September 2001

Michael, Judy and the children wish you all Shana Tova and well over the fast. May your dreams be fulfilling and may you merit to fulfil them. May this year bring you greater joy than all previous years.
Those who want can stop reading now. Those with time on their hands, read on for an Isaacs update.
Les Grandes Vacances
In an unprecedented step for the home-loving, work-addicted, Zionist Isaacs family, we spent a glorious month-long vacation this summer in N. America as visitors of Barbara and Curtis in their beautiful home in Long Island, together with my nephews Shlomi and Shavit Oberman. I wrote a blow-by-blow 20-page account of that vacation, to which I subjected my brothers, but shall not subject you. Below are some highlights.
Our Last Visit to the Twin Towers
Just 10 weeks ago, we stood atop the roof of Floor 110 of the World Trade Center, with shaky legs, absorbing the breath-taking panorama of New York City. From that viewpoint, the Empire State Building looks like a church steeple. Then, amid the majesty, above the birds and clouds, who could have imagined that these wondrous towers were hosting some of their last guests before crumbling into a grave of thousands, victims of horrific Islamic terror.
Footloose in NY
Other spots, less chilling to remember, visited in Manhattan included the Empire State Building, Times Square, Broadway, and Battery Park (or Battersea Park, as we found ourselves calling it). Judy and I saw two Broadway shows - Aida – which Judy loved, and Riverdance – which Judy loved. (Next time, I’m picking the shows).
The Baseness of Baseball
To try and live the American experience we also drank coffee at Starbuck’s , ate bagels and lox, and attended a baseball match. The New York Mets mashed the Blue Jays in a world-shatteringly dreary game that expands the dictionary definition of the word ‘boring’ which, till now, was reserved for the, by comparison, nail-biting excitement of a 5-day cricket match. The main source of interest in baseball is the chance to grab one of the no less than 50 baseballs hit astray into the crowd (two were home runs, the other 48 were foul balls). None of these are ever returned (I’d call that stealing). 22,000 spectators were willing to risk life and limb, leaping into the air across concrete stairways and metal barriers, crushing each other and being crushed in the process, arms and mitts extended to try to catch the wayward baseballs. The victorious catcher goes home proud and happy with the baseball booty as a precious trophy commemorating an otherwise uneventful, and pointless afternoon.
The other notable event in the baseball game was the Coca Cola sponsored distribution of free T-shirts. Coca-Cola T-shirts are loaded, one by one, into a ‘T-shirt gun’ that fires them high and far, like a home run, into the upper echelons of the stadium. Whoever grabs the T-shirt, keeps it.
That’s Americans for you. Pay $64 a ticket for a ball game just for the 1 in 4,000 chance of going home with a $2 baseball or a $3 T-shirt “free”.
The Goals of Golf
We also exploited the space and contours of the New World to practise our golf skills on a driving range. It’s amazing how rewarding it is on that rare occasion when everything goes right – your hips swish, your arm swings and the club head makes clean contact with the ball which soars high and far past the 200 metre marker. This happened about once. Most of the other 150 balls we hit were daisy-cutters.
On the Road and in Camp
We borrowed a car for 4 days from Curtis, packed in clothes and bedclothes for all climates, and took to the road, for a holiday planned by Judy that involved rafting down the Delaware River, a drive through the Finger Lakes, a day in Niagara Falls (did you know there were 3 falls?), a day in Herschey Park – an adventure park with roller coasters that are designed for the suicidal and mentally insane (the boys loved them)- and a trip to the chocolate factory where Herschey’s make the confectionary of other companies that they have acquired. Our beds for three nights were three different camp sites set in lush green forest that make Israeli camp sites look like wasteland, that belong to an organization called “KOA” - Kamping (sic) Of America. Amerikans. Go figure.
Everyone for Tennis
Curtis’ house is next door to his son’s Adam’s, and Adam’s ample back garden houses, among other amenities, a tennis court. Nothing could be more natural for my boys than to love tennis. Their parents fell in love playing tennis (we call that “courting”). Almost every day for 5 weeks they spent hours on the tennis court. After two weeks, games were won by hitting winners and not by who double-faulted least. After a month, they were using top-spin and serving aces. A new generation of Isaacs tennis players has been sired (the succession has been assured). This should improve their chances of shidduchim.
More on tennis and the rest of the American experience in the 20 page version and I just have enough time and space for a tiny and insufficient family update.
The Nameless Bun in the Oven
Judy, as most of you probably know, is in the family way. More accurately, she’s in the family’s way, waddling around with a stomach large enough for quadruplets. But, PG, by mid-November, what’s inside will come out, and Isaacs No.5 will enter the world. Do not expect this child to have a name. We have been arguing about what to call our next child for about seven years. On a spiritual level, this is probably the true reason for the large gap between babies. The child, PG, will be called “the baby”, “ the wee one”, “Number 5”, “he/she who must be obeyed”. Babies don’t really need names, when you think about it. It’s not as if they need to hold up their end of a conversation or fill out their Income Tax Returns.
Scoot!
· Ari (13) – Doing fine, still playing chess, table-tennis, computers, can’t get off his scooter (called “corquinet” in Hebrew), especially in the house
· Elon (11) – Doing fine, won’t stop walking on his hands, can’t get off Ari’s scooter, specially in the house
· Naftali (8) – Doing fine, bought himself a scooter because he couldn’t get a leg in with Ari and Elon on the scooter the whole time. Now he has a scooter, he’s on it constantly, specially in the house
· Orli (6) – Doing fine, skips and dances all day long, just beginning to borrow the boys’ scooters, but not yet skilled enough to venture outside. So she just rides around in the safely of the house.
· Michael and Judy – Doing fine, nursing the injuries to toes and torsos caused by being run over by scooters, specially in the house.

Ketiva Vechatima Tova to all. Have a joyous Succot, and we’ll be in touch.