Rabbi's Blog

Dear OZ family,

Today’s a real hot one. It gets down to about 37 degrees at night. Unfortunately that’s Celsius.

We took some grandchildren to a trampoline gym in Netanya. Outside of Kiryat Sanz, Netanya is not a particularly observant city, and the place has Shabbos hours. Yet the front door has a Mezuzah and the bathrooms have Netilat Yadayim cups.

We also went to the Netanya museum. We walked there and took Shaul Hamelech St. to Shlomo Hamelech St. to Dovid Hamelech St.and took a turn to McDonald Ave. where the museum is.

The museum has some interesting Netanya facts, such as the origin of the name of the city. It is named after an American benefactor who donated money to establish the city in the 1920’s. This man was supposed to be on the Titanic with his brother,  some years before, and instead was already displaying his philanthropic works for pre-State Israel on a trip there. His name is Nathan Strauss of department store fame.

The city quickly established its first shul which accommodated a mixture of Jews from many backgrounds and minhagim, altogether, as a harbinger of what continues to be true about this great city, where Jews of all stripes and types get along very well side by side.

The museum also has a picture of one of the first buses that was sent to bring supplies and support for the besieged Jews of Jerusalem. A woman who took this trip from Netanya was killed the day before she was set to marry. She had intended to return after delivering the supplies but never made it. Her name was Shoshana Tahareni Mizrachi. May her memory be a blessing.

Alisa joins me in wishing everyone Shabbat Shalom. Stay well and healthy.

Rabbi Schwartz