Guest Post by Kara

 From my friend and neighbor, Kara, who sums up the current situation better than my Pesach-cleaning brain can:

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Clean out the cabinets for Pesach, but make sure you’re stocked with food for 3 days.

Don’t watch the news, but keep an eye on Iran.

Keep your kids safe, but draft your son tomorrow.

Make your summer tickets, but don’t plan too far ahead.

Send your kids to Jerusalem on the bus every day, but watch out for Ramadan terror attacks.

Bring the hostages home at any and all cost, but absolutely no ceasefire with Hamas.

Attacks are imminent, so store your passports and stock your safe rooms, but don’t panic.

Talk to your kids about what’s happening, but not too much.

Finish Hamas, but also pull the army out of Gaza almost completely.

Strike Lebanon on the daily, but don’t go to war.

Take care of your mental health, and don’t stay stuck inside, but don’t go too far from home.

Celebrate our Exodus from Egypt, but also your GPS says you’re in Cairo.

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My son went into the Army last Wednesday.

Too many emotions to describe.

Love.

Pride.

Fear.

Duty.

Pride.

Separation.

Honor.

Pride.

Love.

Hashem should bless and keep all of our soldiers safe. Physically, emotionally, healthy in body and spirit.

Sruli, Yisrael, named for the land that has always had my heart, we love you and are so incredibly proud of you, and are with you every step of the way.

Blessing him before he leaves

Shabbat Shalom

Iranian Missile/Drone Strike, aka: What.....A.....Night.....

 Iran has increased its rumbling (for lack of a better word) for the past few days, leading many schools that started Pesach break on Friday to send kids home with extra work for *after* Passover has finished in case school can't resume. Friday, Iran sent warnings that an attack would happen in the next 24-48 hours. Okaaaaay......Penina and Menashe spent Shabbat with us, not so much because any of us were so stressed, more because we were having a mellow Shabbos and they had had a busy week. Shabbos, thankfully, was beautifully quiet. Maybe Iran was having second thoughts? Went to the tehillim group on my street and said some extra.....

Menashe, Penina, Ilana and I went to the biggest grocery store in the area Saturday night to do our Passover shopping. I felt like, "at least if something happens, we'll have our matzah and jam". Didn't buy the dairy products, so no cream cheese and jam :)

And then.....

Around 10:30, just as we were finishing the shopping, Iran announced that they had started sending missiles that wouldn't arrive for a few hours

and the Israeli government announced that everyone should stay near a bomb shelter

and that all schools and pre-Pesach camps/programs would be closed today and tomorrow (Sunday and Monday)

WHAT A NIGHT. The first missiles arrived around 1:30 in the morning. The noise was unbelievable.....a LOT of missile interceptions seen/heard from our city (b''H although many areas close to us got azakot/sirens and had to enter their bomb shelters, our city did not) and fighter jets going all through the night. (I heard that something like 99% of the Israeli air force was in the air last night)

(A friend's photo and caption)

We were up most of the night (I have NEVER texted with so many people at 3 in the morning before) and have also never before said so much tehilim in the middle of the night (Shalom Shachne found an article [it's in Hebrew, lmk if you want the link] that says that the most popular Google search from Israel last night was for people looking to say tehillim). 

Best memes of the night (just a little Pesach humor)

All in all, an extremely miraculous night. Thank you, Hashem. According to the Wall Street Journal, over 350 drones and cruise and ballistic missiles were launched at Israel and zero people died and only one person (a Bedouin girl) was seriously injured. In the meantime, economists are estimating that the cost of thwarting that attack (also known as "the first direct flights from Iran to Israel since 1979"), cost over $550 million (maybe you want to invest in an Israel Bond?!)

And sorry I am too darn tired to write a more coherent blog post. This will have to do!!

I Didn't Know Him.....And Yet I Feel Sad.....

