Erev Rabah

2006-04-10T08:42:00.000+03:00

On the run update...

Okay... so as usual, I am on the run... but this month a little more so than in the past. Thus, it will take me a while to finish talking about Mariele's visit (sorry). This is what this month looks like:

30 March - 5 April: Prague and Poland (Crackow, Warsaw, Auschuwitz/Birkinow) with NFTY (acted as staff for the NFTY in Israel High School in Israel program and learning how to be a guide/educator for my summer job)
6 April - 9 April: On a trip to the south with HUC (we camped in the Eilat Mountains, stayed on a kibbutz, and Alon and I went scuba diving twice)
11 April - 18 April: In the Ukraine, in the Crimea, on the Black Sea (Alon and I will be running Passover seders (ceremonial meals) for communities that otherwise would not have these Jewish events)
19 April - 24 April: Ginelle's wedding in Seattle (YEAH Ginelle!!!)

We are talking about 5 countries in 4 weeks folks. That's a lot of travel.
I promise more pictures as soon as I have a chance to sit in front of my computer for more than 15 minutes at a time.

Much love!
lauren

2006-03-22T17:54:00.000+02:00

15 March 2006

Mariele and I awoke early on Wednesday morning, picked up a rental car, and sprinted south to Masada and the Dead Sea.

Mariele and I arrived in Masada first. We hiked up the 450 meter high plateau to the ancient ruins atop the mountain. Masada began as a palace-fortress, built by King Herod, and later developed into a Jewish settlement during the time of the Romans. During the revolt against the Romans in the 70s, a group of Jewish rebels held their last stand at Masada; an event for which Masada is famous.

From the palace, it is possible to see much of the Dead Sea and the surrounding area. It is a gorgeous view. The ruins, although partially reconstructed, are also very interesting. They contain a variety of baths, both Roman and Jewish, houses, storerooms, and royal palaces. Mariele and I wandered around the archeological ruins until the afternoon, when we hiked back down the plateau.

From Masada, Mariele and I drove back along the Dead Sea until we reached the Ein Ghedi beach. I am always amazed at the bouyancy level when swimming in the Dead Sea. Mariele and I stood straight up in the water and were still able to float easily. It is really cool to be able to walk on water, even if it means that two-thirds of you is submerged.

After washing off, we drove back to Jerusalem so that I could take a test on Thursday and we could prepare for the next trip.

I will try to post more pictures soon.... the website hasn't been letting me post more than this one picture.

Much love
l

2006-03-21T08:59:00.000+02:00

Purim! (Evening of March 13th to afternoon of March 14th)

Purim was a blast. Mariele and I started to welcome in Purim at school. There was dressing up and drinking and musical and comic performances.

Alon joined us as Mariele and I migrated to a friend's party in Jerusalem. Everyone was in costumes (I went as a married ultra orthodox woman and Mariele went "white trash"). The party was fantastic, and a classic way to celebrate Purim.

The next morning, we drove to Tel Aviv to participate in the street carnival there.

After wandering around the carnival, we walked down to the beach. Mariele and I ate at a beach-side cafe and enjoyed the sun. Towards the evening, we walked to the Tel Aviv market, Shuk Ha Carmel, and shopped in a large crafts festival in the "trendy district" of Tel Aviv. From there, we walked to the ancient city of Yaffo to see the old street and buildings and look at the view of a lighted Tel Aviv.

We met Alon again in Ra'anana and hung out with some friends there.
Wednesday morning, Mariele and I were back in Jerusalem, renting a car. But that is for the next blog.

I will post pictures of all of this once this site lets me.

2006-03-10T07:41:00.000+02:00

Like a chicken without a head...

Or at least that is what I am feeling like lately. To my great happiness, Mariele came into town on Wednesday. We went out to dinner at a lovely little restaurant, called Timol Shimshom. On Thursday morning, I sent her down to Eilat - to sit on the beach - and to Petra in Jordan - to go see all of the beautiful archeological remains that are there (see my entry about Petra over the summer for pictures of Petra, etc.). I am jealous of her trip, because it should be so much fun, and I hope that she enjoys herself. As for me, I had a Hebrew test on Thursday, plus make up classes, plus volunteering, plus the beginning of my weekend with my NFTY course. I will be in the course for the rest of the weekend, from breakfast to past dinner. Then, on Sunday, I have a huge midterm, and on Monday I am leading my first worship service since I was, like, 18. I am really nervous for it... but I am hoping that it goes well.

Needless to say, things are busy and I am spending a lot of time studying.
Hope all are doing well!

2006-03-06T17:51:00.000+02:00

Mary Virginia comes to town

Mary VA arrived in Jerusalem on Wednesday afternoon. After running around the Old City on Thursday afternoon (we visited the Western Wall, Church of the Holy Seplecur, and Temple Mount archeological museum/site), and my performance at the Monologues on Thursday evening, we jetted up to Tel Aviv for Friday morning. There we wandered around the Carmel Market, shmoozed in a café, walked around southern Tel Aviv, saw the Friday art fair, and made sandcastels at the beach on the Mediterranean. From there, we drove with Alon up to the Galilee, stopping by the Mount Tabor monastary (seen to the left) and the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) along the way. (There is a picture of the Kinneret, near Tiberias, to the right.)

