The Final Supper

Team Liz had time for just one more meal before they boarded their plane back to Israel. Thanks to Marti & Jeffrey, we shared dinner at their house with Liz's cousins, Debbie and Randy and their daughters Allyson and Melissa. Liz's other cousin Robert and uncle Ira were also part of the dinner.

Uncle Ira, Saul, Robert and Randy listening intently.

Marti, Deb & Liz.

Marti and Jeffrey enjoying hosting dinner.

Dinner at Toby and Sam's

Team Liz arrived in Brooklyn to enjoy dinner hosted by our dear friends
Toby and Sam! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Michael, Mark (Saul's brother), Quincy (the black furball, I mean dog, in Mark's arms) and Josh enjoying dinner together.

Saul and Toby after dinner.

Susan and Liz after dinner.

Jeffrey's Birthday

Team Liz left North Carolina and headed to NYC.
We spent a very short but fun-filled 30 hours in NYC.
Our first stop was Liz's Mom's apartment.
We ate some appetizers, wished Jeffrey and Jessica a happy birthday and
then headed to Brooklyn.

Jeffrey, Jessica and Marti (Liz's step-father, step-sister and Mom)

Jeffrey and Matt (Jessica's husband).

More eating and merry making

Christmas Day and the day after Christmas were filled with family, gifts and of course lots of big meals. Liz's brother Jonathan and his wife Ginny joined the festivities on December 26th.(To see more photos click HERE.)

How many Jews does it take to change a light bulb on Christmas? Saul, Jonathan & Ginny.

Saul experiences the joy of both Chanukah & Christmas!

Liz's sister Tanya showing school spirit with her new NYU gear.

Liz's step-brother Danny overwhelmed by gifts.

Thanks to Jonathan & Ginny, Saul is now the proud owner of his very own Darth Tater - that's right a huge Mr. Potato Head filled with smaller Mr. Potato Heads all with Star Wars themes. You know you're jealous!

Christmas Eve

This was the first Christmas that Liz & Saul had the opportunity to celebrate in NC with Liz's family. Our family does a number of wonderful traditions including: dancing, enjoying a large dinner with as many family members as are in the area, roasting a whole pig for said dinner and of course toasting to the year that has passed and hoping for a happy and healthy new year. (To see more photos click HERE).

We will spare you the upclose photos of the roasting pig - but the box with coals on top of it contains said pig.
This box is called a "chinese box" and apparently is a cooking method to slow roast just about anything.
The pig took over 6 hours! Elisa, Danny (Liz's younger step-brother) and Louis are shown in this photo.

It was a sunny and beautiful Christmas Eve. The weather was so nice that folks were playing golf!
This picture taken from Liz's family's back porch.

Digna, Paul and Tanya (Liz's step-mom, step-brother and sister) in the kitchen before dinner on Christmas Eve.

Liz's dad Jeff, opening a bottle of champagne to celebrate the evening.

The Eighth Night of Chanukah

Team Liz headed to North Carolina to spend the holidays with Liz's family.
Saul's parents, Judy & Carl, drove all the way from Florida to join us for
the eighth night of Chanukah.
We are so thankful to them for coming all that way.
(To see more photos from our entire trip to the U.S. click here -
you will not need to sign in to view photos)

Jeff (Liz's Dad), Liz & Judy light the menorahs.

Like father like son - Noah sitting on Paul's (Liz's step-brother) lap after dinner.

Carl, Saul & Judy rejoice at being together for Chanukah.

The Fifth Night of Chanukah

Our dear friends LeAnne & Abe were kind enough to host an intimate and rocking fifth night of Chanukah party (Dec. 19, 2006) in their home here in Jerusalem.
They made fabulous latkes; dreidels were spuns; wine was drunk and outrageous brownies were consumed!
Oh yeah and the kids came out in costume for a wild rumpus and the adults sang some songs!
(To see more photos from this evening click here - you do not need to sign-in to view the photos.)

Liz & LeAnne in the kitchen.

