazar located in Gush Etzion just across from Efrat. The site of the Maccabean battle where elazar the Maccabbee was crushed by an elephant is located nearby in Hirbet El Zachariah. A wonderful place to visit there is the Path of the Patriarchs which runs between Rosh Tzurim and Neve Daniel.
In all probability, the Romans built on this existing path that has been around for many generations earlier. This is the most logical path to take according to the landscape of the region. The book of Braishit is filled with stories about the forefathers walking between Beer Sheva and Nablus. This would be the path they travelled on. Abraham and Sarah walk from Nablus passing Bet El and then southwards on this path.

And then there is the story of the binding of Isaac, where Abraham takes his son and they travel three days from Beer Sheva to ‘that place’, the Temple Mount. On the beginning of the third day, they are able to see ‘that place’ from a distance. On the hills at the top of modern day Neve Daniel, it is approximately 60 km. from Beer Sheva, which is two days’ travel and it is also a place where you can see on the horizon the Mount Moriah.

And so here you have the path, travelled by our forefathers as well as the Maccabees. On June 7,1967, during the Six Day War, Israeli forces advanced on the Path of the Patriarchs towards the Etzion Bloc and entered the abandoned Jordanian army camp on the site of Kfar Etzion. By Rosh Hashana, some of the Gush Etzion survivors from 1948 were granted permission and returned back to Kfar Etzion.

To visit the Kfar Etzion Memorial museum call 02 993-8308.

Abraham and Lot

• Shiur Times

Parshah Lech-Lecha
Chapter 13
1. And Abram came up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that was his, and Lot with him, to the south. 3. And he went on his journeys, from the south and until Beth el, until the place where his tent had been previously, between Beth el and between Ai.
7. And there was a quarrel between the herdsmen of Abram's cattle and between the herdsmen of Lot's cattle, and the Canaanites and the Perizzites were then dwelling in the land. 8. And Abram said to Lot, "Please let there be no quarrel between me and between you and between my herdsmen and between your herdsmen, for we are kinsmen. 9. Is not all the land before you? Please part from me; if [you go] left, I will go right, and if [you go] right, I will go left." 10. And Lot raised his eyes, and he saw the entire plain of the Jordan, that it was entirely watered; before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as you come to Zoar.

Throughout Jewish history in the Holy Land, geography has played a crucial role. And so it is with the separation between Abraham our forefather, the very first Jew, and his nephew Lot. To appreciate the significance of this event, knowledge of the geography of the area where this event took place is necessary.

Here we have Abraham and Lot standing together as Abraham says to Lot "Please let there be no quarrel between me and between you…". Where exactly was this conversation taking place? The Torah tells us; "between Beth el and between Ai". The Torah is not an AAA triptik. If the Torah deems it important for us to know the specific location of an event, it is in order to teach us a lesson.

Abraham travelled together with his family from Egypt, from the south, up into the central mountain range of the then land of Cannan. Both Abraham and Lot have herds of cattle. Abraham is especially careful to keep his herds off the property of others. Abraham needs to make some type of arrangement with Lot to keep their herds separate from each other.

And here we come to the central question. Was it the intention of Abraham to completely separate from Lot? Let's not forget, eventually it will be a descendant of Lot, Ruth the Moabite, who will convert to Judaism and from her lineage King David and ultimately Moshiach will be born from.

In fact, by understanding the geography of the area, we can see how it was actually not Abraham's intention to have Lot completely separate from him.

Abraham uses an interesting phrase while addressing Lot; " if [you go] left, I will go right, and if [you go] right, I will go left".

To where is left? To where exactly is right? Abraham and Lot are standing on a mountain hilltop near Beth el. And what does the Torah tell us? "And Lot raised his eyes, and he saw the entire plain of the Jordan".

In ancient times, maps were drawn with the direction east being the primary direction, the direction from whence the sun rose. In Hebrew, the word "kedem", sometimes used for the word east, can be translated as moving forward. (Hence the connection between the phrase "to orient oneself" and the "Orient", located in the east.)

Abraham and Lot are standing on the mountain range facing eastward, in the direction of the Jordan Valley. Abraham is not looking to completely disassociate himself from Lot. Abraham himself states; "We are kinsmen".

What Abraham is suggesting is for Lot to stay in the mountains with him, either going north or south. But the key is that Abraham wants Lot to stay in the mountains. Why? Because the Jordan Valley below is "like the land of Egypt".

