THIS WEEK'S PICTURE
23rd Sep. 2023

Tajine Dinner
Lior, Gal, Caroline, Doreen

The tajine we bought in Morocco arrived and Doreen decided to put into practice what she had learnt at the cooking class in Marrakech. Daughter Vered and Aviv Ron were away on a short break so we invited granddaughter Lior Ron and her friend Gal and friend Caroline Livneh for a vegetarian couscous dinner cooked in a tajine.
The vegetables were stacked over a mound of cabbage with added spices and broth, and the tajine heated over the stove for 1 1/2 hours.
Although quite tasty and an extremely eye-catching presentation we are not sure that it was worth the effort.

^{THIS WEEK'S NEWS}

• We wish those who fast on Yom Kippur tomorrow  "well over the fast" - גמר חתימה טובה.
• Granddaughter Ilay Levy had expressed an interest in preparing the hot pepper pickles - a favourite of the family - that I make. .As she was with us during Rosh Hashanah we spent time together preparing a kilo or so for her and the Segolis to take home.
  
• Grandson Maayan Segoli was off to army basic training this week. He is in a special programme which combines university education with basic army service (עתודאי). When he finishes his degree he will spend extra time in the army utilizing the skills he learned in his studies.
• In addition to our tajine dinner (above)  we had a very pleasant dinner with bridge friends Finn and Ann Wardi from Finland and Jan Kamras the President of the World Bridge, and a lovely brunch at the home of Colin and Louise Kessel with Harry and Evelyn  Brand (whom we met for the first time) and good friends Basil and Noga Porter.
  

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THIS WEEK'S PICTURE
16th Sep. 2023

The Family - Rosh Hashanah Second Night

Rosh Hashanah 5784 - September 2023
Doreen writes:

As we celebrate  Rosh Hashanah 5784, it is with mixed feelings that we thought about sending greetings to family and friends.

This was only intensified when 3 days after an extensive stay in Morocco we read about the horrific earthquake devastating Marrakech, the area where we had spent the last few weeks. Some of the places we visited in Marrakech are now piles of rubble.

This has been a very difficult year, losing friends and family and seeing others disabled; life is becoming increasingly fragile and we realize that even if we are spared horrible diseases, falling is the enemy of old age.

We are experiencing changes in Israel that are turning the country we loved into a right wing ultra-nationalistic, messianic and undemocratic one. It is no longer possible to live in a bubble and not be affected by outside events.

In all of this, loving contact with family and friends becomes increasingly meaningful

We personally have had a very full year. Our small garden is full of papaya trees that Eitan has grown from seed; we have had delicious mangoes and look forward to the ripening of our avocados. Soon he will plant lettuces, peas and beans.

Eitan has continued to be involved in the World Bridge Federation and we have been overseas a number of times for Championships. I am an active volunteer in Road to Recovery, transporting Palestinians, mainly children from the West Bank, to hospitals in Israel and back. I continue to be involved in ESRA, giving support to people in need.

Happily we are still active and enjoy full lives. We wish the same for you; to enjoy health with the ability to enjoy life around you.

L’shana tova!

^{THIS WEEK'S NEWS}

• Apart from some preparations  and a couple of doctors' visits a quiet week leading up to Rosh Hashanah.
  
• On the first evening of Rosh Hashanah we celebrated at the home of daughter Vered and Aviv together with the Eilat Levy family.
• On the second evening we were joined by the Segolis for a mini family reunion. (see above and here.).
  
• In addition to Doreen's delicious pepper filet steak, Maayan prepared "flaumen tzimis" from Doreen's cookbook. which he is going through and making her recipes.  Her  recipes are linked to family and friends' stories, and before each meal prepared from her book Maayan reads the associated story.

