(Current standing: Israeli Sheckel 2.73
to South African Rand)
The thing we’re probably enjoying most
right now is the soap. Of all the bits and pieces I brought back from Israel,
the handmade artisan soap, which was a gift from Graciella, has
provided the most interest and has
been useful in the kids’ bathroom as a cleaning agent and foot-tickling device.
Grac picked up the aromatic, textured soap on
her visit to the German colony with Sandra on our last day in Israel. I was using those last hours to soak
up some Tel Aviv sun and wind down after a frenetic two weeks filled with site-seeing
and soul-seeing.
The Kiddush cup is also special. I hadn’t
been sure after I’d bought it, then seen the same one in the next shop for 20 Sheckles less. Making me even less sure, was the ultra-modern Kiddush cups that
subsequently entered my consciousness causing the traditional silver-plated one,
complete with Jerusalem cityscape, seem totally outmoded. Anyway, in our home,
the next-door shop and the other designs bare no significance and Robbie and
the kids are most pleased with our smart new cup.
The CD I brought home has been a good buy too.
It’s Yom Tov Glaser- “the Surfing Rabbi”- who played a concert for our group
before Shabbos came in. Now I’m outside of Jerusalem but the music still sets a
lively tone for Shabbat, helping to uplift that last busy hour of preparation.
We haven’t yet gotten into the books I lugged home. The “brachot” colouring-in books for the kids are the
exception. Son has made incredible effort with each page and little M has
enjoyed paging from end to end making a solid koki mark on each page as she
turns.
Other spoils from my Meir Sherim kiddies’
educational shop include the aleph-bet stencils and stickers. Those haven’t yet
elicited the joy I envisioned.
But while some things have been a little disappointingly
received, the halva was an instant hit. Son and Little M love it, it’s proven
to be a great gift, and testing the multitude of varieties in the halvah heaven
souk stall remains one of my fondest shopping memories from the trip.
The ankle chains broke and scarves haven’t
seen the light of day. Yet.
Something else I came back with, which cost much less and will probably be worth much more to me over time, are photos. Loads of photos. And
that’s what I need to sit with tonight for a little while: I must send some
pics to the family in Israel from when we were all together (I just LOVED
that!!) and to the girls from our Durban group; we’ve said we’d share ‘cause we
didn’t all get the same moments on camera. (You can imagine when the guy
dressed up as Abraham agrees to take your group photo by the camels, ten
cameras might annoy him).
I still have Sheckels left over and a few
dollars I didn’t change, but they are no good at Woolworths. I’ll just have to
save them for my next trip, which hopefully won’t be too far away. In the
meantime I’ll enjoy all the little mementoes and photos and continue to strive
to bring light and G-dliness into our home and family.
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