My Second Shabbat - 22nd-23rd of July.

Thursday evening I traveled by bus to Ra'anana to visit Alon and his family. As I write this, Friday morning seems like a blur - everything a preparation to go to Arad for evening dinner. The small city of Arad sits towards the north of the Negev, about thirty minutes away from Masada and high above the Dead Sea. Alon's mother, aunt, uncle, and their parents made up one of the fourteen families that founded Arad in the middle of the twentieth century. Alon's grandparents still live there.

Alon's aunt and her family joined Alon, I, his parents and grandparents for Shabbat dinner. We ate for many hours and talked for even more hours afterward. The conversation ranged from Israel's wars to Alon's cousin's dance classes. It was a lovely evening. At midnight, Alon, his parents, and I reluctantly left Arad to return north to Ra'anana.

Saturday morning, Alon and I left Ra'anana for Jerusalem. Rabbi Perlin and her sons joined us and my classmates Joe and Emily at HUC for Shabbat morning services. Afterward, we walked to the King David Hotel for lunch. I have rarely seen such a feast. Meats and vegetables and breads of every kind filled a great banquet hall's tables. Dessert consisted of parve cheesecakes, mousse, chocolate cakes, and an array of fruits. Between the food and the enjoyable conversation, I was in heaven. As I just started to become a little homesick, it was fantastic to see Rabbi Perlin, who is for me both a piece of home and a large piece of why I am here.

As the afternoon grew old, Alon and I returned home to gather our climbing equipment. We walked to the cliff which is near school and he taught me how to set up different climbing stations. Afterwards, we climbed - I am painfully rusty - and rushed to the apartment to drop off our things. From there, we hurried to my class's wine and dessert Havdallah service at a friend's place. All of us sang loudly, celebrating the end of Shabbat and the beginning of another week together.

All in all, it was a very busy and enjoyable Shabbat.
much love,
lauren

I recently re-discovered some pictures that Alon and I took when I first arrived in Israel, last January. I thought that I would share a few of them with you. These are all from the Golan Heights.

Back to school, oooohhh back to school

Classes for the Summer Semester began on the 17th of July. Until the beginning of the Fall Semester in early September, every HUC first year - rabbinical, cantorial, and educational - is in ulpan. There are five different ulpan classes: aleph (1), bet (2), gimel (3), dalet (4), and hey (5). Shockingly, I am in kitah gimel with Karen. (I swore that I was going to be in aleph.)

Happily, my class is filled with lovely people. They are pictured here with our summer ulpan teacher, Sarah. (From left to right, back row: David, Liz, Jill, Micol, Sarah S., Joshua, Julie, Nathan. From left to right, front row: Tifani, Elana, Claire, Karen, and our teacher Sarah. I am not in the picture, as I am taking it.)

The weekly schedule from throughout ulpan is about the same. Class starts at 8:30, there is a 30 minute break at 10 am, and another 15 minute break at noon. Class ends at 1 pm, just in time to rush somewhere for lunch. Ulpan Gordon, in Tel Aviv, where I studied since January, exercised the same daily routine.

During breaks everyone mills around, talking and eating. (The scene to the left is very typical of break-time.) Although we should speak Hebrew to one another, no one ever really does. Breaks are for catching up, making plans, and dipping feet into the wading pools/courtyard fountains.

My week's schedule is quite hectic.
At HUC, ulpan classes start on Sunday and go until Wednesday. Morning services fall on Tuesdays and Thursdays; they push class back by over a half an hour. Thursdays are "tiul" or tour days. There are classes for two or three hours on Wednesday night, which discuss Thursday's trip plans and destinations. Taking into account Friday night and Shabbat morning services, I feel swamped. No one feels like he or she has a free day; I think that it will eventually wear on the class. But that is yet to be seen.

Despite the lack of free time, HUC in Jerusalem has a beautiful maze-like campus, filled with green gardens and Jerusalem stone courtyards. I spend most of my break time in the courtyard to the right, wading in the fountain and talking to classmates.

I have to go for now, but I hope that everyone is happy and healthy at home.

Much love
lauren

First Shabbat.

Jerusalem is a paradox. Derived from the word "whole", Jerusalem carves herself into very distinct halves, east and west, Arab and Jewish. Shin-lamed-mem, the root letters that make up Jerusalem's name, also spell the Hebrew word peace. Nonetheless, Jerusalem's citizens live in continuous tension and occasionally, open war. Situated in the middle of Israel, at the spiritual heart of her people, I notice that the population of the city consists almost entirely of Americans and only a smattering of Israelis. Yet, depite my opinions of my new home town during the day, my thoughts of her change completely when night falls.

As the day fades, the stones' glow intensifies from a sandy white to a soft yellow gold. With the setting sun, the sky turns a deep saphire blue, making the moon and stars shine more silver than ever before. Here, as day converts into night, I suddenly find myself in a be-jeweled city.

On Shabbat, this transformation is deeper. Friday morning feels more hectic than any other day. The shuk is stuffed with last-minute shoppers; the streets are packed with cars on their way to pre-sabbath errands. Slowly, as the afternoon comes, buses and cars fade from the streets, and the city quiets herself. Smells of roasted chickens and long-awaited meals waft onto the sidewalks and between apartment buildings. The clatter of busy preparation fills each home. Just before sunset, the streets stir again - not with cars, but with pedestrians. Small groups of friends parade the streets discussing the week's events, as they head to each of the city's many synagogues.

