"Do You Have Access to a Water Pistol?"

These words were the first that we heard from a fellow congregant when we arrived for Simchat Torah servies on Sunday evening.  Read on to see what they were about.

So many of the Jewish holidays are solemn in nature -- they serve to remind us annually of challenges the Jews have faced and how, fortunately, the challenges were overcome.  Some of the holidays that don't fall into this category, like Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, are still solemn -- we think about the past year and atone for the wrongs that we've done.

Simchat Torah (שמחת תורה, literally "joy of the Torah") is an exception.  It's an incredibly festive day when we celebrate the end of the Torah cycle and start anew with the first sentences of Genesis.  There is dancing, drinking (in synagogue, during the service), singing, and much merriment.

The evening service has a few prayers but focuses on seven hakafot (הקפות, circumambulations).  All of the Torah scrolls are taken out of the ark and groups of people are called up to participate in each of the הקפות.  Our congregation called children (and parents and grandparents) up by age: birth to kindergarten, 1st grade, 2nd and 3rd grade, 4th and 5th grade, 6th and 7th grade, 8th and 9th grade, and anyone who didn't participate.  Alice and Gabi jointly carried one of the scrolls while marching in a slow circle.

After the service, all of the kids were given goodie bags, filled with candy.  Needless to say, our kids were happy.

The morning service is pretty similar, although less crowded.  Jan and I arrived in time for a couple of prayers and the start of the הקפות.  This time, the age groups were different: 75+, 65-75, 55-65, 45-55, 35-45, 25-35, and under 25.  Smaller crowds meant more opportunity to carry the Torah and we both relished that chance.  The other fun part of the morning service was that the drink cart -- water, juice, wine, whiskey -- was in the room and people just kept filling glasses.

But Simchat Torah is not just about dancing with the Torah.  It's about finishing the annual reading of the Torah and starting again right away.  Everyone in the room was called up as part of one of the aliyot.  The cantor read the last chapter of Deuteronomy before we opened up another Torah and he read started with Genesis.

Simchat Torah is also about rain.  There is a special prayer after the Torah service that asks God to send rain to help water the crops.  So, to the title of the blog post, as the rabbi is leading the prayer, someone actually pulled out a spray bottle and watered him.  Sadly, Helen wasn't present to pull the trigger.

After all of this, the celebrating wasn't over.  On Monday night, there is something called הקפות שניה (hakafot shneeyha, the second hakafot).  It's a public celebration, taking place in a main public square in Ra'anana (think something about half the size of Tappan Square in Oberlin).  Each of the הקפות is about 20 minutes -- it started at 9pm (or so) and was probably going to run for 3 hours.  Words can't do it justice so I'll just post some pictures and videos for you to enjoy.

The mayor of Ra'anana and the swing band.

Not sure what this is -- a dancing buddy?

This is our rabbi and members of our congregation.

These celebrations happen across the country.  What makes this so special for us is that Ra'anana is the only city where there is mixed dancing and our congregation is the only one that is allowed to have men and women dancing together.  Everywhere else, the men dance together and there is another, smaller area for the women to dance.  I don't know if they're allowed to dance with a Torah though...

A Holiday Interlude

Warning: this is a long post.  Enjoy 😊

Sukkot lasts for 8 full days.  The first day is a national holiday so everything is closed.  The last day is a national holiday so everything will be closed (and we will blog about that day).  But the middle is different.  It's called חול המועד (ḥol ha-mo'ed), or "the profane of the holiday."  What this means is that it's still a holiday but observance isn't as strict.  Public schools are closed (yay for Alice and Gabi; boo for Helen) but most things are open.

However, it's a time when LOTS of people take a vacation.  The roads are jammed.  People head north to hike.  People head to Jerusalem because Sukkot is one of the three harvest festivals of the Jewish calendar (the others are Passover and Shavuot [which is 7 weeks plus 1 day after Passover]).

