A nod to Avraham and Yitzchok Avinu

Typically when I plan my trips to Israel I try to balance ancient biblical Israel with modern day State of Israel as well as some quirky "only in Israel" activities and sites.
Today was a nod to Avraham and Yitzchok Avinu, our forefathers. Our first stop was the Negev Camel Ranch near Dimona/ Mamshit. http://www.cameland.co.il/ You know, the mode of travel of the day, no Teslas in sight.
While setting up our itinerary, they recommended that we phone before coming in case of flash floods. I tried phoning that morning (especially since it was a bit overcast where we were) and the number was disconnected. Not a good sign, but I checked the weather forecast and everything seemed all clear, so we headed down south for about a 1.5 hour drive.
When we got there the employee informed us that a large tour group was on their way and it would be best if we came back at around 1:30. No big deal, we had places to go and things to do.
Our first actual activity of the day ended up being at the National Park Tel Be'er Sheva. This is the site of one of Avraham or Yitzchok's wells. They also uncovered an ancient city with a complex water storage system. We checked out the well, and then climbed up to the city. This is an easy hike that is fairly accessible (at least until the water system). Instead of trying to force Atara into her stroller I attached a harness with a leash to allow her some climbing freedom with peace of mind that she can't go too far or get into too much trouble. Atara thoroughly enjoyed playing with the gravel and sand, climbing on the rocks and exploring. The boys also loved the freedom to climb and check out the area with site map in hand. It was a good thing that it was empty that day. There weren't even any rangers patrolling the area. The boys climbed around the excavations, touched things and even found a hedgehog hiding in a corner.

In the center there was an observation deck. The view was pretty cool, but the main attraction was the water collection system. This was off to a corner that was almost over looked. Here is where the baby-friendly nature of the park ends. You need to walk down several (about 5) flights of extremely steep stone steps followed by wood platform steps deep under ground. Here you find a series of caves and cisterns that you are free to explore. Fortunately the way out is much less treacherous, but still involves stairs.

We did enjoy this National Park quite a bit, however, probably the highlight of the morning was the watermelon Popsicles the kids enjoyed.

It was time to get back to the camels, so off we went. We ate some prepared sandwiches before our ride.
We met our camels (2 out of 40 female camels at the ranch). There were already saddled so we were able to sit 2 and 2. The most important thing to remember is to lean all the way back as the camel stands up. The guide lead us through the rocky terrain. He, Achmed, told us about the British Police building from 1936-1948 which used camels to patrol the area. He also taught us about the Nabatian tribe in the area. He answered any questions we had about the camels (they drink 50 gallons of water in 10 minutes!). Our guide was very knowledgeable and soft spoken as we walked through the canyon cliffs. Our camels stopped to eat some of the local flora. We then headed back to the ranch. Our tour was about 1 hour long (and in my opinion more than enough!). You really give those who crossed the desert in ancient times a lot of credit, camel riding is not for everyone.

I had originally planned to go to the the Carusso Science Museum while we were down there, but the kids were tired and we knew we had another busy day coming up, so we went back to Ramat Beit Shemesh. Along the way the kids decided they really wanted to sit in the mall and eat dinner at a food court, so our final stop of the day was actually at the Beit Shemesh mall, BIG. I doubt the novelty of being able to eat Chinese food or pizza at one place will wear off anytime soon.

Easing into it

We spent our first full day in Israel taking it easy as we tried to get over some jet lag. Atara woke up as expected at 4:15 a.m.  The boys thankfully slept in until 7:30. We hung out at our apartment waiting for the stores to open. Our first item on the agenda was to do a bit of grocery shopping. I picked up my sister and off we went trying to navigate the market. Thankfully I arrived with about $100 in shekel as the money changing place wasn't open yet.

We sat outside a bakery sipping coffee and chatting enjoying the mid-November sunshine. By this time Atara was in obvious need of a nap, so we went back to our apartment. While she napped we finished putting our things away. The plan was to pick up my niece and head out to Castel Fortress (one of the important battle sites of 1948). By 2:15, she still wasn't back (we didn't exactly let her know our plans before hand) so we decided to head out without her. The National Parks close at 4pm in the winter. We arrived at 3:02. The park ranger would not let us in, since it was after 3. Too tired to argue, I phoned my sister for any random place to take the kids that wasn't too far and still open. We ended up at the Biblical Museum in Yerushalaim.

