Wreath time in Australia

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You know you're not in Israel when your Jewish grandson comes home with a Christmas wreath. :) Eyal's 5th grade class here in Australia made wreaths this December. 
From coat hangers and cut up garbage bags! 
Eyal chose fragrant yellow ones for his wreath. 

Libby and Billy the Cavoodle enjoyed having their first-ever wreath.

Merry Christmas to all our Christian friends! 
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All 8 candles

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Happy 8th and last night of Chanuka! 
Grandkids Eyal and Libby lit the eight candles.

I am spending a few months with my daughter, son-in-law, and three grandchildren down in Australia, in their home just north of Sydney. 
Whether you are doing Chanuka or Advent right now, I wish you all a happy holiday season.
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Teach

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Torah was given to teach us. 

And today's City Daily Photo Theme Day's focus is TEACH.

Pirkei Avot 4:15 in the Talmud says

Rabbi Elazar ben Shamua taught: "The dignity of your students should be as precious to you as your own. The dignity of your colleagues should be as precious to you as your reverence for your teacher. The reverence for your teacher should be as great as your reverence for God."

And the daily prayer Kaddish dRabbanan blesses our teachers:

 "May you be blessed and strengthened 
as you have blessed and strengthened your student.

May you have peace, grace, kindness, mercy, long life and

everything you need."

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Good luck to the 2,310,000 pupils in Israel who start the new school year tomorrow, Sunday, Sept. 2.  
And blessings to their teachers!

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Homemade gifts--but with a difference!

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City Daily Photo bloggers have as our December 1st theme the idea of gifts.

Lucky me--my sweet daughter recently came up to Israel from down in Australia for a short visit.
And she came bearing gifts. 
I was excited to see for the first time the fruits of her labor, her artistic ideas made into physical objects on her new laser engraving and cutting machine!
Like the replica of the Golden Record that was sent into space 40 years ago. (If you're too young to remember the launch of NASA's Voyager I and II, Naomi wrote about the record on her website.)

Another gift I love is Naomi's pleasant-to-the-touch cork coasters.
As she explains,  "These cork coasters are laser engraved with an image of a labyrinth inspired by the famous Notre-Dame de Chartres Cathedral labyrinth in France. The labyrinth has for centuries attracted people to walk its lines in meditation. Even on this smaller version, running your finger along the lines can bring about calmness and serenity."

These little hearts are really offcuts from the wood and acrylic that Naomi works with.
I gave a few as symbolic gifts to new friends and it really won their heart.

Just for fun take a look at some of Naomi's 90 unusual creations at her online Etsy crafts store called Eclipse9Laser.
You'll even find Tolkien- and space-themed Christmas tree ornaments now!
And more new and unexpected things every week.

As Naomi explains,
"In my previous life I was a university lecturer and researcher in aerospace engineering. I also worked as an engineer for Lockheed and NASA, designing satellite systems. I love all things aerospace, engineering and science.
Now I'm making cool (ok, geeky) laser engraved gifts and items - things that I love and find exciting. I hope you love them too!"

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Dean and Dina down by the sea

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Number One grandson Dean and I were talking about sloths and how they hang upside down. 

I decided to throw decorum to the winds and demonstrate, despite my grandmotherly age. 

This was about ten years ago, in Australia, but I still remember the fun of acting young at heart in a public park! 

Visit the gallery to see what other City Daily Photo bloggers dared to post for our August theme, "young at heart."

(Linking also to ABC Wednesday's D day.)

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Grandkids in motion

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Grandson Dean jumped nearly into the winter rain clouds back in 2013 when my Australia family was here in Israel.
His younger brother and sister were also in harnesses and bouncing off the big trampoline in a Beer Sheva shopping center.
You can see all of them jumping in this post.

We City Daily Photo bloggers have our July 1 Theme Day on the subject of MOTION.
See what other photographers are adding to today's CDP gallery.
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Splitting the waters

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Today is the 7th and last day of Pesach.
We remember how on that day Moses led the newly-forming Jewish People out of Egypt through the split waters of the sea.

"And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all the night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided" -- וַיִּבָּקְעוּ, הַמָּיִם

- Exodus 14:21

"When God split the Red Sea, all the waters in the world divided, even the waters in cisterns and ditches, in jars, cups, casks and bowls ... the supernal waters, too, divided ..."

