Pre-Shabbat Update!

Israeli flag on the ramp to the Dome of the Rock

I have learned so much in the few short weeks that I've been here.

Here are some observations:

1. Israelis will wait for NOTHING, with one exception. Israelis will wait for the green man (walk sign) to cross the street. They will not, however, wait for the traffic light to turn green before honking at the person in front of them to motivate them to go. Or really anything else.
2. There is a restaurant that serves bacon within a two minute walk of my apartment.
3. Even when you have lots of homework to do for ulpan, there's something so much better about doing homework in Jerusalem than any other place I've done homework (except maybe Thompson). It's just really cool to be able to do your Hebrew homework surrounded by people speaking Hebrew.
4. In Jerusalem it's possible to hear Hebrew, English, French, Spanish, and Russian, all on the way to school.
5. The most peaceful place I've found in Jerusalem is by the Dome of the Rock. It's serene up there.
6. If you even remotely look like you could be between the ages of 18-26, you WILL be asked on an almost daily basis if you're on Birthright. Saying yes will result in one of two options: you will receive an excellent discount OR you will get royally ripped off.
7. 40 shekels is not the same as 40 dollars, but it still sounds like it to me.
8. Israelis are full of hospitality. They will invite you to shabbos while you're waiting to cross the street (at the green man) with them. Or if you're walking through your apartment building. Or if you're in their cab. Also they always want to know if you and your friends have a boyfriend because their son/nephew/cousin is available and he was in the army.
9. "What time is it?" is a pick up line.
10. Some of my favorite American foods are readily available in J'lem, which is wonderful. I love Israeli food a lot (seriously, it's so great) but sometimes I just want those hot buffalo wing snyders pretzel pieces (WHICH I FOUND TODAY!).

Since my last post, I've seen some beautiful stuff in Jerusalem. One day, I went to a coffee shop after school where I could see HUC and the Old City. I know that I've been here for a month (!!!) but the novelty of this view simply has not worn off. It's so striking!

HUC's version of the Secret Stairs

On Tuesday, two of the ulpan classes took a field trip to the Jerusalem Bird Observatory. Now, for those of you who don't know, I generally dislike birds because they don't have hands (don't worry about this) but this field trip was actually pretty cool. And by cool, I mean sweltering and hot. But I learned a lot. We listened to a presentation about the organization done entirely in Hebrew. I was surprised at how much I understood; while certainly I did not know every word, I was able to piece a lot together throughout the presentation. We also watched this really bizarre video about how wildlife and urban areas intersect, particularly in Jerusalem. It certainly wasn't a documentary like Planet Earth, but I suppose it was still somehow informative.

Check out that bird.

This bright blue bird was a highlight of the field trip!

The next day we all had quizzes in both Hebrew and Biblical Archaeology. I am still not really used to having school over the summer. But learning is good.

Flowers on campus

What I'm most excited about today, though, is my trip to the Dome of the Rock. After a really fun night out on Wednesday, a group of us went bright and early to the Old City to visit the Dome of the Rock. When I think of Jerusalem, my first thought is the shiny golden dome of this incredibly beautiful shrine.

What an unbelievable sight to see.

While there are a lot of politically and religiously charged opinions about the Dome, my trip yesterday was motivated by a desire to photograph one of the most exquisite places I've ever seen in my life.

I think it was a huge success.

Ulpan, Birthday, Field Trips--Oh My!

As seen from Ramat Rahel

What a week it has been!

Ulpan has been exhausting. It's been an interesting balance of review and challenge (i.e. smichut activities and trying to read the NEWSPAPER) and I'm definitely struggling to adjust to such a small school. Going from 50k to 37 people is difficult for me. I'm not saying it's bad, but it's just something I'm having to adjust to (luckily, so are most of my classmates, so that's good). I'm really enjoying my ulpan instructor, Osnat. She rules. I'm not entirely convinced one way or the other if she actually speaks English. Sometimes it seems she does, and other times, not so much--the great thing about this is that it forces us to figure out a way to communicate with her in Hebrew (and frantic gesturing).

