Ahuva and I have been trying to plan a Shabbat together for quite a few weeks now and we finally did it. I met her at the central bus station and we made our way to the bus to Alon Shvut. We got on the bus and about an hour later, we got off and walked to her brother's apartment. Her brother, Dani and sister in-law, Sarah, have the cutest son named Aryeh. We basically played with him for the whole time. Aryeh is a little over a year old and he just learned how to walk so he was running all over the place.
Since their apartment was pretty small, we stayed in another apartment in the building of a family who wasn't there. After we got ready for shabbat, we lit our chanukkah candles, which we had to melt a lot to make them fit in the candle holders, and then went to shul. After shul we went back to Dani and Sarah's apartment for dinner. Their house was the most familiar place that I'd been to on Shabbat because we were talking about New York and Brooklyn and Flatbush, because they both went to Flatbush. Also, even though I don't think I've ever spoken to Dani before this Shabbat, I've known Ahuva and her family for a very long time.
The next day wasn't very different. We ate and talked and played with Aryeh the whole time. When we left their house on Saturday night, it was raining, and it didn't stop raining until Monday morning. Yeah, that's a lot of rain! While I was walking from the bus stop back home, I got soaked!
The next day, Sunday, the Moshava Reunion Committee ( of 2: Michal and Yifa't [who are awesome!]) originally planned for us to go to some sort of festival, but unfortunately it was raining. So, we all met up at the central bus station (I'm gonna start saying CBS, okay?) to try to decide what to do. Well, after an hour of standing around, half talking about what to do, half talking about something else waiting for someone else to make the decision, we finally decided to go to Talpiyot to go bowling. Then we had to figure out which bus took us to Talpiyot, which took a little while longer, but soon enough, we were on the bus. After we got off at the wrong stop, and walked around for a while, we finally found the bowling place. We went up to the bowling alley, made reservations, and went to get lunch for an hour until our lanes were ready. I'm not even going to talk about how long it took us to decide where to eat. Once we got back to the bowling alley, we found out that our reservations didn't hold and we had to wait on line all over again. So we waited for a long time and people began to get bored so they started coming up with a new idea. They discovered that there was a showing of the Muppets Movie across the street. As we began finalizing plans to go to the movie, our names were called because there was an available lane. Somehow, we decided to stay and go bowling. Once we started, it was a lot of fun. After bowling, some people had to go home, so we all went back to the CBS. A bunch of us who didn't really have anything to do, made our way to the food court. We all put chairs around the table and we didn't really move from there for the next three hours. We played all kinds of games and ate food and just chilled out. Once it started getting late we all decided to go home.
I was staying over at Nishmat with Noga. When we got to Nishmat, we lit Hanukkah candles, and I made them dinner. They don't really have proper dinners at Nishmat because they have to make dinner for themselves which they don't really do. Whenever I come over I like to make them dinner so they can eat real food and also so I can use their kitchen, so I made macaroni and tuna for them. Then we watched a movie and went to sleep.
Today, I woke up and had to leave kinda early because I was meeting up with my cousins in Netanya for a Hanukkah party. When I got to the CBS in Netanya, I met Miriam and Dov. Miriam's mother is my grandmother's cousin. On the way home, we made a stop to see Miriam's father, Hershy who is in an old age home. It was really nice to get to speak with him and it was really cool that he knew who I was and was happy to see me. Afterwards, we went to their apartment. Their I met Miriam's daughters Sigal, and her kids Gal and Tal, and Racheli and her kids Or and Nadav. We lit candles, had a great dinner (filled with oily food) and then they pulled out a deck of cards. Turns out, they love playing poker. We used matches as chips and played a bunch of rounds of 5 card stud. At the end of the night, I came in second place. I had a really great night and a great vacation. Wishing you all a Happy Hanukkah! Shalom V'lehitraot!
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Happy Birthday to Me!
12/21
3:00 PM
My friend Aliza texted me to tell me that I had a package waiting for me in the school building. I of course, was taking a nap so I didn’t find out about this until a couple of hours later.
My friend Aliza texted me to tell me that I had a package waiting for me in the school building. I of course, was taking a nap so I didn’t find out about this until a couple of hours later.
6:00 PM
I meet Aliza by the school building and she tells me that my present is in the fridge and she assumed it was some kind of cake. The package was in a box that had a card on top of it that said Happy Birthday, from Mom, Dad, Seth, Aviva, and Bubbie, and attached to the box by a string was two balloons. I brought my cake back to my dorm room where my roommates and I each ate a big piece.
I meet Aliza by the school building and she tells me that my present is in the fridge and she assumed it was some kind of cake. The package was in a box that had a card on top of it that said Happy Birthday, from Mom, Dad, Seth, Aviva, and Bubbie, and attached to the box by a string was two balloons. I brought my cake back to my dorm room where my roommates and I each ate a big piece.
8:00 PM
We went to
our Rabbi’s house for a Hanukah party where we ate doughnuts, sang, and played
games.
11:50 PM
Back at the dorms, I had no idea what to do in the ten minutes leading up to my birthday, so I took out my gemara and started reviewing what we had learned.
Back at the dorms, I had no idea what to do in the ten minutes leading up to my birthday, so I took out my gemara and started reviewing what we had learned.
11:55 PM
My roommate, Hadassa, comes barging in and tells me that she is kicking me out of my room so she could set up for the party so I went outside with my gemara and sat on the window sill.
My roommate, Hadassa, comes barging in and tells me that she is kicking me out of my room so she could set up for the party so I went outside with my gemara and sat on the window sill.
12/22
12:00 AM
Hadassa and a few other girls burst out of the room and started singing Happy Birthday to me. Then they said I had to stay outside because they still weren’t ready for me.
Hadassa and a few other girls burst out of the room and started singing Happy Birthday to me. Then they said I had to stay outside because they still weren’t ready for me.
12:10 AM
While I was waiting for them, my awesome chavruta Joelle got me an amazing doughnut from the bakery down the road.
While I was waiting for them, my awesome chavruta Joelle got me an amazing doughnut from the bakery down the road.
12:15 AM
The preparations were finished and the party was finally ready to begin and when I walked into my room I saw candy in bowls all over the place and a huge chocolate cake that my roommates bought for me. All of my friends came into the room and by the time everybody left half the candy and almost the whole cake was gone.
The preparations were finished and the party was finally ready to begin and when I walked into my room I saw candy in bowls all over the place and a huge chocolate cake that my roommates bought for me. All of my friends came into the room and by the time everybody left half the candy and almost the whole cake was gone.
1:30 AM
Bedtime! Long day tomorrow!
Bedtime! Long day tomorrow!
8:30 AM
This was the saddest part of the day because all of MTA was leaving which meant my two roommates, Gabi and Ricky were leaving. We waited with them until their bus came and then said goodbye.
This was the saddest part of the day because all of MTA was leaving which meant my two roommates, Gabi and Ricky were leaving. We waited with them until their bus came and then said goodbye.
10:30 AM
Now that half of our room was empty, Hadassa and I decided that we need to clean up and reorganize our room. First we swept out most of the large chunks of garbage. Then we took out all of the smaller pieces of furniture such as the night tables and swept behind that and under the beds. Then we started moving furniture around so there would be more space in the room. We moved one of the beds away from the window so we could get more sunlight in the room. We moved the other bed across from that one so there would be more space. These aren’t light pieces of furniture that I’m talking about here. They’re heavy wooden bunk beds and closets half full with our stuff. As we were moving stuff around we found a big bucket and a couple of rags in a supply closet and we got down on our hands and knees and began mopping the floor. When we finished moving everything, we did a final sweep and a final wipe down of the floor and our room was so beautiful and clean. Both Hadassa and I moved from the top bunk to the bottom bunk beds. One of our new roommates, Reva who’s from New Jersey, also began to move in today. Tash, our other new roommate from England is with her family so she will probably be moving in next week.
Now that half of our room was empty, Hadassa and I decided that we need to clean up and reorganize our room. First we swept out most of the large chunks of garbage. Then we took out all of the smaller pieces of furniture such as the night tables and swept behind that and under the beds. Then we started moving furniture around so there would be more space in the room. We moved one of the beds away from the window so we could get more sunlight in the room. We moved the other bed across from that one so there would be more space. These aren’t light pieces of furniture that I’m talking about here. They’re heavy wooden bunk beds and closets half full with our stuff. As we were moving stuff around we found a big bucket and a couple of rags in a supply closet and we got down on our hands and knees and began mopping the floor. When we finished moving everything, we did a final sweep and a final wipe down of the floor and our room was so beautiful and clean. Both Hadassa and I moved from the top bunk to the bottom bunk beds. One of our new roommates, Reva who’s from New Jersey, also began to move in today. Tash, our other new roommate from England is with her family so she will probably be moving in next week.
1:00 PM
My two awesome roommates took me out for lunch! We went to café café where I got this amazing pasta dish with this yummy cheese sauce. Then they bought me a doughnut from Roladin.
My two awesome roommates took me out for lunch! We went to café café where I got this amazing pasta dish with this yummy cheese sauce. Then they bought me a doughnut from Roladin.
2:00
We went to go see the play Les Miserables. For some of us, like me, it was our first time, but a few others had already seen it before.
We went to go see the play Les Miserables. For some of us, like me, it was our first time, but a few others had already seen it before.
4:00
Hadassa, who is an awesome roommate, picked up a package for me that my mom sent to me. Inside was two cards and lots and lots of candy.
Hadassa, who is an awesome roommate, picked up a package for me that my mom sent to me. Inside was two cards and lots and lots of candy.
8:00
We came back to the Rova where Melissa, Alona, Rinat, and I went to Burger’s Bar for dinner. We took the food to go and ate it in my room.
We came back to the Rova where Melissa, Alona, Rinat, and I went to Burger’s Bar for dinner. We took the food to go and ate it in my room.
9:30
For the rest of the night we just hung out in the room, finishing the cleaning and sitting on our new beds.
For the rest of the night we just hung out in the room, finishing the cleaning and sitting on our new beds.
Birthdays
in Israel are always so memorable because you have all of your friends so close
to you. People also love going out with
you and buying you food. This is
probably one of the best birthdays I’ve ever had. Shalom V’lehitraot!
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Ends and Beginnings
Today was a day of many ends that were just the beginnings and beginnings of the end.
1. Today, our gemara class finished our first masechet in gemara, Masechet Megillah. Learning a masechet in gemara takes a lot of hard work and dedication. We spent every Sunday, Tuesday, and Wednesday morning learning sometimes up to two dafim (double sided pages) of gemara. At the end of today's class, everyone gathered together as we made our siyum on masechet megillah. It was really nice because there was food, someone said a dvar torah/ gemara, and the whole school was there to celebrate with us. This isn't only the end of learning a masechet of gemara, at the beginning of next semester we will be starting a new masechet which we will hopefully be finishing at the end of the year.
2. Tonight is the first night of Hanukkah. It's the beginning of a holiday at the end of the month of Kislev. It's the beginning of winter, yet it's the end of the day light hours getting shorter. The lobby of our dorms was filled with girls as the sun set in Jerusalem. There was hardly enough room for everyone to put their chanukiahs out on the table, say the berachot, and sing a song or two. It was so nice to see everyone gathered to celebrate "The Festival of Lights." Afterwards, I went for a walk with my friend Adina, while wearing flip- flops I might add. We saw them lighting the huge chanukiah in front of the Chorva shul. Then we went by wear all the apartments are and outside every house, there were lit candles inside a glass box. It was so nice to see the rows of lights outside all the houses.
3. Tomorrow will be MTA's last day in Harova and today was their last day of classes. The South Africans and Australians run on a different schedule than us, so they leave in the middle of our year which for them is the beginning of the school year. Tonight we had a Messibat Siyum, a party to celebrate everything they've done. People made speeches, there was slide shows and videos, and giving out gifts. There was also an amazing dinner that they organized for us and great stuff for dessert. We're really going to miss MTA because they added so much life to Harova and we are really excited for the new MTA girls who are beginning in February.
These events are just the ends of one stage, but the beginning of another. Shalom V'lehitraot!
1. Today, our gemara class finished our first masechet in gemara, Masechet Megillah. Learning a masechet in gemara takes a lot of hard work and dedication. We spent every Sunday, Tuesday, and Wednesday morning learning sometimes up to two dafim (double sided pages) of gemara. At the end of today's class, everyone gathered together as we made our siyum on masechet megillah. It was really nice because there was food, someone said a dvar torah/ gemara, and the whole school was there to celebrate with us. This isn't only the end of learning a masechet of gemara, at the beginning of next semester we will be starting a new masechet which we will hopefully be finishing at the end of the year.
2. Tonight is the first night of Hanukkah. It's the beginning of a holiday at the end of the month of Kislev. It's the beginning of winter, yet it's the end of the day light hours getting shorter. The lobby of our dorms was filled with girls as the sun set in Jerusalem. There was hardly enough room for everyone to put their chanukiahs out on the table, say the berachot, and sing a song or two. It was so nice to see everyone gathered to celebrate "The Festival of Lights." Afterwards, I went for a walk with my friend Adina, while wearing flip- flops I might add. We saw them lighting the huge chanukiah in front of the Chorva shul. Then we went by wear all the apartments are and outside every house, there were lit candles inside a glass box. It was so nice to see the rows of lights outside all the houses.
3. Tomorrow will be MTA's last day in Harova and today was their last day of classes. The South Africans and Australians run on a different schedule than us, so they leave in the middle of our year which for them is the beginning of the school year. Tonight we had a Messibat Siyum, a party to celebrate everything they've done. People made speeches, there was slide shows and videos, and giving out gifts. There was also an amazing dinner that they organized for us and great stuff for dessert. We're really going to miss MTA because they added so much life to Harova and we are really excited for the new MTA girls who are beginning in February.
These events are just the ends of one stage, but the beginning of another. Shalom V'lehitraot!
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Cookies and the Best Chavrutas Ever!
These two topics really have no connection. In fact, the second one is really the main topic, and the first part is what was just randomly on my mind right now. Well, it isn't so random because I just ate two cookies, but why is that significant to you, you might ask. Well , let me tell you the story of the cookies. Every Tuesday, a bunch of girls volunteer to get together and bake cookies and sell them in the Rova for a good cause, kind of like an Jewish version of the girl scouts. Every week they sell all of the cookies that they made. They usually begin baking cookies at around 2:00 and start to sell them at around 4:00. However, I leave to go volunteer at the hospital at around 2:30. So, how did I get not only one, but two of these cookies? I pre-paid my friend Melissa! So she saved me two cookies and even though I had to walk all the way over to her apartment to get them after dinner, when I got them and took a bite, I realized that it was all worth it because it was so yummy!
