Only Simchas!
June 1, 2006
I just re-read my last update from
October and realized how much has happened since then. Most of you are probably aware of the
excitement that’s been going on in the Lipkin household so I’ll just give you a
quick recap.
Marjorie got engaged in
early November, Etana got engaged in late November, Etana got married in
January, and Marjorie got married in March.
I guess that’s enough and I should stop there, but I won’t.
Both weddings were here in
Israel, and both were truly amazing in their own way. Of course, if you haven’t already, you can see pictures on our web site.
Etana’s husband is Zev
Hecht. Zev’s parents live in
Cleveland. We couldn’t have asked for
nicer Mechutanim (in-laws). Zev did his
army service last year in a program for non-citizens called MACHAL.
He then made Aliyah last summer.
They met just about a year ago on Yom Yerushalayim. The story of their meeting is terrific. You can read it in Zev’s own words on OnlySimchas. (Posted on 11/24/05 under Etana’s
name.) The wedding was
spectacular. There were nearly 500
people there. Many of Etana’s Edison
friends and many our friends and relatives from the states were here which made
it extra special.
As Randi has pointed out
several times there is something incredibly special about singing the song Od
Yishama at your child’s wedding in Jerusalem.
(The translation of the song is: May there still be heard in the cities
of Judea and in the streets of Jerusalem, the sound of joy and the sound of
celebration…)
Marjorie’s husband is Daniel
Blush. He’s originally from Staten
Island. Daniel made Aliyah about 20
years ago and now lives in Maaleh Adumin right near my brother. After a beautiful wedding in Jerusalem, Marj
had to get back to NY to finish up her job and pack up. She is planning to make Aliyah in early
June. Who would have imagined that all
of the Lipkin kids would be living in Israel?
Of course, now the pressure is on my dad to join us. Who knows?
Etana and Zev spent their
first Pesach together in Cleveland with Zev’s family. While it was hard not having them here we were happy to share
them, especially since they are with us quite often. In fact they will be here even more often now that they decided
to move just a few blocks away from us!
They didn’t move to Beit
Shemesh just because they wanted to be closer to us and get free meals. Although, that certainly is a fringe
benefit! A few weeks ago they started a
job signing people up for an affinity credit card called HAS Advantage. Within a couple of weeks they had signed up
over 175 people. The norm would have been around 50. So now, a week later, they have been given the job of creating a
Beit Shemesh branch. They’ve hired 5 people to work under them, and have a
company car!
After nearly 9 months the
work we began on our house back in August is just about finished. We’re talking 2 rooms and a porch, something
that should have taken 3 months, max. In
the end we were very disappointed with our Kablan (contractor). He’s a very nice guy, but has really lousy
time management skills. The name of his
company is “Perfect”. Some of my
neighbors had thought to add the words “Far From” to his sign in front of our
house. We added a dining room and a
den. After some deliberation we decided
to pull an “Edison” and exchange the dining room and living room. (Actually, after Randi went to work one day
I rearranged everything to “surprise” her.
She’s getting used to it.) You’ll see when you come visit.
We’ve had a constant stream
of Yeshiva guys and seminary girls come for Shabbos over the year. Elisheva has been our biggest supplier in
this area often bringing home a different group of girls; a group from her
seminary, a group from her high school, or a group from Edison.
Elisheva had a great year in
Seminary. She managed to strike a nice balance between having her seminary year
and being in the same country as her parents.
She’s taking a short trip to the States in June and will then return to
work in a drama camp in Ramat Beit Shemesh.
She’s planning to enter a program for computer graphics and web design
in the fall.
Raanan is a having a really
good year. We are so proud of him. He tells us that he’s considered the most
Israeli of the Americans by his Israeli friends in Yeshiva. He started taking his Bagrut exams this
year, which are similar to regents in New York. He constantly amazes us with his academic ability in this totally
alien environment. During Raanan’s
Pesach vacation he had guitar lessons with a professional musician named Bradley Fish. We received very positive feedback from Bradley about Raanan’s
progress. Raanan has also been honing
his web design skills as you can see if you take a look at our web site. He’s taken over my job as webmaster.
Meira’s Hebrew has
progressed very rapidly this year.
She’s now into making fun of her immigrant parents’ accents. The other day Randi was speaking Hebrew with
someone on the phone. When she got off
the phone Meira said, “That didn’t sound quite right.” She then proceeded to explain Randi’s
accenting error.
Randi has actually started
working! Her threat to become a
lifetime Ulpan student just didn’t materialize. About a month before Pesach she got a job 3 days a week filling
in for an OT in a special needs school in Betar Illit. Betar is an all-religious community about ½
hour East of here in the Gush Etzion region.
As wonderful as Ulpan was, being immersed in a Hebrew speaking
environment has really helped her skills progress. Of course the salary is pathetic. She is making less in Shekels per hour than she was making in
dollars back in the States. But it’s
good for her to be out of the house. We
were spending way too much time together.
I’m still enjoying my
non-commute. Actually, my company has
started cultivating some business here in Israel so I get to leave my little
room and see other human beings every once in a while. Most of the customers I go to are in Tel
Aviv. Though many of them know some
English I do get the opportunity to speak a little Hebrew when they let
me.
I am in the midst of a
course in Technical Writing. In the
course we are learning the various software tools needed to create documentation
for software and other products. Israel
does a lot of export to English speaking countries and Israelis are not very
good at written English, so there is a large demand for native English speakers
who are. Here’s a sample from an
instruction sheet for an Electric Sifter that Meira just bought Randi for
Mother’s day: (This is exactly as it appeared on the sheet.)
You must not operete the
sifter more then 5 minutes at the time.
I’m hoping that after the
course I’ll be able to apply this to my current work as well as to do some
free-lance work so I will be able to properly convey serious warnings about
electric sifters and other threats to humanity.
Speaking of writing, a new
blog started up earlier in the year called Beyond
Teshuva. It’s a blog for and about
Baalei Teshuva. I don’t really read too
many of these blogs, but this one seemed to be very professional and had
rabbinic guidance. After I posted a few
comments they asked to write for them.
I’ve written some articles, which you can see here.
As Shavuos approaches we
realize that our 2 year anniversary is not far behind. We’ve definitely found our niche here and
have settled nicely into our new lives.
Yet, still there are times for all of us that we really miss the “old
country”. Of course there are the
people, the dear friends and family, that we miss constantly, but especially
now as many of our friends are at the stage where they are marrying off
children. It’s really hard not being
able to share in these Simchas in person.
Even Meira every once in a while will say that she misses Tzippy and
Tova, and of course her old flame Moshe.
Beyond the people and
events, for Randi of course there’s Target and Pathmark and for me, well, it’s kind of intangible. This is going to sound a little hokey, but I
miss America. I kind of grew up in a
Norman Rockwell painting, or more accurately I WAS Kevin on the TV show “The
Wonder Years”. So as much as I know
that this is our homeland, and I understand the importance of us living here as
Jews there will always be that little piece of Americana inside of me the
bleeds red, white, and blue.
The solution is simple. All of you move here, open a Target, bowling
alley and miniature golf course and we’ll be all set!
Wishing you all a Chag
Somayach and a wonderful summer.
Menachem