THIS
WEEK'S
PICTURE
and THIS WEEK'S NEWS
Archives
(This Week's Picture and
News) for 2021
January
2021
February
2021
March 2021
April 2021
May
2021
June 2021
July 2021
August 2021
September 2021 October
2021 November
2021 December
2021
(Last
year -2020)
THIS
WEEK'S PICTURE
25th December 2021
Main Building, Durban High School, Natal, South Africa
Old memories were re-awakened when I saw
this week a picture of the main building
of
DHS - Durban High School - where I spent the last 4 years of my school
education. Looking at the building it's not hard to believe that the
education
we received was strongly based on English school tradition. For
example, we
learned Latin, there were prefects and the pupils were divided into
competitive
‘houses’. If you don't understand that, read "Harry Potter"!
DHS is an all boys public school and was established 155 years ago. The
building above has been replaced by a modern structure.
The school was situated a 3 minute walk from our home along an alley.
Some minutes before school started a ship's bell was struck and
sometimes it woke me up in time and I ran to school (dressing on the
way) and usually arriving it time for the Assembley before the lessons
started.
DHS was known not only for its
academic excellence but also for its sporting
achievements.
Sport played a very important part of our school lives. The grounds of
the
school were enormous: There were full 110 yard and 480 yard
Olympic
running tracks, full size rugby and cricket fields and an Olympic size
swimming
pool. Participation in sports after school hours was obligatory (at
least once
a week) and the various sports were professionally organised by school
staff. For
example, those participating in athletics during the appropriate
season
were trained by athletes, and their results measured based on the
Olympic
Decathlon points system. The school rugby coach was Izak van Heerden
who
was also the provincial coach and later a world famous international
coach.
Another of our coaches - and also one of my teachers - was the
legendary war
hero and sportsman Bill
Payn who had represented the Natal Provincial teams in cricket,
boxing,
baseball, athletics and rugby where he also played for the Springboks
(the SA
International side). Regular inter-house matches were arranged, and the
annual
Athletic Championships participants were representatives of their
houses. We
were also organised in age groups, for example Under 15, and regularly
played
against teams from other schools on Saturdays.
It was compulsory to attend as spectators the important rugby matches
against
rival schools. Pupils who did not attend such a match were punished.
It is worth noting that one year the international South African
cricket team
of 11 players had 5 players who had attended DHS - an amazing feat.
It was also compulsory to wear school uniform in public - for instance
going to
a movie - and again transgressors were punished. Punishment was also by
detention and extra work but usually by "cuts" - caning with a bamboo
cane, by the Head prefect or a school teacher, 2, 4 or 6 depending on
the misdemeanor.
I had more than my fair share of cuts, including a couple of 'sixes'.
It all sounds rather draconian, but I really enjoyed my high school
days and
even enjoyed learning Latin - something I have never regretted.
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- We wish all our friends who celebrate Christmas a very happy and,
especially, healthy Christmas and holiday season.
- We were due to travel to the USA this coming Monday but had to
cancel after the USA was declared a Covid red destination.
Disappointing but now we have a future trip to look forward to.
- When we were in Vienna a few weeks ago we of course tasted the
traditional apfelstrudel and Doreen decided yesterday to try her hand
at making it. The result was delicious - see her strudel recipe on the
Recipe page.
- Daughter Vered and Aviv Ron joined us to eat the apple strudel
and Aviv brought the Glühwein
- hot spiced red wine - he had meticuously made. I had tasted glühwein
in Romania and didn't particularly like it, but Aviv's was really very
good. The amount of different ingredients that he used is amazing - see
the picture here.
- The
Segolis are enjoying a few days in Eilat with the Eilat Levys - see
picture.
- We
spent a delightful lunch and afternoon at the home of friends and
former neighbours Jeff and Pam Boner to celebrate Pam's 80th birthday.
We were happy to meet there again Selma and Lennie Cartoon, old friends
and relatives of cousin Jonty Levy.
THIS
WEEK'S PICTURE
18th December 2021
Professor Mikhal Segoli
At
the
beginning of the year
we congratulated daughter in law Mikhal Segoli on receiving
tenure at Ben Gurion University. And now at the end of the year
we congratulate her again - this time for being appointed
Professor at the Swiss Institute for Dryland Environmental and
Energy Research at the Institute for Desert Research
of Ben Gurion University.
As reported
last year
Mikhal won a Fellowship at the Israel Institute for Advanced
Studies for collaborative academic research.. She
will
work in Jerusalem for 5 months with teams of scientists from all over
the world researching biological control interaction to support
agriculture and conservation. More
details can be found in the Ben
Gurion University bulletin.We
hope that the Corona crisis will not impact her work.
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- The Segolis (Moran, Mikhal and Maayan) invited us to the Timna
Restaurant in Tel Aviv to celebrate our Anniversary. We enjoyed the 8
course tasting menu there. See
picture.
- On Friday night we celebrated
Maayan's 18th birthday at our house and were happy to see Mikhal's
father Avraham and to meet his companion Shlomit. As always we all
enjoyed Doreen's delicious cooking. Picture here.
- The next day daughter Vered and Aviv and Zoe Segoli joined us as
we celebrated again Maayan's birthday. See picture of Maayan with the cake
Doreen baked. Of course granddaughter Zoe also helped prepare the lunch. (See picture).
- I was delighted to receive an current picture of the lovely Kaira,
Hayley and Amber, daughters of Joshua and Natasha Leibowitz (who
today celebrate their 17th wedding anniversary) and
granddaughters of Sharon (whose birthday is also later this week) and
Joe in Australia. Thank you cousin Sharon
for keeping us updated. See Levy and
Matz family trees.
- After a break of more than 15 years, Doreen is considering
playing tennis again, and then later challenging grandson Maayan to a
game. In the meantime, she's taking
lessons.
- To all our friends all over the world who celebrate it, we wish
you a Merry Christmas.and a happy holiday in the coming weeks.
THIS
WEEK'S PICTURE
11th December 2021
57 Years Ago!
(and still going strong)
Happy Anniversary to my darling wife and
best friend on
the 16th.
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- Many thanks to Jonathan Stern in Australia for sending me updates
for the
family tree.(see Hershovitz/Levy tree)
- We had a delightful lunch with longtime friends dating back to
our
South Africa days - Steve and Binny Blass and Pam and Jeff
Bethlehem. See picture
- Granddaughter Danielle Ron has completed her study term in the
Galapogos and the Amazon and met up with sister Lior who is touring in
central America in Mexico.. With the grandkids away the Rons and we
enjoyed a quiet Friday
night dinner. Picture.
- Happy
Birthday this week to: Mark
Nathan (11th), Louise Eliezer (11th), Yael Amit (12th),
Jennifer Brod
(13th), Hillel Geffen (13th), Adam Emanuel (15th), Dan
Kansky (16th), Guy Lossin (16), Daniel
Leibowitz
(17th), Joel Beckman (17th), Gidon Lazarus (17th), Talya Levy (17th), Gabriel Glogauer
(18th),
Happy Anniversary this
week to: Lynn and
Kevin Weisz (12th), Vanessa
and Giorgio Tarazza
(12th), Lee and
Nadav Levy
(12th), Pat and Stewart Shub (15th), Wendy and Neill Glasser
(15th), Doreen
and Eitan Levy (16th), Natasha
and Joshua Leibowitz (18th)
THIS
WEEK'S PICTURE
4th December 2021
Aviv 'lights' the Channukiah
Son Aviv has a tradition of celebrating
festivals and events underwater at Coral World in Eilat. This Channukah
was no exception.
For an example of a celebration of an event, see the 2018 Italy
Giro Cycle Race,
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- Doreen and I returned this week from Budapest where I organized a
4 day workshop for
bridge tournament directors. Athough the Covid situation led to many
cancellations the workshop was successful. All our three Covid tests
(pre-flight, at Tel Aviv airport and after 3 days isolation) were
negative and we are back to (Covid) normal life.
- We celebrated Channukah at the home of daughter Vered and Aviv together
with Anat and Eli Tzur and Edna
Yechieli (two of Aviv's sisters) and family. See
picture.
- The Segolis have had to cancel their Tanzania trip due to Covid
0micron restrictions, but as a small compensation spent 4 wonderful
days hiking
in the Mt. Karkom area. See pictures.
THIS
WEEK'S PICTURE
27th November 2021
Zoe receives her first vaccination
Vaccinations are now available and
recommended for children aged 7-11 and granddaughter Zoe received hers
this week.
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- Doreen and I are in Budapest where I am organizing a workshop for
bridge tournament directors. Athough the Covid situation led to many
cancellations the workshop is taking place successfully. Tomorrow we
leave for Israel.
- I received a lovely picture of
Tamir Klaff
with Dave Rothschild, his mother's husband. (see Goldberg family
tree)
20th November 2021
The Eilat Levys with soldier
Itamar
Grandson Itamar has just completed his basic training and was inducted
into the Israel Army at a swearing in ceremony (see short video). After a weekend at
home
he swill return for intensive and specialised training and will serve
for the the compulsory 3 years.
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- Doreen and I are in Eilat where we are enjoying a few days with
the family while I am directing at the Red Sea Bridge Festival .
- On the way down to Eilat , looking for a place to eat, we found a
delightful little restaurant in Mizspeh Ramon called Soul Vegan and Vibes. Although I
am not vegan or vegetarian I enjoyed my vegan hamburger with 'bacon'. See picture.
- While in Eilat we also celebrated granddaughter Amit's 16th
birthday, and son Aviv and Limor's 23rd wedding anniversary. (see pictures).
- Today we return to Netanya and start preparing for our trip to
Budapest where I will be conducting a Workshop
for aspiring bridge
Tournament Directors.
- Granddaughter Lior is still touring Mexico and seems to be
'having a ball'. See some pictures.
