picofweek_archive

December 27, 2008 (go to News December 27, 2008)

Maayan presenting his book to Pinhas Amitai

When Maayan was younger, he used to sleep with books under his pillow to help him fall asleep. He used to choose a page with an animal that is "strong" but not "bad", and sleep with that page open so that if he had a bad dream the animal would help him. The two books that he used the most were a book of mammals, and a book about reptiles written by Pinhas (Pini) Amitai.
Pini Amitai has written numerous books about animals, so it was a special treat for Maayan when he visited Pini at his home, and saw his collection of reptiles. When Pini sent him a copy of his new book, Zehirut Akrabim (Beware! Scorpions), he decided that he too would write a book and give it to Pini to thank him.
Maayan chose the pictures and dictated the descriptions to Moran, who arranged for the printing of the booklet, which was duly presented to Pini.
You can see the pages of the book by clicking here. (Press the PgDn key there to go from page to page )

Both Maayan and Lotem are fascinated by reptiles and insects, as can be seen from these pictures of Maayan and Lotem.

December 20, 2008 (go to News December 20, 2008)

Patisa Rasmussen and our daughter Vered have been close friends since they were in High School in the Virgin Islands, and we consider Patisa one of the family. She's visiting in Israel now, and this was our first opportunity to meet her lovely and friendly daughter Sofia.(see also Archives). Patisa lives in Denmark with her husband Jens who'll be joining her in a few days.
Click for another picture.

December 13, 2008 (go to News December 13, 2008)

Back: Aviv Ron, Eitan, Gabi Dvir, Lior Ron, Denise Braverman,Nico Arroyo, Shai Arroyo
On Sofa: Lotem Segoli, Doreen, Louise Braverman, Donni Dvir with Avigail, Yahel Braverman, Vered Ron, Danielle Ron

Last night Denise Braverman (see Glezer, Nochimovicz, and Schan k family trees) and her companion Shai Arroyo invited Denise's family for a family dinner. It's always nice when family gets together, and the delicious meal and excellent company ensured that we enjoyed a really lovely evening.
Here are some more pictures of the event.

December 6, 2008 (go to News December 6, 2008)

back row: Jeff Greenstein, Eleanor Gamsy, Dickie Hirschberg, Colin Kessel, Maureen Koningfest, Aura Bilchik, Hillel Factor, Carol Vigdor, Naomi Levine, Misha Ehrlich, Doreen Shapiro (Shappy), Dave Rothschild
row 3: Ian Maltz, Joan Baharach, Anthony/Eitan Levy, Naomi Hertz, the late Cedric Shapiro, the late Fern Levy, the late Viv Klaff, Brenda Brazil
row 2: Marcia Shapiro, Doreen, Estelle Rothschild, Melanie Belman, Frankie Klaff, Erica Driman, ??, Ilana Rubenstein, Lynn Strasburg, Miriam Ballin, Dawn Lurie
front row: Harold Cilewitz, Dave Barkham, Aaron Rose

This picture, taken probably circa 1958, is of an annual kenes (congress) of the Natal branch of the Jewish youth movement Habonim. Apart from its historical interest, the pictures is a reminder of how close we were then as a group. Even though we now live in at least 6 different countries around the world, we still have some form of contact with nearly half the people in the picture, and some of them are numbered among our closest friends. Of couse we didn't know it at the time, but Doreen my future wife is sitting in front of me; and Frankie Klaff is in the picture with both her future husbands, Vivian Klaff and Dave Rothschild.
We were fortunate that Colin Kessel was visiting as an official guest (from the head office?) - he gave me this picture!

November 29, 2008 (go to News November 29, 2008)

This week Doreen took a group down to Eilat. On the way they stopped at Sde Boqer to see Ben Gurion's grave and memorial. This was an opportunity for Maayan to see what his granny does for a living. I don't know how much he learned about Ben Gurion, but I'm sure he enjoyed the experience and the break from his kindergarten.

November 22, 2008 (go to News November 22, 2008)

Eitan, Louise Braverman, Doreen, Maya and Rafi Fridman

I was in Eilat for the Red Sea Bridge Festival, and Doreen joined me for the weekend after finishing her tours. With Doreen's sister Louise, who was playing in the bridge festival, we took the opportunity of visiting the Eilat Herb and Spice Shop, a new venture of Rafi Fridman, son of Ariella and the late David Fridman. We couldn't resist buying a variety of herbs, spices, teas and granolas and recommend this shop to all Eilat visitors.

November 15, 2008 (go to News November 15, 2008)

Itamar and Ilai Levy

I'm in Eilat and will be here,on and off, next week as well, at the Red Sea Bridge Festival. I'm staying with Aviv and Limor and enjoying their company and of course the grandchildren. I was very happy to see how gentle and caring Itamar is with Ilai, his baby sister. I tried to get a picture of the three grandchildren, Itamar, Amit and Ilai together and all three looking at the camera together, but it's a "mission impossible".

November 8, 2008 (go to News November 8, 2008)

Lior Ron (in yellow cap), with two other pupils, receiving the Prize Cetificates on behalf of Yachdav School and the Raanana Municipality

At the beginning of the school year, the Parents' Committee of Yachdav Primary School in Raanana implemented, together with the Road safety Council, an idea suggested by Vered Levy-Ron. Pupils meet in a park in the morning and then walk along a safe route (funded by the Raanana Municipality) to school, accompanied by adults.
The Raanana Municipality, which supports and funds the project, won two prizes at the "Sustainable Transport" Competition, organised by the Ministries of Transport and Environment. The project was cited not only for the healthy walking, but also for resultant reduction in traffic problems in the school area in the morning, and in pollution.
Lior was chosen to be one of the three pupils receiving the prize, in part in order to recognize the part played by her mother, Vered, in proposing and implementing the project.

November 1, 2008 (go to News November 1, 2008)

Lotem putting the finishing touches to her birthday cake

Lotem was 3 years old on October 26. She celebrated with the family and later had a birthday party at her gan (kindergarten). There are some more pictures here.

October 25, 2008 (go to News October 25, 2008)

l to r: Dani Ron, Aviv Levy (back), Moran Segoli, Caroline Livni, Doreen, Mikhal Segoli

While I was in Beijing, the family went to Eilat to celebrate Sukkot, the Festival of the Tabernacles. The highlight was the Family Dive to honour Danielle, the newest scuba diver in our clan. The dive was supervised by Aviv Levy, a qualified dive instructor.
For more pictures on the dive and on sukkot, see Events of 2008, and Danielle's page.

October 18, 2008

The Israel Junior Bridge Team at the World Mind Sports Games Beijing 2008
Ron Schwartz, Bar Tarnovski, Alon Birman, me, Eliran Argelazi, Gilad Ofir, Lotan Fisher

I enjoyed my time in Beijing at the 1st World Mind Sports Games, as a Tournament Director (referee) in the Juniors series. I also got a lot of pleasure from the Israel Youth Bridge team, who played well and behaved well. Their results were impressive, and with a little bit of luck could have been even better.
Israel finished 5th out of 74 countries in the qualifying stage of the under 28 teams championships but were knocked out by China in the quarter finals.

