Transform Our Soul

The settlers of the Kinneret Courtyard, who established their community on the southern shores of the Kinneret during the Second Aliyah, believed that they had to transform the Jewish homeland by cultivating the ground. The members of this community included: A.D. Gordon, Berl Katzenelson, Ben Zion Yisraeli, Zalman Shazar, Yosef Bussel, Shmuel Dayan, Yitzhak Tabenkin, Levi Eshkol and Rachel, the poetess. I visited the courtyard on my first stay in Israel back in 1997. Since then I have been impressed by the community's statement, "We come to this country to transform the landscape by doing so we will transform our souls."

Recent Barbecue Pictures

Pesach (Passover) is a time for barbecuing in Israel. Here are some pictures of our barbecue experiences this past week.

Our good friend Amir invited us over to his parent's house for a barbecue. Zion and Ruthi are great hosts.

Passing Gas

The gas grill, that is.

Anyone remotely familiar with our family knows that Dana is the chef in the family. Despite her love for cooking, there are a few types of cuisine that are my domain. When I say "few," I am not trying to be modest; my small culinary repertoire includes guacamole (a staple in any Californian diet), schnitzel and barbecue. I learned to make schnitzel ten years ago when I worked in the kitchen of Hotel Ramat Rachel (a kibbutz on the southern end of Jerusalem) and currently in the process of perfecting the recipe every week for our Shabbat dinners.

I have been in charge of the barbecue since we were married nearly eight years ago. One of our first purchases after our wedding was a nice gas grill from Home Depot. Ever since then, barbecue has been one of the staple cuisines in the Nassau household. In the summer months, we usually use the grill at least twice a week. Unfortunately, when we moved to Dallas we had to leave the grill in Chicago. We had to rely upon the communal barbecues for our grilling needs, yet perfected cooking steak to the extent that on celebratory occasions we have come to prefer grilling steak at home as opposed to going out for a steak dinner. We knew that once we settle into our own home that a new grill would be one of our initial purchases.

Barbecue is very popular in Israel. It is not uncommon to make a visit to a park or anywhere there are picnic tables and find the accompanying smell of meat cooking over charcoal. Thus, when we moved to Israel, we aquired a new Israeli style grill (see picture below). Yet, Israeli grills are considerably different than their American counterparts. They are more like "hibachi" style grills and are meant to be portable. They are typically quite small and heat using charcoal, not propane. I have often considered trying a charcoal grill, but I have always used a gas grill (as do most Americans), since it is difficult to get charcoal to the right temperature and it is a longer process. Propane is just easier.

After a week of real charcoal barbecues (see Dana's blog), I can't go back to gas. While propane is easier and invites more frequent use, charcoal provides both a better flavor and a better barbecue experience. After a long and a 7 1/2 year affair, I must say "Good-bye propane." Thus, I am pleased to announce that when we return to the States, one of our first purchases will be a new "Weber Charcoal Grill."

Here are some pictures from our first attempt at grilling with charcoal, Israeli style.

Abba

Ever since Ilan was born, we, Dana and I, have referred to ourselves as Ima and Abba (the Hebrew, technically Aramaic, terms for Mom and Dad). Despite our best efforts, when Ilan started talking he sporadically referred to me as either "cot" or "dada," or even "baba." A few months ago he started addressing Dana as "mommy," (soon, he applied this term to me also). Often, while we are driving, the conversation sounds something like: "Mommy!" "Yes, baby." "Cookie!!" "Mommy!" "Yes, baby." "Cookie." This dialogue can repeat for long intervals. While Dana prefers the term Ima to "mommy," I don't think she could ever get tired of hearing Ilan say "mommy." Finally, about a month ago Ilan started calling me "ABBA" (not to be confused for the Swedish rock group). A couple weeks ago when I walked in the door, Ilan exclaimed "Abba!" and, needless to say, my heart leapt. Sometimes in the morning, we can hear him talking to himself in his crib saying, "Mommy, Abba, Mommy, Abba." We turn to each other and smile.

Earlier this week we took a day trip to the northern shore of the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee). As we were walking around the remains of the synagogue at Kefar Nachum (Capernaum) Ilan started yelling "Abba! Abba! Abba! Abba!" I could hear the surrounding tourists (from the United States, Germany and elsewhere) comment to each other, quietly, "Abba" and then smile. There are very few things in life better than hearing your one-and-a-half year old son joyfully exclaim, "Abba!" During my last stint in Israel, I would walk around the kibbutz and hear little children call for their dads, saying, "Abba." At the time, I can remember thinking how precious the sound of a child calling for his/her "Abba." 

In one episode of The Office Jim looses his most significant sale of the year, which is worth 25% of his yearly commission, to his annoying associate, Dwight Schrute.  After sitting through monotonous seminars all day, Jim's love interest, Pam, falls asleep on his shoulder. Jim concludes that it was "not a bad day."

Even though we received an Israeli parking ticket later in the day, after hearing my son proclaim, "Abba! Abba! Abba!" in a crowded archeological site, I have to agree with Jim, it was "not a bad day." In fact, it was a wonderful day.

This has made me reflect upon my relationship with God, my Father. If I am pleased to hear my son address me as "Abba," then how much more is my "Father" pleased when I cry out to Him. God has given his children His Spirit and through the Spirit we are able to call out to Him as our "Abba" (Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6).

Master of the House

Earlier today Dana prohibited me from editing her blog; therefore, after a long hiatus (this is an understatement), I have reinstated my own blog, in which I am master of my own domain. Inspired by Les Miserables, I should sing, "Master of the House," but Dana does not allow me to sing in the house, or anywhere in her remote vicinity (actually, Dana does not try to control when and where I can sing, even though anyone who has ever heard me sing would not fault her from completely outlawing any attempt at music). Despite the enormous lapse in time, I do have an excuse for the dormant state of this blog. Recently, I finished my thesis, graduated from seminary and moved across the country, in the midst of chasing Ilan all around the world, literally. Thus, I have had to limit my other activities. The six-fingered man correctly says, "If you don't have your health, you don't have anything." While I doubt anyone, including Dana, will care what I have to say, I have decided to start blogging a little more frequently now that my life is a little less crazy. So I have created a world in which I can make sure all Israeli cities are spelled properly, such as Zippori. Despite taking six semesters of Greek, I still prefer Hebrew names for Israeli towns, like Zippori, instead of their Hellenized counterparts, like Sepphoris. So, I am returning to my own blog, where I am "Master of My House, Keeper of the Zoo."

Proof that I have chased Ilan around the world.