While we were purchasing our tickets the man at the booth suggested we buy the English comic book guide. For 20 shekels I went with it. The comic book acted as a guide going from exhibit hall to exhibit hall explaining the history and importance of the rooms we were in and having the kids do activities such as locate certain objects on display or drawing parts of artifacts or completing word puzzles. It really took us through the museum in an interactive way. The museum is rather small with several small objects behind glass. There were a few city mock-ups and some sarcophagus, but not much else. This museum is not a must see in my opinion, but if you do go, get the comic book guide.

Our ride back to Ramat Beit Shemesh was a creative route made by Waze. While we didn't have any traffic I attribute our success in getting back to my years of playing Pole Position. Dark, snaking road with impatient Israeli drivers right on my tail. Good times.
That night my nieces watched Atara while my sister, brother-in-law, their oldest daughter and her groom and the rest of use went out to dinner.
It was certainly a less busy day than I typically plan, but a lovely start to our trip.

Making it a Chazaka!

My third son's bar mitzvah falls during a tricky time of year, right in between all of the high holy days. When we were planning his bar mitzvah weekend of festivities we realized how hard it would be to plan a party. Nonetheless I kept coming up with ideas for him. He rejected them all. Finally I told him we need to pick something soon, he then informed me that he would really rather go back to Israel and do "some cool stuff" rather than have a party with his class for 3 hours.  So, we are making it a "chazaka", or third times the charm for our Bar Mitzvah trip to Israel.

This time we are traveling with half of the family. Me (the mom), Mendel (the Bar Mitzvah boy), Meir (9 year old and future bar mitzvah boy) and Atara (nearly 2, our wild card). United started a new flight, Los Angeles to San Francisco, and then direct to Israel.

Overall the flight was good (they forgot our kosher food, but we had 2 rows to our selves)
We are staying once again in Ramat Beit Shemesh, this time in Gimmel. Waze or Google Maps is a must in this town or you will never find your way in or your way out. Some one enjoyed placing round-abouts way too much.

Yom Yerushalaim

     Sunday night, while we're trying to work out the details for today, it was brought up that we should try to be at the Kotel in time to davening "Naetz" (which means you try and time your prayers to do the Amidah at sunrise). Another concern was traffic into Jerusalem can rival any major city at rush hour, so our original plan of arriving at the Western Wall at 7:30am  (which seemed early to me when I made the plan back in LA) was exchanged for leaving Ramat Beit Shemesh at 5:30 am!
   Monday morning we left the house close to that time, got to Yerushalaim around 6:15. We didn't quite reach our goal of davening Naetz, but we were at the Kotel when it was quiet and peaceful. (And I could hardly stop the sound track refrain of "When the Sun Shines on the Kotel and the day is born a new" from my Country Yossi days from playing in my head on a loop)

 On the way into the city I remembered one little detail. I forgot to let our long time friends know we moved the time. Miraculously, right before it was time for Eli to read the Torah they showed up.

The men secured a bimah right next to the women's side. Then my brother in law went to get a Torah. Much to Eli's surprise he brought out a Sefardi Torah. The words are the same, the script is the same, but it is encased in a large rigid silver cover and it stands upright while it is read from instead of laying flat on the table. It was beautiful, just unexpected and different. Eli read the portion beautifully. This time we even remembered to bring candy to throw at him. We watch several other Bar Mitzvah procession make their way to the wall. They came with drums, trumpets, shofars, under a chupah, on people shoulders....you name it. Better watch out Mendel, your next!  For more Bar Mitzvah info check out www.thekotel.org

   We headed into the old city for breakfast. This time we kept it simple and went to a bakery for Danishes and drinks (no messed up orders this time). Once everyone was fed, we unloaded our coats and hats etc. into the car and headed back down the Old City steps to the Davidson Center.
   We were told to ask to see the 3D imaging movie about the area, but the ticket agent basically said, no we can't do it today, we had to have reserved! We entered any way and watched a very well done movie about the history of the site. www.archpark.org.il

We walked through the different exhibits and then made our way outdoors to the excavation. The area was larger than anticipated and full of rooms and stairways with gorgeous views. The history of the area was explained and brought to life even without the special 3D presentation, but if you can book it, that would probably be even better. Every one was shocked to find out that when we were finished with the center that it was a mear 10:30 am. 