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THIS WEEK'S PICTURE
9th Sep. 2023

 
Barmitzvah of Sa'ar Kasorla
Ziva Boretenstein; Lital, Dvir,and  Sa'ar Kasorla; Sa'ar
Zahava and Rahel Karlsblad; Ya'ara Shavit; Yaffa Loew
Yaakov and Lior Bortenstein; Lital and Dvir Kasorla; Moriah and Gil Pashas, Rochelle and Moshe Kirshner

Mazal tov to Sa'ar Karsola on his barmitzvah this week. Congratulations too to parents Dvir and Lital and grandparents Yaakov and Ziva Bortenstein ( Schank family tree). It's always a pleasure to spend time with our "farm" family and especially when there is a celebration.

^{THIS WEEK'S NEWS}

• After a month overseas in The Netherlands and Morocco we're back home for a month before we're off again for 10 days to Latvia and Estonia.
  
• Doreen has written extensively about our time in Morocco in Marrakech and about our visits to Fez and Chefchaouen and her visits to Rabat. and Casablanca. The pages have been updated and can be accessed from here.
  
• Today we read about the disastrous earthquake that shook Marrakech yesterday. Although we are relieved that it took place after we left we are saddened by the loss of life there and by the destruction of many historical places.
• Last night the Segolis and Rons joined us for supper and had to listen to accounts of our Moroccan trip.
• We wish long-time friend Yael Paperna a speedy recovery from her fall.

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THIS WEEK'S PICTURE
2nd Sep. 2023

 
The Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca

The Hassan II mosque, a most impressive building, stands on a huge square. Google said it was the largest in Africa, the 7^th largest in the world. The mosque not only stands by the sea but a third of it is over the Atlantic Ocean reflecting a verse from the Quran: “the throne of God was upon the water.”

• We were saddened to receive the news that Claude Hakim passed away. We extend our deepest condolences to his wife Roslyn (see Nochomovicz family tree) and his sons Daniel and Jean Marc. We fondly remember  our trip to Australia where we spent some time with Claude and Ros.
  
• Our third and final week in Marrakech, Morocco. Doreen has written extensively about our time so far in Marrakech and about our visits to Fez and Chefchaouen and her visits to Rabat. and Casablanca.
  
• The World  Bridge Championships ended today. The are 3 categories: Open, Women, Seniors and Mixed. I am proud that the new Women World Champion is Israel. The team consists of 6 young women who overcame challenges from 23 other countries.
  
• It's back to school time. Good luck to all our grandchildren.
  
• Daughter Vered Ron met with two friends from her school days who are visitng Israel - Simona Gringart from Australia and Patisa Rasmussen from Denmark.

 
Doreen enjoying a visit to Utrecht

We are in the Netherlands for the World Bridge Federation Youth Championships taking place in Veldhoven, about 1 1/2 hours by train from Amsterdam. Yesterday Doreen went to Amsterdam and I will join her there for a few days later this week.
While I was busy with bridge, Doreen visited the nearby city of Eindhoven, the Veldhoven village and also Utrecht.

• In Utrecht Doreen was surprised to find a place that was a pub 6 days a week, and on Sunday was a church with services. See picture.
• The World Youth Bridge Championships take place every second year. There are five categories from Under 16 to Under 31. This year 36 countries took part.  Clich here for a picture at the opening ceremony.
  
• We return home on Thursday, 3 days to do washing, pack, hopefully eat a ripe papaya from our tree and anything urgent (like trying to get my computer working properly) and then on Monday off to Morocco for another bridge event, the World Bridge Championships.

• Mazal Tov to daughter-in-law Limor Levy on her 50th birthday this week.
  