We slept in Ramot Naftali, on the Lebanese border in northern Israel on Friday evening. (See picture to the left of me and Mary VA in front of the Lebanese border.) On Saturday morning, we drove further north, into the Golan. There, we wandered around a kibbutz in Kfar Giladi and went horseback riding there in the blooming flowers of the Golan (the north is green and filled with flowers this time of year). From there we went to Metula to check out wild tulips. (See some pictures of the flowers below and to the right.) We saw Nachal Saar, a series of waterfalls near Baniyas and the Nimrod fortress, on the southern border of the Hermon mountain range. We traveled through the Golan, through the Druze village of Masade, to the volcanic mountain of Ben Tal, where we wandered around an old Israeli fort. After that, we drove down the Syrian border on a very bumpy road to briefly see the Black Waterfalls of the El Al stream in the southern Golan Heights. We drove through the West Bank, stopping off there for lunch/dinner. We took a series of pictures with soldiers in the West Bank (ahh, to be tourists). From there, we sprinted back to Jerusalem for my final show for the Monologues.

Mary VA left very early on Sunday morning. It was really a blast to have her in town, and I am really happy that she visited. Safe trip home, Mary V :)

2006-03-06T17:45:00.000+02:00

Vagina Success!

I performed in the Vagina Monologues this weekend (performances on Thursday and Saturday nights). It was a huge success - I am really happy about my performance both nights that we did the show. More importantly, we raised over 12,000 shekels for a women's crisis center in Jerusalem. This is a lot of money here, and we are all very proud of everyone's efforts.

I will post pictures of the performance after I get the "official" pictures (clearly, as I was acting, I could not be taking pictures as well).

2006-03-01T09:49:00.000+02:00

I got really sick this week with an upper resperatory viral infection... it has pretty much put me down for the count. But, it does mean that I have a few minutes to upload one or two pictures from a trip that Alon and I took a the weekend before last.

We traveled up North; this time of year the North is covered in little red, yellow, purple, and white flowers. The weather is gorgeous these days - blue skies, crisp air, green grass (although many of the trees are still bare, as it is still winter). We saw horses and cows and tree-lined farm fields and orchards and street-side pita vendors and picnic-ers and a big spice market and pick-your-own-strawberries. It was beautiful.

Alon and I also decided to visit Nazareth. The Church of the Annunciation was amazing. (It is supposedly situated at Mary's house, where the angel Gabriel declared that Mary would give birth to Jesus.) The outside is lined with a series of depictions of Jesus in the arms of Mary from a variety of different countries (including a Japanese, Thailandi, and other national appearing mother and babe). It was very interesting. This is not compared to the inside of the church, which is fantastic. The interior uses a pseudo-archeological dig in combination with modern architecture to create two different sanctuaries, one above the other. It was really interesting.

Alon and I returned home after this part of the trip. If I ever get pictures of the spice market that we visited, I will post them up as well.

Time to go back to bed now. Hope everyone at home is well.
l

2006-02-19T06:46:00.000+02:00

Busy, busy, busy

Over the past few weeks, my weekdays have been nothing but busy.

HUC is putting on the Vagina Monologues. I auditioned and got in! I was cast in one of the bigger monologues, Angry Vagina, which is exciting (in that oh-goodness-do-I-really-have-to-say-vagina-all-the-time kind of way). Our fundraising efforts and performance proceeds will benefit a rape crisis center for religious women in Jerusalem. Our funds will also benefit Asian comfort women, who were taken as sex slaves by the Japanese government to "serve" Japanese soldiers. Needless to say, these are important causes, but rehearsals keep me busier than ever.

On to other things that have been keeping me busy...

Besides my usual early morning working out (I have been getting up about an hour and a half before school starts in order to exercise), I joined a body sculpting class with some of the other ladies at HUC on Sunday evenings. It is a lot of fun and I always wake up sore the next morning (which is fantastic).

And finally...

I have been doing a big fundraising effort for our Passover trip to the Former Soviet Union. I organized over eighty letters to go out to just as many different Jewish organizations throughout the states that are represented by my other classmates who are traveling to all around the FSU.
I think that the effort is almost complete, and the letters should be going out this week. It is a relief to have them off of my plate (almost). I just hope that they bring nice returns.

In other news...

Two weeks ago, my Israel seminar took my classmates and I to an Israeli airforce base. As Alon was in the airforce during his service and I have been on bases - both in the States and in Israel - , this was not as exciting for me as for others. Nonetheless, we met one of the few women navigators in the airforce and got to stand happily close to F-16s and the like. And that part was super cool. No matter how old you are, it is always neat to stand next to a plane, especially a plane that flies but is not actually aerodynamic. (Who knew?)

And...

Alon's grandparents have been very ill lately, and his grandfather went in for surgery in Tel Aviv this weekend. Alon and I spent a large portion of this weekend in Tel Aviv and hanging out with his grandparents. It reminded me of home and that many people at home who are in my family, are ill as well. It made me homesick and sad, even though I was glad to be there for Alon's family.
Alon and I also went on a half-day trip to the North and Nazareth and some other interesting places... But I need to get going, so I will save that trip for another blog.

Much love to home,
lauren

2006-02-04T20:37:00.000+02:00

Pictures and such...
While I will update you on this past week and a half - which has been beyond busy - in a little bit, I got my hands on some of Donna's wedding photos, so I thought that I would share a few with you. The first is of Alon and me at the party, after dancing for a little while. The second is of Donna and her new husband, Adam, during the ceremony (Alon and Donna's parents, Yossi and Orna, can be partially seen on each side of the bride and groom). And the final picture is utterly vain and self-aggrandizing -- it is just of me, towards the end of the night while I was talking to a few friends. It is a nice picture and I figured that Grammie and Grampie and Grandma would like it. :)

I hope that all is going well with you.
Much love, l

2006-01-28T08:15:00.000+02:00

Congratulations and Mazel Tov to Donna and Adam!