With two deals to go (out of 72 deals) Lotan and Ron were leading the field in the Pairs Championships, but a Turkish pair just managed to pull ahead and Ron and Lotan had to be content with the Silver Medal - a fantastic achievement. Alon and Eliran were always among the leaders and finished a very respectable 7th (out of 96 pairs who made it to the final stage). Bar and Gilad just missed the cut for the A final, but made amends by finishing 3rd in the B finals.

October 11, 2008

Teaching the Chinese how to carve a duck

Hello from Beijing, China, where I am officiating in the Bridge Section of the First International Mind Sports Games, the Olympic Games of the mind sports. There are five main sections: Bridge, Chess, Draughts, Go and Xiangqi, with 3000 participants. I am Assisant Chief Tournament Director of the Junior Series of the games (under 28, under 26, under 21). We work quite hard during the day, but nights are free, and we have found some exceptional restaurants, such as the duck restaurant pictured above where they carve the ducks at the table. Of course I had to try my hand at carving, but although I consider myself an excellent carver I came nowhere near their speed or accuracy. Apart from the culinary delights, I haven't seen too much of Beijing, but enough to note the remarkable changes since our visit here 20 years ago.

October 4, 2008

Vered Loew and Dotan

Mazeltov to Vered and Yoav Shavit on the birth of a boy, their first child, Dotan, on 29th September 2008. Mazeltov too to proud grandparents, Yaffa and Andy Loew.

September 27, 2008

Felix Karlsbad 1919 - 2008

Felix Karsblad died this week on September 24th, aged 89. Our thoughts and condolences go out to his children, Rachel Karlsbad, and Zvike and Zahava Karlsbad; and to his gandchildren, Asaf and Roni. See Schank family tree.

September 20, 2008

Mica Tavi Matz, a few days old

Congratulations to Gavin and Jodie-Beth Matz on the birth of their first child, daughter Mica Tavi, in Manchester,England on 16th September 2008. (see Matz family tree.). Mazaltov also to grandparents Leon and Jennifer Matz of Cape Town.

September 13, 2008

Lotem doing stretching exercises with Grannie Doreen.

There are a few things that are "Granny Doreen" to the grandchildren. Making muffins is definitely one of them; the other is morning stretching. The grandchildren are especially fascinated with exercises that include "reach for the sky", "pull me-push me", "hiss-meow" and "stars in your eyes." This week we slept over in Sde Boqer after attending a wedding of a colleague's son at the Eshkol Nature Reserve in the Negev. The following morning Lotem duly did her stretching exercises with "Grrrrannie Dorrrreen".

September 6, 2008

Vered Levy-Ron arrives at Ben Gurion Airport

Danielle and Lior were at Ben Gurion airport to greet mommy Vered on her return from the USA. Joining them were Dani's friend Meirav, Doreen and of course Lopsy

August 30, 2008

Ezra, Moran and Hans Reijzer

We were in Amsterdam to celebrate Moran Reijzer's barmitzvah last Saturday 23/8/08. We thoroughly enjoyed the barmitzvah, the company and hospitality of the Reijzer family, and Amsterdam.
See also News items from 30/8/08 and 23/8/08
More pictures here.

August 23, 2008

The Yaniv family (Nitzan, Naama, Moishik, and Rotem) with the new additions - Ido and Amit

Mazaltov to Naama and Moshik Yaniv on the birth of twin boys, Amit and Ido, brothers to Nitzan and Rotem. Congratulations to great-grandmother Rachel, grandparents Yael and Avraham Segoli, and sisters Mikhal, Dikla and Ophra.

August 16, 2008

We were delighted to have another opportunity of seeing long-time friends Aura (nee Bilchik) and Hilton Greenberg at the barmitzvah of their grandson Richard Hyde in Jerusalem. The Greenbergs and Hydes live in Toronto, Canada, but Richard celebrated his barmitzvah at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Our friendship with the Greenbergs goes back many many years - Doreen and Aura were classmates in Durban and I was at some time their madrich in the Habonim youth movement. Aura's mother, Luba Bilchik, was one of my Hebrew teachers at afternoon cheder classes. I also knew Hilton from before he met Aura.
Mazaltov to the Greenbergs, and to Richards parents, Jeanette and Gary Hyde. A special mazaltov to great-grandmother Luba Bilchik.
For a previous meeting with the Greenbergs, see the archives of This Week's Picture for 7 January 2006.

August 9, 2008

Happier times

At this time of sadness and mourning for my sister Fern and Doreen's nephew Rael, it seems appropriate to recall happier times. At Aviv and Limor's wedding in November 1998 in Eilat, Rael (standing on right) and Fern (sitting on right) share some fun with the family and 3 year old Danielle.
Links to Rael's Memorial Page and Fern's Memorial Page.

August 2, 2008

Rael Anthony Braverman 5.4.1964 - 2.8.2008

With overwhelming sadness we announce that our nephew Rael, passed away today, following complications after a transplant operation. Rael is the son of Doreen's sister Louise and Melly Braverman, and brother of Denise and Yahel; to whom our hearts go out. Rael was always an integral part of our family and his passing is deeply felt. We, and Vered, Aviv, Moran and families are shattered at the loss.
Link to Rael's Memorial Page

July 26, 2008

Fern T. Levy 18.11.1942 - 21.07.2008

At the beginning of our stay in America we were informed of the sad news that my sister Fern had passed away. Fern had recently been diagnosed with lung cancer, but her sudden death, apparently of a heart attack, was a shock to us all. Fern had been living in Wales for many years, where she taught in high school. She was also an accomplished alpinist and an active volunteer in the local Search and Rescue Team. She was a talented and principled person, who always fought for the rights of the underprivileged. A few years ago she spent three highly successful years as a volunteer in a backward area of Namibia, giving of her knowledge and skills to the inexperienced teachers there.

See also the family picture at Fern's 60th, and a picture of our visit last year. Link to Fern's Memorial Page

July 19, 2008

Eli, Moriah and Alma Pashas

Last Saturday evening we welcomed Alma (more pictures here), born 31 May, 2008, daughter of Moriah and Gil Pashas, and granddaughter of Rochelle and Moshe Kirshner, at alovely party held at the Kirshner's farm. See Schank family tree.

July 12, 2008

Congratulations to Tali Klaff

A couple of months ago we wrote about the sporting achievements of Alex and Tamir Klaff (click here for details of Alex's triathlon and Tamir's Primal Quest success. )

Tali, their daughter, is certainly taking after her parents. On July 4 she marched in the parade with her gym class and entertained the crowd by doing cartwheels and splits on the road. (Click here for picture). This week she competed in her first swim meet and won her heat in the freestyle, came in second in backstroke and third in the relay. Congratulations, Tali. The next Olympic Games is in 4 years time.

See Goldberg family tree.

July 5, 2008

Row row row your boat ........