 -- (Midrash Mechilta)

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Whichever holiday you are celebrating today, have a happy and meaningful one! 

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Growing like a tree

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Granddaughter Libby with Tu BiShvat goodies from pre-kindergarten (here in Meitar, 2014).
Dried fruit of the Land on a skewer!
Today, in contrast, is a cold and rainy Tu BiShvat holiday with snow in some parts of Israel.
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See yesterday's post for more about the 15th of Shvat, the ancient birthday or new year of trees.
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(Linking to Our World Tuesday.)

Two parents, two handwritings

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This has nothing to do with Israel, but . . . here goes.
Turns out that today is National Handwriting Day in some English-speaking nations.
Didn't want to illustrate this post with a sample of my own penmanship lest you submit it to a graphologist for analysis.  Oi! ;)
So here is a page from my mother's scrapbook that she made when my father went off to war as a U.S. Army Air Corps pilot in 1943, with all the mementos that sustained her in that difficult time of waiting.
If you click a few times you can enlarge my scanned photo enough to read  two very different styles of cursive:
Mom's left-leaning script (can you even read it?) with open circles to dot the i, and Dad's right-leaning easy-to-read writing (which is like mine).

I just hope my young device-prone grandkids will be taught cursive in school so they will be able, for instance, to read this family treasure, the scrapbook made by their late great grandmother.
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The green stone

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Eyal, my sweet grandson in Australia, can help illustrate another Yiddish proverb.

If a stone stays in one place, it becomes overgrown with grass.
Az der shteyn ligt af eyn ort vert er oykh bavaksn mit groz.
.אַז דער שטיין ליגט אויף איין אָרט ווערט ער אויך באַוואַקסן מיט גראָז

English proverb expressing the converse: A rolling stone gathers no moss.

German gloss (unattested): Als (wenn) der Stein liegt auf einem Ort wird er auch bewachsen mit Grass.
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Check out the proverb in many languages at Proverbial Planet.
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P.S. I added an update to the earlier post if you'd like to learn more about illegal firearms in my country.
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No room in the bin

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Neve Shalom neighborhood of Tel Aviv on a Sabbath afternoon, when no one works, certainly not the garbage collectors.
And that's my visiting son shooting an unusual door, or maybe it was a cat.
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(Linking to Our World Tuesday.)
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Art in ruins

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Let's peek in and see what's behind that enticing sign that warns "Caution, abandoned and shut up building."

Lots of buildings in the older neighborhoods of Tel Aviv are now roofless and have their windows blocked up.

Ah, but the mural artist Dede (whose two-headed animals we saw in last week's post)
has given life to the crumbling wall!

The walls have ears (as the old saying goes), but now they have eyes too.
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(Linking to Monday Murals, Our World Tuesday, and signs, signs.)
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Revolution and the Monster

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How many Revolutions Per Minute can the kids get the merry-go-round to turn?

City Daily Photo bloggers are posting for our monthly Theme Day about the multiple meanings of REVOLUTION.   Give them a visit here.

My photo is from 2009 when daughter Naomi and grandsons Dean and Eyal come for a visit to Jerusalem.
In back of them is The Monster, in profile view.
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A statue

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There is more to show from our visit to Elma Arts Complex Luxury Hotel in Zichron Ya'akov.

Like this work of art outside in the rain.

With water shpritzing from her pupik  (belly button in Yiddish!).

(Photos can be enlarged a lot with two separate clicks.)
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(Linking to Our World Tuesday.)
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Mirror mirror on the organ, who is the fairest one of all?

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Finally I found a reflection for James' Weekend Reflection meme.
And it's none other that my son, Edo!
(The photo is enlargeable with two separate clicks, ahem!)

The mirror is for the organist to see the orchestra conductor.

The beautiful new organ was recently installed in the Elma Arts Complex Luxury Hotel in Zichron Ya'akov, on our Mediterranean coast.
See the organ in situ in its 450-seat auditorium at their website.