Donna, Alon's younger sister, married her boyfriend of four years, Adam on Thursday, the 19th of January. The wedding was a beautiful affair, in an enclosed garden-like setting and with great food. Donna looked gorgeous, as all brides are. The happy couple will be honeymooning in Thailand for two months before moving to Italy to begin medical school.

On a personal note, I had a great time at the wedding - many of my (and Alon's) friends were there, in addition to much of Alon's family (who I also know). So, it was a lot of fun and very nice to see everyone having a good time as well.

I will put of pictures of the event (and me and Alon at it) as soon as the blog site lets me.

2006-01-25T06:55:00.000+02:00

Back in the Saddle Again...

This semester, school started off with a bang, and by bang, I mean colloquium. Starting on the 18th of January, my classmates and I trekked back to HUC to discuss topics such as Jewish identity, the history of the Reform Movement and its platforms, and the challenges that currently face progressive Judaism. There was a lot of discussion about the importance and problems of growing individualism and personal (not communal) spirituality movement. Certainly, it was an interesting few days. I missed the "leadership" section of the colloquium for Alon's sister's wedding (which I will talk about in another blog).

School began in full swing the following Sunday (January 21st). I have decided to not take enrichment (elective) classes this semester in an effort to both lighten my work load and give myself some more time to do things like go grocery shopping or do homework for my other nine classes. (And yes, I have nine classes in one semester in graduate school, plus activities... it is insane.)

My schedule for this semester is as follows:
Sunday: Hebrew, News in Hebrew, Rabbinic Literature, and Liturgy.
Monday: Prayer workshop, Hebrew, Biblical Grammar, and Rabbinic Forum.
Tuesday: Rabbinic Literature, Hebrew, History, and I work in the library in the evenings.
Wednesday is occupied entirely by Israel Seminar.
Thursday: Hebrew, Bible, and then I have volunteering.

This semester, Wednesdays will also be occupied by preparatory classes for my mission trip to the Former Soviet Union during Passover. I will be learning about how to lead a seder, speak a few words of Russian, and about the history and culture of the FSU in general and also of the specific area to which I am headed (namely Crimea, which is on the Black Sea). This is an important project to me which needs a lot of fundraising, so I will be talking about it again and again in later blogs, I am sure.

To add furthur to my work-load, I am taking a course for my job this summer. Yes, I have happily found a great job for this summer; I will be guiding a group of about 40 kids from NFTY (North American Federation of Temple Youth) around Israel. I am really excited about this job; it will be an unimaginable amount of work and very little sleep, but it should be amazingly fun. They are also sending me to Prague and Cyprus as a part of this trip (I might also get to go to Krakow and Warsaw, but that is yet to be seen). However, in order to be a guide for this program, I am taking a course with all of the other NFTY guides (called mechanchim in Hebrew). While interesting, this course will occupy at least one full weekend every month, if not more. The first weekend of learning begins this weekend. I will keep you updated on how things are going.

Well, that is it about school for now. It is hard to tell how things are going, as I have not completed my first week of the semester yet, but I am trying hard to stay positive and on top of my work.

I hope to hear from you soon,
love
lauren

2006-01-20T22:25:00.000+02:00

Cathedrals and Motzart Concerts

It is no secret that I am a history dork with a big travel bug. So when I found out that I had a day long stop-over in Vienna, a city which I haven't been to in a very long time, I took full advantage of the situation.

I arrived in Vienna early on the 10th of January. After grabbing a travel guide book in the airport and dropping off my luggage at the hostel, I proceeded to the best spot in any European city to gain one's barings: the oldest cathedral. If one can say anything about the Catholic Church, it is that they knew how to pick prime real estate when "Old Europe" was new. Going to a European city's cathedral is not only an interesting and easy way to learn about much of a city's history and when it grew in importance, but also an excellent way to ensure that one is now in any city's historical or ancient quarter.

Vienna's cathedral is named St. Stephen, or Stephansdom in German. It is a prime example of 13th, 14th, 15th century and Baroque architecture, in addition to the Church's tendancy to build on top of its previously constructed buildings in the style of the day. The cathedral is situated close to the river which runs through Vienna, the Donau and within walking distance to Vienna's museum quarter.

From the cathedral, I covered much ground in very little time. I walked around Heldenplatz and the People's Garden (Volksgarten), the Parliment, and the Opera House, visited the Royal Apartments and saw their fine china/silver collection. I spent time wandering the Museum Quarter and extensive time in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, which is the fine art museum that focuses on the Old Masters from the 15th to the 18th centuries. Positively delicious. I used lunch to read about Vienna's long history (which I won't bore you with here) and window shopped along the posh Kohlmarkt and surrounding area. As the afternoon grew older, I returned to my hotel for a much needed nap.

In the evening, I arose and dressed warmly for an evening with the Salonorchester "Alt Wien" at the Kursalon, which is located at the end of Stadtpart. It was fabulous. The small orchestra played some of the best (or at least my favorite) selections from Mozart and Strauss. They also brought in two ballet dancers and two excellent opera singers.

Live ballet, opera, and classical music, plus a little bit of Chinese food for dinner (hey, I had a craving) - I could not have asked for a better way to end a day.

So, I arose early on the 11th of January and left for the airport to fly home to Israel.
Hope all is well at home... and I promise that as soon as I figure out the new camera, I will post pictures as well...
Hugs
lauren

2006-01-20T22:03:00.000+02:00

Home again home again, gig-itty-gig.

On the first of January, I returned home for a nine day stint in the States. Highlights included going to the Corcoran with Ben, having dinner with my cousins, aunt, and uncle, and hanging out with my friends and all of my grandparents. (I am not sure if anyone doesn't want their names posted, so we'll keep this safe.)

