Another Shabbat in Israel

This past week I spent my first Shabbat in Modi'in. On Friday my brother came up from his kibbutz and we partook in a favorite activity at the local shopping center, wine tasting at the store, Derekh Hayayin (The Wine Trail). In fact we purchased some wine for our Shabbat dinner.
I attended services at Kehillat YOZMA, the Reform congregation in Modi'in. Rabbi Kinneret Shiryon, who had visited us at Temple Sinai a number of years ago welcomed the 2 other visiting rabbis and singled me out as a regular visitor and was surprised she hadn't known I was in town. I also saw Ron Newman's cousin Yuval who had also spoken at Temple Sinai when he visited. He is an active member of the congregation. To my surprise I ran into friends from the Reform Kibbutz Yahel near Eilat. I had co-officiated at their marriage in the late 70's before they made aliyah. They were original founders of that first Reform kibbutz. We had met when we were all on staff at the URJ Kutz Camp. They now also have an apartment in Modi'in where their daughter lives with their granddaughter. They no longer work on the kibbutz but are still members and return there almost every week. The pattern of their lives reflects the new privatization of the once totally socialist kibbutz lifestyle.
After services I returned to my Aunt's home for Shabbat dinner. Her son Natan, his wife Sigal, 2 of their 3 children as well as a business friend of his and his partner joined us for dinner. Natan's daughter, Noam, has taken after both her father and her namesake and is becoming quite a good guitarist. Before dinner she played Shalom Aleichem and after dinner she and Natan played for a while.
On Shabbat morning after I had finished my long walk my brother and I took a drive to a park and archaeological site, Tel Lachish. It was a city conquered by Joshua when the Israelites returned to the land. At one time it was the second most important city in the kingdom of Judah and was captured first by Sennacherib during the Assyrian conquest and then by Nebuchadnezzar when the Babylonians conquered Judah. It had great views in all directions and one could see why it was an important and strategic city. Since this is a period of late winter, even with the heat wave, the rains have made the fields green and lush. Flowers are blooming all around and the landscape is beautiful.
After Lachish we went to a winery near a monastery that was open on Shabbat. I do not recommend the wines but the view of the surrounding valley was lovely. We then took a ride through the JNF President's Forest on a very narrow, bumpy and unpaved road called the “Sculpture Route.” My brother is a careful driver but by the end of this lovely 10 kilometer drive up and down a mountain our kidneys certainly needed a time out. There were a number of memorial signs which reminded us of the old Israeli movie “Sallah Shabbati” where the protagonist, Sallah, a recent immigrant to Israel during the early years of the state was hired to work in such a Jewish National Fund forest, often to change the signs on trees with different names of visiting tourists who had bought trees in Israel back in the States. One really shouldn't expect to find a specific tree bought through the fund.
That evening we met Rabbi Miri Gold and David Leichman. We went to an area in the city of Rishon L'Tziyon where there are many restaurants. The restaurant they chose is called Soho but has no connection to either London or Manhattan. My brother Rob then headed back to his kibbutz and I returned to Modi'in. Shavua Tov!