Wednesday, August 20, 2008
It's Skyline Time!!
...but boy did we prove them wrong! We made believers out of our California-bound classmates who ate a three-way and a five-way! I bought kosher ground beef at SuperSol (our grocery store) for a whopping 45 dollars for about 3 lbs!!! Ari came over to help me stir the four quarts of chili, chop onions, cook beans, and boil spaghetti noodles. And then... it was time for Ari, Jim, and me to enjoy our Skyline and time for Lisa and Joel to start their first Skyline experience, which of course, they loved! Please enjoy the pictures of our Skyline adventure...
Post-Skyline, we met up with Leslie, Jaclyn and Adam, and Mirah and Josh to go to the Jerusalem International Arts and Crafts Fair (it's called something-ish like that) located in the Artists Colony in the Gay Hinom Valley (this is the phonetic spelling, it has nothing to do with "gay"... this actually means "Hell"). The fair was HUGE, very exciting, and attended by tons of Israelis. There were lots and lots of artists' booths selling everything from Judaica to knit items to hand-blown (?? is there such a phrase?) glass to beanbag chairs to photographs, etc etc etc. There was also tons of food, a live circus-like performance, a small stage with a cover band, and a main-stage with a big-time singer (in our case, it was Gali Atari, who won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1979 with the VERY popular Israeli folk song "Halleluya"). None of us really bought anything, but we had a great time!
Today was the first meeting of Zehut L'Chaim/Parallel Lives, a program that about 15 of the students at HUC are doing this year. Parallel Lives is a program that brings together young Israeli soldiers from Special Operations Units of the Israel Defense Force and young Jews from the Diaspora (outside of Israel) in order to foster dialogue and long-lasting relationships between the two groups. The program aims to enhance Jewish identity for the participants on both sides, increase solidarity with Israel, and create awareness for the Jewish soldiers regarding Judaism in the Diaspora. We traveled with about nine soldiers to Ein Kerem, a beautiful location outside of Jerusalem where there is a lot of history, beautiful gardens and mountainous areas, and a natural spring. We toured together, relaxed by the spring, ate dinner, and discussed their lives in the army, their families, and their plans for after they leave the army, as well as where we're from, what we studied in college, our lives in the US, why we want to be Rabbis, Cantors, Jewish educators, etc, and what it's like to be Jews in the US. We had a great first meeting, and plan to see the soldiers again in September.
Another important note... I saw Sean on Monday!!! I traveled for an hour and half to get to the airport, saw him for about ten minutes, and then spent almost three hours trying to get back to Jerusalem... but it was totally worth it :) He has spent the last few days traveling in the Golan Heights, a mountainous region in the north of Israel, and will be arriving in Jerusalem TOMORROW NIGHT!!
Tomorrow is the start of a fun weekend with Sean, Ari and Leah's birthdays, and a hopefully relaxing Shabbat.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Mitachat La'Shamayim
This Shabbat was exactly what Shabbat should be... RELAXING! On Friday, my hero Uncle Eddie came to my apartment with a suitcase from Mom AND my guitar! I almost didn't want to go eat lunch because I was too busy looking through all the great new clothes, ziploc baggies (you'd be surprised how important things like ziploc baggies are here), and Skyline chili seasoning! And then, of course, I had to play my guitar for a few minutes :) After exploring the greatness that was the suitcase, I met Uncle Eddie for a tour of my apartment, a walk through the German Colony, and lunch on Emek Refaim, the main street in the German Colony. We went to Kabbalat Shabbat services at Moreshet Yisrael, the synagogue located at the Conservative Movement's Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center, situated literally across the street from my apartment! We had a very taim (tasty) Shabbat dinner at the Sheraton, complete with several kinds of frum (religious) Jews wearing a large assortment of black hats and coats in various fabrics and lengths. We of course did some excellent people watching and analysis of the hats and coats as we enjoyed our dinner! I also enjoyed a second dessert with some friends after my first metukah (literally sweet, but used to mean dessert on our menu) with Uncle Eddie. We went with a bunch of my classmates to HUC for Shabbat Shacharit (morning services), during which the fabulous Dean Rabbi Michael Marmur gave an awesome D'var Torah (sermon) on Tu B'Av, Israel's more-or-less Valentine's Day equivalent (Tu B'Av actually means the 15th of the month of Av, and serves to lift our spirits after Tisha B'Av- see my last entry for more info). After services, Uncle Eddie and I took a tour of HUC's complex, the new Mamilla Mall, and walked around the outside of the Old City. I then "cooked" (boiled some pasta and made tuna sandwiches) Shabbat lunch for us before we went our separate ways for the obligatory Shabbat nap...