It was so much fun to see and talk to everyone. It was really refreshing and made me super happy. Thank you to very much.

I left DC on the 9th to return to my other home, Israel, but on the way I made a stop-over in Vienna, Austria.

But that is the next blog.
Much love,
l

2006-01-20T21:59:00.000+02:00

First and foremost, I am sorry for not writing in such a long time. Things got busy, but they always are busy, so that is no excuse. I apologize.

So, let’s quickly cover much ground and catch up.

The final highlight of October (wow that was so long ago) was….
Simchat Torah, which fell on the 26th of October this year, is the celebration of the children of Israel receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai. It also marks the full and complete end of autumn’s High Holidays. I celebrated it with Alon and many of my classmates on a kibbutz named Gezer (which means carrot, go figure…). We danced, we sang, we drank apple cider. It was good.

November is a sad month this year, as it did not have any official Jewish holidays, other than the usual celebration of the beginning of the month and Shabbat at the end of each week. So, most of November was marked with school work and more school work. (Alon and I only got to go rock climbing a couple of times, which is disappointing.) Also, I gave my first “rabbinical school” d’var Torah (sermon). It was on the portion Lech Lecha, where God commands Abraham to leave his home and go to a land which God will show to Abraham. I used this as a jumping off point to discuss discovering God in different places and the importance of inner search and growth, a topic which no one else had discussed yet and a big topic for a first sermon. Nonetheless, I thought it went over relatively well and was more or less happy with the whole thing.

Despite all of the work, the end of November was fantastic, as I got to travel and see Mom, Dad, and Ben.

The Saturday before Thanksgiving, I flew into Paris where I met Mom, Dad, and Ben in the airport. Ben needed to travel with his university program during the first few days that we were in Paris. So, Dad, Mom, and I determined to visit many of the sites that Ben had obviously seen before our arrival.

During our first few days in Paris, Dad, Mom, and I visited the Musée D’Orsay, wandered around the “Ancient City” of Paris, which includes the Palais de Justice, Ste-Chapelle, Notre Dame, an assortment of little markets, and Pont Neuf. We took a boat ride up and down to the Seine River – during which we not only saw a variety of palaces and grand museums, like the Louvre, but also stopped off to explore the Eiffel Tower. (We were adventurous enough to walk down from the second floor to the first floor, but did not walk all of the way up and down the tower. Instead, we took the elevator all of the way up and all of the way down.)

Once Ben came back, we began exploring other parts of Paris and started using the Parisian subway system (which is terribly confusing if you are just used to the relatively uncomplicated DC Metro). As a side note, Paris has one of the oldest public transportation systems in the world. But during the late 1800s/early 1900s, before the idea of underground train systems took off, Parisian architects considered constructing a system of elevated canals to ferry people throughout the city. Can you imagine walking under one of these raised rivers just after it had sprung a leak?

Back onto the task of summarizing the Paris trip, after Ben’s return, we visited the Louvre (concentrating on mainly the Italian wing, which includes not only Winged Victory and large collection of Greek and Roman statues, but also famous works like the Mona Lisa), the Marais (which is the old Jewish quarter that is now filled with wonderful little shops and restaurants), Sacre C’ur Basilica, the Jardin des Tuileries, the Avenue des Champs-Elysees and the Arc du Triumph, and the Picasso Museum. We ate at the café where the movie Amilie was filmed, and generally consumed enormous amounts of pastries and excellent multi-course meals. We visited the Pompidou, and we saw a fantastic exhibition on Dadaism there (the largest that has been gather together in Paris since the 1920s, when Dada was in its hey-day). We also met Ben’s host mom, Catrine, and hung out with Mom’s student-exchange sister from the Netherlands and her husband, all of whom were very nice. I also ran on the banks of the Seine, the Louvre courtyards, and Jardin de Tuileries. It was terribly cold, but lovely. And on Thanksgiving Day, Mom made mashed potatoes and pecan pie in the little apartment that we rented for the week. It was delicious.

Mom and Dad left Paris a day before I did. Since I left very late the next day, Ben and I had two full days to hang out in Paris. We made the most of it. We went to the Louvre for an entire day. We visited the two other main wings, which I had not touched on my previous visit. Ben, who studied French art during his semester, gave me a tour of the French wing. While Ben did work for one of his term papers, I meandered about the wing with an audio guide – it was so enjoyable. After that, we proceeded to get thoroughly lost in the museum and wandered into the other wings and some very interesting exhibitions (including the Egyptian one – I have never seen so many mummy cases or sarcophagi in one place… it was so cool). The next day, Ben and I toured around Paris, revisiting some sites, enjoying cafes, Paris, and especially time with each other. All in all, it was an unbelievable and fantastic trip. I was sad to have to return to school.

But return I did. Most of December was spent in a furied attempt to catch up with all of my class work and then study for finals. However, right after I returned from Paris, HUC conducted a trip to Haifa and smaller northern cities such as Sefad and Tzippori. We also visited one of my favorite places in Israel, Caesaria. Caesaria was an ancient Roman port, turned palace-city by King Herod, turned fort by invading Crusaders. It is a beautiful and interesting place. (You can also go scuba diving in underwater ruins there.) However, most of our time, we spent in Haifa, learning about the blossoming Reform community there. There are two major centers for Reform Judaism in Haifa, namely the Leo Baeck Education Center (which includes a synagogue) and Synagogue Or Hadash (which includes an after-school education program). It seems like they are doing excellent work at both of these places. And it is always intriguing to learn about the relative absence and growth of the Israeli Reform Movement.