So what do the Levy-Miyakes decide to do with the Denver grandparents, who are here for a week?  Head out on a vacation for three days.  Yes, we hit lots of traffic and loads of people, but it was a memorable three days.

We started with a two-day tour of the north, led by a tour guide.  Our first stop was Caesarea, a Roman port along the Mediterranean.  We saw the theater, the promontory palace, and the hippodrome (hard to believe that it is 250 yards in length -- I challenged Alice to a race but she said no).

Then we had a short hop, skip, and jump to Mt. Carmel.  This is supposedly the site of Elijah the Prophet's famous battle with the priests of Baal (see 1 Kings 18).  Today, there's a nice statue of Elijah and a Carmelite monastery, from whose roof you can see quite a long ways.

To say that we went to a roadside cafe for lunch is stretching the meaning of cafe.  Our tour guide knows people everywhere so we pulled off the road and had lunch prepared by a couple of Druze.  They prepare large, thick crepes filled with nutella, hummus, or labneh (think a cross between sour cream and yogurt).  They get rolled up and cooked on an inverted wok over a wood fire.  Again, on the side of the road.  They also have olives and honey for sale.  In addition to our crepes, they gave us some stuffed grape leaves to try.  Everything was great.

After lunch we went to Nazareth for a visit to the Church of the Annunciation.  The site sits atop the supposed home of Mary and there is some archaeological evidence to date it back to that time.  But the space is so much more.  There are at least 50 mosaics, donated by Christian communities from around the world, throughout the complex and worship space -- all of them venerate Mary in some way.  My favorite was one donated by Japan.  The American one has generated much controversy but it's pretty neat.

A short walk from the Church of the Annunciation is St. Joseph's Church.  Had to make a stop there as well to see it.  Not quite as ornate as others but meaningful just the same.

The last stop in Nazareth was the Greek Orthodox Synagogue Church.

Then it was on to Tiberias, along the western coast of the Sea of Galilee, for a night in a hostel.  Dinner was wonderful and then we walked along a boardwalk by the sea (really, it's more of a lake -- it's about 20km by 12km).

Day two began with a very short stop at the tomb of Maimonides, also known as Rambam.  He is still considered one of the pre-eminent Jewish legal scholars and interpreters of all time and his works are still read today, even 800 years after his death.  He was also the official court physician to the vizier in Egypt.

Then we went to Capernaum, the site of some of Jesus' most famous teaching.  There's an old synagogue there, although it faces north (not south, towards Jerusalem, so some claim it wasn't really a synagogue).

It also provides an amazing view of the Sea of Galilee.

The next stop was the Mount of Beatitudes.  Everyone is pretty clear to say that the site probably isn't where the sermon was delivered -- the land was available for purchase and it was snatched up.  Then a church was built and a holy place is created.

Then we got adventurous.  We drove up into the Golan Heights, a part of Israel that was annexed in 1967 from Syria, after the Six Day War ended.  It's got strategic importance -- whoever controls the land can see down into the other country and knows what's going on.  Our guide took us to Quneitra, a border crossing site that is controlled by the United Nations and is not open.  They're strict, as the sign indicates.

And then it was to the Valley of Tears, the site where the Yom Kippur War of 1973 began.

From there, we drove to Banias National Park, where the Jordan River begins.

In addition to being a national park, there is an ancient Greek temple complex there, dedicated to Pan.

Two days down, one to go.  Jerusalem called so we hopped on a bus and met a new guide at 9am for a tour of the Old City.  Jerusalem is always busy -- it's a holy city for all three monotheistic faiths so there are always people everywhere.  But during this week, it's every busier.  Tours everywhere.  Groups of people singing, playing instruments.  Honestly, it was great.

We learned about the history of the walls of the Old City, walked through all four quarters (Jewish, Arab, Christian, and Armenian), and finally made our way to the Kotel, the Western Wall, the holiest site for Jews.  Synagogues are oriented toward this site -- it is the only remaining part of The Temple in Jerusalem, originally built by King Solomon, destroyed by the Babylonians, rebuilt 60ish years later, and destroyed for good by the Romans in 70 CE.

