THE BRAVE NEW LAND

We have been exploring some of the Golan Heights recently. Well, not really the hights but the rivers and pools. Zach explored Nachal Zavitan with a really cool new adventure group that my brother-in-law Abba sent him on with his cousins. Wow, Zach really changed over night on that one. More recently, the whole mishpacha (family) went with one of the same group leaders on a trip to Nachal Jahudiah and hiked through water and canyons that were truly amazing. We all jumped from a 10 or 12 meter cliff into the bricha (pool) at the bottom of a water fall and then hiked and swam down stream. At one spot everyone needed to climb down a ladder and into a long pool that we had to swim through. There were so many people that had to climb down that there was a line to do it. I kept looking at this group of ulra-orthodox people, you know like you see in the movies with black hats and everything, and wondering what the plan was. After all, we had our cool (Teva – means nature in Hebrew) river sand...

Surfs up! Well, it was anyways. We had a few days of really fun little waves at Kibbutz Nachsholim (web cam at http://www.nahsholim.org.il/Site/Templates/homePage.asp ) and Moshav Dor but for a week now it has been quiet and flat. I found a site to check the wave report from a surf shop in Haifa ( http://www.point-break.org/waves.php ) and it keeps lying that there will be waves and when the time comes… nothing. We went to buy Josh a board at the surf shop because he rode mine one day and loved it. We actually went to buy a Morey Doyle (big soft surf board) but ended up getting what my friend Shelly from Nachsholim called a fish. I think it will be a good learning board for Josh and since he wants to learn, so be it. (Stories of Josh learning to snow board are now spinning out of control in my head! – you know, crying, temper tantrums, anything he can do to get the attention of some pretty girl that thinks he is hurt on the side of the run, running away in the parking lot on a pe...

This piece, I believe, is destined for the ‘back pocket philosophy’ section of the Blog. Sorry if it is a bit boring, I just needed to write something about it to get my thoughts out and actually, I wrote it quite a while ago, but was waiting for… I don’t know what… maybe just a cool little intro like this one, ha ha… I have been thinking a lot about communication. I work and live in an environment in which it is a constant struggle to do this. I find myself on a daily basis wondering when we communicate if the meanings and the understandings are the same. At work when everyone is speaking in German, I just stand there, trying to get the gist of it all. Sometimes I catch myself feeling like I do understand. I wonder if this is because we humans are social creatures and deep down we all want to be included in our surroundings, or do I really understand a little from things like voice intonation, and body or sign language. Maybe it is a combination of things or I just hear what I want to...

Not much to report today. Had a great couple of runs on the skate ramp after work last night, cleaned the house this morning for Shabbat, did some work on the adventure/sci-fi book i am writing (teaser text below), and today will meet some friends for afternoon tea and crumpets, go to Shule, maybe go surfing tommorow, and that is about it. Shabbat Shalom kulam, and enjoy the text... "The room went silent which, when the loud crash from behind Dudoo occurred, made everyone jump and look towards the direction of the noise. Fran was there, in the room, and had heard and seen everything. She was creeping towards the group when she knocked over a pile of bow-staffs and some other martial arts equipment that had been leaning against the wall in the dark of the entrance. She stepped into the room, with eyes gleaming red, and began to smile… no, more like grin and as this grin spread across her pointed face, it seemed to continue into a gaping sharp toothed grimace as her face began to st...

Tu’B’Av or to be Guroodle, that is another question altogether! Tu’B’Av is a day in Israel that is a lot like Valentines Day in the States. A few years ago, Adele and I decided not to celebrate Saint Valentines Day because we are Jewish. This was great for me! I didn’t have to worry any more about hearts or flowers, about candy or jewelry! I could just treat it like any other day and just ignore the massive onslaught of guilt and marketing coming from every public source imaginable. Life was a little easier, a little simpler. Then, about a year or two before we moved to Ha Aretz, I learned of the existence of a Jewish holiday that is about celebrating love. Oy Va Voy, I guess I don’t get off that easy, do I? So, in typical male fashion, I ignored it. I ignored it in the States, and then when I moved to Israel, I ignored it some more. I had lots of good reasons like the Milchemet Lebenon Shniah, (The Second Lebanon War) that we landed right in the middle of. I was busy with Ulpan (Langu...