Near Sde Boqer, where the Segolis live, there is a Nabatean pool or cistern. The Nabateans were Arab commercial nomads who knew the secrets of the desert. Over 2000 years ago they had damming systems, waterholes, and even vineyards. They had settlements in many places in the desert, and thus travelled and controlled the camel "Spice Route" from the Persian Gulf to the port of Gaza.. The Nabateans took goods originating in the Far East, from the Persian Gulf through the desert (Petra, Avdat etc) to the port of Gaza, whence they were shipped to Rome. Ramaliyeh was one of the small settlements along the way, and the cistern, or pool, they dug to utilize and store desert water still exists today. Moran and Mikhal sometimes visit there (accesible by 4- wheel drive jeep) when Maayan and Lotem want a boat ride.

June 28, 2008

Happy birthday today, to our daughter Vered Ron. You were younger on your wedding day, but you're still as beautiful and precious as then.

June 21, 2008

The family, in Jerusalem, at Aviv Levy's 40th birthday

Aviv Levy turned 40 today, June 21st. (see also This Week's Picture from last week.) We thought it would be a good idea to celebrate together, and as Doreen was guiding in Jerusalem (and had Friday night and Saturday morning free) we all met in Jerusalem. On Friday night the adults - the siblings, spouses and us parents - celebrated with a festive meal at a Jerusalem restaurant (and the kids celebrated with their respective baby-sitters). On Saturday morning we all met for breakfast at the Sheraton Hotel. After breakfast, the parents went their own ways, and the rest visited the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo. An enjoyable time was had by all, as can be seen from the pictures..

June 14, 2008

Happy birthday to Doreen, Vered and Aviv!

Doreen (11th), Aviv (21st) and Vered (28th) all have June birthdays. I thought it would be a good idea to have a picture of the three of them for This Week's Picture, and I looked for a picture showing the three of them. I spent hours and hours searching through hundreds and hundreds of old pictures. There were lots of pictures of the three with other people, but I'd made a decision not to crop the picture, and find one with ONLY Doreen, Aviv and Vered. Eventually I found only two, one of which is this picture, and the other can be seen by clicking here.
I must say I enjoyed looking at the old pictures, and strolling through "memory lane". Some of these pictures will be coming to you on a certain family site in the future! (In the meantime - see this for elegance)

And now for Question of the Week. Where (and on what occasion) was this picture of Doreen, Vered and Aviv taken?

June 7, 2008

Rachel and Yuvie Moskowitz (see Matz family tree) are visiting Israel with 4 month old Tamar. They'll be here about 10 days and are staying with Yuvie's parents, who live just down the road from us. It's always a pleasure to see Rachel and Yuvie, and also Rebecca, Rachel's sister who lives in Israel. Rebecca will be staying with us for a few days so as to be near the visitors.

May 31, 2008

Our nephew Rael Braverman (see Glezer family tree) underwent a double transplant this last week. With a new kidney and pancreas we hope that a much better quality of life awaits Rael. Imagine - he went in with severe diabetes and kidney failure and came out with a functioning kidney and without diabetes. Rael is recovering well and we look forward to his being released from hospital in a few weeks time. Although we don't know who is the young man whose sudden death gave Rael a new chance of life, our hearts go out in gratitude to the parents and we thank them and know their pain.

May 24, 2008

During the weekend in Eilat Doreen and I enjoyed a Japanese-style meal in Eilat with Limor, Aviv, Itamar and Amit.

For update pictures of the three Eilati grandchildren visit their pages: Itamar, Amit, Ilai.

May 17, 2008

This week belongs to Tamir and Alex Klaff, for outstanding physical achievement.
Alex, above, took part in the demanding Gulf Coast Triathlon and raised a considerable amount of money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. (see previous report on this site). She completed the 70 mile course (swimming, cycling and running) in 6 1/4 hours. Read about her race and her feeling of achievement. Here is a link to some official pictures.

Tamir and his partner placed second in his category in the gruelling Primal Quest Sprint Series, a 5-6 hour, 50 mile endurance test involving mountain biking, difficult terrain running, paddling, rope obstacle course, orienteering, and Log PT (sit-ups, presses etc with a 5 meter wood log)

You can read all about it on the Primal Quest home page, and see some amazing pictures here (I was especially amazed by the pictures on page 4, where he has to swim across a river carrying his bike.).

May 10, 2008

When Moran was asked to be one of the beacon lighters at the Yom HaAtzmaut (Independence Day) ceremony at Sde Boqer, we immediately decided to attend the ceremony. It was a wise decision. We were very proud of our son who attended the High School for Environmental Education at Sde Boqer and later returned to do his Master's degree, during which time he found and married Mikhal, whom he called, 'amazing.' Last year Moran and Mikhal moved with their children Maayan and Lotem, back to the Sde Boqer campus where they are writing their doctorates. Continuity and love of the desert was the theme and it was heart warming to see other people who had studied and then returned to the Sde Boqer campus. No stars came to sing and no bands played. Some-one prepared fire works (which were placed so as not to interfer with the desert vultures!), young girls prepared a dance while the older children prepared tombola games for the younger ones. Altogether there was a wonderful feeling of community and sense of common destiny of preserving the desert.

May 3, 2008

Doreen coming in to land
Doreen: Five years ago Caroline invited me to join her on her 60th birthday and skydive. It didn't work out because of the weather but truthfully I was relieved as I was terrified. Almost five years later I called her and told her I was ready to dive. This weekend was the result, and a surprise for me was that our children treated me. Vered and her Aviv, Mikhal (without Moran who is recovering from a shoulder operation), my niece Denise, Caroline and her son Gideon and I were all in high spirits and eager to go. Two months ago jumping out a plane at 12,000 feet was an unimaginable madness; today it was something to eagerly anticipate.
Click here for more pictures of the Adventurous Seven.
Click here for a video of one of the dives, mainly of Vered but also with Doreen and Mikhal.

April 26, 2008

Picking mulberries is fun!

After the seder, Moran and Mikhal went back to Sde Boqer, and we offered to look after Maayan and Lotem for the week. We had a most enjoyable (and tiring!) time with them. Considering their ages (4 and 2) and that they were away from their parents, they behaved wonderfully with a minimum of crying and moaning. They were kept busy "helping" Doreen cook (they made special passover muffins, see Recipe of the Month), going to a children's musical, helping in the garden (picking ripe loquats), picking mulberries from some wild trees in the area, playing games, watching TV, and listening and singing to children's passover songs over and over again. They enjoyed the petting and playing with Flopsy, and kept their distance from Lopsy, who is too old to have any patience for kids (and who was being "dogsat" while the Rons were overseas.). There are more pictures on Maayan's and Lotem's pages.

April 19, 2008

Richard and Rona Nickel with Leshem after his brit mila.