After my first Shabbat nap (yes first, more on this in a minute), I met a bunch of my classmates for a Shabbat cookout in the Liberty Bell Park! A bunch of the guys brought little grills down to the park and grilled burgers, chicken hot dogs, peppers, zucchini, onions, and corn on the cob (yay!)! We had a GREAT time relaxing in the park, playing Frisbee, eating, and just enjoying sunset in Jerusalem. After the cookout, Lisa and I picked up some ice cream, watched a little Sex and the City, and both took nap #2 in preparation for...
David Broza is perhaps Israeli's most famous and important singer-songwriter, with several multi-platinum albums and some of the most well-known Hebrew pop standards. His most famous tunes include Yihye Tov (It will be good- and yes, covered by the MeshugaNotes) and Mitachat La'Shamayim (Under the Skies). Eleven of us met at 1am at HUC to meet the mini-bus we rented to take us to the concert. Fifteen minutes later, no mini-bus... so we had a Sydney's Israeli boyfriend call the driver for us. He insisted that he would be there in hamesh dakot (five minutes)... but fifteen minutes later, still no driver. When we called again, we found out that he had been pulled over, but again, insisted that he would be there soon. Sydney then remarked that it would be funny if he ended up in jail and couldn't take us to the concert... which was pretty ironic, since the next time her boyfriend called the driver, we found out he was in fact going to jail for driving with an expired license, and therefore couldn't take us to the concert. The bus company sent us a new mini-bus and driver, but by the time they woke this guy up at 2am, it was almost 2:45 before he picked us up (we're now leaving about an hour and half later than we wanted to go). We set off for Masada after the driver received directions in Hebrew from Sydney's boyfriend as well as us AND our Hebrew speaking intern. However, he still managed to take us the wrong way to Masada... which meant that once we got to the wrong side of the mountain, we then had to drive an HOUR around the mountain to get to the concert site. To top all of this off, the driver was CRAZY and drove like a maniac, causing everyone (ie: Lisa) to get really bus-sick. By the time we got to the concert, we had missed the first hour, BUT... the concert was absolutely completely and totally AMAZING!!! I have never seen a live guitar player as talented as David Broza, and he was accompanied by an up-and-coming band called Mayumana that featured beat boxers, innovative drummers, a violinist, singers, and more. The concert ended with my two favorite David Broza songs, Mitachat La'Shamayim and Yihye Tov (I'll post some translations below). Our ride back was just as crazy and bumpy, but a few of us (including me) went to school today, despite our lack of sleep.
In other extremely exciting news... SEAN IS COMING TO ISRAEL TOMORROW!!!
Yihye Tov... It will be good!!
Meredith
The beginning (or the beginning for us!) of the concert, around 4:45am!
The sunrise, the concert, and Mt. Masada
David Broza (center w/guitar) with the group Mayumana
Joel and me enjoying the sunrise
Sydney, Jim, Lisa, and Ari dancing to Mitachat La'Shamayim
Yihye Tov
As I look out through the window
And my thoughts are turning back
To the spring that left in sorrow
Who knows when it's coming back
The jester played the wise king
And the prophet turned to clown
I've forgotten where I'm going
Thank G-d I'm still around
It will be good (alternate translation: things will get better), It will be good
Sometimes I feel broken
But tonight, oh tonight, with you I remain
I look out my window... maybe a new day will come!
Mitachat La'Shamayim
We came here, under the sky
Two, like a pair of eyes.
We have time, under the sky.
Meanwhile, we are still here.
You and I, the bed is wide for love.
Night and day, the smile apologizes for his laziness.
We two are one. One is full and round-- full and big.
Come! We will give. I will allow you to give to me to give to you.
And despite the distance, despite the pain, despite the sorrow,
I love, love, love you. Yes!
Thursday, August 14, 2008
A BIG Update!