Abraham and Lot had come from Mesopotamia, a land flowing with the waters of the Euphrates. In Egypt, watered flowed freely through the Nile. It was only here in this land, up in the mountains of the land of Cannan, where a person had to depend and pray for rain.

The nation which would come forth from Abraham would be very different from the peoples Abraham had lived with before. Because here in the Holy Land, In the land of Israel, a Jew knows that one is completely dependant upon G-d. Our daily prayers for rain are a crucial element of our prayers to G-d, an expression of our faith. That is what makes the Jewish nation different.

Lot chose differently; "And Lot raised his eyes, and he saw the entire plain of the Jordan, that it was entirely watered; before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah,…". Lot was attracted to the Jordan Valley before him, a place which reminded him of home, a place "entirely watered". And in fact, instead of heading north or south as Uncle Abraham had suggested, Lot heads east, to the area of Sodom and Gomorrah. And we know what happens there ultimately.

Abraham on the other hand is blessed by G-d and heads south, to the area of Hebron, in the mountains.

Today you can head north on route 60 from Jerusalem to modern day Beth el and enjoy the beautiful views from the lookout situated within their community. Or take road 457 just after the turnoff for Psagot to road 458 north and enjoy the spectacular lookout facing the Jordan Valley located in Kochav Hashachar.

Travelling South

Well, first the bad news. It doesn't look like we'll be visiting the ancient site of Sukkot this year. Archaeologists suspect that the location known as Deir Alla, east of the Jordan River, is in fact the location of Biblical Sukkot. This is where Yaakov Avinu on his return from Padan-aram after his meeting with Esav, built a house for himself and made sukkot (booths) for his cattle A series of excavations made its most dramatic discovery there in 1967 when an ink wall inscription relating a hitherto-unknown prophecy of Balaam was discovered.
And so I figured instead of visiting Sukkot, I'd visit the area of Kadesh Barnea down in the Negev. It was from Kadesh that the 12 spies were sent to survey the Land of Canaan. Forty years later, the tribes of Israel were a second time gathered together at Kadesh. At that time, Miriam died and was buried. Following Miriam's death, the Israelites complained to Moshe Rabeinu about the lack of water.
Moshe subsequently sent envoys to the King of Edom from Kadesh, asking for permission to let the Israelites pass through his terrain. The Edomite king denied this request.
The modern day settlement of Kadesh Barnea, also known as Nitzanei Sinai, was founded in 1980. It is located near Nitzana on the border with Egypt.
In Kadesh Barnea itself there's a wonderful family attraction; The House of Honey. You can learn all about the process of making honey and enjoy some tastings as well. Phone ahead: 08 655-8992, 052 899-1807, 052 392-7085.
In addition, be sure to visit the Kadesh Barnea Winery, a Negev Desert winery established in 1999. 052 267-2552.
Nearby is Tomato-picking in Kemehin. In the hothouse, you can hear an explanation about tomato-growing and pick some for home or for a picnic. 08 655-1524, 052 8450201.
In Nitzana, be sure to visit the solar park. The giant exhibits at the solar park protrude from the desert like colorful amusement-park rides. Here you'll find a classroom covered with wing-like panels that convert the solar energy into electricity; nets that collect the night dew; an enormous installation that focuses the intensity of the sun's rays; and other structures that demonstrate to children and adults the ecological and economical use of the main resource with which this area is blessed in abundance: sunlight. The visit also includes a guided tour of a garbage-collection center for recycling, and a small archaeological museum. Nitzana Youth Village, 08-656 1468/35, www.nitzana.org.il
For a more detailed listing of events in the Negev, visit www.negev-tour.co.il

Mount Bental

• Shiur Times

HAR BENTAL AND THE VALLEY OF THE TEARS

Mount Bental, an inactive volcano, is located in the Golan Heights on route 98, nearby to Kibbutz Merom Hagolan. A short but steep drive brings one to the parking lot and a brief stroll leads to the summit. On the summit there are remnants of the Six Day War - with bunkers and trenches, and a free recorded vocal explanation relating to the ’67 war.