Mazal Tov to Richard and Rona Nickel on the birth of a son, Leshem Aaron, last Wednesday April 9th. Mazaltov also to grandparents Julius (Yudel) and Laura Nickel on the birth of their sixth grandchild. The brit mila (circumcision) was on Wednesday. Click for more pictures

April 12, 2008

Danielle Ron's first dive

Last weekend the Rons- Vered, Aviv, Danielle and Lior - went down to Eilat, where they celebrated Itamar's 5th birthday. Danielle was the one who got the big present: an introductory dive in the open sea in full SCUBA equipment with uncle Aviv Levy. Aviv L is a certified dive instructor and he took 12-year old Danielle for her first dive. Danielle says it was the best experience she has had in her whole life, and Aviv reported that Dani's reactions in the water were excellent and that she is a natural diver. We're all proud of Dani, especially granny Doreen, who was the first Israel woman to receive a 3 Star open water diving accreditation.
See Dani's page for more pictures.

April 5, 2008

Moran Segoli underwent an operation on his shoulder on Thursday. Moran was rather amused at the arrow - he thought the doctor should know by now where a shoulder is. He was told that it's to ensure that the correct shoulder is operated on. Maybe the arrow is to show which way is "up"?
The operation went without a hitch, and at the time of writing Moran is home and well, although in a bit of pain. we all wish him well and a speedy recovery. His arm will be in a sling for 6 weeks, and he is not supposed to use his arm during this time.

March 29, 2008

Tamar Moskowitz aged 6 weeks

This week's picture is the latest addition to the Matz family tree - beautiful Tamar, daughter of Yuval and Rachel (nee Engleberg). (see This Week's Picture Archives). Yuval is the son of neighbours Ralli and Yossi Moskowitz. We're sure that they and grandparents David and Charlene are very proud of their grandchild - the first for the Englebergs. Auntie Leah Engleberg is visiting Israel and staying with Auntie Rebecca, and they both assured me that Tamar is even prettier than in her picture.

March 22, 2008

Vered, Danielle, Aviv and Lior Ron

The Ron family - Vered, Aviv, Danielle and Lior - came back last Saturday from their ski holiday in Colorado, USA. They report that they had a fantastic time, on and off the snow.

March 15, 2008

The Segolis went down to Eilat to spend a weekend visiting their Eilati cousins. We hear that they had a great time. In addition to their usual visit to Coral World they also visited the Dolphin Reef, and petted the dolphins. Aviv is with Itamar, Amit, Lotem, Maayan and Mikhal. Some more pictures of the Eilat trip on the pages of Itamar, Lotem and Ilai.

March 8, 2008

l-r: Caroline Livneh, Jeanette Hersch, Morris Kahn, Ariella Delaney, Eitan, Doreen, Dick and Maureen Fain

Last night the eight of us enjoyed a different dining experience. Passing the artists' colony of Ein Hod we drove along tortuous roads until we reached the village of Ein Hawd where the 24 families are all related. In the courtyard of the El-Haija family residence is the restaurant Habayit b'ein Hawd (The house in Ein Hawd). A family run business, there is no menu but they serve serve over 20 authentic homecooked Arab dishes. We ate until we all felt stuffed and after the many dishes were cleared from the table Mrs El Haija told us how she started the restaurant in her lounge, eventually building a restaurant in their courtyard. Her husband, Mohammed Abu El Haija, led the successful fight for the official recognition of many Arab villages, including Ein Hawd..

March 1, 2008

The Segolis - Moran, Mikhal, Maayan and Lotem - went on a two day hike in the Arava desert in the region of kibbutz Yahel. The highlight was the bulbusim (limestone nodules) that are found in the area. These round rocks, called bulbusim in Hebrew after an Aramaic word for potato, consist of limestone containing unoxidized organic matter, and are dark in colour. When broken (which you are not allowed to do as they are protected) they give off the "rotten egg" smell associated with sulphur compounds. There are some more pictures on Maayan's and Lotem's pages.

February 23, 2008

Back, l-r: Donni, Denise, Rael
Front l-r: Yahel, Louise

Louise gave a family dinner to wish bon voyage to Yahel Braverman and fiance Donni, who are going to Cape Town, South Africa, for a holiday. There they will meet Yahel's father Melly, who is also holidaying there. (see Glezer family tree). We sent them off with good wishes and reminders not to forget "peppermint crisps" and biltong!

February 16, 2008

Itamar, Danielle, Doreen, Aviv and Ilai, Limor, Amit celebrate for the second time, this time a bit late, Ilai's 1st birthday.

We went down to Eilat this weekend and took our eldest granddaughter Danielle with us. We had missed celebrating Ilai's 1st birthday a couple of weeks ago, so we decided to have another birthday cake and sing "Happy Birthday". Everyone was happy with the idea - any reason is a good reason for a celebration.

February 9, 2008

The 42nd annual Israel Bridge Festival opened in Tel Aviv this week, and as usual I am playing my part in directing (judging). Once again this year we welcomed Ton Kooijman, of the Netherlands, as our Chief Tournament Director. Ton is a chief Tournament Director of the European Bridge League and the organizer of the biennial European course for aspiring international directors. Among other positions he holds, Ton is also a member (and past chairman) of the World Bridge Federation Laws Committee. We took the opportunity of discussing and clarifying some of the finer points of the new Laws of Bridge which come into effect later this year.

February 2, 2008

60th birthdays are often celebrated with parties - surprise or planned - with family and friends. Eitan Haberman celebrated his 60th in a unique way.
Eitan is a successful, high profile lawyer whose passion and hobby is classical music. Both he and his wife Shuli are involved and active in Israel's music scene, and for his 60th birthday celebration he invited family and friends to a performance of Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle which he himself conducted. .
The performance, with choir, soloists, piano and harmonium, took place on Friday, the day after his birthday on January 31st. Eitan was in complete control and the performance was excellent. The choir, The New Vocal Ensemble, is among Israel's best. (Shuli is a member of the choir. She is in the picutre, above Eitan's right hand). The four soloists are leading Israeli opera stars, and were outstanding. The audience of about 200 family and friends were treated to a wonderful show, and Eitan's 60th will be long remembered.

see Goldberg family tree.

January 26, 2008

While moving his boxes, albums and other things to his new home in Sde Boqer Moran found some old photographs, including this one taken probably about 1976, which brought back many memories. Doreen thinks it was taken while she was recovering from meningitis.
On the right, in front, is the late Mussie Karsblad (nee Drue), a first cousin of Doreen's late father Maurice. (see Glezer family tree.). Standing at the back are Mussie's niece, Yaffa Loew (nee Bortenstein), and her daughter Rachel Karlsblad. In the middle Doreen is with her late mother Gertie Glazer (nee Nickel) and Vered, Aviv and Moran (on her lap).

January 19, 2008

A live hot water bottle, or "Happiness is a Warm Puppy"

Moran, Maayan and Lotem spent Thursday night in Hofit on their way up north. We're still in the middle of an exteme cold spell (for Israel) and what better hot water bottle than Flopsy. There is an ongoing love affair between Flopsy and the grandchildren, and Flopsy has performed calming-down and other duties in the past. (See Flopsy babysitting Maayan (aged 3 months) and Itamar (aged 11 months),

January 12, 2008

Rub A Dub Dub - five kids in a tub
And who do you think they been?
Maayan, Nitzan,Lotem,
And Itamar and Rotem,
All scrubbing their way to be clean (*)

l to r: Maayan Segoli, Nitzan Yaniv, Lotem Segoli, Itamar Levy, Rotem Yaniv

Although this looks like an attempt to set a new Guiness record "Most Cousins in a Bathtub", it was a convenient way to clean five sandy cousins at Maayan's birthday weekend last weekend..
You can see more pictures at "Maayan's 4th birthday weekend."

