Normally when I write to you about our Shabbos, we’ve
spent an interesting 24 hours or so at someone else’s home somewhere
in or around Yerushalayim. Well, this week was no less interesting
and it was spent, for the first time, in our home in Ramat Beit Shemesh.
What a machaye for us and (especially) for the kids that they didn’t
have to run for a bus or have me yell “Yalla! Yalla!”
(“Come on! Come on!”) to try to get out of the house on
time.
We entered Shabbos in a state of peace and calm. We brought in Shabbos
early so that the kids could stay up for the Shabbos meal. I left
for Shule just before 6pm. The shule I’m going to regularly
is called “Beis Tefillah”. It is a “car-park”
shule where they bought or rent a few undercover car-parking spaces,
enclose it and outfit it with air conditioners etc. It is reasonably
comfortable. Friday night davening was very nice and the Chazzan sang
one of my favourite tunes for Lecha Dodi. The Rav gave a Drosha on
the topic of tying knots on Shabbos, which I found very interesting
(although, I have to admit, I was very tired at the time and may have
drifted off for a few moments!). At the end of davening the Gabbai
(a dentist, no less) announced a big welcome to all the new Olim and
mentioned as many as he knew of by name, myself included. There was
a big Nefesh b’Nefesh group of abut 300 people who made aliyah
from the US this week and are living in RBS. This is an “organised”
aliyah where (sometimes) entire communities will decide to pick up
and move to Israel. The plane ride from the US to Israel is about
10 hours, in which time members of Misrad Hapnim (Ministry of the
Interior), Misrad HaKlitah (Ministry of Absorption) and the Sochnut
Yehudit (Jewish Agency) organise all of the paperwork. So by the time
they land at Ben Gurion Airport, they all have their Aliyah papers,
ID cards etc and don’t have to wait in line for hours at any
government offices. They are met at the airport and big ceremonies
take place with lots of flag waving and speeches etc. So it is really
a big deal.
Friday night dinner was lovely. Although we don’t yet have a
fleishig oven, we were able to use the cooktop on top of our toaster
oven to heat food. Leah made a wonderful chicken soup and a very tasty
meat and potatoes dish (yes, real meat - at least it tasted real!).
We used our own kiddish cup and challah board which we shlepped all
the way from Oz. During the week I had bought a few pots and pans
and some hard-plastic dishes and cups. We also brought some of our
Shabbos fleishig cutlery from Australia. It was a mix of plastic and
silver, but it still felt like home (or, I should say, “homely”!).
We drank a special L’chaim of Ninveh wine (which is surprisingly
cheaper in Australia than Israel, although it is made here!).
Shule started at 8am and Leah and the kids came with me. Davening
was very pleasant and I sat in the back row with Yossi Shneiderman
(ex. Australia). Leah was in shule with the kids for about ten minutes
before she decided that they might be better off in the park close
by. I had the honour of an Aliyah, which was nice. The Rav gave a
drasha about “commitment” (in connection with the parsha
regarding the laws of making a vow and sticking to it). At the end
of davening there was another announcement, similar to that of Friday
night, but this time we were all asked to raise our hands as our names
were called so that we could be identified and personally welcomed
by members of the kehilla. After the announcement I was approached
by a man who greeted me with, “G’day Mate!” I thought,
“Here’s another American trying to be Aussie a’
la Paul Hogan”, but he continued to speak with a very broad
Australian accent. He was originally from Melbourne but lived in QLD
for most of his life. He made Aliyah about eight years ago.
Following shule was a kiddush outside. Tables were brought outside
and set in the blink of an eye. The Rav gave another Drosha, this
time focused on the Mitzvah of Yishuv Haaretz, (making Aliyah). He
said that there is a principle of doing mitzvos with alacrity, but
the tribes who wanted to settle on the Eastern side of the Jordan
(Reuven, Gad and half of Menashe) were punished by being taken into
exile a long time before the rest of Bnei Yisrael. This is because
although they were eager to settle in Eretz Yisrael (E. of the Jordan
was considered part of Israel) it was for the wrong reasons - because
it was fertile land, not to serve Hashem. So the Rav said that we
should all keep in mind that we didn’t come to Israel for the
kosher cheeses or the monetary benefits that you get as an Oleh Chadash,
but we should keep in mind that we came to Israel because it is a
mitzvah to live in Israel (without going into detail, there are a
number of famous Rabbis, including Ramban and R. Moshe Feinstein,
who have argued the point whether settling in Israel is a mitzvah
or not. The general consensus is that it is an “optional “
mitzvah - if you do it, it is a mitzvah, if you don’t do it,
it is NOT an aveira).
In any case, the Kiddush was nice, albeit in the heat of the day -
but the Pepsi was cool and the apple cake tasty. As I was standing
around nashing away, a man tapped me on the shoulder and introduced
himself as Nosson. I replied that my name is Yossi Karp and asked
him what his last name was. He told me his last name is “Slifkin”.
So I asked him if he is related to the author “Slifkin”.
He said that he is the author! I was a little embarrassed because
I have never actually read his books, I just know of them. He told
me that he is a Zoo Rabbi. He explained that he teaches about animals
in the Torah. After Shabbos I was talking with Leah about the shule,
she told me that she borrowed a book from the shule and took it to
the park with her to read while the kids played. She said it was one
of Rabbi Slifkin’s books! This one was about mythical creatures
and whether there is proof in the Torah that they might have existed.
For example, Rabbi Slifkin writes that there probably was never such
a thing as a fire-breathing dragon, but there exists today a lizard
that spits some sort of poison that burns the skin. It is conceivable
that this lizard was at one time very large and the truth of the “burning”
poison became distorted into “breathing fire”. Another
example is mermaids. There is a principle in Judaism that Hashem creates
everything in a “natural way”. Therefore, to combine a
fish and a person would not be a logical or natural creature (eg:
a horse and donkey mating to create a mule *is* a logical combination).
It is not Hashem’s way to create and sustain such a creature
by means of a miracle for no purpose. So therefore you can conclude
that a mermaid never existed. However, there are certain species of
fish that, when viewed from afar, do have humanoid facial features
and fins that are shaped a little like arms. It is therefore conceivable
that the myth of a mermaid came about from a sighting of one of these
strange fish. The book is replete with explanations, examples and
photos and discusses fairies, griffiths, unicorns etc - and I met
the author - and he goes to my shule!
But I digress, again! So we returned home for lunch and then Leah
and the kids went for a shluf. I returned to shule for an early Mincha
at 1.20. I had a rest for about an hour and then learned until about
5pm. Dodda Chava came to visit us for Seudat Shlishit and stayed until
the end of Shabbat.
It was a very nice Shabbos and the kids appreciated staying in. Hopefully
our oven will arrive this week so that we may be able to serve more
traditional fare for lunch (I enjoyed the cold-cuts but would have
liked a cholent!). On Wednesday the salesman said that the oven left
Turkey (where it is made) that day and was due to arrive in Israel
this week. Perhaps we will even start having visitors soon, which
will be nice.