THIS
WEEK'S PICTURE
13th November 2021
Cecile Ethel Cotton 1960-2021
We were saddened this
week to hear that my youngest cousin, Cecile, passed away last
Saturday in Johannesburg South Africa after a two
year fight against cancer. Cecile was the daughter of my father's
brother Eric Levy. We extend our heartfelt condolences to her husband
Raymond, and to her three wonderful children Eric, Raphael and
Jenna and their spouses; to her grandchildren Levi, Meira, Kaela,
Naomi and Livi; and to her siblings Sharon Leibowitz and Joe, and
Charles Levy
and Sheenagh.
Throughout her illness Cecile kept us up to date with a whatsapp blog
. This was part of her last entry, 10 days before she passed away:
So today I was a bit disappointed as
the weather is nice and I thought that I would have the energy to
shower. So far have not been able to, but TG my appetite is back. So
far, so good.
This is what she wrote when she realised that the end was near:
Cancer
is very real and not always easy to
accept. There are two things that you could do. Either become so
depressed and
just give up, or you accept this huge challenge and take every
opportunity to
try and fight it. I could have gone either way. Instead I decided to be
positive and make the most of it. Ok I have to add that I have had the
most
amazing support from my family and friends. Don't know how I could have
managed
without them. For all of you I will always treasure your love,
compassion,
meals you made and phone calls to just keep me happy.
In Nov 2019 I was
diagnosed with Herr 2
negative breast cancer, after a year having gone thru 6 months of
chemo,
lumpectomy and 6 weeks (31 days) of radiation. It was quite a journey
to say
the least. Then in November 2020, I found out my cancer had
metastasized to my
liver. Was I upset? Of course I was, as I am now known as Stage 4 .
Have I
given up? No ways. I am loving life. Hashem has helped me so much. Made
me
become such a stronger person. I do not sweat the small stuff. If you
know me,
you know how I loved having my hair done. A grey hair would appear and
it had
to be coloured. My nails always had to be manicured, facials the works.
You
name it and that was the old me. Comes cancer and all that is taken
away from
one. So I just want to say there is light at the end of the tunnel. Not
every
day is sunshine and roses, but just know the following day it will be.
Take one
day at a time and just be happy.
I
have now been on chemo pills and hormone
blockers for the past 3 months. The chemo pills are not great but I am
looking
past the nausea etc. I love my new found love of drawing.
I have not been in the shops for a year. Does
it upset me? I am so used to it, but there are times I get frustrated
when I
ask for something and they bring the wrong product. So I just always
send
photos of the product so now there is no excuse that they didn't know
what I
wanted.
Love you guys
Read a tribute from her cousin
Lynette Edelstein at prayers held at the
Leibowitz house in Melbourne Australia.
See
Hershovitz/Levy and
Matz family trees.
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- We are in Slovakia, in Pezinok near Bratislava. I attended the
meeting of the European Bridge League
committee meeting and officiated
at the Champions' Cup bridge competition. Tomorrow we fly back to
Israel.
- While I was at meetings Doreen saw some of Bratislava, including
a walk in the Old City with Maureen
Porteus and Hildur Olafsson
- Before coming to Slovakia we spent four enjoyable days in Vienna.
We visited Vienna 4 years ago and were happy to return for another
visit. Doreen's observations and
some pictures , both from this and our previous visit, can be
accessed here.
- We thoroughly enjoyed travelling overseas again after such
a long break. We didn't mind the forms and permits we had to fill in
and receive; not even the covid tests we had to undergo in Israel
and Bratislava, with another one awaiting us tomorrow ar Ben
Gurion airport Tel Aviv.
- As reported last week granddaughter Lior Ron is touring in
Mexico,
and from the pictures she sent us seems to behaving a wonderful time. See picture.
THIS
WEEK'S PICTURE
6th November 2021
Haim Isaac Shapiro, My Maternal Grandfather, 1876 - 1933
My maternal
grandfather, Isaac Shapiro, married to Roddeh Goldberg, died before I
was born, and I was named (Hebrew name) Haim Yitchak after him. I know
very little about him or his ancestors or siblings and whether he had
any. He had 4 daughters (3 born in Lithuania including my mother) and
another daughter and son born in Kimberley South Africa where he lived.
I have a photo of his gravestone and know that his father was named
Dov. There are postcards written to him by Roddeh's father from
Lithuania and the Ukraine. (
see pictures and
translations of these postcards.)
Unfortunately that's about all I know about him. I have searched
various sources and there is a possible, but doubtful, link to someone
in USA that needs more investigating.
See Goldberg Family Tree
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- In grandson Itamar Levy's second weekend in the Army he was free
to go home for a day or two and to talk about his army induction
experiences. Picture here.
- Granddaughter Lior Ron left this week for a vacation oftwo
months. The will start in Mexico and then team up with her sister
Danielle who will be finishing her term in the Galapagos.
- Our garden continues to surprise us. See pictures.
- Tomorrow we leave for Vienna and Slovakia for the European Bridge
League Champions' Cup where I will be officiating. We'll be away for 8
days and next week's updates on this site may be a day or two late.
30th October 2021
Bobbe Mary with Louise and Julius
Mera Aleshnik Nickel and Leiba
Nickel were the maternal grandparents of Doreen. They had 5 children -
Rose,
Gertie, Jack, Aaron and Yudel (Julius). Julius was born in South
Africa, the others in Slonim (today in Belarus.)
In the picture above with "Bobbe Mary" are her granddaughter
Louise (Doreen's sister) and her youngest son, Julius (Yudel) wielding
a
cricket bat. As it turned out the Nickel family excelled at cricket,
with 2 provincial players and 2 international players,
including Ali Bacher who was the SA cricket captain. Ali's first
cricket bat was a present from his uncle Julius - probably not the
same bat as in the picture. (See Ali's appreciation of
Yudel's influence on him.) Yudel was also a keen sportsman and played
soccer for the South African under 14 team.
Apologies for the poor quality of the
photo, it's the only one I have of Bobbe Mary.
<3 years
later I found another>
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
This week was "relatives week". We had pleasant lunch with
sister Louise and friend Caroline to celebrate cousin Yaffa Loew's
birthday. Then on Friday we brucnched with relatives Sydney and
Ari Lossin in Asseret and then visited Yaakov and Ziva
Bortenstein, (joined by Yaffa) in nearby Meishar. Both visits
were
thoroughly enjoyed.
24th
October 2021
Itamar
is off to the army!
Today (Sunday) our eldest grandson, Itamar Levy, reported at an
army base ready to be conscripted into the Israel Defence Force.
Military duty is compulsory in Israel and Itamar will serve three years.
Doreen and I travelled over two hours to wish Itamar good luck only to
find out that we were a few minutes late and that he was about to board
the bus which would take him to the enlistment centre. We could see
Itamar about to board the bus, but son Aviv phoned him to tell him we
had arrived and Itamar ran back to give us all a hug, and then ran back.
On behalf of all the family we wish Itamar good luck for his army
service
and hope it will not be all that difficult!
Click
for two more pictures
16th
October 2021
Papaya Man
This year we've had a bumper crop of
papayas (pawpaws) growing in our yard, even though some of them are
strangely or irregularly shaped. In the picture above Aviv Ron our
son-in-law (he's the one on the left!) poses with one of these papayas.
Apparently Papaya Man is religious - it seems like he's wearing a yellow
kippa. Doreen and I both love
pawpaws and we've had pawpaw for nearly every breakfast the last month
or so.
We've had mixed success in our garden this year - no mangoes and no
clementines but the
abundant
lychees more than made up for it. Add to that reasonable quanities
of
Afghanistan (Pakistan) mulberries,
avocados, lemons, okra, chili peppers (3 kinds) and arugala so we're
not complaining.
There are some
pictures of our
current crop (papayas, avocadoes, lemons and okra.).
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- We are happy to report that Doreen's sister Louise Braverman is
back home after a few days in hospital. Not back to her usual energy
levels, but getting there.
- Yesterday Doreen joined a tour in Tel Aviv and by chance good
friend Varda Rosbruch from our days in St Thomas in the Virgin Islands
was also there. They were happy to see each other again. See picture and more.
9th
October 2021
Levy Family 27th Reunion
The Castle October 7th-9th 2021
We celebrated our 27th Family Reunion at
The
Castle, a Crusader building dating from the 11th Century, situated
in Kerem Maharal. It's really a special place with a rural atmosphere,
and we had the whole building to ourselves. It proved ideal for our 15
family members. Granddaughter Daniele, studying in the Galapagos was
missed.
The Reunion was also a good luck message to grandson Itamar, who will
begin his compulsory army service in two weeks time,
and as usual, we prepared special T-shirts for the occasion this time
with wishes to Itamar "Itamar enlisting".
For group pictures of our previous 26 reunions,
click here.
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- Doreen is a volunteer
Befriender with ESRA (English Speakers' Residents Association)
and Tirza, a holocaust
survivor,
is one of her "befriendees".ESRA publishes a yearly calender and there
is a picture of Doreen and Tirza on one of the pages. Last week, on our
way back from the Segolis, we visted Tirza and gave her a copy of the
calender.
- I received a picture from 2nd
cousin
Sydney (Brunow) Lossin (see Matz family
tree) and I am happy to
see that the papaya seeds I sent her have now grown into trees.
2nd
October 2021
My
father Hayman and his siblings
Hayman, Eric, Ethel (William), Joe, Abe
My father was one of seven children of
Jussel Levy and Olga Matz. Two sisters died before I was born,Annie
(after whom I am named) and Fannie (after whom Fern was named). The
four brothers were lawyers.
Click here for more pictures of the
Levy family.
