ISAACS FAMLY NEWSLETTER August 30, 2020

Newsletter 2.0

“Next generation” technologies are a big thing. Think 3G, 4G and 5G (“G” stands for “Generation”) and concepts like “Web 2.0” which express a new level of progress and innovation – real or, just as often, imagined. This newsletter is truly the first in a new generation. And not because of a dazzling interactive user experience or artificial intelligence algorithms. Nope. It is simply and literally a next gen newsletter because we are thrilled to announce the arrival of the next gen of Isaacs’s – our first grand-daughter “Dori”, born to proud parents Leetal and Elon on August 10, (20^th of Av) which makes Judy and me grandparents and the rest of our bunch uncles and aunts.  Now that is progress! Mazal tov to us all and to Great Grandmother Boobie Barbara.

At this point I must share (again?) a memory of my father. Our firstborn Ari promoted him from father to grandfather. When repeatedly asked by well-wishers a well-intentioned but somewhat banal question “What’s it like to be a grandfather?” he would answer, with characteristic disarming wisdom,  “It gives one a sense of continuity”.

The magic of childbirth

Let me just set the record straight. Dori is the most beautiful, adorable, darling little thing you have ever seen. We pop over there the whole time to visit and Elon and Leetal send us photos and videos every day. Last week, as I sat with Judy, she watched a video Leetal sent seven times one time right after the other (that is not an exaggeration). And that was while I was watching.  I assume she watched it several more time afterwards. )Note from Judy: I watched it a hundred times!).

Parenthood suits Elon and Leetal. It is fun to watch them doing the things that young parents do like deciding whether Dori is too hot or too cold (all mothers seem to have an instinctive biological baby thermometer) and debating if she needs to eat and sleep. We all know how hard it is to have a newborn in the house. This week Elon issued a warning to his as yet uninitiated siblings in these very words: “It’s not a myth. You really don’t sleep all night”. 

I recall emotionally that when Ari was about three, my father bought a big box of magic tricks to perform and amaze his grandchild. Unfortunately, I won’t have that option, as Dori, with Elon as a father, by that age will no doubt already know how to saw people in half.

Hard as it is, I have to stop rabbiting on about Dori, as I have a whole family to update you on.

British weather

We tell our children horror stories of British weather. But, as you know, a picture (or a whatsapp) is worth 1000 words. Ari sent pics from a beach in Cornwall where he is spending his hols. My sabra kids were horrified to see everyone on the beach dressed in jumpers, hats and long trousers, while the sea was barely visible in the distance 500 meters from the beach, and the sky was so cloudy, neither sun nor sky were visible. And that was Cornwall. Scotland was ten times worse.

A fully deserved “Glida Golda”

When we have something to celebrate, we don’t open champagne; we go to “Glida Golda” which is an ice-cream and frozen yoghurt parlour chain with a branch nearby in Rosh Ha’Ayin. Elisheva, who is particularly fond of Kinder Bueno, Hershey’s and Oreo Cookie flavours, always has an eye out for a reason, however tenuous, for a family outing to Glida Golda. First, she checks her own achievements like passing her driving theory test or becoming a madricha. When those don’t impress her stingy parents, she looks further afield like Dori’s one week birthday party or Daddy successfully rewiring a plug (which admittedly is a rarity). All are, in her eyes, sufficient cause for ice-cream celebration.

This summer she absolutely earned a “Glida Golda” by completing her special maths program and passing her 5-points bagrut (“A-level/matriculation level) at the end of 10^th grade (two years early) with a grade of…wait for it…100! Well done Elisheva! An outstanding feat. And we are truly proud of your achievement and perseverance. Covid19 converted the family “outing” to a family “ordering in” but the “Glida Golda” was delicious and Elisheva was radiant.

Tiktok

In April I told you of Abigail’s hobby of dancing “Tiktoks”. This seems to have caused one hell of a ripple because not two months later Donald Trump is insisting that Microsoft, Oracle, Twitter and Walmart buy out Tiktok in the US. I had no idea my newsletters hit the oval office with that impact, so from now on I will be much more careful what I write.

In the meantime, the return to work despite Covid19 and the pressure of her new job in her national service has robbed Abigail of the opportunity to record more Tiktoks. But the Chinese know that already.

Next door neighbours

We are blessed that our three married couples live relatively close to home. Orly and Chen have taken this to the extreme moving from a flat that was 6 minutes’ walk away, to one that is 6 seconds away! Literally. They are closer than next door. They are living in our “granny flat”.

Neighbours warned us against this. They told horror stories of parents and children who argued and even stopped speaking after living so close. What can I tell you? For us, it is a wonderful arrangement. We see the couple the whole time. They come by to chat, or to invite us for a stroll in the evening, or to check out what’s on offer in our fridge. And it works both ways. One evening this month when Judy was away camping with the girls and I was on my own, Orly and Chen invited me for a delicious supper. Right now, I wish I had 6 little flats to house all our children that close for ever.

“If you have nothing worthwhile to say, then keep it shut”

Various people have given me this advice on various occasions during my life. The above is one of the gentler wordings.  I quote this in the context of Naphtali and Adi. After racking my brains for something new to write about them and coming up with zilch, I called Naphtali and asked him for some ideas and inspiration. Naphtali racked his own brains and also came up blank. “Nothing new of interest has happened in your lives in the last three months?” I enquired. “No” he answered after some consideration. Straight and to the point as always. So, there we have it. I have nothing  new to share with you about Naphtali and Adi. But at least I found a way to fill a paragraph telling you so.

 

Keep safe and well and lots of love from

Boobie Judy, Grandpa Michael (I refuse to be “Zeide” and Judy refuses to be anything but “Boobie”), Daddy Elon, Uncles Ari and Naphtali, and Aunties Orly, Abigail and Elisheva Isaacs

Elkana

 ISAACS FAMILY NEWSLETTER – CoronaVirus edition Pesach / April 2020

Crazy, claustrophobic, unprecedented times. All clichés apply. A health disaster. An economic tsunami. And we ask ourselves, is the government over-reacting or under-reacting? Will the pandemic last a month or a year? Is Covid19 divine retribution? Is it a wake-up call for a society that has becoming self-serving, unrestrained and profit-driven, and lost all respect for Nature? Will Corona change society or will it end as a tiny blip in the history of the world? Who the hell knows? So instead of pondering purposelessly, here’s a family update, although in the mood of the times, it is not particularly funny.

Seder Pesach – Home from Home

Every year we spend Pesach (Passover) with my mother-in-law. This year we moved in early while inter-city travel was still permitted, and may stay beyond Pesach depending on what happens with shul, school, social interaction and travel restrictions. We keep a safe distance from Barbara who, in her eighties, wisely keeps herself to herself. She stays upstairs and we are downstairs. We converse on the phone and by shouting whenever she emerges on her balcony. On seder night we arranged to meet at 8.30 for Ma Nishtana. It felt like Romeo serenading his Juliet. The irony of spending Pesach, the festival of freedom, under lockdown was lost on none.