But Jerusalem is not only holy for Jews.  We saw the Dome of the Rock, the site from which Muhammed ascended to heaven on his night voyage, and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the site where Jesus was crucified and buried.

On the way to the bus station for our trip back to Ra'anana, we did stop at Mahane Yehudah, a huge outdoor fruit/vegetable/meat/spice/candy market.  It's always this crowded.

After three days of touring, we're all spent and our feet hurt.  Everyone was a super-trooper and had a few days that they're not sure to forget any time soon (we hope).

The holidays just keep coming: Sukkot (סוכות)

Walking to dinner the first
night. Sukkot is in the middle
of the lunar month. Rosh
Hashanah is on the first day
of the lunar month.
Proof: Full Moon!

So, the holiday season in Judaism doesn't end with Yom Kippur. There are two more major holidays right after it. Sukkot is a festival holiday celebrated by setting up your sukkah and eating in it. It honors the years of wandering in the desert and the booths that the Jews (supposedly) assembled to live in. We have never set up a sukkah of our own, but tend to participate in our temple's celebrations. Sukkot is a significant holiday--not as significant as YK, but more significant than Chanukah.

Sukkot is a long holiday (like Chanukah)--eight days outside of Israel and seven days within Israel. But all seven/eight days are not equally holy. Israelis categorize it (to me) as a one-day holiday (as opposed to the two-day holidays). This has practical ramifications: last shabbat, things shut down late afternoon on Friday, and reopened last Saturday night or early Sunday morning. Sukkot started Sunday night, which means that things shut down again on late afternoon of Sunday and will start reopening late tonight. There was a very brief service last night (35 minutes?) and services this morning, which we did not attend.

Schools are closed for the whole week (plus a few days next week). Grandma & Grandpa from Colorado have come for the week and are getting quite the immersion experience into Judaism. We'll be doing some touring around Israel for three days and it's going to be very busy because all the schools are closed!

In Israel, enough people set up sukkahs that you cannot miss that something special is happening. A lot of the street cafes and restaurants will set up outdoor seating in their sukkahs. Sukkahs pop up on apartment balconies and in driveways (presumably by agreement with the tenants who can now not get to their parking spots).  There was a large open-air market where every stall sold pretty much the same thing: the etrog (a citrus like a lemon) and the makings for a lulav (palm, willow, and myrtle). A few stalls sold twinkle lights, decorations, extension cords, and other necessities.

Sharing a meal with friends and family in the sukkah is a big part of the holiday, perhaps the most important. In the rabbi's sermon, he mentioned that Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (and the days in between) are so much about introspection and reflection. Sukkot is a good time to turn outwards again.

G&A with the decorations
for the sukkah.

Decorating the sukkah is a big deal for kids. On Sunday, Helen went to Kfar Saba with her art teacher to help run a station at their congregation's community sukkah-making-decorations party. That same afternoon, Gabi and Alice were leant out to new friends who sat in front of us at YK services to decorate their sukkah (all their children are grown and out of the house). G&A had a blast getting to do it all by themselves. There was a box of shiny 3-D decorations (made in China, of course) to assemble and hang up, and they made a paper chain to go around the entire booth. They also hung the twinkle lights and made beautiful tissue paper flowers. Parallels with decorating a Christmas tree were obvious...

The open air market selling sukkot supplies.

anyone want to buy some decorations?