See
Levy family tree.
from my Old Pictures collection
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- We enjoyed a delicious fish meal with Dani and Ruti Erez at a
restaurant in Jisr al Zarqa. It is the ultimate "off the beaten path"
reastaurant, and is reached by walking through an old area of the
Arab town. It's called Dag al
Hayam - Fish by the Sea - which is almost a generic term
for a fish restaurant in Israel. But it's outside and right on the
beach with a
view of the fishing and recreational boats. Heartily recommended (if
you can find it!). See 2
pictures here.
- We are in Midreshet Ben Gurion helping with the Segoli
grandchildren - mainly with Zoe the youngest. We had a picnic
breakfast, watched Zoe perform parkour jumps and visited the Negev Zoo
in Beersheba. Pictures here.
25th
September 2021
Port
Elizabeth S.A Bnot Tzion
c.1930
Before they married my parents lived in
Port Elizabeth in the
Eastern Cape in South Africa. They left Port Elizabeth for Durban in
1944. I found this picture of the "Daughters of Zion" in the
synagogue in Port Elizabeth. The group was evidently composed of women
(unmarried) who belonged to the Jewish community. My mother (then
Queenie Shapiro) is the 4th from right in the back row and in the photo
caption it is
written that she was Honorary Secretary. The gentleman is Bernard
Weinronk (Hon. Life. Pres) . Today there wouldn't be a male in charge
of a women's group. My late Aunt Malia (who married my father's
youngest brother Abe) was a Weinronk . From the family tree her son, my
cousin Jonathan sent me, Bernard Weinronk is his great uncle. The
woman on the right top row is Lena Weinronk -a cousin of my Aunt Malia.
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- For a change we had a busy week. The concealed cistern in our
toilet cracked and leaked. To replace the cistern the wall tiles had to
be removed. We spent a day looking for the same tiles with
no luck, but eventually found tiles close (nearly) to the original
colour and design.
- On Wednesday we invited former neighbours Jeff and Pam Boner and
relatives
Joel and Beryl Klotnick for lunch. They had never met but it didn't
take long to find they had mutual friends and relatives.
- On Thursday Doreen and friend Caroline went to vist and have
lunch with good friends Dovvy and Ziona
Glassman at their retirement home.
- Today we and Basil and Noga Porter were invited to brunch at the
home
of long time friends Terry and Carol Kessel and both the food and
company were excellent.
18th
September 2021
Jumping into cool water on a hot day
in Eilat
We
were away most of the week, first in Midreshet Ben Gurion and then in
Eilat.
Moran was starting new work and Mikhal had medical treatment so we
helped look after Maayan, Lotem and Zoe.
Then
on
Yom Kippur eve we all went
southwards to Eilat, as we have been doing for many years, to join the
Eilati Levys.
We all had a restful time, I did some Bridge computer work and some
bingeing on Netflix. The children did what children do and also played
a very long board game. The adults always found something to
talk about. Snorkeling and seeing fish and corals was also popular. And
of course, being in hot hot Eilat with a cooling swim is the thing to
do, even if you do jump from a bridge into the water.
There are two pictures of
Doreen and
Zoe jumping .
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
Granddaughter Zoe decided that her pets need some VIA (Very
Impotant Animals) special
attention. So her rabbits, hampsters, guinea pig and chinchillas
received a "spa" treatment: a tasty dish of their favourite fruit and
vegetables, brushing, massages and haircuts. Click for the
plate of fruit and vegetables.
11th
September 2021
The
Second World Trade Centre Tower falling 11 September 2001
Today
is the 20th Anniversary of the terrorist attack on the World Trade
Centre Towers. There are many graphic and professional pictures of the
towers burning and falling, but this one, taken by me during the
disaster, causes me to relive that day.
We were in New Jersey staying with daughter Vered and family at
the beginning of our
Round the World
adventure. We decided to go to
Manhattan for some shopping and went to the local train station. The
train pulled up, stopped and let out all the passengers. The
conductor announced in his stentorial voice "Sorry, this train ain't
going nowhere today!". We asked why, then heard shouting from the
waiting room. There was a TV there and we watched the first tower
burning. At this stage we thought there must have been an accident. We
rushed back to Vered's house where she told us the second tower had
been hit by another plane. She took us to a nearby hill from where we
could see Manhattan and witnessed the burning and falling (see picture)
of the second tower.
This could also have been a personal tragedy for us, as Vered's husband
Aviv was flying in a plane to Atlanta at the time of the attack on the
WTC. On the
news details of the identity of the planes were scarce and
contradictory. Then it was confirmed that Aviv was flying on one of the
airlines whose plane had crashed into one of the towers, but we didn't
know which plane. We waited anxiously for Aviv to phone but as the
hours went by we heard nothing. Then after a few hours the phone rang
and a voice told us "I'm phoning for Aviv Ron, he's safe in Charlotte."
You
can imagine the relief. Aviv's plane had been diverted and landed at
Charlotte, North Carolina when news of the attacks began.
Aviv and the other passengers had no way getting back home as there was
no public transport. He considered buying a car but was able to rent a
car that was licensed to drive only up to Virginia and from there
hired a stretch limo. The limo had TV so there he saw for the first
time what had happened. It took him 12 hours to get home!
All flights were cancelled, so we stayed on in New Jersey and took the
first plane out of New York to fly to the Virgin Islands to visit our
friends there. We were one of the only two couples on that plane!
We were also lucky to get tickets for the first baseball game after
"9-11". In an overwhelmingly emotional scene Liza Minelli sang "New
York, New York" to thunderous applause.
Click for our visit to the 9/11
Memorial in 2016 and to read
Doreen's feelings on visiting the
Memorial.
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- We enjoyed a lovely Rosh
Hashanah
(the Jewish New Year) with most of our family at the home of Daughter
Vered and
Aviv Ron. Click for pictures.
- This evening we went to Midreshet Ben Gurion and will remain
there with the Segolis until Wednesday when we will drive to Eilat and
spend Yom Kippur there with
the Eilat Levys. The Segolis will also be in Eilat with us.
- Good luck to our children Moran Segoli and Vered Ron who start
new jobs tomorrow.
4th
September 2021
The
Levys prepare Vegetarian Chopped
Liver
Last week Amit and Itamar in Eilat used Doreen's recipes for preparing
curry and vegetarian chopped liver, which I understand was very
successful.
See another picture and a link to the page in the cookbook by
clicking here.
Our grandchildren take great interest in
cooking and preparing food. This is not surprising in view of the
delicious meals Doreen prepares for them, and also because she always
enlists their help in cooking when they are with us. In addition Limor
(son Aviv's wife) in Eilat is an excellent cook as is Aviv (daughter
Vered's husband). The grandchildren sometimes refer
to Doreen's cookbook "A Potpouri of Memories" written in 1995 and they
either improvise or refer to other cookbooks.
For some of the many efforts of our
grandchildren, see:
Maayan,
Zoe,
Lior
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- Daughteer Vered and Aviv 'got away from it all' with a sailing
trip with friends off the coast of Greece in the Corfu region. Vered,
the skipper,
reports having a fantastic time. Some
pictures.
- Granddaughter Dani is enjoying her study/stay in the Galapagus.
She
sent us some beautiful pictures she had taken, both underwater and on
land. One of the best is of two
blue-footed boobies mating.
- On August 1st school in Israel started, and like other families
new routines were started. Click
here for the Segoli's first day.
- Grandson Itamar will be drafted into the army in October,
preparing for a position that he's very happy and enthusiastic
about.
28th
August 2021
Breakfast
at HaBashan
We had a mini family gathering this
weekend with Aviv and his children, joined by Moran and Mikhal
with their children, as well as Lior, the representative of the
Rons. Our grandchildren had not been together for a long time and
it was really heartwarming for Doreen and I to see how
well the cousins got on together. They enjoyed each others company at
dinner on Thursday evening, at our
house in HaBashan Netanya and had a marvelous time at the pool of our
good friends Ruti and Dani.
Here are
some pictures of the morning at
the pool.
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- Last week I wrote about the visit of the Segolis to a glass
blowing seminar. The glass bowl they made arrived a few days ago, and you can see it here.
- I can finally relax after 6 days of intensive simultaneous
Whatsapps, emails
and Zooms as the Tournament Manager of the European Bridge
Qualification
Tournament for the World Championships. This is the first time we have
organised something on this scale online; thanks to the fantastic
cooperation
of all the officials and staff it was a great success.
21st
August 2021
The
Klotnicks at the barmitzvah of Zac Sklar 2021
Jaiden; Shelly; Danya; Jonathan; Raphael; Dvorah; Aharon; Ian;
Tali; Ephrahim; Zac Sklar;
Jonathan Sklar; Beryl; Joel; Melanie Sklar; Sarina Or, Jemma Sklar;
Mark Or; Yoav Or, Yalli Or; Alma Or
Joel and I are 2nd cousins - my father
and his mother were cousins. I first met the Klotnicks during my
university
days in Johannesburg when I sometimes went to them for Friday night
dinner. Many years ago their son Mark came to Israel and I was able to
"repay" Milly and Barney Klotnick for the meals and company I had
enjoyed. Some years later Joel and Beryl made
aliyah to Israel and we are not
only related but good friends too and meet regularly.
All in the picture above live in Israel.
Jayden, Shelly, Danya and
Jonathan are Joel's nephews who have recently moved to Israel. Joel's
children were born in South Africa and his grandchildren were born
in Israel, London, Paris, and Johannesburg!
See
Matz family trees.
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
Last Wednesday we went to the Segolis at Midreshet Ben Gurion to
help look after the children while mom Mikhal was having medical
treatment. We returned the next day with the children who spent the
weekend with us. See pictures.
I'll be busy this week as I'm the tournament manager for the
online bridge qualification tournament to choose European
representatives to the next World Bridge Championships. I won't be
online myself but will be on call the whole week to assist if problems
arise.
