In through the out door part 2

When we left off dear readers, I had survived my Passover shopping trip to Bnei Brak but we still had more items on the list. We were  told to go to Osher Ad -  אושר עד, a supermarket chain that I had never heard of. We were also told that the Ramat Gan store would be best. We decided to go at 11:30 am on a Tuesday because who would be shopping then, I mean people work right?

As we approached the parking lot we realized that no one worked in this country. I was ready for the expected need to fight someone for a spot, but low and behold one opened right in front of us and I got it. Next up , try to find a cart. Normally you go to the entrance and they are lined up. There were none. We had to follow someone to their car, hand them five sheckels ( in place of theirs) and then go to the store. We encountered people just giving up and not even bothering. Not us we were on a mission.

As we walked in we found one of the most elusive items on our list, a bedikat chametz set. Surprisingly, up until now we were not able to find one but here it was right at the front door. I took it as an omen that this was a good place.

It was. Besides having all that we needed, the items that were kitniot were clearly marked. This made things easier shopping wise but also convinced me that one day we will need to give up this silly custom. The only thing that we could not find and did not find in any store were macaroons. They had plenty of great looking Kitniot ones but none that we could eat. We will know to bring from the states next year.

We were done. We had everything except wine and produce. We went to check out. That is where I saw a  sea of humanity that reminded me of waiting all night for David Bowie tickets at Madison Square Garden in 1983. That ended with police on horses. I wasn't sure how this was going to end. If you have had experience waiting on any line in Israel you know what I mean. See Israeli's think it is stupid to wait on line so they all try to cut. I was not looking forward to this.

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Each line at the twenty registers went back all the way into the aisles. The smart ones sent their kids or spouses on line first and just brought stuff to fill the baskets. We were there for 40 minutes. I expected the typical pushing , arguing etc.. but instead I made friends. There was no pushing or screaming as everyone was resigned to their fate of waiting almost an hour to pay.

I met a boy who is having his bar mitzvah this week. His mother was from Chicago and he was a Bulls fan. I also met a new father who bemoaned the fact that his Baal Teshuvah father, who speaks 5 languages, did not want his kids speaking anything but Hebrew. He learned English from TV and it was quite good. Then there were the brothers that had two carts, one in each aisle. At first I thought they were holding two spots so they can take the better of the two when the time came. Oh how much I need to learn. They kept two so that two people would be working on their items at check out. Very Smart.

All we need was wine. I had gotten an email from Covenant wine a week ago that said they were doing tastings in Tel Aviv so I contacted them and we set it up.

We met with Zoe Morgan, who is the daughter of the owners of Covenant. She was in a great apartment in Tel Aviv, near Neve Tzdek, with a sea view that Covenant has set up for tastings. She put out cheese , olive oil and fresh bread. She spent an hour opening and discussing five of their Israeli made wines. We bought a case and were on our way.

Stayed tuned for part 3 where I will discuss my refrigerator blowing up the day before the Seder and what you must do to get a same day refrigerator in Israel.