Me; Doreen; Lotem and Mikhal Segoli; Itamar Levy; Maayan amd Moran Segoli

Doreen and I are fans of the Gilbert and Sullivan Operettas. When we saw the Encore Theatre Group were staging The Mikado (in English) with Israeli performers, we decided to take some of the family to see the performance and get a taste of  this genre. There were surtitles in English and Hebrew which made it easier to follow the complicated story.We all, including the children, thoroughly enjoyed the show which was slick and well performed with some surprisingly good voices.

THIS WEEK'S NEWS 

My childhood home is now St Clement'sRestaurant

The house where I lived  during my youth from a few years old till about aged 20 at 191 Musgrave Road, Durban, is now St Clement's Restaurant, with a Certificate of Excellence and rated 4 stars on Trip Advisor.
(When my late mother cooked it was 5 stars! )

There are two more pictures and some comments in the Miscellaneous pages.

(Many thanks to ex-Durbanite Maureen Fain (nee Konigsfest) who recenly visited Durban and was kind enough to visit the restaurant and send us the photos.)

THIS WEEK'S NEWS 

• We wish all our friends who celebrate Christmas a Merry Christmas and an enjoyable holiday season.
• We had a most pleasant evening over dinner at our house this evening with some family - cousins Shirley and Nathan Kansky (Hershovitz and Matz family trees) and Joel and Beryl Klotnick (Matz family tree); and Louise Braverman (Doreen's sister). It's been some time since the Kansky's and the Klotnicks met so the evening was especially enjoyable. Click to see picture.
  
• Belinda Levy, who was married to my first cousin the late David Levy ז"ל  (see Hershovitz and Matz family trees) is visiting Israel and she met our son Aviv at Coral World Marine Park where he is the curator. We will be seeing Belinda and her companion next week. See picture here.
  
• Happy Birthday this week to  Saul Gordon (24th),  Jonathan Levy (25th), Chloe Glogauer (25th),  Maayan Segoli (26th), Jonathan Bortz (26th), Jared Marcus (26th), Nicole Marcus (26th), Tamara Marcus (26),  Kevin Lampert (28th), Laura Katovsky (28th). Irving Kagan (28th), Beth Jeffrey (28th),  Claire Neiman (29th)
• Happy Anniversary this week to Maureen and Alan Blotnick (27th)

l-r: My father Hayman, my step-mother Rae, Me and Doreen, Doreen's mother Gertie and Doreen's father Maurice

As it's our 53rd edding anniversary today, I decided to put our wedding photo as This Week's Picture. How young and slim we were!

THIS WEEK'S NEWS 

l-r: Doreen, Lotem Segoli, Andy Loew, Yaffa Loew, Yaakov Bortenstein, Moran Segoli, Eitan
front: Mikhal Segoli, Maayan Segoli, (Zoe Segoli hiding under a chair)

Andy Loew was not feeling well and we visited him and Yaffa (see Schank family tree) this afternoon together with the Segolis. Yaffa's brother Yaakov Bortenstein joined us and we spent a very pleasant afternoon solving the world's problems but also talking about family history. We don't see this branch of the family often enough.

THIS WEEK'S NEWS 

I'm at home after a few days in hospital because of an undetected  ulcer that was bleeding due to medication I took against the pain of a strained neck muscle. Fortunately the bleeding has stopped and I am still feeling a little weak but much improved. In the coming weeks I'll need to avoid three of my favourites - coffee, chocolate, and chili peppers.
I was reasonably comfortable in the hospital  due to much appreciated help from son Aviv, Vered squeezing in visits before an important work trip overseas, and of course from wonderful wife Doreen.
Thanks to all my friends and family for their concern and good wishes.

THIS WEEK'S NEWS 

The Segolis visit the Spider web tapestries of Nahal Soreq

The Soreq Creek near Jerusalem contains nutrient rich water (from treated sewage) that attracts millions of  tiny non-biting midges that are an abundant food for long-jawed spiders. The spiders proliferate and their webs cover the trees and forest in large "tapestries". The Segolis visted there at the end of last week and reported that this creates a beautiful sight.
Read more about this rare phenomenon in the Haaretz newspaper (which identifies the insects as mosquitos not midges).
There are more pictures on the miscellaneous page and on the pages of Lotem and Maayan.

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THIS WEEK'S NEWS 

The Peitav Synagogue in Old Riga is the only synagogue that was not destroyed by the Nazis when they invaded Riga in July 1941. After the war and during the Russian period it was largely neglected and no repairs were made. Only in 2008, some 10 years after Latvia gained independence, the building was  fully and lovingly restored.

See also Doreen's column.

