July 22, 2004
Hi!
It has been a very sad few weeks……... Mara, Ricky and Joanie Barsky’s father, Morley passed away last week…The Barskys are in our “Minyan” with Gendelman, Kroll-Weinberg, Rosenberg, Morrison, Gotkowitz, Pinto, Levy, Feinman and Fines. Our chavurah has been together for over 25 years…The Shenkmans, Hurwitzs and Saidmans were also original members…
I’ve been seeing lotsa’ folks at funerals and shivas.. Goodman, Bendett, Pinto, Rozansky, Levy, Malkus(Resnick), Gendelman,Shore, Wolochow, Pollock, Rady, Treger, Morrison, Rose, Schuman and Stevens to name a few……..
Our book group is also filled with Mad parents……Finkel, Goldman, Malkus, Graff, Harrison and me…I saw Michelle Berman Gross at the JCC with their (Marty Gross) adorable kids..the baby is only 2 weeks old! Lani and Erin were down for Avi’s 3rd birthday! Dan took us all to Farrell’s….Remember the ice cream Zoo??! Seems like just the other day that Dan celebrated his 3rd birthday there!
Saw Shoshana Feher, had lunch with Anne Goldberg and son, Evan, Greg Temkin turned 40 with a birthday blast, Sam Fisher gave a lovely party for his parents’ 50th anniversary! Ruthie Rapp’s (from CBI) son will become a Bar Mitzvah in August…Speaking of CBI little Jessica Makoff, Jennifer’s sister and our camp baby is engaged! Suzie Rose visited with Ross Kobernick and Robert Strausberg while in Israel with her family! Ross (Yair) and his wife are expecting #10 and their daughter is expecting her 1st! How wonderful …He will be our very first Mad Grandfather!!
Jennifer Lewis and family will be off to Israel this year…Jennifer’s mom told me that Jenny presented a paper at an education conference and everyone was sooooooooo impressed! The Zeldin-Kroll wedding was fabulous…Leah officiated…We loved every minute! Saw some old Swig people like Reuven Firestone….remind me to tell you monkey stories about Reuven! It’s so funny to think of him at Swig..now that he is a professor at Hebrew Union College and married with kids!
New on our list are Brian Stern and Andrya Feinberg (her brother Kirk is our vet!)
Puleeeeeze remember to click on our Mitzvah sites…Check out our webpage,……www.Madrichim.com and send photos to Rick Shumacher ricks@car.org and WRITE…… let us know what you are doing!
I have extra boogie boards…..Meet me at the shores!
Love,
Eemah
ENJOY!
Thanks! Regards to you too!
Here's how it all happened.....As a sideline to my work in mathematics education I have been pulled into Jewish education with my thesis advisor, who does a little bit of that and thought it would be interesting for me. So I work for the Mandel Foundation -- do you know them?? and the director of Mandel North America saw my work and offered me something in Israel for next year. I have yet to sign a contract.....but I'm hoping it works out. I don't have a clue about what Jewish education is as a field, so it's a great learning experience for me, and there are, as you know, terrific people working in it so I'm having a very good time getting my feet wet in it.
We were in San Diego for a week in June on the beach with my dad for vacation. We planned to get to your lifeguard tower at the Shores but of course the week we were there THERE WAS NO SUN!! Then we went to Temple Beth Israel on Friday night hoping we'd run into you but it was a pretty quiet night there-- a real experience for my kids-- as they said, "Well, Eemah, this explains a lot about you." I guess they had never been there! And I hadn't been in the new building. It was lovely, the whole experience, but we were sad to miss you.
How are you??
I love getting all the updates--
love to your family too
COME VISIT IN JERUSALEM NEXT YEAR! We'll have a big place....
Jenny (Lewis)
Dear Eemah,
Things here are great.
I'm starting my 3rd year, which is unbelievable. I'm a "senior resident." CRAZY. I'm looking forward to it. I think it'll be a good year. I just dont want it to end!!! I love Hawaii.
I'm thinking about going into peds neurology. It means a 3 year fellowship at Walter Reed in Washington, DC...it also means no deployment for at least 4 more years AND that I'd get to practice in a big city rather than in the middle of nowhere. And I like neurology :).
How are things there?
Hope all is well.
Hugs and Kisses to everyone.
Love you,
Me (Becky Barth AKA from CBI Becky Barf)
How do you know if you're ready for kids?
MESS TEST
Smear peanut butter on the sofa and curtains. Place a fish stick behind the couch and leave it there all summer.
TOY TEST
Obtain a 55 gallon box of Legos (or you may substitute roofing tacks). Have a friend spread them all over the house. Take off your shoes and socks. Put on a blindfold. Try to walk to the bathroom or kitchen. Do not scream because this would wake a child at night.
GROCERY STORE TEST
Borrow one or two small animals (goats are best) and take them with you as you shop. Always keep them in sight and pay for anything they eat or damage.
DRESSING TEST
Obtain one large, unhappy, live octopus. Stuff into a small net bag making sure that all the arms stay inside.
FEEDING TEST
Fill a large plastic milk jug halfway with water. Suspend from the ceiling with a cord. Start the jug swinging. Try to insert spoonfuls of soggy cereal into the mouth of the jug, while pretending to be an airplane. Now dump the contents of the jug on the floor.
NIGHT TEST
Prepare by obtaining a small cloth bag and fill it with 8-12 pounds of sand.
Soak it thoroughly in water. At 3:00p.m. begin to waltz and hum with the bag until 9:00p.m. Lay down your bag and set your alarm for 10:00p.m. Get up, pick up your bag, and sing every song you have ever heard. Make up about a dozen more and sing these too until 4:00a.m. Set alarm for 5:00 a.m. Get up and make breakfast. Keep this up for 5 years. Look cheerful.
INGENUITY TEST
Take an egg carton. Using a pair of scissors and pot of paint, turn it into an alligator. Now take a toilet paper tube and turn it into an attractive Chanukah candle. Use only scotch tape and a piece of foil. Last, take a milk carton, a ping-pong ball, and an empty box of Cocoa Puffs. Make an exact replica of the Eiffel Tower.
AUTOMOBILE TEST
Forget the BMW and buy a station wagon. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment. Leave it there. Get a dime. Stick it into the cassette player. Take a family size package of chocolate chip cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.
There, perfect.
PHYSICAL TEST (Women)
Obtain a large bean bag chair and attach it to the front of your clothes.
Leave it there for 9 months. Now remove 10 of the beans.
PHYSICAL TEST (Men)
Go to the nearest drug store. Set your wallet on the counter. Ask the clerk to help himself. Now proceed to the nearest food store. Go to the head office and arrange for your paycheck to be directly deposited to the store.
Purchase a newspaper. Go home and read it quietly for the last time.
FINAL ASSIGNMENT
Find a couple who already have a small child. Lecture them on how they can improve their discipline, patience, tolerance, toilet training and child's table manners. Suggest many ways they can improve. Emphasize to them that they should never allow their children to run wild. Enjoy this experience.
It will be the last time you will have all the answers