• We were happy to receive an email from Melodie Nathan, daughter of Doreen's cousin Lucille Melamed. Melodie and Mark and their daughter Gabriella visted London where they experienced the sights and attractions and also met with their Ginsberg relatives. Click for pictures and more.  (see Nickel family tree).
• The fast-food chain KFC is opening branches in Israel. As KFC is my favourite fast food restaurant I was delighted that there is now a KFC in Netanya, a 10-minute drive from our home. Of course I couldn't wait to go there, together with half the population of Israel who apparently also like KFC. The staff was a bit overwhelmed but we managed to receive our meal without too long a wait. Doreen's salad came without a fork or spoon (sorry we don't have any) so we returned it but the rest of the meal was good. As always, the family looks for KFC's in the various countries they visit and send me photos - the latest from Moran in New Delhi India. See pictures of Netanya and New Delhi and links to some previous family KFC visits.
• Our papaya trees are bountiful this year and there are tens of papayas waiting to ripen and fall down. Unfortunately we will be away and most of the papayas wiill fall into the street below and splatter. So we designed a papaya trap to catch the falling fruit. See here. Some will fall while we are away- daughter Vered will be happy to come and pick those up.

THIS WEEK'S PICTURE
24th June 2023

Caryn and Rhetick Sangupta with Vered

Daughter Vered Ron was in Seattle in USA and met with her second cousin Caryn Klaff and her husband Rhetick Sangupta. Caryn is the daughter of Frankie and my late cousin Vivian Klaff. Doreen was at Caryn and Rhetick's wedding in 2009 but since then we have not been in direct contact with her so Doreen and I were happy that she and Vered met up. We are always delighted when next generation family are in touch.
See Goldberg family tree.

^{THIS WEEK'S NEWS}

• We are deeply saddened by the passing of Dovvy Glassman. Dovvy was a friend and a colleague at Coral World where we both worked. We enjoyed many shared experiences (for example our trip to Sinai many years ago) with Dovvy and his wife Ziona, Doreen's close friend for over 50 years. We send her and Dovvy's sons our heartfelt condolences.
  
• Congratulations to grandson Itamar Levy on his promotion to Sergeant in the Israel Army.
  
• We and the Segolis had a most enjoyable visit with the Levys in Eilat this weekend. This time, apart from the usual enjoyable meals together, there was ice skating and a family dive. Pictures here.

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THIS WEEK'S PICTURE/MYSTERY
17th June 2023

The Fisherwoman

Friend Caroline Livne  found this picture on her phone. Neither Doreen nor I remember the picture or the occasion or the location.  Peles, the family dog is in the picture so it must be from around 1980. The fish look like palamida (Spanish mackerel), common in Sinai, so we think that the picture may have been taken on a visit to the fishing village in Nuweiba Sinai owned by our friend Harry Brodie. We visited there occasionally on our trips to Sinai when we lived in Eilat, but the background does not look like a Sinai background so we are not sure, but where else could Doreen have carried (caught?!) so many fish.

^{THIS WEEK'S NEWS}

• We renewed our contact with Micky Gur with whom I worked  during my time at Coral World in St Thomas and the Bahamas..On Friday night he and his wife Yael joined us together with Colin and Louise Kessel and  our daughter at dinner. Doreen didn't disappoint us with a delicious seafood paella served after excellent focaccia bread (see recipe)
  
• I was sad to learn from Micky that the tower in the Bahamas of which we were so proud is now a rusty structure. Its only value now is as an interesting item attracting drone photography. See pictures and links here.

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THIS WEEK'S PICTURE
10th June 2023

• Son Moran Segoli with family and friends went rappelling down a salt cave in Sodom. See the pictures.
• Daughter Vered and Aviv Ron invited us to dinner last night. At the end of the meal we were surprised when the Ron's brought out a cake and candles for Doreen's birthday.
  
• Two of Doreen's friends also have birthdays round about this time, and Doreen, Caroline Livne and Ruti Erez celebrated at a nearby coffee shop.
  
• Another celebration - a wedding. Nadav Keyson and Asal Reyhanian married in a lovely ceremony last Sunday. Nadav is the son of  David and Jose Reijzer Keyson. Our close relationship with the Reijzer family goes back nearly 60 years. See picture of wedding.
  
• Son Moran Segoli was part of a delegation to Jordan from the Volcani Institute  to explain the use of phosphorous waste to enrich agricultural fertilizers.
  
• Second cousin Susan Nathan is making a good recovery after her operation and is now out of her wheel-chair and walking. Picture.
  
