Over the past few weeks we have done some fun things. The first three pictures are of a wedding that we went to. The first is Ari, Naphtali, and Sruli doing shtick on the dance floor. The second is Jeff on Ari's shoulders. The third is Bashi and Rachel.
We also went to Shapel's for a Sukkot party. This is us on the way home at the bus stop. We went on a nice long walk around Jerusalem, ate at a small bagel-sandwhich place, and Bashi got cold, which is why she is wearing Ari's jacket.
We also went to the shuk over Sukkot break, it was so much fun! We had tons of groceries to carry back on the bus.
This past weekend Ari and Sruli took down the Sukkah and brought all the boards back up the 300+ stairs, but this time we had a car, phew!
Emily called for the second time, which was the highlight of Ari's night (see picture 5, the 2 fingers aren't for peace, they are for the second phone call! not that we are against peace).
We also attended a Bris this Shabbat at Machon Yaakov, a Yeshiva in Har Nof where some of Ari's friends study at. Some of Bashi's Rabbi's from Seminary were there and it was so exciting to see/meet them.
We are looking forward to seeing all of our December visitors! We would love to have some unexpected guests...

Sukkah Videos

Holidays

Holiday season is in full swing right now here in Jerusalem. We celebrated Ari's birthday with Gabi, who drove in special from Tel Aviv.

There were lots of honey sales all over. Rosh Hashana was beautiful but cold. Davenning was inspirational and the food was delicious! Bashi made cholent for Rosh Hashana and it came out great! Can't wait for you to come taste it! Yom Kippur is just around the corner, and Succot is right after that. Succahs are already popping up all over Jerusalem-quite a sight to behold! They are all different shapes, sizes and colors. In addition they are squeezed all over as there is not so much extra space in this city.


Har Nof (the neighborhood we live in) has such a pretty view, especially around sunset. You can see the Judean Hills. Har Nof consists of a few really big hills, so there are plenty of steps you need to climb to get basically anywhere, except from us to Jeff and Rachel. There are lots of families every where. It's nice living right next to the park and watching as the kids enjoy themselves.
There is another Rosen family in our building and our groceries got delivered to their front door last week. They were slightly confused as they were sure they had not ordered them, but we cleared up the matter quickly!
Yeshiva is going well for Ari. Just a few more days and then the Succot break starts, which lasts about two weeks. Bashi is working all over Har Nof, and loving it! Getting to meet lots of people and making new friends.

Life in Israel

Life is starting to become more normalized here in Israel. We are starting to get used to our schedules, or lack of schedule. Ari is in yeshiva from 8:45AM until 7:30PM from Sunday until Thursday and learns with Aaron Newman and Mike Feldman on Friday mornings. Bashi's schedule is not as in order as of yet. She has three jobs. Two of them are tutoring girls at different seminaries. The third job is working for koshergiftbaskets.com, feel free to order! They ship to America!
This past shabbat we spent at Bashi's uncle's house in Gush Etzion. One of those settlements, not completely recognized by the government, part of which was once scheduled to be bulldozed by the Israeli Army, that we Israeli Jews love living in. They have one boy and three girls, all so cute!!!
Yesterday was also our one month anniversary! We celebrated with ice cream with cookies in it. And we played 500. Ari is winning the series 5-3 so far. Thanks Mom! We hope everything is going great for everyone in America. Write back or just come visit!

ARI and BASHI

Back in Israel

Hello everyone,





We arrived safely back in Israel. It's hot!!! It's so wonderful that we have air conditioning. We have been insanely busy this first week running around trying to get things accomplished. We failed miserably since we did not have all the necessary paperwork. We did get some things accomplished though. Bashi got a phone. I got tons of new seforim (books) and offically am part of the Mir yeshiva. We also got all the "necessary" stuff for an apartment.

Our apartment is small, but nice. It's a closet, but we like it. We live right next to a park so we get to see tens of little children running around all day. We also know at least 5 young couples living close to us so we will have plenty of friends. Everything here is amazing!!! (Had to throw that in)

Ari and Bashi

Reflections on the Massacre at Mercaz HaRav

You can use your present experiences to re-examine your past experiences in order to understand them on a more detailed level. This Shabbat I spent some time re-examining the difference between friends and family. After the events of Thursday night I have been given more clarity. In case you haven’t heard, 8 of my brothers were murdered on Thursday night. I don’t call them brothers because they were also religious, I don’t call them brothers because they also were learning in a yeshiva, I call them brothers because they were Jews. My grandmother once told me she felt more comfortable around Jews. I didn’t quite understand what she was saying then, but now think I understand. She was saying that every Jew is not just your friend, but is in your extended family.

Jeff Gross asked me on Wednesday night if I still keep in touch with my old friends. I laughed because I didn’t want to cry. The people who I used to have a prominent connection to are no longer friends of mine. Until the events of Thursday night I didn’t understand why.

Just like I miss my 8 dead brothers, I also miss all my old friends who I don’t keep in touch with. I felt like they were family, but now I realize that they were only friends.

I used to feel bad that I lost so many of my old friends. I didn’t understand why I wrote e-mails and tried to stay in touch but they didn’t reciprocate. I didn’t understand why even though we had different hobbies we couldn’t stay in touch. I realize now that the reason we don’t keep in touch doesn’t mean I lost my friends. This is not a negative thing at all. My transition to a more observant lifestyle clarified to me who my friends were and who my family was. Some of them do still keep in touch with me and I am grateful for that. The friends I have kept in touch with are part of my family.