     We picked up Eli's Kotel Bar Mitzvah certificate and headed once more back up the Old City steps. Our calf muscles were going to rebel tomorrow. We popped into the Machon HaMikdash Museum (aka Temple Institute) to see if we could catch a tour. The times weren't going to work for us, so off we went to our next activity.  www.templeinstitute.org We moved our cars to Mamilla Mall and caught the light rail train to Machne Yehuda, the famous shuk.


 Mostly we were just wandering around taking in the sights and sound and scents. The displays of fruits and vegetables were never ending, the spice barrels and roasted nuts were so fragrant, the tea stalls can't be beat. There were some odd things around to like any market. 
We wandered into the Iraqi area and saw dozens of older men sitting around smoking, drinking coffee and playing backgammon just like a story. We selected some fresh vegetables for tonight's dinner and stopped off for our next sugar rush of the day. Lunch consisting of borekas and Sefardi baked goods. The Berman crew was ready to head back, but we had a few more things to do. We hopped back on the light rail and got off near the pedestrian street Ben Yehuda. The boys decided they wanted to buy a funny new kippah srugah. I'm not sure what they are going to do with them because they wear velvet ones everyday, but they were really excited about them so I let it go. We headed 2 blocks over to the Time Elevator on 37 Hillel street. We were scheduled for 4 pm. It was 2 pm, but there was room in the show. I guess every once in a while reservations can be changed. The Time Elevator is a 2D movie that is done in a theater with motion seats that move quite a bit. Everyone hears the movie through headphones that allow 6 languages. The movie starts during the time of Dovid and Shlomo and finishes with the war in 1967.  To see more info go to www.time-elevator-jerusalem.co.il/en .

After the movie experience we were ready to head back. We walked to our car parked at Mamilla which was surprisingly nearby and navigated the afternoon Yerushalaim rush hour traffic back to RBS.

      Dinner with my sister's family rounded off the day. Everyone crashed out instantly after such a busy day. Good thing to, because tomorrow is going to be another big adventure!

Adventures down South to the Negev

Today's itinerary was a very unique one for me and my kids, however it started the usual way with our GPS unable to locate the destination. We were headed into the Negev, southern desert, to go jeeping and sand surfing (sand boarding). While I was planning this trip months ago, I realized that I would only have two big boys with me. This meant that we could do slightly pricier activities (because admission x2 or 3 will always beat admission x7) and we could do more extreme, active activities. No strollers, no height limits, no age restriction issues (very few places limit 10 year olds from participating). I had never gone jeeping in Israel. I knew I didn't want to go up north. There is a jeeping company local in Ramat Beit Shemesh call Jeeping Berama. My sister got the information for me to try and decipher. It was a scanned in menu of options that made no sense (at least not to me) and it was all in Hebrew. I tried for a few minutes and then moved on. Some where along the way I heard of going Sand surfing or sand boarding. Now that was something new and different! After doing some lengthy Google searching I came across Dror Bamidbar who does both and then some (www.drorbamidbar.co.il). He has a website, he has a Facebook page, he answers emails promptly and in English! I inquired about combining jeeping and sand surfing and he quoted me a price for 4 hours for up to 6 people. While I wouldn't say it was a bargain, it was a very fair price.

      We were supposed to meet Dror at Ben Gurion's tomb at 10 am. The drive was approximately 1 3/4 hour long. My GPS is not creative or forgiving when it comes to vague locations. We finally found something close enough to get us to the area (Ben Gurion's home) and off we went. Since the price quote was a flat rate for up to 6 people I insisted that 2 of my sister's kids come along. (And if at all possible I like to take a Hebrew speaker with me). We called Dror when we got to where our GPS decided we were done driving and he told us to stay put and met us.

      I was imagining a beat up, open or rag top jeep that jostled us around for 2 hours, but much to my surprise and delight Dror pulled up in a fancy Range Rover. He told us we don't need our seat belts as we are just driving through the Moshav. After about 45 seconds of listening to him my seat-belt-wearing-trained self just had to fasten it up. He drove up on some piles of dirt to show us what the Rover could do (like in a commercial) my nephew asked to go faster and he complied all along Mendel bounced around in the back. 

