Sara In Akko

I volunteered myself to make a cake for a first grade class party... but really I was looking for a project. Although not the most clean cut cake decoration, it's not the worst thing I've thrown together either.

Step One: Cut Jerusalem out of gum-paste, sugar dough, fondant or modeling chocolate (whatever)



Step Two: Paint. (Gel food coloring and vodka)



Step Three: Frost to perfectly baked cake.



I think you'll find all the essentials of the Jerusalem experience are featured in this cake, windmill, walls, towers, camel, palms.  And yes, that is the Western Wall made of rice-krispey treats.

Enjoy!

I remember the excitement of new school supplies. The fresh notebooks, the perfect folders and does anyone have a soft spot for Lisa Frank TrapperKeepers?

My oldest began first grade today, proud as pie of her new backpack (nobody in a school of a few hundred girls has one like hers), super stocked about her pencil case and the only caveat is that all her notebooks, folders, pencils must be standard blah blah blah.

She goes to a school that has asked parents to buy brown paper notebooks, clear covers, yellow #2 pencils and white erasers. No distracting stickers, please! I've never encountered a list that killed the joy of school supplies so thoroughly.

I stuck to the letter of the law when buying her supplies, somehow knowing in the back of my mind that she will come home today and ask why she was the only girl in the entire school with blank and joyless supplies.  No way my motherly cohorts will resist the temptation of colorful store-bought vigor for back to school. I feel it in my bones that no other mother fears pissing off the teacher in the way that I do, but I also know that I have a few tricks up my sleeve.

Of all of the many directions given for supply purchases, the ringed binder did not come with a list of instructions, here's your instructions crazy rigid school supply list!

Tutorial for the best damn homemade fabric covered binder in this school.

Materials:
1 cheap ringed binder
1 fat quarter
felt scrap
fabric flower pattern
random trimming scraps
needle and thread


Measure out the size of your binder when it lays folded and begin folding the edges of your fabric over the top, just as you would if covering a book with a paper-bag. I used packing tape to hold the edges before securing with embroidery thread.

Don't let the pictures, or my husband's commentary, fool you. This was either the most ingenious use of DIY resourcefulness or a total fast food impostor recipe abomination. I lean towards best at-home lunch ever!

Although I live in a city bursting full of kosher schwarma shops that line the main street, there are precious few places that sell falafel.  Why is that you ask? I honestly have no idea.

If you live somewhere with a great discrepancy between available schwarma to falafel or just want to know the easiest way to make your own (healthier) falafel and also fix up your pita like a genuine street food experience in your home, this tutorial is for you.


 Super Amazing Falafel DIY Impostor Recipe

Step 1). The easiest way to get genuine falafel is to purchase a ready made powder which you can purchase here or if you're adventuresome you could grind your own chickpeas (garbanzo beans) and mix in spices like these found here. Both options will produce falafel and it all depends on your personal preference. Although I have ready mix waiting in my home (usually due to the family Etsy shop) I like doing things the long and tedious way (grinding beans and adding fresh spice).

Step 2). If you happen to keep a deep fryer around the house, you can toss in the tiny balls of mush chickpea mix till browned. If you are like me and terrified by the thought of cooking with vats of oil, it's time for the oven. This is where my husband and I disagree because I find no reason falafel needs to be a burning hot ball of grease whereas he absolutely believes this is exactly what falafel should be.


Step 3). Cut your pita in half, throw it in the over for just a minute to help it open up a bit if it is giving you trouble.

Step 4). Cut up your essential pita stuffers. At a genuine falafel street vendor you'd find a wide variety of salads and pickles but luckily I enjoy a simple palate of pickles, onions, Yemeni spice and humous (oddly enough, also ground chickpeas... there is a bit of redundancy in available ingredients throughout the Middle East).  


If it's fresh and a vegetable it also belongs in a pita. Middle Eastern fast food is not really as detrimental to your health as the American variety (minus the flaming balls of fried grease).


This is some serious humous. In Hebrew it's just called "spicey" and is found at our local grocer.

Viola! Everything a genuine falafel should be; a mix of texture, extreme spice and stomach soothing fresh veggies. Not too healthy but not a heart attack in a bun. I highly recommend giving this a try at home.

These sweet potatoes were the start of an important discussion. One my husband and I had been having for some time. One I'd almost forgot to have with my children, but one they would most certainly be effected by.