(*) With apologies to the English nursery rhyme.

January 5, 2008

A Durbanite reunion after 40+ years
Left picture: Doreen, Mike, Maureen Right picture: Mike (back row - left; Doreen (middle row left); Maureen (middle row 4th from left)

Doreen: When Mike Belman, one of our good friends from Habonim days, contacted us to say that he and Lorna would be visiting Israel, it was cause to invite friends over for dinner. Maureen Fain (nee Konigsfest) and I were very excited at the prospect of a mini-reunion with Mike. Maureen brought old photo albums to jolt our memories. We, joined by Anthony (!), Terry and Carol Kessel and Livia Passwell - all going back many many years - spent a delightful evening. See picture and also January Recipe.
The last time the three of us were photographed together was in Durbs a million years ago. Thirteen years ago when visitng Los Angeles I stayed with Mike and Lorna; and Vered, then living in Manhattan, flew over to tell me personally that she was pregnant (with Danielle).

December 29, 2007

Doreen entertainig her tourists on the tour bus

During Doreen's tour, on the way to Eilat, the tour bus stopped near Sde Boqer for a visit. Moran and the kids took the opportunity of saying hello, and Moran took this picture of Doreen talking to her group. A desert isn't a desert without camels, and Lotem and Maayan were happy to go for a camel ride. (see picture).

For previous pictures of Doreen guiding, click July 2005, March 2007, May 2007

December 22, 2007

Click on the picture

During the Channukah week Doreen and I went to Eilat for a couple of days, and went with Aviv, Itamar and Amit to a protest against the building of a 4 hotel complex in an untouched desert area near Timna. Afterwards, we went to a sandy hill nearby and enjoyed sliding down and genertally having a good time. Click for pictures of Itamar and Amit.

On the same weekend, Moran, Mikhal, Maayan and Lotem went to Nahal Gov where there is a huge rock ideal for sliding (see picture above.). Click on the picture or here for a short (9 second) movie showing Maayan sliding down. This is also the first time that This week's Picture is This Week's Movie!

December 15, 2007

Last week's inaugral This Month's Recipe (zucchini/potato latkes) persuaded Mikhal, Maayan and Lotem to try it out. They ran out of zuccini so used sweet potato as well. They report that the latkes were delicious and it certainly looked like lots of fun preparing it.
A successful week for Mikhal - not only latkes, but also first prize for the best PhD lecture at the 44th Meeting of the Zoological Society of Israel. Congratulations! (more details in This Week's News )

December 8, 2007

Itamar Levy - Great White Shark hunter!

The above caption is not quite accurate - the shark is not quite great, and is not quite a man-eating White shark, rather a small mustellus deep-water shark. Also, the shark was not exactly hunted - in fact the opposite. Itamar was helping dad Aviv return the shark, caught by a fisherman, to the sea, after removing the hook from its mouth and making sure it could survive.

December 1, 2007

l-r: Martin Miller, Doreen, Rochelle Miller, Viki Gilbert, me

On Wednesday night Doreen and I travelled to Jerusalem to meet my relative Viki Gilbert (see Matz family tree) for the first time. (A few weeks ago I wrote about Viki , who had found this web site in a roundabout way when a school friend of her sister Gillian saw their names on it ). Viki was in Israel for the wedding of the son of Martin and Rochelle Miller and we had a most pleasant evening with them. Viki is a warm and delightful person and we thoroughly enjoyed meeting her. We hope that there will be more opportunities to meet her, as well as her family.

November 24, 2007

November 2007 - Segoli Housewarming party in Sde Boqer

Moran is affixing the mezuzah to the doorpost of the new house in Sde Boqer.The mezuzah depicts Noah's Ark and animals, which is very appropriate for a family so connected to nature. The whole Levy family, plus Louise and Denise Braverman, spent the weekend in Sde Boqer for the "house warming." Click here for pictures. There are also pictures on the personal pages of the grandchildren, Dani,Lior, Itamar, Maayan, Lotem, Amit and Ilai.

November 17, 2007

Going "green" at Itamar's kindergarten

Cecile, in charge of the kindergarten that Itamar (our eldest grandson) goes to, has decided to make it "green." The children have been given lunch boxes and they may no longer bring their food and sandwiches in plastic bags. They use only recycled materials (like tires, bottles, wood, old plastic containers etc) for making and doing the various things that kindergarten children make and do. They build using a homemade cement from clay and straw. Doreen was impressed, and spent a morning at the kindergarten helping Itamar build a sitting area from mud - see picture above. Later, when the tire flowerpot was covered with mud and straw, the children were invited to decorate the mud using their fingers.

November 10, 2007

Repaired and ready to roll!

My motorbike has now been fully repaired after the accident, and as I am also nearly fully repaired, I hope to start riding it regularly soon. I needed an ultrasound examination on my leg this week, and decided it would be appropriate to go there by motorbike. I must admit to a certain trepidation as I started riding, but that soon disappeared, and I had to make an effort to drive extra carefully and avoid zipping through thre traffic like I used to do.

November 3, 2007

This week Moran and Mikhal moved from their temporary home at Kibbutz Dvir to their permanent home in Sde Boker. They worked hard packing, moving, and unpacking. Doreen and I went down to Sde Boker to help them a little. Atlthough their house was finished over a year ago, they have not lived in it yet, so there was a lot of cleaning and arranging to do, including painting/oiling the wood pergolas outside. We were fortunate in being able to get two young workers to help us (in flagrant violation of the laws against child labor.)
See also the beginnings of their house and how it looked two years ago.

October 27, 2007

Babysitting our seven grandchildren in Eilat - October 2007

L to r on the luggage cart: Ilai, Maayan, Lotem (back), Amit (front), Lior, Itamar, Danielle

This weekend we had to babysit our grandchildren Maayan and Lotem. So we decided to take them, as well as the two granddaughters Dani and Lior, down to Eilat where we were joined by the three grandchildren Itamar, Amit and Ilai. We spent a most enjoyable (and tiring!) time with all our seven grandchildren, and with Aviv Levy and Limor who were of great help to us. The kids got on fabulously with each other. The two eldest Dani and Lior were wonderful with the younger kids, until Dani slipped and fell next to the pool, requiring a visit to the local hospital. Fortunately nothing was broken, but she was in pain and couldn't walk, possibly with a torn tendon.
Click for more pictures .

October 20, 2007

Two pictures this week: Viki Gilbert on the left, and daughter Hannah on the right.

