Elena Druk in Israel

This is my granddaughter Elena Druk. The photo was taken in a kibbutz near the Sea of Galilee in Israel in 2001. My granddaughter is like me. In June she will turn 18. About the time when Latvia became independent, the first Jewish school was established in Riga. Lena attended the Jewish school. She is in Israel now ? she went under the program ?Alle.? She doesn?t want to leave Israel. She likes it there so much, in spite of the fighting. Her paternal grandfather and grandmother live in Krustpils. They are Jews. In our family ? my wife and me, my daughter's husband and parents ? all are pure-blooded Jews from far back in history. We have never had such a thing as ?friendship of the peoples? [mixed marriages] in our family! We once received a letter from Elena's school criticizing her for talking Russian at a Hebrew lesson. Once she and other girls did another bad thing - left the camp without permission. She lives in a kibbutz in Kineret area. The place is quiet. A very beautiful place, one of the most beautiful places in Israel. But the country as a whole is in turmoil. And there is no end to that. The parents of my son-in-law would have liked to leave, but the condition of their health does not permit it. Lena invites us to visit her - she will act as a host to us! Well, her good feature is to never tell lies, always say the truth, as it is. If anything is wrong, or there's something with her friends, she will put it all down in her letters, absolutely all of it. Last year I frequently wrote her. In Russian, of course, she does not understand Yiddish.