When the war started, spreadsheets went around asking people to sign up to do mitzvot or learn religious texts/say tehillim for a particular hostage. All of the children who were being held hostage instantly had a long list of people praying for them. I found two people who, in those early days, didn't have anyone signed up for them and began to do my bit to help Elad ben Chana (single, age 47) and his mother, Chana bat Sarah. Their father/husband Rami, hy''d, was murdered on October 7 at their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, where Elad was his parents' main caretaker. Chana was released November 24 and is in poor health due to lack of receiving her medications and inadequate food while being held hostage (looking at you, Red Cross: you're doing a LOUSY job here. In the early days, I tried to believe your "we can't say what we're doing but we're really doing a lot behind the scenes". But now it just seems like Roosevelt playing with Stephen Wise  all over again). 

Every Friday, I've been signing up with Nation On Pause for Elad ben Chana. I've found out a little about him. He was a farmer....He loved soccer, especially the Maccabi Haifa team, traveling hours to get to their stadium....He volunteered for the Hadar Goldin Foundation (horrifically ironic, since Hadar Goldin, too, was kidnapped into a terror tunnel and killed by Hamas)....He loved his niece and nephew,,,,,,

And now he has been added to the list of those murdered.....Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ, Hamas' totally evil first cousin) killed him in January, and an Israeli commando brigade operation brought his body back to Israel where it was buried on his beloved kibbutz. This was the news that greeted us when we turned our phones on after Shabbat. I didn't know him, and yet I feel sad.....

Elad ben Avraham, hy''d, may your memory be for a blessing

HTTP://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-795684

Koach = strength

 When the war started, my sister (genius that she is) asked me to post on my Whatsapp status every day so she'd know we were okay. In the beginning (mostly bc were were in the bomb shelter fairly frequently), it was easy to post. Now I'm often scrambling (photo of Percy, anyone?!).

I think a lot of us in Israel are feeling tired and beaten down. We've been at war half a year, Iran's breathing down our necks, antisemitism is going crazy all around the world and it just doesn't seem to end....(Fun fact: Israel is scrambling GPS signals , making everyone very confused [the joke on other people's Whatsapp status is that GPS is showing them to be in Lebanon. Although it might not be a joke])

So when Tuesday rolled around and that's when I usually make dinner for two families of soldiers and I was feeling blah, I posted this to my Whatsapp status as a reminder both to myself and others:

And I'm glad I posted it as my status because a) someone I barely know sponsored pizza for a family! and b) a good friend was asked to host a 13th soldier at her Shabbos table when her table really only holds 12 and now her family will add a folding table and c) both recipient families sent messages that they loved their dinners (which I don't take as a given)

Shabbat Shalom. b''eH a quiet and peaceful Shabbat is on its way.

Purim Gifts in a Time of War

 Still gotta give mishloach manot so here we goooo

Everyone gets a donation card from an organization that gives gift cards at local restaurants to army spouses and families

And two food gifts with the names of hostages to daven for (big thanks to Morah Sheila for finding that file. PM me if you'd like it)

chabad.org/hostages has an up-to-date (heartbreaking) list of names to pray for

---------------Shortest blog post ever now done ;). Shabbat Shalom and Purim Sameach.

You Say 'Potato', I Say, "Whaaat?!"

 Just a few funny linguistic moments to share:

In ulpan this week, we had to share a recipe. I chose to talk about chocolate chip cookies (specifically this fabulous no-bowl recipe that has literally changed my chesed abilities as I never was a big baker). To recap, I'm the only American in the class. The teacher (formerly from Moscow) asked if I thought it was true that Americans only like sweet food (which struck me as a gross generalization, yet also likely true). Another former Russian in the class was stymied about the concept of chocolate chips. This puzzled me because they are sold in every grocery store and the Hebrew is literally "chocolate chips" transliterated. 

So I showed a photo on my phone and we had a chuckle because she was thinking of *these* kind of chips (which is kind of amusing to think of them made out of chocolate and served with ketchup):

We then spoke about the chivito sandwich of Uruguay (oh eek--not to my taste.....a variety of meats [including some biggie non-kosher ones, like both bacon AND ham], cheese and egg. Should be served with a side of Lipitor, in my opinion) and Russian salad (cubed potatoes and carrots slathered in mayo). Let's just say I wasn't rushing out to prepare anything we spoke about in class that night :).