This is the 196th consecutive week that this site has been updated and a picture of the week shown. It's not easy keeping to this timetable, and there have been many times when updating the site on time has been very inconvenient. I have sometimes wondered if it's worth it, and have thought about giving it up; but then a "lost" relative finds the site, gets in touch with me, and contact is established. This has happened a number of times in the past, with relatives from different parts of the world. So I was delifghted to receive an email from Viki Gilbert, who had found my site in a roundabout way when a school friend of her sister Gillian saw their names on it!
Viki (nee Kirsch) is my second cousin (her mothert Shana was my father's cousin) and lives with her husband Jack and daughter Hannah in Manchester, England. We have never met, but she will be visiting Israel in November and I look forward to meeting her then. I also hope there will be opportunities to meet her sisters Laura, Gillian and Candis.
I have updated the Kirsch family in the Matz family tree with some details that Viki kindly sent me. She also sent me pictures of her sisters and nieces, and these will be posted on the site on the relevant birthdays.

October 13, 2007

Congratulations to Joshua and Natashe Leibowitz (Josh and Tash) on the birth of their second daughter, Hayley Olivia, a sister to Keira ( in the picture above). Mazaltov also to grandparents Sharon and Joe Leibowitz and to great-grandmother Winnie Levy. See Hershovitz and Matz family trees.
Click for a wedding picture showing all the family, and here for another picture of Keira.

October 6, 2007

Danielle Ron reading her parsha.at the celebration of her batmitzah on September 29, 2007.

The celebration took place next to the Hofitkin pool in Hofit. It was a delightful informal affair, with good food, lovely atmoskhere and cool swimming in the pool for those who wanted it. There were also some more serious parts. Dani read and explained her parsha, and members of the family spoke and blessed her, and 12 candles were lit by 12 post-batmitzvah friends and family. There was also a presentation of picture highlights of Dan's life. All in all, a lovely time was had by all.
For more pictures click here.

September 29, 2007

Congratulations to Yahel Braverman (see Glezer and Schank family trees) and Donny Dvir, who have announced their engagement. Mazeltov too to mom Louise, dad Melly, and siblings Denise and Rael. Click here for another picture of Yahal and Donny with Donny's two children, Gabi and Avigail.

September 22, 2007

The beginning of September is also a new year - the new year of schools. It's back to school for most of our children and grandchildren (and also for some of us). For some it's a new school - like Danielle who is starting Junior High School. grade 7 - and for some it's off to school for the first time. Alex Klaff (see Goldberg family tree) saw both her kids starting new school lives - Tali off to school, REAL school, to grade 1; and Cale off to pre-school. Good luck to you two, and to all of you kids starting a new or another school year.

September 15, 2007

14th Levy Family Reunion - Bet Hillel, Galilee, Israel
Aviv and Ilai, Limor and Amit, Itamar, Eitan, Louise, Rael, Denise, Doreen, Vered, Lior, Danielle, Aviv, Moran and Lotem, Maayan, Mikhal

We celebrated the New Year with our family at the 14th Levy Family Reunion at Bet Hillel in the Galilee. 18 of us took over Gross Guesthouse and celebrated. We all had a great time, we hiked, swam, jeeped, talked, watched DVDs, cable-carred, jacuzzied, and of course, ATE. Click here for an albumn of pictures from the event (without captions for the time being).

September 8, 2007

Happy Birthday to our granddaughter Lior Ron who celebrates her 8th birthday this week on the 13th. Lior is very self assured and knows exactly what she wants. This is how she wanted to be photographed when they came over for Shabbat dinner this last Friday night..

September 1, 2007

Before and After

All the sidewalks in Hofit are being repaved and evidently our beautiful live hedge had grown so well that it encroached on public property. So before we really knew what was happening our hedge was uprooted. The constant need for cutting and pruning was becoming increasingly burdensome and we had been discussing the possibility of replacing the hedge, so now the decision was made for us. The hedge is being replaced by a concrete wall - much easier for maintenance but not nearly as attractive (at least in my eyes.). In the meantime we have a temporary wire fence to keep people out and dog in, and I'm thinking of the possibility of keeping the fence (on the inside of the wall) and growing some kind of a creeper on it, so at least from the inside there'll still be green.

August 25, 2007

On our visit to England, we took a train to Wales to visit my sister Fern, who has recently returned to Wales after a successful and rewarding 3 year stint in Namibia as an Overseas Volunteer in the Education Department. She has a very nice apartment in the village of Gwyddelwern. The countryside is amongst the most beautiful we have seen anywhere with stunning views. Fern took us on two short walks which we thoroughly enjoyed.

August 18, 2007

sorry, temporarily not available

August 11, 2007

Helen Beth Nickel 1926-2007

We are saddened to hear of the death of Helen Nickel, wife of the late Aaron Nickel, in Cape Town, South Africa. (see Nochimovicz/Nickel family tree.)We offer our heartfelt condolences to daughters Gail Nickel, Lucille Melamed, Wendy Ginsberg and Carmen Kay and families; and to grandchildren Max and Melodie, Natalie and Saul, Talia and Jaryd; and to great-grandchildren Daniella and Yehuda, and Gabriella.

August 4, 2007

Congratulations to Vered Loew and Yoav Shavit on their marriage on August 2. It was a lovely affair and we thoroughly enjoyed it. It was also a happy occasion to see the Schank side of the family again. Congratulations also to Vered's parents, Andy and Yaffa (nee Bortenstein) Loew. Click here for more pictures.

July 28. 2007

Well here we are in Palma de Mallorca, in the Spanish Balearic Islands, visiting Aviv, Limor, Itamar, Amit and baby Ilai.. Aviv is visiting Curator at the newest Coral World attraction, the Palma Aquarium, which is truly world-class. See also archives of This Week's Picture. We'll be here till the beginning of next week, when we return home to Israel. We're staying with Aviv and Limor and enjoying being with them and the kids. Aviv took a day off to show us around, and we have visited some lovely places here with Limor and the kids.

July 21. 2007

Doreen and I are still in Jesolo, near Venice, Italy, for the European Junior Bridge Championships., where I am a Tournament Director (referee). Last Saturday was a free day and we took the opportunity to visit Venice (an hours bus/boat ride away.) We were fortunate that the visit coincided with the annual Redentore Festival. We spent an enjoyable day there and then had an excellent meal before returning late at night. We spent most of the day in the company of John Carruthers, Patrick Jourdain and Barry Rigal, all bridge journalists and officials at the championships.

July 14. 2007

Doreen and I are in Jesolo, near Venice, Italy, for the European Junior Bridge Championships., where I am a Tournament Director (referee).The Championships comprises three series, Junior Teams (to age 25), Girls' Teams (to age 25) and Schools' Teams (to age 20). The Junior and Girls series have started and Israel has entered a girls team but not a juniors team. At the moment of writing the Girls' team (above) is lying a creditable 5th place. The Schools' series starts next week and there will be a team from Israel.
from left to right, just before the opening ceremony: me, Elizabeth Skagin, Niva Goldberg, Ilan Shezifi (non-playing Captain), Hila Levy, Adi Asulin

July 7. 2007

Well done, Denise Braverman!
Denise (see Glasser family tree) took part in the 10 km "White Night" race sponsored by Nike, last week in Tel Aviv. This was the first time this race was held. It proved to be very popular, and even though many more wanted to participate, only the first 5000 were accepted. I understand that many raced unofficially alongside the registered runners. Denise was one of the "legal" participants, and here is is seen crossing (staggering across?) the finish line. We're proud of you, Denise!

