Chag Sameach

"Chag Sameach" means Happy Holidays in Hebrew, and with Passover and Easter in the same week, it's definitely holiday season in Israel. Most schools are on break, many shops are closed, and all of the supermarkets have big drapes blocking access to any food that is not kosher for Passover. The weather has been fantastic and the parks are all teeming with families enjoying their vacation time. Yesterday, after returning our rental car, we walked back home through downtown Jerusalem, and the city was absolutely packed with natives and tourists out walking, shopping and sightseeing.

We spent a couple of nights out of town earlier this week. On Monday, we drove to Netanya, which is a city along the Mediterranean coast, north of Tel Aviv. That afternoon, we spent some time in a playground near the beach. Here's a video of Alexander going down the slide, taking care not to drop his pita and cheese sandwich!

That evening, we were treated to a wonderful Passover seder at Eric's cousin Ruthie's house. "Seder" means "order" in Hebrew. In recounting the Israelites' freedom from slavery in Egypt, as told in Exodus, the Passover seder is an "ordered" meal that involves ritual and symbolic foods, generous amounts of wine, and a retelling of the liberation story. It's a particularly nice holiday because the themes are directly relevant to life in the world today: ideas of freedom, civil rights, justice, etc., are all prominent in the larger Passover narrative.

Over the past several years, I've really come to enjoy Passover. While a lot of people joke about how reading the Haggadah can be an hours-long experience that puts off a long-awaited feast, it seems I've been lucky in that the seders I've attended have been reasonably paced. I find something comforting in the act of bringing a bunch of books to the table, and taking turns reading passages out loud, taking breaks at the appropriate times to eat foods that connect us to the struggles that others went through in the past (such as eating bitter herbs to acknowledge the suffering of the enslaved). Instead of taking place in a church or synagogue, the rituals for Passover take place at home, and I've recently found that this gathering, with its focus on food and story and family, is becoming one that I look forward to. Eric and I are grateful to Ruthie, her partner, Yossi, and her mother, Marcia, for welcoming us into their home, along with several other of their family members and friends. The meal was a feast of chicken and beef dishes, roasted vegetables and fresh salads, matzoh and desserts. We had to leave the table twice to put the boys to bed -- Benjamin went down pretty easily at 7 (the usual time), and Alexander made it through most of the meal (he made sure not to miss desert), tottering up the steps to bed closer to 10pm. As I lay with him on the floor as he slowly fell asleep, I could hear everyone singing in the dining room below us. It was clear everyone had a great time, us included.

Yossi's son, Yair, and Ruthie's son, Yonatan, took some great pictures throughout the evening, and as soon as we get copies of the photos, I'll post them. In the meantime, here are a couple of pictures we took the next morning, as we were relaxing in Ruthie's back garden. Alexander had a great time playing with the toys Ruthie and Marcia pulled out for him, especially this watering can that he used to water some of Ruthie's beautiful flowers.

 

Here's Benjamin, getting tickled.

 

 

And here are the boys together; they're starting to interact a lot more, which is sweet to see.

 

 

Later, Benjamin and I relaxed in Ruthie's swing; he fell asleep shortly after this photo was taken.

 

 

After a great visit with Ruthie and her family, we headed south to Herzliya, a suburb north of Tel Aviv, to spend a night with Michelle, who lives in Vermont but, like Eric, is here in Israel on a Fulbright grant. Michelle and her daughter, Mikaela, are in Israel for six months; Michelle's husband, David, came over for a holiday visit. We loved hanging out in their backyard in Herzliya on Tuesday evening, and spending time with them on the beach on Wednesday. It was a windy day and the only people in the water were surfers; most of the beach chairs were still stacked up and the cafes along the boardwalk were fairly empty, but I can imagine how packed the Herzliya beaches will be in a few weeks; they are beautiful! Hopefully we'll head back there soon to do some swimming and playing in the sand, but in the meantime, it was great to just be by the ocean on such a brilliant sunny day.

 

Thanks to Ruthie, Yossi, Marcia, Michelle, David and Mikaela for hosting us during our first few days out of the city!