THIS WEEK'S NEWS 

Himba children in Namibia discover buttons

When we bought granddaughter Lotem a sewing machine (see last week's news)  that can do almost everything "except sew buttons, " I was reminded of a visit to a Himba village in Namibia in 2001. Doreen was wearing a loose shirt over her clothes  and the little boys who ran out to see us on our way to the village were fascinated by the buttons on the shirt. The Himba don't wear Western clothes - or hardly any clothes at all -  and they had never seen buttons but one quickly learned how they worked. They were prepared to spend the whole day opening and closing them, but we left them to go to the village to see the way of life of the Himba people who, according to the London Daily Mail , are "an isolated tribe that wants nothing to do with modern society".

(And while on the subject of sewing here's a picture in the "Old Photos" section of me sewing in our motorhome on a 1995 trip)

from our 'old photos' collection

THIS WEEK'S NEWS 

Lotem at her batmitzvah party

Granddaughter Lotem Segoli turned 12 this week and the Segoli and Levy families celebrated with her at her batmitzvah event. Friday evening we celebrated at the Caravanserai (Khan Shayarot) tent village not far from  her home in Midreshet Ben Gurion, and on Saturday we all lunched at her home.
See details and pictures here

THIS WEEK'S NEWS 

Feelin' Hot Hot Hot - Carnival in the USVI in the 1980's

The two recent Force 5 hurricanes, Irma and then Maria, caused tremendous destruction on many Caribbean Islands. We were particularly distressed by the damage to the US Virgin Islands, where we lived for a number of years. The Hebrew Congregation of St Thomas is working to help repair the damage and to bring aid to those in need, both of the Congregation and of the general public.We send them best wishes for a speedy recovery.
The picture above of Doreen with a moko jumbie (stilt walker) is of happier times when we lived in the Virgin Islands.

THIS WEEK'S NEWS 

Sukkot at the home of Dina and Jonty Levy

For the last few years the Levy family tradition of celebrating the festival sukkot together lapsed. This was a great pity for we had many lovely evenings at the home of Wendy Kansky, the daughter of cousin Shirley Kansky (for example see here) . This year Wendy, daughter Vered and cousin "in-law" Dina Levy decided to renew the tradition and the Levys with the addition of some of Dina's family, enjoyed good company and delicious food at the home of Jonty and Dina.
More pictures here.

THIS WEEK'S NEWS 

Doreen - tourist guide

Doreen semi-retired some time ago and cut down on her guiding, but recently she has been almost as busy as in her active years -  four tours in the space of about 2 months. I found the above photo from long ago of Doreen the tour guide and as Doreen is at the moment guiding an 11 day tour thought it appropriate as This Week's Picture.

THIS WEEK'S NEWS 

Taking a lunch break in Belfast
left, f-b: Josef Harsanyi , Yves and Claude  Aubry
right: f-b: Paul Porteous, me, Maureen Porteous

I spent a few days in Belfast, Northern Ireland, helping to plan the European Bridge League Officers' Seminar to be held there at the beginning of February. Taking part were Yves Aubry (President), Josef Harsanyi (Treasurer), Paul Porteous (Secretary) and me (Rules and Regulations Chairman). The meeting was very successful - the facilities were inspected and interesting programme and topics chosed and planned.

THIS WEEK'S NEWS 

Rosh Hashanah  5778 - 2017 - תשע"ח

We celebrated the Jewish New Year this year in Eilat at the home of son Aviv and Limor Levy, together with the Segolis and some of Limor's family and friends.  All in all, there were 40 people who enjoyed the fantastic meal prepared by Limor, her mother and sisters.

THIS WEEK'S NEWS 

• We stayed 5 days in Eilat during the Rosh Hashanah long weekend and apart from eating most of the time we also had time for some other things. Click for some pictures here.
• As reported last week, daughter Vered and the Ron family all made it to Boston (despite some fears about Hurricanr Jose interfering with their plans)  and the four of them were happy to again be together again. See picture.
• Later this week I am flying to Belfast for a few days  in connection with the European Bridge League officers' seminar which will be held there in February. The next home page update will be from there.
  
• We wish all our fanily and friends a Happy New Year - שנה טובה .  May the new year bring you all happiness and success, and peace to our troubled area.

Lior Ron is 18!

I celebrated Granddaughter Lior Ron's 18th birthday with a vegan breakfast  (for her!). As noted before Lior is doing a year's voluntary National Service and she later celebrated with her communa.

THIS WEEK'S NEWS 

No, this isn't a picture of me out of sight - read on.........

A slight change this week in "This Week's Picture." You'll see the picture later.
Background: Son Moran Segoli lives and works in the Negev Desert. Yesterday, on the way to his workplace, he stopped at a petrol (gas) station to fill up. While he was there, three local Bedouin rode up to the station. Two of them went into the adjacent cafe, ordered three espressos to go, came out, drank the coffee and continued their trip. Moran managed to take this picture which you can see by clicking on the blank square above.