So now I suppose I'll update you (or at least those of you who don't read my friend's blogs for information on my life) on what I've been doing for these last two weeks!
Following the Shabbat during which I wrote the incredibly exciting entry on the WUPJ and the IMPJ (remember what those stand for??), we had a fun third week of ulpan. On that Tuesday, I gave my first ever presentation in Hebrew! Everyone in ulpan at HUC has to give a presentation to their class on anything they want, so I decided to present on one of the things I'm most famous for here (and no, not OSU)... the tv show FRIENDS! Needless to say, the presentation was fun for me, and seemed to be fun for my classmates. Tuesday night was our incredibly successful Beit Cafe (which I wrote about in the previous entry). The next day, our ulpan teacher, Orna, took us on a tiyul around the Jerusalem neighborhoods. We hang out alot in the area around Ben Yehuda street, but I never knew that so much history surrounded that area! We learned about some of the first neighborhoods outside the Old City, visited Beit Ticho (the Ticho House, former home to the famous Dr. Ticho and his even more famous artist wife Anna Ticho), saw a beautiful art exhibit (and met the artist!) of paintings of EVERY psalm, had a snack in a great hummus restaurant, and went to the shuk. We also chose student committees at schoo last week- I along with a bunch of my friends am on the Kef (fun) committee... what a surprise! Last Thursday was spent on a Bible History tiyul to Gat and Ashkelon, two cities that have a lot of Philistine history attributed to them... Gat is thought to be the site of the battle of David and Goliath! The best part of the tiyul, however, had to have been the hour we got to spend relaxing on the beach in Ashkelon- my first trip to the beach since I arrived!
On Friday, after an excellent french toast brunch cooked by master chefs Meredith and Lisa, as well as some pre-Shabbat cleaning, homework-ing, and relaxing, I headed off with 20 of my classmates to a community called Tzur Hadassah. Tzur Hadassah is a neighborhood southwest of Jerusalem that is home to a few thousand families. Within the community is a relatively new progressive congregation, headed by a young rabbi who graduated from HUC's Israeli Rabbinic Program. After a tour of the community and fun, musical services with the congregation, we all headed to various families' homes for Shabbat dinner. Ari, Sarah, and I went to the home of a family with three young kids, aged 7, 11, and 13. The family (not to mention the dinner) was absolutely WONDERFUL. As it was the Shabbat preceding Tisha B'Av (more on that in a minute), the father put together a short study packet on the history and observation of Tisha B'Av- he included both us and his young kids in reading stories, answering questions, and talking about the significance of the day. We enjoyed a delicious dinner with them, during which Joel and I answered the kids' great questions about ourselves, what we're doing in Israel, and what it's like to live in the States. Meanwhile, their 7-year-old daughter "taught" Sarah how to count in Hebrew- CUTE. After dinner, the mother (who is a music teacher) took out her guitar and invited Sarah and me to play and sing some songs with the family. We left with an invitation to come back for another Shabbat, which I'm SURE we'll do soon.
Saturday evening, following Shabbat services at Har-El, started in 1958 as the first progressive synagogue in Israel and an adventure involving tuna melts, mac and cheese, Israeli ovens/stoves, and gas balloons, we headed back to HUC for a Tisha B'Av observance. Tisha B'Av, the 9th day of the Hebrew month of Av, is a fast day in Judaism, often called the saddest day in the Jewish year. According to the Mishnah (Oral Torah), five major events befell the Jewish people on the 9th of Av: G-d's decree that the generation of Moses would not enter the land of Israel, the destruction of the First Temple, the destruction of the Second Temple, the failure of Bar Kochba's Revolt, and the razing of Jerusalem. Additionally, it is said that many other sad events have occured on this date, including: the Jews' explusion from England in 1290, the explusion of Jews from Spanin in 1492, the start of World War I, and the beginning of deportation of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto to Treblinka. We observed Tisha B'Av with a service that included a tradtional reading of Megillah Eicha (The Book of Lamentations, which is always read on Tisha B'Av), as well as several discussions on the meaning of the day, and creative expressions of parts of Eicha. We finished our evening observation of Tisha B'Av at the Kotel (Western Wall- one of the retaining walls of the Temple Mount where the Temple stood before its destruction), which is a very interesting experience due to the sheer number of people praying and reading Eicha in this location. On Sunday, the actual day of Tisha B'Av (remember that Jewish holidays start at sundown the evening before the day of the holiday), we had different classes, presentations, and a service to commemorate the day.
