Game 1 - Kiddush Club League

Our Kiddush Club Over 30 league kicked off last night. I was/am really excited about this season. Our team is me, Ari, my dad, Ari H., Moro, Dani G., Shaya, Tzvi, and Yair S. Solid Lineup. We had a solid practice on Friday morning which I think was important.

Well, we got to the Bet Shemesh Stadium and heard the familiar sounds of football under the lights. We had a to wait a long time until our game started, which was 25 minutes late. 

The game started, and we were able to prevent a score, with solid zone defense. They tested me deep at safety one time, I knocked it away and the player fell down (good no call), and that was the last time they tested me deep. 

We got the ball, Ari threw to me on a first play slant that went about 20 yards. In business. Then Ari on a broken play found Moro in the end zone for our first score of the year. We missed the conversion. 

On defense, our speedster Tzvi got a beautiful Safety. There we were flying high, up 8-0. But then – a pass Moro couldn’t quite hold bounced up to the defender who took it in for 6 points.

Our offense stalled a little bit after that. We tried different things to break out of it, which started to work, like handing it off, or double snapping to Ari and Moro. Tzvi took a short pass all the way, and somehow avoided a swatting penalty as he brought it in. We threw a deep touchdown that I caught contested over the defense but it was called back for a bs penalty on my snapper.

The lights would become an issue, and they cut our game short. We gave up a touchdown where our zone coverage broke down after an ample amount of time to sack the QB, which was an issue all game, and somehow all their guys were wide open. They got the 2 point conversion to take the 7 point lead, and due to the clock issues with the lights, we were told we had 47 seconds left. 

We had a couple of short passes, and then with only 18 seconds left on the clock, it was time for a play Ari and I have played since 9th grade. The down-out-and-up. It worked to perfection, with me stopping right in front of the defender to haul in the touchdown with 12 seconds left, down 1. And then – the decision – do we go for the win or tie?

Dan Campbell would have gone for the win, and so did we. We ran a rainbow pattern with me coming across the middle of the end zone and the defender 3 steps behind me, catching the ball on a slide for the lead. It was an awesome play, we all hugged and embraced, especially me and my QB.

Then the cones were gone, and we agreed that they could start next week with 12 seconds on the clock, down 1. Hopefully we can hold on. Been thinking about and discussing strategy for these final 12 seconds. 

Was really happy with my shutdown defense and also of course the clutch touchdown and conversion.

All plays are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/KhjebtyRdCQvq4uH6

My highlights are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/GWdgW89vLpgBRk9e7

Barbecuing for soldiers part 2

 Well, I finally had my first week with no BBQ last week, thanks to Shifra's grandfather's shiva. Not to worry, I did 2 this week.

For the previous post of the BBQs, see here for the list of the 10, and here for the crazy day with Uncle Mo that included 2 BBQs, and the one at Erez Crossing.

Vered Yericho - was a fun one, it was at my buddy Joseph's base. I wasn't the lead there, but got to hang out with Alissa, Morey, and Arica on the way there. I played backgammon with one of the soldiers down there, he told me that me doing these bbqs is more valuable than me doing Miluim. 

Reim/Sderot - already wrote about it on the day with Uncle Mo post. 

Tzeilim - my first very big one I led. About 50 volunteers, and for 700 soldiers. Was a really intense one, but I had a lot of good helpers. One thing I didn't love was having to police the soldiers from coming into the eating tent. There was good vibes overall, and I loved that my mom and grandparents came to this one. They loved serving the soldiers and talking to them. 

Navy - my old home base. LOVED being back, and giving tours on the boats. The teenagers we were able to get in loved it, we were able to get them hats. Was a major balagan getting in, betweeen the port security and the base security, and the grilling itself wasnt so comfortable as we were a lot of bbqs on the Ratzif, but boy was it beautiful to be grilling right next to the boats. So glad we made it happen. Learned a lot as a team lead on this one. 

Alumim - wow I love Alumim, we used to stay there once in a while for shabbat. THis was a small grill, with my grandparents, the Altmans, and two other people, and then 20 senior girls from Boca plus a few seminary girls came. They were helpful until the first soldier came, and then they were gone. THey did a Tish inside with the soldiers. My Bubby was able to be in charge inside which was great, and my Zayde manned a grill. 

Alumim X2 - The next week, we were back, but only with the dream team. Was really good. Don't need more than the 5 of us for a small grill. We also had Mayer Malik, who is a musician that brings such joy and dancing to the soldiers. And also, right after we unloaded the van, we had the craziest plague of hail I have ever seen, and 3 minutes later, it was sunny again.

Masha Erez - A fun BBQ we did, where I got to see 3 KY8 boys who were serving. It was also a Bar Mitzvah. We grilled outside the base, and it was a really successful one. We had a DJ which was wonderful too. 

Palmachim - we grilled for drone operators. First they gave us a whole tour of the drones, and a quick view of the helicopters. Then they took us inside the "Bor" and showed us footage from October 7th, while sharing the dilemmas. Was really cool to see and hear. The bases with tours are the best. 