Working From Home (WFH)

On February 5^th, after extensive research and a lengthy pilot, my company Amdocs, issued a press release proudly announcing that from now on the company’s 5,000 Israeli employees would be allowed to work from home for one day a week, subject to small print concocted by a legal department skilled at ensuring the company commits to nothing it can’t get out of. Three weeks later, all 5,000 employees are working from home five days a week – and the company is functioning just fine thank you.

For over two years I WFH (Worked From Home – learn that acronym because I won’t repeat it again) for a company Amdocs purchased in Silicon valley. I spent all day on Zoom before Zoom became a household name. So take it from the expert. For WFH to succeed you need four things: Reliable broadband, grownup children, personal discipline (some don’t work; some don’t stop working) and a lock on the fridge.

Judy – Zooming From Home

For several years already, Judy has been teaching one of her open university computers course by Zoom. With the cancellation of all frontal courses, attendance at her Zoom session has spiked from 30 to 300 students. Judy is about 70% on holiday and as you know by now, famed for active recreation, exploiting every spare hour for trips to the beach, parks and nature trails, and basketball. With all these gone, Judy is taking life easy for a bit, quite uncharacteristically.

Ari and Elisheva – Entrepreneuring from Home

For months Ari has been pushing Elisheva (15) to team up with him on a new business venture. Now with some time on their hands, it’s happening. Elisheva is teaching herself to build websites and learning “Python”, which, despite its intimidating name, is a harmless, non-toxic high-level programming language. Ari and Elisheva spend hours on video calls. Perhaps video chat is the Corona-induced “garage” where from now on start-ups will be born. Perhaps the same CovId19 that threatens to kill hundreds of young companies, will trigger ideas for some new ones.

Elon – Learning from Home

After changing the focus of his business from selling magic to becoming a performing magician and succeeding superbly in his first months, Corona has brought Elon’s business to a total standstill. He is exploiting the time to master new tricks that extend his repertoire. He has mastered a bunch of card tricks which astounded me. But card tricks are considered old school, like grammatical English and books. Magicians hardly use them anymore.

Leetal, Elon’s bride of four months, is fortunate enough to be WFH. But then, as you may recall, she also works at Amdocs. Proof that it’s not only my job that can be executed more or less normally from home.

Naphtali - Workaholism from the Office (subtitled “Work 1: Corona: 0”)

It would take more than a life-threatening pandemic to halt or even slow down Naphtali’s pace of work. As an employee of a very small start-up he is actually still allowed to drive (or rather scoot on his electric scooter) to the office. Corona has induced the company to move to shifts to accommodate parents with young children. His hours now are from 6.30am till 6pm. Naphtali’s wife Adi who works at Ben Gurion airport is our barometer for the resuscitation of international flights. She is currently on leave but may return to part-time work next month. I will let you know when it’s time to book your summer hols abroad.

Orly - Working From two Homes

Orly has moved around quite a lot this last month. When her WFH order came through, she set up office in our house, together with me, Judy and Elisheva. Later she moved her WFH office o her own home. Meantime her employer reduced all employees to 70%, then bumped them back up to 100% and a few days later cut them all again, this time to 60%. Orly’s husband Chen is an “essential worker” and has been WFO (Working From the Office) every day. While I am proud my son-in-law does “essential” work, it rattles me that the country considers my 11-hour days of lesser import.

Abigail - Tick-Tocking from Home

Abigail was unceremoniously laid off from her national service from Day 1 of the crisis. She is literally dancing through these times devoting hours every day to “tick-tock”. For those without young girls, let me explain. Tick Tock is a social media channel with over 800 million users in which girls (99% of users are girls) video-record themselves dancing 15 second-long clips of popular tunes. Then other girls mimic those dances, and so it goes round and round. Abigail has posted over 50 video clips of her dancing in the last few weeks, which I am proud to say, due to her modesty, are visible only to her sister Elisheva and her best friend. This is what our Rabbis mean when they talk about doing things “לשמה – meaning for specific purpose and not for any side benefit – but I doubt our Rabbis would be very pleased at me applying their principle to Tick Tock.

Abigail grabbed me last night and asked me to help her with a “switch” clip. If I get her permission, I will share it with you. Teaser. Her friends think I am the coolest Dad in the world.

Exercising from Home

Research published here estimated that 50% of the population will put on 5-7 kilos during the lockdown. Ever since I put an end to my running career (or rather ever since my left foot put an end to my running career), I have grown to enjoy the easy life with minimal amounts of sweating and showering balanced by maximum amounts of lazing around.

However, Judy, Orly, Abigail and Elisheva are resolute to beat the statistics. Every day they set aside 30 minutes for an intensive aerobic workout. Accompanied by blaring music, they jump, squat, lift, push, stretch and squeeze, ending up with lots of wheezing, perspiring and very red faces. I am full of admiration for them, but not that full that I am tempted to join.

Stay safe and healthy.

Michael, Judy and the Isaacs family

Elkana

 ISAACS FAMILY NEWSLETTER   First light of Chanuka, December 23, 2019

Do you ever wake up bursting with energy and the firm resolution to do all the things you have been wanting to do but puting off for ages?  No? Me neither. That’s why I have no idea of what drove me, after all these years of being a newsletter recluse, to start writing. Perhaps Chanuka and the can-do spirit of the heroic Maccabees is resonating down the ages through my DNA. Or perhaps it’s  the fact that my company, which is based in California, has gone into hibernation for the “holidays” until after New Year hangovers wear off.

So what’s new since the last Isaacs Elkana family update? Quite a lot. I think last time I wrote Bibi had a stable government and the term “Brexit” had not yet been coined.

When it rains it pours

Two lessons I have learnt, at a price. Ridiculous illogical statements expressed in ancient adages and through the mouths of wives have an uncanny and unsettling way of proving themselves right and making me look like an idiot. I say this in the context of the downpour of simchas that the good L-rd has blessed us with. In just 17 months, 50% of our gang has “tied the knot” / “jumped the broom” / “walked down the aisle” – say it as you wish. First Orly and Chen, then Naphtali and Adi, and in less than two weeks, Elon and Leetal.

I am in denial about the imminence of Elon and Leetal’s wedding. I have not yet sorted out my wardrobe or divrei torah. You see the wedding is on January 3^rd and that means it is happening “next year”.  Next year! That’s ages from now. Tons of time to prepare.

Rain is a blessing but perhaps, as parents, we can suggest to the as yet unhitched children to wait a bit before delivering more such good news to us. At least till “next year”.

Never mix Politics and Pleasure

On  January 2^nd 1994, the third Isaacs family newsletter ever written opened with sentimental news of baby Naphtali. I quote: “Naftali is now T plus 15 months and still a darling… Naftali is at that endearing stage when his parents claim he has six or seven words, but no other human being can decipher them”. At the time we only had three kids, so, after running out of things to say, and in order to fill up two single-spaced hand-typed pages, I committed the carnal sin of talking politics. Reactions were swift to follow. Mainly, “Stop SPAMing me”.