Click here for article (in Hebrew) on the race.

June 30, 2007

Congratulations to our eldest granddaughter, Danielle Ron, on finishing primary school, with a successful report card. We're proud of you, Dani. Have a great vacation, and then get ready for grade 7 in Junior High School..

June 23, 2007

The Kremlin Palace Resort, Antalya, Turkey

This year I was again invited to be a Tournament Director (referee) at the European Open Bridge Championships. This year's event is tsaking place in Antalya, Turkey at the Kremlin Palace Hotel. I came a few days ago, and Doreen joined me today. I did not work this afternoon and Doreen and I spent a lovely afternoon strolling along the spacious grounds of the resort, and having a refreshing swim in the large pool.

June 16, 2007

A Shabbat tiyul (hike) to Nahal Taninim (Crocodile Stream) had everybody peering with fascination over the bridge looking for ...turtles. The last sighting here of crocodiles was in 1867. We spent a delightful morning exploring the remains of aquaduct systems and water-powered flour mills.
From front to back:: Danielle, Moran, Lotem, Mikhal, Lior and Maayan.

June 9, 2007

Before checking in at the airport

Bon Voyage and good luck to Aviv Levy, Limor, Itamar, Amit and Ilai. Aviv will be organizing the aquarium staff at the newest Coral World attraction, the Palma Aquarium in Palma de Mallorca in the Spanish Balearic Islands. He and his family will be there about 3 months. It wasn't easy getting organized with three small children, and the check-in at the airport (which took one and a half hours!) was a nightmare.(one child was double-booked, one wasn't booked etc etc). Limor's mother, Margalit Sadeh, was there to help and will be with them for the first two weeks to help with the children.

June 2, 2007

Welcome back to Doreen from her hike in the Zagoria mountains in Greece. She tells us it was quite a difficult hike. But we can see that even on a difficult hike there is always time to relax, if only for a minute or two

May 26, 2007

While Doreen was hiking in Greece, I went down to Eilat for the Shavuot holiday.As always, I was amazed at how she has grown. She's a lovely, quiet baby, interested in what goes on around her, and smiles delightfully as soon as she sees someone looking at her. There are more pictures of Ilai on her page.

May 19, 2007

Doreen has had some rather different tours to guide over the last few months, but this week was definitely a first for her: guiding from a helicopter. Visitors to Israel with little time and a desire to see as much as possible, took a helicopter tour that included Jerusalem, Massada, Golan Heights, Haifa, Caesaria and, by special request, Hofit. Doreen called me from her cell phone and I rushed out and managed to take this picture. Look closely - you still won't be able to see her, but take my word for it - she's there looking green as the helicopter circled above

May 12, 2007

The baby daughter of Patisa and Jens Rasmussen

This week's picture is of a little baby girl born to Patisa and Jens. We consider Patisa our "adopted daughter." When I was stationed in the US Virgin Islands in the 1980s, our daughter Vered and Patisa became friends at Antilles School and formed a deep friendship which has lasted these many years over various countries. They keep constant contact and meet fairly often, so we were thrilled to hear that Patisa had given birth this week to their first child, a daughter. Patisa married Jens Rasmussen and they live in Odense, Dennmark.
Congratulations, Patisa and Jens, may you enjoy much pleasure and happiness from your daughter.

May 5, 2007

Doreen's tours this week were very different from her usual tours. Firstly they were two one-day tours; and the participants were not pilgrims nor regular tourists, but gifted pianists - winners of international piano festivals and performers at the 4th Eilat Piano Festival.
On the first day the group toured the Golan Heights (hosted by Alex Sacharov who also piloted one of the planes.) . The pianists were prize winners of the last Arthur Rubinstein Piano Competition (Minsoo Sohn, Tatiana Kolesova and Jie Chen) and two 13 year old prodigies, winners of the 2nd Schimmel International Piano Festival. (Wei Xin Zhou and Liyan Ho). Doreen is on the extreme left of the picture and Shuli Haberman (see Goldberg Family Tree) of the Rubinstein Prize committee 4th from right.
Doreen enjoyed hearing all 5 pianists at a dress rehearsal, and we also went to a performance of Jie Chen (Ravel Piano Concerto) and were enthralled with her performance.
The next day there was a trip to the Dead Sea and Jerusalem. Click for picture.

April 28, 2007

April 21, 2007

The Page of Testimony for Mottel Glasser, from the Archives of the Yad Vashem database.

Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Memorial Day was commemorated this week. On this day we pause and remember the 6 million Jews murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators.
Many of our relatives were murdered during the holocaust, including Doreen's grandfather and grandmother. The Page of Testimony above is for Doreen's grandfather, Mottel, who together with his son Abrashke (Doreen's uncle) and nephew Elke were captured by Lithuanian collaborators in Vilnius (Vilna) and taken to the forest of Ponar (Poneriai) and shot and buried in a mass grave. Click here for a summarized account of the extermination of the Jews of Vilnius, and here for an account of the Ponar Massacres.
The picture attached to the Testimony is of Doreen's grandfather Mottel and grandmother Nettie/Nessie ( who perished in the town of Olshan in Belarus), and Abrashke. The picture is cropped from a picture taken in 1929 in Vilna.
Doreen's father Maurice had two brothers: Michael who lived in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe).and Abrashke. Michael's grandson Mikie Glasser celebrated his barmitzvah this week.
In April 1999, we visited Poland and Lithuania and the visit to the forest of Ponar was particularly moving. Many of the Lithuanian Jews met their death in the camps of Poland, and Doreen has written a moving account of her visit to Majdanek concentration camp just outside Warsaw.

April 14, 2007

The Segolis stayed over on 2nd Passover eve and the next day we had a lovely time in Caesaria with the Segolis and Danielle and Lior. ( See also the pages of Lotem, Maayan, Lior and Danielle). Caesaria has certainly changed since the days when we would spend a Saturday on the beach there. It is now an excellent tourist attraction, that has succeeded in finding the right balance between an modern attraction and an important historical site. The interactive "interviews" with historical characters was particularly impressive.

April 7, 2007

Pesach 2007: This year we celebrated the Pesach seder in Eilat with Aviv and Limor and family, together with Vered and Aviv and the girls, and Rael Braverman. For a change, we didn't have turkey for the main meal, but a big, delicious leg of lamb, cooked to perfection by Doreen. The change proved very popular, especially for Amit, who thoroughly enjoyed eating what remained of the leg bone. Another picture here.

March 31, 2007

<>Doreen only finished her tour last night, but already today she was in the kitchen preparing food for the Passover seder. We are going down to Aviv and Limor in Eilat for the seder. Doreen is preparing most of the meal, which we will take down with us. For us, there is nothing like Doreen's mock chopped liver, her chicken soup and kneidlach (matza balls), and of course her gefilte fish. My pesach culinary skills are limited to preparing extra-hot horse radish. While Doreen was expertly evaluating her gefilte fish (see picture) I was shedding copious tears (in spite of the protective goggles) and sneezing and coughing as I grated the horse radish and beetroot.