The expansive panoramic view at the summit provides an excellent observation point overlooking valleys and parts of the Golan and Hermon, spreading from Israel into Syria. A clear view is offered of both the new and old towns of Kuneitra – located on the Syrian side of the border. Clearly visible is the disengagement strip that exists along the Syrian-Israeli border – which is controlled and patrolled by UNDOF – the United Nations Disengagement Observation Force. As the name suggests, it is a purely observational force.

The border between Israel and Syria reflects the sensitivity of their political relations. In spite of periods of heightened tension, this border still represents Israel’s quietest border with its neighbors – in terms of border related incidents since the Yom Kippur War, 1973.

Mt Bental, provides a very good site to recall the events of the Six Day War, especially the last two days that precipitated in the capture of the Golan and Mt Hermon, The conflict between Israel and Syria had its antecedents following the War of Independence, 1948, and primarily relating to the establishment of DMZ’s –demilitarized zones along their mutual borders, and issues related to development of agricultural areas, and water-related resources. Numerous international incidents had taken place on both sides, generally followed by Syrian artillery barrages on Israeli civilian settlements or Israeli air responses or Israeli naval activity on the Kinneret.

An audacious breakthrough by Israeli infantry into Syria’s most fortified position on the Golan Heights, at Tel Fajar, sent shockwaves through the Syrian Army and almost overnight resulted in the routing of the Syrian presence along the Golan.
Kuneitra was the largest Syrian town in the Golan Heights until 1967, and had represented a strategic position for the Syrian Army command, serving as the Syrian administrative capital of the Golan.

During the Yom Kippur War, Kuneitra was recaptured by the Syrian troops, and later retaken by the Israeli counterattack. Following the 1974-5 cease fire agreement, Kuneitra was returned to Syria conditional on a prisoner exchange. Initially the Syrians maintained they would rebuild the old Kuneitra, and repopulate it. Instead, they developed a new town nearby, Kuneitra Jdeide, and maintained the old Kuneitra as a ghost town for propaganda purposes to demonstrate how Israel had wreaked havoc and destruction upon the town.

To reach the site, drive along Route 98, until Kibbutz El Rom, turn east at the sign and continue another 3km, following the signs and following the left curving road. Park your vehicle near the cluster of trees and enter the memorial.

Today, the site hosts the memorial for fallen members of the armored corps from the 77th Brigade. The memorial is called Oz 77 – from the Hebrew word for “strength”. On the eastern corner of the grove of trees, looking out towards the battle-ground, is a free vocal recording of the events of the battle.

To Become A Taxi Driver

I am a licensed tour guide. For two years I studied the history of the Land of Israel. I studied Archaeology. I studied the Bible. Religions. Zionism. Geomorphology. I traveled the length and breadth of the country. And I was tested. Written exams. Oral exams. And finally in the end, the ministry of tourism gave me the coveted license to be a tour guide in Israel.

Now you might think that after all that I could just go out and start guiding. Well, yes and no. From the perspective of the law, whenever a guide picks up a tourist and transports them to a sight, the money exchanged is looked at as taxi fare. That's correct. As far as the law is concerned, the tour guide in that instance is simply a glorified taxi driver.

And so in Israel, if you want to guide and transport your visitor as well, you need to also have in your possession a taxi drivers license. For us tour guides, it's called an "eshkol" (cluster - hence the cluster of grapes the ministry of tourism uses as their emblem.) And so begins my odyssey of acquiring such a license so that I can join the honored ranks of taxi drivers here in the Holy Land.

OK. So of course there's the typical bureaucratic runaround you would expect at the Drivers License bureau. Fine. But after all that your informed that you will have to first undergo an intensive physical and psychological exam prior to being allowed to enter the taxi driver course. A few months go by and you receive a letter in the mail informing you to show up at some examination center in Tel Aviv in one week where you will be tested.

In addition to the physical exam you are also asked to take a 400 question psychological exam, as well as a half hour interview with a psychologist. A few weeks after the exam you are informed of the results. Then the fun begins.

As you would expect, there is going to be a driving test. But before that happens, you have a few weeks of classes and exams to get through. Time, money, and three weeks of not being able to work. Oh! Did I mention that this is all in Hebrew, not exactly my mother tongue. One advantage I had from the get go was that I was not taking the course with the typical riff-raff. Instead a course was organized (that's a whole story unto itself!) just for licensed tour guides. Which meant practically that we were exempt from studying "familiarity with the land" which is a huge chunk of the course, and we were exempt from studying the English language.