Chavrutas
What's a chavruta? Wiki defines it as a traditional approach to Jewish study in which a pair of students independently learn, discuss, and debate a shared text. I have many chavrutas who are all super awesome.
1. Avigayil: Sundays 8:00-9:00 PM
We decided that we wanted to learn the group of books in Tanakh called Trei Asar. These are 12 twelve books on the last 12 prophets of Israel. We are about halfway through the second prophet called Joel. We skipped the first one, Hosea, because Avigayil said that it's really inappropriate.
2. Previously: Rebecca... Currently: ?: Sundays & Wednesdays Machshava
From the first day of class when Rebecca and I sat next to each other, we decided to learn in chavruta together during this class. Machshava is a 3 hour long class and for about and hour every class we learn in chavruta either before or after our teacher lectures. Rebecca and I both did pretty well on the Hebrew sources, however, our main difference was that if there was a word we didn't know or couldn't translate exactly, I would want to skip it, but she kept her dictionary beside her to look it up. As the days went by, we realized that we were both learning from the other. She would realize that some words are just not important enough to take the time to look them up, and I would start looking up some of the words to understand the text better and learn more Hebrew. We were soon joined, one at a time, by three other girls, Julia, Giselle, and Arney, who had lost their chavruta either to another class or for some other reason. I too in turn lost my chavruta, so now we just have a large chavruta of people who lost their chavrutas.
3. Previously: Esther... Currently: Amy : Mondays and Thursdays Chumash BeIyun
Esther and I started out as chavrutas for the first couple of weeks of this class. Eventually we were joined by Rinat who switched in to our class and Amy who lost her chavruta. Our teacher, Rav Yonatan, wasn't too happy with people being in a chavruta with more than three people, so Amy and I split off from Esther and Rinat (who were eventually joined by Eliana who switched in to out class too). The day Amy and I started our chavruta, I was wearing my torah bowl shirt. On the back of our torah bowl shirts, it says the names of everyone on the team and it says "captain" next to mine and Ahuva's name. That was the day she started calling me "captain." A few weeks later a new nickname came up. When you talk about someone that you are learning in chavruta with, you call them your chavrusa, but to make it a term of endearment you might make it 'chavrusi.' Amy loves this term and she whenever she sees me she addresses me in the most high pitched screechy voice as "CHAVRUSIII!" Rav Yonatan found this quite amusing and he sometimes likes to make fun of it because it is pretty funny.
4.Joelle: Tuesdays 9:00-10:00 PM
In our Gemara Bekiut class we learn a lot of gemara so Tuesday nights is our catch- up/ revision day. Gemara is a very hard topic so we always have go over what we learned many times so that we can know it properly and remember it. We used to have about a half hour during every class to review but our teacher cut that out because he wanted to teach more during the class. Joelle is a great person to have as a chavruta because she's a great listener. The way it usually works is that I go over what we did in class by reading from the gemara and explaining it and Joelle goes "uh- huh" every once in a while. No, I'm just kidding, Joelle contributes a lot to the chavruta because if there's ever a line or a section that I don't know, she either knows it or is able to figure it out.
Tonight when we were learning Leora asked me to mention her in my blog... Hi Leora! It was actually her and Joelle's idea to write this blog post so thanks guys! Joelle also wanted me to mention to you to please feed the fishies at the top of the blog by clicking on the tank with your mouse. Shalom V'lehitraot!
Chavrutas
What's a chavruta? Wiki defines it as a traditional approach to Jewish study in which a pair of students independently learn, discuss, and debate a shared text. I have many chavrutas who are all super awesome.
1. Avigayil: Sundays 8:00-9:00 PM
We decided that we wanted to learn the group of books in Tanakh called Trei Asar. These are 12 twelve books on the last 12 prophets of Israel. We are about halfway through the second prophet called Joel. We skipped the first one, Hosea, because Avigayil said that it's really inappropriate.
2. Previously: Rebecca... Currently: ?: Sundays & Wednesdays Machshava
From the first day of class when Rebecca and I sat next to each other, we decided to learn in chavruta together during this class. Machshava is a 3 hour long class and for about and hour every class we learn in chavruta either before or after our teacher lectures. Rebecca and I both did pretty well on the Hebrew sources, however, our main difference was that if there was a word we didn't know or couldn't translate exactly, I would want to skip it, but she kept her dictionary beside her to look it up. As the days went by, we realized that we were both learning from the other. She would realize that some words are just not important enough to take the time to look them up, and I would start looking up some of the words to understand the text better and learn more Hebrew. We were soon joined, one at a time, by three other girls, Julia, Giselle, and Arney, who had lost their chavruta either to another class or for some other reason. I too in turn lost my chavruta, so now we just have a large chavruta of people who lost their chavrutas.
3. Previously: Esther... Currently: Amy : Mondays and Thursdays Chumash BeIyun
Esther and I started out as chavrutas for the first couple of weeks of this class. Eventually we were joined by Rinat who switched in to our class and Amy who lost her chavruta. Our teacher, Rav Yonatan, wasn't too happy with people being in a chavruta with more than three people, so Amy and I split off from Esther and Rinat (who were eventually joined by Eliana who switched in to out class too). The day Amy and I started our chavruta, I was wearing my torah bowl shirt. On the back of our torah bowl shirts, it says the names of everyone on the team and it says "captain" next to mine and Ahuva's name. That was the day she started calling me "captain." A few weeks later a new nickname came up. When you talk about someone that you are learning in chavruta with, you call them your chavrusa, but to make it a term of endearment you might make it 'chavrusi.' Amy loves this term and she whenever she sees me she addresses me in the most high pitched screechy voice as "CHAVRUSIII!" Rav Yonatan found this quite amusing and he sometimes likes to make fun of it because it is pretty funny.
4.Joelle: Tuesdays 9:00-10:00 PM
In our Gemara Bekiut class we learn a lot of gemara so Tuesday nights is our catch- up/ revision day. Gemara is a very hard topic so we always have go over what we learned many times so that we can know it properly and remember it. We used to have about a half hour during every class to review but our teacher cut that out because he wanted to teach more during the class. Joelle is a great person to have as a chavruta because she's a great listener. The way it usually works is that I go over what we did in class by reading from the gemara and explaining it and Joelle goes "uh- huh" every once in a while. No, I'm just kidding, Joelle contributes a lot to the chavruta because if there's ever a line or a section that I don't know, she either knows it or is able to figure it out.
Tonight when we were learning Leora asked me to mention her in my blog... Hi Leora! It was actually her and Joelle's idea to write this blog post so thanks guys! Joelle also wanted me to mention to you to please feed the fishies at the top of the blog by clicking on the tank with your mouse. Shalom V'lehitraot!
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Derech Hashem- God's Oneness
This is class is very interesting because it talks about the ways of god. Each class shows a different aspect of god, or it goes into more detail about a subsection, or it explains why god might do certain things. It is based on a book called "The Way of God" that bases a large amount of the knowledge about god by knowing that fact that god is one.
Monotheism is actually good because it promotes unity between many of the nations. There are other nations, such as Muslims and certain types of Christianity, that worship this one god. Our teacher brought us a source that everybody know from the Passover Haggadah where it says, " Who is one? God is one." From this we bring up the question, doesn't everybody know that God is one? No, they don't. Everybody has heard that god is one, however, most don't know for a fact that there is one god. This knowledge that god is one is so important because knowledge can be equated to love.
There are 5 major mistakes that people make about god's oneness.
1. Supernatural forces can be used against god.
The way that god set up the world, makes it completely unable to be used against him. God can't be forced into anything. Since god created the rules, he is above the rules and can either follow them or break them whenever he chooses.
People sometimes ask trick questions or paradoxical questions about god, such as, can god make a four sided triangle? No, he can't, because by the way god defined it, it would then be a square. Can god make 5 be more than 10. No, because the way god defined 'amounts,' 5 can't be 10 unless you add 5 more.
2. Evil things oppose god's will.
Evil things only operate that way because god wants them to. Christians make this mistake in thinking that god has to fight against evil. This isn't true because god is the one who created evil in the first place.
3. Things in this world operate according to nature.
God primarily runs the world in two different ways. Either through, what we call "luck" or coincidence, or through reward and punishment. In every situation, god chooses the proper one to use because that is how he wants the world to run.
4. There is a god for good and a god for evil.
Zoroastrians believed this and called the good one, Ahura Mazda and the evil one, Ahriman. They believe that the good one is the god of spirituality and the evil one, the god of the physical. This is incorrect because physicality doesn't go against god because he was the one who created it.
God is the one and only force who rules this world and can do anything. It is god who decides what is going to happen in his world.
5. God can be served through idol worship.
Most people don't believe in this anymore because most of the pagans converted to a monotheistic religion. We call this avodah zara, strange worship. Any type of fulfilling the desire of anything that isn't god is considered avodah zara.
The job of people is to realize that god is in every single thing and we should fulfill his will because he created us and this world. This world was created for us to recognize god. I hope I was able to simplify and help you understand this complicated concept. Shalom V'lehitraot!
Monotheism is actually good because it promotes unity between many of the nations. There are other nations, such as Muslims and certain types of Christianity, that worship this one god. Our teacher brought us a source that everybody know from the Passover Haggadah where it says, " Who is one? God is one." From this we bring up the question, doesn't everybody know that God is one? No, they don't. Everybody has heard that god is one, however, most don't know for a fact that there is one god. This knowledge that god is one is so important because knowledge can be equated to love.
There are 5 major mistakes that people make about god's oneness.
1. Supernatural forces can be used against god.
The way that god set up the world, makes it completely unable to be used against him. God can't be forced into anything. Since god created the rules, he is above the rules and can either follow them or break them whenever he chooses.
People sometimes ask trick questions or paradoxical questions about god, such as, can god make a four sided triangle? No, he can't, because by the way god defined it, it would then be a square. Can god make 5 be more than 10. No, because the way god defined 'amounts,' 5 can't be 10 unless you add 5 more.
2. Evil things oppose god's will.
Evil things only operate that way because god wants them to. Christians make this mistake in thinking that god has to fight against evil. This isn't true because god is the one who created evil in the first place.
3. Things in this world operate according to nature.
God primarily runs the world in two different ways. Either through, what we call "luck" or coincidence, or through reward and punishment. In every situation, god chooses the proper one to use because that is how he wants the world to run.
4. There is a god for good and a god for evil.
Zoroastrians believed this and called the good one, Ahura Mazda and the evil one, Ahriman. They believe that the good one is the god of spirituality and the evil one, the god of the physical. This is incorrect because physicality doesn't go against god because he was the one who created it.
God is the one and only force who rules this world and can do anything. It is god who decides what is going to happen in his world.
5. God can be served through idol worship.
Most people don't believe in this anymore because most of the pagans converted to a monotheistic religion. We call this avodah zara, strange worship. Any type of fulfilling the desire of anything that isn't god is considered avodah zara.
The job of people is to realize that god is in every single thing and we should fulfill his will because he created us and this world. This world was created for us to recognize god. I hope I was able to simplify and help you understand this complicated concept. Shalom V'lehitraot!
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Trip to Binyamin
My alarm and three other alarms in my room went off at 6:00 in the morning. We all wanted to make sure that we would be able to wake up for our trip. We quickly got ready and got to the buses by 7:00. The bus ride was short so we didn't get much time to nap. We arrived by a very interesting spring. This is a natural spring that had an enclosure built around it. The water in this spring would fill up this very tall tub-like structure and then trickle back down into the ground. We were lucky to be able to see this phenomenon in the early morning. We also ate breakfast here, although in my opinion, it was more like a snack. We got chocolate milk, rugelach, and a challah roll for breakfast. Not very filling, but somehow we survived.
After breakfast, we began to hike. We were originally told that it would be something of a nice walk, but we later realized that it was much harder than the hike we did in the Negev. We had to climb up and down mountains, go through caves, tunnels and forests, and cross rivers by stepping on the smallest of stepping stones without falling in, all of this without getting lost. It sounds a bit crazy and exaggerated, but we actually did it. Yes, people did slip into the rivers but they were barely ankle deep so it was okay. Yes, people also got a bit lost in the middle of the desert/ forest. We were a large group, I was at the front, of course, and our tour guide walked pretty fast and didn't really take any breaks. There was one point when about twenty of us were together at the front with the hiking guide and we didn't see the rest of the group behind us, so we stopped and waited about a half hour while the tour guide went to go look for them. There was one point towards the end where there was a big pool of water, so a few of us decided to go dip our feet in. It was shallow so we didn't get too wet and there were little fish swimming all around our feet. The rest of our group who was watching us started to try to convince us to go all the way in and go swimming. Nobody really wanted to at first but then I decided to go in. It was really nice and refreshing even though it was also kinda freezing. Our hike ended about 15 minutes later at a very pretty picnic spot. It was lunch time so a few of us volunteered to go get lunch from the buses. There was no road near the picnic spot, so we had to walk for a few minutes to go get the stuff. Lunch was these really cool professionally packed sandwiches. There were a bunch of different kinds of sandwiches and those of us who went to get it got first dibs which was especially good because we didn't have to fight when the rest of the Harova animals were attacking.
After lunch we got on the buses to drive to our next stop which was in Shiloh. This is the place where the tabernacle rested for 369 years. There is a small, but growing Jewish community there. At the beginning of our tour, we saw a Byzantine church which had a Jewish star painted on the floor. Before it became the symbol of Judaism, it was just another pretty geometric shape that made their church look nice. Later on in history, Christians began using the star to represent Jews. As we walked along, our tour guide told us that this was a great place for archaeology because the Israelites used to break their dishes when they were done using them to eat the holy sacrifice so shards of pottery were found everywhere. We also saw a stone structure that they dug up that they discovered to be a kitchen because they found jugs with charred olives and grapes. At the end of the tour, we saw the place where they estimated that the actual tabernacle stood.
Our last stop was in a winery but it had nothing to do with wine. It was actually a very interesting way to sum up the days events. First there was an interactive computer game that was trivia about Israel. Through this we got to learn interesting facts and also why the West Bank is essential to the survival of the State of Israel. We then saw a fictional movie about an Israeli who was moving to London and gets transported to past historical events. These events, along with a pretty Israeli girlfriend, convinced him to stay in Israel. It was a very long and exhausting, but fun day and I enjoyed it very much. Shalom V'lehitraot!