There are two "holiday" meals during that first 24 hours of sukkot: Sunday night after sundown and Monday lunch. Sunday night, the seven of us joined a family of eight in their sukkah. We had inches to squeeze in and out of our chairs. Our wonderful hosts were a modern Orthodox family with six kids, ages 1 to 16. Josh and I met the mom at a house concert a little more than a week ago. A ten-minute conversation after the concert resulted in an invite for the seven of us to come for sukkot. Extremely generous. There were a lot of prayers in Hebrew, a ritual washing of hands (with its own blessing), a massive multi-course meal, and grace after meal. We got home very late, after eating for a few hours. Today, we went to lunch at the home of the family who borrowed G&A to decorate their sukkah. We spent 3.5 hours celebrating with them and their wonderful food.A little less Hebrew but essentially the same structure.

So. Much. Food.

Comparing our Israel Yom Kippur experience with what we're used to

So, Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the Jewish year. In Israel, where Orthodox Jews hold considerable influence over policy (if you've dug into Israeli politics recently, you have a sense of it), the country shuts down all commerce, including all public transportation. I thought I would catalog our day, comparing it with a normal YK experience in our Ohio Jewish existence.

Erev Yom Kippur (the day that holds the sundown that starts YK)
Morning and Afternoon
Israel: We have been adopted by the Ra'anana Masorti Congregation Amitai, and have gone to enough services that we run into people we know around town. It's nice to have a community.

Our challah looked
similar to this. on the
High Holy Days,
challot are typically
round to represent the
cycle of life (and other
interpretations abound).

On Erev Yom Kippur, kids don't have school and get to sleep in. Josh and I went out around 9am to snag one of the last round challahs from a bakery and went to two grocery stores looking for chicken to cook for dinner. It was busy out with people running their last errands. At 2pm, Josh quickly took our pasta salad offering for the break fast potluck over to the host so that tomorrow we can go straight there from the last YK services, more than 24 hours away. Now at 3:33pm, there's barely any traffic on the streets. We got a text from the twins' school that kids are meeting with their bikes and scooters at 1900 tonight to ride the streets (this is a thing in Israel. Since there's no cars on the streets, it's taken over by bikes).

USA: Josh and I would work full days and the kids would go to school. Round challah only if I had time to make it or time to drive to Lakewood to pick one up. Nothing is different around us. No worries finding chicken to cook for dinner. Girls' after school activities would continue as usual. I'm glad we're in Israel this year because YK eve is on a Tuesday, which means it might conflict with a 4:30pm conservatory faculty meeting, which it does...

Evening
Israel: We have a dinner that we hope will sustain us for more than 24 hours. Protein. Fat. We go to services that start at 5:45pm with the Kol Nidre portion starting at 6:15. At services, there is assigned seating. We are in row 26. There are six (??) chairs labeled J.Levy. Turns out we were surrounded by Americans, which was kinda nice. This congregation has lots of Brazilians and Americans.

We were told that kids don't dress up, but they definitely did. But at least our girls were comfortable. Lots of little girls in white princess dresses. Lots of women either in all white or a white top. Men in white shirts tucked into white pants with white sneakers. The rabbi and chazzan in white tunics and white pants. So much white. I knew white was the traditional color to wear, but really didn't put it together what it looks like when the overwhelming majority of people wear white. We don't bring any leather with us (tennis shoes or crocs, no belts, cloth bags).

Services are long, as expected: three hours. One difference is that Kol Nidre is sung three times, and the melody was embellished more each time to be louder and higher. Three different people came up to hold the three torahs during each recitation. Torahs were wearing white, too. Avinu Malkeinu was again intense, but not quite as intense as it was on Rosh HaShanah, when the rabbi was almost shouting it in his fervor. The sermon was the longest I have heard, and I'm up to understanding 20-25% of the words. (Not enough to have a clue....) For the first time, there's no visible clock, so you lose track of time. This is the third space we have worshipped in with this community. For YK, they rent a school gymnasium and expect about 250 people. Their normal space holds about 50 and the other space about 70.

We walk home (about a 20 minute walk), enjoying the freedom to walk in the middle of the street. Kids are zooming around on bikes and scooters. Little kids are learning to ride bikes. G&A are running down the middle of the streets. People are hanging out in their all white, and you see a variety of traditions/approaches to all white. We get home around 9pm.