     We pulled over at a lookout spot and showed us where we were going. He also showed us some of his desert treasures (colored stones, ancient fragrant rocks that were used for perfumes, animal skeletons...). We then drove (bounced along) into Midbar Sin. After a short while we pulled over again, this time to go on a brief hike. Dror stopped us along some plants to explain about what makes them unique, which ones are edible. One plant has leaves that are salty. The plant uses the water and extracts the salt which coats the leaves. Another plant can be crushed in your hands and when you add a bit of water to them it makes suds when you rub your hands. We hiked a long a stream until we got to a waterfall that came out of the rock and filled a pond that is about 8 meters deep. As much as our driver Dror is our guide, he is even more a lover of nature and the desert, a conservationist. He is really a teacher at heart. We hiked back to the car and drove out of the nature reserve. We drove to where we were originally supposed to meet him and then back to our car. From there it was about a 30 minute drive to the sand surfing area. We followed in our own car off road to the dune.

     He set up a mat to sit on, gave us instructions, handed us boards and set us walking up the dune. Up and down the hills we went, some braving the more challenging positions on the board down the sand, some (old, out of shape moms) stuck to the basics. It was a lot of fun, yet exhausting and challenging. When everyone was pretty much worn out we stopped at the jeep for some tea and cake. The kids who could muster up enough energy for one more run chose to do it in the special little kid barrel just for kicks.

    I offered the kids to do one more activity on the way back up, but they were spent. Such a fun day!

Wear everyone out at Masada before we return home. And that's an order.

For our last full day in Israel I decided to take the boys to Masada. I knew that we had a long journey home that would involved lots and lots of sitting coming up so I wanted our day to be very physical. At the same time, I was not that excited about walking UP the snake trail. 

     After about a two hour drive we arrived at Masada. I hadn't been there since my Seminary days in the mid 90's. They improved the welcome center and added a museum. The boys knew the basic story, but not a lot of detail. I decided to buy the tickets that included the museum and headsets. I also bought the ticket for the cable car up and the snake trail down. 

     The museum was very well done. It began as all Israeli Musuems do, with a movie. We then went into the museum with headsets. They had many artifacts and set up the exhibit as a walk through in time setting up the history of Masada before the siege, during and it's tragic aftermath.  Particularly chilling was the shards of pottery with the last 10 men's names who were to over see everyone's demise.

     We ascended the mountain by cable car. We got the headsets for the top and followed along walking where ever the tour directed us. Somehow we managed to go to Masada the one day in the year that it rains there. All of my past associations with the area are hot, hot, hot. Rain, though it happens there occasionally, was so out of context for me. It wasn't pouring, just sprinkling us, so we carried on. The kids marveled at the large amount of bathhouses, mikvahs and cisterns. How the little bit of drizzle managed to fill up all of those watery areas is a wonder.

      We looked out at the view of the Dead Sea, saw the Roman Encampments and the ramp, and climbed up and down the stairs for the Northern Palace even though you wanted to grip the handrail with a death grip the entire time. When we completed the audio tour it was time to head down. Eli counted the stairs and claimed to have reached 824. A two hour drive back ensured my leg muscles would welcome the travel day break.

      I threw out a question to the boys: what does outer first stop on this vacation have to do with our last?  Have you been following along, dear reader? After a bit of contemplation my kids figured out this unintentional connection. Our first stop was the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. Both stories are of Jews who were pursued by the enemy who wanted them obliterated. Both stories caused our people to run to a high place for hiding. Both stories had the people stay there for several months and tragically both stories ended with their demise. Masada ends with a mass suicide to prevent torture and enslavement. Anne Frank's story ends with her being sent to a concentration camp and dying just a month before liberation.  I asked Mendel given all of this, would he still want to return to Israel for his bar mitzvah if we can in 3 years? Or would he rather go somewhere else? He chose Israel because "Israel is cool, Israel is fun and no matter what it is still good to be Jewish." Love that boy.

     We said our tearful goodbyes to my sister and her family and made our way to the rental car return at the airport around 1:30am. Once again we wish you a Lehitraot.

Short but sweet Shabbos

This Shabbos, my family had recovered from their jet lag, so they were actually able to sit and enjoy themselves at the Berman's table. They ate, they tried food I never would have guessed they would eat (nothing that exotic, but now I know they will eat cabbage salad) and participated in the meal only sneaking wary to the couch a few times.

