Family Affair / The Gilrons By Avner Avrahami and Reli Avrahami Be'er Sheva The cast: Jack (54), Amy (52), Roi (23), Miriam (21), Yishai (16). Gilron: A combination name: Jack was once Gilberg, Amy was once Robbins. Advertisement The home: Old City (near Southern Command), with land (625 square meters), originally a "Swedish hut" (from the 1960s). They live in 100 square meters of house after expansion, renovation and facing in decorative stone. In the front is creeping ivy and all around is a blossoming garden. The garden: Desert style, rich in cacti, various plants and riverbed pebbles ("We collected them on Fridays"). Real estate history: They entered in 1995 ("on the eve of Yom Kippur") after living in Haifa and Rehovot ("We kept moving south"). Be'er Sheva: They came "mostly because of TALI [educational program that reinforces Judaism studies]," Jack says. "We have it good here," Amy says. Rainy Friday: Jack, wearing an Indiana Jones hat and riding a bike, arrives from the market carrying bags from which parsley peeks out. We enter a busy space and encounter a carrot cake and the aroma of a wood stove ("Friends call to say that a tree has been cut down in the city and we come with a saw"). Interior division: Through the entrance is a large space that includes a living room, a large dining table, a small dining table, a white Formica kitchen, a piano and a work corner (Amy's), which is defined by bookshelves. On the left, on the entresol (three steps up) are three rooms: one for work (Jack's) with a large library (partly filled with sacred books), one for Yishai (all blue), and the third the master bedroom with a closet in an alcove (undergoing renovation). On the other side of the house is Miriam's room, which contains books by Yoram Kaniuk, Amir Gutfreund and Pinhas Sadeh, which she is about to read. Back to the living room. The living room: The L-shaped sofa, covered with green upholstery, is made of butcher-block oak and was built by Amy - as is all the furniture in the house. Her large and small works fill the space. Small works: A Noah's ark, candlesticks, tops, a calendar to count the days of the Omer (between Pesach and Shavuot), and pictures made of wood mosaic (a technique she developed). Livelihoods: Jack is a senior researcher at the Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Be'er Sheva. He has a Ph.D. in chemical engineering (from the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa) and is now engaged in "membrane treatment of water" (as part of desalination technology). He works in a laboratory near City Hall, getting to work on a "fourth-hand" bicycle which, he says, is practical, because no one steals it. Officially, he works 5 1/2 days a week, but in practice he stays on a lot longer and sometimes shows up on Saturday evening, too ("We don't punch a time card at the university"). The water from the faucet: "You can drink the water with no risk," he says. The water provided by the national water company, Mekorot, he notes, undergoes regular laboratory tests at a standard that is sometimes higher than the conventional Western level. By 2020, we will no longer be dependent on the level of Lake Kinneret, he says, describing the vision of the Water Commission. The desalination facility in Ashkelon is the largest in the world, he relates. Amy: A carpenter, she has a workshop at Kiryat Yehudit ("next to the army's Natan Camp"), where she mainly makes Judaica objects, such as Torah cases, boxes to hold scrolls, candlesticks and so forth. She also has an Internet site (www.etz-ron.com - in English) which, she says, draws hundreds of visitors a day, where she publicizes and sells her work. She works from 8-5 in the studio, getting there by bike or van (1998 Citroen Berlingo). In the evening she is on the Web, at home. She is also responsible for the garden, including the production of compost from organic waste and sawdust. Roi: Second-year political science at Brandeis University in Boston. He is currently home on vacation (he initiated the family portrait from abroad). He has scholarships ("a degree costs $170,000), has a free room in the dorms ("I am in charge of my floor") and is in charge of the students, sees autumn leaves outside the window and many budding love affairs. The creators of the television series "Friends" came from that same campus, he says. To make a living, he "teaches Shoah" in seventh grade (in Jewish schools), is a tutorial assistant in Hebrew in university courses and works in a NASA lab. NASA: He is participating in a study of behavior in conditions of weightlessness. He went to the States to study immediately after his army service (in the Paratroops commando unit). Miriam: Post-army (since July), she has done her psychometric exam and is waiting to start university. She did her army service in the Nahal paramilitary brigade and was part of a garin ("core group") at Kibbutz Ketura in the Arava (affiliated with the Noam, a Conservative youth movement), where she worked in the barn, and was a combat medic in a mixed-gender, routine-security unit. During the disengagement she helped evacuate the settlement of Netzarim ("It was hard") and then helped youths in distress in Haifa ("the most eye-opening thing