14th
August
2021
The
Cottons enjoy a family outing
Eric; Raymond with Levi and Miemie Carno and in front Livi and Kayla
Carno; Cecille with Naomi Carno; Tamar and Raphael; Jonathan and Jenna
Carno
Thank you cousin Cecile (Levy) Cotton
for sending us this picture from South Africa. Cecile is
responding well to her treatment after her operation over a year ago,
in spite of getting and recovering from the the Covid virus.
She took a break from her medical treatment to finally enjoy a family
outing with fishing and
braai (barbecue)
at a site near Johannesburg.
Get better quickly, Cecile.
See
Matz
and Hershovitz/Levy family trees
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- We had sad news this week with the passing after a long illness
of long-time friend Colin Gorfil. We have known Colin for over 60
years, me from University and Doreen from holidays he spent in
Durban South Africa where we lived. (see
more and picture).
- A special happy 50th birthday yesterday to Natalie Leibowitz (Matz and Hershovitz
trees) in Australia,. We're sorry we can't be with you Natalie in
Melbourne
tomorrow for your celebration.
- Sister-in-law Louise Braverman (Gordon/Glasser
tree) also celebrated her birthday yesterday and invited some
friends for bridge which I
helped organise.
- Niece Denise Braverman has returned from her visit to
Estonia where she took part in an Iron
Man
competition. Way to go,
Denise! While there she also met relatives Heine and Tiina Drui (Schank tree) and sent us a picture which
reminded us of our visit to Tallinn a few years ago.
- Granddaughter Amit Levy who is working at Coral World during the
school vacation received her first pay
check trhis week.
- Also this week, Doreen and I had our third Covid vaccination. By
the number of shoppers at the mall where we had our injection it
was hard to believe that the infection rate is so high and going up. We
wanted coffee after our vaccinations and all the tables were taken and
we had to put our coffees and pasties on a chair. See picture.
7th
August
2021
Old
friends from Durban.
Doreen, Maxie Stange, John "Candy"
Cohen, Cicili Stange, me, Steven
Berman, Joyce Berman, Hermione Cohen
A couple of weeks ago I
wrote about a lunch with
schoolmate
Steven
Berman and his wife Joyce. They told us that Maxie Stange - another
schoolmate - and his wife Cicili were visiting Israel. So this
week we were joined by John "Candy" Cohen and Hermione and we all met
for
lunch. It really was a great experience, talking and laughing about old
times and
getting up to date on current doings.
Steven Berman and I were together in the same class throughout primary
and high school and we were close friends. I hadn't seen Steven for
over 50 years when a chance
stop
for a coffee updated that. Another schoolmate was Maxie Stange, who
lived close to me in Durban. We were also close friends and like with
Steven we spent time at each other homes. We were in 1st year Jewish
primary school together - see this
picture of our class taken in
1947 and were mostly in the same class throughout our
school years at DPHS and DHS. Maxie now lives with his swife Cicilli in
Shanghai, China.
"Candy" Cohen learnt at the same schools as us and had the same
teachers we could reminisce about but was
a year ahead. Although not close friends, we had a good relationship
and knew each other well, and met nearly every Friday evening at the
synagogue where we were both in the choir run by his uncles.
Renewing friendships after more than 60 years is a great experience and
I hope we keep it up and see each other again soon.
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- Granddaughter Danielle Ron is leaving this week for a project in
Ecuador and the Galapagos as part of her university studies. We met last night, and drank
champagne and ate an Indian meal to wish her bon voyage.
31st
July
2021
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- Doreen, daughter Vered and granddaughters Danielle and Lior went
to Jerusalem for a fun day. Pictures
here.
- We are still enjoying the delicious and fragrant lychees from our
garden, but also now the fruit from our Pakistan mulberry tree.
- We went for 2 days to the Segolis in Midreshet Sde Boqer to help
with children while mom Mikhal was recovering from treatment. We saw
Zoe performing her duties during her shift feeding the animals
at the petting zoo at her school,
and Doreen
helped her bake an apple pie.
- Zoe came back with us for the weekend and we enjoyed a sushi meal
at the Japanika Restaurant near us.
- We have registered for our 3rd Covid vaccination in a week's time.
24th
July
2021
Arik
Zilberman, Morris Kahn, Doreen,
Mickey Gur, me
Coral World "Old Boys"
We had a lovely surprise this week when
Morris invited us over and we found Arik and Mickey there. Morris
was the entrepaneur who built Coral World, Arik was in charge of
the Coral World International head office and Mickey was the CEO of
Coral World International., and I was the manager of 3 Coral World
properties, Eilat, St Thomas and Bahamas. We had not seen Arik and
Mickey for many years and were delighted to see them again and talk
about old times. I enjoyed a good relationship with Arik (who came
shortly before I left) , and worked closely, successfully and happily
with Mickey. Doreen's and my very friendly relationship with
Morris continues to this day.
- This was a week of meeting up with old friends. In addition to
meeting Arik and Mickey (above), we also had lunch with ex-classmate
Steven Berman (see picture - Steven
is bottom row 2nd from right; I am top row on right ) and his wife
Joyce. Steven told us that another friend
from our school days, Maxie Stange - who now lives in Shanghai, was
visiting Israel and we had good phone chat. We will be meeting him soon.
- To continue the old friends theme, Jonathan and Alexander Keyson
joined daughter Vered and Aviv Ron and us when we had dinner at the
Rons on Friday
night. Jonathan Keyson is the grandson of our close and longtime
friends Hans Reijzer and his late wife Lottie. Jonathan and two of
his
brothers have a start-up which last week featured in an artcle in
Haaretz newspaer. Click here for
details and a picture.
- Talking about old friends there is an addition to my old friends KFC and a
warning to Col. Sanders: You have stiff competition. Daughter-in-law
Limor Levy
prepared some chicken KFC style and it looks
delicious!
17th
July
2021
Siblings
in St Martin - early 1980's
Our children Vered, Aviv and Moran
In 1980 I was transferred from Eilat to
St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands to run Coral World there. The work
was time consuming and hard but we made time to see some of the other
Caribbean Islands. We particularly enjoyed St Martin, the small island
divided between France and The Netherlands. These pictures were taken
at the "border crossing".
from
my old pictures collection - colour enhanced by My Heritage.
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- Doreen spent a lovely day sailing with skipper daughter Vered. Picture.
- (Doreen writes): On Saturday we had a short visit from Moran and
Mikhal on their
way back from a few days at the Kinneret. Maureen and her son
Alon joined me for a lunch of grilled fish - Eitan was on a
liquid diet in preparation for his colonoscopy tomorrow but still
helped grill the fish and made the salad and coffee.
10th
July
2021
Sisters
Doreen and Louise on the boardwalk in Netanya this week
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- Not much this week, as I'm having some difficulty focusing my
eyes after a bad fall. See pictures
- Daughter in law Mikhal Segoli has started her chemotherapy
treatment, and we wish her an easy and full recovery.
- It's summer vacation and granddaughter Amit Levy has started
working at Coral World. See picture.
- Thanks to 2nd cousin Suan Nathan (see Hershovitz Levy Family Tree) for
sending us a picture of her granddaughter, Tallulah. See picture
3rd
July
2021
The Segolis in Switzerland
Lotem, Zoe, Mikhal and Moran
The Segolis returned this week from a short vacation in Switzerland.
Mikhal, Zoe and especially Lotem love to draw and show much talent.
So apart from relaxation, hiking, enjoyment and "getting away from it
all" the
purpose of the trip was to give them the opportunity to experience and
depict new sights.
More pictures of their vacation are on the
Miscellaneous page, and the
pages of
Lotem and
Zoe.
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- The Rons, Vered, Aviv, Danielle and Lior, are also back in Israel
after their trip to the USA where for the first time they also visited Fire Island, one
of the barrier reef islands off Long Island, New York. See pictures
here and on Lior's page.
- Yehoram Gaon (see
Wikipedia) , one of Israel's greatest stars (if not the
greatest) visited Coral World Eilat this week. Son Aviv,
who is the curator of Coral World, recognized him and amazingly
remembered that there was a picture of a previous visit with his son
and daughter
about 30 years ago. Pictures here.
- This year we've had a bountiful crop of absolutely delicious
lychees and we don't need Moran's help. Picture
and story here.
26th June 2021
Some family
birthdays in June
Ruth Kansky - Katherine
Levy - Aviv Levy
Vanessa Tarazza - Donna
Leibowitz - Vered Ron
Doreen Levy -
Efrat Shabtai - Susan Glasser
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- We were very saddened this week by the passing of Dick Fain. Dick
was the husband of Maureen (Konigsfest) a close friend of Doreen's
since high school days (and an acclaimed artist). We got to know Dick
very well and shared many
meals and conversations over the years (see one occasion). Our
deepest
condolences go to
Maureen and their children Yaniv, Shira, Alon and Amitai,..
- Today long-time friends Louise and Colin Kessel, and Basil and
Noga Porter came for lunch
and in addition to the delicious food and
salads prepared by Doreen it was lovely chatting with old and good
friends.
- This week has been overseas week for the Rons (Aviv, Vered, Dani
and Lior - USA) and the Segolis (Moran, Mikhal, Lotem and Zoe -
Switzerland.). Maayan Segoli couldn't join them as he
needed to finish some matriculation exams.
- Grandson Itamar Levy has finished his matriculation erxams and
has finished high school. We wish him success in his post-highschool
life. In November he will start his compulsory ary service and deserves
a good rest (or holiday?) until then.
19th
June 2021
Wedding of Hayman Levy and Queenie Shapiro
- June 21, 1930
June is an important month for our family birthdays: 11th -
Doreen, 21st
- son Aviv, 28th - daughter Vered. And on June 21st 1930 my
parents,
Hayman and Queenie were married. In the southern hemisphere 21st June
is the longest night of the year and my mother used to joke that
getting married during the longest night was carefully chosen for the
extra few minutes (wink, wink).