After breakfast, we began to hike. We were originally told that it would be something of a nice walk, but we later realized that it was much harder than the hike we did in the Negev. We had to climb up and down mountains, go through caves, tunnels and forests, and cross rivers by stepping on the smallest of stepping stones without falling in, all of this without getting lost. It sounds a bit crazy and exaggerated, but we actually did it. Yes, people did slip into the rivers but they were barely ankle deep so it was okay. Yes, people also got a bit lost in the middle of the desert/ forest. We were a large group, I was at the front, of course, and our tour guide walked pretty fast and didn't really take any breaks. There was one point when about twenty of us were together at the front with the hiking guide and we didn't see the rest of the group behind us, so we stopped and waited about a half hour while the tour guide went to go look for them. There was one point towards the end where there was a big pool of water, so a few of us decided to go dip our feet in. It was shallow so we didn't get too wet and there were little fish swimming all around our feet. The rest of our group who was watching us started to try to convince us to go all the way in and go swimming. Nobody really wanted to at first but then I decided to go in. It was really nice and refreshing even though it was also kinda freezing. Our hike ended about 15 minutes later at a very pretty picnic spot. It was lunch time so a few of us volunteered to go get lunch from the buses. There was no road near the picnic spot, so we had to walk for a few minutes to go get the stuff. Lunch was these really cool professionally packed sandwiches. There were a bunch of different kinds of sandwiches and those of us who went to get it got first dibs which was especially good because we didn't have to fight when the rest of the Harova animals were attacking.
After lunch we got on the buses to drive to our next stop which was in Shiloh. This is the place where the tabernacle rested for 369 years. There is a small, but growing Jewish community there. At the beginning of our tour, we saw a Byzantine church which had a Jewish star painted on the floor. Before it became the symbol of Judaism, it was just another pretty geometric shape that made their church look nice. Later on in history, Christians began using the star to represent Jews. As we walked along, our tour guide told us that this was a great place for archaeology because the Israelites used to break their dishes when they were done using them to eat the holy sacrifice so shards of pottery were found everywhere. We also saw a stone structure that they dug up that they discovered to be a kitchen because they found jugs with charred olives and grapes. At the end of the tour, we saw the place where they estimated that the actual tabernacle stood.
Our last stop was in a winery but it had nothing to do with wine. It was actually a very interesting way to sum up the days events. First there was an interactive computer game that was trivia about Israel. Through this we got to learn interesting facts and also why the West Bank is essential to the survival of the State of Israel. We then saw a fictional movie about an Israeli who was moving to London and gets transported to past historical events. These events, along with a pretty Israeli girlfriend, convinced him to stay in Israel. It was a very long and exhausting, but fun day and I enjoyed it very much. Shalom V'lehitraot!
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Shabbat at Oriah's House!
A couple of times a year, the Israeli girls in our program invite us over to their houses for Shabbat. I went with Talia and Rebecca to Oriah's house in Karnei Shomron. When we first got there, she showed us around the house and took us to our rooms. We then went downstairs and asked if we could help with anything and they put us to work right away. Talia and I made this kind of cookie/ cake. We dipped tea biscuits into a coffee mixture and laid them out in a pan. Then we put some kind of cream on top of it. We did a couple of these layers. Then we began on the vegetables. Rebecca squeezed lemons, Talia peeled carrots, and I grated them. Then Talia began chopping some kind of herb, I think it was parsley, I peeled potatoes, and Rebecca grated tomatoes. We helped out as much as we could in the kitchen until it was time for Shabbat.
The shul that they went to was right across the street from their house. It was more like a boy's school then a shul because the woman's section was tiny and the men's section was like a library. When we got home it was time for dinner. Oriah's brother was also visiting with his wife and five kids. Their family is Yemenite so when they speak, some of their letters are heavily accented and sometimes they pronounce vowels differently then the way I learned them. It was interesting to see their customs and the different type of food that they made. The food had something distinctively Yemenite about it, even though I had never tasted real Yemenite food before. One of the interesting discussions that came up at the meal was the difference between the State of Israel and the Land of Israel. They were telling me that they only believe in the Land of Israel and not the state because they don't approve of how the government is run and they believe that government should follow Jewish laws.
At the end of the meal, the little kids asked me to play with them so I did. But the problem was that they all wanted to play different games. Somehow I managed to play three games at once. I played some kind of version of Go Fish with the older ones, at the same time was playing pick-up sticks with the middle one, and at the same time I was playing some made up game with the little one. I also invented a new game that they probably won't forget. At the end of the night, everybody has tea but there were so many different types of tea that the kids didn't know what to choose. So what I did was, they gave me their choices of tea, I put them behind my back, one in each hand, and then they chose a hand and that was the tea flavor that they had.
The next day, we woke up at around 8:00 and went to shul. We got there a little bit late at around 8:45 because there was only about a half hour left. For lunch, I went to the Goldschmidts because they live about three minutes away from where I was staying. It was really nice to go there for lunch and I had a good time. After lunch, I went back to Oriah's house and explored a little bit. She has a really cool roof where you can see her whole garden around her house and she told me that on a clear day you can see the sea. In her garden they have so many different types of trees. They have mango trees, pomegranate trees, lemon trees, fig trees, and a couple others. After a while I went to take a nap for an hour. I woke up for dinner which was really nice and similar food to the night before and then it was time to go home. I had a really good weekend at Oriah's house. Shalom V'lehitraot!
The shul that they went to was right across the street from their house. It was more like a boy's school then a shul because the woman's section was tiny and the men's section was like a library. When we got home it was time for dinner. Oriah's brother was also visiting with his wife and five kids. Their family is Yemenite so when they speak, some of their letters are heavily accented and sometimes they pronounce vowels differently then the way I learned them. It was interesting to see their customs and the different type of food that they made. The food had something distinctively Yemenite about it, even though I had never tasted real Yemenite food before. One of the interesting discussions that came up at the meal was the difference between the State of Israel and the Land of Israel. They were telling me that they only believe in the Land of Israel and not the state because they don't approve of how the government is run and they believe that government should follow Jewish laws.
At the end of the meal, the little kids asked me to play with them so I did. But the problem was that they all wanted to play different games. Somehow I managed to play three games at once. I played some kind of version of Go Fish with the older ones, at the same time was playing pick-up sticks with the middle one, and at the same time I was playing some made up game with the little one. I also invented a new game that they probably won't forget. At the end of the night, everybody has tea but there were so many different types of tea that the kids didn't know what to choose. So what I did was, they gave me their choices of tea, I put them behind my back, one in each hand, and then they chose a hand and that was the tea flavor that they had.
The next day, we woke up at around 8:00 and went to shul. We got there a little bit late at around 8:45 because there was only about a half hour left. For lunch, I went to the Goldschmidts because they live about three minutes away from where I was staying. It was really nice to go there for lunch and I had a good time. After lunch, I went back to Oriah's house and explored a little bit. She has a really cool roof where you can see her whole garden around her house and she told me that on a clear day you can see the sea. In her garden they have so many different types of trees. They have mango trees, pomegranate trees, lemon trees, fig trees, and a couple others. After a while I went to take a nap for an hour. I woke up for dinner which was really nice and similar food to the night before and then it was time to go home. I had a really good weekend at Oriah's house. Shalom V'lehitraot!
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Refuah and Halacha- Euthanasia
I'd just like to share with you a little about what we learned on the topic of euthanasia in our class about medical laws. If someone has a terminal illness and is without a doubt going to die within a short time, such as a week, should we shorten their suffering, or keep them alive because of the high value we have on life?
The first opinion that one might think of is that you shouldn't be allowed to cause someone to prematurely die because of something we call the "slippery slope," where one thing will lead to the next. If you allow euthanasia in one specific case of a specific disease, you might come to use it in other times when is isn't as necessary.
Here are some examples of people who allowed for euthanasia:
Philosophers- Someone who is disabled is a burden on society and should be eliminated.
Nazi Party- Out of mercy for people who were a burden on society, they were killed.
Holland- They have rules for when euthanasia is allowed and it includes having two doctors give consent but it says nothing about the wishes of the family members.
In Samuel 2 1:5-16, it tells a story of how an Amalekite boy came to David to report that he had killed Saul which caused David to kill the boy. One might think that we could learn that euthanasia is allowed since David killed the Amalekite for killing Saul. However, the truth is that the boy deserved to die because he killed a king.
Next we learned about one of the ten martyrs who were killed in brutal ways. R. Hanina b. Teradion had a wet tuft of wool put on his heart and then he was wrapped in a torah scroll so he would die a slower death when they lit him on fire. The tuft of wool was preventing his death however it was permitted that they take it off to allow him to die less painfully.
From this we learn that we are allowed to refrain from extending a life. Active euthanasia is not allowed, however, something preventing the death is allowed to be removed.
The final law is that if a person is hooked up to a heart- lung machine and it is known that they will never recover it is allowed to be removed in such a way that it is not actively turning it off. One way to do this is to put it on a timer so that it goes on and off and when it goes off, it just doesn't go on again, and another way is that when it is taken out to be cleaned, it isn't put back in again.
I know that this lesson isn't on the happiest of topics but it is an issue that people deal with and an issue that rabbis have debated over for a long time. Moving on to a happier topic, I am proud to announce that I had an amazing morning due to the pancakes with chocolate chips inside that were made at breakfast. Shalom V'lehitraot!
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
My First Israeli Wedding
I don't really know why I titled it that. It sounds like I'm implying that I'm going to more weddings in Israel which I don't think I am this year. It kinda sounds like the title of that movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding... Anyway, I just got back from Gili and Ori's wedding that I went to tonight. Gili is my second cousin by marriage, I think, or something along those lines. She's the one I told you about in my Efrat post, so if you forgot, go check it out.
I left my dorm at about 4:00 (16:00) and I went to their grandma, Savta's apartment where we would be picked up and driven to the wedding. I was there once before and I kinda remembered it. Her apartment has the first elevator that was ever in a building in Jerusalem. We had to wait a little bit for our ride to come, so we just sat and talked a little bit about her kids and her grandchildren and how excited she was for the wedding. Millie, Gili's mother and two of her siblings came to pick us up. It was about a half hour drive and the whole time, Millie seemed really calm even though her daughter was about to get married.
When we got there, I said hi and talked to for a little bit all of the cousins that I knew. I also met Avner, the Avital's brother that I hadn't met yet, see post "Shabbat at the Goldschmidts," and I met his wife, his two little daughters and his son who was still a baby. I then started to go around to check out the buffet. All the food was really good, especially after eating only food from the school for the past two weeks. Now I'm not saying that the food there is bad, I'm just saying that food at a wedding is much better. I ate sushi, breaded meat balls, little pita sandwiches, and a bunch of other yummy stuff.
We then went outside for the chuppah where they would actually get married. It was cold outside but we were out there for a very short amount of time, unlike the very long time it takes in America for people to get married. Then everybody went inside to eat more. I had this really good chicken dish that I would recommend to everybody if I had any idea of what it was called. Then there was dancing. They only made me dance for a few minutes but then I was able to escape. I don't know what I'm going to do when it comes to my wedding because I really don't like dancing. Everyone was so happy and having so much fun and surprisingly even the boys were pretty good dancers.
Then we ate some more and danced some more and then there was desert. I had some chocolate stuff and a piece of cake that I only took because the icing part looked really yummy. I also had a clementine, and someone thought it was strange that I was eating a clementine at a wedding so they asked me if we have clementines in America, and I said yes, we do. After desert there was a very cute Shrek themed slideshow and a dance put on by Gili's siblings. At about 11:00 it was time to go home, but I didn't have a ride because Savta was staying in Efrat, so I hitchhiked. No, I didn't really, but I eventually ended up getting a ride home with one of Yehuda and Millie's friends. I had a really fun time at the wedding and all of the family back in America was missed. Shalom V'lehitraot!
I left my dorm at about 4:00 (16:00) and I went to their grandma, Savta's apartment where we would be picked up and driven to the wedding. I was there once before and I kinda remembered it. Her apartment has the first elevator that was ever in a building in Jerusalem. We had to wait a little bit for our ride to come, so we just sat and talked a little bit about her kids and her grandchildren and how excited she was for the wedding. Millie, Gili's mother and two of her siblings came to pick us up. It was about a half hour drive and the whole time, Millie seemed really calm even though her daughter was about to get married.
When we got there, I said hi and talked to for a little bit all of the cousins that I knew. I also met Avner, the Avital's brother that I hadn't met yet, see post "Shabbat at the Goldschmidts," and I met his wife, his two little daughters and his son who was still a baby. I then started to go around to check out the buffet. All the food was really good, especially after eating only food from the school for the past two weeks. Now I'm not saying that the food there is bad, I'm just saying that food at a wedding is much better. I ate sushi, breaded meat balls, little pita sandwiches, and a bunch of other yummy stuff.
We then went outside for the chuppah where they would actually get married. It was cold outside but we were out there for a very short amount of time, unlike the very long time it takes in America for people to get married. Then everybody went inside to eat more. I had this really good chicken dish that I would recommend to everybody if I had any idea of what it was called. Then there was dancing. They only made me dance for a few minutes but then I was able to escape. I don't know what I'm going to do when it comes to my wedding because I really don't like dancing. Everyone was so happy and having so much fun and surprisingly even the boys were pretty good dancers.
Then we ate some more and danced some more and then there was desert. I had some chocolate stuff and a piece of cake that I only took because the icing part looked really yummy. I also had a clementine, and someone thought it was strange that I was eating a clementine at a wedding so they asked me if we have clementines in America, and I said yes, we do. After desert there was a very cute Shrek themed slideshow and a dance put on by Gili's siblings. At about 11:00 it was time to go home, but I didn't have a ride because Savta was staying in Efrat, so I hitchhiked. No, I didn't really, but I eventually ended up getting a ride home with one of Yehuda and Millie's friends. I had a really fun time at the wedding and all of the family back in America was missed. Shalom V'lehitraot!
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Shabbat in Chevron!
Going to chevron on this shabbat was really special because it's the week that we read Chayei Sarah in the Torah where it talks about the actual buying of Me'arat Ha'machpela, Cave of the Patriarchs, where Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob, and Leah were buried. I heard that there were 20,000 people there for the weekend. It is also one of ten days that the section where Isaac and Rebecca are buried is open to the Jews. The rest of the year it is a mosque where only Muslims are allowed to go.