At risk of losing readers, I just want to give a shout-out to HKBH for manipulating the cosmos in such a way that Brexit came in time to save the Jews of Britain from a fate worse than Boris. A Chanukean miracle, rather like Maccabi Tel Aviv’s sensational fourth quarter comeback victory last week over their Greek foe Panathinaikos.

I only mention this because our eldest, Ari, is still living in the UK. If you are going to sojourn somewhere, London is as good a place as any. But sojourning has an expiration date. Judy is launching a campaign to “Bring Ari Home” and rather fancied a Corbyn victory might have nudged him in the right direction.

Ari continues to promote his start-up. I remind all readers involved in the construction business, if you don’t buy his software you are throwing away tons of money for no reason whatsoever. Imbeciles.

Drum roll…Introducing Leetal and Elon!!!

Leetal, who will become our daughter-in-law “next year” is lovely. Lovely Leetal. Leetal has been part of the family for ages already but has special deep ties with her future in-laws (“future” as in “next year”) since she plays basketball with Judy and works at Amdocs with me (and 25,000 other people).  

Elon is doing a lot more than just getting married. Since the summer he has re-focused his business from primarily selling to performing. Typically, he has several shows a day. I think his record is seven. Mainly in schools, kindergartens and birthday parties but he also teaches magic classes (“chugim”) and recently performed for some children “on the spectrum” where his show created phenomenal engagement and joy. Elon never ceases to amaze me with new tricks. For the life of me, I can’t work out how on earth he does them.

Start-up Naphtalation

Naphtali has the start-up bug. He  runs a team of programmers, rides an electronic scooter to office, works for 15 hours a day and, as you might expect, has no respect for Work-Life Balance. A true startup-ist. His company is growing and making impressive sales. Motivations for devoting yourself to start-ups are normally a desire for wealth, fame and success. I might be wrong but I think Naphtali just loves the programming.

I have my eye on the girl next door

Orly and husband Chen have rented a wee apartment just a few minutes away in Elkana. Orly is living my dream. She is working in the closest place possible to home - as a programmer at a hi-tech company located in the Rosh Ha’Ayin industrial park. Chen is a Quality Engineer in a place that is close in terms of distance but distant in terms of time. He leaves the house at 5.45 each  morning so that his commute takes 20 minutes and not 90.

I am forced to confess that it is a joy having a married daughter living so close to home. Beneath this gruff, stiff-upper-lip, heartless exterior of mine, there must be a soft heart and a strong  mother-hen instinct.

Sssshhhh Abigail

I am about to fulfill (again) another father’s dream. Ask me what Abigail is doing for her national service? Go on!  Well since you insist, I will tell you: I don’t know. It’s confidential.  Isn’t that cool? I love it! Every self-respecting Israeli has access to undivulgeable secret information. However, to my eternal shame, I am not a “self-respecting Israeli”. The most confidential info I ever had access to in the army was the dosage for morphine. Such a disappointment to my parents. But now several of my children have done stuff they can’t talk about. It makes me so proud.

Last year, Abigail worked her brain to the cranium finishing school with an unreal matriculation average. I would love to tell what it was but she would never forgive me. That wouldn’t bother me all that much. Just another fatherly sin to add to the pile of things children never forgive fathers for. But my arch-editor Judy would censor it.

Oo! Ah! mee ze ba? Rosh Hamemshala haba!

Uncle David predicted many years ago that Elisheva would one day be prime minister. Certainly, most voters today would prefer Elisheva to the current alternatives…but I am not getting drawn into politics again. Elisheva has opinions, personality, goals and a way of getting things done. She also has brains. If all goes well, at the end of this year she will complete 5-point maths matriculation (equivalent to A-level) at the end of 10^th grade (two years early). This is no easy task. She studies endlessly, emerging from her room only for exercise classes, dance classes and to reward herself at the end of a long day by bingeing on episodes of Friends. During holidays she is a madricha in “mashatzim” – which is a youth movement that educates children about tiyulim and nature (or something like that). On Shabbat she is a madricha of “Oz” (which is Bnei Akiva for tiny tots), and still finds time for a social life that makes Hollywood look like a drag.

In recent months Elisheva has lost over 12 kilos and looks fantastic, as you will see, PG,  in the wedding photos. Our one concern; when she is 30, will Bibi still be in power?

 

Happy Chanuka from Judy, Michael and all the Isaacs crowd, half of whom still live in Elkana

 

 ISAACS FAMILY NEWSLETTER, December 2017

Dramatic change in The Isaacs Family since your last update. Read on for all the gossip.

 Ari came home for Shabbat

Not exactly a gripping title but here’s the story. Those with elephantine memories will recall that Ari is CEO of ShapeDo - a startup that has developed software for the construction industry. Despite 60 active projects in Israel, the company must go global to grow. Ari moved to London to develop the UK market and came home this weekend for the first time in three months. He is enjoying England but has two regrets: he should have moved six months earlier and - the weather.  

Brawn Elon

Elon’s latest hobby is American football. There is one rule that is enforced strictly in American football: you are not allowed to kill the opponents. Basically everything else is permitted. Just up Elon’s street. Fast and physical. Despite very substantive protection (more substantial than military armour) Elon still returns home after every game with new scratches, bruises and swelling. That is considered lucky. About half the players end the season early.

Beyond football, Elon divides his life between his magic business, basketball and hanging out with his lovely girl-friend Leetal. I am not writing too much about that because if Elon reads this newsletter – very unlikely but not impossible - he may get annoyed. I imagine him saying “Why do you need to tell all your old family and friends about my private life?”

Naphtali “Gates” Isaacs

Throughout school and beyond Naphtali swore he would NEVER go to university. His aversion to academia was close in intensity to Judy’s aversion to dogs. Naphtali returned home from his trips to the East with no clear idea what to do next (par for his generation). One day a Judy brain-wave coughed up the idea for him of “full stack web development” (can brain waves cough?). Naphtali checked it out and…it happened.  A “halleluya” moment. Naphtali found his calling. He enrolled and loves it. He has become the family “swot” – studying day and night well above and beyond the demands of his course, and scoring top grades. He is already interviewing for his first programming job. 

Naphtali now divides his life between programming and hanging out with his lovely girl-friend Adi. I am not writing too much about that because if Naphtali reads this newsletter – very very unlikely but he has surprised us enough in the last few months - he will probably get extremely annoyed. I can already hear him accusing “Why do you need to tell all your old family and friends about my private life?”

Orly “Gates” Isaacs

Orly is in her last year of maths and computer science in Ariel. Orly is the original family “swot”. An SFB (Swot From Birth). She is typically at her books in the university library until midnight when the librarian kicks her and her study group out. 

