Shabbat in Katamon!

For quite a few months Marilyn and Joe have been trying to get in contact with me so I could come to their house for a Shabbat.  Who are these people, you might ask.  Well to be precise, Marilyn is my step- grandmother's first cousin once removed and Joe is her husband.  My friend Shana and I went to their house in Katamon not really knowing what to expect.  We walk into a really nice looking, very American house.  Marilyn and Joe introduce themselves and then and then they began to show us pictures of all their grandchildren which they call g-children or kids once removed.  Basically, they're just a really funny and entertaining elderly couple with thick New York accents.  On Friday night we went to a really interesting shul where there was lots of singing but the coolest part was that it was filled with people only a few years older than us.  For dinner, Marilyn and Joe had lots of guests over.  They had an elderly couple, a couple who moved to Israel from England, and another couple- she was Israeli and he was Hungarian, and their son who just went into the army.  The food was really good and really American.  We found out that Marilyn and Joe don't actually live in this house full time.  They actually only live there about half the time and the other half they live in Teaneck, New Jersey.  They fly back and forth about five times a year.  The next day we woke up early to go to this very American shul.  The most American thing about it was how late we ended.  Afterwards, we had a quiet lunch of left-overs from the night before and some really good cake. Shana and I went back to our room where we read for a little bit and then fell asleep.  About four hours later, Marilyn woke us up telling us that Shabbat was almost over.
The bus ride home was really quick and it dropped us off really close to where we lived.  I didn't do much tonight, I just had a chilled out night with my roommates.  They decided that they wanted to buy a little stove top cooker thing so they could make food whenever they wanted.  I decided to take control of the frying pan and I made all the food.  We roasted apples and made caramelized bananas.   Then I fried up some peppers and onions.  It was lots of fun especially since I miss cooking at home.  Hear that mom! I'll cook for you when I get home! 'Till then... Shalom V'lehitarot!

New Classes and New Chavrutas!

The semesters in school are divided up quite interestingly because you could divide them up in many ways.  You can divide them up in thirds based on our two major vacations during the holidays of Succot and Pesach.  You can divide them up into quarters of the whole year based on the "old" MTA being here (in relation to us), the MTA not being here, the "new" MTA, and the MTA have a period of time without us.  You could also divide up the time in halves by first semester and second semester, similar to the periods of time relating to the MTA. First semester starts when we get there and second semester starts when the "new" MTA arrive.  At the start of second semester, you meet new people, get closer to other people that you didn't speak to so much before and you can switch around some classes.

The first thing I switched was on Sunday, last class, I switched out of the laws of Shabbat.  Instead, I now take the laws of Shabbat during my first afternoon class on Thursday, but now I take it in Hebrew and with Rav Shames instead of Rav Berg.  It's more challenging in Hebrew and even though Rav Berg is one of the nicest people you will ever meet, his class is one of the slowest.  Rav Shames's class is much more interesting and it goes more into detail. The second switch that I made on Sunday was that originally on Sunday night I would have a chavruta with Avigayil and then a class with Rav Horn about Topics in the Mishneh Torah.  Instead, I first take Rav Horn's Topics in Jewish Philosophy Class and then I have my chavruta with Avigayil. 

I also switched a couple of classes on Monday.  After lunch we have this really cool class called Siyurim. In this class Rav Shames and Rav Sussman take us on tours all over Jerusalem.  We visit all sorts of museums and we learn so many things about the place where we live.  Rav Shames and Rav Sussman are also two really funny people especially when they're together.  The constantly make fun of eachother and they often do a comedy act for us while explaining the story of some boring artifact from thousands of years ago.  The next class I would usually take was Ta'amei Hamikra, but that class was a one semester class.  I now take Strive for Truth with Rav Milston.  This is a book by Rav Dessler that talks about living your life in the truest way possible.  Rav Milston is a bit radical so we all know to be careful of some of the things he says, but he does often say many things that are really interesting.  He also tells lots of stories, funny ones and serious ones that really help us learn a lot.

I still have some of my old chavrutas, some I switched, and I have a couple of new ones too.  Old and new chavrutas are all awesome!http://sarasisraelexperience.blogspot.com/2011/12/cookies-and-best-chavrutas-ever.html

Rav Yonatan: Sunday 2:00- 3:00

Most girls have a chavruta with one of the teachers. I'm in Rav Yonatan Chumash BeIyun and Confronting Modernity classes which are both awesome classes.  We're learning the books of Ezra and Nechemia from the bible but sometimes we don't learn and we just talk about whatever.  Rav Yonatan is an amazing person to talk to and he really knows so much about the bible and other things about religion.

Rachelle and Ilana: Sundays and Wednesdays Machshava

I had left the group of four and joined these two because I was trying out a different learning style that I thought would work better for me.  The three of us work really well together and I really enjoy learning with them.  The three girls that I left soon disbanded.  Giselle and Julia left and Arney joined together with another one of my friends, Shana.  

Annie: TBD

Joelle left our Gemara Bekiut class so I now have a new chavruta.  We don't really have an official time to go over what we learned but when we get the chance to do it it works really well.  Also, sometimes when Annie isn't around, my friend Alona and I work together. 