"Do you see how this sweet potato grows on it's own? What would happen if we put it in the ground to grow?"

"Would it grow us lots of sweet potatoes Mommy?"

"Yes. It would work with other kinds of vegetables too."

"Then we wouldn't have to go to the store, you would say, 'Go outside and get us vegetables from the ground' and we would say 'Nummy, ground vegetables!'"

Her tiny reasoning was music to my ears.

Essentially my husband and I have been having, not so much a debate, but an evolving conversation that has grown with us over time. How do we want to live?

We're inching towards moving off the grid. Not in the romantic wilderness way but slowly planning for a future that involves self-built and ecologically sound housing and a micro-farming business. Some kids, some small animals and we'll call it a hard fought win.

We're hoping that in the next year or so we'll be ready for the big move from rented apartment dwellers with with potted herbs in the kitchen to home builders with the start to a healthy and self reliant life.

But there is finding land, being absorbed into the community, searching out suppliers, finding the right builders, obtaining permits, learning our limitations, the hunt for financing, government loans and and and...

There is an ever growing list of single tiny hitches that could derail the utopia of our plans at every bend. Just thinking of how to go about a life change of this magnitude isn't easy and so I can only imagine what life on a tiny farm would actually mean to our entire family.

So this is the first step.

"Don't you think it would be nice to live somewhere where we could grow our own food?"

"That'd be awesome Mommy! Let's do it."

Maybe someday soon we will.

Looks like one of my favorite pastimes is gaining some street cred around Israel.*

Check out this commercial from a popular clothing chain in Israel

Love it!

I loved my first encounter with Urban Knitting or Guerrilla Knitting aka Yarn Bombing a few years back and still find it "the least offensive form of graffiti" around. In fact it's downright cheerful.

While living in Jerusalem, I felt ridiculous when I'd find myself to be the only woman on the bus not busy at work crocheting kippot for my husband, son or brother. I simply didn't know how.

Being that it was the apparent city-wide sport of my peers, I taught myself.

Rather, this great woman taught me how to crochet. She makes the most instructive and helpful YouTube tutorials I've ever found. Have a look.

* For the record, we don't own a TV and I just happened to see this commercial which sent me into a frenzy trying to find it online to share, I just think it's that neat.

I typically take steps to keep my personal blogging fairly light hearted and without much intrigue but was tempted today by something larger than a contest. But rather a really on point question raised by said contest. A Tallit up for grabs was posted recently by a blog I've enjoyed reading for some time here.

So I began to think about my own interest in Tallitot. For starters I grew up in an egalitarian community where women did not wear a Tallit, but as I grew the environment began to change rapidly. Although just five years prior my sister was not given a Tallit, by my Bat Mitzvah it was not a question of whether or not a girl would wear a Tallit but which Tallit she would wear.

The options were not plentiful, you could choose between a very plain blue striped pattern or a more elaborate blue striped pattern. All wool, all with machine embroidered Atara and all miniature versions of a full grown man's Tallit, sized to accommodate the petite stature of a girl about to become a tiny woman.

As I had demanded a dark navy blue invitation with the skyline of Jerusalem in a 3 hour negotiation stand-still with my mother, it was my natural choice that I would choose the blue Tallit with the elaborate Jerusalem skyline to match. I was told repeatedly for years to come that this was a pretty "Butch" Tallit for a young lady.

I didn't care.

I loved wearing my Tallit. I loved draping it around my body. I loved being a fully-fledged adult and member of the community and I took this responsibility with all the maturity I could muster. Wearing a Tallit gave me a sense of religious purpose, stepping into my own space to commune with my Maker.

But I do not wear my Tallit anymore. I have become a more observant Jew, as observant as I imagined myself to be as a tween. I am a Jewish wife and mother and woman in Israel and all of these labels give me new limitations and horizons in my development. My chosen community is millions of miles away from the community in which I was born and I can't see myself walking around on Shabbat in a Tallit with all the men of my small city. I can't say that I would care to. As a modern religious woman I've found that can take that sense of my own space with me at all times, I don't need this props and staging.

I could go back and forth on the debate; is it forbidden, no. Does that make it appropriate, perhaps? Can a woman even wear a Tallit? Well, can't she?

I feel very fortunate to have lived to see a point in religious renewal where well educated and well grounded women are able to ask important questions. Questions that are not in defiance of tradition saying boldly that men and women are no different (believe me, we're different) but rather questions that force us to think like our sages. When our world has changed so drastically, are we not at a different point in our religious needs. The Torah is unchanging and society cannot be a measure of how to observe the laws of our Torah but there are questions that simply aren't answered by assuming a woman is not obligated and therefore may... or may not... or should not.