This Shabbat my friends and I head to HUC and the little chapel it contains. It is our first Shabbat as a class, and all of us gather for services and dinner at the College. The synagogue is packed with visitors and alumni, and the air is heavy with prayers and hopes. At the end of services, everyone files downstairs into the main courtyard for dinner. We happily sing songs until the food arrives, when all noise turns into conversation and meal-time clatter. At the end of dinner, we give thanks and begin to sing and dance. Joy and laughter becomes contagious as the class circles together for the final songs. Truly, fully, we welcomed in Shabbat.



After services on Saturday morning, Karen and I rush back to our apartment to prepare Shabbat lunch. During the week, we invited 16 people to our small home. Fortunately, most brought dishes to share, and only some work remained for us to complete. Around one o'clock everyone arrived we said kiddush and began the meal. Although crowded and hectic, Karen and I felt overjoyed to host some of our friends for the first Shabbat. Over the next year, we hope these people will become our family and I was thrilled to have the first family lunch at our house.

'til next time,
lauren

Welcome to HUC.

Oh, orientation week. That ever necessary but annyoningly boring series of activities designed to help students adjust to an entirely different place and program in five short days. Health insurance, security, coping skills, class schedules, ulpan requirements, and the insincerely obligatory we're-so-glad-you-came speech. Welcome to HUC: we're a bunch of talking heads.

Please excuse the bitter tone; it wasn't that bad. There were also mixers and ice-cream socials and parties. It is really nice to start to get to know my classmates, my future colleuges. Whether we like it or not, we are all stuck together for the next five years, if not the rest of our lives. Few people become rabbis and Jewish professionals. From here on, we will have conferences, continued-learning classes, and a host of other activities together. There are about 40 erev-rabbis, 8 starting cantors, and a smattering of education students in my class. I made some great friends, many of whom are also headed to the New York campus next year. And everyone seems interesting; each with his own story of why being clergy is the right path for him. There are a few which I met before this year at different conferences and conventions. Other faces are completely new to me.

Alon came to visit on the second to last day of orientation. He met most of the class and their significant others, for which I am glad. I got to meet and talk to Rabbi Ellenson, the President of HUC; my claim to fame is that both of us are William and Mary graduates. There are very few W&M alumn who also attend HUC. (I think I might make number five or six.) It was fun to talk to someone else who knew about such an important piece of home.

'Til the next "blog",
lauren

Gone to Petra.

Before Scott came into town from Atlanta, the two of us decided that we wanted to take a trip chutz, or outside of Israel. As it is safer than Egypt, Jordan was an obvious choice.

The day after I arrived in Israel, Scott, Alon, and I prepared to leave it. Traveling down from Ra'anana to Tel Aviv to Eilat, we crossed the Israeli-Jordanian boarder to spend the night in Aqaba. Aqaba sits at the top of the Red Sea, across the water from Eilat. Eilat is a bustling tourist town filled with Vegas-style grand hotels and long, manicured beaches. Aqaba, its Jordanian counterpart, is not nearly as glamourous nor as wealthy. After visiting Eilat twice, I felt strange standing on the opposite shore looking at its familiar landmarks with a 50 foot Jordanian flag flapping above my head. Nonetheless, Aqaba is an interesting place, filled with good food, a lively street life (at least until midnight when everything abruptly closes), and kind people.

The three of us woke up early the next morning, passed through the Wadi Rum, and headed to Petra. An ancient city guarded by mountains, Petra contains enormous two thousand year old buildings and sculptures hewn out of the soft, living rock. Originally built and controlled by the Nabataeans, a once-nomadic tribe, Petra is one of the great wonders of the world. An expensive ticket buys entrance to the park; Scott, Alon, and I walked down the desert path to our destination. A narrow, winding canyon flanked with carvings and the remains of an aquiduct lead us to our first true glimpse of the city. Elaborately decorated with ionic-capped columns, the Treasury rose stories above us, up the side of the cliff face. The inside is cavernous; beautifully decorated doorways are the only contents that remain in the rooms. After much ooo-ing, aahhh-ing, and picture-taking, we hiked towards the rest of the city.

Petra is filled with temples and amphitheaters and homes, all etched into the face of the rock, rising story upon story up the mountain-side. The path below teems with tourists, Bedouins peddling goods, and the occasional archeologist rushing to his dig. We spent the whole day climbing the park's paths to different sites.


The path at Petra ends with a magnificent mountain-top view of parts of Jordan and Israel. Near the top of the climb sits a Roman monastary protruding almost suddenly from a peak. On the return trip, we stopped at a Bedouin shop for tea and nargila. Before we left, I traded the proprietor a pair of cheap sunglasses for a necklace containing one of Petra's many rocks. I still feel positively about the transaction.

That is all for the moment. If you want me to send you more pictures, let me know.
Much love and missing,
lauren b.

P.S. Below is a picture of Alon, me, and Scott at a view which overlooks the modern town of Petra. And yes, I know I look terrible.

After walking down the new golden ramps of Ben-Gurion and making my way through customs, Alon and I drove to my apartment in my new home town, Jerusalem. We met my apartment-mate and long-time friend, Karen, and began the never-ending unpacking process.
By mid-afternoon, we took a break to pick up my friend, Scott, from the central bus station. Scott visited the apartment, approved, and then we all left for Ra'anana.
Karen, Scott, Alon, and I arrived at Alon's parents' home, just in time to prepare for the my welcome-back party. Most everyone came, and it was such a pleasure to see friends and Alon's family.
At the end of the night, Karen returned to Jerusalem while Scott, Alon, and I prepared for the next day's adventure. All in all, it was a busy and positive first day back.