Nofar- Wednesday 8:15-9:00

The Overseas Program sometimes teams up with the Israeli program at Harova.  Twice a week most of us have a chavruta with an Israeli. A couple of the Israelis speak perfect English, some speak a little English, some only understand English, and some know no English at all.  My chavruta understand a little bit of English and she can't really speak it so we talk in Hebrew the whole time.  I love Nofar because she is so nice and we became really good friends.  I also love how we only talk Hebrew because it really helps me practice the language.  At the beginning of every chavruta we usually talk for a little bit about how our weeks were and we tell eachother stories before we start learning.  We learn about the life of Rav Tzvi Yehuda Hakohen Kook, son of the first chief Rabbi of Israel.  He was a fascinating person and we love reading stories about things that he did.

Sarah- Thursday 8:00-8:30

We haven't technically started yet but we have unofficially learned together a couple of times.  Sarah is awesome and super cool to talk to.  When we learn together it works out really well because we are both interested in learning about similar things so we both get a lot out of it.  

All my classes and chavrutas are super duper awesome! Shalom V'lehitraot!

Purim!

Wednesday was Ta'anit Esther, the fast that commemorates the fast that the Jews fasted in Shushan during the story of Purim.  Since we were fasting, we didn't have a regular day of learning. In the morning we had a few elective classes and then we had the afternoon off.  I spent some time in the Bet Midrash hanging out with my friends Sarah, Chani, and Sharona.  We learned some stuff about the Megillah and then we learned about different blessings on food.  After that I took a nap for a couple of hours until the fast was over.  Over the course of a few days we had a sort of secret santa game. Each person had their person that they were supposed to give mishloach manot to on Purim.  Before Purim we were supposed to give them a hint to who we were and a little gift with it.  I had Yael and since she likes coffee, I bought her coffee to break the fast and I wrote a little note with some hints to who I was.  The person who had me was Gabrielle and her note was really creative and it took me a little while but in the end I figured out that it was her.
In most parts of the world and Israel, Purim starts the night after Ta'anit Esther and continues the next day but in Jerusalem, it is a day later.  Wednesday night wasn't Purim for us in Jerusalem but it was in most of the rest of the country.  That night, half the girls went to Rav Shames's house and half of us went to Rav Milston.  I went to Rav Milston and we just hung out and sang songs.  It's nice to go meet teachers in their home towns because you really get to know them a little bit better.

Thursday wasn't Purim for us but most of us dressed up anyway.  I dressed up like a clown which was easy enough for me since I do medical clowning every Tuesday. http://sarasisraelexperience.blogspot.com/2011/11/kedma-medical-clowns.html We all went to different volunteering places.  I went to a children's home called Aleh .  Aleh is a home for very low functioning children ages 3 months- 30 years old.  These kids are all in wheel chairs, they don't speak, and only some of them respond to speech or touch.  It was similar to medical clowning but much harder.  First we had a dance party where they put on music and we would take their hands and dance with them or move their wheel chairs to the beat of the music.  Then we did an art project with them.  We would put stickers on their fingers and then move their hand so they would put the sticker on the paper.  It was hard work but really worth it when we got one of them to smile or give some kind of response.
After we finished volunteering, we ate lunch, and then I began to make my main Purim costume.  Basically, in Jerusalem they just built a light rail train.  We use it a lot because it's quite convenient for us but it isn't very helpful for most people.  Anyway, the place that people from Harova go the most is the Central Bust Station which is five stops away from our stop.  At each stop, there is an automatic announcer that announces the stop in Hebrew, English, and Arabic.  Most Harova girls know these six stops in all three languages in the voice of the announcer.  The funniest one is the stop Ha- davidka because it's the same in all three languages so it just says the same thing three times.  Anyway, so I was the Ha-davidka train stop.  I had to go through a lot of explanation to explain that, but everyone in Jerusalem who saw me thought it was very funny and I got lots of funny comments from random people on the street.
That night we had megillah reading and then the event everyone had been preparing for, the wedding.  Let me explain about the wedding. On Monday, they announced to us that Purim night we will be having a mock wedding where every girl will be playing a different character.  They gave out invitations to each person that said what they were playing.  There was the bride and groom and their parents and siblings and grandparents and aunts and uncles.  People were waiters, bridesmaids, wedding crashers, and a bunch of other fun stuff.  I was the groom and the bride was my friend Gila.  Everyone dressed up for their part on Purim night and after megillah reading we had the wedding.  We actually played out the whole wedding.  It was really funny seeing everyone dressed up to go to the wedding.  The wedding ended pretty late and I was exhausted afterwards, after all I had just gotten married.

The next morning I put on my Ha- Davidka costume and went to megillah reading.  Afterwards, I gave mishloach manot to Yael and then took lots of pictures with everyone in their costumes.  Since it was only like 9:30 in the morning we had breakfast, but it was an amazing breakfast.  They gave us pancakes, french toast, bagels, and a whole bunch of other stuff.  Then we watched a really funny video that my friend Jane made and by then it was almost time for Shabbat.  I went to my Rabbi, Rav Yonatan for Shabbat.  He has five kids- four boys and a girl, and he has a foster child, a 3 year old girl.  They are such a nice family and I had a really good time. After Shabbat, I met up with one of my rabbis from high school.  It was really nice to see a familiar face from Brooklyn, especially, one of my high school teachers.  It's been one really crazy week.  Shalom V'lehitraot!