I don't feel that I would ever be comfortable in the community I was raised in. Their observances are now so foreign to me that I am often at a loss of words when I return for brief visits.

Instead of answering important modern Halakhic questions based in law and religious discourse, I often find that the purveyors of religious knowledge are limited in scope and are unable to adequately answer the basics of Religious Law. Instead there is an odd mixture of fear and myth about rituals they have deemed unnecessary such as Kashrut, Taharat Mishpacha and a host of other fundamental issues. This doesn't mean I resent other Jews who choose to live a different path than I choose for myself and my family but rather I am saddened that the outright prevalence of deeming my practices archaic.

I don't flinch at a woman in a Tallit and Kippa who is called Rabbi, but I feel a kindred purpose with those wearing a Tichel or beanie and are as well versed in living Judaism and Halakha as any man who never questioned whether or not he would wear a Tallit.

I hope that somehow my coming from this particular community widens their tolerance and love of other Jews as well as my own Ahavat Yisrael.

I guess I've arrived at a point where I can say a Jew is a Jew is a Jew.

Thanks to A Mother in Israel for the soul search.

I'd love to hear your comments if you've got them.

This year has seen a continued growth of National Service participation among Arab youths within their communities. Akko has been awarded for the exceptional services offered by it's Arab youths in their dedication to their community.

I can't think of anything more important to emphasize than this achievement. Many Israelis and foreign onlookers are quick to criticize the community service offered by youths within the Jewish sector.

"Why don't they do more for all the residents of the entire city?"

I have heard this question before. This question implies that a teen who works in a Jewish school has neglected the needs of the Arab sector. This question also shows that it is being asked by a person who doesn't see the larger picture, the scope of need within a city quite like Akko. It is layered and complex and certainly not as simple as if one population is being served than another must be neglected.

I have often wondered how people could believe that a single solution would possibly fit for an entire city and it's many needs. There is no such magical one-size fits all solution to societal distress. It takes many partners to care for an entire city and it's varied population.

The rising number of Arab youths concerned about their own communities and volunteering to better the situations of children and families in need is exemplary. Its scope of impact, creating safe afternoon options for 70 children 5 days a week, is a service this city is truly in need of.

See the full article in Hebrew here

Actually... it's here.

We're building towards soemthing big to help kids in the city of Akko. We're saving money on the annual dinner budget and taking it to the Web! Join us, pass it on and most importantly...

Spread the Love; Ahavat Yisrael!

Here's the big exciting project Yeshivot Bnei Akiva is letting me work on. This was filmed in a single hour all around Akko and with a plain digital camera. Using only free applications and open-source programs I'm attempting to build a new approach to the Annual Dinner. More details to follow.

Everyone knows that the best way to prepare for the worst is just that, plan for the worst.

Here in Akko, during the Second Lebanon War, many of the residents were left stranded in their homes for days and days and days on end. All normal life ceased. Stores were open sporadically, basic food staples were scarce and tensions ran extremely high as air raid sirens blared daily for hours on without much respite from this tense situation. For school children who had planned on a least a uneventful summer break, the war's toll was much more costly than the lost hours of childhood vacation.

During this war, as was true also during Operation Cast Lead, the citizens left in ther bomb shelters in fear of their lives were greatly aided by those who in the face of danger served their communities to the best of their abilities.

This great compassion and ability to serve others is a quality widely recognized in the many Hesder students across the nation. They learn, they serve, they are community leaders. We owe them a great deal for their dedication to Am Yisrael.

Israel's Civil Defense has recognized this natural resource and has created their own emergency plan for the "next case of all-out war, natural disasters, large IDF operations, and similar national emergencies." - Arutz Sheva

Nobody likes thinking of what the next crisis, disaster, operation or war will look like, what terrible form it will take or its toll on our citizens. The best way to save lives in a time of crisis is to be prepared.

Here's the original report.

(This was first written about a year ago but seemed applicable enough today)

When I began to inquire about what school would be like for my daughter, I heard this:

"Make sure she speaks Hebrew in the Gan. Kids can be so mean. They'll call her Russian."

The Israelis were clearly concerned that our background as Russian-American-Religious would be a constant hindrance to what we, in Israel, term the "Chevre."