• We are delighted that a sushi shop has opened at the mall a 3 minute walk from our apartment.. Of course we had to try it out (on the opening day) and very much enjoyed our sushi lunch there.

THIS WEEK'S PICTURE
20th May 2023

FAMILY and FRIENDS
(Clockwise from left) Morris Kahn, Aviv Ron, Caroline Livne, Louise Braverman, Doreen, Me
(Vered Ron, taking picture)

We returned this week from our holiday in Italy and decided with some family and friends to enjoy the bottle of Brunello di Montalcino we had bought there.
Doreen went out of her way and as usual prepared a great meal. She included Italian bread sticks (grissini - see recipe), Cannalloni and lasagna, and also a delicious onion soup and a very successful tarte tatin (see pictures).

^{THIS WEEK'S NEWS}

• Doreen has written a report with pictures of our holiday in Tuscany at the Villa Poliziana. For pictures of the earlier visit to Rome see here.
  
• Today we visited relative Susan Nathan at the Bet Ha-Emek Retirement Home in Nof Hagalil. She is recovering nicely from her operation. Her son Dan had extended his visit to take care of Susan and flew home this week.
  
• On the way back from our visit with Susan we dropped into Kibbutz Yizrael to see our friend Steve Blass, whose wife Bini passed away a few months ago.
  
• Doreen has written in her column about her visit to Del' Ara Pacis when we were in Rome.

THIS WEEK'S PICTURE
29th April 2023

Doreen Dives with the Sharks

Doreen's diving insurance expires soon and as she is not sure whether it will be renewed she decided that her (perhaps) last dive should be  dive with the sharks (and of course with son Aviv).
See some more pictures here.

^{THIS WEEK'S NEWS}

• This week was Israel's 75 Independence Day (Yom Ha-atzmaut) and we celebrated as always at the home of  Terry and Carol Kessel. It was lovely to see old friends again and of course to enjoy the food and the special Kessel hospitality.
• Yom Ha-atzmaut is celebrated by torch lighting ceremonies. Apart from the central ceremony there are also local ceremonies. We were very proud that granddaughter Lotem Segoli was invited to light a torch together with two team-mates of her victorious Robotics team.
  
• This week was my 83rd birthday. The dates of Jewish festivals are in accordance with a lunar calendar. I was born during Passover but this year year my birthday corresponded to Israel's Independence Day (actually a day later). On my birthay eve Doreen prepared a fantastic delicious meal and the next day daughter Vered Ron organised a dinner for me and granddaughter Zoe decorated a cake. The family surprised me by showing up and we had a virtual one night family reunion.
  
• After my birthday dinner the Segolis and Eilatis slept over at our apartment. Despite the squashing in of so many in our small apartment the grandchildren are always delighted to be together. The youngest Zoe was especially happy to be with Joannie.
• We were delighted to meet relatives on our Levy side. Dan Nathan and his sister Tanya (Nathan) Wood came on a short visit to Israel to visit their mother Susan (my second cousin) who is recuperating after a heart operation. We were glad they managed to meet some of our children and grandchildren who were staying with us. (see picture). We wish Susan a speedy recovery. See Hershovitz/Levy tree.
• Daughter-in-law Mikhal Segoli is in USA doing some research at the University of Minnesota. (Picture)
  
• Next week we will be on holiday with son Aviv and Limor in Italy.

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THIS WEEK'S PICTURE
22nd April 2023

Lotem presents her robotics alliance

As we reported last week granddaughter Lotem Segoli and her Fata  Morgana team, after winning the Israel Championships, are in Houston at the World Robotics Championships.
The contestants are distributed into four sections of 48 teams in each section. The winning team in each section (after semi- and final playoffs play against the winners of the other 3 sections for the "World Champion" title.
The team achieved excellent results in the qualifications winning 9 of their 11 matches (and losing 2 by one point only). They ended up in third place in their section. For the next stage they had to choose an "alliance", 2 non-qualifying teams to be their partners competing against the alliance of the 2nd ranked team. It's not easy deciding whom to choose and the team, under Lotem's direction, studied the performances and form of the possible partners. (see picture).
After deciding, the teams report their alliances - see picture above of Lotem making her announcement. Fata Morgana won their semi-final match but unfortunately lost in the finals.
So the team did not advance to the final stage. It was a big disappointment but Fata Morgana are ranked among the top 8 robotics teams in the world.
Congratulations, Lotem and you team. You achieved a fantastic result that you can proud of.