March 24, 2007

Mazeltov to Richard Nickel and Rona Mazor on their marriage last Thursday, 22 March 2007 in Rishpon, Israel. Congratulations to parents Julius (Yudel) and Laura Nickel and Racheli Mizrahi. (See Nochimovicz family tree.). They were a handsome couple, and Rona was a beautiful bride. We await pictures from the wedding.

March 17, 2007

Doreen has been away guiding so much the last two months that I thought I'd put a picture of her here so that I'd remember what she looks like! She has no groups scheduled in Pesach/Easter ad I'm sure she's looking forward to the rest.
This picture was taken by one of her group members while Doreen was explaining something. She certainly looks like she's enjoying herself

March 10, 2007

Our two oldest grandchildren, Danielle and Lior , had their portraits painted last week by long-time friend and well-known artist, Maureen Fain. See the pages of Danielle and Lior for photographs of the portraits.

March 3, 2007

This weekend we celebrated the festival of Purim. For most Israelis the festival has lost much of its religious meaning and is an opportunity to party, especially in fancy dress. There is hardly a Jewish child in Israel who doesn't wear fancy dress for Purim and the days preceding, and the malls and public places are full of colorful costumes ranging from Queen Esters to Spidermen to George Bushes. Our family chose an angel, a funky waitress, a tiger and a leopard, and Spiderman.

February 24, 2007

On Thursday we went to Eilat to celebrate the brita (naming ceremony) of our newest granddaughter, 3 week old Ilai Levy. If you look carefully you can see little Ilai in the Rabbi's arms, as parents Aviv and Limor and big sister Amit look on and join in the blessing. There was a lovely function at an hotel in Eilat, well-organized and with excellent food. Mazel Tov!
There are pictures of the event on Ilai's home page.

February 17, 2007

Thanks to Melodie Nathan (see Nickel/Nochomovich family tree) for keeping us informed and up to date about her family. Melodie has gone back to work, and on her first day back took 8 week old Gabi (see pics) to see what it's all about. Here we see Melodie and Gabi at the office, or, as Melodie puts it, Mommy multi-tasking.

February 10, 2007

This week the 41st International Bridge Ffestival is being held in Tel Aviv and I'll be kept busy "directing" (that is, refereeing) there. Although it's hard work (I'm still teaching at school this week) I enjoy it and enjoy meeting "old" faces again.

February 3, 2007

We are delighted to announce the birth of a baby girl, 2.640 kilos, born January 28; to Limor and Aviv Levy; their third child, sister to Itamar and Amit; and our seventh grandchild. Mother and child are doing well, as can be seen of this picture of Limor and the baby, aged two days. More pictures are on the baby's site.

January 27, 2007

A Shabbat tiyul with the Segolis doesn't cover a lot of ground. What was supposed to be a long relaxed walk along the Dor-Nahsholim shore turned into long stops at a pile of seashells which the children threw into the sea, ancient columns and walls which were ideal for climbing, rock pools where they looked for crabs and sea cucumbers and finally overturning stones to see what invertebrates live underneath. Anyone who read last week's story would not be surprised that ants, worms and isopods fascinate the Segoli family.

January 20, 2007

Yahel Braverman, Avigail, Donni, Gabi

At a family dinner last Friday night at Louise's, we were pleased to see the Levy-Rons, and Rael, Denise and Yaheli Braverman, and to meet again Yaheli's companion, Donni Dvir, and his daughters Gabi and Avigail.

January 13, 2007

Riva Bortenstein 1919 - 2007

With sorrow we report the passing of Riva Bortenstein on 8/1/07. (see Schank family tre e.). We extend our deepest sympathy to her children Yaffa Loew, Yaakov Bortenstein and Rachel Kirshner, and to her grandchildren Vered, Lital, Lior, Dan, Moriah and Raz.
Click here for more pictures of Riva.

January 6, 2007

We started off 2007 with a visit to Eilat for a long weekend. Limor is "very" pregnant (see picture) but the baby decided to stay a little longer in the warm tummy. We enjoyed being with Aviv, Limor, Itamar and Amit. On Saturday we had a picnic lunch at Timna - for Itamar the highlight was filling the bottles with colored sand. Itamar was on his best behaviour and Amit tried hard despite having a cold and cough. While in Eilat we attended three enjoyable concerts at the Eilat Classical Music Festival.

December 30, 2006

We celebrated Maayan's 3rd birthday today at Kibbutz Dvir. Lots of family joined in the celebration (although seasonal flu and the cold spell prevented some from attending.) Watching Maayan light the candles on the cake which he helped bake and decorate are Doreen, Lior, Naama, Itamar, Rotem, Nitzan and Lotem. There are some more pictures here.

December 23, 2006

After a week of candle-lighting and eating traditional doughnuts, Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, ended today. We attended many celebrations and candle-lighting ceremonies during the week, starting with Doreen in Eilat for Itamar's celebration at kindergarten, where Limor lit the candles.
For more chanukah 2006 pictures from all our parties, click here.

December 16, 2006

After many attempts, my two oldest granddaughters, Danielle and Lior, are now (almost) expert bicycle riders, with not too many falls, scratches and bruises. They are now quite addicted to it, and exploit every opportunity to ride their bikes. Danielle has already ridden to school on her bike.

December 9, 2006

Mazaltov to Raymond and Cecile Cotton (my youngest cousin) on their wedding anniversary on December 11th. Raymond and Cecille live in Johannesburg, South Africa, and have three lovely children. This is the first time that pictures of the Cotton family are appearing on my site - thank you Cecile for sending me the pictures.

December 2, 2006

Granny's little helper: "Helping" Doreen cook and bake is one of our grandchildren's favorite activities. Maayan is no exception, and here he is helping prepare Bran Muffins from the recipe in Doreen's cookbook. Doreen, who is usually very pedantic and demanding in her kitchen, shows remarkable patience and understanding when the grandchildren want to help.

November 25, 2006

Another tradition in the making - a sukkot meeting of the Israel branch of the Levy clan - the three cousins and spouses (except for Doreen who was ill with a stomach virus), Yarden and Aunt Malia - at Aunt Malia's. Last year we had a lovely time - and this year was no different. Thanks, Malia, for everything. (Note for Dina: This time the picture is not blurred!)

As is our custom at Sukkot, we celebrated at the apartment of Wendy Kansky, where we all had the opportunity of sitting in a sukkah and shaking the Lulav and Etrog. As always, we had a lovely time, as Doreen and I, and Vered and Moran and their kids celebrated with cousin Shirley's family (Nathan; Wendy and Dan; Cheryl Tal and Adam and Meital, Ben, Ron; Braham and Zahavit, and cousin Jonathan's family (Aunt Malia, Dina and Yarden. ). Click here for more pictures, (and here for pictures from two years ago.)