USA: We either have a nice dinner or chow down some leftovers depending on how busy life is after work. We get a babysitter, then drive 35 minutes to our temple for Kol Nidre services. During services, we will hear Kol Nidre sung by the cantor we hire for the high holidays and we will also hear it played on the viola (sometimes cello). Torahs are wearing white. People are dressed up for the most part. Lots of dark suits. We don't bring any leather with us (tennis shoes and cloth bags). We will get home late--around 10pm, maybe 10:30pm.

Yom Kippur
Morning

deserted streets on
our walk home from
morning services

Israel: No school for kids. All places of work are shut down except for emergency services. Services start at 8:30am, but we don't wake up until 7:50. We planned to arrive around 9:00, hoping that it won't be too crowded yet. We actually arrive around 9:30. I'm glad we didn't get there any earlier because we brought the total number of daveners (prayers) up to 20. Lots of white clothes again today, but not nearly as overwhelming as it had been last night.

There about 50 by time the Torah service started at 10:30 and it might have hit 75 at the peak. We've decided to let the girls bring a backpack of activities if they want to step out and color or read for a bit. They made it for about an hour before they went outside to amuse themselves. Helen accepted the honor of opening and closing the ark, and Josh performed his Levite duties with good humor (twice witnessing the hand washing of the Kohanim and doing the second aliyah). Services ended at 1:00, a full hour earlier than expected. We had a really nice walk back to our apartment with the people sitting in front of us. We'll be at home for a little less than three hours before heading back for more.

USA: Luckily for Jan, there are no classes on YK. Hopefully no one will schedule important meetings or school open houses today, but in all honesty, every year Jan has to miss something, whether it's a conservatory faculty council meeting, the girls' open house, or other faculty meeting. Josh is not as lucky and has to remember to put in for a vacation day. The girls can choose to go to school or come to services with us.  We drive 35 minutes to services, which start at 10:00am, and we usually leave around 1:00pm to come home and relax.

Evening
Israel: We return for the last two services a little before 5 (about 45 minutes late). We ditch Gabi and Alice before entering the gym because there is Ruach--a youth movement that has programming they enjoy (Helen's not sure she enjoys it, so she stayed with us tonight). Services are timed to end with sundown, the official moment when YK is over. The room gets really full again, because everyone wants to hear the shofar that marks the end of the High Holy Days.

The end of services were quite special. Admittedly, we don't stay for full services in our Cleveland home, so we have nothing to compare it to. But, services concluded with Havdallah, one of my very favorite Jewish rituals. Parents made a covered walkway with their tallit and all the Ruach kids (about 60 of them) walked in and filled the area around the bimah. We turned out all the lights (it was dark outside) and we sang a lot of wonderful tunes. It was loud, heartfelt, and loving. Then they blew the shofars--one long blast each. Once the first had been going for 10ish seconds, the second one started. It was really cool to hear two simultaneously (and they

Ahuza St, the busiest
near our house, on our
way to evening
services.

coincided in an out-of-tune tritone that was quite beautiful). Both went through a few different partials and were beautifully blown by the rabbi and chazzan.

Afterwards everyone pulled out little snacks and bottles of water to break the fast. Chairs got stacked up and the gym started to return to its original state. Then we walked to the fantastic break fast potluck we were invited to. Havdallah marks that boundary between sacred time and secular time. We felt that strongly and with sadness as we walked outside to sadly discover cars being driven on the streets again. No more walking in the middle of the street....

USA: We break fast at a normal dinner hour, often with a big holiday meal that Josh has time to prepare that afternoon, and we share it with Jewish and non-Jewish friends. In fact, we might have something nicer than pasta or chicken since food is so much cheaper in Ohio.