^{THIS WEEK'S NEWS}

• We spent the weekend in Eilat. Doreen wanted to dive but the weather was not good - perhaps she'll have a chance tomorrow. Last night we went to Greco Restaurant for a family meal.  
• Son Aviv was one of the organisers for a sea "clean-up" in Eilat today when divers removed nearly a ton of debris from the sea floor.
  
• Cricket is the national sport of India, and while in India Dani of course decided to see what it was like with a cricket bat.
  
• Congratulations to Danielle Glasser in Melbourne on her wedding today to Luke Walker. Mazal tov also to parents cousin Mark and Sue. See Glasser family tree.

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THIS WEEK'S PICTURE
15th April 2023

MIMOUNA CELEBRATION
Me, Doreen, Simona (Edri) Grinnart, Nurit (Cohen) Yehuda, Vered Levy-Ron

The Mimouna celebration is a traditional Maghrebi Jewish custom held on the eve of and on the day after Passover, where the first hametz is eaten. (see Wikipedia).
We have on occasion taken part and this year we were invited by Cecila Lugasi and her family to her home. Celia is the sister of Vered's close friend (and classmate) Simona . The Edri family lived in Eilat when we were there and Simona is visiting her family in Israel. (She lives in Australia and on our round the World Trip we visted her and her husband Eyal). We were happy to see her again, and also another close friend of our daughter, Nurit (Cohen) Yehuda.
As expected there was a wide array of traditional Moroccan favourites to enjoy, including of course moffletta, a type of sweet crepe. Click for a picture of Celia preparing mofletta.

• The Segolis have returned from their trip to Sinai. It looks amazing - see some pictures here.
  
• The travelling Rons: Aviv is back from India, and Lior and Gal are back from Istanbul (see pictures)
  
• Granddaughters Amit and Ilay Levy came up north to us for a couple of days and enjoyed Tel Aviv. They didn't enjoy the trip home - a 5 1/2   trip home to Eilat took over 9 hours due to the roads being flooded.
• Uri Jeremias' restaurant was burnt down during the last riots. After reading about Uri Jeremias  and his unwavering belief in co-existence,  Doreen and I drove to Uri Buri, his rebuilt restaurant in Acre, and enjoyed a meal there.
  
• Good luck to granddaughter Lotem Segoli and her robotic group Fata Morgana. Today they flew to USA to take part in the FIRST World Robotics Championship.
  
• We visited 2nd cousin Susan Nathan in hospital after her heart surgery. We wish her a speedy recovery.

THIS WEEK'S PICTURE
1st April 2023

Marriage Certificate -Maurice Glazer - Gertie Nickel

Last week I posted the marriage certificate of my parents, and this week here is the certificate of Doreen's parents who were married in Johannesburg on January 10th, 1937. The place of marriage is not listed. Maurice's occupation is 'shop keeper' and Gertie's 'shop assistant'. We know that they had their own shop (see Doreen's account in her column) but we're not sure whether Maurice owned the shop or whether he worked in a shop before they married. The addresses are 104 Plein street and 106 Plein street - were they neighbours or living together or was this the address of their shop?
(For both the country of birth is listed as Poland although Maurice was born in Lithuania and Gertie in Belarus. At that time these countries see-sawed between independence and 'belonging' to Russia , Poland or other empires. My grandfather was listed as born in 'Russia' even though he was born in Lithuania.)
Doreen's family trees:
On her father's side - Gordon/Glasser  and  Schank
On her mother's side - Nochimovitz/Nickel

