Reyna's last couple of days; A night at the Israeli Philharmonic to hear and watch Murray Perahia play piano and conduct... at the sametime!

On Reyna's last day, we take a ride to Levinski Market to find her treats for her plane ride.  We also take our bikes and ride north- a long way past the nemal- the port- and ride up the tayelet which is extended for many miles along the sea. 

Later, we go to Ra'nana and have dinner with our family.  Micki shows us her paintings and she has us pick one that we like.  She will have it mailed to us.  She also gives me a painting painted by a good friend of hers.  I love it. 

This says: 

כשהנשמה מאירה, גם שמיים עוטי ערפל מפיקים אור נעים

keshehaneshamah meira, gam shamayim otei arafel mefikim ohr na-im.

When the soul shines, even the skies wrapped in dark clouds radiate a pleasant light.

The saying is from Rabbi Kook. He lived in from 1865 to 1935 and was the first Ashkenazi chief Rabbi of British mandatory Palestine. He was a great torah scholar.  He was born in Russia - Latvia. He believed in unity among all Jews of varying religious and secular beliefs. He was a strong believer in the nation of Israel. His thoughts and sayings are renowned he was considered very wise and wonderful man.

Reyna has had a great trip and we are so happy to have been together. we leave her at the airport.  She will fly home all night; arriving in Philadelphia at 5:30 a.m. tomorrow- we will be there in a couple of days.  

On Saturday, we have a grand finale.  in the evening we are to go to a concert.  we dress, go to a Japanese restaurant called Moon, and eat the best sushi we have ever had.

We make our way to the philharmonic hall.  We are to hear Murray Perahia play and conduct the Philharmonic orchestra in a Bach, Mozart and Hayden concert.

The concert hall is gorgeous.  The concert is sold out; all around us we hear French and Hebrew.  No one is there speaking English. 

A smaller orchestra is on stage; Perahia comes out after the orchestra is seated.  He plays Bach: Piano Concerto no. 2 in E major; BWV 1053.  If you heard it you would easily recognize it.  And while he plays- he is also conducting! 

An amazing site to see.  He may have one hand on the keyboard, and he quickly waives his hand to give a direction.

He does the same for the Mozart: Piano Concerto no. 20 in D minor, K. 466.  equally recognizable and equally enjoyable. 

Following the one short intermission, the piano is removed, and Perahia comes out to conduct the Haydn: Symphony no. 103 (Drum Roll). 

All of these pieces were certainly not "mind-benders" and we are delighted by their simplicity, the love that the audience has for Perahia; they seem to clearly know him. From the concert schedule, he is there for an entire week. 

Perahia is the director of the Jerusalem Music Center since 2009; he resides in London. He is American born of Sephardi parents and grew-up speaking Ladino.  He is so accomplished a pianist and this continues despite problems he has suffered from with his hands. 

we have heard him at a Gilmore concert and as I read about him, I realize that not only were we so fortunate to hear him in little Kalamazoo, but, also to get to hear him and see him "conduct from the keyboard" in Tel Aviv.

What a glorious ending to our fabulous trip.

Maura presents her project at school about her thesis with images from her tour and what she learned at kibbutzim in Israel.

We are so grateful for Maura to have undertaken this project so that we could enjoy this trip with her and as a family.

 

Our last Day! to Jaffo and the Shuk Pishpishim (flea market) with Maura

Pishpishim means Fleas- and is adjacent to the old city of Jaffo.  We take Maura to Jaffo and to the Shuk for our last day.  We wander through the shops and artists galleries.  We wander through the streets of the now chic shops in the shuk.  And- go to an early dinner/late lunch at Pua.  The last time I was there I ate Moussaka and loved it.  I asked if I could go into the kitchen and they told me they were too busy. 

 This time, the restaurant was quieter.  And so I asked if I could go into the kitchen to ask about a couple of recipes.  And- they said yes!  

Mousska from Puaa: this is a layered dish of potato, quinoa, eggplant with béchamel and tomato sauce.  This is delicious! First all the ingredients are cooked separately and then assembled.

Boil the potatoes and prepare the quinoa.  Fry the eggplant; make the béchamel sauce (with fresh basil) and tomato sauce.

Layer potato, quinoa, eggplant, sauces and after layering, spread mozzarella cheese on top.  Bake.  

 

 

 

Touring in Tel Aviv with Reyna and Maura... and Liat

As a family we have family stuff to take care of- grocery shopping, touring with Reyna- who makes travel so much easier since we now have a translator. 

we ate at a great brunch place, went to a great grocery store and returned home. 

On Monday we took a walk and met up with Liat.  She recommended we go to the Chaim Bialik house;  Bialik is the Israeli National Poet. A home was built for him in the 1920s in Tel Aviv on a street that now bears his name; His home has been preserved as a museum and is around the corner from where we live.

The home is beautiful; a true Bauhaus, beautifully decorated.

here is what I read about Bialik:  Chaim Nachman Bialik, combined in a unique way his own wish for love and understanding and his people’s desire for a homeland.

