Shabbat- Tel Aviv Style

Hillel and Mickey have three daughters, Liat (married to Meir), Corrine (married to Tal) and Shiri;  Liat and Meir have two children- Iyra and Yoeli; Corrine and Tal have a little boy- Ran. 

Corrine and Tal invited the family to brunch at their home. They live a couple of kilometers east of our apartment.  We decided to ride our bikes over.  We love them and feel confident that we can find our way.  After being a bit lost- we make it to their home. 

Hillel’s mother came to brunch- and she is at least 90.  She is a lovely woman, she was born in Israel- a “sabra”; her husband was a physician and the family lived on a kibbutz.  Tal’s mother, Ora came for brunch, too.

Shiri and her boyfriend also came.  Everyone brought something to contribute to a lovely meal.  We all sat outside on the Israeli style terrace- some on the outdoor carpet, some in chairs.  I had brought a little hand loom (pin loom) for Iyra and Shiri and yarns for both of them.  So, Iyra and I sat and I showed her how to dress the loom and weave on it.  Then I showed Shiri.  We didn’t need much Hebrew to explain – the process, Iyra is very bright and could see what we were doing. People ate and talked; I talked at length with Mickey, then with Ora. Ora loves to travel and has traveled all over the world. 

She explained that one of her parent’s was from Turkey, one from Russia.  She speaks Ladino- a very old language- a dialect of Spanish – a romance language derived from Spanish spoken by Sephardi Jewish and written in Hebrew.  The language is also called Espanol Sephardita-    Maura spoke with her in Spanish and they could talk together easier in Spanish, than in her broken and limited English and our non-existent Hebrew. 

What a relaxing and sweet time.  We ride home easily and swiftly.  We relax in the evening at home; tomorrow we leave early to head to the northernmost part of the country- a mere two hours away. We will be close to the Lebanese border to visit kibbutzim with Maura and stay overnight near Kiryat Shimona.

We may see Corrine and Shiri later this week;  we plan to travel to Mount Carmel with Hillel and Mickey on Friday- and I think Liat and her family will join us.  Perhaps Shiri will come too.

 Hillel, Shiri, Meir and Randall

 Tal and Shiri's boyfriend; everyone relaxes in the back yard.

 Ora (Tal's mother) and Liat

Florence, Hillel's mother. 

 Yoeli

My cousin, Mickey.  She is beatific.