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- Son Aviv Levy came up from Eilat with his daughters Amit and Ilai
and
we celebrated his 53rd birthday (21st June) at the home of daughter
Vered
and Aviv Ron. see picture. The
main courses were prepared both in Netanya by Doreen with the
granddaughters' help, and in Herzliya by Aviv Ron (see pictures).
- Doreen, AvivL, Amit and Ilai went to Ein Aviel, about 1/2 hour
from us,
where springs in the area flow into the Nahal Taninim making a lovely
spot for a short hike and a picnic. Pictures
here.
- Congratulations to David Rothschild on the birth of granddaughter
Ayla.
Congratulations too to parents Sean and Louise Barron, to grandmother
Fleur, and to Aunt
Estelle Sapir. See picture of the lovely baby here. David is now married to
Frankie
who was the wife of my cousin, the late Vivian
Klaff. (see Goldberg family tree)
- After a break of many many years it seems that KFC, my favourite
fast food restaurant, has returned to
Israel. There is a branch in Nazereth and evidently in Beersheva as
seen in this picture of the
Segolis enjoying a meal there.
- Walking from the parking to the restaurant
in Tel Aviv last week we passed the Sarona area and saw the skyline there in the centre of Tel Aviv.
We were amazed at the amount of building going on there.
12th
June 2021
The
Ramat Hanegev High School Team
wins the Inspire Award at the FIRST Robotics Competition
(Lotem is on the extreme right)
Granddaughter Lotem Segoli was part of
the
team that won their district Robotics Competition and qualified for the
FIRST Israel Robotics Competition, part of the international robotics
competitions organised by FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of
Science and Technology). The team performed excellently and were top of
their group in the first stage of the competition qualifying for the
final stage consisting of 4 teams. Unfortunately they didn't succeed in
the final stage but their ability and excellence were recognised when
they were awarded the top Award of the Competition, the Inspire Award.
This judged award is given to the
team that best
embodies the ‘challenge’ of the FIRST Tech
Challenge program. The team that receives this
award is a strong ambassador for FIRST programs
and a role model FIRST team. This team is a top
contender for many other judged awards and is a
gracious competitor. The Inspire Award winner is an
inspiration to other teams, acting with Gracious
Professionalism both on and off the playing field.
This team shares their experiences, enthusiasm and
knowledge with other team, sponsors, their
community, and the judges. Working as a unit, this
team will have showed success in performing the
task of designing and building a robot.
(quote from the FIRST internet site)
<>
Congratulations to Lotem and her school
mates on this excellent performance. We're proud of you all.
Lotem is following in the footsteps of her cousin (and our grandson)
Itamar Levy who also qualified for the
Israel Robotics Competition two years
ago.
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- Yesterday we celebrated the birthday of my wonderful wife,
Doreen. See pictures.
- To celebrate the almost total removal of Covid restrictions
Doreen and I last week went to an actual movie theatre. We so enjoyed
it that two nights later went to see another movie. The halls were
almost empty, about 8 on the first night, and only us 2 on the second.
- We enjoyed a meal at the
Porter and Sons restaurant in Tel Aviv with Jan Kamras, the
President of the European Bridge League.
- A couple of weeks ago, after a visit to the Segolis, we
visited Tirza Naor in nearby Omer on her 97th birthday. Doreen is a
volunteer Befriender with the ESRA organisation and Tirza, a holocaust
survivor, is one of her "befriendees". See pictures.
5th
June 2021
Barmitzvah
of Zvike Karlsblad in May 1967
Rachel, Felix, Zvike, Mussi Karlsblad,
Avraham Bortenstein
Apologies for the poor
quality of the picture - copied from an old movie
This week we were invited to celebrate
the barmitzvah of Jonathan Kasorla (sse This Week's News below). We
were happy to again see so many family members of the Drui clan (see Schank family tree) including
Doreen's second cousin Zvi (known as Zvike) Karlsblad. Zvike had
recently discovered a home movie of his barmitzvah 54 years ago in
1967. He gave us a copy of part of the movie and the picture above is a
still from this movie. There are some more stills from the barmitzvah here. Seeing the movie brought back
many old memories from those times. We often visited the Karlsblads in
Ramat Gan and I clearly remember losing at chess to Felix who was a
good player.
Over the years we have maintained contact with the Karlsblad family,
especially with Rachel; and with the Bortenstein family, especially
with Yaffa (Loew) and Yaakov.
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- As noted above we celebrated the barmitzvah of Jonathan Kasorla
this week in Kidron. Congrations to Jonathan, and to his parents Lital
and Dvir Kasorla and to grandparents Yaakov and Ziva Bortenstein.
- Last week Zvike and Zahava were in Eilat and met up with our son,
Aviv. Picture here.
- The last week has been an eventful one in Israel's political
scene. First we have a new President, Isaac Herzog who to us seems to
be the right choice at the right time. We hope he continues with his
predecessor President Ruby Rivlin's efforts to unite the "4 tribes" in
Israel. Secondly, and even more importantly, a new government was
announced without Netanyahu at its head. The goverment has yet to be
sworn in and anything can happen until this happens, but Doreen and I
are cautiously optimistic and look forward to the new government and
Prime Minister.
29th
May 2021
Friday
night dinner at the Rons
clockwise
from the left:
Danielle Ron, Aviv R, Eitan Levy, Jonathan L,Doreen L,Yarden L, Lior R,
Dina L, Vered R with Alma
On
Friday evening we had dinner at the Rons, and we were very pleased that
cousin Jonathan Levy with Dina and Yarden joined us.
( See
Levy and
Matz family trees)
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- Today we drove to Midreshet Ben Gurion to visit the Segolis. We
enjoyed a light lunch at the Kornmehl Farm, a nearby farm and
restaurant in the Negev Desset. See
picture.
- Congratulations to granddaughter Lotem Segoli whose robotics
group won first place in a preliminary competition in the area. Next is
the big robotics competition to choose the team to represent Israel in
the international competition. Good luck to Lotem who so enjoys her
robotics activities. <see
later post>
- Doreen was happy to meet up with Hazel Wolfson and her
friend Dorothy Belkind. See picture.
Hazel and her late husband Alon were our neighbours in Hofit and we
remained friendly even after we left Hofit.
- Granchildren Lotem and Zoe now have two chinchillas to join their
rabbits and guinea pigs. See picture
here.
22th
May 2021
Dotan,
Eyal, Maayan and Vered S, Yaara and Vered R
This
is being written after the cease fire between Hamas and Israel and the
rockets and bombing have stopped - at least for the time being.
Problems still remain -
read last week's
'Doreen's Column' for
her take on the situation.
During the hostilities there was especially heavy firing on Ashkelon
and Ashdod, where relatives Yaffa (Bortenstein) Loew and the
Shavit family live. Fortunately they did not have a direct
hit but spent a lot of time in shelters, so we invited them to come
and stay with us for a few days as our area was only a mildly
threatened
area. Yaffa spent a few days with us, and her daughter Vered Shavit
with her four children stayed with our daughter Vered Ron and Aviv Ron.
(
See Schank family tree)
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- While Yaffa was staying with us (see above) Doreen took the
opportunity of taking her to visit the pedestrian street in nearby town
Zichron Yaakov (see picture), and at
the Ron's house Aviv Ron took the opportunity to show little Yaara how
to feed little dog Alma (see picture
and short video.).
- Congratulations to cousin Cecile Cotton on the birth of another
grandchild - a baby girl named Naomi Tova. Mazaltov to mommy and
daddy Jenna and Yonatan Carno and to sisters Meira and Kaela. Cecile
sent us this picture of the day-old
baby. (see Levy
and Matz family trees).
- Son Aviv Levy who is a qualified diving instructor returned today
from a short visit to Saint Lucia Island in the Caribbean where he
accompanied our friend Morris Kahn on a diving trip. See picture
- Thanks to cousin Sharon (Levy) Leibowitz for sending us a recent picture of some of her
family. (see Levy and Matz family trees.
- Extra special Happy Birthday to Sarah
Olkienitski (my only living relative who was born in
Lithuania) who celebtates her 98th birthday this week. Not too far
to go to 120! (see Goldberg family tree).
Click here for a
picture of Sarah on here 90th birthday in 2013.
- Doreen visited Susan
Nathan (see Levy family tree) who
is in a retirement home in Nof Hagalil, a town just outside Nazareth
with a mixed
Jewish-Arab population, to see how she was coping. (see picture)
15th May 2021
Zoe
enjoying the water slide
At
the beginning of the week the Segolis drove to Moshav Kadesh Barnea (Nitzanei
Sinai) in the Negev Heights. The local population, about 300 people,
sometimes lay out plastic coverings from the hothouses over a
sand dune. Add a water source at the top of the dune and you have a
water slide for locals and friends to enjoy.
(Click on the picure, or
here, to see
a short video os Zoe's slide.
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- We are in the midst of intense rocket fire and local unrest
between Arabs and Jews in many of the mixed cities where Arabs and Jews
have until now lived without too many problems. We are not very
optimistic about the future, and are more worried about the local
tensions than about long term relations with Gaza.
- Son Moran Segoli sent this
encouraging picture from today showing
Jews and Beduin at Mashevei Sadeh Junction in the Negev demonstating
for coexistence.
- Doreen has written about her feelings during this time of
rockets
from Gaza and unrest within. Read her
column.
- People in Israel try to go about their lives "normally" as much
as possible and not let the outside threats harm their spirits as
well. The Rons answer to the rocket attacks was to go to the
Levinski
Market in Tel Aviv to enjoy a delicious meal and to buy some tasty
items to take home (see
picture.) and the Segolis didn't change their plans to
visit Kadeh Barnea (see above).
