Go Golan: Life in the Golan Heights

Golan Sights

2009-11-22T21:36:00.003+02:00

Want a up to date site on what's happening in the Golan? Look no further than Golan Sights.

The site, which was recently started by a friend of mine, is poised to become the preeminent, authoritative website on traveling/touring the Golan for the English speaking public.

A great initiative. Go there today and show your support for Golan Sights.

Spring is here

2009-03-26T22:40:00.002+02:00

With Pessach just less than two weeks away, spring is everywhere you look in the Golan.

The rolling hills and cliffs coming down the Golan on road 87 from Qatzrin are as picturesque as one can find: rich green grass dotted with lovely yellow flowers (I really should know their names by now). The past few mornings, I've seen a few storks gliding through the northern air; although, not as many as I've seen in recent years. However, even a novice bird watcher like me can know that you must be patient. And besides, there were also a couple of vulture spottings.

Yes, spring is really here - tonight we change the clock and next week I'll be coming home from work in daylight. O' winter, where have you gone?

Desperate times call for even more prayers

2009-02-24T15:25:00.001+02:00

Before I meander into the dire rain situation, I’ll being on a positive note. The past couple of days, the weather has been absolutely terrific; overcast dark grey skies that have yielded an abundance of rainfall.

And how do I know? Because for the first time this winter, water is accumulating in the seasonal brook opposite my house.

Nonetheless, as we head into March and with another six more weeks of praying for rain, this has been an awful winter in terms of precipitation in the Golan Heights, and Israel at large. From what I remember, November started slowly with little rain, December was slightly below average, January’s skies were akin to summer, and February has been an on and off month.

Granted, the rabbis have encouraged people to add a special prayer for rain; however, now they’ve added an additional prayer. The communal prayer, similar to a rain dance without the dance, is said on the Sabbath when they open the holy ark.

I’ve been in Israel for over a decade, but never recall getting this desperate for rain. So if you’re feeling good, go ahead and do a little jig for rain.

Legs of pain

2009-01-11T20:56:00.002+02:00

Last Thursday, I got enough energy in my body to drive down from the Golan to run the Tiberias 10 kilometer race (6.2 miles).

I'm not particularly fast, and I was originally training for the marathon, and stopped training for six weeks ago because of my knee. So granted, I was just aiming to finish it; the icing on the cake was to do it in under an hour and 15 minutes.

The race started on time at 9:10 in the morning - ten minutes after the 32nd Annual Tiberias Marathon - and I started slowly at the end of the pack. And there I'd stay for most of the race. I was feeling good, though, but of course making sure to pace myself so I could finish the race. Shortly after the halfway mark, I started picking up the pace and passing people and when I approached the finished line, I got my first glimpse of my time.

I crossed the finish line at 01:03:40.30 or 01:03:15.60 after I crossed the starting line, i.e., it took me around 25 seconds to get to the starting line.

Needless to say, I was very proud of myself. And although my legs were extremely sore for the next few days, it was well worth it. I can't wait for 2010.

The elections are coming

2008-12-28T20:36:00.003+02:00

I was just thinking about the upcoming February elections for the Israeli Knesset (Parliament), and asked myself are elections really around the corner?

You wouldn't know it if you drove the roads of the Golan Heights. When I lived in more populated parts of the country, political signs would pop up everywhere. By now, the bus stops in Jerusalem - and other big cities - have probably been mummified with campaign messages.

However, when I read the newspaper this past weekend, I realized that our quad-annual national holiday is fast approaching. I guess the left-wing parties that wish to cede the Heights have nothing to say to us. But I am surprised that the parties that are competing for our votes have remained, for the most part, silent. The truth of the matter is, I have to say this is quite nice, because while people are gungho about putting signs up on highways, they probably are not the same way when it comes to taking them down. And that just causes trash to pile up.

I have noticed one political sign, though, but it was a small party that I think has joined forces with the Likud. And speaking of the Likud, their big shots were in Qatzrin last week giving support to residents of the Golan Heights.

Also, a few weeks ago, Yisrael Beiteinu kicked off their 2009 campaign trail in Qatzrin.

So I guess there is some politicking going on up north, but not nearly as much in the heavily populated areas. Either way, I have the 10th of February circled on my calendar and look forward to the day off.

Go Golan is all about Go North

2008-12-21T20:57:00.005+02:00

Nefesh B'Nefesh, the non-profit organization that encourages and facilitates Aliyah for American, Canadian, and British Jews, is entering the next phase of its mind blowing Aliyah revolution: Go North.

Last week, Nefesh B'Nefesh issued a press release about making aliyah to northern Israel. The Golan Heights, being an integral part of the northern front, is playing an integral part of the bold Go North initiative. I've already contacted them and volunteered to help out in any way that I possibly can.

But, as someone who has "Gone North," I would like to debate one line from their press release:

The 'Go North' program aims to encourage Olim who are drawn to Northern Israel but are held back because of concerns that moving to a less developed area will be more costly and more difficult.

True, jobs might be harder to come by then say if you chose to live in Tel Aviv, but the same could be said about Upstate New York compared to New York City. And while it is less developed, the rugged and rural aspects of the north affords a quality of life second to none. Finally, in terms of the area being more costly, I find this untrue - you just need to uncover a bunch of unturned stones to find the community of your dreams... and Nefesh B'Nefesh has just done this for you.

Kudos to them. Go North; Go Golan!

Going, going green... hopefully

2008-12-14T21:53:00.002+02:00

Our family started composting a couple of months ago and I have to say I'm very into it. I haven't figured out all the ins and outs about it, but then again, the composter's beginners manual said that turning "garbage" into enriched soil fertilizer can take up to six months.

So, I guess you'll have to ask me in the spring if I did it right.

But the real "green" in the blog header above has to do with the Golan's layer of green that sprouts above the soil this time of year.

Two weeks ago, I wrote that it started to rain a bit and that the land began its annual turn to green. But sadly, this process seems to have come to a halt. Since then very little rain has fallen up here in the northern region of Israel, and it seems that brownish-green patches of land aren't getting brighter - if anything, they're slowly reverting back to their summer-state brown.

Although, after speaking with one of the local farmers about the grim situation last week, it did rain on consecutive days. But sadly, when the third day rolled around the sun prevailed. Hopefully, the adage "when it rains it pours" will come true in the Golan Heights this winter.

All cowed up

2008-12-02T19:38:00.003+02:00

I've heard this stat dozens of time, so I'll assume it's true: New Zealand has more sheep than people. With that in mind, I'll venture to say that the Golan Heights - with a small yet growing population of around 40,000 (split 50-50 amongst Jews and Druze) - has more cows than people.

Take my small moshav for example: there are under 100 families and the cooperative's cowshed plays home to over 800 cows. If that's the norm, and I do believe so, then I'm on track to prove my theory correct. Plus, I'll even say this with the understanding that my moshav's cowshed is one of the most profitable ones in Israel based on the amount of milk produced per cow. And no, as a resident I don't get any profits.

So driving towards Qatzrin last week, it came to me as no surprise when I saw a big brown and white bovine nonchalantly crossing highway 87. It even had a look in it's eyes saying, "Don't honk at me. Wait!" But this past weekend, when we were down in Modiin for Shabbat, I did not expect to hear that my youngest son (almost 2) was peering around each corner and yelling for his four-legged friends, "COWS! COWS!"

I guess that comes from living up in the country where the cows live without a care in the world.

51 weeks later

2008-11-26T20:45:00.004+02:00

Well, it's been a long 51 weeks.

I've been off the blogging world for nearly a year, because I seem to have lost my password to log in to my own blog! Can you believe it? Yeah, I know, it's a pretty lame excuse, but I have been busy...

For starters, my wife and I have been building a house up here in the Golan and as you might imagine that can take up a wee bit of time. We're almost finished with the building so it's a pretty exciting time for us.

Then, this past May, I got a one of those crazy bugs in my mind: I decided to train for a marathon. Unfortunately, it has a sad ending. See, I've been training steadily and was working may way up for the January marathon in Tiberius, but last week I strained my knee. And today I went out for a light run, but my knee was still sore. To make a long story short, I don't have enough time now to recuperate and get up to the point where I need to be to run this marathon. Oh well, I'll stick to the running though (after my knee heals).

But at least I'm blogging again!

And for those of you who stumbled here to read what's going on in the Golan these days here is my take: the land is turning green after a long hot, dry summer. Nonetheless, we need a lot of rain as Israel is on the brink of one of it's worst water crises ever. Rain up in the Golan Heights would then, in turn, meander its way down the many Golan streams that fill the Kinneret.

Light the Hanuka candles; but where?

2007-12-05T12:52:00.000+02:00

Don't worry – we found a place for all of our Hanuka candles.

But, that was exactly what Chave and I were discussing yesterday morning. And with less than 10 hours to candle lighting time, we were searching high and low for an answer.

And logic dictates that if it worked out last year, then light them in the same spot again. I.e., if it ain't broke don't fix it.

I have a glass box that allows me to light the Hanukia (Menora) outside on the front porch – so that was a no brainer. However, last year, Chave and Hadas lit candles inside the home (and this year, Natan is lighting, too), but we just could not remember where.

Well, it was a good thing that we were discussing it openly because Hadas' ears were well within listening range. She's turning five next month and is truly blessed with a memory like an elephant. And good for us, because she turned around and clearly explained where we lit and then went into details of how we placed silver foil beneath the Hanukias.

Thanks Hadas.

Oh, and thank Oh Nuts!, too. They're offering Go Golan readers a 10% discount on all Hanukah items. Click here (www.ohnuts.com) and remember to use HBP1118 as your promotion code... and if you want to send me some goodies send me an email, and I'll let you know where to send it!

Everyone in England loves the Golan

2007-11-18T12:51:00.000+02:00

The international news about the Golan took an interesting twist today, which should have every English soccer fan in smiles.

You see, Omer Golan scored the winning goal for Israel, in extra time no less, to give the blue and white a stunning 2-1 victory over Russia in a key qualifying match for the Euro 2008. The result is that Israel, although being out of contention, has given England a chance to redeem themselves if they can manage to tie or beat Croatia later on this week.

England national coach Steve McClaren said: "I would like to pay tribute to Israel for the professional way they went about their job. They showed what a proud nation they are and they deserve a lot of praise for their efforts."

I personally love the titles coming out of today’s Google News Search on the Golan:

Golan happy to help (Sky Sports)
Media hail 'King of England' Golan for Israel win (ESPN Soccernet)
GOLDEN GOLAN (People.co.uk)
Golan stuns Russia (The FA.com)
Golan, Israel stun Russia to keep England's hopes alive (Sports Network)
Israel's Golan goal lifts England to unimagined heights (Sportingo)

And of course this one just shows you how popular the English take their football:

Britain's foreign minister praises Israeli soccer victory over Russia (Haaretz)

What's today?

2007-11-15T19:01:00.000+02:00

The third Thursday of November; and that can only mean one thing for wine lovers: Beaujolais festival!

Well, really the tradition is that wineries and bars open their doors Wednesday evening and pop open the new vintage as the clock dials swing into Thursday. But up in the Golan, as reported last year in the post titled Beaujolais all the way, the folks here are a little more laid back and more prone to being in bed at midnight.

The result is that the Golan Heights Winery's Beaujolais festival takes place tonight beginning at 8:30 pm. If my notes from last year serve me correct, the new 2007 Gamay Nouveau wines should be opened around 10 pm.

See you there!

Unexpected traffic

2007-11-14T21:42:00.000+02:00

Twice a day I tune into Galgalatz: on my way into and out of work.

And as Wikipedia (correctly) states, the radio station, “broadcasts primarily nonstop popular music and traffic reports.”

Because of this, I get my fair share of traffic reports sprinkled around music and the top of the hour news summary. Traffic in Tel Aviv is bad, traffic in Jerusalem is bad, traffic in Haifa is bad, and the list goes on and on.

And while I speed along listening and imagining people sitting in downtown Tel Aviv traffic, I toy with the idea of calling in and reporting that the roads in the Golan are, as one would guess, traffic-free.

