What's in the water?

As I child, had a penchant for breaking toys - my own and my friends' toys, particularly Chaim's GI Joes and Debbie's Energizer Bunny (remember those pink ones?). And it seems that I've passed this lovely trait on to my son.

See, Natan broke one of my childhood toys.

And I only have one childhood toy here with me in the Golan - a zoo bus puzzle made by Tomy, which was given to me by my Grandma Esther over 20 years ago. The thing has - or had - six square pieces that swivel around the board.

You cannot take the pieces out.

For the first 20-plus years, the object was to arrange the pieces to form a zoo bus; Natan's object was to rip out one of the pieces... and he succeeded.

Which brings me to ask, what's in the water? Well, only good things.

In the Golan Heights, our taps spill out natural spring water. The water is clean that when my sister-in-law came for a visit, she was able to drink tap water without worrying about getting sick (and she didn't - at least she didn't tell us).

And apparently, the water is so good, they feel that they can bottle it and sell it to the rest of the country. At least Mei Eden does that, and they have over a 50% market share - so something must be good about the Golan's water.

Finally, speaking of Mei Eden, I'm sure people in Israel noticed that the label now says 'Ramat Hagolan' in Hebrew. But the majestic snow capped mountains on the label might make you think the water came from outside Israel - say the Alps.

I just want to say that the picture is accurate.

On this cold morning, I had a great view of Mount Hermon; the mountain was not powdered with snow yet; however, the eastern sun vividly outlined the mountain's rugged contours.

Tales from the big city

No, we didn't go to New York or London; nor Tel Aviv or Jerusalem for that matter. We went to Modi'in this past Shabbat.

And with a growing 60,000 residents, this city - 15 minutes from Ben Gurion Airport - triples the Golan's Jewish population. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so while I'm sure Modi'inites marvel at their city's beauty, it looks like a sprawling metropolis to a Golanite.

We went to good friends for a Thanksgiving Shabbat. Turkey, stuffing, cranberries, sweet potato pie, Beaujolais (from the Golan Heights Winery of course), and much, much more. Oh, and then for dessert, our friends carted out the most scrumptious pumpkin pie with whipped cream and a fattening pecan pie (I literally felt my belly expanding while eating this unbelievable pie), and of course to top it all off - a little glass of eggnog.

Thank you God for bringing me to this house for Shabbat!

It was amazing. Kudos to the chef - he did a fantastic job! In fact - and I know my mom is probably reading this - it was one of the most memorable Thanksgiving dinners. Not that my mom is a bad cook, to the contrary, but it's been 10 years since I was at my parent's home for Thanksgiving, and two days later I still feel like I just got up from the dinner table.

In other words, this meal is still fresh on my stomach.

November cold

Last year, I was robbed.

While living in the coastal town of Zichron Yaakov - 20 miles south of Haifa - I don't think I put a coat on once last winter. True, this might be good for snowbirds, but I love the cold.

In the Golan, however, it's already cold, which puts a chilling smile on my face. We're around 1,800 feet above sea level and Hadas and Natan are wearing their coats nearly everyday; we do get the occasional nice spring-like day where no coat is needed.

Temperatures have dropped into single digits - Celsius that is. The wind gusts around, the trees rustle, and the leaves have even changed colors.

Makes you think you could be somewhere else this morning, save for the turkey.

Beaujolais all the way

17 years ago, Fletch remarked, in the second movie that bears his name, that Beaujolais is "a pretty popular drug made from grapes."

Besides knowing that my two older brothers really liked this movie, I never really understood this line. This is not to say, I cannot appreciate a fine wine - to the contrary, I'm a self-proclaimed wine connoisseur in training.

But I was young, and Beaujolais is something, that - how shall I say - something that Orthodox Jews rarely get a chance to sip, let alone take part in a Beaujolais Day party.

However, up in the Golan Heights, the Golan Heights Winery produces its own Beaujolais-type wine. According to the strict letter of the law, Beaujolais wine needs to come from the Beaujolais region in France. Hence, the Golan Heights Winery officially calls this wine Gamay Nouveau, from the type of grapes the wine is made from.

So while Americans are devouring turkeys on the fourth Thursday of November, wine aficionados around the world are sipping Beaujolais on the third Thursday of November. And at the Golan Heights Winery, they were partying like it was 2006.

Music, wine, wine, more wine, wine, chocolate, and a little more wine.

And this was before 10:00 pm. At that point, they uncorked bottles of Gamay Nouveau from the first barrels of the new vintage. I was there and it was really cool - I almost felt a like a French goy (gentile), albeit the event was for free!

Plus, it probably holds the distinction as the only Beaujolais fest in the world to have a D'var Torah (speech with Biblical and Talmudic sources) and a public Brachah (blessing) on the wine. And as wine swished and danced around my palette after the initial L'Chaim, the DJ played The Champs' Tequila.

