[img]96|left|Shachar||no_popup[/img]Dateline Jerusalem — What a week.
As soon as Shabbat was over last Saturday night, my week began. I lit the braided multi-wicked Havdalah candle, filled the wine cup to the brim, and opened the spice box to take a good whiff of the spices of cloves and cinnamon. Havdalah means “separation.” It is a ceremony of blessings recited weekly at the end of Shabbat, welcoming in a routine weekday and the loss of the extra soul we were given on the holy Shabbat.
Saturday night I also welcomed my cousin whom I had not seen in 41 years.
She and her family were traveling in Israel, and they took time from their busy schedule to visit with me. It was fantastic seeing her again, and wonderful meeting her husband and daughter.
Over coffee, tea and dessert we spoke of family, great grandparents, and our childhood memories. Unfortunately they had an early tour in the morning, and I had to wake at 5 a.m. to get to work in Jerusalem. Otherwise we could have talked all night.
Getting to Work Is Not Easy
Sunday morning, the beginning of the work week in Israel, the trains weren't running from my city because they were laying new tracks. And the bus I often take was on a new schedule. For two weeks I have been homebound because the rail system was out of commission here. I knew I would never make it on time to work, so I went to Jerusalem by taxi, a very expensive way of travel. But, I was one of a few chosen people asked to come into the office that day, as I usually work from home. Because an important client from the states was coming in, I could not be late.
Wednesday the entire country participated in training for disaster, the rocket, missile, terrorist, and war kind!
Throughout Israel, the air raid sirens blared for a minute and a half, the time we are expected to stop whatever we are doing and find shelter. People in newer buildings have “safe rooms,” the older buildings have shelters in the basements. People on the street must find a place to go. Some people have a room in their apartment to seal up with plastic covering. My building has the basement shelter, but I found that when the sirens began, by the time I found my shoes and where to go, the exercise was over. There is not enough time for me to run down four flights of stairs and find the bomb shelter in the building.
When Is It Time to Eat?
I guess I am just going to have to do a lot of praying. Some people put on their gas masks. I haven't received mine yet. But as someone said to me, “What good is a gas mask without a body suit?” since Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria has indicated that their rockets and missiles are now long range, with chemical and biological warheads.
This weekend, I am invited out for Shabbat dinner to a friend from Morocco, but I am having a dozen people come to my apartment for Shabbat lunch. I have been shopping and cooking, and I am completely exhausted. My guests will come from Holland, England, France, Canada, Australia, South Africa and the U.S. I love sitting with friends from all over the world. We might have different languages and cultures, but we share the same religion and love of Israel.
For those of you who are always interested in my menu, here it is:
The usual wine and challah for kiddush. Then the first course features appetizers of smoked salmon on a bed of lettuce with capers, Moroccan eggplant salad and shredded sweet and spicy carrots, traditional Israeli humus of mashed garbanzo beans and spices with olive oil and pine nuts, penne pasta with red and green and yellow bell peppers with pickles and pine nuts in a sweet and spicy chili sauce, and a regular American salad.
Then the main meal will consist of London broil beef in a garlic and lemon marinade, brisket of beef in a tangy sauce, chicken cubes with peaches and pineapple and onions and green pepper in a sweet and sour sauce, roasted potatoes, Israeli couscous, and Persian rice. For dessert, apple strudel and a variety of pastries, and Turkish nougat candy with pistachio nuts. That followed by tea and coffee.
L'hitraot. Shachar
Shachar is the Hebrew name of a California-based attorney and former Los Angeles County deputy sheriff who moved to Israel almost three years ago.