This morning as I was pulling out of the moshav, however, and two soldiers unexpectedly called me to a halt – and not a just move with caution, a full stop. A full stop for a few minutes because a pack of four or five self-propelled Howitzer-like artillery pieces were chugging along the Golan terrain and needed to cross the road and head back into the training field.

So I guess we in the Golan have our fair share of traffic, too.

Silent elections

2007-10-22T21:40:00.000+02:00

Today, there were local elections in my community for the community council.

And if you didn't know that, then you surely would not have known that if you were here either, because on a small moshav in the Golan Heights everyone knows everyone. So there was no need for election campaigning, no need for political debates, no gerrymandering, and even no need to show your ID before you voted.

All there was, was a little cardboard box to cast your vote into.

And of course there were also candidates - around 15 in all for five spots - who had to declare their candidacy, get this, by writing their name on the piece of paper that was taped onto the door of the local mini-market.

Save for the fact that I received an SMS regarding the results, it really reminded me of the time when I ran for class president back in the 4th grade. But my burning question is: what would have happened in the event that the wind blew the candidate list away?

And the #1 reason to spend Sukkot in the Golan

2007-10-03T14:27:00.000+02:00

Home on the range!

With spectacular weather this past week (we went swimming in the Kinneret on October 1st), the Golan was the perfect place for those adventurous persons who enjoy sleeping in the Sukkah.

And as I put my head down on the pillow last night, I was reminded exactly where I was with the moos of the cows, the laughs of the jackals, and the howling of the wolves.

I'm going to miss Sukkot.

Mini Sukkah

2007-10-02T22:54:00.000+02:00

Well, Sukkot is nearly over and it's going to be weird 'moving' back into the house. Don't get me wrong, I'll have lovely memories from this festival, but I also look forward to dancing with the Torahs tomorrow night.

One of the things we did this past week was visit the Sukkot Fair in Qatzrin. Natan made a flag for Simchat Torah with Chave and I made a mini Sukkah with Hadas.

And when the lady handing out the supplies said there were going to be prizes for the best Sukkot, my heart jumped. On the one hand I - I mean Hadas - wanted to win, but on the other I needed to prepare Hadas in the event that we wouldn't win.

So we - I mean I - started decorating the Sukkah with great enthusiasm, which in reality was an empty box of Gamla wine. I cut out windows and made a door... I decorated the inside... I strung paper chains from the crossbeams... and I hand-picked and laid down the perfect s'chach.

As the competition was coming to a close, I glanced around to see what the others were doing and I thought to myself, "well, it's good thing I prepared her for losing." Not that ours was bad, but just that some other people's Sukkot had... I don't know... a bit more pizazz than ours.

But then, Hadas - yes, I mean Hadas - said she wanted to add people in her Sukkah. Now is this a holy a teaching or what! Right? Seriously, what's a Sukkah without the people.

So clever Hadas drew two people and we affixed one of them to the window and another one we positioned by the entrance.

Like I said above, other Sukkot were nice, but Hadas' - yes, Hadas' - was original and different... and a recipient of the judges approval!

Her prize: a pack of five lead pencils.

Passion from the Golan

2007-09-20T20:34:00.000+02:00

While the snow-capped peaks of Mount Hermon in the winter might make one think the Golan is incapable of growing tropical fruits, think again.

A short drive down from the heights of the rugged plateau takes you to the hot and humid fields on the eastern side of Lake Kinneret. It is here where mangoes and passion fruit grow, and grow in abundance that is.

I'm really blessed to live on a moshav where the farmers are truly connected - and committed - to the Holy Land. And even more blessed that the farmers occasionally bring back free pickings with them to the moshav!

In the past, we've received freshly picked apples and pears, but now the local mini-market on my moshav has passion fruits for the taking.

And that's quite nice, especially for someone like me who loves this exotic, tart fruit. But there's only so much passion fruit that one can eat, so thankfully my wife found a wonderful passion fruit cheese cake recipe on the Internet.

So good, that I've proclaimed it as the best cheese cake that I've ever tasted!!

In fact, she made it for a party last night and some folks on the moshav have already called her for the recipe. I'm not sure where she found it, but if anyone is interested, I'll ask her to post the link to it in the comments.

Field of dreams

2007-08-30T20:31:00.000+03:00

I was on vacation with my family earlier this week.

One day I'm eating fast food in the Azrieli Tower in Tel Aviv and the next day I'm picking corn in a massive field in the southern Golan kibbutz Afik.

No, I didn't quit my day job; I decided to take one more day of vacation and lay low in the Golan. After all, yesterday there was a "county fair" on my moshav and I wanted to help out a bit. So when I asked how I could help, one of the organizers told me to meet up with one of the farmers and go pick fresh ears of corn.

A great experience if you haven't done so already. When we drove out to the corn fields it literally looks like you're in Iowa or Nebraska, except for the fact that they probably have a billion times more corn. Nevertheless, this Golan corn field was MASSIVE!

Corn needs a lot of water to grow, so the slender stalks were situated on a clay-like mud, which made it nearly impossible to walk on with sandals, but a sensational pleasure to walk on barefoot.

And of course eating two freshly plucked corns at the end made the trip more than worthwhile.

An end of an era?

2007-08-19T12:10:00.000+03:00

I was pulling out of Qatzrin last week and I noticed an orange traffic sign. For those not familiar with Israeli traffic laws, orange signs indicate temporary changes.

The sign said that tomorrow, Monday, August 20th, the Benot Yaakov Bridge will be closed and that travelers should use alternate routes. I.e., you won't be able to use Road 91 to enter or exit the Golan tomorrow.

Truth be told, I caught the sign with the corner of my eye, but my assumption is that the old one-lane bridge that was built in the late 1960s will be yielding way to the newer, safer two-lane bridge tomorrow.

This is big news for traffic safety, but wonder what they'll do with the rickety Bailey bridge... and the Golan's lone traffic light?

Start saving

2007-08-14T23:19:00.000+03:00

As I was driving near the Golan Heights Winery last week, I noticed signs announcing a one-of-a-kind wine festival.

Chave told me about it, but at 1,000 Shekels a ticket, this festival was too expensive for my blood. Start saving! But luckily, I heard about it from some friends - one of whom works at the winery.

Basically, the event was open for predominantly for journalists and wine ~~aficionados~~ connoisseurs who came from all over the place (so if you see them in the press soon you'll know why!). There was unlimited wine, good food including fine chocolates and cheeses, and interesting exhibits on wine making and tasting, how barrels are built (there was a man from France who came in to give the demonstration), and of course a visit to the vineyards.

And speaking of vineyards, the time for the harvest - batzir in Hebrew - is upon us and has even begun in the Southern Golan Heights, where they grow a variety of Riesling and Muscato grapes.

The progrssion of the harvest goes from south to north, where it is significantly cooler. Winemakers are closely monitoring the vineyards and the harvest should go on for the next month or so.

And as for next year's festival, I'm starting a fund and am willing to match any donation!

Swerves, curves, and then takeoff

2007-08-12T22:38:00.000+03:00

I live around 2,000 feet above sea level. And from my office in the Western Galilee, I can see the Mediterranean Sea. Throw the Kinneret, the world's lowest lying fresh water lake, into the equation and we're talking about a lot of ups and downs on the way in and back from work.

There is one spot, though, that I think is truly breathtaking - and, of course, I drive it every day. It's the spot coming down from Almagor towards the northern side of the Kinneret. I'm no good at estimating these sort of things, so I thought a picture would help.

The Golan is on the left and the Galillee is on the right.

Here you can see how the road swerves downwards towards the Kinneret. It's the sort of road that makes me wish that my car could fly.

Actually, if one were to be in possesion of a man powered plane, this might be the ultimate place to fly.

16 minutes of fame in the Golan

2007-08-07T12:33:00.000+03:00

Just the other day, Chave and I were in an office in the Golan Heights city of Qatzrin. We were filling out some paper work and as we were finishing the lady asked if I was the person in the paper.

"I was; I am, I mean," I said.

See, at the beginning of June, the local weekend paper ran a feature story on me. That weekend, I got tons of comments from people on my moshav –– which felt quite nice to be honest. But 15 minutes of fame comes and goes very quickly and I haven’t really thought about it since.

However, I was shocked/pleasantly surprised to hear that this lady recognized me. So there you have it –– my 15 minutes of fame got a one minute extension… which I’m sure some of you will say, got me back on the blog!

Regarding that, I apologize if people were coming here only to see that I didn't post a single word in the past month. I wasn't hibernating for a month; I've just been quite busy. So over the course of the next few days/weeks, I hope to either share some of those experiences with you or maybe I’ll experience even better stuff and share that instead.

I'll keep you posted.

Where’s the root beer

2007-07-11T12:07:00.000+03:00

A reader emailed me the other day asking if I knew about a place in the Golan Heights that makes root beer. She told me that she has a friend coming to the Golan, and remembers when she herself was on a trip here around 15 years ago; she went to a ranch here and had some tasty root beer.

Now, I love root beer, the indescribable non-alcoholic beverage, but unfortunately, my travels have not taken me to this ranch – although it sounds amazing.

As a result of my unfamiliarity, instead sending her directions to Ranch Root Beer, I wrote back to her about the Golan Brewery, which for those keeping track have recently begun bottling their non-pasteurized beer in swing top bottles.

So has anyone heard of a place to get homemade root beer in the Golan?

Why I love Birthright

2007-07-10T22:05:00.000+03:00

I think Taglit-birthright israel, otherwise simply known as Birthright, is amazing.

No, I have not been on the trip, and they have not paid me for this public address announcement. Nor, do they need me to wave their flag - see, according to the bus in this picture they have sponsored over 145,000 people - or as I like to say ambassadors - to come on a trip to Israel.

Amazing!

Furthermore, it seems that everyday Birthright buses are barrelling towards the north end of the country. They can be seen everywhere on the less-traveled roads of the Galilee and the Golan.

The picture above was taken just north of the Kinneret on the twisty road near the Corazim National Park, and I've also seen groups on Har Bental in the northern Golan, buses trudging along the eastern banks of the Kinneret in the southern Golan, and of course in the visitor center in Qatzrin.

So if you're thinking about signing up for Birthright, let me know. Who knows, maybe we can meet up and have a beer in the Golan Brewery?

Some okay, with boring on the side

2007-07-07T22:16:00.000+03:00

Every Shabbat on the moshav, there are afternoon classes - shiurim - for the children. It's voluntary, but with a 1:00 p.m. starting time, most of the parents "send" their kids to it.

The place of the shiur varies from week to week - it's on a rotating basis and this past week, Chave graciously volunteered me to give the pre-school-aged shiur.

It was the second time I was inked in to do it, and after setting the world's record for the fastest shiur in the history of the moshav on my first attempt, I reluctantly agreed to do it again - not that I really had a choice.

I think Hadas likes when I do it. She was glowing from the moment she found out about it and was super hyper during the shiur, too.

And I have to say that I think I am good with kids in general, but I definitely feel that I have a "lost in translation" thing going on when I speak Hebrew. Nonetheless, this week I thought I put together an interesting lesson/story for the kids... and the marshmallows at the end were a big hit.

However, Chave told me later in the day that a friend of ours asked Hadas in the park how the shiur was and she answered, "It was a okay, but a little boring."

Hmmm... maybe that's why Hadas told us that the next time the shiur is in our house, she wants Chave to give it!

Coming full circle in the Golan Heights

2007-07-06T16:35:00.000+03:00

In the end of May and beginning of June, we had big discussions about a certain package that was supposed to arrive here.

Well, I'm happy to report that not only did the toy kitchen get here in one piece (actually, in several because it required assembly), but we didn't even have to go to Qatzrin to pick it up. Yup, we initially thought we would have to go there to get it, but they delivered it to our door, which for those keeping track is practically in the middle of nowhere.