- To
her amazement while walking the dog today Doreen met this exceptional
family picking up trash in the streets near us. Doreren: "I thought
my collecting
dogs' poo was my solitary madness and I am thrilled to meet other
people who want to keep our streets clean."
- Doreen
has posted a recipe for a Vegan cheese
cake that easy to make. I can testify that the cake is very very
good.
8th
May 2021
Danielle
receiving the Dean's List Certificate
Congratulations to granddaughter Danielle Ron on being an outstanding
student and being on the Dean's List at the Interdisciplinary Center
(IDC) in Herzliya.
Dani is in her second year of studies in Sustainability and Government,
and we wish her success in her future studies.
See the certificate here.
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- Last week we congratulated Sydney Lossin (Matz
family tree) and husband
Ari on the birth of a great granddaughter Rona. Congratulations too to
parents Noam (Amit) and Gil Boasson, and to grandmother Yael (Yudelman)
Amit.
- Doreen was impressed with a tour of the Ajami area of Jaffa. See her column.
1st
May 2021
Moran
on Zoom at the launching of the Ocean Tech Community
This week saw the launching of the Ocean Tech Community,
which deals with
water and sea issues. Both of our sons Aviv and Moran were
invited to give short summaries of the work they do.
Moran decribed some aspects of his work at the Negev Research and
Development Centre -
link to a 10
second video of part of his talk.
Click
here to see a picture of
Aviv giving his talk.
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- This week was hospital week:
- Daughter in law Mikhal Segoli underwent an operation and is
back home recovering well.
- I spent 4 days - including my birthday - in hospital with
intestinal problems. I'm back but not yet fully recovered and need
to undergo tests next week.
- Granddaughter Lior Ron drove me home from the hospital and did
some shopping for us as Doreen was also not feeling well and couldn't
drive due to a stiff neck.
- While Mikhal was in hospital daughter Vered went to Midreshet Ben
Gurion to take care of Mikhal's daughters Lotem and Zoe. See picture.
- Granddaughter Danielle was on the organising committee and in
charge of publicity for an Earth Day event organized by her faculty at
University. See picture.
- This evening we went to celebrate the batmitzvah of Alma Pashas,
daughter of Moriah (Kirshner) and Gil, and grandaughter of Rochelle
(Bortenstein) and Moshe Kirshner. The party had been postponed due to
the Corona virus and was well catered and with many activites for the
younger ones enjoy. We enjoyed seeing so many of the family, See a picture of Alma and Doreen. and the Schank family tree.
- Congratulations to Sydney Lossin (Matz
family tree) and husband
Ari on the birth of a great granddaughter. Details later.
- Two weeks ago I reported on an article (in Hebrew) on "cool jobs"
that had appeared in the magazine section of The Marker (a
supplement to the newspaper Haaretz).
Son Aviv was featured as one of the 5 persons who has a "cool" job.
This week the article was published in the English edition of Haaretz newspaper. You can read
the article in Hebrew or in English or go directly
to Haaretz.
24th
April 2021
Earth
Day - Doreen and Mary O'Shea
Earth Day was this week, and Doreen,
together with volunteers from ESRA (English Speaking Residents
Association) did their part in cleaning up the trash on the Poleg beach
in
Netanya. Miary is the supervisor for the ESRA Netanya Befriending group
to which Doreen belongs.
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- The Rons and the Segolis came for dinner on Friday night to
celebrate granddaughter Zoe's 9th brthday. There are some pictures on
the pages of Zoe, Lior and Maayan.
- Today the Segolis visited Superland and it looks like they had a
great time. See picture.
- Last week daughter Vered and her Aviv celebrated their 30th
wedding Anniversary. Click for picture.
- Doreen has added her recipe for a local version of the Bahamian conch salad.
17th
April 2021
Oreo
adopts a kitten
Oreo is
granddaughter Amit's dog. Unlike
the other "Levy" dogs Oreo is BIG. He is very playful and when excited
can knock you over he is so big. Last week the Eilati Levys found 3
kittens that had been abandoned and brought them into the house to feed
them. Oreo's reaction to one of the kittens was remarkable. Oreo's head
alone is about 4 times the size of the kitten and instead of the
expected one gulp swallowing of the kitten, Oreo starting licking the
kitten. When Oreo took a break the kitten got closer to him and wanted
more which Oreo was happy to do.
Click
here or on the picture
above for a short video.
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- Israel's Independance Day was celebrated this year last Thursday
so there were activities during the long weekend.
- The Independance Day magazine section of the financial newspaper The Marker had an article about unusual jobs. Our
son Aviv was one of the five people featured in the article. (The
article is in Hebrew) .
- Thursday morning we went to daughter Vered and Aviv's house and
from there they and Doreen walked to Herzliya Beach to get a good view
of the airforce flyover. After
that we went to old friends Carol and
Terry Kessel for a delicious BBQ
which is becoming something of a tradition for us and many of
our friends, particularly ex-South Africans.
- Friday - BBQ number 2. This
time at the Ron's with Vered and Aviv and our granddaughters Dani and
Lior with some of their friends. Lots of food choices including many
Vegan.
- Saturday - BBQ number 3, this
time at our house.
10th
April 2021
- This week was more eventful than last week. At the beginning of
the week we visited
2nd cousin Susan Nathan at the Nof HaGalil Retirement Home in
Nazareth and
spent a few pleasant hours with her.
- After visiting Susan we went to the Diana Restaurant in Nazareth,
famous for its kebab, and had a delicious
meal there.
- Unfortunately, Wednesday was too eventful! A visit to the doctor
for a check-up because of a cough revealed that my heart rate was
double what it should be. An ECG was not very encouraging and I ended
up in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at Meir Hospital Kfar Saba.
Medication
didn't help so I underwent a cardioversion procedure which
involved "resetting" the heart's electrical signals by electric
shock treatment. This was successful but if the irregular heart rate
(arrhthmia) returns I will need more intrusive treatment. But for now,
three days later, I am at home with a normal heartbeat rate
preparing my homepage. I was most impressed with the efficiency and
professionalism of Meir Hospital.
- Vered and her husband Aviv have been looking after us - although
Doreen had said we could have a vegan dinner (their two daughters are
vegan) Aviv told Vered that after her dad had been in hospital for
three days he had to have chicken for dinner. Delicious.
3rd
April 2021
April
Birthdays
All the above are some of my or Doreen's
relatives (up to 2nd cousins) who celebrate a birthday in April. They
currently live in 4 continents: Asia, Africa, N. America and Australia.
We also have relatives in Europe with birthdays this month,
but no pictures of them.
All six of my
family trees are represented in
the pictures.
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- An uneventful week for us - nothing special during the Passover
vacation. Everything quiet except for the cracking of the matza and the
attempts of the various parties jockeying to find partners for a
governing coalition after the indeterminate results of the elections.
27th
March 2021
Pesach
Seder 2021 - All 16 of us
We had a fabulous
seder tonight
at the home of Vered and Aviv.
All 16 of our immediate family took part - so it was like a family
reunion. We had a reasonably traditional
seder with only a few passages
left out followed by a feast fit for kings including vegan options:
chopped liver both real and
vegan, gefilte fish with
chrain,
chicken soup with
kneidlach,
roast
lamb, baked salmon, gnocci in tomato sauce,all accompanied by matza of
course and plenty of
wine. Some delicious deserts, including Pear Helene and ice-cream,
finished off the
meal - and us.
Singing
Echad-mi-yodea was
highly successful and then we sang a lot of
Hebrew songs. A great and successful evening that helped us forget
last
year's Zoom seder.
For pictures of the
seder,
click here.
Click here for a better picture,
but without Vered who was taking the picture.
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- To sum up the week: waiting for elections, electing, waiting for
results, Pesah. Final results from the Israel elections were not as bad
as expected but not as good as we had hoped. Both Doreen and I
voluntered as observers for the Meretz party (see picture of Doreen), and I am happy
to report that they did better than expected with 6 seats out of 120
instead of the 0 seats the polls had forecast.
- Forming a government from either of the two blocs looks unlikely
and we are probably headed for the fifth election. But there are
possibilities if the politicians forget their egos and act for the good
of the country.
20th
March 2021
-
Grandchildren Itamar, Amit and Ilai
Levy demonstrate against the proposed Eilat-Mediterrean Oil Pipe line
There are plans by a joint Israel-United Arab Emirates company to
transfer crude oil through a pipe line from Eilat to the Mediterrean.
Many experts fear that an oil leak could severely damage Red Sea Coral
reefs, or cripple other marine life in the Medirerranean and halt
desalination off the Mediterranean coast that supplies much of Israel's
drinking water.
(See, for example, a detailed article in the
Times
of Israel).
Son Aviv whose children are pictured above joined a demonstration
against
this plan.
See another picture here.
We are happy that our grandchildren are active in the causes
they believe in - especially, but not only, when we identify with
their actions.
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- Elections in Israel next week on Tuesday. Both Doreen and I will
be sitting at a polling station observing that the elections are fair.
From the latest polls it looks like the results will not be to our
liking but we can always hope.
- A few days after the relief or disappointment of the elections we
celebrate the Passover festival - Pesach.
About 24 of us, the whole family and the Braverman cousins, will be
celebrating the passover seder at
daughter Vered's home.
- Mazal tov to Yori and Michal Leshem on the birth of their
daughter Oriya Tal, sister to Galya. For more about our relationship
with Yori see here. See also Glasser family tree.
- It's spring (astronomically, spring begins today March
20th) and
son Moran and Mikhal Segoli went up north to the Golan to see the
beautiful flowers that the onset of spring brings to the country. See two pictures here.
- We looked after our Segoli grandchildren while Moran and Mikhal
were away, and daughter Vered and Aviv joined us for what was supposed
to be an hour or two on their way home from a visit to Eilat.