Alon and I went climbing on New Years Eve Day with our friends Naomi and Shachar. That evening, we threw a party at Naomi’s place in Raanana. Many of my (and Alon’s) closest friends (from Israel) were there. It was really a blast; we drank and ate and danced and talked. It was a great way to welcome in 2006.

And on the first of January, I returned back to the United States for a short break. But that brings us up to the present, so all of that will be in the next (not as long) blog.

Much love
l

2005-11-18T15:46:00.000+02:00

Did my dvar Torah and am in Paris; will write later.

2005-10-26T20:26:00.000+02:00

Gone Scuba Diving (October 14th to the 22nd)

The day after Yom Kippur marked the first day of Sukkot vacation from HUC. Alon and I headed up to Ra'anana for Erev Shabbat on the 14th of October. A few of our friends returned recently from India and Thailand, and we visited with one or two. On Saturday, we flew to Eilat with our friends Naomi and Amit. (Yes, amazingly, there are super cheap flights to Eilat.)

Sunday marked our first day of intensive scuba diving class. This class continued every day throughout the next seven days. We did at least two scuba dives a day, in addition to scuba diving theory class. The first (and main) set of scuba dives involved taking off masks, removing regulators (breathing thingy) and all other pieces of equiptment, and then putting everything back on underwater, plus learning to swim properly with all of this stuff. Theory classes involved minimal physics lessons, what to in emergencies, and the potential dangers of diving. All of this was difficult, and a little scary, but especially so for me as all of it was in Hebrew. Alon translated some for me, but nonetheless it reminded me of being in ulpan all over again.

(Above, from left to right, is a picture of Gal, our scuba instructor, me, Alon, Amit, and Naomi.)The scuba course took us to Eilat's aquarium and nature reserve. Since our instructor is learning to be a marine biologist, it was a very interesting and informative (although, again, all in Hebrew, and thus confusing at times).

Towards the end of the week, our dives-per-day increased from two to three at day, and we stopped removing our masks and regulators continually and began seeing more fish and underwater wildlife. I wish I could have taken pictures the whole time - I found the whole thing fascinating and very beautiful.

At the end of the week, both Alon and I graduated from our scuba course. Now, I am officially an Advanced Open Water Diver, and certified to do Nitrox dives! Pretty cool for someone who spends much of her week-day time comparing things like what types of prayers and Talmudic commentary Ashkenazi and Yeminite Jews emphasize in conservative liturgy.

Alon and I stayed at our friend, Ami's place. Ami owns two dogs and a cat. I have wanted a dog for ages, so it was a lot of fun for me to have two for a week or so. Ami and I spent a lot of time watching movies - especially old James Bond films and a new Israeli comedy - when I wasn't diving and he wasn't working. After weeks of 8 to 10 hour school days, it was fantastic to sit in unthinking enjoyment.

Our friends Tal and Roi also came down to Eilat for the later part of the week. They are also Advanced Divers and spent much of their time diving in old wrecks and some of the lovely reefs that the Red Sea possesses. (We also ended up driving back to the North with Tal and Roi.)

On Saturday night, Tal, Roi, Naomi, Amit, Alon, Ami, and I went out to dinner at the fancy meat restaurant in Eilat, Pedro's. It was delicious. I almost never go out to big dinners anymore, so leaving the house to have a steak cooked for me, was clearly satisfying.

The next day, Sunday, Alon, Roi, Tal, and I returned to Ra'anana.
The adventure continues... later. Much love, l

2005-10-24T15:19:00.000+02:00

Days of Awe (continued)

I have been on vacation and away from any form of internet access for a little over a week at this point. Happily, much happened, but I will write about that in a later letter. First, as a rabbinical student, I feel obligated to at least mention one of the most important days of the Jewish calendar: Yom Kippur.

Yom Kippur, the Day of Repentance, falls ten days after Rosh Hashana and is the primary and most important fast day of the year. As Judaism does not believe in asceticism, fast days are rare and generally signify great importance. Yom Kippur acts as a final reminder to apologize for wrong choices and hurtful actions from the year before; it pleads with us to begin the New Year with a clean slate with one's family, friends, and God. While Judaism teaches that the opportunities for repentance are always open to us, Yom Kippur serves as a last kick-in-the-ass to actually talk to everyone and face difficult feelings that we usually avoid.

I spent a lot of time in personal reflection and study and a lot less time actually talking to people. Yes, Karen and I hosted dinner at our apartment the night that Yom Kippur came in, and I went to a big break-the-fast dinner at the end of the day with many friends... but I spent the morning mostly alone, reading my Ashkenazi Yom Kippur Machzor (translation: Eastern European Day of Repentance specialized prayer and study book), thinking about repentance, everything that happened this year - both really good and really bad and really inbetween - and my relationship with God. While I had places to be, on this important day of reflection, I needed the time-out. It takes me a long time to process my personal progress on my individual "big" issues, like life and death and suffering and God and love. While it will take me more than a lifetime to sort through all of this, as far as this year is concerned, I am not ready to repent for everything quite yet. I received so many blessings, but so much difficulty as well. While I know that this makes me grow, the pains that accompany growth are sometimes severe. As Israelis say, I am not whole with it yet.

Anyhoo, off of the heavy stuff... Yom Kippur is interesting in Israel. No one drives - it is actually impossible. As soon as the night arrives, people flood into the streets, walking in the middle of five-lane roads, meandering along usually car-filled intersections. Instead of automobiles and buses, there are bicycles and rollerblades. More people get bicycle-related injuries on Yom Kippur than any other day of the year in Israel. And, as everything is closed, secular Israelis stay home and throw movie-watching parties with friends. It is almost impossible to rent a movie the day before Yom Kippur, as the much of the country already picked the Blockbusters and movie rental machines dry. It was fascinating to see the difference in Israel and her people from the day before to the day of Yom Kippur.

