Ze mamash yaffe

Since arriving there is no doubt that my Hebrew has improved. But I have started a list of words for which I cannot find adequate English translations, but which are used in practically every sentence here. So far I have: mamash, betach and dafka. I am not sure that there are rules for their use, but what these words often tend to do is to emphasis a point. Israelis love emphasising the point.

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After a week of cutting, gluing, laminating, colouring and decorating, interspersed with countless singing and dancing rehearsals and a daily countdown by the children, last night was the annual bar and bat mitzvah celebration at Neve Michael. It was mamash yaffe, yaffe. (In this instance mamash means ‘really, really’ and the repetition of the word yaffe, meaning ‘nice’, adds an extra superlative dimension to the sentence).

Ashagar, Banchi and Mistual all dressed for their brother's Bar Mitzvah

Everyone worked so hard to make it a night to remember, in particular for those children marking such an important right of passage and whose parents could not mark it for them. The highlight of the evening was the show that all the children took part in and put so much effort in to, learning words and dance routines. Two of my children couldn’t quite master the art of singing and dancing at the same time so we gave them guitars to ‘play’ instead!

Daniel and Aviel 'playing' the guitar

For me though this last week hasn’t only been about the bnei mitzvot. After a week of being here, I felt I had really settled in, made friends and established a routine which is both rewarding and exhausting in equal measures. It is an experience which is teaching me to overcome new challenges everyday, adapt to the nuances of a different culture (both national and religious) and it has brought back lots of memories of my youth movement days (sharing a bathroom with six other people, set meal times and a weekly menu on rotation to name just a few).

And my time in Pardes Channah has definitely been more than just Neve Michael...

Last Friday, I had dinner with Hava and David Levene and six of their 11 children. (The longer I am here, the less I am finding this figure surprising.) Hava is the head of fundraising at Neve Michael and she and her husband are American, so it was a good chance to practice my English. They have really looked after me, taken me out in the evenings to air me out, and I really feel like their honorary 12th child at the moment.

On Tuesday morning, I took a trip with Batia Weinberg, Director of the One Family charity in the north of Israel. One Family gives emotional, legal and financial support to families who have been affected in some way by the terrorist attacks here, and it is one of the charities that the Benjamin Angel Foundation is supporting. In Batia’s patch alone, she looks after over 600 families and I accompanied her on a home visit to see a couple who although losing their daughter in October, have only recently had their status changed to ‘victims of terror’. Zvika and Shoshana’s daughter Kassie, 27, was a security guard in a mall in Netanya. On the 23rd October she took a ride home with an Arab boy who was a waiter in a restaurant. Her body was found the next day in a forest near Chadera. At first it was thought that it was lover’s tiff. But in fact, having arrested the guy, it turns out he was paid by Hamas to kill her.

As you can imagine this was difficult for so many reasons, but I am pleased that I was able to see first hand the work we are supporting in Benjamin’s name. One Family will now buy an air conditioning unit for Shoshana who has terminal cancer and will help the family access the benefits they are entitled to from the state, including counselling and grants for their younger children to go on to higher education.

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I’m on weekend parole as of today, and I’ve come to Herzlyia to enjoy, in order of priority: the beach (I really need to start working on the tan), a good steak and Sandra who has come out for a wedding. (Sorry Sandra, but I can see you in London after all!)

I am back at Neve Michael on Sunday, for my last week there, before I take some time out to see some of the country and then it’s back to Jerusalem. It all seems to be going so fast….