     The shul is right out the door, which has its advantages and disadvantages. Proximity is definitely a plus, but any excuse to wander back to the house gets used. After davening my sister and I went to a shiur on the Parsha. Then it was lunch. The short winter Shabbos afternoon ended with the customary Bananagrams competition.

     After Shabbos I decided to take the boys back into Yerushalaim for a quick Kotel visit and a bite to eat. I offered to walk around Ben Yehuda street with them, but they were just as happy to sat in the Old City and return to RBS.

     We have one more full day in Israel and I intend on using it to the fullest.

Neot Kedumim in a hurry

My son is learning Mishnah Sukka at Emek Hebrew Academy in the 5th grade. He is thankfully very enthusiastic about his studies and has even memorized several of the mishnayos. I came across a Biblical Nature Reserve called Neot Kedumim just outside of the city of Modiin. This reserve's mission is not only to preserve nature, but to do so by incorporating as many Biblically mentioned species ( not just the big 7) and other things in nature mentioned in the Torah. Throughout the year, especially during holidays they have a variety of hands on activities and exhibits. One of their year-round exhibits is one where they take the Mishnayos in Sukka and build life size 3D sukkahs. I heard that it is even more impressive with live animals and then some during the holiday of sukkahs, but we will take what we can get. I knew my son would really enjoy seeing the text come to life. He was so excited about this that he told his rebbe at school. His teacher told him to take a lot of pictures and that he would present something to his class upon his return. 

     Friday morning seemed like the perfect time to squeeze this activity in. This time I was clever enough not to trust the GPS and actually think it could find the place in the morning, so I brought it in the house to program the night before. Surprise Surprise it couldn't find it, so I had good ol' Google maps find me directions and I hand wrote them out. We got there with only one stop for directions. As soon as I got out of the car to ask the man he told me Neot Kedumim is out and to the right one more driveway. I commented that he must get that all day. He responded back, "if I only had a shekel for each time... " Some things are universal.

     Once we figured out where to go and where to park, the man at the desk told us there are 4 trails, each with a different focus. the Sukka exhibit isn't exactly on any of them, but it's between two. He told us to go down the path and the first fork, take a left. Got it. Except when we walked out the door there were about 5 paths. We decided to just pick a way to go and we would figure it out. All of the official trails are well marked with stations numbered and corresponding guide maps. Soon enough we figured out where we were and where to go. We came across an exhibit on ancient farming which also teaches about some of the Shabbos prohibitions. No one was around so I had the boys try everything out. We even found a well they could draw water. Eventually we found the Sukka exhibit. My son was having a great time going from booth to booth explaining what we saw and why it was significant. When we were finished with that we continued on walking around enjoying the nature. We saw the 4 species of sukkos growing, we saw the 7 species of Israel. We came across some other water drawing stations and more. My sons were aware that since it was Friday, the reserve's shop along with the ice cream would close early. We headed to the exit around noon, got the boys their Popsicles and headed bavck to get ready for Shabbos.

Food for babies, dialogue with the old

Sometimes the activities I chose for my kids are historical, sometimes they are moving, sometimes they are meaningful or educational. At times I chose adventures or unique experiences. Today, along with most of my sister's children, we went to the Bamba Baby house in Holon.  Perhaps a bit historical, not really moving, in a stretch it was educational, getting there (or anywhere) is an adventure, and it certainly is unique. Visiting Bamba is free, but you need to book it we'll in advance. We were brought into a room with Bamba shaped pillows and given as much Bamba as you wanted. They had a display of past Bamba packaging. Our guide talked about how Bamba is made and showed us with mock up machines. We then got to tour the real factory with our beautiful hair nets in place. Next we saw packaging department. Did you know there is no flavor difference between the Bamba in blue packages and Bamba in orange packages?? Our tour finished with a very cute animated movie starring the Bamba Baby. It was all in Hebrew, but since it was geared for little kids my kids understood most of it. My 6 year old niece does not have a TV at home. She does not go to the movies or watch videos  at home.  She moved to Israel when she was very young and doesn't remember days at Bubbie and Zayde surrounded by Dora and SpongeBob. When the Animated Bamba Baby flew in his plane at the screen, she screamed thinking it would crash into us!
     Holon happens to have a decent amount of potential activities. Next activity planned was at the Israel Children's Museum. They have a few things for little kids, but they are more like experiences than the type of museum you enter and explore at will. They are also famous for something called "Dialogue in the Darkness" which you do in and experience everything in the pitch black lead by blind docents to help sighted people understand the life of the blind better. We couldn't get a reservation to that one, but we did get a time for "Dialogue with Time", their newest exhibit/ experience. The purpose of that one is to help younger people understand the limitations of the elderly. Also, to see how there are different ways to experience old age.  We were lead through with our guide Mario who is 73 and originally from Uruguay. It was a very moving, educational, meaningful and unique experience.
     The little girls were too young for the exhibit. Right next to the museum is a park with the most complex rope equipment we have seen. We ate our lunch, had the kids climb around and play until it began to drizzle.
      Thursday night my sister has the tradition of giving her kids a bit of money and sending them into the Mercaz to get some dinner. So I did it too. I gave the boys some money and sent them on their way. They went with their cousins so they could order and pay. In the mean time my sister and I went  out to eat.