The kids were in awe of the massive box when it arrived and they were told that Chave and I would put it together one evening and it would be ready in the morning. We complied, and Natan woke up at 5:00 a.m. the next morning, skipped over to the living room and played with it for a good few minutes. Then, in a state of exhaustion, he went back to bed and collapsed till around 8:00, which is considered unthinkably late for his early bird standard!

So, there you have it - packages do arrive when they get sent to Golan Heights, Israel.

Formalities okay, but come on

2007-07-04T21:47:00.000+03:00

So, we were visiting our friends in Zichron Yaakov this past Shabbat, and while we were there we bumped into many folks who we knew from when we lived there. Some we were close with, others we spoke to here and there, and others we never got a chance to develop a relationship. I guess that's real life, though.

And you know how it is, a familiar face comes back to town and everyone feels obligated to say hello and ask how things are doing. That's just formalities, I guess, but come on people think before you speak.

No, nothing bad was spoken - to the contrary, it was quite amusing.

See, when we went to synagogue, two - yes two - different people came up to Chave who was holding Yair, our 6-month old, and let these words roll off their tongue, "Oh my gosh, he got so big!"

Now the first time Chave heard that she just rolled her eyes, because this person obviously was just going through the motions of formality - lip service. After all, she had never ever seen Yair, since he was born after we moved to the Golan Heights.

But when the second person mentioned it to Chave, she chaffed at her and remarked, "Come on! You never saw this boy; you're thinking of Natan."

Natan, of course, was an infant when we moved there - and is now a rocking 2-year old.

Cake, cake, cake

2007-06-13T19:53:00.000+03:00

See this cake? Yes, it is a real cake! It was made by our lovely neighbor for Yair's brit. Granted, no one ate the cake or shall I say piece of art - it really was a masterpiece.

Fast-forward five months.

Today happened to be her son's birthday party in school - it seems there are ton of birthdays now, because they need to cram all the summer birthdays in before the end of the school year.

Hadas was so excited, but when she realized it was his birthday, she got nervous for a second and asked, "Do you think we'll be able to eat this cake?"

Rest assured the kids got to eat a cake today - and what a cake, I believe it was a Teenage Mutant Ninja cake. And if anyone out there wants a real special cake for a real special occasion, contact me and I'll see if I can convince her to start selling these amazing cakes to the public.

Move it yourself buddy

2007-06-12T12:42:00.000+03:00

If anyone wants my car – without hotwiring it – here's how.

In the mornings, I take Hadas to nursery. Some days we walk; some days I walk and she rides her bike.

But on days when I drive into work, I like to take her in the car.

Although, it is less than a five minute walk, I don't think I am being lazy. It's just a time saver, and let's face it, we're all looking to save time, especially parents in the morning. But you know what the real time saver is – it's the fact that when I park the car, I turn the car off and leave the key in the ignition.

That's right, on my small moshav in the Golan, I feel 100 percent safe and sound leaving the key to the car in the ignition.

I remember one time when I came back to the car I saw that a truck needed to get by and some folks were looking for me. When I got there, I told them, "I'm sorry. But you know, the keys are in the ignition, you should've moved it yourself."

Inspirations from the Golan

2007-06-11T12:51:00.000+03:00

I don’t have anything to say right now, but I really wanted to share this picture with everyone. I think it speaks for itself, so I’ll shut up now.

Moo night

2007-06-08T15:47:00.000+03:00

It was hot out up here in the Golan.

A few nights ago, the fan was on in my bedroom. I was getting ready to go to sleep and as my head hit the pillow, I was disturbed by a cow chiming in with a rather loud, monotoned "Moooooo."

I'm telling you it was as if one of those bovines were watching.

Give blood... part 2

2007-06-05T23:15:00.000+03:00

Well, I sadly admit that this post is long overdue. You probably do not remember, but I first wrote about how important it is to Give blood last November.

The other sad thing is that while I always remember hearing how the Magen David Adom blood bank is low in the summer months, the truth is that it is always low - at least according to the lady who took my blood tonight.

If you can give blood - give blood ASAP.

In closing, I am putting a related link below to Treppenwitz. Besides being a former fellow softball player back when I lived in Efrat, David (the author) is probably the best English-speaking Israeli blogger. Just to give you one example of how hard he drives the point home, this post about giving blood came out in July of last year.

And no, I didn't find it today by a random search. It was just another one of his classic posts that hit home and found a nice resting spot in the back of my head.

Have you ever “herd” of this?

2007-06-04T20:24:00.000+03:00

Shmuel and I peeled out to work this morning a little after 8:00 a.m.

Good timing, considering it takes nearly an hour to get to the office in the Galilee, but when we got to the front gate of the moshav, it was closed.

The gate is opened during the day and closes at night - if you are a die-hard Go Golan fan, you might remember the sixth ever post - Remote roads makes me dial 9 - way back in September 2006.

But this morning, three cowboys - all decked out in full cowboy attire - were on the other side of the gate with a herd of at least 100 cows. They were corralling the livestock back from the fields and into the cowshed.

Just your routine Golan morning, don't you think?

Wind beneath my wings

2007-05-31T21:20:00.000+03:00

The driver's side window on my car broke – not the glass, but the motor that raises and lowers the window.

But to make matters worse, I found out that the window was not working when I was trying to close it. So now, the window is open all the time.

Thankfully, though, it's only opened a few inches, but the noise of the wind when I'm driving down the Golan on highway 87 is surprisingly louder than I would've thought.

It sort of makes it feel like I'm flying one of those old open aircrafts. "What's that you say, it's pretty loud in the cockpit!"

Nevertheless, I'd rather not complain and just think of it as free air conditioning… that is, until it gets fixed next week.

Go Golan on Global Voices

2007-05-30T22:35:00.000+03:00

I am not so sure if people are aware, but my previous post, What's not normal about the Golan?, made it to the headlines of Global Voices - an international, volunteer-led non-profit project founded at Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society.

Amira Al Hussaini wrote a small piece called Israel: What’s Wrong With Golan?

Click on the link above and you can see what she said plus my comment back to her (and other comments, too).

What's not normal about the Golan?

2007-05-29T21:59:00.000+03:00

Chave, my wife, received a phone call today from a customer service center in Jerusalem.

The background is that someone sent us a large package from abroad and it was supposed to be delivered to us. The thing, though, is that we live in the Golan Heights. And I don't think this gift company, nor the shipping agency, took the Golan into consideration when they claimed that they would send items to anywhere in Israel free of charge.

So the agent asked Chave where we could pick up the package.

"What do you mean? Send it to our home," was my wife's logical response.

The customer service agent got pushy and tried to get us to pick up the package somewhere else and asked for a "normal" location.

Can you believe this chutzpa? First of all, they said they send it to anywhere in Israel. Second of all, the Golan is as blue and white as any other part of this country - and I hope it stays that way for ever.

In the end, I think they are going to send it to the main post office in Qatzrin.

Go Chave! Go Golan!

The orchestra of the birds

2007-05-28T08:05:00.000+03:00

This morning, I managed to not only turn my alarm clock off at a ridiculously early 5:35 a.m., but I finally got the strength to get out of bed and trudge my way to synagogue for morning prayers.

It's funny, because while I am positive that I hear the birds loud and clear in the Golan, I somehow forgot how amazing it is to walk around before most people get up and hear the birds chirping away.

I hope I'm up to see it again tomorrow morning, too.

Getting lucky twice on the Golan Trail

2007-05-27T22:26:00.000+03:00

Last Thursday was the official opening of the Golan Trail - a wonderful 90 mile trail hugging along the eastern flanks of the Golan Heights, which according to a Haaretz article,"will allow people to get to know the real Golan, with its streams, ruins and interesting tells."

I first noticed the build-up for the inaugural hike a few weeks ago, when I saw an ad - like the one to the left - in the regional newspaper. It was then that I decided that I would take off a day of work and join the festivities.

Ultimately, it was a great move. But if it were not for the fact that I got lucky - two times to be precise - it may have been disastrous (I've marked the points on the map with arrows).

I took Hadas and Natan with me. Chave was going to come with Yair, too, but in a last minute move, we decided that I'd fly solo with our two older children. So, here's the happy recap:

If you look at the map, you'll see that there were three hikes to choose from, all of which began from point number 1. Technically, this meeting point is not on the Golan Trail, which is marked by the green/blue/white trail marker (green for the forests of the Golan, blue for the Kinneret, and white for the snowy Mount Hermon - there are still some patches of snow on its peaks).

From there, we got bussed over to point number 4 - the starting point of the short 5 mile hike. After snaking its way up on a dirt path, the bus dropped us off by the massive 100-foot tall wind turbines (10 in all) and pulled out. I got the backpack carrier out for Natan and he started throwing a tantrum.

Oh this is going to be fun, I thought!

Trying to remain as calm as possible - and I think I did a pretty darn good job - I tried coaxing him into the auto-piggyback holder. I think he quickly got the message that there two ways back for him: by foot or on my back.

Thankfully, he climbed in - this was the first time I got lucky.

After listening to a little speech about the wind turbines and how they produce clean energy, we trekked down the path.

People passed us. And more people passed us. And again, some more people passed us.

I, of course, did what any sane father would do - I bribed Hadas and made sure that she was fully aware of the fact that I was going to buy her (and Natan) the ices/ice cream of her dreams when we finished the hike.

But after hiking for around an hour, she was getting restless... and I began having visions of me carrying Hadas, while schlepping Natan on my back for a good chunk of the hike.

This happened just before we crossed over highway 98 and I told her that when we hit the road, I'd pick her up for a bit.

Thankfully, just as we hit the road, the last bus was ferrying back to the starting point. Cha-ching - this was the second time I got lucky!

After getting back to the parking lot, I noticed they had set up a rock climbing wall/zip line. They also had an Army band getting ready to jam and I am sure more fun was on the menu, but my children (and I) had enough and headed for the real festivities - ices in Qatzrin!

Hiking along the Golan Trail with my two eldest children.

The final view of our hike: vineyards and wind turbines in the distant.

Hadas: a happy camper with a treat that puts a smile on even the most tired hikers.

Natan: need I say more?

So did you hear the joke about the frog?

2007-05-15T12:48:00.000+03:00

Probably not.

And it's really not that funny… but if you are ever in a bind and need to tell a joke, try this and let me know how it goes down.

It's the middle of the night and a boy [Natan] asks his father [me] to get a tissue from the bathroom.
Before the father goes into the dark bathroom, he sees a shadow on the toilet seat; startled he turns on the light.
The light goes on with flick and presto, there's a frog sitting on the toilet seat!

Yep, that's about it. I told you it is really not that funny, but it did happen to me last night. Gosh, I love the Golan.

Pogo sticks jump into the Golan

2007-05-14T21:13:00.000+03:00

I can't be 100% certain about this, but with the latest craze on our moshav, I'd say that pogo sticks are back in style - just like razor scooters were a few years ago.

Or is this only a Golan thing?

It all happened around two weeks ago. There was a bar mitzvah here and after the services, I noticed the bar mitzvah boy jumping on a pogo stick. Nothing strange, because he's apparently into kinds of off-beat stuff.

But then I see all the 8-10 year old girls have them. It seems it's the in gift now; my neighbor's just bought one for their daughter's birthday.

And in fact, last Friday night on the way to synagogue, one of those girls let me have a hop. Here's what happened: My first go I nearly landed flat on my back (and that was after the initial jump). The next attempt proved to be a little better, but after nearly throwing out my back, I realized that I'm not cut out for pogo-ing.

My biggest fan

2007-05-13T12:43:00.000+03:00

Actually, I now have three of them.

Because we're renting, Chave and I decided to buy ceiling fans instead of an air conditioning unit. So on Thursday night, I came back from Home Center with three 42-inch ceiling fans.

The instructions were in Hebrew, but the box was marked in English with "Easy to follow instructions" (note how it doesn't say "Easy installation"). While I was flipping through the manual, I started a quick conversation with Chave that went a bit like this:

SHMUEL: Do you think I can get these fans installed?

CHAVE: I don't think so.

SHMUEL: If the instructions were in English, do you think I'd be able to install them?

CHAVE: I don't think so.