(the 9th of the month of Av on the Jewish calendar) Sometime before I was born, a tree began to grow, somewhere in the Carolinas in North America (Hi Aunt Cathy!). It was a Carolina Pine Tree and it grew for, maybe, 50 years before it was cut down for lumber. It had a journey through giant saws and then to a kiln to dry it properly. It went on a ship and maybe made a few stops in Europe before it finally landed on the shores of Israel. Once it was offloaded, it probably sat in a shipping yard for a week, or maybe a month, and then went to a local lumberyard, maybe in Haifa. Then, as it worked out, it finally found its way to an agalah (cart) in the basement maksan (storage area) at Beit El in Zichron Yaacov where my Son Zach, was busily working at his summer job (at the Nagaria (woodshop) with me!). Well, to really tell this story right I guess I need to back up to about the time of Moses. He is the guy that led the Israelites out of Mitzraim (Egypt) and the story goes like this… at th...

This story begins about 2 months ago when my friend Elan came to me after Beit Kinesset (Synagogue) one Cabalat Shabbat (Friday Eve.) and said, in a very hushed and, I have to admit, inquiring voice, “I really want to build a skateboard ramp. My brother built one and it is just my dream to have my own ramp.” Now Elan, it appears, is a real mover and shaker in the skateboard world here. He knows guys from all over the world from his business dealings with building a new skate park in Tel Aviv and also got a little park in the plans for a nearby construction project in Zichron. (Just in the plans mind you. It is now stuck in typical, Subcontractor no-mans land, Israeli fashion) So, I got to wondering about why he needed a ramp in his front yard, or to be more specific, in the only parking area to his house within 200 meters. I guess he just has skateboards on the brain or something like that. I used to skate ramps when I was a kid and it is very addicting. I know where he is coming from;...

Boker Tov! (good morning) Well, maybe not so tov this morning. My day started out late. Well, to be fair, this morning really started the night before when Adele and I had a little row with Zach about all the normal things that parents and teenagers tend to discuss. You know, things like being more respectful to elders, doing chores (at least sometimes without being asked 10 times), spending some time with his little brother, and all sorts of things like that. It was hard, as usual, in part because Adele and I have different approaches to this problem. Sometimes I just want to pound him, well that is always my first urge, and after I check my emotions, I always want to go on and on about all the things that I can think of, since I finally got his attention. Adele, on the other hand, starts by yelling a little, talking a little, and then just wanting me to pound him (a little). In the end we took away his phone and computer privileges and grounded him till we think he is back on track, ...

Well, it is not exactly the same, but we seem to be living the joke about how a guy is unable to sleep at night (metaphor of restlessness), and he goes to the town Rabbi and asks him what to do about the leak in the roof, the squeak in the floor, and the drip in the sink. In our case, the Rabbi says, “leave everything comfortable that you know and move to the Middle East. After you get there you need to get a rabbit and build it a hutch. But not just any hutch, you need a hutch that keeps the rain and the sun out. It won’t matter if the rabbit droppings end up everywhere, just as long as the hutch is big enough to make your wife cringe and at times fume. When that is done you need to get a dog, but not just any dog, you need to get a dog that was abandoned and rescued off the street. You need to get a dog that challenges not only you but also your wife. You need a dog that sheds black hair everywhere, a dog that barks and growls at every dog and cat that you pass. You need to get a dog...

Well, today was an interesting day. Come to think of it, so was yesterday. At the factory everyone was running around like chickens without heads. I think a lot was getting done but since I live in my own little bubble mostly (language barrier thing), it was hard to tell. One of the large air compressors wasn’t working properly and the big CNC machine kept coming to a grinding halt and blowing steam form somewhere in its guts. The guy that was working it at the time kept trying to find my boss and seemed to be having as much trouble with this as I was (he even spoke German). Every time we did find the boss he was always out of breath from some other apparent emergency. Reminds me of the days when I ran my own business and had a real bad day. Eventually the compressor started to work and I went home for the weekend. Well, not really a weekend. I got up early this morning to take the dog for a walk on my way to building a cool little micro skateboard ramp at my friend Elan’s house. We ha...