THIS WEEK'S NEWS 

Aviv and Limor Levy

This is a lovely picture of son Aviv and Limor at the Harmony Restaurant in Eilat. It was photographed by Limor's sister Ofira and is not posed!

THIS WEEK'S NEWS 

Mikhal Segoli in China

Daughter in law Mikhal returned from the family hike in the Dolomites and almost immediately flew to China to attend a professional conference there.

THIS WEEK'S NEWS 

Jafet Olafsson and the Icelandic meal he prepared

During our cruise aboard the Oriana we made a stop at Akureyri, a town in the north of Iceland. My colleague on the EBL Executive Committee, Jafet Olafsson, lives in Reykjavik and has a summer home in Husavik, an hours drive from Akureyri. Jafet met us at the ship and took us on a tour of the beautiful area. Then we went to his summer home where he had prepared a lunch consisting of tasty Icelandic traditional foods - smoked lamb, smoked trout. gravlax, jellied sheeps head, lyfrapylsa (a sausage made with sheeps innards and resembling Scottish haggis) and dried fish.
Jafet went out of his way to show us around, driving hundreds of miles and going to a lot of trouble.
(Doreen will prepare an account with pictures and more details when the cruise has finished*. In the meantime there are some pictures of some of the highlights here.)

*later: Click for Doreen's account and impressions

THIS WEEK'S NEWS 

Love and Sex in the Sea

Tu B'Av (the 16th of the Hebrew month Av) is the Israel equivalent of Valentine's Day and of course the media (and shops!) are full of love-related topics and themes. Channel 10 TV in Israel was no exception and they even devoted some of their morning show to Sex in the Sea, and interviewed our son Aviv (on the right above). He was fantastic and spoke well and interestingly. The hosts and guests on the show were fascinated. Well done, Aviv. This is not the first time he has been on TV (for example click here for Aviv talking on whale sharks two months ago) - we are proud of you Aviv!
Click here or on the above picture for a very short extract from the show.
Also, the Epson Photokina Fair in 2010 prepared a Youtube presentation of breeding sea horses and returning them to the sea, featuring Aviv. Click here for the clip (especially from minute 3.18 onwards).

THIS WEEK'S NEWS 

The Segolis hike the Dolomite high paths

The Segolis - Moran, Mikhal, Maayan, Lotem and Zoe - are in north-eastern Italy trekking in the Dolomites. They will be there for about 2 weeks, carrying all their clothes and supplies with them, and spending the nights in the rifugi - the huts along the trekking paths. The Dolomites have a reputation for being awe-inspiring and beautiful, a well-deserved reputation judging by the pictures sent by them. More pictures here, and on the pages of Maayan, Lotem and Zoe.

THIS WEEK'S NEWS 

We are delighted ro report that granddaughter Ilai Levy underwent a successful back operation, correcting severe scoliosis, and that she is recovering well. She is walking well, though of course slowly, and is getting better every day. She has been in hospital for a week and should be allowed to go home in a few days time.
There are some pictures of her on her page.
 

THIS WEEK'S NEWS 

• We're in Slovakia for the European Youth Bridge Competition in Samorin, a town near Bratislava. Tomorrow we return to Israel where we have a three week break until our next trip!
• The conditions and facilities for these championships at the X-Bionic Sphere Complex are exceptionally good - among the best I have ever been to in my long bridge career. Some details and pictures here.
• Grandson Itamar Levy has just completed the third and final stage for acceptance to the Odysseus Programme for Future Scientists and Inventors. The course was at the Ben Gurion University in Beer Sheva and we await the final results.
  
• Amit and Ilai Levy spent the weekend with Aunt Vered, and met the Sde Boqer Segolis at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. (see pictures)

• We are in Montecatini Terme, in Tuscany Italy. The European Open Bridge Championships are being held here and we'll be here for just over two weeks. I've been busy the last  few days so pictures and comments will wait till next week.
• Doreen celebrates her birthday on Sunday. We'll find a nice seafood restaurant and celebrate it there, but in the meantime make do with a pleasant breakfast outdoors at our hotel in Montecatini. Pictures here.

• We attended a few sessions of the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition and were amazed at the fantastic abilities and talent of the pianists and the truly excellent organisation. We are proud that second cousin Shuly Haberman, the Production Manager, (see Goldberg family tree) contributed so much to its success. We enjoyed the performances and it was difficult for us to judge who was the best. Our choice of winner did not coincide with that of the judges, who chose a Polish contestant, Szymon Nehring, (our second choice) as winner. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience and are already looking forward to the next competition in 3 years time!
  