He was born in the Ukraine in 1873, and died in Vienna, Austria on July 4, 1934, following surgery. Fatherless at the age of seven, Bialik received an Orthodox Jewish education. In his youth he studied at the Volozhin Yeshiva in Belarus, while leaning toward the enlightenment movement, an attraction that led him to move to Odessa at the age of eighteen. There he devoted himself to studying Russian and German, and the reading of secular literature. Two years later he married, working for a living as a Hebrew teacher, and a coal dealer, for a decade.

In 1901 Bialik’s first book of poems was published in Warsaw, where he lived from 1903-1905, editing the journal Shiloah, and later founding the Moriah publishing house for classic Hebrew textbooks. In 1904 and 1908 he visited Palestine. Throughout these years Bialik turned increasingly to writing and translating, publishing in Hebrew works from the European literary canon: the poetry of Heine, Schiller’s Wilhelm Tell, Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, and Cervantes’ Don Quixote. In 1921 he founded the Dvir publishing house in Berlin and moved to Tel Aviv three years later, where he occupied himself with cultural activities and other public works.

Ever since that time, to this very day, Bialik has been considered the foremost modern Hebrew poet. His poetic oeuvre is small, but broad in its themes: Bialik often depicted the suffering of his people, but to his contemporary readers he offered mainly a direct approach to doubt, desire and the isolation of human existence. In contrast to his lyric and epic poetry, his stories excel at their movingly realistic descriptions, often touched with humor, and characterized by their author’s rich imagination, and a blend of joy in the every day with the sorrows of life.













We also toured the City of Tel Aviv museum in the old city hall.  This building is just a block from the Bialik house. 




Tel Aviv was founded in 1909 by a group of 136 families. within just a few years the growth was over 100,000 people.  Tel Aviv was always a cosmopolitan and very European city; the people who settled the city were transplants from western Europe seeking to live in a community with many of the cultural and educational enjoyments of living in Europe. 

Sylvester

In Israel, New Years is not celebrated as it is celebrated around other parts of the world.  The Jewish “New Year” is generally celebrated at the high holiday of Rosh Hashanah – literally- the head of the year.  It is at this time of the year that we begin rereading the five books of Moses- the Old Testament.- the Torah. 

 I found the following information at the website:  http://www.jewfaq.org/calendr2.htm

The Jewish calendar is based on three astronomical phenomena: the rotation of the Earth about its axis (a day); the revolution of the moon about the Earth (a month); and the revolution of the Earth about the sun (a year). These three phenomena are independent of each other, so there is no direct correlation between them. On average, the moon revolves around the Earth in about 29½ days. The Earth revolves around the sun in about 365¼ days, that is, about 12 lunar months and 11 days.

So that means that New Years as we celebrate in the U.S. and other parts of the globe is based on the Gregorian calendar.  In Israel some people were getting ready for New Years- many visiting Americans, and many Russian immigrants who were also celebrating Christmas, as well as many Israelis.

Some Israeli’s refer to new years eve – December 31 – as “Sylvester”.  This was confusing and we kept asking what Sylvester meant, but, no one could seem to answer it. Even some young people said:  "it is the cat".  So, I finally looked up Sylvester.

Sylvester is the name of a sainted Pope who lived during the time of Constantine  (about 300 C.E.).  In fact, he is credited with influencing Constantine to convert to Christianity.  Sylvester’s saint’s day is December 31/January 1- which is the 8^th day after Jesus was born.  This would be the day of Jesus’ brit.  – the day he was circumcised.   Sylvester was also anti-Semitic, recommending to Constantine that he prohibit the Jewish people from living in Jerusalem. 

Sylvester was important to the eastern Europeans.  In Jewish villages (shtetls) in eastern Europe, on the night of Sylvester, the people kept their homes dark.  This was because Sylvester was commonly known as a night of progroms in eastern Europe; the people kept their homes dark in the hope that the marauding gangs would not find them and burn their homes, etc. 

The thought is that when many immigrants came from Europe, they brought with them the name of this night.  Somber though this may sound, on our new years eve,  there was an air of festivity- but- kind of funny; some people just ignore the night- after all- it is a Wednesday night- and the weekend begins Thursday night.  But, other places were getting ready for the spirit of the “New Year”. 

And we didn’t miss out on a lovely dinner, welcoming 2015. 

Ein Gedi hike

We return after swimming in the Dead Sea to our rooms at the Kibbutz located in the oasis.  The grounds here, like everywhere we have been are very beautiful with specimen trees and shrubs and the ever present scent on the air of herbs like oregano and rosemary and lavender that grow like small trees- giant shrubs.  Reyna and I laugh at how I coax a little rosemary from summer through January and here the plants are taller than us!  I love to brush my hand and pinch leaves everywhere I walk and hold my hands to my nose and breathe deeply.  

 

We have a great dinner in their dining room; the options again are impressive. 

the view from our kibbutz- ibex and views. 