But the episode reminded me of something funny that happened during the race. At around 18 km in, after running on that really soft salty sand (sandy salt?!) I had rocks in my shoe. Hmm....What to do? I was pretty tired by that point and no way could I stand on one foot to take my shoe off. If I sat on the ground, I wasn't totally sure I would be able to get back up.....There were only three more km to go until the end of the race and I wasn't sure there would even be another first aid/refreshment station when: hooray! There wasn't an official station, but standing along the side up ahead was a guy with a Hatzala vest on. He was standing talking to two other men and next to his first aid bag was.....a chair! A super low plastic lounge chair, but better than nothing. He saw me eyeing the situation as I trotted up (speedy running having been left behind a few kilometers back):

"At b'seder? (Are you okay)?"

"Ken. Ani b'seder. Yesh li.....(Yes, I'm fine. I have...."

Hmmm. My brain wasn't working so well in Hebrew at that moment (all energies, as you may well imagine, being concentrated in the lower self). How to say "rocks" in Hebrew???

I thought the word was "avanim" but couldn't quite remember. Especially because that word always seems messed up to me, and I think it should be "anavim". 

Oh shoot--"anavim" are grapes. A picture popped into my head of "anavim" being in my shoe.

Hmmmm.....Maybe I had the word ending wrong and it ends in "ot" not "im"....Yeah, that might be it! Maybe I should tell him I have "arnavot" in my shoe. ARGH. No, that's not right. Arnavot are bunnies. A picture popped into my head of pulling my shoe off and THESE falling out:

By that time, I really needed to finish my sentence, I gave up and said in English, "I have rocks in my shoe". He clearly did not speak English but got the idea when I emptied my shoe, got up and left.

Welcome to the inner workings of my brain in Hebrew. As I said to one of my ulpan teachers a few years back after a similar episode, "I'm almost always in the right neighborhood but rarely at the right house" (at least I said THAT correctly in Hebrew).

Marathon Update

 WOOHOO! I did it!

On Friday, 2/2, I completed the Dead Sea Half Marathon. Wow, what a "chavaya" (experience) *that* was! I left with my running partner Libi, her 11 year-old daughter and two young friends at 4 in the morning and returned home at 2 pm. 

What kind of things does one see at a marathon in Israel? First off, a parking lot minyan ("yeah, we're right by the Lamborghini. Look for the guys davening--you can't miss us")

Then, upon entering the race area there's, of course, Chabad of the Dead Sea busy with a tefiillin stand 

Some things seemed to be different this year due to the war:

Umm, REALLY? In previous years could you just check your gun?!

There were the usual cast of characters one finds at a marathon (guy running in a dinosaur costume, a few people in tutus) and the Israeli legend himself: "The Pineapple Guy", 70 year-old Moshe Lederfien who has run marathons around the world while balancing a pineapple on his (very still) head. Which, given that pineapples here are CRAZY expensive (like $10 for a very small one), I don't quite understand. Because if your head bobbles and your pineapple falls, you are out a chunk of change AND a nice snack for after the race.....

The course was really interesting. The area is GORGEOUS (truly one of my top places in Israel) and we were running in an area that is off-limits to civilians 364 days a year. Since we ran straight out towards Jordan, I could see why....The area most of the race is run on is a breakwater and a natural sea border between Jordan and Israel. 

I had read that the course had "minimal asphalt" but hadn't really stopped to think what the alternative was: SALT. A lot of salt. Imagine running on the soft sand of a beach, except change that sand to salt--chunky, hard salt. At times the salt even got deep and started shifting around. Since the last time I ran on a beach I was a kid and running with my sister and cousin, I was not quite prepared for this:

But it sure was pretty:

The temperature was pleasant to run in (about 60F), but there was some drizzle and REALLY strong winds. As we were running out, I had hopes that it was an "out and back" race and we'd end up with a tailwind, but, nope, it's an "out, turn left, then back" race so once we were in the middle of the Dead Sea the wind was a side wind. Here's a picture I took on the drive home:

Friday was the secular date of my sister-in-law Hilary's death....

