Third weekend

Third Weekend-
Saturday-
Today was a lovely day in The Hague. Sunny skies, mid 70’s, what more can you ask for. We went to shul and was nice to see more people there. There were at least 20 men, which to a small community is great. What is so nice about this shul is every shabbos after services, there is a small sit-down Kiddush. Usually there is just cake, coffee and tea, but gives you the opportunity to meet and interact with many members of the community. On this shabbos we met two elderly women and they were so happy to hear young people had moved in, even if for a temporary period.

After the Kiddush we went to the Rabbi’s house for lunch. The Rabbi and his wife were so nice and the food was wonderful. This particular day in the Netherlands was Veterans Day. As we were eating lunch we heard ramblings of planes and helicopters, the kids ran outside and were mesmerized to see military helicopters and planes in the air. There must have been an air show going on. We kept hearing noises so then we all went outside to watch. It was very neat, to see multiple planes flying in formation. The rabbi told us some lovely stories and as he is from Brooklyn and most everyone here speaks English he told them in English, which was great. We had a really lovely time which made for a great shabbos. As shabbos didn’t end until 11:30 pm, was a long afternoon of reading multiple books and taking a long nap. Scott left for shul at 10:00 and as we have become accustomed to didn’t get home until after midnight.

Sunday was a really great and busy day. We started off the day by going to the shul to help them prepare for a community wide bbq that was taking place. We helped to cut vegetables and fruit, all of which were of amazing quality and taste. Yes we sampled some. Then the bbq started. We met various other members of the community, many of which were Israelis. At the bbq you would have been confused where you were, as Hebrew and Dutch where being spoken side by side. Then out of the corner of my ear, I could swear I hear two guys who sounded like they were American. I turn to the younger one, as I said “Are you American?” He said yes been traveling across Europe for few months and decided to come to The Hague to sample some herring, which I hear you can’t miss and attend the music festival. He said he didn’t know a sole here and didn’t even know there were Jews in The Hague. He was walking down the street and randomly heard some kid call abba, he went over and asked if they were Jewish and long story short, the man he ran into was a fellow American from Chicago who lives here now, who was on his way with his kids to the bbq. He brought this guy with him to the bbq and that’s where we met. We told the guy we were from Teaneck and he said me to and then he asked where in Teaneck and we said Country Club, and he said me to. We literally met someone who is from our community at home. He was so nice, offered us to come to come to his parents house when we return. Shout out to Aaron Muller who confirms how small this Jewish world really is. We will see you again in Teaneck.

Then as today again was a beautiful day, we decided to go to the beach at Scheveningen. This is one of the hardest words to pronounce in Dutch. Scott spent all weekend practicing, but still doesn’t roll off our tongues. Interesting to note that during the war Germans, used to ask people to pronounce this word to see if they were Dutch or German. The beach was really nice. Packed with people and tons of activity going on. There is a boardwalk filled with shops, restaurants and arcades. There is bungee jumping, herring booths, activities for children and best of all Ben and Jerry’s, which is kosher. We walked the boardwalk, watched the bungee jumpers and just had a great afternoon. We took the tram there from our apartment which took maybe 15 minutes. It is so great how close we are. Then we came home had some mac and cheese and were tired after a long day.

We took pictures, but they are on Scott's phone, so have to wait until later to upload.