===
Overall, this was a really great experience for me. My feet are tired because there is so much more standing during services here than at home. Thank goodness I was wearing sneakers. We also attended almost 10 hours of services while fasting. So many prayers are said multiple times during each service that things really started to blend together. That was a little wonky. I really loved the end of services and the sense of community.

The Chaggim, Part 2 -- Why We Wear Sneakers to Shul

Yom Kippur has just ended, which means that my belly is totally crammed full of food.  But beyond fasting, there's more to this holiday.

Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the Jewish year.  It can be summed up as follows:

• What Jews do on Yom Kippur:  pray
• What Jews don't do on Yom Kippur:  everything else

It's the 25 hour period when Jews spend much time in synagogue, praying and repenting for their sins over the past 364 days.  The story goes that on Rosh Hashanah, God opens three books.  One is the Book of Life -- it's for people whose deeds have been good.  Another is the Book of Death -- it's for people whose deeds haven't been good and who are, in theory, not going to make it another year.  The third is kind of a liturgical limbo -- if you've not been good or bad, you're here.  On Yom Kippur, after 10 days of repentance and accounting for your sins, God seals everyone's name in the appropriate book.  It's sort of grim to think about it this way.

The highlight of Yom Kippur, for me, is Kol Nidrei.  This prayer (actually, it's a recitation and not a prayer) was popularized by Max Bruch's orchestral version for cello and orchestra.  Personally, I prefer solo cello; solo viola is also quite good.  But many congregations don't use instruments.  It's up to the Chazan (cantor) to make Kol Nidrei inspiring.  The traditional Ashkenazi (eastern European) tune is like this; it is similar to the orchestral tune.  Since we're attending a Sephardi (Spanish) synagogue, I was hoping for something like this (a Moroccan tune) or like this (a Middle Eastern tune).  Alas, it wasn't to be, but it was special.

There are all sorts of differences between Yom Kippur here and Yom Kippur at home.  For me, the biggest are:

• Yom Kippur here is for casual dress.  My long sleeve button down and khakis are almost overdressed.  Many people wear white exclusively.
• One of the prohibitions is against wearing leather.  It was considered a luxury and that's a no-no.  So people wore canvas shoes.  Crocs are popular in some circles.  Other people are barefoot.
• Yom Kippur is a social occasion.  While the Rabbi and Chazan are leading the service, there are at least half a dozen conversations happening.
• Yom Kippur is a time to be seen and then leave -- some families showed up today for 30 minutes (or less) and then left.

But the biggest difference is that no one drives, unless in an absolute emergency, from sundown until sundown.  The streets are empty, which allows for lots of bike and scooter riding and for families to stroll down the middle of the street.  As Alice said, "I love running in the middle of the street.  We can't do this at home."  To leave services and see the streets filled with people, many dressed in white, is special and completely different from what we experience at home.

The traditional greeting for Yom Kippur is גמר חתימה טיבה (g'mar chatimah tovah; May you be sealed in the Book of Life).  For all of you who celebrate, may this be the case.

Revenge of the Levites

If you're a regular reader of the blog, you'll no doubt remember the August 31 post entitled "Five Reform Jews Walk Into a Conservative Synagogue in Ra'anana..."  It was our first time in the synagogue and I ended up having the second aliyah that day, in my role as a Levite.

Fast forward to today.  Jan and I go to services, arriving promptly at 9:30 for the 8:30 start.  There were probably 25 or so people there.  Not too bad.  To our surprise, they were already in the middle of the Torah service -- a little earlier than we expected.  And they're on the second aliyah, yes the one for the Levite.  Someone else was having the aliyah -- whew!  Moritz approaches the gentleman behind us for the fourth aliyah (of seven) and then tells us -- both of us -- that we'll be after him.  So our turn comes and Moritz says "יעמדו חמישי, משפחת לוי ("ya'amdu ha'chamishi, mishpachat Levy -- Come on down for the fifth [aliyah], Levy family").  Imagine Bob Barker and the Price is Right.  But much less cheering when your name is called.

