Our Gift

Our Gift arrived 6-6-12. He weighed 7.3 pounds and he arrived with cries of joy – for all. Our firstborn son, Moshe Yosef is the love of our lives. We could not have asked for a more perfect gift from Hashem. He is our precious little boychick who already makes us proud, happy and tired. Moshe Yosef is our miracle. Miracles aren’t equipped with reasons, explanations and rationales. They just are. Hashem has given us the most magical, sweet and cherished treasure. Joining the ranks of parenthood has been extraordinary, challenging, emotional and beautiful. He makes us smile more each day. He allows us to appreciate life from another angle. Each and every day is fresh with anticipation, suspense and excitement. This angel of ours adds much spark, charm and light to our home. We brought him home only a few days old and each day he grows, develops, changes and we fall in love with him all over again. We are obsessed with his every movement, fixated on every motion and focused on every action. He stretches, he smiles and he sighs – like every other baby. However – he is different. He does it in his own unique way. He owns his trademark. We were all, younger at a stage, but have since grown, learnt and experienced the trials and tribulations of life. We’ve mixed the good with the bad, the joys and the sorrows, the cries and laughter and more. We’ve been tested & tried – and so will our boy – but he will succeed. He makes us prouder parents each day. He gives us the chance to become better parents. We have this opportunity to learn, grow and mature with him. His presence adds an indescribable feeling to our home in which everything is illuminated. Moshe Yosef – welcome to our world.