Lots of people ran with shirts, flags or other decorations for the hostages and/or the Israeli soldiers. I ran behind this guy, who ran while holding a sandwich board for Hersh Goldberg-Polin  

I carried an Israeli flag over the finish line with the names of the people I was running in memory of (darn that wind!)

It was all worth it for this photo (insider's hack: I am not, truth be told, leading all those runners. Note the difference in the color of our race numbers: I am in the back of the pack for the half marathoners and the full marathon guys are gaining on me. But it makes a great photo!!)

A HUGE thank-you to everyone who supported me in my fundraising for Lema'an Achai (it's not too late!). I loved each and every supportive note and thought of them when I was slogging along :)

And when you see my car, you'll know I worked darn hard for every meter of that run and every centimeter of this sticker:

Wedding, War, Walking and WHOA

 As the war wears on, here are a few experiences I've been thinking about:

Went to our first wedding since the war started. Actually, it was the first I've been to since Penina and Menashe's wedding in September. So all the nice memories of *their* wedding were mixed up with the at-times overwhelming emotions going through me for *this* wedding. Seeing the father of the bride emotionally lead us in tehilim (psalms) as the chuppah started while fighter jets roared overhead......I don't really have words to convey what that was like.....And again feeling SO much thanks to Eitan the wedding planner who convinced Penina and Menashe not to wait until the Holidays were over in October to get married (and a heartfelt 'thank you' to Eitan for his service to our country. He was called up almost immediately and spent 73 days defending our country before, now, going back to wedding planning. He's a very well-rounded guy ;)).

And then singing "Acheinu" while the couple was under the chuppah to use the incredible energy of this time to help our hostages......

Wishing Yoni and Racheli a heartfelt Mazal tov.

I'm still trying to do my bit to help soldiers and their families. I'm making dinner once a week for one or two local families where the father has been called up (last week I also made for friends who had their first baby and also made some parts of Shabbat dinner for someone who used to work for Shalom Shachne and was sitting shiva for his father. That's the crazy thing--all the "normal" chesed needs are still there). 

My 8 year-old friend Bella now comes to shul with me on Shabbat, since she misses going with her father. It's about a ten-minute walk from my house to hers, so not too bad. Ilana, who generally makes her extra money by working as a math tutor, has started to babysit for Bella's family, which definitely counts as a chesed since she doesn't usually accept babysitting jobs ;).

The Homefront Command is suggesting that people prepare for a "multiple day blackout due to the situation up north, which may escalate into war at any given moment" (according to the "Beit Shemesh News"). Please join me in praying for permanent peace and security for our beautiful, holy land.

Dead Sea Half Marathon

Next Friday, I am b’’eH going to be running the Half Marathon at the Dead Sea. “Ellen…..YOU?!” you might be saying. Which would be totally understandable, especially for those of you who have known me since my (rather frail) youth. 

Running a half marathon has been a goal of mine since I started running in 2017 and this year I am REALLY MOTIVATED to actually do it. Why? Because I am running as a fundraiser for my favorite local charity, Lema’an Achai. I have twice run 10K in the Jerusalem Marathon for Lema’an Achai and, for those of you who supported my previous runs, I thank you. The work Lema’an Achai has done with your donation to break the cycle of poverty and give families “a hand up, not a hand out”  is incredible. But this year, they need more support; they have now expanded their mission with an emergency campaign due to the war.

My motivation is also because I am running in memory of two special people, both of whom had a strong connection to Lema’an Achai and neither of whom I EVER could have imagined would not be here, also running this year.

My friend Yosef Newman (Yosef Refael ben Chaim) died of cancer on January 20, 2023 (yes, I am writing this exactly one year after the secular date of his passing). In January 2019, Yosef, Chani and I were sitting together at the Lema’an Achai volunteer appreciation night and Yosef, who was about to run the Half Marathon in Jerusalem, was so encouraging that, although I was only running 10K for LA that year, he helped me form a vision for how I could turn that into a half marathon in 2020 (thanks, Covid. Here we are four years later with me finally bringing to fruition the first tiny hopes that Yosef encouraged). 