 

• Eleanor Pines, Doreen's close friend from school days in South Africa, is visiting Israel with her companion  Dennis Feinberg (see picture) and we met twice for lunch. Doreen and Eleanor were close friends in South Africa and my first memories of  Doreen are of her being always with Eleanor. Eleanor lives in South Africa but we have met a few times, in Israel and South Africa and once even in London.
• We wish all our friends and relatives a very happy pesach - Passover. We will celebrate the seder in Eilat with our Eilat Levy family and with daughter-in-law Limor's family. Some of the Segolis and Rons will also join us.

• We had lunch this week with cousin Shirley Kansky  and second cousin Joel and Beryl Klotnick. Last week we saw the Geffens and Sydney Losin, so it's been a family week for us.

THIS WEEK'S PICTURE
11th February 2023

Anthony and Doreen are engaged!

Melly Braverman, Gertie Glazer, Louise Braverman, Hayman Levy, Ray Brower Levy, Me, Maurice Glazer, Doreen, Dave Zolty  (best man), Fern Levy

This coming Tuesday is Valentine's Day. I don't remember celebrating Valentine's Day when we were young but the above picture shows that despite no cards we did celebrate our love.
Although originally a religious holy day today Valentine's Day has become an important commercial event with billions of greeting cards actual or digital. In Israel secular Jews celebrate both Valentine's Day and the Jewish version "Tu B'av" as a holiday of love.

^{THIS WEEK'S NEWS}

• I was very sad to hear of the passing of my second cousin Jeffrey Geffen.  Jeff stayed in our home while studying as a pharmacist in Durban. He was about 13 years older than me and I looked upon him as a big brother. I have many fond memories of him and his keen sense of humour. He was a keen sportsman until tubercolosis curtailed most of his sport activities. Jeff and his wife Doreen (Altshuler) made aliyah to Israel and lived in Ashdod. He founded and developed the sport of Badminton in Israel. Click here for a picture in badminton outfit.  See Levy family tree.
• My cousin Sharon (Levy) Leibowitz in Australia is not well. We all wish her a speedy recovery and a return to her active life.

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THIS WEEK'S PICTURE
4th February 2023

Moran on his way to 50

Congratulations to our youngest child Moran on his 50th birthday this week. We'll be celebrating it with Family Reunion #28 in a few week's time.
Here are some pictures of his younger days.

• We were saddened by the passing of Bini Blass, a friend from our South Africa days. Condolences to husband Steve and family. See also a visit to them on Kibbutz Yizrael earlier this year and more links.
  

28th January 2023

From Zelig Goldberg to Isaac Shapiro  

    ^{Dear children}

• Daughter Vered Ron returned this week from USA and now all our children and grandchildren are in Israel
  
• We were saddened this week by the passing of Tirza Naor whom Doreen had befriended for a number of years.
  
• Tiina Drui (see Schank family tree) is a very talented artist. Her painting of her husband Heini acurately depicts him. This painting and some more of Tiina's artwork can be seen here.
  
• Last week we saw pictures of the Segolis in Tromso viewing the Northern Lights. It looks like an amazing sight. That's something we've never experienced or even come close to. Our visits to the far north were all in summer. At least we did see the midnight sun in Tromso and had lunch and bought a tee shirt at the Northern Lights Inn in Labrador!
  
• Granddughter Lotem Segoli's robotics team took first place in the Israel Robotic Competition preliminaries. We're proud of her team and of Lotem who was also nominated for the FIRST Dean's List for excellence. FIRST is an international not-for-profit organisation that sponsors mentor-based programs that build science, engineering and technology skills for high school students. 
  
• Like father like son: About 50 years ago the Chief Rabbi of Israel Ovadia Yosef visited Coral World and I showed him around the site. This year his son, Chief Rabbi Yitschak Yosef visited Coral World and my son showed him around the site. Click for pictures

14th January 2023