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| A View from Kibbutz Lotem at sunset |
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| A view from Rotman restaurant in the Galilee |
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Cantor - Boaz Pnini |
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 Greetings,
I am starting to get the impression that these rambles make you yawn, like you are saying, tell me something new. To aliviate this creeping feeling of mine please write back to let me know I am wrong.
Being in Seattle for almost a week now, my visit to Israel seems like a past life experience, I blame the intensity of life for that, things move on in a rapid speed or so it seems.
There is no day however when Israel is not on my mind. I was thinking about the protest of last year, hundreds of thousands Israelis going into the streets last summer to protest the lack of social justice and opportunity for decent middle class life in Israel, the disparity between rich and poor. What is left of that protest now a year later?
A lot is left. There is a rush to build many new kindergartens which under the new law will be free for 3 and 4 years old. That will take a huge burden off young families. My sister was moaning about that since she has 7 children and the youngest is just passed that age. But more importantly the "public conversation" has changed, The word "security" is not anymore accepted as a blanket excuse by politicians to avoid addressing burning socioeconomic issues.
I have asked few Israeli friends and family of their opinion on the protest, and everyone thinks differently. Maybe it is the wave of something new that we all pick up intuitively but has no definitive translation into practicality yet.
As the Israeli adage says "We shall live and see",
Shabbat Shalom,
Boaz Pnini
Bridges 2 Israel
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| Beyond food |
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| Click for a video of Rotman restaurant |
Food is not my thing to make but it is my thing to eat. If I like a place I stick with it and I have stuck with this picturesque restaurant on a mountain in the Galilee for many years, for reasons we shall soon find out.
My friends tell me these Israel Rambles are self psychoanalysis and what a better subject there is for that but food.
So why do I like this place so much? Why do I find myself there again and again? What is the attraction? I am afraid that is going to be boring.. well, it is all about quality, the quality of the waiters, the owner, the diners, the air, the view, the place, the small details. For example, when going to the bathroom, the handles are ornamented, the inside is illustrated with all kinds of fine drawings, you wash your hands over an azure sink with special carvings, there are small individual towels placed in a decorated bowl, you pick one up, use it and throw it into a painted hamper. It makes you feel that as rough as life is in Israel, there is also finesse, there is an escape.
Every menu is hand made, with wise sayings and ornamentations, and I counted more than 20 tiny and not so tiny plates with all kinds of Israeli foods served for breakfast, yummy, so what else would you want?! You can sit on the porch stare at the vast vistas of mountains and villages and smell the special aromas of the Galilee, contemplate your life next move or have a deep conversation with a friend, it does allow that, you can see the kineret lake at the distance on clear days.
The place has many nooks and corners. This goes beyond food, it is art, it is creative, it is an experience. and I get no commission for saying that, maybe I should..
I had never met Maya, the live spirit behind this place, before. I was trying to find out what made her create such a place. Here is our conversation / interview, and I forgot to mention, if you ever want to find your way to Rotman restaurant, you will need to put into it some investigative effort, it is ensconced inside Kibbutz Lotem, on a mountain somewhere off the beaten tourists' path. You will have to first cross the security gate of the Kibbutz and then follow your intuition or the signs.
Feeling hungry?
Boaz Pnini
Bridges 2 Israel
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| Still want to help abandoned animals in Israel? |
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| Learn more about "From Violent to Compassion" watch my recent interview with Bibi |
Jamie is a Bar Mitzvah students of mine and is passionate about his Bar Mitzvah project, read below.
Boaz
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Hi everyone!
I'm here to tell you about an important new development with my mitzvah project!
Here's a specific example of the great work Let the Animals Live is doing. I hope you will please donate.
Tomy is a stray that Let the Animals Live is helping. His back legs don't function properly so he needs to get a wheelchair to move around on his own. But this will take about $1,000. Let the Animals Live is about half way to its goal, and I think it would be great it we can help LAL get the rest of the way!
Please view this video to learn more about Tomy and this fundraiser:
Together, we can save Tomy and help him live a full life.
Donations would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Jamie
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Lake kineret corner
On my recent visit to Israel, I took a dive in the kineret, that was so refreshing. I wish I can be there right now. The fish were plenty, small and large. The water were azure like color, the water temperature warm and then cool when you dive in. A greenish mineral spring was bubbling out of the ground, and then flowing gently into the lake. The lake felt live and well and clean.
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