We dig Israel - Beit Guvrin

After the extremely busy, early start days we have had the past two days, the boys practically cheered when I told them that we didn't have anything in particular to do until after lunch. I let them hang around the house in the morning. Then we walked around the Mercaz (center of town where the shopping is done). We searched for gifts for the siblings who didn't go on this trip. And rounded out our morning with some lunch followed by ice cream.

     It was time to load the car for a short drive to Beit Guvrin. A gas station along the road was the meeting spot for our activity. We signed up to join the Archaeological Seminar Institute for the afternoon. http://www.archesem.com/dig.asp They lead groups of primarily American families into the caves below Maresha to dig out remnants from the times of the Hashmonaim (the Greeks of the Chanukah story) .  We drove past the bell caves that we had explored before to an active archaeological site.

 Our guide Benji gave a very entertaining history of the area and the cave and a little bit of what we were going to see.  We descended a steep staircase down into the very dust cave. The email information packets that they sent kept warning us about how dirty we were going to get, but some of our group didn't seem to believe it. One of the families with us consisted of parents, two older girls and a boy from New Jersey. The mother and daughters got down into the cave and refused to enter the dig sit because they were wearing $250 new boots and didn't want to get dirty. Who wears that to an activity that you know you are going to be sitting in dirt?

     We were each given 2 buckets, a trowel and a mini pick axe. Our jobs were to loosen the dirt, check through it for pieces of pottery or bones (animal), coal, coins (rare) and anything else that wasn't a rock. Everything else, rocks included we were to scoop into the other bucket. We set to work right away. Pretty much with every turn of the dirt we found something. Lots of pottery pieces, tons of animal bones. I even unearthed an animals tooth! Some people found larger more interesting pieces, most pieces were basic broken chunks, but the archaeologists wanted it all. Benji pointed out markings on the wall showing us the dirt levels in the cave before groups like ours began. You can see how bucket by bucket group by group the cave is getting deeper. At one point he told us to stop and to combine the found items into one or two buckets sand to carry our buckets of dirt out.
     Once outside we then had to be certain our buckets of found items didn't mix with the adjacent groups findings. We then took gigantic sifters and strained our dirt buckets picking out anything that we may had missed.
Next came a real treat. Benji lead us to a fully excavated nearby cave. It was lit by candlelight. We descended more steep stairs and passed through various chambers, sometimes ducking or even crawling. At one point he told us we had to enter what they referred to as a "toilet bowl". Basically it is a small double rimmed hole. You enter feet first and then put your weight on you elbows as you drop down and twist into the next room. Fortunately this cave has an exit so we didn't have to navigate back through the toilet!
     The last part of our archaeological activities was a meeting in a tent going over how they know what we are finding, what they do with all of the things we find, what were some of the best things ever found etc.
     After we drove back to the house, showers were in order (remember, it's a very dusty, dirty activity). We then continued on with our evening by meeting my sister-in-law and niece in the Modiin Mall (Azrieli) for dinner.

 It is such a novelty to eat in the mall and go be able to choose meat or milk foods depending on your mood and not which restaurant we walked into. By the time we were done and got back to RBS it was about 10 pm.s