March 9 2012 - Shushan Purim

As time goes by
In December I celebrated my 48th birthday. Recently, the prevailing feeling around birthdays has been “been there; done that”. But there is a certain “je ne sais quoi” about the number 48 that added a tasty tang this year. What could it be? I’m not sure. Maybe the mathematical elegance of a number that can be divided by nine other numbers – 1, 2,3,4,6,8,12, and 24; maybe the creeping sensation that I am no longer a flippant teenager who somehow ended up with adult children; and maybe the flow or years mellow into a more sympathetic proportionate, thankful and forgiving perspective on life. And maybe I’m just going soft.

Judy and I celebrated by grabbing a quick salad at a local mall – just the two of us.. It was wonderful. I can’t remember the last time Judy and I spent 45 minutes together in peace and quiet. Highly recommend.

BTW, which divider of 48 did I miss?

Obrigada
You catch me on the last leg of a journey home from Brazil. I flew out last week via Rome to Sao Paulo for four days then; hopped over to Rio de Janeiro for two more. Purpose was to present a 90-minute version of Amdocs vision for the communications market to three customers. If you calculate the cost per customer (5 flights, 6 hotel-nights, plus luxurious living expenses) I’m a pretty damn expensive speaker. I think my children should realize that. Every word I utter (mostly “No”) is worth at least 50 shekels. Imagine what life would be like if they had to pay for Daddy’s every word.

“Obrigada”, by the way, is the Portuguese for “thank you” – which summarizes my entire knowledge of the local lingo. And now to the family.

“And all because the lady loves Milk Tray”
If you recognize the title, you were watching TV in the UK in the 1970’s. The advert was of a James Bond-like character dressed all in black who skied rapidly and skillfully down treacherous slopes to bring his love a sleek box of Milk Tray (or it might have been Black Magic).

Surprisingly, this memory is an intro to Elisheva (7). On just her second day on the slopes of the Hermon, Elisheva argued that she wanted to progress to the steep red slopes because she was a better skier than me. I laughed at her derisively and challenged her to follow me down the easier blue slopes-which she did easily tracking me twist for twist and turn for turn. I was dumbfounded. She is a true natural. We can’t keep up.

Naphtali (19), who will be going to the army in August, is taking a week out of yeshiva to ski at Tignes in France. Hopefully Elon (21) will get time off from the army to join him. Naphtali's another natural who is bored by any slope that is not suicidal or at least vertical. Most of the time he goes “off piste” meaning just skiing down mountain sides, not on recognized paths.

Soldiering Summa Cum Laude
Elon (21) holds what must surely be a rare achievement of being recognized as חייל מצטיין (outstanding soldier) in his unit - three times! The outstanding soldiers are recognized every six months or so (he’s only been in the army 2 years). You can’t take this award to the bank. The “remuneration” involves inheriting a piece of equipment that is handed down from top soldier to top soldier. Rich, it won’t make him, but a source of pride, nevertheless. Well done Elon. Less than one year to go (that gives him just enough time for two more “outstanding” awards).

Six of one or half a dozen of the other
By passing her test, Orly (17) became the sixth driver in our family. This is old news to our Facebook friends. As our boys, each in turn, sat behind the steering wheel, our parental reactions ranged from confidence to concern to downright panic. We have three months minus three weeks to work with Orly to bring our state of mind up to “confident”. Contrary to the tones of the inevitable chauvinistic humor that Orly is suffering as the first girl driver after three boys, Orly is making excellent progress. I have every confidence that she will soon be as competent a driver as her Mum (interpret that as you will).

Orly’s life has become a dawdle. In addition to passing her driving test, Orly has also completed two intensive years of hadracha and finalized her sherut leumi (national service) for next year. Now all she has on her plate is her bagruyot (matriculation) including a grueling 5 points in maths. Piece of cake.

Bookless and Paperless
Ari (24) continues with his first year at the Hebrew University studying Law and Economics. He seems to be doing the minimum necessary to get by, which is the way he handled school all his life, and quite a smart strategy for people who want to enjoy life while they can. (When I was in uni, I tried doing less than the minimum. It doesn’t work).

When I visited Ari's digs I was astonished to discover he owns no textbooks and no exercise books. All source materials are available online and all “papers” are submitted electronically. The library is a recreation room. It’s hard for us old-timers to appreciate this but today the only piece of paper you see in a degree, is your certificate of graduation.

Skipping
My girls are in the skipping phase of childhood. Abigail (10) and Elisheva are skipping rope and Orly is skipping school (she’s allowed to do that before bagruyot). As all females and fathers know, skipping is extraordinarily complex and physically demanding. These wee girls jump up and down for hours at a time. Our house is permanently littered with elastic strings hooked on misplaced chairs which we trip over all day and night. But I challenge any boys who make fun of skipping to try it. They wouldn’t make it to “Little threesies”. I know. I tried.

Lots of Love and Happy Purim from:
Michael, Judy, Ari, Elon, Naphtali, Orly, Abigail and Elisheva Isaacs - Elkana