Chol HaMoed, continued

And so Chol HaMoed continued on, lots of quality family time, lots of fun. No really, for the most part, I do mean that sincerely. On Wednesday, we headed to the Table to Table "gleaning." Table to Table is a food rescue organization that runs a number of programs to feed the needy. The one we attended, Project Leket, involved going to a kibbutz near Rechovot and picking fruits and vegetables from fields specially designated for this purpose. We spent a couple of hours picking butternut squash and had a surprisingly good time doing it. All the kids got really involved, and were extra happy because a number of families we are friends with were there, too. In fact, it kind of felt like most of the Anglo Olim population was there, or at least anyone who came in the last ten years. We saw old friends and acquaintances we had not seen for months or even years. And the kids had a good time with their friends, and we were even doing a mitzvah. Of course, after we finished picking, we headed up to the fun part of "Family Fun Day." A sukkah was set up, along with vendors selling food. There was a ginormous screen showing the Ice Age movies, which caught the attention of many a child. Ayelet wanted to know if we could buy one of those for the house... There were also inflatables (mitnapchim) that Dani and Lola had a great time on. After a few hours of fun, we headed for home. On the way out, we were gifted with t-shirts from Table to Table. Awesome!

After we ordered in Burgers Bar and enjoyed a healthy dinner, David and I headed to Yerushalayim to my cousin Viggy's home for a cousins get-together for our Bubby's yahrzeit. It was great to see Viggy and his wife, Chaily; we had not met her before, as they just got married a few months ago in the States. She is very sweet and we hope they will come here for a visit one of these days. Two other cousins, Sara Malka along with her husband Dovid, and Estie, were visiting, so it was great to see the cousins we had not seen in such a long time. My sister Aviva was there too, though she did not bring her baby, who I was hoping to see. I totally get that as a mom, but as an aunt I am a little sad. Cousins Shmuel and Brenda, who live down the block, rounded out the group, along with all of their kids. It was a fun evening, and Dovid gave a nice d'var Torah that incorporated what he had learned about our grandparents. I have once again been negligent in taking photos of cookies, as we brought two platters of lots of flavors, that seem to have been gobbled up, thank goodness. You don't want to short change relatives on the cookies!

Thursday was another Yerushalayim day. We parked in town and walked to the Kotel. It was crowded in the Rova, but not crazy packed. We davened mincha, got some refreshments, and then hiked back to the car to head to Har Nof for a late lunch in Saba and Savta's sukkah. The Katsmans were there too, and fun was had by all, except perhaps by the downstairs neighbor who had all the kids playing on her head. Makes me glad not live in an apartment building, where the delineation between indoor and outdoor is a little blurry. Here, it is nothing outdoors from 2-4, no questions asked.

Friday was get ready for chag day, and then it was Simchat Torah. Reports to follow...

Dvora