Speaking mostly Russian, my child entered Gan. After a week she was transformed into a singing, conversing, Israeli child. To those concerned that her linguistic preferences might keep her on the out's in the schoolyard, a proud parental moment presented itself.

Returning home, I found my 3 year old looking slightly stormy. My husband explained that she was apprehended by her Gannenet. The Chevre were caught wetting toilet paper and tossing it at the wall. 5 children total.

Clearly unacceptable. I thought of her sitting in the "Meditation Corner" being disciplined for this foray off the track of playful impishness towards preschool monster, and yet, couldn't help but be proud of this tiny person's ability to triumph and become a true Israeli child.

The odds are against her.

Friends enjoy cheese on white bread, she eats peanut butter and jelly packed in reusable pouches. When they receive candy in class (and there is always candy), she has fruit. Other children bring baggies of goodies for their birthday, her birthday in Elul included over 20 handmade fairy-castle-glitter invites and two total attendees.

In review, she is a totally Israeli child, her 3 year old Chutzpah is proof. I'm the one a bit out of place. I'm the immigrant, not her.

Although I knew of government actions to protect the relatively scarse supply of Zaatar in Israel (mostly the Galilee) ...

Did you know that wild Zaatar is being picked to near extinction? That illegal picking of the plant used as a dried spice and a healthful tea are punishable offenses? That Za'atar is so rare outside of Israel that Jordan and other Arab nations have created a substitute for *Za'atar made mostly of salt, parsley, and sesame?

Yes, Yes and Yes.
I see Za'atar from my home window and often can spot groups of women gathering it fresh from the fields. The price of actual Za'atar outside of Israel (and not a remix of Za'atar like flavors) can fetch a pretty penny.

True connoisseurs of Middle Eastern cuisine know the difference and the growers who deal in this plant can sell out their crops for years in advance to companies supplying what many consider the most basic of Israeli seasonings. Cheeses, breads, hummus, salads, veggies, pizzas and more all seem to be laden with Za'atar. I doubt there are very many Israelis who go a full day without encountering this aromatic mixture in some form or another.

How does this create world peace? How about a trade?

Normalized relations between nations and we'll start forking over this precious commodity.

See the second half of this article

*Za'atar itself is an actual plant -Hyssop from the bible- but has come to mean a more general combination of seasonings throughout the Middle East where it is either in short spply or unabtainable.

All around Israel people are celebrating the "New Year of the Trees." Akko is no exception.

I was lucky enough to be invited to a community event in one of the growing groups of Akko. Yeshivat Hesder Akko, Ruach Zfonit. The members of the Yeshiva and their families created a community Seder to celebrate together with music, food and the get-acquainted activities that make an event memorable. For example we learned one couple was quite accident prone dring their courtship, and that another's first night in Akko was greeted by a midnight fire that allowed them to meet their neighbors while standing in pajamas outside their new home.

Small children of the families had a great time running amuck and coloring pictures of flowering trees.

Kol HaKavod to the Yeshiva for creating an enjoyable evening to get to know the community of Akko.

Here's a tutorial on a Seder for Tu Bishvat.

I recently stumbled across a blog that expounds the joys of Green Living by living bellow the poverty line. This is what caught my attention. Not that sustainable living is possible on a pioneer-fashioned lifestyle. Rather, that by plunging yourself (and Family) below the poverty line you can still surprisingly survive.

This is based on assumptions; you live in a city, can leave your home for several acres off in the country-side, til the soil, bake your bread, brave the weather, join a co-op that wants your homegrown products, and eek out a nature-based living without the cellphones, WiFi, Wii's and whatnot.

It really does sound euphoric. I don't deny that, but what about people who live below the poverty line, and not for novelty's sake?

Let's try quick comparison, although I am not an economist, I like to think of myself as savvy. The Israeli minimum wage is about $4.80. The Federal rate in the USA, $7.25.

Suffice it to say, Israel's poverty line is significantly lower, thusly the average family income is lower, incomes tend to be lower within larger families.

What does this all mean? People that exist closer to the poverty line tend to know "Green Trends" far before a cultural icon has time to publish a book about it.

When there are less resources available, you truly exemplify two of the three ecological R's a younger generation learned about in grade school.

Reduce.

Re-Use.

I'm going to look for some good examples around here.

Israel can be surprising in the way that even old decrepit housing complexes from the peripheries produce beautiful life.