Since there were so many people there, they put us up in a school in Kiryat Arba where many other girl's schools were also staying. Each of the classrooms had about thirty girls staying in each one. After we got ourselves settled in, we walked about 15 minutes down to Chevron where the cave is located. There were also so many soldiers there this weekend. About every two minutes of our walk down, there was a soldier posted on either side of the road. When we got there, it was packed with people but we somehow managed to get in. The building is beautiful. The architecture is really nice and the vibrant colors of the paint on the walls are extraordinary.
We went back to the school where we made our own dinner. We had cucumbers, tomatoes, and peppers so we made salad and we squeezed lemon on top. We had some deli meats which we put out and lots of bagels. For dessert, we made fruit salad and we had lots of rugelach. We walked back to Chevron again in search of some rabbi's house where everybody was meeting. Unfortunately, we couldn't find it, but we did find some other rabbi's house that we were invited into where they fed us cookies and popcorn and brownies.
We decided to go to sleep early so that we could wake up early to go down to Chevron before too many people were there. I fell asleep at around 1:00 but I woke up again an hour later because there were at least three girls snoring and the room was freezing. I found out later that someone left all the windows open and it was under 50 F outside. I was up until the morning so I decided to wake everyone up so we could go to Chevron but nobody wanted to get up. I finally fell asleep and woke up a couple of hours later.
We had the same routine in the morning as we had the night before. We went to Chevron and then came back where we made our own lunch. We then hung out in our room for a little bit when a few of us decided to go for a walk. We ended up exploring Me'arat Ha'machpela a little more because it was much more empty and then we found a cave where there were a bunch of men singing so we decided to stay and listen. Before we knew it, it was time to go back.
My friend Rebecca who likes to play mommy, says that I have to go to sleep early so I'm going to go now. I hope you all had a good weekend! Shalom V'lehitraot!
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Kedma Medical Clowns
About two months ago... (* thanks adeena for your brilliant idea)
We had to decide what volunteering program we wanted to do every Tuesday. There were over twenty choices ranging from taking care of kids in a troubled family, to teaching kids English, to playing with mentally and physically disabled kids. I chose to be a medical clown which combines two of the things I love most, acting and medicine.
About one month ago...
We had our interviews... and I got in!
Two weeks ago...
We had our orientation on Monday night where we met everyone from other schools who were being medical clowns, got some basic information, and watched a little bit of the movie Patch Adams. Friday morning we had our training session. First we learned about the proper way to enter and exit rooms. Then we learned how to make balloon figures such as a dog, giraffe, panda, flower, and a sword.
Last Tuesday...
We had our first day of volunteer work. I went with my friends Danielle, Dana, and Orit on the train to the hospital, Shaarei Tzedek. We got there and went to the bathroom to get dressed. We put stickers on our faces and put our hair in pigtails. We went up to the sixth floor and started visiting kids' rooms. We would go into a room and give them a sticker and then make a balloon doggie for them. They really loved it and their family who was there with them really enjoyed it too. While we were there we happened to meet a real medical clown who has been clowning for a few years. He let us come with him into some of the rooms to watch him work. It was so cool to watch a proffessional do it because he was so good at it. We were just starting out and needed a lot more practice.
Today...
We went to a different hospital, Hadassa Ein Kerem, which was much bigger and had more of a variety of people. When we were there we met up with my friend Esther. After walking around for about a half hour, we finally found the pediatric section. We went up to the third floor and did the same thing that we did before. It's always so muc fun to see how much happier a child gets when you give them a balloon animal. We also made balloons for siblings of the sick kids and that made them feel special too. When we got to the fourth floor, we saw a bunch of kids and their families in a play room. We probably spent half of our time there because it was just so much fun playing with all of the kids and making balloon animals for them. I'm so excited to go back every week. Shalom V'lehitraot!
About one month ago...
We had our interviews... and I got in!
Two weeks ago...
We had our orientation on Monday night where we met everyone from other schools who were being medical clowns, got some basic information, and watched a little bit of the movie Patch Adams. Friday morning we had our training session. First we learned about the proper way to enter and exit rooms. Then we learned how to make balloon figures such as a dog, giraffe, panda, flower, and a sword.
Last Tuesday...
We had our first day of volunteer work. I went with my friends Danielle, Dana, and Orit on the train to the hospital, Shaarei Tzedek. We got there and went to the bathroom to get dressed. We put stickers on our faces and put our hair in pigtails. We went up to the sixth floor and started visiting kids' rooms. We would go into a room and give them a sticker and then make a balloon doggie for them. They really loved it and their family who was there with them really enjoyed it too. While we were there we happened to meet a real medical clown who has been clowning for a few years. He let us come with him into some of the rooms to watch him work. It was so cool to watch a proffessional do it because he was so good at it. We were just starting out and needed a lot more practice.
Today...
We went to a different hospital, Hadassa Ein Kerem, which was much bigger and had more of a variety of people. When we were there we met up with my friend Esther. After walking around for about a half hour, we finally found the pediatric section. We went up to the third floor and did the same thing that we did before. It's always so muc fun to see how much happier a child gets when you give them a balloon animal. We also made balloons for siblings of the sick kids and that made them feel special too. When we got to the fourth floor, we saw a bunch of kids and their families in a play room. We probably spent half of our time there because it was just so much fun playing with all of the kids and making balloon animals for them. I'm so excited to go back every week. Shalom V'lehitraot!
Monday, November 14, 2011
Negev Hike
We woke up early in the morning to eat breakfast, pack lunch, and get on the buses. Our first stop was at David Ben Gurion and his wife's gravesite. It was in the middle of the desert because he was the one who really cared about creating settlements in the Negev. About half of Israel is made up of desert land with very few settlements and the majority of people living there are bedouins. We ate lunch there and then began our hike in a part of the desert called Ein Avdot. For the first half of the hike, we walked along an oasis. It was really cool to see a river of water flowing with plants growing all aroundn it. The second half of the hike was walking up lots of stairs on the side of a huge mountain. When we got to the top and looked down, we saw an amazing sight. We saw the river in a valley down below and up above, a desert plain that stretched on as far as the eye could see and in the very far distance we saw a huge mountain range. At night we stayed in a town called Arad in an Israeli girl's school. We met some of the girls who went to school there and it was so funny talking to them because they were 15 year old girls who were so curious about everything we were doing and our lives back at home. That night we had a big surprise. There was fondue and karaoke night. It was so much fun and very chilled out.
The next day we woke up at 6:30 in the morning. We ate breakfast, packed our lunches, and got back on the buses to go to our next hike. For this hike we had the option of doing an easy one or a hard one. We found out later that there wasn't much difference between the two, but I signed up for the hard one not knowing that. The main reason that the hike was so hard was because there were four ladder- like structures that we had to climb down. In four very difficult spots on the hike, there were metal rungs nailed to the wall so we could climb down them. We were walking mostly on the rocks the whole time in the middle of the desert. We also learned about a few plants. We learned about one that was salty, one that stored water in it, one that cleans your hands, and one that sticks to things. After the hike we went to the Dead Sea and we made pita there. It was so yummy because it was fresh off the fire. After a long hard day of hiking, we went back to the dorms and then we went out to eat for my friend Melissa's birthday. I really enjoy hiking and I suggest that when you visit Israel, you should definitley go on a hike. Shalom V'lehitraot!
The next day we woke up at 6:30 in the morning. We ate breakfast, packed our lunches, and got back on the buses to go to our next hike. For this hike we had the option of doing an easy one or a hard one. We found out later that there wasn't much difference between the two, but I signed up for the hard one not knowing that. The main reason that the hike was so hard was because there were four ladder- like structures that we had to climb down. In four very difficult spots on the hike, there were metal rungs nailed to the wall so we could climb down them. We were walking mostly on the rocks the whole time in the middle of the desert. We also learned about a few plants. We learned about one that was salty, one that stored water in it, one that cleans your hands, and one that sticks to things. After the hike we went to the Dead Sea and we made pita there. It was so yummy because it was fresh off the fire. After a long hard day of hiking, we went back to the dorms and then we went out to eat for my friend Melissa's birthday. I really enjoy hiking and I suggest that when you visit Israel, you should definitley go on a hike. Shalom V'lehitraot!
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
More on Food
One of the best things about Harova food are the occasional chocolate chip pancakes. Every once in a while, the head of our kitchen likes to surprise us with pancakes. You wake up in the morning and you can smell the pancakes from three floors up. We run downstairs to get them before they are all gone because once word gets out that there are pancakes, the dining room becomes a mad house. The first people to get downstairs usually get about five pancakes. Don't worry they aren't that big. When I usually come down, people are only getting about two or three, and ten minutes before breakfast is over, when there is the biggest crowd, they only get one. Honestly, on pancake days you can really see that everyone is so much happier in the mornings and it's a great start to our day. We all look forward to pancake mornings. I hope there's going to be one soon.
I have recently nicknamed the girls in my school "The Harova Animals" because during meal times, you should see the way they attack the food. First of all, if you don't get there early, it's likely that you will miss out on some food. Before the food even comes out, girls grab plates and utensils and hover around the area where the food will be put. The second the food comes out, it is surrounded by girls who are all trying to take at the same time. There are times when there isn't enough food for everybody so some people don't really get much to eat, but it doesn't happen to often. The food isn't even that amazing, it's just that we're all hungry and we don't want to miss out on any of the food.
Another thing we like to do is eat out a lot. I say that the second thing I spend most of my money on is food, the first being transportation. As you saw in my tour video and some that aren't mentioned in the video are a bunch of restaurants all within a three minute walk from where we live. There's Coffee Bagel, Marzipan, Mozzarella, Holy Bagel, Burger's Bar, Papas Pizza, Falafel, Pizza Cardo, and Ma'afe Ne'eman and they're all really good places to eat. I feel like I talk about food a lot, but it is a very important topic. So don't be ashamed to eat what you want because who doesn't love yummy food? Enjoy the food in whatever country you live in. Shalom V'lehitraot
I have recently nicknamed the girls in my school "The Harova Animals" because during meal times, you should see the way they attack the food. First of all, if you don't get there early, it's likely that you will miss out on some food. Before the food even comes out, girls grab plates and utensils and hover around the area where the food will be put. The second the food comes out, it is surrounded by girls who are all trying to take at the same time. There are times when there isn't enough food for everybody so some people don't really get much to eat, but it doesn't happen to often. The food isn't even that amazing, it's just that we're all hungry and we don't want to miss out on any of the food.
Another thing we like to do is eat out a lot. I say that the second thing I spend most of my money on is food, the first being transportation. As you saw in my tour video and some that aren't mentioned in the video are a bunch of restaurants all within a three minute walk from where we live. There's Coffee Bagel, Marzipan, Mozzarella, Holy Bagel, Burger's Bar, Papas Pizza, Falafel, Pizza Cardo, and Ma'afe Ne'eman and they're all really good places to eat. I feel like I talk about food a lot, but it is a very important topic. So don't be ashamed to eat what you want because who doesn't love yummy food? Enjoy the food in whatever country you live in. Shalom V'lehitraot
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Back to Classes!
Vacation is over and we started classes again on Tuesday. Yesterday was my roommate Gabi's birthday so we had a really special day planned for her. Her friends from South Africa and Australia made her a party in their apartment the night of her birthday. My other roommate, Hadassa and I bought her two cakes. In the morning, Hadassa put balloons all over the room and I went to buy her ice coffee and a giant rugelach as a special breakfast treat. For lunch, Hadassa and I bought her a salad and a bagel and the three of us just had a really chilled out lunch together in our dorm room. After our last class she went out to a a cafe called Roladin where we bought her some more cake. We also got flowers for her but we didn't know where to put them because we didn't have a vase to put them in. So, I made my own vase by putting the flowers in a water bottle and then putting the water bottle in our little waste basket so it wouldn't fall over. Gabi was so happy and she said that it was really one of the best birthdays she ever had.
Back to classes, I actually changed a few classes on my schedule. If you check out my September post of my schedule, you'll know better what I'm talking about. The first class I changed a while ago was on Sunday, Torah and Psychology with Rav Krengel to Pirkei Avot with Rav Bailey. I realized that most of the people in the class already had a background because they took AP Psychology and I didn't and that's one of the reasons I was always confused in class. I decided instead to take a class with Rav Bailey because in my opinion, you can't go wrong with him. In Pirkei Avot, we analyze ethical teachings of the Rabbis. I also switched out of the Wednesday class I have with Rav Krengel about the Yearly Calendar and into Refuah and Halacha with Yonah Fish which is about the Jewish laws of medical issues. This class is similar to Medical Ethics that I take on Thursday, but better which is why I also switched out of that class. Instead I'm taking Torat Haisha, the laws of women, with Judith Fogel, but I'm not really sure if I like that class so I might switch out of it. The last change I made was the last class of the week, Hilchot Brachot with Judith Fogel, I switched to Rav Yonatan's Confronting Modernity class. I switched into this class before vacation so I got to have it twice already and I really love this class. In this class we are given a question usually accompanied by an article and we spend the entire class debating about this question. An example of a question is, if children aren't allowed to watch inappropriate material on television, what makes it appropriate for adults. We then branched off to ask, should children and even adults have a television in their house. The last new thing that we have in our classes is The David Project. This is an Israel Advocacy class which will teach us about international issues that come up about Israel and how to deal with them. This will also help us when we get to college so that we will be able to speak to other students who don't know what we learned about Israel.
I was asked to write something about this week's parsha for our school's newspaper and I thought that I would share it with you. One of the key characters in Parshat Noach who is rarely spoken about is Nimrod son of Cush, grandson of Ham, and great-grandson of Noach. Nimrod was the mighty hunter who ruled over the דור ההפלגה and gave them the idea to build מגדל בבל, and the one who pushed Abraham and his brother into the כבשן האש.