L'Chaim!

I'm a machine

One last thought on the army: While working, one of the soliders told me that in the American army, they have machines do most of the work that I do.

Army boy

When I went to the army four years ago, for a three month stint, I thought it was a joke and totally pointless.

To make matters worse, it was right before Hadas was born, it cut into my regular salary, and being predominantly with Russians, it didn't break me into Israel culture at all. In fact, I took a course in Russian with a Hebrew translator!

A waste I thought - for everyone.

Then I sat tight for 3 1/2 years without a single miluim (reserve duty) notice. This further vindicated my initial thoughts. But this past April, I was called up for three days.

A change... maybe... could it be?

This must be why they called me up in the first place, I thought - to do reserve duty.

I reported.

But in the end, I cleaned bird crap out of a warehouse, sat on my butt, took coffee breaks, and went home early. No, this was still pointless... Israel made a big mistake in drafting me, I continued thinking.

That is, until yesterday.

I'm in reserve duty now - for one more day - and am actually doing something that I was trained in... surprise, surprise. It's not glorious work, but it is important work... and that's what I'm here for.

Off to the army

I've been busy lately. I have things I'd like to share - I even started some posts and saved them as drafts - but I'm off to the army now.

I was called for a three day stint of reserve duty. Now, while most people live in the center of the country and get sent off to the more remote places, I'm reporting to a base on the other side of Ben Gurion Airport - a mere hop, skip, and a jump from Tel Aviv.

So, I'll be back later in the week.

I'm looking forward to doing my national duty; after all, the government pays my salary and I am not risking my life like the brave folks in combat units. However, it is annoying in the sense that it's never a good time - and I guess this is the sacrifice of doing miluim. Hadas has fever and it's a bit hectic at work, but considering they could have called me in January - when Chave's due - I'll report this morning with a smile on my face.

Albeit a little late... but hey, I'm coming from the Golan.

Give blood

There's nothing fancy about this post. Nothing funny. Nothing about my kids. Nothing that can only be done in the Golan.

Tonight, I gave blood. I'm mentioning this because I would love to give blood 100 times in my life; however, it takes dedication. In Israel, you can only give blood once every three months, or four times a year. So it would take 25 years.

It can be done, but you gotta give whenever you can.

Wheat, we need a few more sunny days

Here's something interesting that most people in the "real world" have no clue of. In Israel, we pray for rain in the winter - not only because it replenishes Lake Kinneret, Israel's largest reservoir - but because it's necessary to grow things like apples and oranges.

"Well, that's a no brainer... what's your point?"

Actually, the point is interesting.

Coming out of shul on Friday night, I struck an interesting agriculturally-based conversation with my farmer buddy. This guy - who's a native New Yorker, like myself - works in the crop field. Recently, he took part in the big wheat harvest and is planning to plant next year's crop soon.

I rhetorically asked him, "So, this rainy weather must be really good for you?"

And he quips back with a smile, "Well, yeah. You see, we cannot even begin thinking about planting wheat until there's at least 2-3 sunny days. So, my work load is pretty light now!"

Well, there it is.

Barefoot kids say the cleverest things... part 4

Natan is so cute.

He's becoming more verbal everyday. And kids nowadays are so much more technologically advanced than the kids of yesteryear. For example, Natan doesn't say "TV" or even "VCR" for that matter; no, he goes for more sophisticated words like "DVD."

And of course, he's asking to see "Bahnee" (Barney) and "Poe-man-pa" (Postman Pat) on this thing called the Internet.

The other cute thing he tells everyone is that Abba (me) works with the cows. Now where did he get that idea from.

Moo.

Snap, crackle, pop

Remember when my Internet line went snap?

Well, at the time, I had this great idea to title the post "Snap, crackle, pop." However, there was no crackle or pop.

But, the two nights ago, when I was in the shower, the light bulb went POP!

That's right, the bathroom light exploded into smithereens, and left me showing in pitch darkness. I guess that's what happens with electricity in an old dilapidated house.

Now, I just need a little crackle to make this title not only smart, but accurate, too.

Hmm...

Hmm...

Hmm...

Oh well, I can't think of anything now. Suggestions are welcomed.

Nemo II dies

Now we're talking.

No, I don't want to be mean about this, but when Hadas got the first Nemo this past summer, I was under the impression that the fish wouldn't make it very long. After all, we kept it in a flute shaped vase without a filter.

Yes, I did change the water every now and again. And I even remember when Natan spilled Nemo onto the floor... boy, was that funny!

But getting to the point, Nemo II died earlier this week - one day shy of a week. See, this is what I'm talking about. I knew I was right about goldfish dying quickly; I just needed Nemo II to show me the light.

Anywho, we decided to return the vase to its normal state. Hence, we're not buying more fish for the time being. And so far, the kids have not realized a thing.