In the evenings leading into and out of the holiday, I attended services at HUC, in the hall that overlooks Jerusalem's Old City. Eli - our genius though sometimes-old-fashioned cantorial professor - chose beautiful and interesting music to usher in and ease out Yom Kippur. Again, it was lovely to see the city walls glow and change in color as the afternoon moved into evening and night.

All in all, I feel I can say that it was an interesting Yom Kippur.

2005-10-12T13:27:00.000+02:00

Lions and Monkeys and Bears, oh my!

Last Friday was my classmate Jean's birthday. To celebrate, we walked/taxied to the skirts of Jerusalem, near the West Bank, to the Zoo.

The Zoo's animals are based off of the different animals in the Bible. Below the scientific classifications of each of the animals, a list of attributes about their natural habitat, and food needs, sits a quick passage from the Bible noting that indeed Solomon and David saw birds and monkeys and bears. Of course, the elephants and giraffes and zebras didn't have quotes from the Bible under their scientific information. But, hey, what's a zoo without elephants and giraffes and zebras.

The Zoo also possesses a replication of Noah's ark, which contains a children's movie entirely in Hebrew. A little train travels throughout the major parts of the park. We took the train for a small part of the trip. As a whole, the zoo was very enjoyable. It was a great way to spend a morning.

Afterwards, I went to Raanana for Shabbat and to see the new house into which Alon and his family just moved. The move has been long and slow - it is nice to see the whole thing come together the way that they planned.

To the left is a picture of all of the first year students who went to the Zoo for Jean's birthday (and Ann's son, in case you are wondering who the 11 year old is). Jean is sitting in about the middle.

2005-10-07T08:35:00.000+03:00

And some people blame Israel for the situation in Gaza...
Here is the latest on the PA government from Haaretz (click on the "Israeli News" link to the right or the link below for more)

Palestinian committee: PA has done nothing to impose order
By Arnon Regular, Haaretz Correspondent
The Palestinian cabinet has never once discussed the security chaos in the territories, nor has Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia ever asked it to do so, according to an investigative committee set up by the Palestinian Legislative Council. The panel was charged with examining the Palestinian Authority's ongoing failure to impose order on armed Palestinian gangs and militias.The committee's report, a copy of which was obtained by Haaretz, said that despite Qureia's repeated public comments about the need to impose order on the armed gangs, in practice, his government failed to make any attempt to deal with either the armed militias or the power struggles among the various Palestinian security services that impeded action against these militias.I t also found that there was a "clear failure in implementing the reform and development plan, as well as in the war against corruption." Implementation of this reform plan was one of the international community's conditions for progress toward a Palestinian state.
To read the whole article, click here...

2005-10-06T01:20:00.000+03:00

Days of Awe

There is just something about these days that sneak up on you. It doesn't matter that I heard the shofar blown every morning of Elul (the Jewish month of love and repentance which leads up to Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year), or that the markets started to sell good baking apples and pomegranates just a few weeks ago, or that I feel a chill during the evenings only recently. The sun set two nights ago, and all of a sudden, we entered into a new year.

The Days of Awe constitute Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, the Day of Repentance, and the ten days which come between the two holidays. For some, they extend onto Sukkot, a harvest festival week-long celebration, and Simchat Torah, which literally translates to ''the happiness of the teachings''. For Jews around the world, the coming of autumn means a celebration of the world's creation and the fruits (physical and metaphysical) that it produces. It is a time of reflection, repentance, forgiveness, and renewal. And while preparations can be made for this season, it is my general experience no matter what I do, I still feel that these days arrive unexpectedly.

So much that is painful and beautiful happens within a year; it is nearly impossible to compile and organize all of it, even with a month's worth of preparation.

This year, I spent my Rosh Hashana in several different ways. Erev (eve of) Rosh Hashana, I helped out with a program at school; several American students studying across Israel migrated to HUC for the holiday. The whole thing was organized by a variety of people, including myself; my role was to create and run getting-to-know-you programs.
Alon joined me and my classmates at this point, and we headed to one of rooms in the HUC complex which enjoys large panoramic views of the walls of the Old City. We sat in services, watching the stones and sky change as the sun departed, listening as the choir sung.
Alon and I left services and traveled North, to join the Morrocan side of his family. They held a beautiful and delicious Morrocan Rosh Hashana seder (think meal and worship service combined). It was the first time I ever participated in this type of seder. And it is nice to be included in an Israeli family.
The next day, we ate ate another amazing Morrocan lunch at Alon's Aunt Sylvie's. (I never knew that I loved Morrocan food so much.) We were supposed to travel farther north for one of Alon's cousin's bar mitzvah in the late afternoon. Instead, as Alon's grandfather fell ill and had suprise surgery, we drove south to Beer Sheva. We hung out with Alon's grandfather after his operation, and some of the other family which had stayed in the south to be with him. All of it reminded me of my family, and I missed home.
The second day of Rosh Hashana deserves a brief explination. Alon's parents are moving to a house they just built in an adjoining neighborhood. As new house comes together (closets being built, etc.), they are in the slow, slow process of migrating things. These days, their things are migrating even faster. Thus, most of my second day was spent doing dishes and laundry and cooking in an attempt to make life easy for the rest of the family, who actually know what they want packed, how they want it moved, and where it is going to. I tried to write some of my sermon, which is coming up in a month, but failed miserably. It is interesting though, to be in a place where you can hear the blowing of the shofar from the comfort of one's living room or while cooking in one's kitchen. But, I guess that that is what being in Israel (and being a "secular" Israeli family) is all about.