So what does a taxi driver need to know in Israel before he/she can be licensed by the ministry of transportation? Well first, we were tested in our proficiency of the Hebrew language. Interestingly enough, we were told that the reason that all the exams are in Hebrew is since we are becoming "public servants" of sort, we need to be proficient in the language of the country. OK. That makes sense. But then why are there exams available in Arabic and Russian?

So we all passed our entry exam. First came the class on knowing all the laws applicable to driving a public vehicle in Israel (taxis, buses). You need an %87 to pass. I passed. Our teacher, from Tel Aviv, spontaneously decided to share with us during class that although he was not observant, since his parents died last year he does not miss minyan and even attends a class in Talmud. Then we studied defensive driving. Passed that too. Fire Emergencies. Passed. That was our Friday afternoon class. Just what we want to be doing on a Friday afternoon.

Then came the big one. For an entire week we took a crash (not a pun) course in understanding the workings of a motorized vehicle. In Hebrew, we learned how a diesel engine works. A gasoline engine. Brake systems, steering systems, electric systems, gear systems, cooling systems, etc. etc. etc. Did I mention that this was all in Hebrew? I can hardly tell you the names of all of a vehicles parts in English! Oy vey! And just because I need to transport a tourist from the hotel to visit Masada? I'm not going to fix the car if there's a problem with it. I'm taking it to the mechanic. No matter. The law requires that I be familiar with the entire workings of a vehicle. Fortunately the teacher of this class has been teaching for 40 years and did a great job teaching us lay persons. Our teacher's 22 year old son was killed in Gaza in 2003 during an attempt to arrest terrorists there.

Another part of the course required us to become knowledgeable with Israel's labor laws and how the entire labor and government system works, including all its courts. As tour guides, we are legally looked at as freelancers, and so most of the labor laws do not even apply to us. But I'm so happy now to know that my bus or taxi driver Ahmed knows that the President of Israel is elected by the Knesset every 7 years and that he knows the process of how the Budget is passed by the Knesset each year. Now I'll have something to converse with him about!

And almost last but not least, first aid. Technically, I should have been exempt from this part of the course since I am already in possession of a valid Israeli First Aid certificate which I received during my tour guide course. Notice I used the word "should". When we presented our certificates, they were deemed unacceptable because only the month and year of the course were written on the certificate, not the exact day of the month. And so after much trouble (and money)we were able to acquire written documentation (faxes not acceptable) to the exact date we took the course. The cherry on the pie was finally finally receiving a response from the ministry of transportation after we had already completed the first aid course (again). Our request for an exemption was declined. Lovely. We all did perfectly well on the first aid exams.

In a few weeks I will be taking my driving exam (again). I was bold and took the exam with a mini bus using a stick shift. Mistake. Especially when I didn't stop at the yield sign when the examiner told me to do so. It was a language thing. All in all, at least I got the opportunity to become friends with a bunch of other guides. And my level of respect for bus and taxi drivers? Well, I'll let you respond to that one.

PS Yes. Finally, finally, after 3 driving tests I finally passed. They even asked me to parallel park. In all my lessons, nobody ever bothered to see if I could even put the van into reverse! My knee is killing me from using the gear pedal. And would you believe it? My new license still restricts me to an automatic vehicle only. Go figure! Is it worth another trip down to the drivers license bureau? Time will tell.

Golan Heights

• Shiur Times

Nestled among the Kibbutzim and Moshavim of the Golan Heights is the town of Katzrin. With a total population size of some 7,000 people, almost half of the Jewish population of the Golan Heights resides here. Katzrin is the administrative center of the Golan.

When the Six-Day War ended archaeologists performed surveys of various archaeological sites on the Golan. While touring the Bedouin village of Katzrin, the archaeologist Shemaryahu Gutman came upon an ornate doorway made of basalt stone. He discovered that this was the entrance to the synagogue which had functioned 1500 years ago. The name of this town from that time is unknown.

In order to give us an idea of what a house looked like and what the layout of the town was like during Talmudic times, archaeologists performed an elaborate restoration of the ruins of the town. Similar plans are on the drawing board for Um El Kanatir. Here we can see how the town was planned. We see streets, a synagogue, a square in front of the synagogue, and an olive press.