• Next Monday we fly to Prague for 4 days. I am organizing a seminar for certified international bridge judges. The Laws of Bridge have just been revised and the seminar will be devoted to discussing the implications and implementation of these new laws.

• During their final day with us at the end of last week, the grandchildren went horse-riding, visited a turtle rescue programme and played Frisbe with Doreen in the adjacent park. Pictures here.
• Congratulations to Tanya and Stephen Wood of London, England on the birth of their first child this week, Tallulah May. (Picture of the beautiful one-day old baby here). Congratulations too to grandmother Susan Nathan (nee Levy) on her third grandchild. (see Levy/Hershovitz family tree.)
  
• The Arthur Rubinstein Piano Competition is taking place in Tel Aviv and Shuli Haberman (see Goldberg family tree), the Production Manager,  is very busy overseeing the successful organisation of the competition.  Doreen is due to take the judges on a day tour of Jerusalem later today.
• Best of luck to granddaughter Lior who is busy with her final bagrut exams. She found time to entertain cousin Zoe while the kindergarden helpers were striking. Lior will spend the next year on a voluntary Public Service programme before beginning her compulsory army training.
  

The cups were carved by his great great Grandfather Leibe. They were passed down to great grandmother Gertie Glazer, and then to Granny Doreen Levy. They will be passed down  to Doreen’s children, including father  Moran and from him to Leiba’s great great grandchild, Maayan, and from him ..........

The cups have “lived” in Byelorussia, South Africa the Caribbean and in Israel.

Read more, and see a picture of a wooden candlestick carved by Leibe.

• Children, grandchildren - all back from their overseas visits and back to their routines. As expected, they all had a wonderful time.
• Now it's our chance:| Doreen and I will be flying to Amsterdam this week. It's only a four day visit, to see long-time friends Hans and Lottie Reijzer. Lottie is not well and we hope our visit will cheer them up a little. We have been close friends with the Reijzers since learning Hebrew with them on an ulpan in 1965. We see each other often, in Israel or Holland, and have a couple of times been together with them on a holiday, for example in Aups about 7 years ago.
  
• Sad news. Adam, the son of Melly Braverman our ex-brother-in-law, was found dead in a pool in Singapore where he was touring together with other fans of the Rugby 7 International Tournament there.  We extend heartfelt condolences to Mellie, to mother Fenella Bishop, to sister Tamara  and to half-sisters Denise and Yael Braverman. Click for pictures of Adam and Melly on a visit to Petra, and of Adam with sisters Tamara and Denise in Eilat. (see Glasser family tree).
• Cousin Shirley Kansky and Nathan, and friends Dani and Ruti Erez, came for lunch and Doreen experimented successfully with a new (for her) chicken recipe - spatchcock chicken. Read her instructions for preparing this delicious and easy recipe on the family recipe page.

• After the seder the Eilatis said goodbye and returned to Eilat and Mikhal and Moran and Zoe Segoli said hello. Mikhal and Moran went on a three day hike (see pictures) while we looked after granddaughter Zoe.
• This is the first time Zoe has not been in the company of her parents or siblings and we were surprised that she only rarely showed signs of "homesickness." Probably a visit to the local Luna Park (see picture) and a play about a lonely dog helped, but almost unlimited TV played a large role! At one stage she complained of a sore throat. Doreen offered her various remedies which were refused. Doreen asked what  she thought would help her sore throat. "Watching television" was the reply.
• Grandchildren Maayan and Lotem Segoli are in Paris enjoying a visit with the Segoli grandparents, Yael and Avraham. From the pictures we have received they are having a great time.
• The Rons Vered, Aviv and Lior were excited at seeing daughter/sister Danielle in Sacramento and enjoyed the seder with her and friends.  They then went on a short skiing holiday and by all accounts had a wonderful time. (pictures here)

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• It's pre-Passover school holidays and five of our grandchildren are staying with us. Son Moran is also here for a few days to help. Doreen and Moran took them to the Holon Children's Museum where the older children experienced Dialogue in the Dark and Zoe the Enchanted Forest.. They played football in the local park, visited Caesaria and will go to a movie tomorrow. See pictures.
  
• What about the other 3 grandchildren who are not in Netanya? Ilai Levy is at a Scout's camp and will join us next week, with parents Aviv and Limor, for a few days when we celebrate the Pesach seder. Lior Ron is on her way (with Dad Aviv) to  California to visit sister Danielle who is working there.
  
• Daughter Vered Ron has just spent a week in Germany and France on business trips and by the time you read this she will also be in California with husband Aviv and daughters Danielle and Lior.
• Grandchildren Itamar Levy and Maayan Segoli also went on school hikes earlier this week. Click on the names for pictures.
  
• I spent a couple of days in Larnaca Cyprus checking a possible venue for a 2018 Bridge Workshop.