SHMUEL: Yeah, you're probably right.

So after that, I did what any man with a bit of pride would do... I called up a handyman and invited him to come over and install the trio. After two hours of labor (again, not me), we have fans in the home.

-----

Now, on to the rain.

Last week, I wrote about the rain and said how I'd find out from farmers what the deal is. Well, for starters I could have written about it today, as it was pouring down on my drive to the office.

But apparently there's no way around it, the rain is bad. I was told that it rained about 5-10 millimeters, which, back in the former good days, was just enough to get an entire season's crop wiped out. Thankfully, they have ways to prevent that from happening nowadays and the farmers should manage.

I mention the 5-10 bit, because if it would have rained 60-70 millimeters, then it would have at least made a dent on the Golan's reservoirs and the rivers and streams that flow down to the Kinneret.

Where am I?

2007-05-10T22:44:00.000+03:00

Ah yes, the philosophical conundrum that has been plaguing the wisest of men and women since the dawn of time.

[Screeching tires sound]

Whoa, wrong blog -- this is the blog about my life in the Golan Heights, which makes me ask: if it's May 10th, what in the name of lightning is going on outside? If you cannot see/hear it, it is raining out now in the Golan!

Rain!!?

Yes. Rain. This is so odd, because in Israel it NEVER rains after the winter ends. So while this heat-breaking rain is highly reminiscent of a New York summer afternoon thunderstorm, it is totally unheard of.

In my 10+ years of being in Israel, I have never seen anything quite like this. Once May rolls around, Israel does not see rain for a good 4-5 months. I remember once when I visited New York in the summer and it rained -- to me it was like someone seeing snow for the first time. It just felt so odd.

Back to today. Chave told me that when she was walking home with the kids this afternoon it started to rain. This left Natan with one simple question: "Who turned it on?"

Now, I am sure the Kabbalists are working out their theories if this is a good or bad omen, but I will speak with some farmers over the next few days to ascertain the impact that this rain is having on the ground that (at this month of the calendar) should be totally dry.

Till then, make sure you have an umbrella!

You know it's getting hot when...

2007-05-08T08:53:00.000+03:00

I love taking a hot shower. And let's be honest, who doesn't.

Conversely, a cold shower sends shivers up my spine - especially in the winter. But slowly, when the red begins to dominate the mercury stick, the sound of a cold shower sounds refreshing.

And with a heatwave in Israel now, including a whopping 100 degrees Fahrenheit - yes, three digits - in the Golan earlier this week, I'm starting to think maybe I'll have an ice-cold shower soon...

Because, like I said, it's blazing hot outside.

It's official, I'm a Jewish hillbilly

2007-05-07T21:47:00.000+03:00

It's true. And I admit it.

From time to time I'll park my car on my front lawn.

But, in reality, that just makes me lazy. Like tonight for example; after work I went food shopping in Karmiel, came home late, and brought the groceries into the kitchen. Since my parking spot is around the other side of the house, it is just convenient to park on the grass near the front door.

So what makes me a Jewish hillbilly?

Well for starters, I live in the middle of nowhere. And I love that. I love the fact that I can lead an Orthodox Jewish lifestyle out in the sticks. You can't find that in Montana now, can you?

But the real reason, and this goes back to the front lawn, is Natan. He's a little over two and is in the early stages of trying to figure out the whole toilet training business.

When he has to pee, he takes off his diaper and runs out the door and relieves himself with the breeze on his behind. Now, I think that's real smart. First of all, I love nature, too (albeit in the woods and not on my front lawn), but I think he realizes the garden is a much bigger target than the toilet bowl.

I couldn't agree with him more and encourage him use the lawn as his urinal. And someone who advocates this kind of behavior, in my humble opinion, is a hillbilly.

Remember, learn from Natan and aim big -- just avoid the wet spots on the front lawn.

Gamla, of all places

2007-05-02T12:53:00.000+03:00

This morning I got a call from an old friend of mine. I've been good friends with him since my yeshiva days, and since then we took different, yet similar routes in life.

I, you know, moved up to the Golan. And he became a rabbi and moved out to lead a congregation in Omaha, Nebraska. The obvious connection (and there are more) is that we've both take the off-beaten path.

But even with the ocean and a healthy portion of the American heartland separating us, we've remained close. So, he calls me this morning to tell me that he's in Israel leading a mission and his group is on its way to Gamla.

Gamla!

For most people, Gamla holds the distinction of being the home of Israel's largest waterfall (a 160 foot beaut) and, strikingly, a large group of birds of prey, including Griffon vultures. To others it is ancient capital of the Golan, until the Romans conquered it in 68 CE.

But for me, it is also the closest place to my home -- and that’s including other villages!

Unseasonal showers

2007-04-28T21:47:00.000+03:00

With balmy weather and overcast skies, it looked as if it was going to rain today in the Golan.

And then, while I was hanging out on the front lawn this afternoon, I heard a little faint noise that had the sound of 'you'd better pay attention to this' written all over it. Yes, it was water, but not from the sky.

I know the sound of gushing water quite well, and here it was again... Natan decided to play plumber with the house's main water line. While having fun he somehow managed to undo a little hose, which turned on the water.

It turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because apparently it was a timing switch that he touched. See, two seconds after I got there, the garden's sprinkler system went on!

The only problem was that I had no clue what to do. There are a bunch of pipes and hoses and timer switches. Chave's standing there, we're telling the kids to get off the lawn and I can imagine the Rabbi calling me into his study saying, "Shmuel, you know we don't water lawns on Shabbat!"

Thankfully my neighbor's father was there watching/laughing at the whole scene and he managed to turn the water off.

Just your routine Shabbat afternoon.

Remembering Israel’s greatest

2007-04-26T07:10:00.000+03:00

I have a story for the ages. It begins when I moved to the Golan, fast forwards to today, goes back in time, comes back to today, and even goes into the future.

The story is about a soldier who died in battle and of a boy who helped perpetuate his memory 25 years after the soldier died. I spoke with the boy’s mother last night in effort to get all the facts straight.

August 2006: When we moved to the central Golan Heights, I noticed that approximately a half-a-mile before one reaches the entrance to my moshav, there is a little wooden sign hanging off a five-foot rod that is shaped like an elongated number seven.

It says something in Hebrew and has an arrow pointing into the fields, and if you ask me, I never really paid attention to what it said. Not thinking it was out of the ordinary, I’ve just taken it for granted and assumed it was someone’s workshop or something to that extent.

April 2007: Monday was Yom Hazikaron (Israel’s Memorial Day), and last week, the local Golan weekly newspaper, listed the fallen soldiers who came from the Golan. On the list was our moshav, and there were names that I recognized and names that I didn’t.

One of those names was Moshe Zimmerman.

October 1973: Six years after the Six Day War, which led to the capture of the Golan Heights, the people of Israel were solemnly standing in synagogue on Yom Kippur when the Egyptians (in Sinai in the south) and the Syrians (in the Golan in the north) simultaneously launched a surprise attack.

Israel lost a lot of soldiers on all fronts, including the Golan. When they say the Golan is planted with blood, it is sadly true.

The day after Yom Kippur, October 7, 1973, a solider by the name of Moshe Zimmerman went to fight with his comrades as part of an artillery unit. Sadly, he was hit by gunfire in a battlefield not too far from my home and died.

August 1999: Fast forward now. Twenty-somewhat years after my moshav was founded and relocated to its permanent location, a group of teenagers went out hiking.

Cycling, hiking, swimming, and even me taking my kids to the forest at the front of the moshav is very much commonplace. So there was nothing strange about a bunch of teenagers going hiking in the fields outside the moshav.

But on that morning, something was different. As they were nearing the end of the hike, one boy saw something peculiar sticking out of the brush.

He had been through the area many times, but never noticed it. Hiking through the high grass, he came closer and found a hewn stone. He cleared it away and it was engraved with the following:

Here fell
in the Yom Kippur War
First Sergeant Moshe Zimmerman
11 Tishrei 5734 – October 7, 1973

Now, I’ve been told that in the Golan there are hundreds – if not more – of these memorial monuments marking where our brave men and women gave up their lives defending our homeland.

Some of these monuments are known, but a good lot are lost amongst the vast fields of the Golan Heights. The army was contacted about this find, but at first they did not want to divulge the whereabouts of the Zimmerman family.

This is the army’s policy, understandably, and they keep the lives of the bereaved family private. However, after revealing the story of how the stone was found and the information written upon it, the army agreed to contact the Zimmerman family.

October 1974: One year removed from the loss of their child and brother, the Zimmerman family was escorted in armor personnel carriers by the Israeli Defense Forces to the approximate site of where Moshe Zimmerman fell in battle. The army showed them the monument which confirms and attests to Moshe’s braveness and self-sacrifice.

Seasons came and seasons went, and by the time the next year came around, the location of the stone was lost. Thus, the point of where First Sergeant Moshe Zimmerman gave his life for our country was lost, as far as the family was concerned, forever.

May 1999: I’m not sure if it was exactly May, but a few months before the monument was rediscovered, Moshe’s father passed away. Before he passed away, he mentioned how he regretted that not enough was done to know where Moshe’s monument was.

September 1999: After the army contacted the Zimmerman family, they were excited to say the least. Excuse my cliché, but it was like finding a needle in a haystack, only this needle was a holy solider who gave up his life for the people of Israel. The family came to our moshav and to the monument, where Moshe’s brother said the Kadish prayer.

Since then, the moshav has planted an olive tree overlooking Moshe’s monument. And every year when Yom Hazikaron nears, the people of my moshav clean up the area and decorate the monument with flowers and raise the flag of Israel over Moshe’s monument.

Then, the family and the moshav meet for a ceremony honoring and preserving Moshe’s memory, where songs are sung, prayers are prayed, and tears are wept. In every respect, the people of my moshav have adopted Moshe as its own – and Moshe’s family has adopted us, too.

The Future: As was done earlier this week, my moshav will continue to remember Moshe and all the other great soldiers that fell in the Golan and the rest of Israel.

Finally, the word carved into the wooden sign on the side of the road says L’andarta – “to the monument.” I will never forget you Moshe Zimmerman. Without your sacrifice, we would not be here in the Golan Heights.

Ice cold lemons and an unripe fig

2007-04-21T22:18:00.000+03:00

When I wrote about my fruit garden not too long ago, people asked to see the fruits of my labor -- and by labor, I mean picking the fruits!

So without further ado, let's see the fruits of the Golan.

A week ago, Hadas, Natan, and I plucked 81 lemons off our lemon tree leaving it bare, save for the leaves. We tithed them according to tradition and then gave some out to friends.

At the end of the day, we (mainly Chave and the kids) squeezed around 25-35 lemons and froze most of them. Let me warn you though, these are not your regular freezer ice cubes, nor the sweet lemonade chiller - these are the real deal, 1.5-2 lemons per cube, sour suckers!

And while the lemon tree works on rejuvenating itself, let's move over to our magnificent fig tree.

I mentioned how the weather has been topsy turvy here. (This morning there was a cold wind only to be followed up with a hot summer-like afternoon.)

And when I took this picture, it was the morning after a very late spring sprinkle - you can clearly see droplets on the fig. (I sure hope it doesn't rain on Israel's Independence Day this Tuesday.)

You can see the fruit is not 100% ready yet; although, Hadas has picked up a habit of picking them anyways.

As always, I will try to keep you posted on the fig tree's development.

On compensation

2007-04-19T12:46:00.000+03:00

No, I'm not a financial planner -- so no advice regarding financial compensation.

This morning on the way in, Shmuel (remember there are two) and I could not believe our eyes...

On the other side of the road there was a massive eagle (or maybe it was a hawk). That's right, a massive bird of prey lounging around on the asphalt of highway 87 just before the entrance to the Yehudiya nature reserve!

I was driving and deemed this very turn-around-worthy. So without any notice to my buddy, I veered to the right and did a massive 180. Now, this might catch the city folks off guard, but I assure you it was a safe maneuver.

As I was doing a U-ee, I told Shmuel, "get my camera out from the back!"