Back to classes, I actually changed a few classes on my schedule. If you check out my September post of my schedule, you'll know better what I'm talking about. The first class I changed a while ago was on Sunday, Torah and Psychology with Rav Krengel to Pirkei Avot with Rav Bailey. I realized that most of the people in the class already had a background because they took AP Psychology and I didn't and that's one of the reasons I was always confused in class. I decided instead to take a class with Rav Bailey because in my opinion, you can't go wrong with him. In Pirkei Avot, we analyze ethical teachings of the Rabbis. I also switched out of the Wednesday class I have with Rav Krengel about the Yearly Calendar and into Refuah and Halacha with Yonah Fish which is about the Jewish laws of medical issues. This class is similar to Medical Ethics that I take on Thursday, but better which is why I also switched out of that class. Instead I'm taking Torat Haisha, the laws of women, with Judith Fogel, but I'm not really sure if I like that class so I might switch out of it. The last change I made was the last class of the week, Hilchot Brachot with Judith Fogel, I switched to Rav Yonatan's Confronting Modernity class. I switched into this class before vacation so I got to have it twice already and I really love this class. In this class we are given a question usually accompanied by an article and we spend the entire class debating about this question. An example of a question is, if children aren't allowed to watch inappropriate material on television, what makes it appropriate for adults. We then branched off to ask, should children and even adults have a television in their house. The last new thing that we have in our classes is The David Project. This is an Israel Advocacy class which will teach us about international issues that come up about Israel and how to deal with them. This will also help us when we get to college so that we will be able to speak to other students who don't know what we learned about Israel.
I was asked to write something about this week's parsha for our school's newspaper and I thought that I would share it with you. One of the key characters in Parshat Noach who is rarely spoken about is Nimrod son of Cush, grandson of Ham, and great-grandson of Noach. Nimrod was the mighty hunter who ruled over the דור ההפלגה and gave them the idea to build מגדל בבל, and the one who pushed Abraham and his brother into the כבשן האש.
The name Nimrod comes from the root .מ.ר.ד meaning to rebel. Nimrod always thought of himself as greater than god. In perek ‘י pasuk ‘ט it says “הוא היה גבור ציד לפני ‘ה.” Rashi says that Nimrod intentionally provoked god to his face and misled other people to rebel against god too. He convinced them that god had no right to keep the heavens to himself so they should build a tower to wage war against god. When the people moved from the place where Noach’s ark rested to שנער they decided to appoint Nimrod as king over all of humanity, says Sforno. He then commanded them to build the tower to rebel against god.
In perek י”א pasuk ‘ג it says “ונשרפה לשרפה.” The Emek Davar tells us that this is a hint to כבשן האש. The same oven that Nimrod threw Abraham into, he used to make the bricks for the tower. The story of the כבשן האש is that one day Terach, Abraham’s father, left Abraham to tend to his idols. While his father was gone, Abraham smashed all of the idols and when his father returned, Abraham said that the idols got mad and killed each other. Terach was so angry that he decided to hand his son over to Nimrod. After a debate about the gods, Nimrod throws Abraham into an oven to see if his god would save him from burning. When everyone saw that he was saved, Abraham’s brother, Haran, who said that he would take the side of the winner, then took Abraham’s side, at which point Nimrod threw him into the oven and he was burned. This oven that was originally used by Nimrod for the sin of building the tower to rebel against god, now turned against him to save Abraham.
The two things that Nimrod was mainly known for was his large kingdom and his desire to rebel against god in every way possible. He lost his kingdom after god scattered all the people during the building of מגדל בבל and he was shown how wrong his ideas about god were when Abraham survived against every one’s expectations.
I hope everyone enjoyed this story and will share it with others. I miss everyone but my time is going by here so quickly and I am loving every day. Shalom V'lehitraot!
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Succot Part 2!
Sunday morning, the first day of chol hamoed, I woke up early to go to a massive Birkat Kohanim at the kotel. Whenever there's something big going on at the kotel, I prefer not to get too close. Instead, I find a spot higher up where I can see everything that's going on. I had no real plans for that day so I kinda just hung around until my friend Noga, who goes to Nishmat, called me and said that I should come visit her. So, I went there to hang out for a few hours. There were a bunch of people there and we decided to go check out some museum. In this "museum" were a bunch of model succot that people made and we were able to vote for the one that we liked the best. After a few hours, I went back to my dorm and then my friend Giselle and I went to Sha'alvim where we were staying for the night. I stayed in my friend Penina's dorm and Giselle stayed in her friend Ariella's dorm.
We woke up the next morning and got ready to go to Bet Shemesh for the day. In Bet Shemesh we met up with a bunch of people from Moshava and then went on a hike. A few people didn't want to go on the hike and since it was a pretty short hike, we left them behind. We started out with about fifteen people going on the hike at about 3:30. We were hiking up a mountain and the higher we went, the more people decided that they were too tired so they began hiking back. At the end of the hike only seven of us were left. At the top of the mountain was this huge monastery, but we couldn't stay long because there was only about half an hour left of sunlight. We basically had to run down this mountain that we just hiked up so we wouldn't get caught stranded in darkness. After we rested for a few minutes, we then went to the Shemesh Festival. At the Shemesh Fest there were lots of bands playing and a bunch of different stands with food. We were there really early so we got to see my friend's brother play in one of the first bands that were up. As I was walking around the festival, I saw so many people that I knew. I was really excited because I got to see some people that I haven't seen in a few years. Almost every person that I knew in seminary was at this festival which was a lot of fun. Finally, at the end of the night, Moshav, the band that everybody was waiting for began to play. Once they finished everyone started going home. There was only one main bus out of Bet Shemesh, the 417, that hundreds of people needed to get on. We were "lucky" and got on the third bus that came, but even that bus was packed with people. I went with my friend, Brenda, to go sleep at her dorm in Nishmat. She had a bunch of people sleeping over because they all went to the Shemesh Fest but we pretty much all fell asleep right when we got there.
The next morning, I was the first one up and since they didn't have any milk in their fridge for my cereal, I went down the block to go buy some. Nishmat is one of the schools that each dorm has their own kitchen. Harova dorms don't even get a fridge, but we don't have to make our own meals like the Nishmat girls do. After I finished my cereal, I went back to sleep. When I woke up again, it was lunch time and since the Nishmat girls don't seem to actually cook in their kitchen, I decided to make macaroni and cheese for them which they all appreciated very much. That night everyone in Harova split up into about six groups and each group went to visit a different teacher's succah. It was a really nice get together and everyone really enjoyed being together again.
The next day, Wednesday, I went with Penina to her aunt's house for the end of Succot and Shabbat. Her aunt and uncle live with two out of her eight kids in an apartment in Jerusalem. The first night that we were there, we went to Yeshivat Mercaz Harav to see the men dancing with the torahs. Most shuls have the women's section in a balcony that way we could see everything that was happening. It was really nice to see everybody so happy and dancing together. The days that we were there were very relaxing. We didn't do much and we slept a lot. On Friday I found out that they had the first Harry Potter book... in Hebrew. It was my first time reading a real Hebrew book and I finished it in two days. It was really hard to get through and I only figured out what some of the words meant because I had already read the book in English, but I was very proud of myself when I finished the book Saturday afternoon. Reading it took up most of my time, but we weren't really doing much else anyway.
Now that Succot is over, hopefully the Rova will quiet down a bit and we won't have as many tourist groups passing through. Classes start again soon so there won't be as many adventures for a while. Shalom V'lehitraot!
We woke up the next morning and got ready to go to Bet Shemesh for the day. In Bet Shemesh we met up with a bunch of people from Moshava and then went on a hike. A few people didn't want to go on the hike and since it was a pretty short hike, we left them behind. We started out with about fifteen people going on the hike at about 3:30. We were hiking up a mountain and the higher we went, the more people decided that they were too tired so they began hiking back. At the end of the hike only seven of us were left. At the top of the mountain was this huge monastery, but we couldn't stay long because there was only about half an hour left of sunlight. We basically had to run down this mountain that we just hiked up so we wouldn't get caught stranded in darkness. After we rested for a few minutes, we then went to the Shemesh Festival. At the Shemesh Fest there were lots of bands playing and a bunch of different stands with food. We were there really early so we got to see my friend's brother play in one of the first bands that were up. As I was walking around the festival, I saw so many people that I knew. I was really excited because I got to see some people that I haven't seen in a few years. Almost every person that I knew in seminary was at this festival which was a lot of fun. Finally, at the end of the night, Moshav, the band that everybody was waiting for began to play. Once they finished everyone started going home. There was only one main bus out of Bet Shemesh, the 417, that hundreds of people needed to get on. We were "lucky" and got on the third bus that came, but even that bus was packed with people. I went with my friend, Brenda, to go sleep at her dorm in Nishmat. She had a bunch of people sleeping over because they all went to the Shemesh Fest but we pretty much all fell asleep right when we got there.
The next morning, I was the first one up and since they didn't have any milk in their fridge for my cereal, I went down the block to go buy some. Nishmat is one of the schools that each dorm has their own kitchen. Harova dorms don't even get a fridge, but we don't have to make our own meals like the Nishmat girls do. After I finished my cereal, I went back to sleep. When I woke up again, it was lunch time and since the Nishmat girls don't seem to actually cook in their kitchen, I decided to make macaroni and cheese for them which they all appreciated very much. That night everyone in Harova split up into about six groups and each group went to visit a different teacher's succah. It was a really nice get together and everyone really enjoyed being together again.
The next day, Wednesday, I went with Penina to her aunt's house for the end of Succot and Shabbat. Her aunt and uncle live with two out of her eight kids in an apartment in Jerusalem. The first night that we were there, we went to Yeshivat Mercaz Harav to see the men dancing with the torahs. Most shuls have the women's section in a balcony that way we could see everything that was happening. It was really nice to see everybody so happy and dancing together. The days that we were there were very relaxing. We didn't do much and we slept a lot. On Friday I found out that they had the first Harry Potter book... in Hebrew. It was my first time reading a real Hebrew book and I finished it in two days. It was really hard to get through and I only figured out what some of the words meant because I had already read the book in English, but I was very proud of myself when I finished the book Saturday afternoon. Reading it took up most of my time, but we weren't really doing much else anyway.
Now that Succot is over, hopefully the Rova will quiet down a bit and we won't have as many tourist groups passing through. Classes start again soon so there won't be as many adventures for a while. Shalom V'lehitraot!
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Succot in Ma'ale Adumim
For the first days of Succot, I went to Ma'ale Adumim which is a town right outside of Jerusalem with my friend Melissa, my roommate Hadassa, and a girl who was there for her second year Libby. This town is actually surrounded by the desert. You can walk probably walk the width in about 5 minutes and the length in about 30 minutes and you will see the mountains of desert on every side. It was actually a very nice landscape and the sky was always clear. The weather was really nice in the morning, it got pretty hot around the afternoon, and at night it was very windy and a bit chilly. Most of the people that live there are people who recently moved to Israel from America so we found that the majority of the people spoke English and they taught their kids English too.
On holidays and Fridays, Israeli buses stop running about an hour before the holiday starts. We were running pretty late and we actually caught the last bus that was running that day. We were staying with the Krakauer family. They all spoke English because they made aliyah six years ago. They were actually originally from New York and they lived in Brooklyn near Marine Park.
They have 8 kids. Tova, the oldest went to Harova when they first made aliyah. Uriel still lives in Brooklyn. Max was really quiet and he didn't really talk to us much. Chaim was our age and he also had a friend of his over from Brooklyn, Netanel. David is 15 and just liked hanging around and talking to us. Yoni is a crazy kid who thinks he's so cool and funny like all other 13 year old boys do. Shuli was a little bit obsessed with us and liked to follow us around wherever we went. Sarah Devora was the youngest who was born right before they moved to Israel. They all loved playing chess. I played against Chaim once and I lost. I played Yoni once and I won. I played Shuli three times, twice I won and once was a stalemate.
For the first night of succot, they had over 30 people in their succah. Nine of the people were the family itself, nine were people sleeping over because there was also another four girls sleeping over that we didn't know, and the rest were friends from the neighborhood. The next day, we had lunch with one of our Rabbis in school who lived in this town, Rab Susman. It was just his family and us in their succah. Him and his wife are very American but their kids are so Israeli. They mostly spoke Hebrew at the table but I was basically able to understand most of it. The food they served was also typical food that you would see in a Jewish American's home as opposed to the food that I've been eating at other Israeli's houses.
That night, when we got back to the house, the holiday was over for the family but we still weren't allowed to do anything. They are also a very musical family so we were listening to them play the piano and the guitar. We had pizza for dinner and then just hung out and talked for the rest of the night. We didn't do much the next day either. We sat around reading for a little bit and then we went for a walk around the neighborhood. Shabbat started at 4:30 so we didn't have much time to do anything on Friday. For Friday night dinner we split up. Hadassa and Libby went to one of our counselor's houses and Melissa and I went to her friend's house, the Zenilman's. It turns out that they are cousins with my friend, Dodi.
The next day, I woke up really late to two little girls screaming at me to wake up. I kinda started laughing a little bit and then Libby was kind enough to get them away from me. For lunch we split up again and Melissa and I went to the Foyer family for lunch. They also had another family over and I found out that the mother of the family lived in Brooklyn and went to Flatbush. For almost the whole meal we were talking about Flatbush and what it used to be like and how much it changed from when she used to go. When we got back to the house we played some games like Apples to Apples and by the time we finished Shabbat was over. We ate a light dinner afterwards of Honey Nut Cheerios and then we went back to school. It's been a crazy vacation so far with so many new people and experiences and many more to come. Shalom V'lehitraot!
On holidays and Fridays, Israeli buses stop running about an hour before the holiday starts. We were running pretty late and we actually caught the last bus that was running that day. We were staying with the Krakauer family. They all spoke English because they made aliyah six years ago. They were actually originally from New York and they lived in Brooklyn near Marine Park.
They have 8 kids. Tova, the oldest went to Harova when they first made aliyah. Uriel still lives in Brooklyn. Max was really quiet and he didn't really talk to us much. Chaim was our age and he also had a friend of his over from Brooklyn, Netanel. David is 15 and just liked hanging around and talking to us. Yoni is a crazy kid who thinks he's so cool and funny like all other 13 year old boys do. Shuli was a little bit obsessed with us and liked to follow us around wherever we went. Sarah Devora was the youngest who was born right before they moved to Israel. They all loved playing chess. I played against Chaim once and I lost. I played Yoni once and I won. I played Shuli three times, twice I won and once was a stalemate.
For the first night of succot, they had over 30 people in their succah. Nine of the people were the family itself, nine were people sleeping over because there was also another four girls sleeping over that we didn't know, and the rest were friends from the neighborhood. The next day, we had lunch with one of our Rabbis in school who lived in this town, Rab Susman. It was just his family and us in their succah. Him and his wife are very American but their kids are so Israeli. They mostly spoke Hebrew at the table but I was basically able to understand most of it. The food they served was also typical food that you would see in a Jewish American's home as opposed to the food that I've been eating at other Israeli's houses.