With family it’s different. It’s just so much more likely that your family is doing for you instead of doing for themselves. My parents always tell me the only thing you can count on is your family. The reason you can always count on family is because they are connected to you through all the wonderful things they have given you. My mother doesn’t love me because I make her happy; she loves me because she raised me. She gave me my life; something I can never repay her for, and will never be able to express how thankful I am. I am so grateful for all of my wonderful family who through this difficult period of my change has stuck with me because we are still family, and we always will be.

I learned another thing from the death of my 8 brothers. When my 8 brothers died on Thursday night I felt like something was taken from me. I felt like I was missing something. I didn’t understand what I was missing. I had never met one of them. How can you miss something you never had?

I was speaking to my sister on Thursday night and she told me that someone who she barely knows asked her if she was going to be present at a certain event on campus. She said she was not going to be there. This person said, “I will miss you very much.” My sister asked me a simple question, “Why will she miss me very much? She doesn’t even know me.” At the time I didn’t have an answer.

I realized through the death of my 8 brothers that the answer was simple. You can miss something you never experienced. You can miss an opportunity. You can miss potential. You can miss your family even if you are not close.

When my 8 brothers lost their lives, I missed them. I don’t miss the time we shared together, because we never shared any time together. I miss the fact that I will never be able to have a relationship with them. They were part of my extended family and I will no longer be able to get to know them.

When my sister asked me why this person said, “I will miss you very much,” I think she was saying I will miss the potential opportunity to strengthen our relationship. Every Jew is family and I will miss out on getting to know my sister.

I think one of the failings of Jewry in America was the inability to explain to the younger generation that there is a special connection between Jews. It’s something you cannot explain with words, it is something you just know to be true. Every Jew is connected with every other Jew and we should all mourn the 8 Jews who died on Thursday as what they are to us, brothers.

I will always miss my 8 brothers because they were part of my extended family, but the closer to immediate family you get, the more devastating the loss. I miss Marin Kanat even though I don’t really know her so well. She and I live far apart and we don’t get to spend much time together. I don’t miss our past relationship; I miss the opportunity to strengthen our relationship. We are cousins, and that is something very special. It is a connection that should be kept strong. I miss the opportunity to better our relationship.

It is my hope that on my upcoming trip to America I get to spend quality time with my family. I realize how important it is to keep your family together. I realize that the fact that at this point in my life I am living in Israel makes it very difficult to strengthen my relationships with my family in America. That’s why I cannot wait to come back home to spend time with the people who have always been there for me, and who I hope to always be there for.

LIFE - Learning Is Forever Exciting

Why do people spend more time working on their business than their children? People go to school for years in order to make money, but don’t spend nearly as much time trying to figure out how to best raise their kids. People tell me that they need to work all those hours in order for their kids to have what they didn’t. Being able to provide for your children is a wonderful thing, but it shouldn't be at the expense of their education.

Of course having money is very helpful. You can raise your children with a life that you didn’t have. I think the Jews coming from Europe to America after the Holocaust had this goal in mind. They succeeded. Our generation is much wealthier than that generation.

I have the same goal. I want to raise my children with a better life than I had. I think every parent, not that I would know yet, hopes their children will surpass them. They want them to become better people than they were and continue the tradition of the family in a positive light.

A friend of mine from Michigan came to Israel on a weeklong trip. We were talking about how he wants to figure out where he stands on certain issues. Since he wants to raise a family with normal (definition: people who can think for themselves and don’t get caught up in what their friends are doing) children, he decided he should plan for it. He decided to stay for 3 months in yeshiva. I remember him saying that he wasn’t coming for religion; he was coming to look into his past and see what he wanted to take out of it. What he wanted to pass on to his children. I don’t know if he will become religious, that’s not the point of his trip here. He is just simply spending time trying to figure out who he is. Answering questions about his past. Trying to lock into the chain of the Jewish people in order to pass something on to his children. Educating himself about life.

I think too many of us lose who we are because of money. Money cannot explain a child’s past to him; it can only prepare him for his future. Our children need to know about their past. I remember seeing older people when I was younger with numbers tattooed on their arms, a sign of what hell they had to go through because they were Jews. Now the only tattoos I see are the ones my friends have, with Hebrew letters, proudly proclaiming, “I am a Jew.” So proud, yet so misguided. If the older generations could see us now they would be speechless. Where did we go wrong? I think the answer is obvious for anyone who cares to look. Even the head of the Reform movement is calling for a return to Shabbat observance!

My parents named me Noah after my great-grandfather. He has had an amazing impact in my life even though I never met him. I still have his tefillin. When I had my bar-mitzvah I read parshat Noah from the Torah. I remember my father talking about how he was looking down at me and watching me from heaven, how he was so proud of me. I truly believe he was proud of me then, and he is still proud of me now. The Torah relates the story of the flood in that parsha. How God destroyed the whole world except for Noah and his family because everyone else was going against his will. I see the same thing happening now. I am watching the destruction of the Jewish people as a result of a lack of education. It’s ironic for the Jewish people, the people of the Book, to have lost more Jews than we did in the Holocaust to a lack of education. When we look back at the mid to late 1900’s, we will call it the silent Holocaust.

I don’t want to upset anybody by this post. It is not my intention. I just thought you would like to know why I am doing what I am doing. It’s simple to me. Being connected to my past will be a better life for me than having a lot of money. I want to be successful just like everyone else, but my measure of success is how good of a father I can be, how good of a person I can be, not how many toys I can buy for my children.

Obviously being a good father will also require having money. It’s a hard balancing act to try to figure out how much time to spend providing for your kids physical needs and how much time to spend on their Jewish needs. I think it’s important for every Jewish person to know where he or she comes from so they can pass on to their children their beautiful heritage. That’s what I am spending time doing. I am learning abut how to teach my children who they are instead of knowing only how to provide them with money.