Happy New Year and much love
l

2005-10-03T13:48:00.000+03:00

Saturday, 1 October: Jerusalem Adventures

Instead of hiking around nature like we usually do on our weekends, this Saturday, Alon and I decided to adventure to parts of Jerusalem previously unseen (well, at least by me).

While Jewish Jerusalem closes down completely for Shabbat, the one-third of Jerusalem which practices Christianity and Islam remains open, as their rest days fall on different parts of the week.

Armed with a guidebook and a desire to see new things, Alon and I set out through the Arab Market in the Old City, towards the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. While the church today does not look like much from the outside (see above picture to the right), it is filled with beautiful art from the six original sects of Christianity. The Holy Sepulchre marks Golgotha, also known as Calvary, the site of Jesus' crucifixion. Within, the church contains the stone upon which Jesus was prepared for burial after his death. (See a gold mosaic depiction of this story to the left.) Additionally, it is the place of the 10th through 14th Stations of the Cross.

First built in 335 CE by Constantine, after his mother Eleni made pilgrimage to Jerusalem and uncovered the site, the structure of the church as been reconstructed several times throughout history, due to a variety of wars and natural disasters (Wars: Persians in 614, Turks in 1009, and then some Crusader rebuilding in the mid-1100s; Fires: 1808 and 1949; Earthquake: 1927). As you walk into the building, the first thing is Jesus' burial preparation stone. (Shown to the left.) People spend a lot of time rubbing their faces, hands, and things (especially souvenirs) all over it.

The whole church reminded me of a less-glorified St. Marks in Venice with a bit of classical Greek Orthodox iconography thrown into the artistic/architechtural mix. (I say this because, interesting art and gold mosaics fill the place, but it is not dripping in it, as found in St. Mark's.) You can see some fantastic iconography done in precious metals and paint to the right. Glowing candles and dead (or dying) Jesus are in abundance at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre - everywhere you turn, really. I found the whole experience fascinating.

In an attempt to see Jerusalem's three holiest sites of the three major world religions, Alon and I approached the Temple Mount, otherwise known as the Dome of the Rock. The Dome is the third holiest site to Muslims; it is where Mohammad made his magical midnight trip with the angel Gabriel (if I remember correctly) to the location of the Binding of Isaac. Its location is one and the same with Judaism's ancient Temple. Unfortunately, the Muslims close down the Temple Mount to visitors on Fridays and Saturdays. I knew that non-Muslims could never go into the Dome itself, and certainly not on the Muslim holy day of Friday, but I had expected to be able to at least stand outside, on the Temple Mount on Saturday. Instead, I was disappointed. The Temple Mount is only open from 7 am to 11 am, Sunday through Thursday. Looks like I will have to skip out on class to be able to see it.

Alon and I passed the wide variety of Arab markets to our last stop of the day. After wandering in and around Damascus Gate, and out through different shukim, we made it to The Wall. The Western Wall, otherwise known as the Kotel, served as the Western outer-most wall of the great Second Temple, beautified by Herod the Builder around the time when BCE turned to CE. During the time of the Ottomans, and when the Arabs controlled Jerusalem before the Six Day War, the space was used as a trash heap and general dump. Today, it serves as one of Judaism's holiest sites. (In the picture above and to the left, you can see that it sits just below the Dome of the Rock.) Although for many years everyone had free access to all parts of the Wall, regardless of gender, the Kotel is currently separated into men and women sections. I can go on for hours about how much I hate the regulations instituted at the Wall, why I think that they are not Jewish laws and just crap made up by masoginistic, over-zealous, pretend-pious rabbis, and how I think that they have stopped making it a holy space for all of the people of Israel.... but that is not really the point at the moment. (Maybe another time, another blog...) The point is, is that after multiple trips to the Kotel, I finally had a meaningful experience at the Wall. It was a quiet, Shabbat afternoon; very few men were present to shout out their prayers over the mechitza (barrier) and very few women sat eating and chatting in the lawnchairs in the women's section. (Both of which are typical and annoying.) I prayed mincha, the Jewish afternoon prayer service, and felt moved in a place which for so long, I felt was not my own. After years of feeling frustrated and angry and sad and annoyed, I, in whispered silence, was finally able to claim a place for myself in Judaism's holiest site.

Just another Saturday in Jerusalem, I suppose.
Much love to everyone at home.

2005-10-02T07:34:00.000+03:00

CONGRATULATIONS to Ginelle!!!!

My good friend from W&M, Ginelle, just got engaged!!!!!! In a very romantic story, her boyfriend of several years, Scott, proposed last night (or today in the afternoon, if you are on the West Coast, like they are...) and she said yes!

Congrats honey! Or, as they say around here, MAZEL TOV!

2005-09-28T19:40:00.000+03:00

24th of September (continued)

After we came down from the mountain, we continued "jeeping". Let me just say that although taking a 4x4 trip is fun, it is a bit like becoming a Mexican jumping bean in a can. Tilted up and down, tossed side to side, forward and back, without any regard to where you actually want your body to be located.

After going up the next hill, we stopped for another view and a little bit of lunch. (See above to the right - us with the map planning out the next destination.) Avishai cooked coffee - you might not think that this is a notary event, but trust me, it is. Delicious arabic coffee. We also picked up baclaua from an Arab village. Yum.