in my life"). She wants to study medicine and in the meantime is working at the archaeological site of Beit Guvrin as a tourist guide (the tourists come to dig) and also prepares boys and girls for bar/bat mitzvah. She teaches them prayers and how to read the Torah ("I started when I was 12"). Near future: She will embark on a walking trek on the Israel Trail, from Eilat to Metula, with Shufi ("a friend from the Nahal"), which will last "from the end of February until the [Pesach] Seder." Yishai: In 10th grade, works in the school's barn ("milking, cleaning, feeding"), likes to read (Asimov, Stephen King, Meir Shalev), also writes, plays the piano (classical, jazz), likes to listen to Shotei Hanevua and the Beatles, but doesn't go to the Forum (an "in" club): "Rumor has it that there is a lot of smoke there and that it's crowded." He is a counselor for kids in Noam ("It's like the Scouts, only without the tent poles"). Jack's bio: Born in Toledo, Ohio, 1952, grew up in the town of Fostoria. His parents, who belonged to the Conservative movement in Judaism, had a clothing store. He remembers his childhood as being happy. Conservative orientation: "The maximum number of commandments, taking into account the changing historical circumstances" (Jack). On a daily basis he wears a hat rather than a skullcap, in order not to be identified with any stream. He drives on Shabbat, but only to outings, not to work. His political orientation is center-left. Bio (cont.): He attended Brandeis for (chemistry and Jewish studies) and did his junior year abroad in Jerusalem (at the Hebrew University). He came to Israel as a volunteer after the Yom Kippur War (to the Sha'ar Hanegev region), returned to the States, did a graduate degree at Cornell University, went to work for Nelco, a water-treatment company - and was sent to Chicago, where he met Amy (1980). Amy's bio: Chicago-born, also to a Conservative family. Her father was an insurance agent; her mother helped in the business. She studied at the University of Illinois - sciences, art, sociology, Hebrew, etc. In 1972, she was a volunteer on Kibbutz Rosh Hanikra (not far from the Lebanon border), working in the landscaping unit. She then went home, graduated and went to Norway to study carpentry. Carpentry: "I had dreamed of it since I was 16. I wanted to do something practical in life." Norway: "My sister told me about it." For two years she studied how to build furniture, but didn't get a diploma, because they insisted that she take a course with teenage boys ("I already had a B.A."). She came to Israel, worked in the carpentry workshop of Kibbutz Ein Shemer (toys for kibbutz children's houses) and in a Jerusalem carpentry shop ("belonging to Bar-On, who later made the furniture for the Supreme Court"). She then returned to America (after four years of wandering), and met Jack. The meeting: Chicago, the folk-dance club at Northwestern University. Jack, a young researcher, was working for Nelco; Amy was a carpenter. He was an experienced dancer, she was a novice. When he volunteered to teach her ("something Balkan"), she was very impressed by his agility. Afterward they went for ice cream and discovered that they both had an Israeli past. The wedding: Chicago, January 4, 1981, a cold day ("It was minus 30 degrees"), in the Rogers Park synagogue, Jewish music, 50 kilograms of salmon and ballroom dancing (waltzes, tangos), along with an ethnic performance by a dance troupe. Immigration: Summer of 1982, after a bicycle trip through Europe and a month of work on a Norwegian farm. Their route to Israel took them through Greece, where they were delayed a bit, because the ferry on which they planned to sail to Haifa was taken to Beirut to evacuate Yasser Arafat. Household chores: Jack goes to the market and washes the floor ("Friday, wet rag"). Amy ("I don't have a cleaning lady") is responsible for cooking, shopping (in a supermarket) and gardening. Miriam helps with the baking (cakes) and cooking (soups), and also credits herself with inventing a marinade. Main meal: Always in the evening, and consisting of soup, spaghetti, sometimes meat, "and there is a shakshuka day," referring to a North African-style omelet made with tomato sauce. In the morning they eat oatmeal. Sabbath eve: After the Kiddush, Jack reads from the works of Sholem Aleichem and recites "the blessing of the children and the wife." Miriam lights the candles. Television: Not on their agenda. Belief: Jack believes, Amy's not sure, Roi believes "in the value of belief," Miriam believes "but not in a great father in the sky," Yishai "sometimes." Reward and punishment?: "Definitely not" (everyone). Jack thinks, in this connection, that "one commandment leads to another." Future place of residence: Only in Israel. Miriam is unsure whether it will be the Arava, Galilee or the Judean Hills. Roi says maybe the Arava, Jack and Amy say "anything is possible." Dreams: Jack and Amy - peace; Miriam - "To live up to my potential, to help people, to travel to Brazil"; Yishai - "Maybe I'll be a writer"; Roi - "For love to find me." Happiness quotient (scale of 1-10): Jack and Amy - 8; Roi - 9.5: Miriam - 9, Yishai - 7.5.

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