Beyond her studies, Orly divides her life between dancing, teaching dancing and hanging out with her lovely boy-friend Chen. I am not writing too much about that because if Orly reads this newsletter – very unlikely that she will read the whole thing but extremely likely that she will demand to read the part about herself - she will definitely get totally incensed. I can already hear her whining “Why do you need to tell all your old family and friends about my private life?”

Abigail “Florence-Gates” Isaacs

Abigail (16) was one of three girls who organized a Shabbat last week in Elkana for the “Achim” (אחים) organization at which the youth of Elkana hosted 30 severely physically and mentally disabled children. Abigail found families to house the children, volunteers to tend them throughout Shabbat, and arranged meals and entertainment. Almost all the children were in wheelchairs; most were very limited in their ability to talk. But they still had a great time. We are so proud of Abigail for leading all this. The following week, Abigail went off to Petach Tikva to assist at a similar Shabbat for a different group of severely disabled children.

 Abigail has lots of bagruyot this year and is extremely reluctantly, and completely against her will and better judgement, becoming a “swot”. In a newsletter in about 1998 I introduced the concept of “Kaytanat Judy” which was the summer camp that Judy ran for her children in July and August taking them to all her favourite haunts throughout the summer months. Well, there is now “Judy School”. Judy helps all her programmer children including Abigail. Abigail twigged a long time ago that her mother is much better at computers than her school teacher. As I type, they are discussing GetValue and generic lists (whatever the hell those are).

Elisheva “Gates” Isaacs (just joking…well not entirely)

Elisheva (13) is in 8^th grade and is one of just 4 girls out of her year of 85 who qualified for a course for children gifted in mathematics. After three months, Elisheva has already covered the curriculum for all 8^th grade and most of 9^th grade. The course involves inhuman amounts of homework, but Elisheva has become the family “swot”. She pores over her books at all hours of day and night on the 50 or so problems she gets every week.  Elisheva solves most herself. The others are our nightmare. Elisheva seeks help from everyone and anyone who walks through the front door including yours truly, who hasn’t successfully solved a mathematical equation since 1980 (and didn’t solve all that many successfully before then). Elisheva is thrilled that Ari is here for a week. Someone who can actually help her.

If she sticks with the program, Elisheva will do “bagrut” in mathematics in 10^th grade and can then choose either to start a university degree or go to the beach for two years. A no-brainer for both of us, but we nevertheless reached opposite conclusions.

 Shabbat table conversations

With Ari, Naphtali, Orly, Chen (who is also studying computers), Abigail and Judy, our family chit-chat is now 99% around algorithms, recursion, Java, HTML, Java, Json, PHP, For’s, If’s, loops, bla bla bla, bla bla. Friday night was worst. It started with a simple question: you receive four numbers (and you don’t know what they are), how can you calculate the latest valid time of day that these numbers can represent? Interesting? Maybe…for 30 seconds. But not at our table. This hypothetical and irrational question (I mean, seriously, who has ever been presented with 4 digits and then had someone beg them “ooh-please-please-please-tell-me-what-is-the-latest-time-I-can-make-out-of-them?) sparked an hour-long discussion that evolved to even more ridiculous hypothetical problems that no one with a functioning kidney would care about. Like “how can you reverse the order of three words in a single sweep?” What a stupid question! Just move them! They’re only words, right? Not 20-storey blocks of flats! But No. Not for programmers. Programmers battle passionately over such trivia, arguing the most efficient method, debugging verbal software, and being booooooooring.

And this isn’t the end. Frustrated that she couldn’t follow the discussion, after Shabbat Elisheva started listening to Judy’s recorded lectures. By the time I went to bed she was already using variables and various parameters to print her name with gaps between letters in some 3-D pattern.

 I give up. I’m surrounded.

 Lots of Love

Judy, Michael, Ari, Elon, Naphtali, Orly, Abigail and Elisheva Isaacs, Elkana

 ISAACS FAMILY NEWSLETTER – October 2016

I have slept less than 10 hours in the last 80, and some of those were on a plane (in economy class), so if this newsletter is less amusing than most, think of the extenuating circumstances and be charitable.

As each year goes by, I find international flights kick me further off kilter. There was a time when a trip to New York was no more disruptive than a hop to Eilat. No longer. It’s as if my brain, stomach and digestive system refused to sign the travel approval form. Now they want revenge. My head aches, my sleep instinct is on strike and my appetite works night shifts. I shouldn’t complain. I bet Doctor Who’s “tardis lag” is worse.

Time and Travel, Silicon and Cigars

I am on my way back from California. My company (Amdocs) spent about 100 million dollars pocket money on a company located in the heart of Silicon Valley. I was there to check out the new company’s Marketing strategy and chew the cud with my peers. My first visit to California was an eye opener in several respects. First, “Silicon Valley” is not made of silicon (another instance of the Yanks lyng to the rest of the world). Secondly, it’s not really a Valley (I rest my case). Thirdly, Silicon Valley companies know how to live. There is a group of guys there who from time to time spend the last hour of the day drinking whisky and smoking cigars. The last hour of my working days is typically a hectic dash to resolve other peoples’ crises that hit my desk at 6pm.

Everyone asks me what I saw when I was there. The answer is an airport, a road, a hotel and an office. Embarrassed at not touring I took a peek at the Golden Gate Bridge on Google Earth. Between you and me, what’s the difference?

Brentrance

If I tell you we did something really amazing this summer for our holidays, seasoned newsletter readers will reasonably assume we splashed out on a new tent or found an undocumented trek in the Golan. So those of you who are not family, friends or Facebook contacts (which doesn’t leave a lot) may be surprised that this year we really did do something different. We went yuppie. Judy, the girls and I spent 12 days touring France, Italy and Switzerland. Facebook friends will have already seen the glorious pictures Judy posted. I would complain that Facebook stole my thunder, but, hey, when I write newsletters once a year, how can I grumble?

Ostensibly, the trip was conceived by Judy as a reward for Abigail and Elisheva on condition that they read a full-length book in English during the course of the year. And they did. So congratulations to them. My narrative – and I don’t expect everyone to accept this – is that this was a thinly-disguised excuse for Judy to terminate our endless stream of camping holidays and take a real  vacation that didn’t involve mosquitoes and public showers.

Everyone wanted to get something different out of this holiday. The girls’ priorities were adventure parks, shopping and “tiyulim” (trips). Judy wanted long walks and alpine scenery. Daddy dreamed of guided tours of medieval castles and low cost (the “Scot” in me is alive and kicking).

We flew by EasyJet to Geneva, rented a car and stayed in three Airbnb flats – in Annecy in France, Iseo in Italy and in Champex in Switzerland – all three on lakes. The weather was perfect for 12 out of 13 days. And we all got what we wanted. Stunning scenery. Walks alongside exquisite rivers and waterfalls through fields and forests; shopping, shopping and shopping, including 5 hours in “outlet city” in Italy where the girls wandered through 140 clothes shops (and Daddy read a very long book); Gardaland adventure park on Lake Garda in Italy, where the fearless girls made a beeline for the largest, scariest roller-coasters; and, yes, even a pokey wee medieval castle.