Tel Nof - This one wasn't the most fun. It was uncomfortable for some of the volunteers, and I was overruled many times as the team lead. But overall, the soldiers were very happy and appreciative (even mopre than normal) and ultimately, my job is to make the soldiers happy. 

Julis - This was a BBQ for Maglan, on a break from being in Gaza. I got to serve heroes of Israel. Including the MEMPAY, who was on the fence at Zikim on the 7th (where he lived), drove the terrorsits away or killed them, grabbed a group of guys, and went to clear out terrorists from Kfar Aza. Since then basically, they have been in Gaza. What an honor, even though I was supposed to go to a Shwekey concert that night with Jonah. 

Staying at Pano

So, the tide flipped back this week, as I made a final decision to stay at Pano, and I am excited about it. 

So what on earth happened since here?

A few things. 

On the new place side:

• Some red flags that I overlooked during the interview process kept coming back to surface in my mind
• There was a Director of Revops position at a company that I was much more interested in, and I got automatically rejected. More on that later
• A called me to tell me she had been interviewing to be my boss, every since she was my reference. This was very surprising, because a lot of the reason I was interested in coming to the new place was my boss, who it turned out, was leaving. And the worst part, they told A not to tell me, they wanted to have me join and then let me know.
• Things that A said she noticed as red flags added to the ones I had been feeling (including the CEO not being truthful about my questions)

Anyway while this was happening, Pano threw the door at me, from our CFO, to CEO, to CMO, to VP Sales, and everyone in between, everyone was expressing that they were sad I was leaving and didn't know what they would do. One particular meeting that stands out was an initiatives meeting where 4 separate people from 4 separate projects gave me a shoutout, and told the forum that I was very helpful. 

So I had one company that really wanted me to stay and do right by me, vs a company who I felt was trying to screw me by not giving me all the information. So my next steps were:

1. Tell my boss I was thinking of staying in the end
2. Tell him I had 5 conditions so that we wouldn't be in this same positions 6 months down the line
1. Salary bump
2. Staying on the same team, even though marketing was supposed to be hiring this one
3. Add Revenue to title
4. Learn things from the job description I was automatically rejected from, like Tableau and Netsuite. This would prevent me from being bored, and would help me to continue to develop and grow. I realized the things on the JD that I didnt get, were things I would be able to gain still from Pano
5. No "flag" over my head as a mark of someone who was going to leave

Conversation with CEO and CFO went well. I negotiated that I would stay on my team for 3 months and then move to marketing, but other than that, we were good. I think it may be a good thing anyway, though I could regret agreeing to that later on. 

Anyway, I made the uncomfortable call of telling the new place I wasn't joining, but I wasn't allowed to say that A had told me that P was leaving. It didn't feel good, but it was the right decision, and I now feel refreshed, happy, valued, and developing at Pano. 

A February 29th we will never forget

 We almost lost Meital yesterday, and that is not hyperbole. It was one of the scariest things I have ever felt, yet for most of the time I was happily oblivious. It started off innocently enough, where I was working and Meital was playing happily. I noticed she was playing with a balloon with printing on it that I had brought home from the Panorays evening, but she seemed happy, I was working, and all was good. 

At some point, it was time for her to eat and go to sleep. I tried feeding her the mush that Shifra gave me, but every spoonful made her choke. That was unusual, and I assumed the mush was making her chocke. I quickly gave her a bottle so she wouldn't be hungry, and she fell asleep in her crib. An hour later, she woke up. She was difficult to deal with, especially while working, and so Shifra said she would come home. 

When Shifra came home, she pointed out that I needed to mush up the mush a little more, and that must have been why she was choking. When she continued choking while Shifra was feeding her, Shifra realized there was a problem. She looked and saw something blue in her throat. I was trying to calm her down while her body went into a state of shock while also trying to figure out what to do. Eventually, she drove to Terem with her mum. The doctor reached in with a stick, and pulled out a sticker from the balloon and she had swallowed, and it had been stuck to the top of her throat. He toild us that if we waited a little longer, it would have been too late. Had it fallen down Chas Veshalom, she would have not been able to breathe. 

And only then were we able to appreciate the miracles that took place.

#1 - That the sticker got stuck to the top of her throat for 3 hours, through a nap and 3 feeding attempts

#2 - That Shifra left school and noticed the blue at the top

#3 - That the sticker was a color that was noticeable in her mouth

#4 - That the sticker was the letter Ayin - in cursive, which meant the doctor was able to put the stick through the loop and pull it out swiftly

The head of Terem came out to speak to Shifra, and apparently they want to put out the story without our names. We asked our Rabbi if we say Hagomel, which we don't because she is under Bat Mitzvah. We are trying to figure out a good way to give Hodaya, without alerting the other kids about what could have happened. All I know is I will never forget it. I wrote out Modim Lashem with the rest of the stickers from that balloon and put it on my desk, to remember the miracles every day.

I wouldn't say it was traumatic for me because I was happily oblivious for most of the time, but only after did we realize how scary it actually could have been. We are slowly dealing with our feelings about the whole thing, but above all, we feel tremendous gratitude to Hashem and to Terem.