The wild rumpus.

Sarah, LeAnne, Scott & Saul singing songs.

Hannah Madeline was Born!

Team Liz is very excited to announce the birth of Hannah Madeline Loges.

Hannah's mom, Samantha, is Liz's step-sister. Liz is now a step-aunt twice over!

Samantha, Hannah and Brian.

The Ladies Go to the Sea

So Liz took a day off from her studies at the Yeshiva and rented a car with some girlfriends and headed out of town to the Dead Sea. Luckily the Dead Sea is only a one hour drive from Jerusalem. The distance may be short, but the environment changes dramatically. Before you know it you are not only well below sea level but you are surrounded by desert and beautiful mountains.
Definitely a way to rejuvinate the soul after many hours inside a Yeshiva!
Here are some photos from our journey.

LeAnne and Clary in the Dead Sea.

LeAnne & Liz in the car before we leave Jerusalem.

The beautiful mountains of the Judean desert.

Marti & Jeffrey in Israel, Part III

On Wednesday we explored other areas in and around Tel Aviv including Jaffa Port, Rothschild Boulevard and Shuk HaKarmel.

Marti & Jeffrey in front of an Eastern food store in Shuk HaKarmel.
The name of the store is "balagan" which became Marti & Jeffrey's new favorite Hebrew word (see below).

The big surprise of the visit was that this morning (Wednesday) all the transportation unions in Israel went on strike. What this means practically is that at the moment Marti and Jeffrey may be stuck in Israel. All borders are closed and the airport is not open. Their flight is 10:30 AM on 11-30-06 so perhaps by then the strike will be concluded...we shall see.

After spending 24 hours trying to get out of Israel the word "balagan" took on a very real meaning. Simply, balagan means "a mess" more specifically it means what Ben Gurion Airport looks like the day after a strike of the transportation union ends and their are thousands of travelers trying to get on the first plane out of the country!

We are happy to report that Marti and Jeffrey were only stuck in Israel one extra day and arrived back in NYC safe and sound!

Marti & Jeffrey in Israel Part II

Sunday, Saul spent the morning by the pool and then took a bus back to Jerusalem, while Liz, Marti and Jeff went off across the Israel/Jordanian border to visit the lost city of Petra.

The Treasury in the lost city of Petra.

Monday Liz, Marti and Jeff visited a kibbutz, drove through and then visited the top of Makhtesh Ramon (a large crater) and
then had lunch in Be'er Sheva.

Marti & Jeffrey on the edge of Makhtesh Ramon.

We arrived safely in Tel Aviv to enjoy the sunset over the Mediterranean and then dined at Pastis on the famous Rothschild Boulevard (fabulous food - we highly recommend it!). Tuesday was spent visiting our cousins, Shimshon & Rivka Eden, who now live in Tel Yitzhaq a retirement community near Netanya. Here is Marti with them at lunch.

Tuesday afternoon Liz, Marti and Jeff explored Neve Tzedek the hip, happening community that is in Southern Tel Aviv right next door to Jaffa. Saul rejoined the "tour" on Tuesday evening. We ate at another terrific place called Caremella.

Marti & Jeffrey in Israel

Liz's mom Marti and her step-dad Jeffrey arrived in Israel on November 21st. Here are Marti and Jeffrey in the shuk (outdoor food market) in Jerusalem. While at the shuk we shopped for last minute food items for our Thanksgiving dinner.

What an amazing week we all had around Israel and Jordan. Here is a brief list of our adventures: we spent Thanksgiving Thursday cooking and entertaining at our house in Jerusalem. Then on Friday morning (11-24-06) Mom, Jeff and Liz met up with Liz's friend Gadi and took a tour of the Mt. of Olives and into the Old City.

We had what Liz's Mom is calling "the best hummos I have ever tried" at the legendary Abu Shukri Restaurant in the Old City. From there we spent Shabbat services with my new classmates at HUC and then back home for turkey left-overs. Saturday we drove down to Eilat and spent a couple hours walking around Timna National Park. We ate dinner at a terrific fish restaurant in Eilat called The Last Refuge.

