The Kaiserparents at the Shuttle launch

I know that this isn't really about Liz and Saul per se, but Carl and Judy look so happy that I just had to post this!

Florida has been good to the Kaiserparents.

A little more about our neighborhood

First of all, let's start by letting you know that the building next door is under construction, so we are woken up every morning by the sound of a jackhammer* (usually by around 7 AM). By around 9 AM, it is quiet again. Apparently, the jackhammer is only needed until it's time for Liz to be at school.

Here's another one of those cool recycling bins in the neighborhood.


You'll recall a few posts earlier I mentioned how fruits like dates and olives are growing in people's yards...here's a pomegranate tree that's just down the block from us.

So, as I was taking this photo of the Greek Embassy, also down the block from us, a car pulls up beside me and starts honking. Hoping that I'm not about to be arrested for photographing an embassy, I walk over and - yes, just like last week - the driver starts telling me how just down the block is a much more interesting photo of the Christian Embassy. You can't make things like this up.


* it might be a piledriver. What do I know?

Signing Reut and Igal's Ketubah

Somehow amidst all of the exitement and confusion at the wedding, one fairly important step in the marriage process never actually took place...

So, Liz and I went back down to Tel-Aviv a few days later to sign and Igal's ketubah (marriage contract).





Saul signed as the M'sader kedushin (wedding officiant). No, Saul is not a rabbi, but according to Jewish law, in order to officiate a Jewish wedding ceremony one must simply be a knowledgeable Jew. Of course, by forgetting about the ketubah signing at the wedding, Saul may have disqualified himself, but nevermind.

Liz, and Igal's best friend Monica, signed as witnesses.

The "newlyweds" with their Ketubah.

Reut & Igal's Wedding in Jaffa

We arrived in Jaffa a little early, so we had drinks in a nearby restaurant. This is the view out of the window looking north towards Tel-Aviv.

Here's the wedding hall...

...and here's Reut and Igal on the roof of the hall, where the ceremony was held. You could see the sunset out to the west, Jaffa to the south and east, and Tel-Aviv to the north - beautiful!

Liz at School

Liz started her Hebrew Ulpan this week. Saul is still on vacation, which is how he has time to sneak up on her to take photos while she's busy learning Hebrew.

Liz is, of course, a student at Hebrew Union College, the Reform Jewish rabbinical seminary. This is the courtyard outside of the academic center.

Walking around Jerusalem

A bunch of the crosswalk signs have been modified in creative ways. I don't think this is a government sponsored initiative.


As I was taking that last photograph, a car pulled up beside me and the driver and his wife immediately launched into a detailed explanation of why a shot of this building was a more interesting photograph. They wouldn't leave until I promised to take a picture. So, this is the Christian embassy, and it is actually pretty typical of the architecture of our neighborhood, which also has the Italian and Greek embassies and the home of the former mayor of Jerusalem, Ehud Olmert.

Katamon recycles! This is on the corner of our block. In Hebrew: "Paper Only." All of the recycling bins in Jerusalem are painted with various murals depicting flowers, smiling children, etc.


According to the Bible, Israel is "a land of wheat and barley, and grape-vines and fig-trees and pomegranates; a land of olive-trees and date-palms (Deut. 8:8)." Walking down Derech Beit Lechem (Bethlehem Street) last night, we passed trees sprouting pomegranites and figs, growing out of people's yards and hanging over the street. In the picture is an olive tree growing in a public park.

On the street where we live

The sign in front of our apartment building. We
are at 33 "Rehov Kaf-Tet B'November" (which means
"the 29th of November Street"). This is the day that
the United Nations voted to partition Palestine between
Arabs and Jews, establishing the State of Israel.



And here is Liz at the entrance to the building. Lots
of kittens in the yard. In this photo, we are on our
way to Mar Zol ("Mr. Cheap"), the local supermarket.

Liz on our first Shabbat in Jerusalem.

If you have really good eyesight, or can zoom in,
you can see the Old City over her right shoulder.

Saul on our first Shabbat in Jerusalem.

We're on the tayelet (boardwalk), about a 20 minute walk
from our summer sublet in Katamon and across the street
from the Mandel Leadership Institute, where Saul will be
doing his fellowship.