As with every adventure that we undertake, all credit goes to the instigator Judy who researched, ordered and planned the entire holiday herself. We have lots of insights for anyone planning a similar trip, the first of which is to “check the freezers”. I suffered endless heartache trying and failing to locate items appearing on the French kosher list in quaint rural grocery stores. Nothing on the list was on the shops’ shelves. Nothing. But, to our great surprise, in the freezer department, we found Mars and Twix ice-creams with LBD (London Beth Din) Hechsherim. We feasted on them! And when I say “feasted” I mean “non-calorie-counting-I’m-hungry-can-I-have-another-ice-cream”-type feasting. I mean “we-ate-enough-ice-creams-for-birkat-hamazon” type bingeing. (I paid the price with many many running kilometers).

Documenting by Dancing

Orly had the idea to create a video for Elisheva’s bat mitzva constructed from clips of the girls dancing at locations we visited. Over the course of 12 days, the girls performed over 30 different routines on 30 different backdrops, each more breath-taking than the previous (except for the ones at the airport. I wouldn’t describe Ben Gurion as “breath-taking”). Naphtali edited them into a clip and it’s brilliant. Unfortunately, I can’t share it with you. My modest daughters don’t permit their dancing to enter the public domain. There are various journalists, politicians and celebrities whose careers would still be alive if they learned a less in modesty from my daughters.

Now to some other family snippets.

Ready, Steady, Start, Start, Start

“Ari continues with his start-up”. You have read that sentence in previous newsletters and you can expect to see it in newsletters for many years to come. Ari’s company has been operational for about 18 months and has six employees. He just went international closing his first deal abroad with a company in the US, which is a major breakthrough. By comparison, the company I visited in Silicon Valley has been around for 13 years, has 80 employees, 120 customers and revenues of $25 million. And they still consider themselves a start-up. When does a “start-up” become “started”?

Around the East in 200 days

Naphtali has now completed two 100-day “tours of duty” in the East. The first was split between the Philippines and Thailand; the second between India and Bali. Again, if you are a Facebook friend you will have seen some of Naphtali’s amazing photos. These are not instamatics. Naphtali has become an accomplished photographer with an artist’s eye and technical knack for it. He knows all about lenses, exposure, composition, light etc. etc., and uses editing tools that turn photos into works of art. I should get him to take a picture of me. Maybe he could do something in photoshop about the wrinkles and the projecting ears…and the big nose…and the greying hair...Then again, maybe I’m too far gone.

As for Naphtali’s future travel plans…who knows? Watch this space. Better still, watch Facebook.

Lots more to tell but I have hit my two-page limit. Lots of love from

Judy, Michael, Ari, Elon, Naphtali, Orly, Abigail and Elisheva

Isaacs, Elkana

 ISAACS Family Newsletter December 2015

The above headline is true. No one can argue the veracity of the date (except for the Russian Orthodox church). But, does the date tell the full story? The BBC, CNN and the Guardian, while technically not telling untruths, do create deceitful headlines. Just recently the BBC reported “Man gunned down by Israelis”. What the Bebe conveniently omitted to  mention was that the “man” in question had stabbed, injured and killed innocent bystanders while screeching “Allah Akbar”. So yes, the date is accurate, but the significance is all missing, because today (at the time of writing the first draft)  is my 52^nd birthday.

 52^nd birthdays aren’t worth pausing over, a non-event. 52 is a boring number. It’s not round, or square (think about it) and too far from retirement to start countdown (fortunately?). Our children, on the other hand, are interesting and anything but boring or square, and extremely worth taking the time to read about.

 Ari@Shapedo.com

I can reveal now what I hinted at in the previous newsletter: Ari’s startup received funding from the Chief Scientist and from a Venture Capital fund! Since then he has also made his first sales. So what does his startup actually do? In a sentence his software can automatically and instantaneously identify and highlight differences between similar versions of engineering and architectural plans. It is used by architects, engineers and construction workers to save them manual work, and prevents mistakes, when evaluating the impact of design changes on the cost and scope of work. (There’s a lot more to it than that, but I promised just one sentence and already wrote two). If you know anyone in construction, refer them to www.shapedo.com. And tell Ari the reference came from me. I want my cut.

 Elon is in Active Hibernation

Elon’s magic business sort of hibernates between Succot and Pesach, emerging briefly to feast around Chanukah and Purim when parents and grandparents again forage for presents and children look to spend their gelt. Elon himself is the opposite of a hibernator. His winters are spent mainly sweating on the basketball court.

 Naphtali  is a sound man

Last newsletter I reported that Naphtali had injured an eye in the army. He has since had a cataract operation and now, thank G-d, his vision is almost normal. Enchanted by Instagram images of the Philippines, in January, Naphtali is flying there with friends for a couple of months. Until then he is working with a neighbor whose has a “sound business”. I don’t mean his revenue outlook is solid, but that his product is Sound – loudspeakers, amplifiers, bands etc.). Naphtali works pretty crazy hours. One day he clocked over 22 hours!!! Sounds like slavery (think about that too).

 Orly – Dancing through maths

Another one working like never before is Orly who has started a degree in computers at Ariel university (incidentally, very close to Ari’s offices). You have to feel sorry for her. She returns home most days between 8pm and 10pm, and immediately opens her books, studying into the wee hours of the night. Shabbat is not so much a day of Rest as a day of Recovery.

 Orly’s defuses the pressure of infinitesimal calculus and other such horrors by… dancing. Five minutes bursts of lyrical, modern, jazz or ballet – then back to the books.

 Abigail’s Bnei Akiva graduation

People who don’t know about Bnei Akiva … skip this paragraph; there are just too many language and cultural issues to explain. Sorry.

 This is Abigail’s year to get a name for her “shevet”. That comes bundled with “daglanut” on Shabbat Ha’Irgun and “hashba’a” on motsash - two once-in-a-lifetime events within 6 hours. Preparations last weeks. On the Shabbat before the big day, while bouncing on a neighbour’s trampoline, Abigail soared high in the sky and landed lightly on her friend, inflicting no damage to her friend but spraining her own ankle. This did not deter her from dancing and participating in her gymnastics class the next day. By Sunday evening, her ankle swelled up like a tennis ball. X-rays showed no breaks but the doctor ordered ten day’s rest – which would have meant missing the “daglanut” and “hashba’a”.

 This was a dictate Abigail would not accept. The negotiations that followed made the Middle East crisis seem petty. Eventually we reached a compromise. Abigail wouldn’t walk for a week. We drove her everywhere – to school, to Bnei Akiva, to friends. And Abigail, instead of participating in rehearsals, would just watch from the side. It worked. On the big day, she performed perfectly and was sufficiently healed to enjoy the torments of the “hashba’a”.  See? Even the most intractable problems can be resolved with just two hours of shouting, swearing and tears (I did the swearing).