That night, when we got back to the house, the holiday was over for the family but we still weren't allowed to do anything. They are also a very musical family so we were listening to them play the piano and the guitar. We had pizza for dinner and then just hung out and talked for the rest of the night. We didn't do much the next day either. We sat around reading for a little bit and then we went for a walk around the neighborhood. Shabbat started at 4:30 so we didn't have much time to do anything on Friday. For Friday night dinner we split up. Hadassa and Libby went to one of our counselor's houses and Melissa and I went to her friend's house, the Zenilman's. It turns out that they are cousins with my friend, Dodi.
The next day, I woke up really late to two little girls screaming at me to wake up. I kinda started laughing a little bit and then Libby was kind enough to get them away from me. For lunch we split up again and Melissa and I went to the Foyer family for lunch. They also had another family over and I found out that the mother of the family lived in Brooklyn and went to Flatbush. For almost the whole meal we were talking about Flatbush and what it used to be like and how much it changed from when she used to go. When we got back to the house we played some games like Apples to Apples and by the time we finished Shabbat was over. We ate a light dinner afterwards of Honey Nut Cheerios and then we went back to school. It's been a crazy vacation so far with so many new people and experiences and many more to come. Shalom V'lehitraot!
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Pre- Succot Tiyul!
On Monday morning, after only four hours of sleep, I woke up at seven am to start getting ready for our pre- succot trip. I took my overnight bag, my new Kipling knapsack that I just bought the day before, and a sleeping bag borrowed from my roommate, and I went downstairs for breakfast. At breakfast we also made our lunches.
We walked to the bus that would take us to our first destination of the day. At the end of our two hour bus ride, we arrived at Chof Dor. There we were going to learn about tekhelet, the blue dye that they used to and are starting again to use for tzitzis. First we saw a 20 minute video about this blue dye and then we went to go make it. We all sat outside at picnic tables with our little tekhelet kits. The blue dye is primarily made of this special snail. For hundreds of years they didn't know which snail made this dye but a few years ago they discovered the snail and how to make the dye. So in our little kits there was bits of the snail that we poured into a beaker. We then poured some acid into the beaker, some boiling water, some other chemical, and a base to neutralize it. This concoction was bright yellow and smelled terrible. Then, we had a piece of cotton which we dipped into the solution and then left it in the sun. After a few minutes, we took out the cotton, poured cold water on it, and it turned bright blue! That was the educational part of our trip.
Next, we went down to the beach to actually look for the snail. They gave us masks and snorkels and we went into the sea to start searching. It took us a while to figure out what it looked like because there were so many different types of shells at the bottom of the sea, but after awhile, some people began to find them. I found one of the shells, but it turned out that the snail moved out and a hermit crab moved in, which was also cool. After that we ate lunch, changed out of our wet clothes and went back on the bus.
Our next stop was at Mount Carmel for our first hike. The hike was decently easy and mostly uphill. We also saw some of the parts that got burnt in the fire last year. At the end of the hike we reached a big cave. We rested at the entrance and then, the people who wanted to, went into the inner chamber. Some of us brought flashlights so we would be able to see and surprisingly, phones gave off a good amount of light too. We reached the edge of the inner chamber and everyone sat down. We all turned off our phones/ flashlights and it was pitch black. We sat there in silence for about a minute and then turned around to go back. As we were leaving the cave, I slipped on some rocks and fell on my butt and I got a huge bruise which makes it kinda hurt to sit and I have to sit in like awkward positions.
Anyway, after that we went to a boy's school, which happened to be the first Bnei Akiva school ever, which was where we were staying for the night. We made rooms of 4-5 people and then went to dinner. After dinner, we played Harova Taboo, and after that everyone was exhausted from the day so most of us went to sleep.
We started out early again to today's hiking spot. Today we hiked in a different part of the Carmel, but today's hike was downhill and much harder. We had to take three liters of water with us and our group had two extra jerry cans filled with water in case someone ran out which we each had to carry for around 15 minutes. I had the first shift with the jerry can which is always the best because you're not tired yet. The hike was really hard because the entire path was filled with rocks. Sometimes there were small rocks which were really slippery because when you would step on them, they would roll out from under your feet. There were medium size rocks which were okay because you could either step on them or over them. There were big rocks which you would have to climb over, and sometimes there were huge rocks that you would be walking on the same rock for over a minute, which is also very slippery. I must've slipped and caught myself more then twenty times, but I never completely fell. We also had to climb down some pretty sheer walls which only had just enough hand holds for you not to fall. There was one time when my friend Alona actually fell a good few feet off of a cliff, but she was okay. Most of the time we had to walk in single file because the paths were narrow. Sometimes the paths were a little wider or there was more than one way to get down a particular cliff so people would try to get ahead to the front. The front of the group is always better because you get the longest breaks when waiting for everyone else. It was always the same group of people who were in front and I was one of them. On this hike I drank more than two liters of water and twice I had to go to the bathroom in the woods (not fun) but it wasn't so bad. At the end of the hike we had to walk up this really steep hill in the blazing heat for about ten minutes. By the time we got to the top, I had drops of sweat running down my face into my eyes and mouth which was kinda gross and my hat and shirt were pretty wet. The last bit was downhill again but very straightforward without having to climb down cliffs. We finished what was supposed to be a six hour hike in four hours. We got back on the bus and I fell asleep almost right away. We all felt so accomplished when we finished the hike but happy to get back on the bus to go back home. It was a great way to start off our vacation. Shalom V'lehitraot!
We walked to the bus that would take us to our first destination of the day. At the end of our two hour bus ride, we arrived at Chof Dor. There we were going to learn about tekhelet, the blue dye that they used to and are starting again to use for tzitzis. First we saw a 20 minute video about this blue dye and then we went to go make it. We all sat outside at picnic tables with our little tekhelet kits. The blue dye is primarily made of this special snail. For hundreds of years they didn't know which snail made this dye but a few years ago they discovered the snail and how to make the dye. So in our little kits there was bits of the snail that we poured into a beaker. We then poured some acid into the beaker, some boiling water, some other chemical, and a base to neutralize it. This concoction was bright yellow and smelled terrible. Then, we had a piece of cotton which we dipped into the solution and then left it in the sun. After a few minutes, we took out the cotton, poured cold water on it, and it turned bright blue! That was the educational part of our trip.
Next, we went down to the beach to actually look for the snail. They gave us masks and snorkels and we went into the sea to start searching. It took us a while to figure out what it looked like because there were so many different types of shells at the bottom of the sea, but after awhile, some people began to find them. I found one of the shells, but it turned out that the snail moved out and a hermit crab moved in, which was also cool. After that we ate lunch, changed out of our wet clothes and went back on the bus.
Our next stop was at Mount Carmel for our first hike. The hike was decently easy and mostly uphill. We also saw some of the parts that got burnt in the fire last year. At the end of the hike we reached a big cave. We rested at the entrance and then, the people who wanted to, went into the inner chamber. Some of us brought flashlights so we would be able to see and surprisingly, phones gave off a good amount of light too. We reached the edge of the inner chamber and everyone sat down. We all turned off our phones/ flashlights and it was pitch black. We sat there in silence for about a minute and then turned around to go back. As we were leaving the cave, I slipped on some rocks and fell on my butt and I got a huge bruise which makes it kinda hurt to sit and I have to sit in like awkward positions.
Anyway, after that we went to a boy's school, which happened to be the first Bnei Akiva school ever, which was where we were staying for the night. We made rooms of 4-5 people and then went to dinner. After dinner, we played Harova Taboo, and after that everyone was exhausted from the day so most of us went to sleep.
We started out early again to today's hiking spot. Today we hiked in a different part of the Carmel, but today's hike was downhill and much harder. We had to take three liters of water with us and our group had two extra jerry cans filled with water in case someone ran out which we each had to carry for around 15 minutes. I had the first shift with the jerry can which is always the best because you're not tired yet. The hike was really hard because the entire path was filled with rocks. Sometimes there were small rocks which were really slippery because when you would step on them, they would roll out from under your feet. There were medium size rocks which were okay because you could either step on them or over them. There were big rocks which you would have to climb over, and sometimes there were huge rocks that you would be walking on the same rock for over a minute, which is also very slippery. I must've slipped and caught myself more then twenty times, but I never completely fell. We also had to climb down some pretty sheer walls which only had just enough hand holds for you not to fall. There was one time when my friend Alona actually fell a good few feet off of a cliff, but she was okay. Most of the time we had to walk in single file because the paths were narrow. Sometimes the paths were a little wider or there was more than one way to get down a particular cliff so people would try to get ahead to the front. The front of the group is always better because you get the longest breaks when waiting for everyone else. It was always the same group of people who were in front and I was one of them. On this hike I drank more than two liters of water and twice I had to go to the bathroom in the woods (not fun) but it wasn't so bad. At the end of the hike we had to walk up this really steep hill in the blazing heat for about ten minutes. By the time we got to the top, I had drops of sweat running down my face into my eyes and mouth which was kinda gross and my hat and shirt were pretty wet. The last bit was downhill again but very straightforward without having to climb down cliffs. We finished what was supposed to be a six hour hike in four hours. We got back on the bus and I fell asleep almost right away. We all felt so accomplished when we finished the hike but happy to get back on the bus to go back home. It was a great way to start off our vacation. Shalom V'lehitraot!
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Yom Kippur
4:40- Candle Lighting
I had a good beginning to Yom Kippur because I finally learned how to light a match. The first time I lit it, I was so surprised that I dropped it... but luckily I dropped it into water.
4:45- Kol Nidrei
Our minyan was made up of ten men (one kohen), and 200 women.120 of the women were students in the school, and the rest were teachers' families and alumni.
8:30- Shani Taragin
We were very privileged to have Shani Taragin come speak to us. She spoke about the work that the kohen gadol does on Yom Kippur and where we see that in our tefilah.
9:30- Bedtime
There were other speakers afterwards but I was too tired to stay to listen to any more. There was one other Rabbi who spoke and then Rav Milston, the head of our school, taught until around 11:30. My roommate, Hadassa, actually went down to the kotel and she said that there people who were actually sleeping there.
5:45-Alarm Went Off
I didn't actually get up then, but I got up about 15 minutes later when it went off again. I woke up my other roommates because for some reason they didn't hear the alarm, got dressed and then went to shul.
6:30- Shacharit
I was surprised and happy to see that more than half of the girls showed up on time. Almost everyone else came within the hour. It was amazing! The davening was really nice because there was so much singing. It was also really nice that even though there were girls from all around the world, we all still knew most of the tunes. Everyone was really into it and the atmosphere was very spiritual.
11:30- Mussaf
Rav Milston was the chazzan and at one point, right in the middle of praying, he started singing a random song. Everyone joined in together and we all sang the song over and over again. After a while, he started another song, and we all just sang for over 15 minutes.
2:45- Mincha
Nope, we didn't get a break... but it wasn't so bad because it went by very quickly and it didn't feel like time was dragging on. I was also happy because almost every other year, I miss when they read Sefer Yonah, and this year I got to hear it.
4:30- Ne'ilah
Everyone was still going strong in the last hour of Yom Kippur. There was this feeling in the air of everyone being there, just standing there together, saying the same words, wanting the same things.
5:40- End of Fast
We all ran/ walked very quickly to the dining room to get food. When we got there.. there was food, but very little. There was just some cookies and some grapes. We got over it quickly though because we just had such a great day.
Yom Kippur in Israel, in Midreshet Harova is very different then at home. I can't really say that it was so much better here because there is a little part of me that does miss the routine back at home, but I am having the best time here. Shalom V'lehitraot!
I had a good beginning to Yom Kippur because I finally learned how to light a match. The first time I lit it, I was so surprised that I dropped it... but luckily I dropped it into water.
4:45- Kol Nidrei
Our minyan was made up of ten men (one kohen), and 200 women.120 of the women were students in the school, and the rest were teachers' families and alumni.
8:30- Shani Taragin
We were very privileged to have Shani Taragin come speak to us. She spoke about the work that the kohen gadol does on Yom Kippur and where we see that in our tefilah.
9:30- Bedtime
There were other speakers afterwards but I was too tired to stay to listen to any more. There was one other Rabbi who spoke and then Rav Milston, the head of our school, taught until around 11:30. My roommate, Hadassa, actually went down to the kotel and she said that there people who were actually sleeping there.
5:45-Alarm Went Off
I didn't actually get up then, but I got up about 15 minutes later when it went off again. I woke up my other roommates because for some reason they didn't hear the alarm, got dressed and then went to shul.
6:30- Shacharit
I was surprised and happy to see that more than half of the girls showed up on time. Almost everyone else came within the hour. It was amazing! The davening was really nice because there was so much singing. It was also really nice that even though there were girls from all around the world, we all still knew most of the tunes. Everyone was really into it and the atmosphere was very spiritual.
11:30- Mussaf
Rav Milston was the chazzan and at one point, right in the middle of praying, he started singing a random song. Everyone joined in together and we all sang the song over and over again. After a while, he started another song, and we all just sang for over 15 minutes.
2:45- Mincha
Nope, we didn't get a break... but it wasn't so bad because it went by very quickly and it didn't feel like time was dragging on. I was also happy because almost every other year, I miss when they read Sefer Yonah, and this year I got to hear it.
4:30- Ne'ilah
Everyone was still going strong in the last hour of Yom Kippur. There was this feeling in the air of everyone being there, just standing there together, saying the same words, wanting the same things.
5:40- End of Fast
We all ran/ walked very quickly to the dining room to get food. When we got there.. there was food, but very little. There was just some cookies and some grapes. We got over it quickly though because we just had such a great day.
Yom Kippur in Israel, in Midreshet Harova is very different then at home. I can't really say that it was so much better here because there is a little part of me that does miss the routine back at home, but I am having the best time here. Shalom V'lehitraot!
Monday, October 3, 2011
Wordsworth and the Two Goats
I hope everyone had a good Rosh Hashana and an easy and meaningful fast. I know I did.
Rav Bailey taught a class on Tzom Gedalia that helped us learn about Yom Kippur and forgiveness through poetry that I'd like to share with you.
Vayikra 16:2-3 "Speak unto Aaron thy brother that he come not at all times into the holy place...Herewith shall Aaron come into the holy place"
Vayikra 16:8 "And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats: one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for Azazel."
