La Caja Magica -- Madrid, May 2013
The most wasted day is that in which we have not laughed. --Nicolas de Chamfort

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Spanish Leaves....

will be munched soon...history, clay court tennis, food (ham!)....

A Flavor of Israel and its Society...

To give a flavor of Israel and its society, from time to time, we'll be posting links to articles from the Ha'aretz  that we think may be of interest to you.  The Ha'aretz (means: Land of Israel or, literally, The Land) is one of Israel's  main newspapers, albeit centrist-left-wing, which we receive at home every day.  Our hope is to cover a wide variety of issues over time--we'll do our best to be even-handed--though this won't be easy! To start....

Land of Israel: 
Belated Battle to Revive the Dying Dead Sea
Tunnels of Jerusalem (on our to-do list)

Social Issues:
Agunot Suing for their Freedom (from husbands who refuse to grant religious divorce)
Right Wing Poster Calls for Boycott of Stores Where Arabs work with Jewish Women

Secular vs Orthodox:
Group Formed to Battle Jewish Orthodox Invasion of Secular Neighborhoods
Wave of Vandalism Hits Non-Orthodox Synagogues Anew

Want to learn more about Israeli society?  Check out  the book "Ordinary People in an Extraordinary Land: The Israelis" by Donna Rosenthal. (We have other book recommendations, if you are interested.)


UPDATE: Religious vs Secular Tensions at Nursery School Playground

The fence is removed...but the ultra-orthodox and secular divide remains....  Follow-up article

Mixing Hoops and Halacha, a MVP Does It Her Way: Naama Shafir

Amazing--An Orthodox Jew Leads Toledo to a Women's National Basketball Title:  From the Hardwood to Halacha

Interestingly, she wouldn't be able to play a basketball on Shabbat in Israel...
 


For Foodies: Salt Galore.... Selmelier, anyone?

NYT Article: From earth or ocean, every salt has a little something different to offer....

Our favorite: Fleur de Sel Guerande... Almost to the end of a 500 gr bag W bought in Brittany when she was living in Paris....

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Gone South, East and Up the Hill....

Today, we drove south from Tel Aviv and east through the Northern Negev desert to Tel Arad, where Yatir blends, ages and bottles their wines.  Our gracious host took us on a surprise tour of the hills above Tel Arad, which contain the Yatir Forest, Yatir's vineyards and an ancient synagogue. This area borders the southern West Bank--just about 19 km south of Hebron. We had a lovely wine/cheese/bread picnic in the forest--the wine: Yatir's Viognier and the cheese:  Israeli.  Weather was perfect--beautiful!  (OK, we did hear some F16's flying overhead, probably because of the Gaza situation, which is escalating....)

Yatir is a top winery in Israel--we think their Sauvignon Blanc is the best Israeli SB. Their reds are very smooth...yum!  We still find it hard to believe there really is a winery this far south--and that it's one of the best in Israel, to boot....   Click here for more info. on Yatir Winery

Yatir Forest -- In 1964 the Jewish National Fund planted tens of thousands of trees in the barren lands just south of the Hebron/Judean hills on the edge of the Negev. Yatir forest is the largest of Israel’s planted forests and has pine trees, carob and pistachio.  The forest was named for the biblical town of Yatir and is, from what we saw, the only greenery on these rolling limestone hills, which reach an altitude of some 700 meters (btw: the Dead Sea, which is about 425 meters below sea level, is not far away!).

Anim Synagogue -- Located in the Yatir Forest.  Founded 4th C CE and abandoned 7-8th C CE, encompassing the Roman to Byzantine eras.  Anim was discovered during a 1987 excavation and has a rectangular prayer hall facing towards Jerusalem. In the 7-8th C CE, it became a mosque.  Next to the synagogue was an underground "house" which also had its own escape tunnel!

After wine tasting, we drove north to lunch at Cramim, which is located at Moshav Segula and is just off of the main highway between Beersheva and Tel Aviv.  It's a very good restaurant we've been to several times and is located in the midst of an agricultural area.

Fabulous day!!!

Click here for pictures (BB quality, though; more may be added after this is posted)




Saturday, April 9, 2011

Furlough or No? No....For Now

Now comes the battle for FY 2012.... 

W. is seriously considering becoming an unaffiliated voter.....

In the meantime, we're headed south to Yatir Winery.  :-)

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Furlough or No?

Waiting, waiting......

Japan: Sendai Friend is Fine!

Mihoko, whom I mentioned in the Japanese Tsunami entry sent us an e-mail--she is fine! Life is slowly returning to normal for her.  Amazingly, she was on the 3rd floor of a building when the earthquake struck and her apartment has not been damaged.  We think she's one of the very lucky ones.  Our fingers are still crossed for the Fukushima crisis.