 The Isaacs Girls Dance troupe starring…

I have to correct the impression that in our family Orly is the dancer. Orly is the teacher, the mentor, the guru. But Abigail and Elisheva are just as enthusiastic… and loud. They both received high quality Bluetooth speakers for their birthdays which can amplify the songs on their phones to brain-blasting proportions (albeit high quality brain-blasting). Every day they practice their dances, make up new ones and just improvise. Truly I enjoy watching. While dancing, Elisheva smiles radiantly and totally. It’s a pleasure to see the joy dancing gives her.

 I do have a problem with the blaring noise. In my defense I claim that the noise only drives me barmy in the evening, after a long hard day, when I want to relax. The girls point out that the only time I am ever at home is in the evening, after a long hard day, when I want to relax.

 Wishing you all a Happy Chanukah

Michael, Judy, Ari, Elon, Naphtali, Orly, Abigail and Elisheva Isaacs,

Elkana

 Isaacs Family Newsletter, August 2015

 Don’t say anything. Nothing sarcastic. Just let me dive straight in.

 Once I set myself a challenge: read every article in the weekend magazine of a particular Hebrew newspaper. Not so tricky, so I added a catch. As soon as an article includes defamation, lies or lashon hara, stop reading and move on to the next one. It didn’t take long to finish the entire magazine. The only piece I read from beginning to end was the Chess column.

 I’m not sure the journalists are completely at fault. Were their brief to submit 500 words every week, no doubt their articles would be informative and insightful. But when required to produce 5000 words, inevitably the core insights are spiced up with gossip, conjecture, insinuation, innuendo, character demolition and affected wisdom safely based on hindsight.

 These lines are being written at 4pm on Friday afternoon…

What has all that preamble to do with the price of bread? Well, it amuses me that journalists, in (rare?) moments of conscience or when concerned to preserve their “good” name, sometimes open articles with “these lines are being written as”…and then they quote the date and time. Normally this is to cover their little tushies in the event that, by the time we read their print, the news or opinions are out of date or proved wrong. But I find myself in the same situation. Ari and his start-up are on the edge of an achievement whose nature I cannot divulge. Perhaps by the time the newsletter is approved by Judy, I will be able to add a PS with the news. (It’s good).

 In parallel, Ari has just returned from his now annual trip to the European students debating competition. This year he was ranked 6^th out of 250 in the English as a Second Language competition.

 Elon the Incredible

Elon is working hard on his Magic business. He opened a Facebook page. Feel free to like and share. He started selling to some shops and over the busier days of the summer occasionally employs friends to work in various locations. It’s a seasonal business with August and chagim being bonanza time. Funny. I always felt sorry for those condemned to work to service my leisure such as store workers on Fridays, hotel staff at weekends and those who work hardest in July and August. Even candy floss sellers on Independence day. Elon would be very happy for every day of the year to be chol hamoed (so would I).

 Naphtali – our last miluimnik (reserve solider)

After almost three years, Naphtali is out the army. Ari, Elon and Naphtali’s army service overlapped to such an extent that Judy and I were parents of soldiers continuously for over 8 years (Bad family planning?). The discharge of (probably) the last soldier in the family is a relief but also a moment of great pride. All three boys served in combatant units. One is an officer and the others both received distinctions for outstanding service.                                                       

The circumstances of Naphtali’s discharge are less joyous. Many of you will know already that eye was cut by wire. He is having a cataract operation in three weeks after which will we know the extent of the permanent damage but his doctors are hopeful that his vision will just need correction with glasses. We just have to wait and see (no pun intended).

 Orly the Adventurer

You can’t hit 21 in this country without flying to the Far East (for boys it’s 22). Orly is now ticking the box on Thailand  with a bunch of friends, whatsapping us with commentary and pictures of the sites. Mother, Grandmother (and to a greater extent than he is willing to admit, also Father) are worried crazy. Exotic diseases; international crime; Islamic terror…all these and other scenarios race through our heads.  Do we parents ever learn to let go? (In my heart of hearts, I hope not).

Les Grandes Vacationnes

This is not a spelling mistake. Well, it is. But I wanted to hint that we just came back from a very female-dominated vacation – Daddy and the girls – in the north. By other benchmarks, it was not at all feminine. I mean it wasn’t a manicure-pedicure-massage-paint-my-nails type chick thing. A girls’ holiday in our family still involves mountain climbing and dipping in the freezing water of the northern rivers - Kziv,  Hazbani, and Banias. The difference is, we pack Conditioner.  

I vividly recall one newsletter, written around 20 years ago, at a time when we had three or four active or  hyperactive infants and toddlers, in which I described the unfamiliar sensation of pure peace – with all kids fed, playing happily in the shallow water of choreshat tal. This peace lasted about five minutes (reminiscent of the Middle East) until the boys starting drowning each other. Now, with the little ones all grown up, I clocked three days of almost uninterrupted tranquility - relaxing with a good book in the morning sunshine (after davening, running  and eating) as the girls continue to snore. Chicken soup for the soul. The quietude and serenity were sooooo good, it felt like a sin (deep down I have Catholic tendencies). Shouldn’t I have been learning torah or washing the dishes or something?

Mother Abigail

At the end of the school year, Abigail was awarded a special distinction which basically crowned her as the tsadika of her class. This did not surprise us. Two weeks later she returned from a summer camp with another award for pretty much the same thing. A true sweetie-pie – and now with diplomas to prove it.

Elisheva and the Digits

Elisheva has been selected to participate in a program for gifted mathematics students. This did not surprise us. And we are very proud. We will be more proud if she sticks with the program, which is seriously in question since the maths lessons clash with her gymnastics class. For Elisheva, the resolution of that equation is trivial.

Wishing you all a safe, enjoyable and tranquil summer.

 Michael Judy

Ari, Elon, Naphtali, Orly, Abigail and Elisheva

Elkana

 ISAACS FAMILY NEWSLETTER – June 2014

 As children, any vaguely “adult” behavior would draw vicious accusations from school-mates of having a “one-track mind”. I never understood the innuendo but one-track-mindedness, whatever that was, was clearly a bad thing.

 A mutant of “one-track mindititis” is an inability to multi-task – a condition diagnosed in approximately 3 billion males across the globe including me. And why do I tell you this? Because as I type, I am sitting in an aisle seat of  LY zero zero something returning from a lightning trip to Dallas, Texas where I made a 25 minute presentation that took me off all other work for three near-sleepless days and flights.

 After the presentation, I had 90 minutes to myself in downtown Dallas, luggage in tow, before heading to the airport for the home run. I discovered myself walking-distance from the Grassy Knoll and the museum in the 6^th floor of the building from where Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly shot President JF Kennedy. I ran round the Museum (which is worth a longer visit), and shot (with a camera) Oswald’s view of the President’s cavalcade. Another “must visit” tourist site ticked off.