In the first sentence we see a contradiction. First it says that Aaron should never go into the holy place, and then it says that he should. How does this make sense? If he is supposed to go in, why does it say beforehand that he shouldn't go in?
In the second sentence, we see the practice of taking two goats and randomly choosing by lottery which will be a sacrifice for god, and which will be the scapegoat to be thrown off a cliff with all of the sins of Israel.
Let's take a look at Part V of William Wordsworth's poem Ode: Intimations of Immorality From Recollections of Early Childhood.
Rav Bailey taught a class on Tzom Gedalia that helped us learn about Yom Kippur and forgiveness through poetry that I'd like to share with you.
Vayikra 16:2-3 "Speak unto Aaron thy brother that he come not at all times into the holy place...Herewith shall Aaron come into the holy place"
Vayikra 16:8 "And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats: one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for Azazel."
In the first sentence we see a contradiction. First it says that Aaron should never go into the holy place, and then it says that he should. How does this make sense? If he is supposed to go in, why does it say beforehand that he shouldn't go in?
In the second sentence, we see the practice of taking two goats and randomly choosing by lottery which will be a sacrifice for god, and which will be the scapegoat to be thrown off a cliff with all of the sins of Israel.
Let's take a look at Part V of William Wordsworth's poem Ode: Intimations of Immorality From Recollections of Early Childhood.
| Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting: | |
| The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star, | 60 |
| Hath had elsewhere its setting, | |
| And cometh from afar: | |
| Not in entire forgetfulness, | |
| And not in utter nakedness, | |
| But trailing clouds of glory do we come | 65 |
| From God, who is our home: | |
| Heaven lies about us in our infancy! | |
| Shades of the prison-house begin to close | |
| Upon the growing Boy, | |
| But he beholds the light, and whence it flows, | 70 |
| He sees it in his joy; | |
| The Youth, who daily farther from the east | |
| Must travel, still is Nature's priest, | |
| And by the vision splendid | |
| Is on his way attended; | 75 |
| At length the Man perceives it die away, | |
| And fade into the light of common day. |
Similar to Shakespeare's "All the World's a Stage," we are talking about the stages of life in this poem, but here we are connecting life's stages to the stages of this soul that came from somewhere far away.
1. When an infant is born, the soul comes and unites with the body.
2. As the boy grows, there are limitations and restrictions that cause the soul to begin to sepearate BUT it can still be seenin glory and happiness which is where the soul initially came from.
3. The youth, who is a bit older, is even farther from the beginning and must work harder to be with the soul, STILL the divine can be seen in the physical world if he tries.
4. Then the man stands by and watches as it dies away because the soul has become insignificant to him.
Summary: The older you get, the less spirituality is found because you're not making an effort.
If people knew what was right and what was wrong, they would obviously choose to do right. Then why do people do wrong, which causes the need for forgiveness? Some commandments do have specific right or wrong things to do. Sometimes the choice isn't so clear and people randomly choose, just as Aaron randomly chose one of the goats to be thrown off a cliff. We learn from this that we shouldn't randomly be making decisions. Why do people need forgiveness? People need forgiveness because they chose wrong, and the wrong thing to do was the decision to do something bad.
This is further seen in the contradiction of the first sentence. It basically says, "Don't do this, except during this specific time." When you have the negative and the positive, you need to not only not do the negative, you must also do the positive.
Forgiveness has two parts, the asking and the forgiving. I hope you all find it in your hearts to forgive one another and have a happy new year. Shalom V'lehitraot!
Monday, September 26, 2011
Food Vs. Food
1:30- Lunchtime
Today, instead of taking a nap during lunch, I went to help out at the local soup kitchen. The soup kitchen is in a great location because it over looks the kotel and when you walk inside, it looks pretty nice and clean, almost like a restaurant. Everyday, a different group of girls go to help out so today I went with my friends Rachel and Rachelle. When we walked in, we went straight to the kitchen in the back to start helping out. We put our bags down on the side and go to work. First we put pots of soup on every table. Then we made up plates with meat, potatoes, vegetables, and a plum. The women were served first and then the men stood on line at the window to get their food. After everyone was served, people were allowed to come back for seconds. Everybody there seemed so grateful and wished us a happy new year. It was a great way to spend my lunch and I'm looking forward to going again in two Mondays.
4:15- Break in between classes
My friend Melissa and I were hungry so we decided to go to the little store down the block called Sammi's to get something to eat. I wanted to get wafers because we had meat for lunch and they were pareve. We saw a bunch of different wafer flavors like lemon, coffee, and vanilla, but then we saw a big box of chocolate covered wafers and we knew that we had to get them. We bought the box, brought it back with us, and when we looked inside, there were so many more wafers than we expected. There were four packages inside of about 20 wafers each so we each had two packages. We started eating wafers but then stopped after 5 or 6 because class was about to start. Everyone started asking us for wafers but we didn't really want to give them any. Then a bunch of things happened all at once. Melissa and I started getting really hyper, our box of wafers was "stolen" and hidden from us, and class started. Basically we were kinda going crazy which was lots of fun. We eventually stopped ourselves from laughing, got through the class, and got our wafers back, and all was good... Until Melissa had control of the box and wouldn't give it to me until I gave her back her shoe, (yes, I stole her shoe, but that was only because she put her foot on my lap) but in the very end, everyone got back what was theirs and we were all happy. Shalom V'lehitraot!
P.S. The answer to the title reference question was 'Friends'
Today, instead of taking a nap during lunch, I went to help out at the local soup kitchen. The soup kitchen is in a great location because it over looks the kotel and when you walk inside, it looks pretty nice and clean, almost like a restaurant. Everyday, a different group of girls go to help out so today I went with my friends Rachel and Rachelle. When we walked in, we went straight to the kitchen in the back to start helping out. We put our bags down on the side and go to work. First we put pots of soup on every table. Then we made up plates with meat, potatoes, vegetables, and a plum. The women were served first and then the men stood on line at the window to get their food. After everyone was served, people were allowed to come back for seconds. Everybody there seemed so grateful and wished us a happy new year. It was a great way to spend my lunch and I'm looking forward to going again in two Mondays.
4:15- Break in between classes
My friend Melissa and I were hungry so we decided to go to the little store down the block called Sammi's to get something to eat. I wanted to get wafers because we had meat for lunch and they were pareve. We saw a bunch of different wafer flavors like lemon, coffee, and vanilla, but then we saw a big box of chocolate covered wafers and we knew that we had to get them. We bought the box, brought it back with us, and when we looked inside, there were so many more wafers than we expected. There were four packages inside of about 20 wafers each so we each had two packages. We started eating wafers but then stopped after 5 or 6 because class was about to start. Everyone started asking us for wafers but we didn't really want to give them any. Then a bunch of things happened all at once. Melissa and I started getting really hyper, our box of wafers was "stolen" and hidden from us, and class started. Basically we were kinda going crazy which was lots of fun. We eventually stopped ourselves from laughing, got through the class, and got our wafers back, and all was good... Until Melissa had control of the box and wouldn't give it to me until I gave her back her shoe, (yes, I stole her shoe, but that was only because she put her foot on my lap) but in the very end, everyone got back what was theirs and we were all happy. Shalom V'lehitraot!
P.S. The answer to the title reference question was 'Friends'
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
The Beach!
Yesterday 12:30- Announcements
"Blah, blah, blah, something, something, something... oh, and we're taking you to the beach today!"
Yeah, so they took us to the beach yesterday and it was so awesome! We got on the bus at 2:00 after we ate lunch and I put on sun tan lotion as we waited for the buses to leave. The ride was about an hour and a half, and of course I slept through most of it. When we got to the beach, I went right into the water. The water in the Mediterranean Sea was beautiful. It was so clean and the temperature was amazingly warm. The water is very shallow and doesn't really go past your knees closer to the shore. You have to go really far out in order for it to be about shoulder height, which is good enough to swim in. I brought my goggles and I swam about a hundred strokes. It's actually much harder to swim in the sea than in the ocean in NY. The tide is very strong and only wants to pull you to the shore so swimming across it requires a lot of effort. I stayed in the water for over an hour, swimming and hanging out with my friends.
When we decided to go back to shore, everyone gathered around in a circle and a few people who brought their guitars began to play and we all started singing. It was kinda late by the time our dinner came, so when we saw the pizza show up, everyone was so excited to eat and most of us ate at least three slices. We stayed on the beach for a little bit longer and we left at around 9:00. On the bus ride home, the two girls behind me were singing the entire time. It was actually very funny because they both didn't really have such good voices and the songs they were singing were just funny. When we got back to the dorms, I was too tired to run like everybody else did to the showers so I had to wait a while before I could get all of the sand out. I went to sleep early, at like 11:30 and I hope I will get to do the same tonight.
I know I don't talk much about my classes, but this stuff is just so much more interesting to write about it. Don't worry though, some day I'll get around to talking about it. Until then, I hope you enjoy what I've written so far. Shalom V'lehitraot!
"Blah, blah, blah, something, something, something... oh, and we're taking you to the beach today!"
Yeah, so they took us to the beach yesterday and it was so awesome! We got on the bus at 2:00 after we ate lunch and I put on sun tan lotion as we waited for the buses to leave. The ride was about an hour and a half, and of course I slept through most of it. When we got to the beach, I went right into the water. The water in the Mediterranean Sea was beautiful. It was so clean and the temperature was amazingly warm. The water is very shallow and doesn't really go past your knees closer to the shore. You have to go really far out in order for it to be about shoulder height, which is good enough to swim in. I brought my goggles and I swam about a hundred strokes. It's actually much harder to swim in the sea than in the ocean in NY. The tide is very strong and only wants to pull you to the shore so swimming across it requires a lot of effort. I stayed in the water for over an hour, swimming and hanging out with my friends.
When we decided to go back to shore, everyone gathered around in a circle and a few people who brought their guitars began to play and we all started singing. It was kinda late by the time our dinner came, so when we saw the pizza show up, everyone was so excited to eat and most of us ate at least three slices. We stayed on the beach for a little bit longer and we left at around 9:00. On the bus ride home, the two girls behind me were singing the entire time. It was actually very funny because they both didn't really have such good voices and the songs they were singing were just funny. When we got back to the dorms, I was too tired to run like everybody else did to the showers so I had to wait a while before I could get all of the sand out. I went to sleep early, at like 11:30 and I hope I will get to do the same tonight.
I know I don't talk much about my classes, but this stuff is just so much more interesting to write about it. Don't worry though, some day I'll get around to talking about it. Until then, I hope you enjoy what I've written so far. Shalom V'lehitraot!
Monday, September 19, 2011
The One with 3 Parts
Part 1 of this post is really exciting because it is my first of hopefully many video posts!
Check out the link on you tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbAZVf35vI0
Part 2: Tonight's Adventure!
My friends Giselle and I went to go see our friends in Shalavim, Penina and Ariella, since Mondays we have the night off. We took the #19 bus to get there. I was really excited because I found out that I could get a kid's bus pass since I'm under 18 and I could ride the bus for about half the price, so I bought 20 rides. When Giselle and I got to the bus stop, Ariella and Penina were there waiting for us and then we went to go check out their dorms. Their dorms are so nice compared to ours, it's like living they're living in a hotel. Anyway, we then went to the mall. To get to the mall, you have to walk down over 300 steps. About half way down the stairs there is this huge dog that barks at you when you pass by. It was dark outside so the first time we passed the house, the dog just jumped on the fence and started barking like crazy. I couldn't really see anything and I basically jumped because I was so surprised.
Once we got to the mall I was so hungry because I hadn't eaten dinner. Penina and I went to go get pizza, and Giselle and Ariella went to get meat. After I had a huge slice of pizza, I was still hungry so Penina took me to a bakery and 'forced' me to get a huge donut... which was sooooo good! When we met back up with Giselle and Ariella, Giselle started telling us this story about some random guy who just came up to her and asked her how old she was. It was really weird and we decided that it was probably some bet that he made with his friends. At about 10:00 Giselle and I decided it was time to go home, so we had to walk back up all those stairs, past the crazy dog, and up to the bus stop. We got on the bus and weren't exactly sure where to get off. We got off at the stop that we thought was ours but then we weren't exactly sure where we were. After asking a few people where to go, we finally figured it out. On the walk home, we walked into a huge group of soldiers who were also walking in the same direction as us, so far a good part of the way home, it was like we had our own little army surrounding us.
Part 3: I don't often write anything philosophical or thought provoking on my blog but I thought I might share a thought I had with you. I'm in Israel. It's crazy, i'm in Israel!
I know you know that, and I know it too, but sometimes when you're sitting inside a classroom or in your bed, you kinda forget because you're just comfortable there. But then you look outside your window and remember, oh I'm not at home... I'm in Israel!
Don't miss me too much! Shalom V'lehitraot!
PS: Anyone get the title reference?
Check out the link on you tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbAZVf35vI0
Part 2: Tonight's Adventure!
My friends Giselle and I went to go see our friends in Shalavim, Penina and Ariella, since Mondays we have the night off. We took the #19 bus to get there. I was really excited because I found out that I could get a kid's bus pass since I'm under 18 and I could ride the bus for about half the price, so I bought 20 rides. When Giselle and I got to the bus stop, Ariella and Penina were there waiting for us and then we went to go check out their dorms. Their dorms are so nice compared to ours, it's like living they're living in a hotel. Anyway, we then went to the mall. To get to the mall, you have to walk down over 300 steps. About half way down the stairs there is this huge dog that barks at you when you pass by. It was dark outside so the first time we passed the house, the dog just jumped on the fence and started barking like crazy. I couldn't really see anything and I basically jumped because I was so surprised.
Once we got to the mall I was so hungry because I hadn't eaten dinner. Penina and I went to go get pizza, and Giselle and Ariella went to get meat. After I had a huge slice of pizza, I was still hungry so Penina took me to a bakery and 'forced' me to get a huge donut... which was sooooo good! When we met back up with Giselle and Ariella, Giselle started telling us this story about some random guy who just came up to her and asked her how old she was. It was really weird and we decided that it was probably some bet that he made with his friends. At about 10:00 Giselle and I decided it was time to go home, so we had to walk back up all those stairs, past the crazy dog, and up to the bus stop. We got on the bus and weren't exactly sure where to get off. We got off at the stop that we thought was ours but then we weren't exactly sure where we were. After asking a few people where to go, we finally figured it out. On the walk home, we walked into a huge group of soldiers who were also walking in the same direction as us, so far a good part of the way home, it was like we had our own little army surrounding us.
