Back in 1996 it was the year after my father had passed away and my mother spent month in Israel as part of an Elder Hostel. I was in Israel on business. We met up in Jerusalem and my friend Tuvi hosted us for dinner. That night in Jerusalem with Tuvi and his wife Mona, my mother was the center of attention and I came away with an understanding of why dad referred to her as the “Brains of the Operation”. She was just interested and interesting. Me I just sat back and watched. At the end of the evening Tuvi gave mom a recipe book and we have been making the hummus recipe from it for years

Tuvi is a friend of mine in Israel.. Tuvi and I have been friends since 1985. He is one of those people that brings amazing insight and wonderful humor to just about everything. His wife Mona is more than special. She is:

• A professor of Molecular Neuroscience at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem..
• A world renown expert on brain chemistry
• And, she was on the Nobel Prize selection committee.

I talked to Tuvi a few months ago and asked how Mona was doing and he said: Ahh just google her, its easier.

(Tuvi and I discussing peace in the middle east or more likely the punch line of one Tuvi’s better jokes. Remember when people told jokes?)

I guess I have always known that my mother is smart. She has her Masters degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from Columbia university in New York. In addition, she has the equivalent of 2 other masters degrees. As the evening went on and I watched mom with Tuvi and Mona, two very bright people, I saw mom in a different light. She was the center of attention. (To this day, Tuvi sends me messages asking how mom is doing). It was that night when I first understood that mom was clearly, The “Brains of the Operation”.