Our excellent tour-of-Elma guide, Gilat  (my step-daughter, who has a high position there), pointed out inter alia that Israel has fifty or sixty pipe organs.
But most of them are in churches.
Elma's organ is the only one in the country purpose-built for a concert hall.

I'll have more for you about the organ and the hotel in the coming days!
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UPDATE June 25:  See video of Cameron Carpenter playing this organ as only he can!
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All together for Abba

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Yes, I have been away for the last week.
It was a sad week but also a glad one.
My kids flew in from Australia and California and all the family reunited in Tel Aviv, that was the glad part.
They came for a funeral: on February 10 at noon their father was buried.
Moshe has been my ex-husband for a long time, but he was my husband for 22 years.
He died a good death after only one day and one night in the hospital, with his two oldest daughters at his side. 
Now the week of mourning has ended and the kids are already on their flights to the far corners of the world.
I am back home in the desert with lots of new memories and photographs.
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BridgeClimb pics for AUSTRALIA DAY!

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Happy AUSTRALIA DAY to my family in Sydney and to all the Aussie blog-friends! 

As soon as grandson Dean turned ten, the minimum age for BridgeClimb, he and his father climbed the Sydney Harbor Bridge!

What a view, eh?!

Wikipedia explains: 

Since 1998, BridgeClimb has made it possible for tourists to legally climb the southern half of the bridge. Tours run throughout the day, from dawn to night, and are only cancelled for electrical storms or high wind.
Groups of climbers are provided with protective clothing appropriate to the prevailing weather conditions, and are given an orientation briefing before climbing. During the climb, attendees are secured to the bridge by a wire lifeline. . . . Each climb takes three and a half hours, including the preparations.

See BridgeClimb website, "for the climb of your life."
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World Sauntering Day

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Grandkids Dean and Libby, 2011,  Australia

Happy World Sauntering Day!
Never heard of this day till today, but I am all in favor of sauntering whenever possible.

The Wiki article about the day explains, "It is simply to walk slowly, preferably with a joyful disposition. Sauntering has been spoken of most notably by many of the naturalist writers in history including Henry David Thoreau and John Burroughs. . .
Its purpose is to remind us to take it easy, smell the roses, to slow down and enjoy life as opposed to rushing through it."

I think we photo-bloggers are already in the habit of sauntering, otherwise we would miss all those nice things waiting to be seen and photographed.
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I learned of World Sauntering Day at this nice Jewish Treats blog post, where it is compared to the positive  Jewish character trait known as zreezut (haste).
He says

Jewish living is about balance. One needs to know the appropriate time for z’reezut and the appropriate time for “sauntering.” Indeed, one does not exclude the other. Slowing down allows one to be more aware of others, which may provide a chance to discover new mitzvah opportunities (which one can then hurry to take care of).

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Happy Women's Day, daughter.

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International Women's Day today and the 2014 theme is Equality for women is progress for all.
My daughter is all for gender equality.
Naomi finished her compulsory IDF army service, then went on to become a mechanical engineer, continued to a PhD in biomedical engineering, and lately even began teaching aerospace engineering at the University of New South Wales in Sydney.
AND she can pilot a light plane.

May all the world's women have such opportunities to learn and to enjoy whatever professions they dream about.

Here in the photo Naomi shares a quiet moment with an Israeli ibex.
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(Linking to Camera Critters.)
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Young artists

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As you may know, my Aussie family is staying in Israel for seven months and they rent a house walking distance from me in Meitar.
Friday evening all the relatives got together to celebrate Eyal's 6th birthday.

Eyal and his brother and sister and even his mother are good artists, so I gave Eyal this wonderful book.
Artist to Artist: 23 Major Illustrators Talk to Children About Their Art  is published by Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.

Amazon says 

In this remarkable and beautiful anthology featuring the likes of Maurice Sendak, Robert Sabuda, Rosemary Wells, and Eric Carle, twenty-three of the most honored and beloved artists in children’s literature talk informally to children—sharing secrets about their art and how they began their adventures into illustration. Fold-out pages featuring photographs of their early work, their studios and materials, as well as sketches and finished art create an exuberant feast for the eye that will attract both children and adults. Self-portraits of each illustrator crown this important anthology that celebrates the artists and the art of the picture book.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY,  DEAR EYAL! 

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