Israel/Pesach trip 2012 - 5752

Our trip to Israel April 2012 April 1 – No April fools jokes – we head off to Miami International Airport to catch our Boeing 747-400 British Airways flight to Tel Aviv via London’s Heathrow Airport. We are going to Jerusalem for Yaakov Moshe’s Bar Mitzvah and Pesach. 8 hours later we touch down in the Queen’s city. April 2 – Arrival in London’s Heathrow International Airport Terminal 5 (T5). London is hosting the 2012 Olympic games, so there is a fair bit of ‘showing off’ going on all around the airport. One positive for the airport is the amazing job they have done to their bathrooms! We pass security for the Tel Aviv flight, and hardly get by it before a Minyan for Shachris is formed. Prayed, then boarded the Boeing 777 jet for the 5-hour hop over to Tel Aviv. Beautiful scenes as we descend into Israel as we fly above the Mediterranean and onwards to Lod Airport. Disembark followed by immigration, baggage retrieval and the famous Nesher (price increase to 62 Shekalim for a one-way airport – Jerusalem trip). The driver is on his best behaviour and 40 minutes later we are climbing the hills of Jerusalem. Great feeling to back, all the memories are flocking back. Driver drops us off exactly where we asked him (1st Miracle). Staying in the Sharei Chesed neighbourhood of Jerusalem. Close to Rechavia, Nachlaot and town. Say a quick hello to the family followed immediately by coffee indulgence. Green’s on Keren Kayement. One hour later – are we still Milchig? Of course not, so off to Café Rimon on Ben Yehuda. Ordered the Jerusalem Grill and how satisfying it was. April 3 – A trip to Avis car rental followed by a beautiful desert drive down Highway 90 to the Dead Sea. Amazing to see the small villages and camels along the way. Good to hear Galgalatz is still beating out their tunes all over the Israeli FM. We did not get that close to Jordan but we enjoyed their semi decent music stations along the way. After a few checkpoints and a Nascar like experience on the Israeli roads we arrived in Ein Bokek. Large chunks of sea salt are visible, as is Jordan across the Sea. Dinner - enjoyed an all you can eat buffet, followed by a horrendous Israeli band singing English song requests by the Anglo crowd. April 4 – Day 2 in the Dead Sea and our return trip to Jerusalem. We head North up route 90 after receiving perfect and helpful directions from the hotel staff. We return the car, in one piece and head off to get ready for Party number 1 for the Bar Mitzva. Location – Sheyan restaurant, which according to the Jerusalem Post is ‘a captivating merge between Jerusalem's eclectic atmosphere and China's traditional cuisine’. The party was beautiful - delicious food, great wine and plenty of speeches. April 5 – The Bar Mitvah boy has his first Aliyah (call up to the Torah) at the Kotel Hamaaravi (the Western Wall). There must be about 10 other Bar Mitzvah’s happening simultaneously around us. It was a very beautiful and moving experience. Family pictures are next on the agenda (everyone must have that Kotel family picture as proof that you were there). Pictures are followed by Party number 2 – location: Leteccini, which has been reviewed as being ‘From American diner delicacies to fish and pasta, chef Gilad Atlas can do it all’. There were more speeches and performances in which we all wished the Bar Mitzvah boy Mazel Tov. After the celebrations of Party number 2, some of us went to the kitchen while others went off for last minute pre-Pesach felafel at Shalom Felafel on Betzalel. We searched for the chometz in the evening followed by some whisky just to make sure that we cleared and cleaned all the chometz from our system. April 6 - Erev Pesach – we joined the throngs of people on the streets of Jerusalem and participated in a pyromaniac activity called ‘the burning of the chometz’. This is a public spectacle across many of the streets in Jerusalem, and should never be tried at home. The rest of the day was spent preparing to leave Egypt (and preparing our stomachs for the matza and wine onslaught). The Seder was lively. We drank the 4 cups, ate the 3 matzas, told stories, sang songs, welcomed Eliyahu Hanavi and proudly proclaimed ‘This year in Jerusalem’. April 7 – The only day of YomTov In Israel was spent praying at Mayanot in Nachalot to the holy tunes of R’ Shlomo Carlebach followed by the festive meal at Keren Kayemet L’yisrael, prepared by the girls. In the late afternoon we headed off towards the Old City for Maariv and Havdala at the Western Wall. April 8 - Up, bright and early for a tour of the City of David. We descended underground into tunnels and walking paths and see the oldest settled neighbourhood of Jerusalem. They have done a phenomenal job excavating and restoring this unique archaeological site. The rest of the day is spent recovering from the gruelling twists and turns of the tour. April 9 – Off we head to the Museum of Psalms, an exhibit in Jerusalem in which the Famed Artist Moshe Tzvi Berger paints each of the 150 Psalms, with beautiful colour and meaning. The rest of the day was spent meandering the streets of Jerusalem, throughout its outdoor markets and bazaars. April 10 – Day tour outside Jerusalem to Gush Etzion, Hebron and Herodian Castle. The tour started in Jerusalem, we passed some important cities and neighbourhoods, drove along the security wall, through the Judean desert, stopped in at the Gush Etzion Winery and returned to Jerusalem. It was a great day of history of mystery. April 11 - Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, all in a day. Yemin Moshe, the artsy neighbourhood of Jerusalem was the morning adventure followed by Tel Aviv/Givatayim in the afternoon. We headed down the hills to Givatayim, a suburb just outside of Tel Aviv to visit some family. Our driver only got lost once, but was adamant that he knew where he was. The ever-reliable Egged took us home. April 12 – Jerusalem is always crazy. Erev Yom Tov in Jerusalem is manic. However some of us found time (away from the kitchen) to show off our soccer skills against some Nachman’s in Nachalot. We scored some goals and then we were on our way. We cleaned out the local supermarket of pickles and olives in preparation for Party number 3 of the Bar Mitzva (more details to come). April 13 - Eat, Drink & Pray was pretty much the theme of the day. The annual Moshiach Seudah was held, another 4 cups were consumed and then we headed to the Kotel to farewell Pesach of 5752. The Wall was packed – thousands of people from all walks of life made their way down for a special Shaboes service. April 14 - Party Number 3 of the Bar Mitzah was held after davening at the Mayanot Shul on Narkis in Jerusalem. The Bar Mitzvah boy read beautifully and his grandfather spoke eloquently. The party itself was quite unique. The afternoon was spent counting down the hours until Shabboes was over – so we could finally break our chometz drought. When the General gave the green light, we headed to Ben Yehuda and partook in leaven feasting consisting of pizza, felafel and Schwarmah. Everyone was in leaven heaven. We even thought about sushi – but that never transpired. April 15 – We picnicked at Alarazov Park in Jerusalem and then completed the Meah Shearim experience. The experience consists of going into every store on Meah Shearim Street, deciding not to buy anything, only to return to every store and then think about buying everything (Keeping in mind that each and every store carry all the same products). In the midst of our ‘experience’ I lost my glasses (only to find them the next day, in what we are calling a post pesach miracle). We finished off the day with a farewell feast for some of our travellers who were headed back that evening to Australia. April 16 – We were real tourists today. We went on the Jerusalem City Tour Bus. Otherwise known as the number 99 Double Decker red bus (with the open roof). Or more simply, - the hop on/hop off, city tour of Jerusalem. It was really a great ride throughout the city and highly recommended. The other tourists decided to head to the Dead Sea. We ended the day with a trip to the Kotel and dinner at RYU on Emek Refaim. According to the Jerusalem Post, RYU is a combination of Asian/ Israeli Cuisine (whatever that means). April 17 – For some of us, the trip ended and we headed to Ben Gurion Airport to catch flights, while others stayed on for a few more days. We headed out to the Airport at the ungodly hour of 4AM to catch our flight to Miami via London. We had the most amazing trip, and holidays are always too short. Thank you to the entire family for making the time in Israel so wonderful. Mazel Tov to Yaakov Moshe – may you continue to bring us all a lot of nachas and joy.