Team Liz around Jerusalem

Team Liz took a lovely morning walk around the Old City in Jerusalem.
After that Team Liz visited the Mt. of Olives.

Check out the photos from our walk.
Here is the Midgal David or Tower of David.
This Tower is next to the Jaffa Gate entrance to the Old City.

Saul sitting in the Armenian tile shop on the Via de LaRosa.

The amazing view of the Temple Mount from the Mt. of Olives.
The Dome of the Rock is the gold dome and the
Al Aqsa Mosque is the black colored dome to your left.

Dinner Party in NYC

During Liz's last visit to the states her friend's Ari and Sharon where kind enough to host a small dinner party for Liz.
Here are some fun photos from the evenings festivities.

Ari & Sharon my dear friends and the hosts.

Marti, Hanna, Susan and Michael.

Ari, Liz and Ari watch the election results.

Visiting NC

Liz spent a week in NC visiting her dad and family.

While there she finally got to meet her new nephew Noah. Noah was born at the end of August and
is the son of Liz's step-brother Paul and his wife Carrie.
Liz's brother Jonathan and his wife Ginny also were in NC during Liz's visit.
Here are some photos of Liz's family.

Liz and Liz's step-mom Digna holding the beautiful baby Noah.

The proud papa Paul and mama Carrie with little Noah.

Liz's brother Jonathan with Noah.

Team Liz Goes North for Sukkot

Liz & Saul rented a car and drove North for their Sukkot break.
We started in Acco which is a crusader port city on the Mediterranean. It has an amazing old city
with lots of windy streets and wonderful stone buildings.
We went to visit because the city hosts an annual Theater Fringe Festival - we enjoyed many performances including some outside on top of the old walls as well as one directed by a friend of ours!

Here we are on the port of Acco - behind us in the distance
you can see the remains of the retaining walls.

To see more pictures from our trip up north click HERE.

Sukkot in Jerusalem

Sukkot in Jerusalem is an amazing holiday. There is an entire market dedicated to selling lulav, etrog and hadas for the ritual shaking of the lulav. Then there are small non-permament booth structures built everywhere - from the terraces of peoples homes to the sidewalks in front of cafes. You are supposed to eat and sleep in your sukkah (booth) for the week of Sukkot. You are also supposed to gather together something called a lulav (four species of branches wrapped together) and an etrog (looks like a lemon) and shake them while in your Sukkah.

A Jewish man in traditional black hat and coat closely examining

the ends of the lulav which are not supposed to be ripped or cut.


Lulav, etrog and hadas on a table waiting to be sold. When one looks to buy an etrog they are seeking the most beautiful etrog they can find. No blemishes, good coloring etc. People will go to great lengths to find a beautiful etrog. There is even a movie about this - Ha Ushpizzin - I have not seen it but heard it is very good. It is in Hebrew with English subtitles.

Liz's Talmud teacher, Reb Mordechai helps some of

Liz's classmates choose a fine looking lulav.

Team Liz in Africa

Team Liz took a four week trip to Africa after our week in Amsterdam.
We traveled in Ethiopia for 8 days and then Tanzania for 3 weeks.
This was our long awaited honeymoon. We had a terrific time and saw some
amazingly beautiful places, people and animals. From the stone hewn churches of
Lalibela (Liz's favorite) to the supposed location of the
Ark of the Covenant in Axum and then to 6 days of safari and
then some time on beaches in Zanzibar and down the Tanzanian coast in a
small town called Mikindani (Saul's favorite).
We can not post all the photos but here are a couple -
if you would like a more complete viewing of our holiday click HERE.

Team Liz in Amsterdam 2

The Night Watch painting by Rembrandt, which is housed in the Rijks Museum, is a prominent tourist attraction in Amsterdam. The Dutch have created a life size statue of the Night Watch in a square outside the hotel where the famed deceit took place.

The Central Train Station in Amsterdam at night.