 The 15-minute walk to the site of the assassination was dumbfounding. Among the 40 or so people I passed were businessmen,  tourists, teenagers, and also a drunk, two junkies, and three what they call in Hebrew “תמהונים” including one gentleman who had removed his clothing (he needed psychiatric care). All that in one 15-minute walk. I hope that’s not a representative sample of Dallas.

 Change of gear to the family updates.

 Elisheva and the 9 year Kissing war

On Friday nights after Kiddush we bless the children with the traditional -  ברכת הבנים - as my father blessed me, and his father blessed him, his father blessed him and so on all the way back to Moses. With one nuance. After each blessing, each child gets a “peck” on each cheek. Elisheva (9)  invented a game whereby at the end of the bracha, she covers her cheeks tightly with both hands and runs away to prevent me giving her a kiss. I have to chase after her, grab her arms and (theatrically) wrench her hands from her cheeks while she employs all tactics possible to prevent me kissing her. She digs an exposed cheek into the couch or shakes her head rapidly from side to side. When I eventually land a big noisy sloppy kiss on one side, that’s only half-time. Again she takes flight and I race after her. This time, she has both hands to protect the chaste unkissed cheek, making my task twice as difficult. I release one hand, the other covers the cheek. I free the second hand, the first one takes up the defense again. This game can last several minutes and is accompanied by grunting and giggling. The more exhausting and protracted the struggle, the more Elisheva enjoys it. And each time we play, I dedicate the fun and games to the memory of my Mother who will be known for eternity as the originator of the concept “Other side’s jealous”.

 Ari the Argumentative

Ari has again been chosen to represent Israel in the European student Debating competition, taking place this year in Croatia. Ari’s contagious enthusiasm brought two of his first cousins into the Debating addiction including my niece Yael, a rookie, who will be joining him in Croatia. Like father, like son – finding ways for all expenses paid trips abroad.

 Elon - Working Holidays

While Judy, Ari, Abigail and Elisheva are counting the days till the end of semester and the freedom of the summer holidays, Elon is bracing himself for two busy months when children roam the malls with time to kill and hopefully money to buy his tricks. The hours he works are inhuman. Every mall day involves leaving the house at 8am and returning after 10.30pm. And at home he still has to prepare equipment for the next day. Through the summer he can potentially work every day. I hope he learns to strike a work-life balance. I was well over 30 before I discovered workaholism is not a virtue. (Now I am a lazy bugger).   

 Naphtali has an idea

I can’t tell you what it is, because it’s his Intellectual Property. But it’s quite a good idea. And in this world, sometimes all you need is one idea. (Mark Zuckerberg had the idea of sharing photographs. He did alright). Naphtali has drawn up 3-D designs and met with plastics and electronics experts. I helped him comb the Internet and patents but we found nothing, which hopefully means his idea is unique (or silly). Might there be a second entrepreneur in the family? Another start-up in the making? I doubt it. Naphtali’s idea requires mass manufacturing of an electronic device, not something he or we can budget this month. But if any bigshot from Samsung, Apple, HTC or other mobile phone manufacturer is looking for an inexpensive differentiating cool idea, they could do themselves a big favour by giving Napthali a call. Oh. And say I referred you.

 Orly’s Delayed Gap Year

After 2 years of national service, 12 years of school and 3 years of kindergarten – on the trot - Orly says it’s time for a year off – a chance to do what she wants, before getting into the rodent race of studying-working-retirement. Okay. I can understand that. Discussions around her gap year tend to go like this. ”What do you want to do? Travel?” “No”. “Study?”  No. “Learn (Jewish studies)?” No”. “Work?” “No”. “Then What?” “Dance”. “For a year?” “Not full time!” “And the rest of the time?” “Don’t know”. I guess not a few of the parents reading these lines have conducted similar discussions with their offspring. I’m not concerned. I have 30 years on Orly and I still don’t know what the hell I want to do with my Life.

 Abigail

My mother used to say I was an easy baby. One day I was born; the next thing she knew, I was three years old. Never believed her, of course, but it was a sweet things to say. I would say the same thing about Abigail. No trouble at all - except when you send her to bed or tell her to do homework. Fortunately my children rarely read my newsletters so they will never know of this confession…there were times when I would start my homework at midnight.  The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree…

 Landing in 15 minutes. Have to go.

Lots of love

Michael, Judy, Ari, Elon, Naphtali, Orly, Abigail, Elisheva

Elkana

 

 

 

ISAACS FAMILY NEWSLETTER May 2014

Since I was knee-high to a grasshopper I recall memorable Israel Independence Day celebrations. In my youth those involved wild Bnei Akiva extravaganzas and Israel solidarity marches. For the last 15 years it has been Isaacs family barbecues. But this year took the biscuit.

 As you recall, Naphtali (21) was selected for the Presidential award - מצטיין נשיא - as the outstanding soldier of the IDF Engineering corps. This is the ultimate “nachas” a soldier can give parents and we are bathing in Naphtali’s glory. Family, friends, colleagues and neighbours have inundated us with praise and congratulations through Facebook, email and whatsapps. A few even spoke to us.

 This award gave me a foretaste of what it is must be like to have a grandchild. You have this piece of knowledge inside you that fills you with warmth whenever you think about it, and you are warmly congratulated by everyone you meet for hard work done by others.

 Back to Independence Day. Because of Naphtali’s award Judy and I got tickets to the official Independence Day celebration - the lighting of the torches on Mt. Herzl. It is an impressive event with singing, dancing, marching, fireworks and speeches לתפארת מדינת ישראל. If you were watching on TV, that was me, up in the gods, waving the sign “Celtic for the Cup”.                                                                                                            

Naphtali received his award the following morning at the President’s residence. All the 120 soldiers got just two tickets for this event, but Judy’s brother’s daughter’s husband’s friend managed to sneak in our entire family plus grandmother Barbara! With such a large representation, it was perhaps to be expected that when Naphtali was called to receive his badge and certificate, the family cheered so loud that the President himself, as he shook Naphtali’s hand, commented that his family was making one hell of a ruckus, while the Channel 10 commentator reported that Naphtali has a “large and noisy family”. True. But I would have added also, “proud, loving, cool and really good-looking”.

 The ceremony was followed by a buffet at which Naphtali got chatting with a very posh English chap who turned out to be Col. Richard Kemp, CBE, former head of British forces in Afghanistan, who has become one of Israel’s most vocal supporters in military and intelligence circles. You may remember his speech at the UN where he deplored the Hamas tactics of using civilians as shields and lauded the unparalleled extents the IDF goes to to prevent civilian casualties. A veritable righteous gentile.