Can you believe it? Here we are in the Golan Heights - Israel's nature wonderland - we see a bird of prey sitting on the road, and (and this is the kicker) we had a camera!

Unfortunately, birds don't work for us. And this one flew off before we could get a proper photo. Yet, we did manage to salvage the situation with the picture above.

With the camera out, we turned around and continued on in to work lamenting our lost opportunity. However, get this - 100 yards down from the eagle sighting, we spotted 3 great white storks.

Talk about compensation! And we got there in the nick of time, because they took off right after we got there.

I'm not an expert on migratory routes, but doesn't it seem that these birds have been here forever? But hey, I'm not complaining; nor should you because we were able to snap these great shots just a few hours ago.

Three great white storks preparing for their morning takeoff.

Houston, I mean, Golan, we have takeoff.

That transitional season

2007-04-18T22:14:00.000+03:00

The Golan, like all of Israel, is slowly thawing out of the cold, rainy winter season and coming into the dry, sunny, blistering hot summer months that lie ahead of us. And as is the case every year, it seems this process takes time - even if, at the height of a season, we subconsciously think otherwise.

Some days the temperature goes up, some days it goes down; sometimes clear, sometimes foggy; sometimes sunny, sometimes rainy (as was the case an hour ago).

Nevertheless, this leaves me wondering... am I the only one who wonders what type of clothing to wear in the morning?

I know it doesn't make that much of a difference, as I am in an office building all day, but I wake up and it's cold outside and dress as if I'm venturing out in a New York-style blizzard!

Yesterday, for example, I remember thinking it would be cold and wore long sleeves, only to be hot. And now, I sit here on a cold Golan evening, wearing a sweater over my polo shirt.

Comments anyone?

Blogging at turtle speed

2007-04-17T12:40:00.000+03:00

Okay, it's after Pessach and while it might seem to the public that I've come down with a serious case of writer's block, I want to clarify and state that I'm just blogging at turtle speed.

See, I even found a turtle last week with the kids when we went for a walk in the forest. Click on the picture to get a better view. I think I contracted "blogging at a turtle speed" (medically known as BATS) from him.

Yes, we brought it home for a while - Hadas named it Yaffa.

But, no, we brought it back to its home. I feel quite good about my, "if we find it in the moshav, we return it" policy. So far, we've been fortunate to find many interesting creatures. And I think it's a credit to our policy that more animals keep coming our way.

In any event, I've also been quite busy and have also volunteered to help out with the 2007 JIB Awards.

If you haven't taken the time to nominate anyone, it's not too late - just please do not nominate me for anything (seriously). I really think these awards are being conducted with dignity and will show who's the crème-de-la-crème of the JBlog world.

From fruit to fruit

2007-04-11T21:18:00.000+03:00

Who knows about my lemon tree?

No, no, it's a real tree in my backyard. But with the temperature looking towards the high-end of the mercury stick, it's the end of the lemon season.

So we're going to pick all the remaining fruits, tithe 'em, juice 'em, and freeze 'em. This way, we'll have 'fresh' lemon juice at our disposal until the yellow bulbs ripen again.

But this got me thinking... if there no lemons to pick, what can I pick.

Alas, not to worry. Just the other day I saw figs protruding from the end of the branches on my fig tree. Although, I have to admit, I am a bit weary of the fig tree in the back of my garden because it does do a pretty darn good job of attracting bees and wasps.

Anyways, it does yield some high-end figs.

Blogging is totally Kitniyot

2007-04-09T22:11:00.000+03:00

It seems that every year more and more things get tacked onto the ever growing Kitniyot bandwagon; with that in mind, I think the subject of this blog post might just catch on like wild fire. So if you plan on blogging over Pessach 2008, make sure you are of Sephardic descent.

Having said that, you now know why I refrained from blogging over Pessach.

No, seriously, it had nothing to do with Kitniyot, nor did it have anything to do with what my good friend at hubscubs wrote. In all honesty, I had absolutely no time to blog.

Although, I am proudly blogging now, on what is known in the Diaspora as "the 8th day of Passover" (Biblically known as Isru Hag, aka the day after Pessach).

Anyways, Pessach in the Golan was stunning. This is the prefect time of year to visit and the place was buzzing. As a frequent driver of the Golan's quiet roads, I sensed its asphalt was getting a good rub.

Oh, and yesterday, on the approach road to Qatzrin, a great big grey wolf darted across the road. Must've gotten startled by the tourists, cause I've never seen one of those in broad daylight.

The ABC's of finding the right job in Israel

2007-03-28T21:38:00.000+02:00

A) Accountability
Although I've heard that this word does not exist in the Hebrew dictionary, prospective employers expect that you are qualified for the job (even if you say on your resume that you were a VP of Sales at the age of 23).

This means whatever you say you can do, be sure that at the end of the day you are accountable for yourself.

B) Benefits
Of course the salary at the bottom of the paycheck matters - even if it is a far cry from what the gross salary says a few lines above - but what I've come to learn is that in Israel you want to find a place that has good perks.

For example, I went to Acco last month with my department, and everyday during lunch, I play ping pong for a good 30 minutes. Now, those are sweet benefits.

C) Chesed
Being in Israel, a lot of companies are involved with Chesed (good deeds). Many businesses have a "favorite" charitable organization and even encourage one to give a helping hand... on work hours, too.

Thus is the case with my company. Today, I volunteered for nearly 2 hours helping out a non-profit organization that gives food out to the needy. I helped pack bags of frozen meat, fish, and French fries, which are being distributed to the needy now before Pessach.

So to recap, I think new Olim should look for a job that (a) they can manage, (b) offers good benefits, and most of all, (c) proactively gives back to the community.

Now, back to cleaning the fridge.

Mr. Clean

2007-03-26T21:29:00.000+02:00

This title goes to my 2 year old son, Natan, who spilled his cereal bowl this morning.

Luckily, the bowl landed rim up, so the damage was minimal - a little milk on the seat and maybe a few corn flakes here and there.

But unlike most 2 year olds, he wouldn't sit back down until he cleaned it up.

To put it simply, Natan is very tidy. He makes sure dirty clothes are properly placed in the laundry bin and often can be seen taking a baby wipe and cleaning his toy kitchen.

So with Pesach just around the corner, I feel real confident having him around.

Beautiful day and I'm at work

2007-03-21T08:57:00.000+02:00

It’s a gorgeous day and I’m at work.

Another day, another dollar – or shekel for that matter – might be true, but the weather out in the Golan is stunning.

On the way down this morning, the other Shmuel spotted what turned out to be 3 ~~Demoiselle Cranes~~ Griffon Vultures (or maybe something else) perched in a tree just a few hundred yards before the entrance to the Yehudiya National Park.

Neither of us had a camera, but I insisted we stop to have a look. There were also hawks hovering over the Golan skies, which, at this time of year, makes a great place for a birder to be.

After lamenting the fact that neither of us had a camera, we agreed that at least one of us needs to bring a camera for the awesome ride… and perhaps take a “mental health day.”

No birds

2007-03-15T12:41:00.001+02:00

Like I predicted last night, the storks have moved northwards on their migratory paths.

Here’s a picture looking at the Yehudiya forest from Highway 87. Notice the lush green – in a few months, this will all be brown.

Yesterday, there were approximately 20-25 white storks circling around (see post below).

The stork has landed

2007-03-14T21:55:00.000+02:00

On my drive to work this morning, I saw birds - big birds - not too far from my home.

"Whoa," I called out to Shmuel who was driving. Thinking they were vultures, I told him we had to backtrack to see the sight. Being the nature lover he is, he gladly obliged.

After backtracking, we saw (what we later concluded) around two dozen white storks resting on their migration route back to Europe.

Then, going down towards Qatzrin, we saw even more - probably close to 100 storks lounging about!

Then, and here's the real sight, we saw another 20-25 storks gliding around in circles over the Yehudiya ravine.

It was truly a birder's paradise!

Too bad neither of us had a camera. We were actually sad about that (and thought about going home to get one), but we hope they'll be there again tomorrow morning.

However, after heavy rainfall today, we gather that those birds picked up and glided north towards Turkey.

A is for Acco

2007-03-14T21:45:00.000+02:00

I have a problem and I admit it. I take pictures, but seemingly, it takes me so long to upload them.

As a result of this, more often than not, I go ahead and blog without photos.

Nevertheless, after seeing my pictures from a recent company trip to Acco (last month), I feel the urge to share them in the blogsphere.

Here's a grapevine going northwards, parallel to two water pipes.

I thought this was unique picture - a palm tree in the middle of an apartment complex.

This bank machine is the most secured machine in the world.

And this picture gives new meaning to Mobile Gas. Call 1-800-Filler-Up for free delivery!

And here's the catch of the day - yes, these sharks were lying on the floor of the Arab shouk (market).

Lizard in my mouth

2007-03-13T21:03:00.000+02:00

Well, the disclaimer seemed to work really well last time, so I think I'll use it again. This post will get a bit graphic, and no, the lizard did not end up in my mouth - nor any human being, for that matter.

The last time I wrote about lizards was when it was on my wall, but this event - which took place last Friday - tops that by 3 colors.

Here's the background: a few months ago, I did not close the pipes for my solar panels.

Big mistake #1.

See, when the temperature drops below freezing, the cold weather causes the pipes in the solar panel to burst. So, as you probably guessed, one morning in January, I woke up to the sound of water gushing down my roof.

In the picture to the right, you can see where the leakage began.

With the help of a friend I closed the pipe that brings water to the solar panels. He told me (a) you don't have to fix it right away (I took his advice and procrastinated a FULL two months!) and (b) this happens every year to one bonehead (this year, the rookie takes the prize).

So, on Friday I picked up a screw in Qatzrin, ascended to the roof - look at this view, I think I need to build some sort of observatory on the roof - and tried to see if I could fix it.

The procedure turned out to be too dangerous from the roof, so I retreated and attempted to do this maneuver from the top of a ladder.

But on my way up the ladder, I caught a lizard camouflaged in the ivy on the side of my house - I think it's a chameleon, so I'll call it that. (Again, look at the picture on the right - his head is hidden beneath a leaf.)

I know what you're thinking... "Why the heck does Shmuel carry a camera when he's going to fix a pipe on the roof?"

To be honest, I was preempting a blog post strictly about fixing the solar panels, but you got to admit this chameleon business really jazzes up this post, no? And it gets better!

So I postponed the job at hand to show the kids the chameleon. Surprisingly - or not - they thought it was pretty cool. I showed them how its eyes can pivot nearly 180 degrees and how it changes colors... see for yourself. The pictures are of the same chameleon a mere seconds later.

Hadas wanted to keep it.

Big mistake #2.

I told her, that it does really good things for our ecosystem, i.e., eats annoying mosquitoes and other flies. Plus, since it lives directly in our surroundings there is no point in keeping it in a cage.

She accepted it, but thought it would be fun to stick this little brittle creature into a plastic basin.

Big mistake #3 - and really the biggest mistake of the day. WARNING, the rated "G" part ends here.

Then I go back up to try to fix the pipe, but Popeye, the feisty puppy from next door runs over, finds the chameleon, sniffs the chameleon, and inhales it.

On top of a ladder, there's not much I can do. And by the time I got down, the game was over. However, Popeye was playing for extra points - and scoring big! He dropped it for a bit, and I thought about picking it up, but then had hot flashes of Popeye ripping off my hand along with the chameleon.

Good thing I trusted my instincts, because Popeye wasn't finished! It took him a good few minutes till he relinquished the dead chameleon for good. And, no, he didn't eat it.

All in all it was a good learning experience - I don't think Hadas got too attached to it to care.

But the bottom line still remains, I need to fix my solar panel.

The big invite

2007-03-10T22:22:00.000+02:00

Disclaimer: the following true event happened a while ago. I’m only posting it now, because as you will see, it’s a little embarrassing and I wouldn’t want the real parties to know about this mix up.

So here we go...

Chave told me that one of our friends invited us over for Shabbat lunch.

Great!