Unfortunately grandson Maayan had stepped on a thorn and had a splinter
in his foot. Apparently when Maayan does something he does it all the
way, for his splinter was embedded deep in his foot. First I tried to
remove it, and Vered dug some more, also without success. The local
clinic was closed so Vered took him to the clinic in Yeruham (30
minutes away) where they also tried unsuccessfullly and sent them to
the Emergency Room at Soroka Hospital in Beer Sheva (40 minutes away)
from where they were directed to another clinic where two nurses and a
doctor removed the large splinter and an x-ray determined that there
was no remaining piece. After another stop to pick up the prescribed
antibiotics and Maayan came home. Now THAT'S a splinter! See a couple of pictures here.
- Doreen and I are still making the most of the easing of the Covid
restrictions. We enjoyed a delicious meal at the Porter and Sons
restaurant in Tel Aviv, which had been recommended to us by our Italian
friend Maurizio. We enjoyed a meal there some years ago and this visit
was no disappointment. Of course we whatsapped Maurizio. Click here for
a picture and Maurizio's details of his meal that same evening
while we were at the restaurant.
- I volunteer once a week for an hour or so tutoring middle school
pupils in English via zoom. A few days ago I received a visit from them
and their teacher wishing me a happy Passover holiday. Both Doreen and
I were touched by this simple gesture which says so much about the
teacher, Alice, and her relationship with her pupils. Picture here.
13th
March 2021
Finally
- a meal in a restaurant!
Doreen, Morris Kahn, me, Vered Ron,
Aviv Ron
This week many of the Covid restrictions were relaxed and a
"green passport" is now a "passport" to many activities not allowed for
about a year. We were especially happy that we could now enjoy a
restautant but evidently thousands of others were equally happy. We
naively tried booking a table at a very popular top restaurant
near us - the first available date was in 2 months time -May 4. We
settled for a less renowned local restaurant where the food is
excellent and where we have eaten a few times in the past. Friend
Morris Kahn and daughter Vered and Aviv joined us. We were not
disappointed. In addition to the joy of finally eating out, the food
was
delicious. We've already booked at another restaurant in Tel Aviv for
next week!
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- The relaxation of the restrictions allowed doing things apart
from visiting family and shopping:
* We went to Kibbutz Yizrael about an hour's drive away to enjoy a
'braai' (barbecue) with long-time friends from our South African days
Binny and Steve Blass. We were happy to meet some others there
whom we have not seen for many many years. See pictures
* We invited our neighbour's two children, aged 8 and 6, for breakfast
while their parents were at work. See
picture
* Daughter Vered Ron and family got together with cousin Jonty Levy and
family for a meal. See picture.
- We hope the relaxations will still be around for Pesach (Passover) and that the
whole family will be able to get together - physically and not by Zoom
as last year.
- A month ago we traded in our car for a new Toyota Yaris that
Doreen has fallen in love with. (see Archives). Her good
taste is apparent - this week the Toyota Yaris was chosen as Europe's
Car of the Year 2021. See
report here.
6th
March 2021
Family BBQ in Eilat
This weekend we and the Segolis joined
the Eilati Levys in Eilat. The highlight was meeting at Coral World for
a barbecue with countless delicious salads prepared by Limor. While the
adults rested and talked the younger children enjoyed the freedom of
finally enjoying open spaces. It's always a pleasure to see how our
grandchildren get along so well with each other.
More pictures here.
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- Today, after the previous night's BBQ, most of the family visited
Timna, always an interesting location for a walk. See pictures
- Last week I wrote about the more subdued Purim celebrations. One
place where it was "business as usual" was Midreshet Ben Gurion, where
the high school students prepared and staged their traditional adloyada, a carnival-like parade.
Due to Covid restrictions this year non-residents could not attend, but
only see pictures, like these.
27th
February 2021
A visit to the
Cottons about 22 years ago
Raymond and
Cecile Cotton
l-r
back: Aviv, me, Cecile Cotton, Doreen
l-r front: Eric, Jenna and Raphael cotton
Good news from family in Johannesburg
South Africa. Cousin Cecile (Levy) Cotton is responding well to her
chemo and radiation treatments, and husband Ray has recovered from the
Corona virus and is back at work although feeling a litle weaker than
usual. We wish the Cotton family continuing improvement and good health
- and Happy Birthday to Cecile this week on Friday.
The picture above on the left was taken about 22 years ago when Doreen,
son Aviv, Limor and I visited South Africa. We visited my cousin
Cecille on
their farm just outside Zastron, a town in the centre of South Africa
in the Orange Free State. The Cottons later moved to Johannesburg where
they and their children and grandchildren now live.
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- On the visit to South Africa (above) we also enjoyed a visit to
Lesotho - see pictures
- Most Covid restrictions have been lessened and many are enjoying
getting out and visiting friends, relatives and places. Taking
advantage of the sunny (though cold) weather the Rons visited the
Naharayim Park just south of the Kinereth Sea of Galilee and the
Segolis went right
up to Israel's northernmost beach, Betzet and are spending
a few days at the camping site there (See
pictures).
- Just as we were breathing a sigh of partial relief at the
Covid news, another disaster struck - one of the biggest oil spills has
caused tons of tar to be washed up on the beaches and has resulted in
the death of fish, turtles and even whales. There's not much we can do
about natural disasters but why can't we do something about man-made
disasters.
- Aviv was the star of a TV report (click
here to see) on illegal fishing in the Red Sea Nature Reserve.
It showed how fish left to die on the beach were treated by him and
recovered and were returned to the sea. We should now refer to
Aviv as "Miracle Aviv" who can save fish that are 'mostly' dead. [If
you're feeling nostalgic click
to see the Miracle Max clipping from the Princess Bride movie]
- Yesterday was the Jewish festival of Purim, an occasion usually
for parties and costumes - "fancy dress". Last year's Purim
celebrations caused a sharp upturn in Covid infections and this year
there was a night curfew for 3 nights. Usually in the days of Purim the
streets are full of costumed people both adults and children but this
year the enthusiasm was greatly dampened. Usually all our grandchildren
dress up for Purim but apparently this year only Zoe made the effort,
which, as you can see, was heavily
influenced by the Covid situation. If you're still feeling nostalgic
take a look at how our family celebrated
Purim 10 years ago.
20th
February 2021
Snow
in the Desert - Zoe builds a
Snowman
The Golan Heights usually have snow in
winter but otherwise snow is rare in our part of the world. Every few
years there is some snow in Israel - 7 years ago there was a huge
snowfall in Jerusalem which caused chaos. This year there was a smaller
snowfall there. But also this year the higher areas of the Negev desert
also had snow and the Segolis were happy to take advantage of the snow
in their "backyard" and enjoy the desert snow on the Amasa Hill
(הר עמשא) part of the Hebron Hills in the northern Negev.
Click for
pictures of the family and of a
camel in the snow, and for another
picture
on Zoe's page.
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- We hear from South Africa that Raymond Cotton is recovering well
from the corona virus and we wish him a full recovery. Cousin Cecile
Cotton is also doing well with her radiation treatment although she
does have ups and downs. (See Levy and
Matz family trees.)
- No more lockdown and we have green 'passports' so this weekend
was a
family weekend. On Friday the Rons, Aviv Levy and the girls, and Moran
Segoli and the girls came for dinner. The Segolis and Levys slept over
and then today we all went for brunch to Vered and the Rons. (see pictures).
- It's a little late but lockdown prevented an in-time celebration,
so we baked a cake and sang for Ilai's
14th birthday at the family dinner of Friday night.
- The Segolis are continuing going "green". They have installed a
battery of Solar receptors on the roof
of their house which will feed into the electricity grid.
13th February 2021
Our
new car - Toyota Yaris Hybrid Style
We decided to trade-in our Yaris for a
newer version, with advanced
safety and other snappy features. The car arrived a few days after the
end of
the Covid lockdown in time for us to drive our the new car for a 2-hour
trip to the Segolis in Midreshet Sde Boqer. We - and especally
Doreen - are very happy with the way the car performs.
(WRITTEN LATER: In March 2021 the Yaris was chosen as
Europe's Car of the Year )
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- Raymond Cotton has been hospitalised in Johannesburg with Covid
19 and we wish him a speedy and full recovery "refuah shlaima". His
wife
(my cousin Cecile) is undergoing radiation therapy and our thoughts are
with them both and with their children at this difficult time. (See Levy and Matz
family trees.)
- We took advantage of the end of the lockdown and getting our new
car and spent
today in Midreshet Sde Boqer with our son Moran Segoli and family and
with daughter Vered, Aviv and Danielle. On the way there we stopped at
Moran's place of work - the Agriculture Research and Development Unit
in the Negev - and heard from him about his various projects there. See picture. It was also an opportunity
to celebrate (a little late) Moran's
birthday. It was a warm sunny day and we enjoyed sitting outside
and chatting, while granddaughters Lotem and Danielle went head to head
at chess.
6th
February 2021
School
year finished - vacation time!
This week I received this great picture,
taken in the early 1950's, of what is apparently the start of the
primary school summer vacation. I'm the one in front (enlarged on the
right). Immediately behind me, waving his hand, is
longtime friend, Errol Hackner (now a doctor in America) who sent me
this picture. According to Errol this picture, taken at DPHS the
primary school we attended, was in the local newspaper, the Natal
Mercury, so I presume it was staged but I don't have any recollection
of it.
I'm sure my children and especially my grandchildren will be
interested in our school uniform. Formal black blazers, with
school badge, and
shorts, laced shoes and calf-lenth socks and - believe it or not -
ties! Note also the school bags for books etc we had in those
pre-backpack days. Of interest is the fact that I appear to be the only
one without a bag!