 

 

 

 

 
 
There is a very old field school at Ein Gedi:
 

 

 
 
Rock Hyrax is a commonly seen mammal:
 

The kibbutz overlooks the oasis and the hiking trails that make-up ein gedi.  The views are biblical in their expanse and feel truly awesome and contemplative. 

 

Up close to a rock hyrax. 

 

On Wednesday, New Year’s Eve day at home, we pick an easy hike through the hillsides to see 5 waterfalls and animals.  We are certainly not alone.  Almost all hiking trails are crowded with families and tours and hikers- the Israelis love to be outside and take advantage of all the hiking trails that are everywhere. 

After hiking, we stay at the lodge for a couple of hours, enjoying the 3 pools – and even a Dead Sea pool in which we can float in the warmed and salted water.  There is a spa here (like many places!). 

Finally, we return to our car, and start to head for home; north on route 90, turning west past Jerusalem along the highway to Tel Aviv and home. 

Here New Years Eve is just another day… or is it.  The evening is called Sylvester and we wonder why.  We go to a favorite restaurant  called "The Kitchen" for dinner. 

 

The Dead Sea and Ein Gedi

At last- we go to the Dead Sea.  Going to the Dead Sea is not like going to the beach on the Mediterranean or the ocean, or Lake Michigan- one place to park and slip into the water after another.  This beach, along the Israeli and West Bank coast has very few beaches and accessible points.  In fact, the shoreline looks nearly desolate.  The air feels heavy; there seems to be a constant mist.  On Tuesday, we could see the opposite Jordan shore- but, just barely- making out the mountains.  On Wednesday, we couldn't see the Jordan shoreline at all.

we stop on the road to overlook the Sea and the landscape:

Some Dead Sea facts: 

The Dead Sea is 67 kilometres (42 mi) long and 18 kilometres (11 mi) wide at its widest point. It lies in the Jordan Rift Valley and its main tributary is the Jordan River.

The surface and shores of the Dead Sea are 423 metres (1,388 ft) below sea level, making it Earth’s lowest elevation on land.

The Dead Sea is 377 m (1,237 ft) deep, making it the deepest hypersaline lake in the world. A hypersaline lake is a landlocked body of water that contains significant concentrations of sodium chloride or other mineral salts, with saline levels surpassing that of ocean water.

With 33.7% salinity, the Dead Sea is one of the world’s saltiest bodies of water. Although Lake Assal (Djibouti), Garabogazköl and some hypersaline lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica (such as Don Juan Pond) have reported higher salinities.

The Dead Sea is roughly 8.6 times saltier than the ocean. This salinity makes for a harsh environment in which animals cannot flourish (hence its name). The high salinity prevents macroscopic aquatic organisms such as fish and aquatic plants from living in it, though minuscule quantities of bacteria and microbial fungi are present.

When in the Dead Sea- you can't submerse yourself- you could literally float and read a book in the water.

The Dead Sea area has become a major center for health research and treatment for several reasons. The mineral content of the water, the very low content of pollens and other allergens in the atmosphere, the reduced ultraviolet component of solar radiation, and the higher atmospheric pressure at this great depth each have specific health effects.


And now we are here- we find Mineral beach- a location here many tourists stop to soak up the health benefits; take mud baths, and sit peacefully- sort of. 

We partake!  Connie and Walter's bus arrives; we join together and make a significant life memory by floating together in the Sea and then, of course, covering ourselves in mud, and floating some more.  Connie and I have known one another since we were 14 and 15.  She is my oldest friend.  She and Walter are god-parents to Reyna and Maura. we are all together.  we can't believe our good fortune. 

The map below gives  you an idea of where we are...

Mineral Beach: 

The Dead Sea at a distance.

we are here!

Connie at the bus. Going back to Jerusalem. 

After our swim:

Off to the Dead Sea for an overnight and Ibex galore.

We are off for one more overnight away from the bustling city.  We drive south and through the semi-desert and desert landscape.  The landscape changes so rapidly. Even so, wherever we see Israeli development, the landscape is green and covered in trees. 

Bedouin settlements start to appear; they dot the countryside with their semi permanent homes and "barns";  we begin to see herds of donkeys and then camels! 

we wend our way through the south, and finally see - in the distance- the Dead Sea.  We turn north on route 90 and our way along the west bank of the Jordan River, toward the Ein Gedi Kibbutz hotel to check-in. we have a few minutes to drop our bags in our room and to have lunch before we are to meet Connie and Walter at the Mineral Beach on the Dead Sea.

Connie and Walter have been touring with their group today from Jerusalem to Masada, then to hike in Ein Gedi preserve, and then to the beach.

We have a quick lunch among the .... Ibex! they are everywhere and they are munching on the flowers and shrubs, let us come very close, and stand still as though they expect their photo to be taken.

 

 

 

The dead sea:  I have always wanted to float in the dead sea and the chance to do this with my family and with Connie and Walter is a dream come true.  The sun sets early - by 5, and so we descend on the beach just after 3.