Hello All,
It has been a while since I wrote my last email to you. Since then,
the weather here has turned cold. After Sukkos the weather was still
trying to make up its mind but it is now decidedly cold. The once
silent drain pipes gush with water and people run silently through
the streets, dodging raindrops. Our wonderful view of the hills surrounding
Ramat Beit Shemesh has disappeared. The horizon has melted into a
grey mist, indistinguishable from the heavy clouds in the sky. Children
have exchanged sandals for brightly coloured rubber gum-boots and
skipping ropes for umbrellas shaped like lady-bugs. Mount Hermon reported
its first snow falls, and expect more in the coming days. The once
crowded playground near our building is now deserted while parents
try to figure out how to entertain children inside the house for all
those afternoon hours. Shabbos lunch is quickly followed by Mincha
and Seudah Shlishit, barely leaving time to digest in-between and
congregants offer a silent "thank you" to the person who
remembered to set the Shule's central heating properly. At the local
shopping centre an enterprising young man sells umbrellas from a poorly
sheltered stall and Racheli announces that it is time to go to bed
at 5pm because it is dark outside. Everyone is selling heaters - from
the local electrical store called "Chashmal K'Halacha" to
the Zol Mehadrin Supermarket to private people making a quick shekel
from the warmth of their own homes. Winter is here.
I took Zvi to the local shoe shop to buy for him some closed winter
shoes as he has since outgrown his old ones. The shop owner was on
"siesta" when we got there so we were unable to accomplish
our mission. So I took him to the supermarket and bought a pastry
for him to make the 15 minute walk worthwhile. We were nearly home
when Zvi asked me why all those people were gathered around a small
truck parked in the middle of Nachal Gilo, one street away from ours.
As we neared the crowd we noticed that the truck was full of shoe
boxes. To our delight the "travelling shoe salesman" had
come to town! So now I can say that we bought Zvi's shoes off the
back of a truck!
Something quite interesting happened a few days ago. Shmuel (Eric)
Davis held a Siyum for completing Tractate Rosh Hashanah. The timing
was rather fortunate as his parents are in town (Tamara, their daughter,
gave birth to a baby boy and the Bris is, IY"H, next Friday).
Furthermore, Mr Davis also completed the Mishnah on Rosh Hashanah
and so the Siyum was a joint affair. The Siyum was held in a neighbour's
home and it was set up like a Sheva Brachos. Gittel did all the cooking
herself and she even baked individual roles for each place-setting
(they were delicious). I strategically placed myself in front of a
large bottle of "Rabi Water" (Shmuel learned the art of
making liquor from Rabbi Rabi and so the tradition lives on in Jerusalem!)
Not only was I sitting where the good grog was, but I sat opposite
Mr Davis and Shmuel who both spoke very well.
I notice someone walking in who looked very familiar, but I couldn't
place him. I introduced myself to him and he recognised me instantly.
I was in his training group at CSM (the call centre) for the one day
I was there. He had gone on to sit the test and he worked at CSM for
6 weeks before taking up a position at a tech start-up company. He
told me that it was fortunate that I didn't continue as he said that
it was very boring! I guess it worked out well for both of us in the
end, B"H. Anyway, getting back to the Siyum, as Mr Davis was
addressing us, suddenly everyone stood up. I looked around and saw
that the Rav had walked in. I almost fell over myself as he looked
almost identical to Rabbi Mottel Gutnick (ex. Doncaster/Elsternwick
Shule, now Elwood). He was the same height and build, his beard was
the same shape and was greying in the same areas. The resemblance
was uncanny. We all sat down and Mr Davis continued his speech. The
Rav then gave a D'var Torah. Shmuel introduced him and I nearly fell
off my chair a second time. The Rav who I was now sitting opposite
is none other than Reb Reuven Kaminetsky - a Rabbi from a very distinguished,
famous and important family of Rabbonim. He spoke about a point of
interest from the Tractate that Shmuel had completed. The thrust of
his drasha was that the death of Sisra marked the end of the Canaanite
rule forever (the Gemorah relates that we blow 100 tekias on Rosh
Hashanah to remember the 100 cries of Sisra's mother). Following the
Rav's speech we quickly ate dessert, benched and went to daven Maariv
in a carpark shule near the Davis' home - the same shule I wrote about
in a previous letter.
I enjoyed the bus trip home. I sat next to Yehuda Nyssen (Tamara Davis'
husband) and Mr and Mrs Davis occupied the seats behind us. It just
so happened that Yehuda was learning the episode of Sisra from the
Book of Judges and had a copy with him, so we learned on the way back
and spoke about schools for kids etc. Mr and Mrs Davis were staying
with the Nyssens in their Beit Shemesh home and they all disembarked
about 15 minutes before the bus arrived at my stop in RBS.