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- We were saddened to hear this week of the death of our
dear friend Basil (Baruch) Sandler aged 93. Basil and I had been close
friends for more than 50 years. We were bridge partners for many years
both in play and in administration. We shared many common goals in the
bridge world and at one stage we were both on the Israel Bridge
Federation Executive, he as treasurer and me as Sport's Captain. We
also both worked for the Coral World company and I was his successor as
General Manager of Coral World in the Virgin Islands.Soon after our
aliyah to Israel we met through bridge in Netanya
and immediately became firm friends. We moved from Netanya to live
in Hofit -across the road from Bet Yannai where he lived - at his
suggestion. Our regular bridge games were usually followed by
hours
of discussions at one of our homes accompanied by snacks. We saw his
four children growing up and they were frequent baby-sitters for our
children, and we take pride in their many accomplishments and
successes. We extend our heartfelt condolences to his children
Ran, Ami, Orna and Varda, and to all his family.
- By co-incidence I received another "early school" picture this
week. Son Aviv sent me this
picture taken in 1973 of his first day
off to school. Compare what he is wearing and his school "bag" with the
picture above.
- Our home is next to Park Alonim, a eucalyptus grove also known as
Hurshat Ha-Sargentim and historically infamous (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sergeants_affair.)
Winter brings rain,
and every year an ephemeral winter pond forms in the park. In previous
years a large portion of the Park was inaccessible due to the pond, but
a few years ago a wooden bridge was built over part of the pond
allowing people to stroll in the park and on the bridge and enjoy the
scenery. It is interesting how life returns to the pond every winter
year after year. This years some ducks found their way to the pond
delighting both adults and children. When walking our dog a stroll
through the park is enjoyable and relaxing. See two pictures here.
- Tonight we viewed the batmitzvah of Tamar Moskovich in Colorado
via Zoom. Tamar was very impressive singing the full torah portion.
Tamar is the eldest daughter of Yuvie and Rachel (nee Engleberg). We
took pictures during the Zoom broadcast
of the ceremony of Tamar, her younger sister Naomi and parents.
Click also for pictures of Tamar as a baby age 6 weeks and age 3 months. (see Matz family tree).
30th January 2021
My
Maternal Grandfather - Isaac
Shapiro 1876-1933
Isaac Shapiro (Hebrew name Haim Yitchak
ben Dov) my maternal
grandfather died before I was born. My cousin Vivian
Klaff and I were named (Hebrew names) after him. When I was
growing up
I
had little or no interest in my ancestors and, as was common
then, parents usually did not discuss their ancestors and I asked
no questions. By the time I got interrested in my ancestors and family
tree there was no one left to answer my questions.
I know very little about Isaac Shapiro who married my grandmother
Roddeh Goldberg from Siauliai in Lithuania. I have a picture of his
gravestone and a copy of his death certificate. I know that he
was
born in Lithuania, emigrated to South Africa about 1906 and lived
and died (on 14 Feb. 1933 from cerebral haemorrhage) in Kimberley in
South Africa. At least part of the time he was a clerk in a "merchant
store". I have various addresses for him in Kimberley.
In Kimberley he corresponed with his father in-law
Zelig Goldberg (my
great-grandfather) who lived in Europe and on a few occasions sent him
money. I have
postcards written in 1915-1917 from Zelig in Europe to Isaac in
Kimberley and they and the translations can be
accessed
here.
Apart from the name of his father Dov I know nothing about his family.
Did he have brothers or sisters?
I am in contact with someone in USA who has a 5% DNA match with me
indicative of a possible familial relationship of 1st to 2nd cousins
and we share some names
in our respective trees. For example his greatgrandfather's name was
Bernard Shapiro (Bernard means "brave bear") and this ties in with my
greatgrandfather Dov (Hebrew for bear.). Unfortunately he has
even less information than I have
and the possibility of a family relationship is possible but doubtful.
The picture above (now colorized by My Heritage) was among papers kept
by my aunt Dora (Isaac's daughter) and collected by my sister Fern
after Dora's death. It was taken by a photographer in Kimberley and is
the only portrait among the papers, and it is highly probably that this
is a picture Dora kept of her father.
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- We're still in lockdown - nothing much happening. Movies, operas,
doing jigsaw puzzles, shopping, zoom meetings and events. Doreen is
volunteering as a "befriender" via phone, and I am volunteering
tutoring students in English via zoom.
23rd
January 2021
The
Eilat Levys go for a ride
Itamar, Ilai and Amit Levy
Restrictions on movement can be very
frustrating during the covid lockdowns. We'd rather they could drive up
north to visit us, but in the meantime at least short drives are
allowed.
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- We were delighted that granddaughter Lior came for lunch. Doreen
periodically dyes her hair and this time granddaughter Lior dyed
granny's hair. It was the first time Lior had dyed hair but she was
equal to the best professionals. See
picture
here.
- This afternoon, the Ron's puppy, Alma, jumped off a table and
broke her leg in two places. The Rons hope that because she is still
young the bones will heal properly. See pictures here.
16th
January 2021
Joe, Maisie, Ethel, Hayman, Sam Levy
Thanks to cousin Jonty Levy for sending
me this picture of my father and his brother Joe (and wife Ethel) with
their
cousin Sam (and wife Maisie). Maisie and Sam lived in London
where Sam was a
doctor practising in renowned Harley Street. My father Hayman and his
brothers - especially Joe - were very close to their cousin Sam and saw
each other fairly regularly either in England or in South Africa.
I only met Sam and Maisie a few times - once Doreen and I visited them
in London. Fern, my Dad, Doreen and I (
see picture) also went to
London to the
wedding of Sam and Maisie's daughter Susan (who now lives in
Nazareth Israel and with whom we keep up contact.)
(See Hershovitz/Levy Tree)
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- Both Doreen and I have received our second Covid vaccinations.
Praise is really due for the efficient way the vaccines are being
delivered in Israel. Health insurance through one of the four official
"sick funds" is compulsory in Israel which makes contact between
medical
authorities and patients extremely easy. We
received messages giving us place, date and time and duly
reported
at the local football stadium (ample parking space) where booths had
been set
up with equipment,
computers and of course, nurses. We swiped our medical cards,
received a room number and queue number and within 10 minutes
both of us had received the vaccines and were seated in the recovery
area for 15 minutes where we received certificates attesting to the
vaccinations.
- Lockdown still continues and will probably be extended - we
bought some puzzles online but are really struggling with one at the
moment. We are contemplating smuggling granddaughter Daniel to come to
help us!
- Trout fried in butter is a popular dish, but Doreen
prepared trout grilled on the barbecue. Just as delicious and far
healthier. See her recipe here.
- Thanks to Nessie Schank in Stockholm I have added more
information to the Schank branch of the family tree which is updated here.
9th
January 2021
Mikhal
Receives Tenure at Ben Gurion
University
Congratulations to daughter-in-law Dr
Mikhal Segoli on receiving tenure at Ben Gurion University. Mikhal is a
Senior Lecturer at the University and at the Jacob Blaustein Insitute
for Desert Research and the Mitrani Institute of Desert Ecology. Mikhal
also heads the
Segoli
Lab for Insect Behavioral and Evolutionary Ecology at the
University. A few months ago she was awarded a Fellowship at the Israel
Institute for Advanced Studies (see
This Weeks Picture archives.)
Conratulations Mikhal. The family is very proud of you.
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- We extend condolences to Nessie Schang in Stockholm on the sudden
passing of her husband Leif. (see Schank
family tree)
- Israel Covid good news and bad news. The good - about 15% of the
population have already been vaccinated; the bad - increasing number of
cases and deaths. We are now under almost total lockdown.
- Granddaughters Dani and Lior Ron decided to visit us a few hours
before lockdown took effect and we enjoyed a lovely evening. It was a Last
Supper before the lockddown and we all relished the very good
vegan food.
- Also taking advantage of the pre-lockdown period Moran, Mikhal
and Zoe Segoli drove southwards and enjoyed a desert hike in the Ein Netafim area.
- We - evidently as well as many many others - have re-discovered jigsaw puzzles as a
wonderful activity for lockdown periods. Doreen and I have done a few
in recent days and on their pre-lockdown visit both granddaughters Dani
and Lior helped with our difficult puzzle. In particular, we were
amazed at the skill of Dani as she seemingly without effort
successfully chose correct pieces.
- We were happy to hear from Pia Zain (see Levy family tree) who is
in Cork, Ireland. We visited
her in Cork about 6 years ago. She has adapted her business for
Covid times. Visit her
site.
2nd
January 2021
Goodbye
and Good Riddance to 2020 - Welcome to Hopeful 2021
We wish all our relatives and friends a happy holiday
season and
a healthy New Year. 2020 will be remembered for its virus problems and
the negative health and social effects. We hope 2021 will be remembered
as the year the world returned to 'normal'.
Adapted from a video from Prayan
Animation
Thanks to Sheenagh for sharing
THIS
WEEK'S NEWS
- After celebrating Maayan's birthday
last week, the Rons,Vered and Aviv, went with
Moran and Mikhal Segoli on a hike
in the desert area near Sde Boqer.
- I have added 2 more pictures to
the 26th Reunion event - the Eilati Levys stayed over another day and
visited the Research and Development Centre where Moran works.
- This week our children Vered (and her husband Aviv), Aviv and
Moran (and wife Mikhal) received their first Covid vaccinations. The
latest fad is
photographing the event. Last week there were pictures of Doreen and me,
this week pictures of our children.
- Our son Aviv, who is certified to give emergency first-aid
treatment,
underwent a training course and is on standby to administer the Covid
vaccine.oran vaccine.
- We have an excellent relationship with our neighbours on the same
floor
of our building and with their two daughters, Maayan aged 8 and Hila
aged 6, who often just pop over to say hello. So Doreen invited them
over for supper a few nights ago.