Part 3: I don't often write anything philosophical or thought provoking on my blog but I thought I might share a thought I had with you. I'm in Israel. It's crazy, i'm in Israel!
I know you know that, and I know it too, but sometimes when you're sitting inside a classroom or in your bed, you kinda forget because you're just comfortable there. But then you look outside your window and remember, oh I'm not at home... I'm in Israel!
Don't miss me too much! Shalom V'lehitraot!
PS: Anyone get the title reference?
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Shabbat in Efrat!
This Friday I woke up kinda late. I woke up at around 8. I didn't really do much for most of the morning besides for pack, get ready to go, and hang out with my friends. I had to go out to get a gift and on the way I saw a bunch of people from camp getting lunch so I got lunch with them too. I was supposed to hang out with my friend Melissa (Hi Melissa- see I mentioned you in my blog!) but I ditched her.Don't think she's a loser, cuz she's not. Anyway, after they left, I went back to my dorm.
I then went with my friend Abigail to Ben Yehuda street because I didn't really have anything else to do. We walked to the train and got on. After about 15 minutes Abigail said that she thought we missed our stop. We checked and we did, so we got off and got on the train to go the other way. We didn't actually know what stop we were supposed to get off at and we didn't actually know where Ben Yehuda street was so we were kinda just walking around a lot trying to get directions, but following directions from Israelis is not the easiest thing to do. Then my friend Giselle called me because she was also going to Efrat and she wanted to meet up with me so we could take the bus together. As we were walking towards where I thought Giselle was, we saw the camp people that I had lunch with earlier. They told me that there was a surprise party for my friend Noga's birthday that was about to happen. I really wanted to go because it was really close but I already told Giselle that I was going to meet up wither her and I didn't know where she was. I eventually gave up looking for her and we decided to meet at Big Apple Pizza which is where Noga's birthday party was happening. I didn't know where that was either but I happened to see Brenda and she knew where to go so she started walking with us. As we were walking, I happened to look across the street and I saw Renna and Ali. I was so excited to see them that we stopped walking and crossed the street to say hi. I kinda felt bad, but I think that this was the point where Abigail left me to figure out where to go by herself. Brenda and I finally got to Big Apple Pizza just in time to say 'Surprise!' as Noga walked in. It was so much fun because almost all of my camp friends and school friends who were in Israel were there.
I had to leave after about 15 minutes to catch my 2:45 bus. I went with Giselle and my other friend Miriam on the train to the central bus station at about 2:25. We got to the bus just in time at 2:45. I got off the bus at the first Netzach Yerushalayim stop. I knew that their house number was 63 so I saw that the first number on the block was 22 so I started walking down the street. But as I walked down the block the numbers were going down. I walked back to the bus stop and saw a set of stairs going down. I then realized that I remembered from the last time that I was there, about 7 years ago that you have to go down the stairs to get to the rest of the houses on the block. Once I realized that I quickly found their house. When I went inside, everyone was so welcoming. Yehuda and Millie are the parents, and their kids are Gili, Avihu, Yehonatan, Matanya, Hadar, and Naama. Savta was there too. We sat on the couch and talked for a little bit. They started out speaking to me in English but once they saw that I understood most of the Hebrew and could answer them, then the rest of the Shabbat they spoke Hebrew. We got ready for Shabbat and then the boys went to shul and the girls stayed home. Naama took out a deck of cards and asked me if I wanted to play. I said yes but I didn't know if we knew any of the same games. Turns out that I knew all of the games that she knew. Mostly we played president and Hadar kept winning.
Once everyone came home, we sat down to eat. We had this really good fish and chicken soup. After the meal, one of Hadar's friends came over and she invited me to go to one of their friend's houses. I went to their house for a little bit but I came back early at around 11:00 because I was pretty tired. The next morning I woke up at around 11:00 and I was so surprised that I slept for so long. After I finished getting dressed, Naama wanted me to play more games with her, so we played Trouble. We then had lunch and then afterwards everyone went to take a nap. At around 3:00 Giselle and Miriam came over to hang out. We were just sitting on the swing outside talking and then both of them fell asleep. I sat there for a while watching them until they finally woke up. We talked a little more and then they had to go back to the people that they were staying with. The rest of shabbat was very relaxing and the family was just hanging out together.
After Shabbat, Avihu was taking Savta home and since she lives near me, he took me back also. I got back to my dorm at around 9:00 and then went out to eat with my friends. I was really tired because I didn't get my Shabbat nap so I went to sleep early at around 11:30 which was before either of my roommates were back. I slept pretty well last night and now it is time for me to go to sleep again. Shalom V'lehitraot!
Once everyone came home, we sat down to eat. We had this really good fish and chicken soup. After the meal, one of Hadar's friends came over and she invited me to go to one of their friend's houses. I went to their house for a little bit but I came back early at around 11:00 because I was pretty tired. The next morning I woke up at around 11:00 and I was so surprised that I slept for so long. After I finished getting dressed, Naama wanted me to play more games with her, so we played Trouble. We then had lunch and then afterwards everyone went to take a nap. At around 3:00 Giselle and Miriam came over to hang out. We were just sitting on the swing outside talking and then both of them fell asleep. I sat there for a while watching them until they finally woke up. We talked a little more and then they had to go back to the people that they were staying with. The rest of shabbat was very relaxing and the family was just hanging out together.
After Shabbat, Avihu was taking Savta home and since she lives near me, he took me back also. I got back to my dorm at around 9:00 and then went out to eat with my friends. I was really tired because I didn't get my Shabbat nap so I went to sleep early at around 11:30 which was before either of my roommates were back. I slept pretty well last night and now it is time for me to go to sleep again. Shalom V'lehitraot!
Thursday, September 15, 2011
My Adventure!
Today I went on an adventure during lunch with my friend Aliza. Okay, so you have to remember that we have two hours for lunch, from 1:00-3:00. Sounds like a lot of time right? Not really. We spent the first half hour eating chicken for lunch (and cucumbers, there are always cucumbers, so many cucumbers!)
Then we wanted to explore Jerusalem to see if we could find a place to bike because we're thinking of renting bikes. I heard that there was a park near the central bus station which is about a 15 minute train ride/ hour walk. We decided to take the train there so we walked the 15 minutes it takes to get to the train. We thought we might walk for a little bit since we had so much time but we saw the train coming around the corner so we decided to take it. We got on the train and then realized that we didn't exactly know where the park was or what it was even called. We were wondering how to say park and bicycle in Hebrew, when a nice lady realized what we were talking about and kinda told us how to get there.
We got off the train at our stop at around 2:00 and began walking in the direction that she told us to walk in. We had to ask for directions a couple more times because we really had no idea where we were going. But after about 15 minutes of wandering around, we finally found it. At first glance it just looked like a soccer field where a bunch of yeshivah boys were playing soccer, but then we saw a little path and decided to follow it thinking that it would make a little circle around the field. We walked up the path and saw that there was so much more to the park but we would still be able to follow the path around. Still walking 15 minutes later, we realized that the park was much bigger than we thought and we still hadn't quite gone all the way around it. We finally came back to the beginning at around 2:30 and decided that we had enough time to go to the shuk and the walk back for class. Now it was a very hot day outside and we had just done all that walking and yet we still decided to walk a little more. We walked a little of the way down the shuk smelling the amazing smells and looking at how cheap the prices of fruit were and then we decided to go back. We realized we didn't have much time to get back to school so we decided to take the train... and there it was at the stop a block ahead of us. We ran like crazy to catch the train in the boiling hot sun... and we made it! We took the train back to our stop, walked/ jogged to our school, and made it just in time for class. Yes, we were quite sweaty but, we had our adventure, did some exploring, and even made it to class on time in under and hour and a half. More explorations coming soon. Shalom V'lehitraot!
Then we wanted to explore Jerusalem to see if we could find a place to bike because we're thinking of renting bikes. I heard that there was a park near the central bus station which is about a 15 minute train ride/ hour walk. We decided to take the train there so we walked the 15 minutes it takes to get to the train. We thought we might walk for a little bit since we had so much time but we saw the train coming around the corner so we decided to take it. We got on the train and then realized that we didn't exactly know where the park was or what it was even called. We were wondering how to say park and bicycle in Hebrew, when a nice lady realized what we were talking about and kinda told us how to get there.
We got off the train at our stop at around 2:00 and began walking in the direction that she told us to walk in. We had to ask for directions a couple more times because we really had no idea where we were going. But after about 15 minutes of wandering around, we finally found it. At first glance it just looked like a soccer field where a bunch of yeshivah boys were playing soccer, but then we saw a little path and decided to follow it thinking that it would make a little circle around the field. We walked up the path and saw that there was so much more to the park but we would still be able to follow the path around. Still walking 15 minutes later, we realized that the park was much bigger than we thought and we still hadn't quite gone all the way around it. We finally came back to the beginning at around 2:30 and decided that we had enough time to go to the shuk and the walk back for class. Now it was a very hot day outside and we had just done all that walking and yet we still decided to walk a little more. We walked a little of the way down the shuk smelling the amazing smells and looking at how cheap the prices of fruit were and then we decided to go back. We realized we didn't have much time to get back to school so we decided to take the train... and there it was at the stop a block ahead of us. We ran like crazy to catch the train in the boiling hot sun... and we made it! We took the train back to our stop, walked/ jogged to our school, and made it just in time for class. Yes, we were quite sweaty but, we had our adventure, did some exploring, and even made it to class on time in under and hour and a half. More explorations coming soon. Shalom V'lehitraot!
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
My Schedule!
So, I'm kinda running out of things to write because I'm basically in class for most of the time now and I don't know how interesting that is for you because it isn't really anything new about my Israeli experience. All requests and questions about things that you want to know are welcome. I did have one request to talk more about my teachers, so I guess for now I'll do that. This is my weekly schedule in case it got a little messed up in my previous blog posts.
Sunday
Gemara with Rav Avigdor- He's a little boring and goes through the material really fast but the topics that we learn are interesting.
Machshava with Miriam Wolf- She's pretty funny but can also get a little boring, but the topic and also her style of teaching are interesting.
Contemporary Halacha with Rav Bailey- He's the awesome one.
Torah and Psychology with Rav Krengel- He teaches some pretty advanced stuff and is kinda boring.
Hilchot Shabbat with Rav Berg- He reminds me a little bit of Rabbi Gez from Flatbush.
Topics in the Mishneh Torah with Rav Horn- He reminds me a little bit of Rabbi Gober from Flatbush because he's very philosophical but on the other hand his class is also very chilled out.
Monday
Bekiut Torah with Rav Milstone- He is so funny!
Chumash Biyun with Rav Yonatan- He's pretty chilled out and can be pretty funny sometimes and his class is hard and challenging but really interesting.
Taamei HaMikra with Tanya- This is a really fun class and she always makes sure we understand everything.
Tuesday
Gemara Bekiut (see above)
Drama and Tanach with Devorah Starr- She is so cool and so much fun and is a great teacher.
Wednesday
Gemara Bekiut (see above)
Machshava (see above)
Yearly Calendar with Rav Krengel- Surprisingly, he's much more fun in this class than in the other class I have with him.
Derech Hashem with Rav Ron- He's kinda boring because he just lectures alot, but the topics he teaches are very interesting.
Tehillim of the Siddur with Rav Bailey- I have the awesome one twice!
Thursday
Bekiut Torah (see above)
Chumash Biyun (see above)
Medical Ethics with Rav Weitzman- Today is wednesday and so it's been a week since I had him so I don't remember who he is... sorry
Hilchot Kashrut with Rav Berg- He's the one who reminds me of Rabbi Gez.
Hilchot Brachot with Judith Fogel- She is so nice and her class is pretty chilled out.
Okay, so that's my schedule for the week. I know that some of the days seem much shorter/ longer than others but we do other stuff that isn't classes. I also know that these aren't great descriptions, but they're pretty good for only having each teacher a couple of times. I'm sure I'll get to know them much better throughout the year. That's all for now since I'm exhausted. (I always feel tired at night for some reason) Remember, any suggestions are welcome. Shalom V'lehitraot!
Sunday
Gemara with Rav Avigdor- He's a little boring and goes through the material really fast but the topics that we learn are interesting.
Machshava with Miriam Wolf- She's pretty funny but can also get a little boring, but the topic and also her style of teaching are interesting.
Contemporary Halacha with Rav Bailey- He's the awesome one.
Torah and Psychology with Rav Krengel- He teaches some pretty advanced stuff and is kinda boring.
Hilchot Shabbat with Rav Berg- He reminds me a little bit of Rabbi Gez from Flatbush.
Topics in the Mishneh Torah with Rav Horn- He reminds me a little bit of Rabbi Gober from Flatbush because he's very philosophical but on the other hand his class is also very chilled out.
Monday
Bekiut Torah with Rav Milstone- He is so funny!
Chumash Biyun with Rav Yonatan- He's pretty chilled out and can be pretty funny sometimes and his class is hard and challenging but really interesting.
Taamei HaMikra with Tanya- This is a really fun class and she always makes sure we understand everything.
Tuesday
Gemara Bekiut (see above)
Drama and Tanach with Devorah Starr- She is so cool and so much fun and is a great teacher.
Wednesday
Gemara Bekiut (see above)
Machshava (see above)
Yearly Calendar with Rav Krengel- Surprisingly, he's much more fun in this class than in the other class I have with him.
Derech Hashem with Rav Ron- He's kinda boring because he just lectures alot, but the topics he teaches are very interesting.
Tehillim of the Siddur with Rav Bailey- I have the awesome one twice!
Thursday
Bekiut Torah (see above)
Chumash Biyun (see above)
Medical Ethics with Rav Weitzman- Today is wednesday and so it's been a week since I had him so I don't remember who he is... sorry
Hilchot Kashrut with Rav Berg- He's the one who reminds me of Rabbi Gez.
Hilchot Brachot with Judith Fogel- She is so nice and her class is pretty chilled out.
Okay, so that's my schedule for the week. I know that some of the days seem much shorter/ longer than others but we do other stuff that isn't classes. I also know that these aren't great descriptions, but they're pretty good for only having each teacher a couple of times. I'm sure I'll get to know them much better throughout the year. That's all for now since I'm exhausted. (I always feel tired at night for some reason) Remember, any suggestions are welcome. Shalom V'lehitraot!
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