We’re always open to going to new people and we prepped Hadas for our lunch party the night before.

Shabbat morning, I went to shul, and after it finished I look for our host, but couldn’t find him. (In hindsight, this proved to save me.) So, I went out to find Chave.

Standing in the foyer, we patiently waited for our host to come out. Then a friend came out and said, “Ready to go?”

Go where, I thought, Chave told me we were going to those people’s house for lunch.

I was puzzled, but Chave quickly realized what had just transpired. She got the friend’s first name right, but not the family name!

Good thing we didn’t just show up at the wrong family with a cake in our hands.

Almost a good find

2007-03-07T08:51:00.000+02:00

It’s sunny in the Golan now. And with the flowers in full bloom, it is one of the most gorgeous places in all of Israel.

The drive into work this morning was fantastic… and I almost found a souvenir to hang on my ranch – whenever I get around to building it.

On the way down, a bit east of Qatzrin – right around the spot where I hit a pig – I noticed a cow’s skull on the side of the road. I saw it there before, but I never had time to check it out.

But this morning, I could not resist the temptation.

I stopped, but all for naught. The skull – despite that many teeth were still intact – had withered away from its grandeur. After mulling it over for a few seconds, I decided to leave it.

No horns, no deal.

The best part of Purim

2007-03-04T19:58:00.000+02:00

Here, in our small community on the Golan Heights, Purim was very special.

There was a tractor ride for the kids in the morning, but without a doubt, the nicest part of the festival was when we came home in the late morning to find our neighbors' Mishloach Manot .

Now I do remember this phenomenon back in Long Island - I can even picture my parents' screen door opened a bit, stuffed with their friends' packages.

But the reason why this was special - and receives my "Best Part of Purim Award" - was the fact that they were neatly placed inside of our house on the kitchen table.

"four-letter words" by Rafi G

2007-03-01T12:17:00.000+02:00

Kudos to Rafi G, author of the blog titled "Life in Israel."

His recent four-letter words post is a must read for anyone who identifies with the Jewish people and the State of Israel.

For more background, please see the JPost article.

Spring buds through the Golan

2007-03-01T06:34:00.000+02:00

Purim begins this Saturday night and for those who are familiar with Roni Schotter's "Purim Play," you probably know what that means.

And for those who don't, I quote from the opening of her magnum opus:

Every year, when people are "winter weary and longing for spring," Purim comes..."

That's right, spring is here. But before the ground drys up, the grass is lush and flowers are now in full bud throughout the Golan Heights.

Here's a great picture, which shows spring springing up. (Click on it for the full effect.)

The best kept secret

2007-02-28T07:03:00.000+02:00

Well, it’s not really a secret if I’m telling you now. And it’s definitely not a secret if Natan opens the refrigerator and shows me.

I’m talking about my birthday surprise.

Yesterday, was my Hebrew birthday (and my brother’s, too), and I left work early to join my family for a special mid-week dinner followed by a birthday party. The kids loved it – and that makes me genuinely happy.

And then there’s Natan. He’s 2 and doesn’t understand the concept of a surprise. So when I walked through the door, he simply could not restrain himself and spoiled the sweet dessert.

Again, not really – the chocolate mousse, in fact, was heavenly.

All cooped up in the Golan

2007-02-25T22:41:00.000+02:00

What would a Friday morning be without a stop at the local chicken coop?

So, after I got Hadas off to nursery school - actually, Chave took her there this past Friday - I went down to the chicken coop to visit the Moshav's chief chicken farmer. Do they have a special name?

I took Natan with me. He loves animals. And Friday morning is our special bonding time. Hadas used to have this time slot with me, but now she's older and has school. Soon, it'll be Yair and me.

But before we got down to the chicken coop - BAK - I stopped off to fill my car up with gas.

Now isn't this a charming picture. I know I've talked about filling up Golan style, but seeing is believing. This is what I see every time I go to the "gas station."

Okay, the car has a full tank and I drive down to the chicken coop.

The picture to the right is the new coop (with a Thailand flag I believe), but I will get to that in a bit.

I parked the car - and since there are only two people managing the place, there was plenty of parking. Then, I "snooped" around to find the guy in charge. He told me that I could visit, but it's not like in the States where you set a time and place to meet. But I figured he'd be in the office; so into the office I went.

Sure enough he was there analyzing data with a computer program that had a 3D view of the chicken coop. Here he could monitor the zones to make sure everything was running smoothly. He told me that they've been on computer for 20 years now. See, I told you the Golan farmers use the latest tech. Then we went into the coop.

Here they raise chickens for poultry meat. They get chicks and have them for approximately 40 days. This run was 45 days and he let me in because it was the end of the run. Normally, they don't go in because they're afraid of passing diseases onto to the chickens.

So, he took me into Coop #1. AKA home to 20,000 chickens!

That's right, 20,000. And if you think that's a lot, get ready for the new chicken coop. It's going to host 35,000 chickens!

Still empty, he took me into the brand new chicken coop to see what it looks like pre-chickens. Food travels down one line (the yellow and red circular dishes) and water is brought to the birds via the red ladles-like spoons. Of course, these feeding lines go down to beak level once the chickens are brought in. Everything is computerized.

After the tour, he told me to check out the river (above) and then I saw a great site: cows grazing atop the hill. Don't you think this is a great picture?

So our Friday morning field trip finished and I went back home to get Chave and Yair - we went to Qatzrin. Oh, but on the way, we saw our friend the cowboy.

All in a Golan morning.

BAK.

To board or not to board

2007-02-22T21:09:00.002+02:00

That is the question.

In terms of precipitation, February has been a good month to the Golan Heights. I wrote earlier how there is snow on Mount Hermon, and this past week the weather was stunning.

This made my buddy from work, Robbie, ask me if I wanted to take a day off and go snowboarding.

My heart was torn. On the one hand, the Hermon Ski Resort is so close to my house - probably 45-55 minutes - but on the other hand, I felt like I couldn't spare a vacation day.

And then there was the cost. At 400 Shekels (rental and lift ticket), it was an expensive proposition. And gone are the days of being single and spendthrift, like when I bought myself a snowboard!

But that reminds me, would the next family member that comes for a visit be so kind and bring my snowboard with them. And if anyone wants to sponsor me - I'll put your name on my snowboard, please contact me.

Robbie: thanks for the pictures and in 2008 and I'm with you!

Rub my blog, and I'll rub yours

2007-02-21T22:02:00.000+02:00

A few days ago, a close friend of mine contacted me about listing her blog on my blog. I thought about it and decided to go for it - hence the name of this post and the section all the way at the bottom of the right menu.

I'll be honest though, originally I didn't want to have a blogroll. I felt it sort of diluted the spirit of my blogging.

I was - and still am - about the Golan, not necessarily about other blogs. But after looking at some recent stats of my blog, I was amazed to see people coming in from far off places, like the Ivory Coast. And even more importantly, I noticed that people were even writing blogs about my blog posts (see the Go Golan Trax section halfway down the right menu).

Wow, now that's something!

So, I'm officially jumping on the bandwagon of blogrolling, and I have no qualms about it. And I'll be honest, this is clearly a case of you rub my back - or better yet blog - and I'll rub your blog. Contact me if I need to add your blog.

Can I repent for the golden spot?

2007-02-21T20:57:00.000+02:00

Sometimes things happen in life and people just don't know it. The only way one would know it, is if it didn't happen, but it did happen, and so the person doesn't know it even happened.

Other times you just mess up, but find out only later to know (a) it's too late to fix and (b) you don't know where to turn to even try to fix.

Luckily - or unluckily for that matter - I had a case of the latter this afternoon.

On my lunch break I dashed over to Karmiel to run some errands. I had a short list: get some things for Purim, diapers, and pick up a new checkbook at the bank. Short it was, but I was also short on time (which seems to be a popular theme in my life at the moment), so I figured I'd try to get the checkbook first just in case there was a big line.

And you know how it is. Racing down a street looking for the parking space closest to your destination. The spots in this particular part of Karmiel are angled into the curb at 45 degrees. 5 spots away would be more than close enough, but if you can get a little closer... bingo... you made it... it's almost as good as winning the lottery!

So, I'm cruising down and I see a spot - maybe 4 spots away from the door to the bank. Not bad; not bad at all, I think to myself. But then 3 spots over I see someone pulling out.

My lucky day!

I quickly step on the breaks and prepare for "Plan B," or better yet, I scrap "Plan B" and make preparations to maneuver into "Plan A." And as I pull in I notice a car to my right - there are no indicators on and it looks like it's double parked... chutzpah, I think... and I carefully squeeze into the golden spot.

Now I admit, I heard the sound of honking as I opened the door to my car, and I even looked up. But when I made eye contact with the bank's security guard, he didn't motion to me that I had just done something naughty. And the honking stopped, which led me to believe that the honking had nothing to do with me...

Well I was wrong. I got a 3 Shekel parking ticket - the kind you pay for and stick in you window so you don't get a 250 Shekel parking ticket - and went into the bank. While on line, this guy comes in and berates me for stealing his spot. I quickly apologized and said I didn't see him - honestly, I didn't see him. But he, rightfully, calls me chutzpah and darts off.

Most likely, I will never see him again.

So how am I supposed to repent for this one? Especially since I did not feel any wrong doing at the time of the "crime."

Oh and by the way, the checkbook didn't arrive yet, I couldn't find the stuff for Purim... but I did find diapers on sale - 2 for 105 Shekels.

Hockey night in Israel... part 4

2007-02-14T21:52:00.000+02:00

For all those hockey aficionados, this post is long over due.

And I apologize.

But I got caught up in other things, and somehow this fell through the cracks. The video clips that appear below actually come from the January 18th game in Metulla.

So without any further delay, please find the last three videos for your enjoyment. Feel free to share with a friend, too. Remember, there's hockey in Israel, and if you missed the earlier installments, be sure to check them out first: part 1, part 2, and part 3.

If you are interested to learn more about recreational ice hockey in Israel, feel free to email me.

Part 7 of 9

Part 8 of 9

Part 9 of 9

Barefoot kids say the cleverest things... part 6

2007-02-13T22:06:00.000+02:00

Natan started me on sharing cute sayings, so let me tell you about an incident that Chave told me about him, which occurred yesterday in the nurse's office.

The nurse's name is Aya and while I'm not exactly sure how it went down verbatim, if I were a screenwriter, this is what I'd write:

CHAVE: (Holding onto Natan as he receives an injection) Don't worry Natan, this'll all be over soon.

NATAN: (Whimpering) Aya, aya, aya, aya, aya, aya.

CHAVE: Oh, don't cry sweetie.

NURSE: Oh, isn't that cute, he's saying my name.

Frrrooggyy

2007-02-12T21:01:00.000+02:00

Well, after a steady week of rain all I can hear in the Golan at night is the constant croaking of frogs.

1. Where did they come from?

2. What type of frogs are they?

These are the burning questions that I hope to answer in the very near future.

T-shirt and cargo pants

2007-02-12T12:44:00.000+02:00

On the way home from work yesterday, I dropped off the other Shmuel at the junction to Qatzrin – he was going to run some errands with his wife. And as I stopped to let Shmuel out of the car, a neighbor ran towards me from across the street (you know, the road that’s highway 87).

He needed a ride and saw that I was going his way.

I always try to stop and pick up hitchhikers – it is part of Israeli culture – after all, for years I benefited from tons of rides. On the way home, we spoke about when he grew up on the Moshav and as we approached the turn off into the Moshav, he told me to drop him off at the corner.

He needed to continue heading south towards his cousin's Bat Mitzvah party. I was shocked, because he was dressed in a faded t-shirt and green cargo pants.

Agronomy Golan

2007-02-08T18:07:00.000+02:00

In my previous job, and current one for that matter, executives were always flying off to the high-tech hotbeds of the world: Silicon Valley, the Route 128 corridor, London, Singapore, etc.

So without a doubt, when I saw the Moshav’s chief agronomist (he's in charge of the vineyards) today after hearing he was out of the country, I was shocked to hear he was away on business in Australia.