We continued on, past acres of cotton fields. (See the picture to the left that I took while we drove in the car.) We drove down to the Kinneret, making a half circle around the little sea. We also visited the place where the Jordan meets the Galiliee. It was a lovely place, as you can see in the picture I took to the right, but a little weird. There is an abundance of fish and baptism seekers in the river. As the story goes, the aptly named John the Baptist baptized Jesus somewhere where the Jordan River meets the Kinneret. As a result, a small baptism industry emerged near the mouth of the river, at the entrance to the sea. It seems to cater to wealthy Americans, desirous of a savior-style cleansing. So, amongst an abundance of fish poop (and there are a lot a fish and even more of gross fish poop), people wade, hands akimbo, into the water, while others on the shore shout "hallelujah, praise the Lord" and blow a shofar (traditional Jewish trumpet made of a ram's horn). This experience was clearly powerful for the participants, but as someone of the "Hebrew persuation", it just felt like a confused combination of several Jewish practices. (Namely, mikvah rituals made public, conversion, a little bit of tashlich, and some of the redemption parts of Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur.) I left feeling a bit unsettled. Since you cannot see my face while I am typing this, I must write this down; certainly, none of this is a judgement on Christianity. It is just clearly, as I am headed to be a rabbi, I did not find Christian ritual to spiritually "do it" for me. There are plenty of things that I do as a Jew that I am sure Christians find unusual as well, such as tefillin or tallit wearing.

From there, we left to a kibbutz which sits on the beaches of the Kinneret and ate dinner. One of the kibbutz dogs joined us. I enjoyed having a dog for the late afternoon. From our vantage point, we could see out over the whole sea, and even over to Tiberias. (See the picture below, to the right.) It was a lovely, quiet way to end our adventures. As an added bonus, the day's sunset was beautiful.

That's it for this adventure.
Hope all is well at home,
much love.

2005-09-26T06:59:00.000+03:00

22nd to the 24th of September

On Thursday night, I took the bus up to Raanana to see Alon. I went swimming and rock-climbing, but the real event of the weekend was our Jeep trip on Saturday.

We made plans weeks ago with our friends Avishai and Raut, who have a Jeep-trip ready type of SUV (y'know, has a metal plated undercarriage, gyroscopes, that type of thing).

We drove up north, near the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee), to a National Park called Karne Hittin. The now-dead, twin-peaked volcano was the site of two important battles. The first is mentioned in the Bible, in Joshua (if I remember correctly). The second was during the Crusaders - and it turned the tide of Christian occupation during the Middle Ages. During the summer, the once green land turns golden brown with an abundance of dry grass. Apparently, while a great number of Christain crusaders occupied the mountain, thus controlling the surrounding land, the Muslim leader hatched a plan; he set fire to the grasses, razing the whole mountain. Since medieval European warriors wore giant suits of metal armor (p.s. not a very good idea in Israeli August heat, just as a general whole), they were roasted alive. For the Muslims, victory in this battle parlayed into victory in the war, and thus the reconquering of the land of Israel during the Crusades.

Outside of these gruesome historical sidenotes, it was a beautiful day (as you can see). On the top left is Alon, Avishai, and Raut looking out over the top of the Karne Hittin. On the right is a view of the Kinneret in the distance on the hike up, and on the bottom to the left is a view of some of Israel's agricultural land from a look-out point on a different near-by hill/mountain.

After we climbed down from Karne Hittin, we drove on to other different and interesting sites. But at the moment, the story must stop, as I have to get ready for class.

2005-09-22T15:16:00.000+03:00

Tuesday Night/Wednesday Morning (21st of September)

Slichot consists of penitential prayers, recited before the morning worship service throughout the Hebrew month of Elul. (Although, the Ashkenazi tradition begins reciting Slichot only a week before Rosh Hashanah.) It is a collection of liturgical poetry, sung by different members of the congregation.

As a part of our Israel seminar, our teachers decided that we should experience a Sephardic slichot. As most of us rarely, if ever, participate in this admittedly beautiful and interesting worship ritual, many of us were excited for the unusual experience. Unfortunately, slichot starts at 4 am and my classmates and I were required to be at school at 3:30 am for a brief lesson about slichot and Sephardi practices. (p.s. lessons at 3:30 am = terrible idea)

In order to actually be awake in order to attend, some of my girl friends and I gathered at Rachel's apartment for a half-sleepover. I say this because there was no actual sleeping involved and we all had to get up at 2:30 to get dressed for services. Nonetheless, everyone came in their pajamas, girly movies in hand. Rachel provided more candy than I have seen in a long time, and we ordered pizza. We watched Coyote Ugly and My Big Fat Greek Wedding, making comments the entire time. All of us enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.

Slichot services themselves were difficult to get through for multiple reasons; 1) sleep deprivation and 2) the mechitza. The mechitza is a barrier which separates men and women in Orthodox synagogues. In more progressive congregations, it is a simple low wall dividing the main room into two parts. In increasingly conservative places, women sit far above their male counterparts in a balcony that is blocked off by a latice-work. Apparently, this synagogue has become more conservative recently. And while the mechitza was pretty to look at, it made it impossible to see the rest of the synagogue, the leaders of the service, or to hear the service clearly. Since slichot was new to most of us, all of this made for a powerful impediment against participation. I spent much of the time journaling in my notebook and drinking the tea that a male member of the synagogue distributed. (The only women at the service were me and my classmates.) Most of my journaling consists of frustrations with the inability to fully participate, some mentions of the beauty of the service and the call of the shofar, and a healthy addition of angry feminist remarks.

After we finished up at 8:30 am, I dragged myself home to bed. All in all, it was a positive, though exhausting, experience.

Much love,
l