Israel 1951 (courtesy of Air France)

I caught this on lifeinisrael.blogspot.com. The blog is one I read daily, but the video is priceless. It comes from a time when Israel was surrounded by enemies and life was harsh. What is interesting is that there is no "internal" conflict. Everywhere, Jews, Druze, Christians and Arabs work together to build the land. It is sad that we have lost this spirit of cooperation. The Christians are almost gone from the West Bank and remain and very small percentage of Israel proper.

If you listen carefully, you can tell where the boarder is. Bethlehem is referenced as a small town in the distance that cannot be visited because it is in Jordan.

Watch this with you family on Yom Haatzmaut. What a picture it paints!

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A change of pace (Kidney Failure)

I have been trying to keep this blog focused on hospitality and food. God though has other plans for his creations and I find now that I will have to expand the scope to cover new topics. I'll try to continue blogging about my menus and our guests, but expect more posts that have little or nothing to do with food. In February of this year, My second oldest son, Asaf was diagnosed with Chronic Renal Failure. Simply put, both his kidneys are damaged and scarred from some infection or defect that happened years ago. They will likely cease to function sometime within the next six months. The good news is that there is no immediate danger to his life. Kidney Dialysis is a viable option and can maintain his health for up to ten or more years if necessary. Unfortunately, the process is not easy and there are potential side effects. Given Asaf's generally excellent health and age, Kidney Dialysis is considered only a stop-gap measure and not a long term solution. The best solutio

B"DE Clark Evenchick

B"DE = Baruch Dayan Emet, Blessed is the truthful judge. This is the traditional jewish response to hearing that someone has passed away. My friend Clark Evenchick passed away last night. He suffered for a number of years from ALS. His passing is both a loss and a blessing. We will miss his wit and his powerful presence. On the other hand, ALS is a terrible disease for both the patient and their family. As the body becomes less responsive, the family and caregivers need to spend more and more time providing physical and mental support. Clark's passing frees both himself and his family from this disease. Clark built our house. At one time, he ran a construction company. Clark was not only an honest contractor, but also a joy to work with. At a time when most houses took up to two years from ground breaking to residence, Clark built our house in 7 months. Whenever there was a problem, we were more than comfortable telling him to find his own solution. I believe that

TX +2 days

The transplant was on Monday afternoon. As I write this, its Wednesday afternoon. Call it 48 hours since my son received his new kidney. My wife and I are taking shifts at the hospital. She had the first night, I had the second. Tonight is her turn again. I just got back from the hospital and that's why there have been no posts. There is no Internet in the transplant ward. Medically, my Asaf is doing VERY well (as is the donor). When we went in, Asaf's creatinine level was about 6.4 mg/dL (GFR: 12). It means that his kidney was pretty much not doing anything. Today, we got the latest results. His new creatinine is 2.03 mg/dL (GFR: 46). That's better than my own and almost in the normal range (0.9 - 1.2 mg/dL). Each day its getting better and better. What this means is that his new kidney is working! He is able to eat a normal meal and is no longer on a restricted diet for kidney disease. This is great news! Our next hurdle is to make sure that his body does not reject the n

Weekend Hospitality

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