You'd have thought that the College of Cardinals had sent up plumes of white smoke, announced "habemus Papam," and introduced the Chief Rabbi of Israel as the new Pope.  Or perhaps, somewhat closer to home, you'd have thought that the Republicans and Democrats said, "Enough with all of our bickering -- let's work together."

The uproar that resulted from those four simple words was astounding.  No, never, under no circumstances is a Levite allowed to have an aliyah other than the second.

So what happened?  Jan had her first solo aliyah.  And I was asked to lift the Torah after we were done reading it so that a young man (probably studying for his bar mitzvah) could dress it.  Not too bad for a consolation prize.

The best part:

The kiddush after services is top notch here.  Today we were presented with two alcohols to choose from: Jack Daniels and cachaca, a Brazilian rum.  Or as the rabbi called it, "firewater".

שיעורי בית a.k.a Homework

first day of school

So there are all sorts of new things with having Gabi and Alice in the public schools. First, there was the choice--not a hard choice for us--but the choice between secular and religious schools. I don't know what the school day is like for a religious school, but for the secular school, the day starts at 8am and ends sometime between 11:50 and 12:45 (it is different every day). Teachers have one day a week off, and school meets from יום רישון ("the first day") through יום שישי ("the sixth day"). And on the seventh day we rest, I kid you not. They go to school from Sunday through Friday. Classrooms are often left unattended and it's LOUD. Lots of shouting. There are two fourth-grade classes of about 27 students each.

Their days are shorter than in America and they get two recesses during that time. They have music once a week, art once a week, and physical education three days a week. The core subjects are English, Hebrew, Science, Geometry, and Mathematics. The public school we placed them in has ulpan, which is Hebrew class for non-Hebrew speakers. There are 45 ulpan students in this 1st-through-6th grade school, with English (North American and South African) and Russian being the most common first languages. They are pulled for eight hours a week (during Science), mostly to work in workbooks and on the computers.

Because our apartment is small and we both need to work past 1pm, we signed them up to stay after school for tzaharon, even though they are on the old side for this program. They feed them a heavy lunch that they love (lunch is the main meal of the day here), and have both structured and unstructured time until 4:30, when we pick them up. They are playing lots of כדורגל ("soccer").

a page of geometry homework

They don't get a lot of homework, but when they do, we do it (I think it's optional and parents have been encouraged not to force it and not to help). Here's our process:

(1) they give me their workbook -- each had about $120 of books to buy.
(2) I type the directions into google translate.
(3) we slowly work our way through it.
[I know parents are encouraged not to help, but this is more of a Hebrew/cultural learning task than anything else. We now know the names of the polygons, words for diagonals, vertexes, sides, and angles...]

Sounds easy, right? Nope. First off, there's the typing. I've worked hard at learning how to touch-type on a Hebrew keyboard. I'm up to 23 wpm, which is not bad. But Hebrew, like English, is pretty hilarious if you mistype a letter. So, first I have to squint at the print (or get the book a perfect distance away for my glasses to see clearly), then touch type, then look at the translation, then try to find my typos, then try to translate the translation. Google Translate is a godsend, but it is far from perfect. Then there's the fact that every third question is: explain why. We are learning how to express ourselves with lots מילים קטנים ("little words"), which is frustrating for our aptly named Gabi. The one time I got really stuck, I facebooked Josh's (our) friend Mort, who has done so many kind things to help us with this transition. He helped me figure out that they were looking for representation in something akin to scientific notation... (math, not geometry).

All part of our adventure! I know our Hebrew will get better and that it won't take as long to do the homework as our time here progresses. It sure will be nice, though, to do homework in our native language.

Here are some examples of translation fun courtesy of my typos and Google Translate's algorithms.

some cute typos in here 

Believe it or not, this was the result after no typos. Essentially, there was grid paper and two line segments already drawn for three examples. They needed to figure out which one of the three examples couldn't be completed into a rectangle.