First of all, I have to apologize for not posting for the last week. Unfortunately, we've been having to some internet issues,... after spending about three hours a day for the last five days fighting the cable and internet people and the router and modem in general, I haven't been so excited to turn on the computer and find internet. We finally found out that our American router simply isn't compatible with our Israeli internet provider, so we have to order a router from Netvision, our internet people, and it will hopefully work after that! I'll keep you posted!! In the meantime, since I don't have my vonage phone set up yet, feel free to email!
The last week has been really busy and fun here in Jerusalem. After going to services last Saturday, most of the students headed over to a park behind the King David Hotel for a Shabbat picnic. On Saturday evening, we attended a study session and a dessert and havdallah alumni event at HUC, where I saw Rabbi Walter, my rabbi from home. After the event, a BIG group of us went to a hookah bar and dance club near Ben Yehuda St... just so you know, rabbis and cantors can party, too! Many of the nights this week have been spent potlucking (I've made this a verb, like it?) and hanging out at various students' apartments- I've gotten to know a lot of the students, and it seems like a great class so far. My roommates and I spent a lot of Monday cleaning our kitchen, since apparently the people who lived here before us never washed a single dish... oy.
Tuesday was my roommate Lisa's birthday! We went to lunch at Burgers Bar (yes, there's an "s" on the end) for lamb burgers, and then Leslie, Deana, and I broke away for a little birthday shopping. That evening, 35!!! of our classmates came out to dinner at a great place called "Colony" in the German Colony/Emek Refaim area. After a little tour of Emek Refaim from one of the interns, we all went to a cool outdoor bar to continue our celebration. At the very end of the night, the few of us that remained stopped at an Irish bar near our apartments, and guess who was sitting next to us?? Dan Nichols!!! (Jewish rock artist, VERY popular with NFTY kids and Reform movement people in general) And guess who got the only name drop at the table?? Yours truly! It was (hopefully) a nice birthday for Lisa!
Wednesday was my day of relaxation... I walked back to Emek Refaim to have lunch with Rabbi Walter, which was really great! Afterwards, I went to a coffee shop called (ready, Cbus people?) Cup O Joe, and did some reading and paperwork for HUC. These are really the only two notable things about Wednesday, because like I said, I did nothing and relaxed :) Thursday brought registration at HUC, shopping at the Shuk (we forgot our shuk cart- never again!!), and a HUGE event at HUC. A bunch of the students went to HUC for the evening to volunteer for NFTY's 50th anniversary of Israel programs banquet/event/thing! There were over 650 NFTY kids there for dinner, a slideshow, and a short Dan Nichols performance! (They got a full concert later that night on Masada, which we unfortunately couldn't find a way to get to). I got to see Elyse, since she's staffing a trip, and we had a great time celebrating with all the NFTY kids. After the event, a bunch of us had ice cream on Ben Yehuda, and then about 15 people hung out at our apartment, had more dessert, played guitar/sang, and waited for the cable guy (the cable company is called HOT, if you can believe that) with us!
We spent this morning at part of a day of study at HUC for students as well as Jewish professionals and HUC alumni. I went to two classes/seminars... the first was a text study and discussion called "the Transformation of Jewish Ritual: Tradition, Renewal, and Invention"- it was a great class, and I thought the instructor did a great job of focusing on real problems and situations faced in the field. The second class, "From Bima to Bonfire: Musical Trends in Jewish Prayer," was right up my alley. We listened to four different musical selections, and talked about their place in services/Jewish life or lackthereof, if the music was actual prayerful, if it was participatory, and what kinds of feelings were invoked by each. Ultimately, we decided if each piece was better associated with Bima (the raised portion at the front of the sanctuary where the Rabbi/Cantor stands) or a Bonfire (taking about the general concept of song sessions, participatory singing, campfires, etc). We skipped the afternoon classes to finish shopping for Shabbat (stores close by 3pm on Fridays and don't open again until Sunday), rest, and get ready for our evening study session/reception, Kabbalat Shabbat services, and dinner at HUC.
I'll post back ASAP... I will hopefully have internet this week!
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