I am also running in memory of my neighbor, Binyamin Airley (Binyamin Meir ben Ze’ev Dovid) who was killed in action in Gaza on November 18, 2023, just two short months ago. The Airley family is so supportive of Lema’an Achai that his mother Jen continued to host the “Loaves of Love” campaign from her house even during the shloshim (first thirty days) after Binyamin’s death. Jen and  Binyamin ran the Jerusalem Half Marathon as a Lem’an Achai fundraiser a few years ago and the Airleys have hosted the pre-marathon dinner at their house many times. 

Please support my half marathon in memory of Yosef and Binyamin and to help Lema’an Achai continue their crucial work. Thank you.

https://www.lemaanachai.org/chesedathon/en/athlete/ellen-goldberg-3159/

85 Days at War....

Here are a few things I haven't written about:

Last night, to ring in 2024, Hamas sent a huge barrage of missiles at Israel right at midnight (grrr). Thankfully, we didn't have a siren here, but there were so many in areas near enough to us that we heard quite clearly that we weren't in Kansas anymore and, no, those weren't fireworks (and again, grrrr).

Recently, we had an incoming-missile siren on a Friday evening when it was already Shabbos. We had friends visiting (Malden's own Ariella and fam!) and most of us were already at shul when the siren went off. We were in the middle of a rousing Lecha Dodi (hearing nothing from outside) when I noticed a member come into shul and talk very animatedly with the Rabbi. He was waving his arms around and looked quite concerned (a real 180 from his usual calm self). Just as I was wondering if he was okay, a little kid playing on the street stuck his head in the window and yelled "AZAKAAAAA!" ("siren"). I stood up and loudly said in Hebrew that women should go into the kitchen area (which, ha, is literally just following the plan the shul has; I didn't realize how funny it is that the women go into the kitchen [and, FYI, in our shul, all the food prep is done by a man]). When I arrived at the kitchen, I turned around and saw.....three other women with me--the only other Anglos there out of about 20 women. After the requisite waiting period (and while joining the rest of the shul in continuing with singing [with as little pause as possible]) we went back and saw that not a single Israeli had moved. Not sure what to make of it, but we can at least say that we American women like to follow rules :).

I went back home as soon as the waiting period was over to see if Ariella was okay. b''H she had been putting the baby to bed in the guest room which is our safe room (and WHEW that we reviewed all those safety details when they showed up: "Not that we're expecting any sirens because we haven't had one in WEEKS". Yeah, right.....). Ariella was a total champ about dealing with this on her own. 

And in other news, last week I did something I never thought I'd do: go to shiva for someone I didn't know when I also have no connection to the family. Two soldiers from our city were killed in action last week. One whose parents are American-Israeli and the second who is Ethiopian-Israeli. I heard from Chana that SHE heard that the second soldier's shiva was very lightly attended and could I post to some local groups about it. I figured if my daughter in New York was sending me a message about it, then I should take it as "A MESSAGE" and go myself. My friend Sharon also wanted to go and we took a woman from the neighborhood whom neither of us knew. 

Definitely a lot of cultural differences at this shiva but also so much the same. Different: Sharon, whose daughter-in-law is Ethiopian, said we should bring drinks and cakes/snacks as they would have tables of food out so that people could make a blessing in memory of the deceased before eating. She also said we should bring *cleaning supplies*. "Cleaning supplies? Really? I can't do it. It's like showing up at the house of a complete stranger and telling them their house is dirty". But when we showed up, there was, indeed, a section near the food where people had brought toilet paper and....cleaning supplies. 

This beautiful family (he had seven sisters and one brother.....) was so truly "brought low" by shiva. I know everyone looks low when sitting on a low chair, but these people really looked like they had 10000 lb weights on their shoulders. It was very, VERY sad. 

not my photo--scooped from social media

Someone who looked vaguely familiar was sitting next to me, and she leaned over and asked if I had been at the shloshim for our neighbor, the soldier who was killed in action (which I've barely touched on here. Suffice it to say: Raw. Emotional. Still processing.....). Turns out she was sitting next to me at the shloshim ceremony for him as well (what are the chances?). At the same time, we wished each other that we should meet at a happier occasion the next time. And then she paused, reached over and took my hand and invited me to her daughter's wedding on Monday. Like I didn't have enough tears already....