Spotting the Wild Israeli

May 1, 2011

Israeli bikers in Tatopani With all the Israelis who head off for the Far East on extended post-army trips, we were pretty sure we’d meet tens, if not hundreds, of our fellow countrymen and women during our recent trek in Nepal. On the first six days of the trek, though, we met Brits, Canadians, lots […]

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Sniffing for Chametz in India

April 28, 2011

It’s been a few weeks since I last posted – that’s because we just got back from our long-planned family trek to Nepal and India. We all arrived home safe and sound on Friday. Our luggage was less fortunate. As I write, it’s still sitting in the Mumbai airport. Normally this wouldn’t be so unusual […]

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My “Kavanot” for Aviv’s Bar Mitzvah

April 5, 2011

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a video from Aviv’s bar mitzvah along with links to more content on his “bar mitzvah blog.” But before the bar mitzvah itself, I asked to lead the kavanot in honor of Aviv at the Nava Tehila havurah that we participate in once a month. Nava Tehila uses […]

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Old City Treasure Hunt

March 30, 2011

Jody and her mom Adriane find the shofars at the Beit El Yeshiva Dr. Clue is the world’s leading team-building company specializing in treasure hunt activities. Dr. Clue is also my brother, Dave. He was just here in Israel for our youngest son Aviv’s bar mitzvah and, as his gift, he planned a special treasure […]

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Aviv’s Bar Mitzvah

March 25, 2011

It’s been an incredible few weeks around Aviv’s bar mitzvah. Family came in from overseas, we had a slew of great activities (from a lovely walk in the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens to a treasure hunt in the Old City – more on that in an upcoming post) all leading up to the big day. The […]

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The Pause that Refreshes?

March 23, 2011

Purim in Jerusalem…and all the restaurants are booked solid. That didn’t stop our party of 11 from joining the merrymaking mosaic of Israeli society out to celebrate the defeat of the evil Haman some 2,000 years ago. My wife Jody had the foresight to reserve a table at the uber-popular Caffit café far in advance. […]

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“Leisure Sundays” Stress Me Out

March 15, 2011

“You shall have your day of rest” Silvan Shalom commands In recent weeks, Israeli Vice Premier Silvan Shalom’s has renewed a campaign to turn Sunday into an official day off in Israel, as with other parts of the world. The Anglo community has embraced the idea. As for me, I’m dead set against it. How […]

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Trek of the Month: Park Rabin

March 9, 2011

Jody and Aviv outside of Park Rabin This month’s recommendation for a great hike in Israel is the lovely Park Rabin area, just outside of Beit Shemesh. It was also Aviv’s tiyul #11 of his 12 pre-bar mitzvah hikes in Israel – you can read his blog about it here. The Park Rabin tiyul kicks […]

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Dreaming of Bahrain

March 2, 2011

Bahrain is right next to Iran – that sounds like fun! We have just over a month to go until we leave for our long-planned trek to Nepal to celebrate my 50th birthday and Aviv’s bar mitzvah. There’s only one problem standing in our way: Bahrain. The cheapest way to get to Asia for Israelis […]

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Even the Roosters Crow for RebbeSoul

February 24, 2011

Why would a successful Hollywood musician and Jewish music pioneer leave behind a lucrative career and pack it all up to make aliyah? Bruce Burger, who goes by the stage name of RebbeSoul, can’t quite put his finger on it. Maybe it’s his Jewish soul, or that he fell in love with the people of […]

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