Given that the town is located on the western side of the Golan, grazing and farmland is present. The main industry in this region seems to have been the manufacturing of olive oil. One olive press per town indicates that enough olive oil is produced just for local use. Three to five presses indicates that the townspeople are producing for export.

Olive oil had many uses in antiquity: it was used for nutrition, lighting fuel, medicinal purposes and for lubricating the body. The sages recount the following: Olive oil is beneficial for the health. Thus it is told of Rabbi Chanina aged eighty, who could stand on one leg, remove his shoe and put it back on. Rabbi Chanina said: hot water with oil anointed upon me by my mother at childhood has upheld me during my years of old age. (Talmud Bavli chullin 24b.)

Olive oil is produced in two phases. At first the olive are crushed inside a basin by a large crushing stone resembling a wheel. The wheel was usually pulled by an animal or by people. The first round, the crushing takes about 30 minutes. The crushed olives are transferred to the olive press, immediately nearby. The olives are first put in straw baskets, (kefifot.) There is an Aramaic term, “ladur bikfifah echat” which means “dwelling in a crowded fashion in one area (one basket).”

You put these straw baskets one on top of the next until you have like a sandwich of these akals (Arabic), or baskets. Then you start to take the press and turn it by going around. You would get all the liquids going into the canals and draining into a hole. You pick the oil off of the top and the water goes out the bottom. The liquid of the olive contains both oil and water.

On display as well is an accurate representation of the homes from the Mishnaic time period. All the tools are modeled on actual tools found at the site. One of the most fascinating features of these homes is the roofs. The roof is built with branches placed on top of Oak, cypress and cedar beams. Soil is placed on the branches, mixed with water, and then used to seal the holes in the roof. This keeps out rain and snow. In the summertime, when the mud dries and cracks, it needs to be repaired.

A maagela is a roof roller and was used to fix leaky roofs. Choni the Meagel, the name of the very popular Talmudic figure, is usually translated as Choni the Circle Maker. If you pronounce the word maagal as meagel, you don’t have Choni the circle maker but Choni the roof roller. In the tractate taanit, there are quite a few aggadot about how Choni would pray for rain for his community when there was a drought. More rain, more roof rolling required! This house also has a small kitchen and store room, with no room for animals.

What did they use for food storage? It wasn’t cool here. They placed food up high where kids and mice couldn’t reach it and was covered with a sheet. The floor was made of stone and then covered with a kind of plaster. That’s why you couldn’t sweep the floors because you’d make holes in the grout. Later on it was replaced with tiles.

Outside the house is a ladder. A story about Rabbi Joshua (ben Hannaniah), who hosted a man, gave him food and drink, and then gave him a bed located in the loft. He removed the ladder leading up to the loft. What did this man do?
He awoke in the middle of the night and stole tools and jewelry. When
he tried to descend down the ladder, he fell from the roof and broke his
collarbone. In the morning Rabbi Joshua awoke and found him lying there.

The purpose of bringing this story here at Katzrin is to teach us about the way homes were constructed and how space was used. Apparently, space was maximized by allowing family members to sleep down below and up above. .

The synagogue is clearly a communal building. It occupies the center of the town and its two rows of pillars, with decorative capitals, give it both height and a sense of grandeur. It faces Jerusalem and inside there are menorot carved on the stones.

We have said that when we find a synagogue it means we have found a town, not a village and towns have between 1000-5000 people. On the Golan and beyond the border of the Golan into Syria of today we have ruins of about forty ancient Jewish synagogues. Multiply that by only 1000 and we have 40,000 Jews, at a minimum who were living in this area in Mishnaic times. It seems that the synagogue ceased functioning in 749 CE after a massive earthquake.

They found an inscription in the Golan, “this is the bet midrash of Rabbi Eliezer Akkapar.” They found this in Daburiya above the Jalabun, 3 kilometer from Katzrin. One assumes that a beit midrash existed in Katzrin, but it has not been discovered. It is possible that the synagogue structure simultaneously served both purposes of prayer and study, obviating the need to build a separate structure.

There is the big Tabor oak tree by the synagogue. The tree is estimated to be some 600 years old. Some years ago, I attended my cousin's wedding here. The chupah was set up in the ruins of the ancient synagogue. It was a beautiful and moving experience.

The park is open daily, from 9-4. There is an admission fee. For more information call 04 696-1412 or email park@golan.org.il