The school week was relatively normal, though we did get to watch a really cool Israeli movie on Wednesday called "Meduzot" (Jellyfish). What was exciting about this week was the fact that Marla (a friend from OSU) came to visit and was my first visitor at the new apartment! She stayed from Monday until Thursday hanging out with me, visiting HUC, meeting my friends, shopping at the mall and Ben Yehuda, going out to dinners and a jazz festival/jewelry fair, and even sitting through a boring meeting at school. It was GREAT to have a friend from home here to visit- especially one who brings Buckeyes!
Today was a special Thursday at school, because instead of going on our regular Thursday tiyul, we instead had "Masoret (tradition) Day." The day included a series of workshops that taught practicial skills including Aliyah to the Torah (going up to say the blessings before the reading of the Torah), Hagbah and Gelilah (lifting and dressing the Torah), wearing Tefillin (boxes with leather straps that are wound around the arm and worn on the head to remind the wearer of the commandments) and Tallit (prayer shawl), and prayer choreography (when to sit, stand, bow, sway, kiss, bend, etc). The whole day was interesting for me, as I really like to practical side of synagogue and prayer life. It was also great because it was the first day that I truly felt like I was in Rabbinic school, and not just here to learn Hebrew and go to services. After our classes, we had our introduction to the Reform Liturgy Workshop, which basically serves to teach us about, and then have us lead, services for the HUC community. The final part of the day was our Academic Preview session... let's just say this will be a busy year of classes for me! We'll be taking classes such as: Biblical Grammar, Modern Hebrew, Bible, Rabbinic Literature, Liturgy, Cantillation, etc etc etc!! Regular classes start on Sunday, September 7th, following our August break...
...speaking of which, Sean will be here in FOUR!!!!! days for his birthright trip, which will be followed by 12 days vacationing and hanging out in Jerusalem with me! Yay! Also in the way of visitors, Uncle Eddie arrived in Israel on Tuesday, and will be here tomorrow to spend Shabbat with me in Jerusalem... and rumor has it, he has a suitcase of wonderful stuff AND a guitar to give me!!
Sorry again for the late post, but hopefully this brings you up to speed. Stay tuned for apartment pictures this week... I PROMISE!!! Happy Thursday!
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Beit Cafe Rishon
In someone’s travel brochure
Wed dreamt about going up here
Now maybe we’re not so sure
Just look at the city around you
So many sites to explore
Such wonderful things surround you
But there’s more you’re looking for
At HUC, At HUC
Rabbis its better; hakol beseder
Take it from me
Outside these walls is a baal lagan
At HUC its all mitzuyon
Escape your landlord, you’ll never be bored
At HUC
At school all the students are happy
Cause
We also have really great interns
Each one of them is the bomb!
They work hard to make this state home
With programs that they create
And if you ever have a problem
They’ll solve it and it’ll be great
At HUC, At HUC
Cantors its better; hakol beseder
Take it from me
Outside these walls is a baal lagan
At HUC its all mitzuyon
Put down music theory, everything’s cheery
At HUC
At HUC, At HUC
It’s the the shuk here, there’s nothing to fear
Except Haredim
You can stand in line and don’t have to push
Just take it easy rest on your tush
No worries no trouble… but beware of the bubble
At HUC
The sun is so fun
The travel is cheap
Drink some great wine
Hit the North in a jeep
Israelis are hot
Except when they’re not
We’ve all got internet now… YEAH
The shuk’s off the hook
The bars aren’t too far
The food’s pretty good
You don’t need a car
Your Hebrew’s improved
You’re feeling the groove
And oi that old city’s OLD
But at HUC, At HUC
Educators its better; hakol beseder
Take it from me
Outside these walls is a baal lagan
At HUC its all mitzuyon
Pay your bills later, go lead a seder
At HUC
Ignore that tractor, it’s not a factor
At HUC (too soon??)
We’re here for a year, there is much to fear
But we will not worry, we’re not in a hurry
Ya, we in love here, Sabras we’ll become here
At HUC!