I imagine that Chief of Staff Benny Gantz has a pretty busy and pressured agenda most days. After all, he is responsible for protecting a tiny country, surrounded by enemies, from terrorist, chemical and nuclear attacks; and from short, medium and long-range missiles, launching from ground, air and sea. But he is also a sweetie pie. He took time pose for photos with all 120 soldiers, one by one, with their parents. He was noticeably surprised when eight of us huddled up with him for a photo with Naphtali, but remained all smiles. We posted the picture of the Isaacs’s and the Chief of Staff on Facebook. If wealth were measured in Likes, we won the lotto.

 Family Business

I reported last time of Elon’s new business selling magic. Well, it’s a family business. Judy is the office manager, ordering equipment online and helping with the accounts. Ari and Abigail (12) run a stall on Fridays in the Rosh Ha’Ayin market and Elisheva (9) counts the takings.

 Princess Elisheva of YouTube

Last newsletter I also reported that Elisheva’s YouTube video had accumulated an astonishing 3000 views. Well, two months later, she is close to 6400! Justin Bieber and Gum Gum style beware. Elisheva’s breathing down your necks.

 Dance  Studies

Becoming a dance teacher is not just about leaps and bounds. To qualify, Orly (19) has to study anatomy, diet, sports injuries and more. Conversations are now often punctuated with Orly-esque insights into the glycemic index of whole grains, or a list of tendons that support the knee. I wonder… if a student in a dance course doesn’t prepare enough for exams, do they become the “under-study”?

 ‘Riting versus ‘Rithmetic

One of my favourite pastimes is completing the sentence – “There are two types of people in the world…”. Try this version… “There are two types of people in the world - people who when playing scrabble first look at their letters and people who first look at the board”.

 Being a right hemisphere type, for me Scrabble is a game of words. Big  mistake. It’s a game of numbers.

 The right hemisphere approach to Scrabble is to make the best words possible with your letters. The left hemisphere approach is to locate double and triple letter or word squares and place your high value letters on them. The difference between the two approaches is that the number-driven approach wins, as I have learned from playing with my left-hemispherical wife. Judy will put down two letters, making three words (two of which I have never heard of) and somehow score 40 points.

 Online Scrabble is not about winning; it’s a about connecting (or at least that’s how I comfort myself after losing game after game). So if you wish, download “Games with Words” and look us up.

 Lots of love from all the Isaacs

Michael, Judy, Ari, Elon, Naphtali, Orly Abigail, Elisheva

Elkana

 March 2014

ISAACS FAMILY NEWSLETTER March 2014

 Goodness gracious me. So much news, I don’t know where to start. Actually, I do.

 Naphtali – 1 in a 1000

As we slurped our soup at Friday night supper, our soldier Naphtali (21) casually informed us that he has been awarded מצטיין  נשיא. “But” he warned, “Don’t make a fuss”.

 What we have been instructed not to make a fuss about is no less than the Presidential award for the outstanding soldier in each corps. It means Naphtali was singled out from thousands of other soldiers in the Engineering corps for this distinction. 

Thanks to this distinction, Naphtali will participate in the ceremonies on Remembrance Day and on Independence Day on Mount Herzl and at the Kotel. He will take part in another ceremony at the President’s residence where he will receive a special badge given only to those receiving this special award. And after the ceremony, in true Israeli style, he’ll hang out with the President for a for a barbecue! (I wonder how it works in England? I have this weird picture in my head of Queen Elizabeth and all the newly installed OBEs wandering around the palace gardens gouging themselves on ketchupy sausages.) 

As you can imagine, we are “qvelling” with pride. Indeed a rare distinction. Naphtali has hardly told a soul. He insists there are a dozen soldiers in his unit who are just as deserving as himself. I wonder how he will deal with all the media coverage and publicity on Independence day? 

When in the army Elon received a similar award -  מצטיין  מח"ט - which means he was singled out as the outstanding soldier from his entire brigade. And of course, Ari is an officer in the Tanks. These kids must have Maccabean genes in them because believe me my military report card did not paint a pretty picture. The only I thing I did well in the army was run – and am not saying in which direction. 

Elon Ltd

Wandering around Tel Aviv pondering what to do in Life, Elon came across a Russian immigrant sitting at a collapsable table on a pavement selling magic tricks to passers by. Something in Elon’s imagination clicked. Fast forward several months and today Elon has become an accomplished magician with a business making and selling magic tricks. 

It’s easy to spot Elon’s stand in the market and malls. His is the one with dozens of people crowding round. Because he doesn’t just sell; he performs

Under Elon’s guidance, our children have become amateur magicians and amateur salesmen. Abigail frequently helps Eloni out in the market on Fridays, and Elisheva, Ari, Judy and even I have all taken turns at manning the stalls.

We are thrilled with Elon’s venture and success. Although Elon sees this whole magic thing as temporary, he has achieved what many adults dream of – turning a hobby into a profession and source of income. (I wonder if anyone would pay me to write newsletters?)

Princess Elisheva of Youtube

My line of business is fun. From time to time I get to produce video clips like the three links below. Each cost thousands of dollars and utilized international teams of professional producers, actors, lighting, sound, post-production, illustrators, and more. However, This video has less than one thousands views; This one has barely over a hundred and This one has even less! (my marketing campaigns appeal to a niche market… or at least that’s what I tell my boss).

Elisheva and Abigail (dressed up here as Hawaii girls), on the other hand, are Youtube stars! You see, Abigail made a 17-minute video of Elisheva explaining how to make a particular loom band. (For those without children/grandchildren of the appropriate age, I should explain that Loom bands  - or “goomiloom” in Hebrew - is the latest kids craze). Within just a few weeks, Elisheva’s video has 3000 views! Watch it and learn how to make your own band here.

Don’t mess with Ari (on the right)

Ari’s hobby at university is debating. Or more accurately, Ari’s hobby at University is Law and his major is Debating. He just placed first and won a trophy at a competition of all freshman debaters in Israel which means, in case you didn’t know beforehand, it is now officially not worthwhile getting into an argument with Ari. You’ll lose.

Dance day

Orly’s week is a countdown till Fridays when she attends her dancing class. I know what that’s like. Sometimes trudging through work is just a way of killing time till the next Maccabi Tel Aviv game. Except with dancing, you can’t lose. Orly’s plans for next year are in motion. She’s looking for a combo of midrasha and dancing. This is perhaps what the Talmud really means when it poses the question  כיצד מרקדין"

The illusion of the Marathon Man

Just to prove that at the age of 50, some parts of my anatomy are still functional, I ran two marathons in the last 10 weeks. The first, in Tiberias, was wonderful, and I achieved my best time in 7 years! The second, in Jerusalem, was awful, and I recorded my worst time ever. As I wrote on facebook – “Running the Jerusalem marathon is like running round an Escher drawing. It’s all uphill.”

Lots of love from all the Isaacs

Michael, Judy, Ari, Elon, Naphtali, Orly Abigail, Elisheva

Elkana