But that’s just the point.

Although the Golan is synonymous with rural farmlands, long gone are the days of yesteryear when farmers stuck to their 100 acre ranch. Today, the farmers of the Golan are working harder than ever using the latest, high-tech, state-of-the-art tools. This can be vividly seen in a blog posted by my friend.

Fog morning

2007-02-04T08:56:00.000+02:00

What a rain this morning – and it’s not over yet. I hear Mount Hermon is getting doused with snow.

Oh, and boy was it foggy driving to the office. It was the classic stereotypical foggy winter morning in the Golan – for the areas above 2,000 feet above sea level, that is. After clearing the junction to Qatzrin on Road 87, the fog dissipated.

Unfortunately, I did not have my camera on me, but with the help of the Paint application on my computer, I was able to recapture the foggy rainy moment (see above). Enjoy!

Laying roots in the Golan

2007-02-01T23:35:00.000+02:00

Earlier this week, I had a chance meeting with an octogenarian in Akko - a coastal town north of Haifa. We spoke for around 30 minutes, mainly about life. Well, actually she did most of the talking.

Whenever I'm in the presence of people that lived through history - especially a holocaust survivor like her - I consciously try to 'shut up' and soak in their precious pearls of time.

One of the things she told me about was that you have to know where you came from. So, this message is for my progeny (I'm assuming Blogger will back up this page for at least 100 years):

Chave and I came back to our homeland, the Land of Israel, in the late 1990s. And on Wednesday, August 16, 2006, we moved up to the Golan Heights.

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Barefoot kids say the cleverest things... part 5

2007-01-30T21:51:00.000+02:00

It's been a while, but I assure you that Golan kids still say the cleverest things.

Just the other day, our neighbor's friendly, burly golden lab named Halva died. That's sad. And I knew Hadas would be effected.

However, I didn't feel it was "my place" to inform her; after all, it's not my dog. Let her find out through the grapevine, I figured.

So today she told my wife, "Do you know Halva died?"

"Yes, Hadas. I heard. Isn't that sad?" Chave asked, thinking that she would now need to console our four year old.

"No," said Hadas. "They're getting a new dog!"

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An open letter to my family

2007-01-29T20:54:00.000+02:00

Dear family,

This past Shabbat, Chave & I took the kids to Jerusalem for Aaron's Bar Mitzvah. It was a fantastic event and Aaron proved his "manhood" with an amazing, unforgettable performance.

Kudos!

Coming down from the Golan Heights, we drove south on Road 90 - the longest road in Israel - towards the Dead Sea, the lowest place on Earth.

Israel is so amazing, because when we left the Golan, we had a clear view of the snow-capped Mount Hermon and it
must have been around 50 degrees outside. But when we pulled out from
our pit stop just north of the Dead Sea, I noticed the car's thermometer indicated that the outside temperature was a scorching 82 degrees. And that temperature probably would have risen had we continued southward towards Eilat.

Not bad for January.

And when this country boy finally strutted his way into the nation's capital, I felt a sense of crowdedness - and this is while I was still sitting in the car. You can take the boy out the city… and, as I learned, you can take the city out of the boy, too.

But don’t worry, I adjusted quickly. Especially after being embraced by family from far and near. Chave and I got a rare chance to catch up with many cousins, whom we haven't seen in at least three years. Hadas got a chance to meet cousins that she never met before and Natan... well, let's just say he didn't cause too much trouble.

The weekend was perfect. We all knew our time with each other was limited, but I think we all made the most of it, which was really nice – it was almost like a family reunion.

On my mother’s side, I am blessed with 24 first cousins (without their spouses). So growing up, it seemed as if there was a Bar Mitzvah or a wedding at least once a year.

Now that we are older, some cousins moved out of the metropolitan New York area, and others are spending a large part of their time building and raising their own families, but most – I assume – still get to family events every now and again. However, I’m planting my roots in the Golan Heights, so for me to get to an event like the one this past Shabbat is infrequent.

Therefore, a big thank you to my cousins for making such a special event. And remember, if you plan on coming to Israel in the near future, please give me a buzz and come up for a visit.

I’d love to catch up with you.

Love,

Shmuel

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Hockey night in Israel... part 3

2007-01-23T12:35:00.000+02:00

If you haven't seen the first 2 installments of "Hockey night in Israel," be sure to check out the hockey pictures and the first three hockey videos... The following video clips were taken in Metulla, Israel on January 18, 2007.

I hope you enjoy these... let me know what you think, by leaving a comment below... and check back later in the week for the last three videos!

Part 4 of 9

Part 5 of 9

Part 6 of 9

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Whose award is it anyways?

2007-01-22T20:48:00.000+02:00

To start off, I didn't win a blogging award just yet. But then again, I wasn't too sure which awards I was nominated for.

I thought it was for the JIB Awards. But in the end, I was nominated for two People's Choice Awards for Jewish & Israeli Blogs (see banner on the right).

It seems that the founder of the JIB Awards, Aussie Dave, wasn't too pleased with the way awards were being run.

To be honest, I wasn't either - there was no publicity (I sneaked in the last second thanks to a heads-up email by Aussie Dave), the voting system wasn't geared for an award (it was based on 7 months of voting, which pretty much made it impossible for newbies like me), and it seems that there was some serious ballot stuffing (this was made public today by Bagel Blogger, who monitored the voting like a hawk eyeing its prey.

Anyways, Jblogsphere reports that the real JIB Awards (3rd annual I think) will be held in May.

Till then, keep on reading and stay tuned to see what happens with me in the JIB Awards (see banner on the right).

Hockey night in Israel... part 2

2007-01-22T12:42:00.000+02:00

Last night, I brought you hockey pictures, and today it is time for some hockey videos... The following video clips were taken in Metulla, Israel on January 18, 2007.

I think the videos speak for themselves, so I'll shut up!

Part 1 of 9

Part 2 of 9

Part 3 of 9

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Hockey night in Israel... part 1

2007-01-21T21:57:00.000+02:00

If you've been following this blog, you ought to know by now that North American Olim are playing hockey in Israel. The sport is alive and well... well, let's just say ticking. But then again, ticking is better than the state it was in just a few years ago.

I'm not so sure of the North American hockey history in Israel. I guess it started with a bunch of Canadians funding the Canada Centre in Metulla (a great place to go on vacation.) But for now, I think it goes without saying that there would be no monthly (sometimes 2x a month) game without the vision of one Danny S.

And this past Thursday night, January 18th, was our most recent game. Luckily, I brought a camera and someone took these great pictures and videos (coming soon).

So without further due, to the right is a picture of the great ole' Canadian, Danny S., on the ice in Metulla. He's on the left wearing number 27. I'm between the pipes with my right leg extended as far as it can go without falling off.

I forgot exactly what happened here, but from my reaction, it seems he shot the puck. Too bad for him, though, but I got the best of him in this picture. That wouldn't be the case the whole night - I think he scored 2 or 3 times (and had several assists), including a beaute' for the game winner.

Now that we had a brief intro, here are some more pictures from the game. Enjoy... and come back to see the videos soon!

The ref drops the puck!

That's me following the action from the far end of the ice.

Here's another face-off picture.

Here's me leaning on the boards between periods.

After the game, we cool off by relaxing in the pool & jacuzzi. The Olympic size pool comes complete with this luge-style slide, which actually "shoots" out of the building.

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A new feat for Go Golan

2007-01-21T12:31:00.000+02:00

First it was getting my blog off the ground; then it was getting pictures infrequently threaded throughout my posts.

Now I am coming upon a new genre: video!

Here's my first video upload... a three second clip of Yair, my newest baby boy. It was taken on January 12th.

Enjoy! And stay tuned for more updates.

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Go Golan gets the call

2007-01-18T12:58:00.000+02:00

So I’m playing hockey tonight in Metulla and work is ridiculously busy – not the best time to be nominated for the 2006 Jewish & Israeli Blog Awards.

But, I’ll take the nomination anytime. It’s a big honor to be selected amongst hundreds of other great blogs.

Actually, I’ve been nominated for two awards!

Best 'New' Blog

Best Slice of Life in Israel

Now that the voting begins, the pressure mounts to churn out quality posts and I plan to be up to the task. Be sure to check back frequently and let me know how I'm doing by voting for me and/or leaving a comment.

Since I started blogging last August, it has been my mission to be a secret ambassador for the Golan. To raise awareness about this beautiful and peaceful land. Life here is wonderful and it makes me worry that we’re in the news as of late, but like the JIB Awards, I’m very optimistic that everything will work out for the best.

Anyways, I’m off to Metulla later… and yes, I’ll bring my camera.

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Feelings on the Golan, from the Golan

2007-01-17T12:41:00.000+02:00

Yesterday, Haaretz broke a story about giving back the Golan to Syria.

Whilst the purpose of my blog is to give an "open slice of Israeli life" view and not to grapple with Israeli politics, I, nonetheless, feel it is necessary to comment about this pressing matter. After all, this is part of life in the Golan.

When Chave and I moved to the Golan Heights, we both knew - and still do - that there remains a possibility of a time when we would be forced from our home - either by war or peace. In spite of this, we believe that the Golan is the best place to raise a family and it would be just as foolish to "chicken out" on moving here because of something that might, please God, never ever happen.

Our land

In June 1967, Israel conquered the Golan Heights. The important word of the previous sentence is "conquered." Conquered land is not given up too easily, especially after the losing country tries to reclaim it by force - the Yom Kippur War in October 1973 – and continuously and adamantly professes to be rabid anti-Semitic, anti-Israel regime that supports terrorism to the max.

Since the Yom Kippur War, the Syrian border has been, by far, the quietest border Israel has known! That's right, Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt have all made more noise than the Syrians. (And don't forget that Israel is dealing with the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, too.)

Why is this so? Because we, in fact, do have an unwritten - yet understood - agreement with the Syrians.

We do?

Yeah, all you have to do is go up to the Hermon. If you don't want to travel that far north go to Har Bental and you'll see why. From these vantage points, Israel can see far into Syrian territory - including Damascus. And that is why the border on the Golan is so quiet.

Our peace with them is: let's live side-by-side, don't start up with us and we won't bomb the crap out of you.

So why should we give up land? For what? As if this will appease them. If they were interested in real peace, then they can offer us an apology for ganging up with their Arab brethren – Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq – in '67 and '73.

39-21

Just as an aside, people should know the facts about the "Syrian Golan."

The "Syrian Golan" is not some majestic land that has been a part of the Syrian people for countless centuries. No, the name Golan comes from the Bible. It was a Jewish city of refuge in the area of Bashan, which belonged to the tribe of Menashe.

When the French Mandate officially ended in April 1946, only then did the Syrians control the Golan, and that lasted until June 1967. 21 years and two months. Since then, for the past 39 1/2 years, it has been the Israeli Golan. That's right, it has been in Israeli hands for nearly twice as long as it was Syrian.

While I’m a new resident of the Golan, third generation Golanchiks are now beginning school. We have roots here – deep roots.

We are here for the long haul.

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Grazing a boar

2007-01-15T21:56:00.000+02:00

On my way home tonight with the other Shmuel from the Golan, we ran into a wild boar! Don't worry, we're all fine - including the car.

And here's how it happened.

It was almost 7 pm and I was driving in the Golan - highway 87 to be precise. Around a mile after the turn-off to Qatzrin, what seemed to be a young wild boar darted in front of my Renault. Shmuel gave me a good heads up with an awesome holler, and I slammed on the breaks hoping to avoid the animal altogether.

However, there was some contact, but we - mainly Shmuel - noticed that the boar carried on to the other side of the road and into the forest, as I slowly brought my right foot back on to the accelerator.

Shortly after, we stopped to see if there were any remnants of the boar on the car's grille. Thankfully there was not.

We were lucky.

Another second here and it could have been worse.

But in truth, I'm glad it happened. And I'm glad it happened with a close friend.

Because in the Golan (and many rural places) you always hear stories like this - or worse God forbid - and in the back of my mind, I always wondered, "What if that happened to me? Could I stop and avoid it?"

