The rest of the week!

It’s been a busy week.

This week, as I mentioned earlier, I went to the main memorial ceremony for the victims of the Holocaust. It was at Yad Vashem, the national Holocaust Memorial. The Prime Minster was there, the President, The Governor General of Australia and all sorts of other dignitaries. When the PM was giving his address it took him nearly a minute to welcome all the guest of honor – I was just distinguished audience. This year, as Israel is celebrating her 60th, it was a special ceremony. They honored survivors who made a real impact on the created of the modern state of Israel. You can go to the Yad Vashem website to see who they are – it was pretty amazing. It was freezing though.

I’ve included a few pictures, though I was pretty far back. I took a few of my former Hillel students that are here as I thought they would really enjoy this type of ceremony. My friend Sarah also joined us - which was also nice.

The official "logo" if you will of the evening. You cant see it, but on the persons arm is their "number."

This is Sarah and I with our ticket in to the ceremony.
Shoshi and Rafi - Hillel@York Students

Little guy in the middle is Ehud Olmert, the Prime Minister of the State of Israel. You can also see the memorial torch that was lit. (It was actually Lit by Tommy Lapid. Lapid in hebrew means Torch. How funny was it that he got to do it... Tommy Torch! It's only natural....)

The next day at 10 am, my friend Sarah had me meet her in the shook as we stood at attention for a moment of silence for those that were murdered in the Shoah. A siren goes throughout the whole country and a good majority of people stop and observe it. People get out of their cars and stand at attention. The shuk stopped. A place that is always the hustle and bustle of the city froze to honor the victims. It’s a pretty moving thing. We have another one next week as we remember those soldiers and victims of terror that have died.

After that, I then spent the day with my good friend Dr. Avi Rose as we ran through the city catching up and getting some errands done. Today, Friday, I am having a friend of mine over for dinner. I met Alex a few years ago while staffing USY on Wheels, he also made aliyah and just finished his stint in the army. He is off to India next week for a much-deserved holiday. Gila, my roommate, will also be joining us. Should be a nice dinner. I just finished cooking a roast (mmmm)

As many of you know, I do most – if not all, of my shopping in the shuk. Nissim, the butcher, made sure to give me a nice cut of meat (which smells AMAZING) and one of my usual stores where I pick up odds and ends for the apt invited me in for a cup of tea. Unfortunately I had to get home to start cooking, but it was very sweet of him. It’s nice having stores where people actually remember you. They must see 100’s of people over the week yet still remember you and want to know how you are. It’s a nice feeling….

Anyways, I will head back to the shuk later to pick up anything that I have forgotten. Should be a great meal, I’m excited. Here’s the menu (just to make you hungry!)

Humus
Spicy Carrot Salad
Yerushalmi Kugel (it’s a sweet Jerusalem Kugel and amazing)
Roast potatoes (made by Gila)
Salad
Chicken Stir Fry
Mustard Roast
Chocolate Éclairs for dessert.


Should be a good time

Next week I have a few possibly work related things to check out – so that should be a good thing. Think good thoughts! I will also head out to visit a few friends on their moshav.

Alright – back to getting ready for Shabbat

Shabbat shalom!