Being a goalie, I like to think that I have better than average reflexes. But seriously, if you never face something like this, you simply don't have the life experience to know what to do. And you really do a have a split second to react. Well, tonight I was able to react in the nick of time and I hope it gives me the confidence to continue to be a safe driver, please God.

In other news, earlier on the way home, I almost ran over a crazy lady who tried crossing highway 85 in the Galilee. Luckily the blare of my horn got her back on the sidewalk with plenty of time to spare. I had swerving space into the right lane, in case I needed it, too.

Drivers beware.

Shmuel Alef and Shmuel Bet

2007-01-15T21:19:00.000+02:00

Just to clear the air and to make my next post understandable for the folks out there, I want to clarify that my good friend who moved into our Moshav last week is also named Shmuel.

You see, I'm even talking to him in this picture (he's on the left, I'm on the right) - yes, we both have rugged Golan beards.

Even more so, we work together, but at work he goes by his English name, so it's less of an issue - except when co-workers think I'm crazy for addressing him with "my name."

Nevertheless, on this blog he will be forever be known as Shmuel.

And not just another Shmuel.

A Shmuel who lives in the Golan Heights!

Golan doodle dandy

2007-01-14T22:28:00.000+02:00

I might be the father of a newbie, but that still doesn't negate my paternal duties to my other two children - especially Natan, whose birthday it was last Friday.

(Okay for those close ones who are looking back at their diaries, I mean it was Hebrew birthday, which we celebrate.)

Unfortunately, there was simply no time to bake him a fancy cake - like we've done in the past.

But I did try to make him a special birthday hat.

To bad, I made it at night, because I had no idea if it would actually fit him.

In the morning I realized that I should have made it a tad bigger.

And instead of a home-made, home-iced cake, we bought him one at the local supermarket and clunked down a #2 candle in between two birthday candles.

It's fine - he seemed to like it.

And that's what counts, isn't it? I mean I put more effort into his hat than the cake, but at the end of the day it's the cake that made his day.

Alright, so I guess if the hat wasn't so dorky that would've been cool, too!

I should play hooky

2007-01-13T22:05:00.000+02:00

Well, two weeks of hanging out with the family officially come to a close tomorrow morning when I go back to the daily grind at work.

It was not a fun vacation in the sense we went to Disney Land, but it was fun spending time with the kids (trying to give Golan kids a healthy diet, getting the kids dressed, wiping running noses, etc.) and welcoming in the new little guy - Yair Nissim.

And going back tomorrow morning, I'm sure this thought will surface in my head around 10 minutes into the drive: play hooky.

That's right, call in sick!

Because around 10 minutes down the rode from where I live is the entrance to the Yehudiya Forest Nature Reserve - probably the best nature park in Israel. Located in the central Golan just south of Qaztrin, this park is home to Nahal Yehudiya and Nahal Zavitan (and some others that I can't remember), and has the best hikes that Israel has to offer - and Israel has plenty!

I can picture it now, spend the morning on a wonderful winter hike to clear my head and then spend the afternoon with the kids.

In other news, I signed up for Technorati and they asked to confirm that I am the author of Go Golan - so here's my Technorati Profile - just in case you want to know.

Just another 49 days or so

2007-01-11T12:10:00.000+02:00

Right off the bat (pitchers and catchers are reporting at the end of the month), I'd like to publicly thank everyone for sending your warmest wishes on our new addition.

The previous Go Golan post kicked up some good tangential conversations about my rugged winter look. And hubscubs summed it up with a straightforward question, which I'd like to address. hubscubs said...

i liked the beard too, but are you sure it's only for the cold golan winters or is this the new look?

Well, first of all I like the beard, too. In addition, it is cold here, so I need it.

Okay, so it's cold in a lot of places this time of year, but the difference here is that:

I can get away with it.

It's almost expected in the Golan.

It looks good on me (at least in my opinion).

As a father of 3, holding down a more-than-full-time job, and being a committed/addicted blogger it's hard to find time to take care of grooming - right at this moment, I need to change a diaper and calm Natan down, who just woke from his nap.

I'm back... Natan's eating an apple.

But the main reason is a combination of the last bullet point and it being the winter. So, come March 1st and the untrimmed beard and hair will get a shearing and I'll revert back to the normal me.

It's the little differences

2007-01-08T21:25:00.000+02:00

In the 1994 blockbuster hit Pulp Fiction, Samuel L. Jackson's character explains to John Travolta's character about "the little differences."

Now, while he was talking about funniest things about Europe, I'm talking about the little differences of living on a Moshav - and not just in the Golan Heights, this is the same for a bunch of small Jewish communities throughout the world...

Read on and let me know if you can relate...

Besides the phone ringing off the hook, people were dropping by with warm wishes after Chave gave birth. And on Sunday when it came time to pick Chave up from the hospital, I was near my breaking point.

I wanted the house to be clean when Chave came home, I wanted to give the kids lunch before we went to the hospital, and I wanted to do all of this in the short window of time from when I picked up Hadas from gan till around 3:00 pm - when Chave would be given her release form.

So just before I left to pick her up, there was a knock on the door. It was a neighbor on the Moshav with a full homemade lunch!

Everyone knows your name

And while I might not know every one's name yet, they all seem to know mine. My house was packed on Friday night for when I made a Shalom Zachor (an Ashekenazic tradition where people gather for food and drinks on the first Friday night after a baby is born). Okay, so it's not the biggest house, but it far exceeded my expectations!

The list goes on. People are throwing themselves at our feet trying to help out in any way they can.

Someone even folded my talit (prayer shawl).

Being alone with the kids on Shabbat, I didn't get a chance to fold and put away my talit in synagogue on Shabbat. And when I went this evening, I was expecting to find my talit still draped over my seat, but to my surprise it was neatly folded and tucked away in my talit bag.

So where else do you get this kind of treatment?

The Golan's newest resident

2007-01-03T23:25:00.000+02:00

Short and to the point, because it's late and I've had a roller coaster type of day.

Chave gave birth a baby boy this afternoon - who holds the distinction (for the time being) of being the newest resident of the Golan Heights!

What's even more impressive is that he's never even been to the Golan, that is if you don't count while he was in Chave's womb. He was born in Safed, the Upper Galilee city of the kabbalists and in a hospital that's situated across a valley from the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai (Rashbi), the author of the Zohar.

Camera on the way

2007-01-02T20:15:00.000+02:00

I'm open to suggestions, and just the other day, Anonymous said...

you should really keep a camera on you and give us some pics at times as well.
will make it even MORE interesting to read!

Well, he/she hit the nail right on the head.

And great minds think alike, because I bought a digital camera online last week. So after reading the comment this morning - I posted a reply; I always do - I thought, hey, let's call up the place and see just where my camera is.

The site said that the camera could take up to 10 business days. I guess that's reasonable, but this morning I found out why...

Apparently, they give themselves this leeway because they don't seem to process orders with alacrity. The sales rep put my order in while I was on the phone and said I should get it by the beginning of next week - maybe even the end of this week.

So there you have it... remember to always follow-up on your online purchases...

And stay tuned for pictures from Go Golan!

Mount Hermon, Northern Golan

2007-01-01T22:26:00.000+02:00

I admit, while I prefer the tidbit mentioned below, I cannot ignore the awesome sight of Mount Hermon that I witnessed on the way home today.

As I pulled out of Hazot Haglilit and headed north a bit on Highway 90 - the longest road in Israel, which goes from Kiryat Shmona to Eilat - I was given a taste of "the mountains."

With only ~50 miles separating the windshield of my car and the Hermon's base, it seemed that Mount Hermon was hovering in the sky as it dominated the mountainous landscape.

Glistened with snow, I had a clear view of the Israel's tallest mountain. And being in the depths going towards the Jordan River, it seemed as if I saw most of the 7,300 feet starkly rise against a beautiful sunset.

I cannot wait to get to the summit again.

Putting my foot down on New Year's Day

2007-01-01T21:46:00.000+02:00

This was a classic Hadas moment - trying to get every last bit of sugar into her bloodstream.

I took the kids our for lunch in Qatzrin and then went to a neat Gymboree place in Hatzor Haglilit (the same one we were at on Hanuka).

As if pizza and ice cream weren't enough - and for the record, she had bubble gum flavored ice cream - on the way home she asked me what the plans were for dinner. Of course, she really meant: what was for dessert!

I thought about it and felt that the kids had already amassed their monthly sugar quota, and besides it was the end of the day. So being the responsible father I am, I put my foot down on this sugar-spree and told her we can have apples for dessert.

Without missing a beat, she asks, "Can we have it with honey."

"No," I reply... and then under my breath, I say, "What, does she think today is Rosh Hashana... well it is New Year's."

...But watched snow always melts

2006-12-28T16:11:00.000+02:00

Within 18 hours...

The snow fell;
The snow stuck;
The snow melted.

And with three days to go, that's probably it for the 2006 Golan snow season.

Here's to flurriful 2007!

A watched sky never snows

2006-12-27T21:13:00.000+02:00

Just the other day I wrote about the possibilities of a Golan snow storm.

The question wasn't if it was going to happen - because snow already began to fall on Mount Hermon and in other communities scattered about the northern Golan Heights. The question was, would it snow by me?

As as boy growing up in New York, I remember the excitement... the anticipation... of going to sleep at night knowing that quite very possibly school could be closed the following day, due to a night full of flurries.

Twenty-somewhat years later, the same feeling still lingers inside of me.

And, this morning I eagerly awoke at 5:30 to see the fruition of my hopes.

But all for not. The ground, although wet, didn't have a single snowflake. And to make the boy inside of me "cry" even more, a neighbor of mine scoffed at the idea of a snowstorm here.

So the idea of rain quickly grew on me. At this rate, we'll take any precipitation that we can get. But as the day went on, the temperatures continued to go down, making us crank up the heating.

And just as I was putting Hadas and Natan to bed, there was a knock on the door. It was some kids happily informing us that it was snowing.

Snowing it was!

We showed the kids - Hadas loved it; Natan didn't grasp it. To be on the safe side, I told Hadas that it would probably all melt by the morning...

...but hey, you gotta believe!

Let it snow

2006-12-26T12:54:00.000+02:00

I've mentioned how last year I didn't experience winter. And even though it is cold this year, it hasn't rained in the Golan for nearly six weeks.

But this morning when I left Bet Knesset (synagogue), I commented to a friend about the predicted storm, and he told me that places over 400 meters might even see a blanket of snow.

We're at around 600 meters.

So I'm excited. Although no snow has fallen in my community - which is good because I don't want to get snowed out - it is raining on and off. Good news!

Also, a colleague here at work sent me this link of a live feed of the Mount Hermon Ski Resort. It's snowing there and if they get the predicted 30cm, I heard they'll open up the slopes to skiers and snowboarders.

Remember, you heard it first at Go Golan!

Benot Yaakov Bridge, Golan Heights

2006-12-24T13:56:00.000+02:00

Highway 91 - if you can call it a highway - begins in the west at Mahanaim Junction in the Upper Galilee and travels northeastwards towards Ein Zivan on the eastern stretches of the Golan Heights.

As any road that directly goes from the Upper Galilee to the Golan, it has a bridge that passes over the famous Jordan River; the bridge on this road is called the Benot Yaakov Bridge.

I've been infrequently travelling on this road since I started playing hockey a few months back.

I always knew they were working on a new bridge, but today went I over the bridge, I noticed that the construction for the new one is nearing completion.

A famous Golan bridge.

An interesting - or scary - thing about the Benot Yaakov Bridge is that it is an old bridge made of approximately 150 2x4s laid down north-south over the river.

That's right, 2x4s.

When you slowly drive over this bridge, all you hear is the wooden structure violently shaking under your car's tires.

And since this bridge is made of 2x4s, the engineers decided to build only one lane - this actually might be a blessing. As such, this junction features the only traffic light in the Golan Heights!

So, if you want to drive over this dinosaur-aged bridge, and see a traffic light before it closes... get to the Golan today.

Remember, Road 91.