I will say that after 4 days of ulpan I'm already feeling more confident in my ability to speak Hebrew. Recently I went to the grocery store, and I went through Shoshana's line (not my normal girl but she rules) and we had a whole conversation about the benefits of a frequent shopper card (I understood about 50% of this, and mostly from context) and she offered me a sample of the walnuts that are on special sale this week. Then, we had a whole conversation about my nail polish and where I bought it. I was actually able to communicate myself and have a friendly conversation! By the end of the year I'll be talking Shosi's ears off before I leave the grocery store.

In other news, I have really been enjoying exploring Jerusalem. After school, I've tried a couple of different coffeeshops where we try to get some homework done. One is called Nona Chocolate and Cafe, which obviously ruled. I've also been exploring some of the Israeli bookstores. I even found a bilingual copy of some of Yehuda Amichai's poems! For those of you who don't know, I really love Yehuda Amichai's poetry. I discovered him in a couple of Dr. Tanenbaum's awesome poetry classes at OSU, and I found out during my rabbinical school interview that he actually had a very close connection to HUC. I love that now I am able to read the Hebrew versions and actually understand the poetry to some extent, instead of having to translate every word or rely on the poetic translation.

Kid playing at Haas Promenade

Oh! How could I forget to write about my birthday! On Monday (yom sheni) I turned 22. And it was awesome. For the first time in my entire life, I had school on my bday, which was strange but fine. Then, in the evening, a HUGE group of my classmates came out to dinner with me! We far exceeded the reservation (oops) but it was really an incredible feeling to be surrounded by so many new friends. I felt a little homesick, since I'm usually with my family on my birthday, but I loved the support and company of my great HUC classmates. Thanks to everyone who was there!

Southern wall and the top bit of the City of David

So it's been a busy but great week. We had the first session of our Biblical History/Archaeology class; the way this one is set up is really cool, because we have lecture a couple of times and then we get to go on field trips to see the locations we talked about in lecture. There is nowhere else we could do this besides Jerusalem, so that is really awesome. This time we went to the Haas Promenade (unbelievable views) and Ramat Rachel.

Minaret just before the Jordanian Desert.

I feel like my days here are filled with really great memories in the making. From trying great restaurants to people watching in a place where tzit-tzit aren't surprising to see to spending another day in Tel Aviv, my time in Israel has truly been amazing so far. I find that something happens every day that brings on the water works (have I told you guys how easily I cry?) but it's just because I'm so touched by everything that's going on around me. All good.

Ice cream salesman on the beach--you'll notice his sombrero.

Friday a group of my classmates and I journeyed to Tel Aviv for the day. We had a lot of free time so some of us hit the beach and then we explored the city. Every Tuesday and Friday in TA is something called Nachalat Benyamin, which is basically like a big artists' market. Lenette and I found some gorgeous hamsas from an artist, and now we both have awesome purple hamsas so that rules.

Crazy statute that Dan Brown would love.

Friday evening, we went to the Namal, which is the port area of Tel Aviv, for shabbat services. Traditionally, Jewish people pray towards Jerusalem (so, usually we face east) but as part of this "beit tefillah yisraeli"--Israeli house of prayer, we faced the Mediterranean.

Gorgeous.

It was a unique experience; we got to watch an exquisite sunset from our seats during shabbat services. I think that there is certainly a political statement being made by orienting services in such a way, but I have to say that beyond whatever statement is being made, it was a gorgeous evening. There is something so refreshing about the breeze off of the water.

We might not have been facing Jerusalem, but we were facing something just as holy. If not more. That's for a different post.

We came back late last night to Jerusalem, and this morning we joined together at HUC for morning services. We're no longer on parashat Pinchas, which may come as a surprise for some of my classmates who may or may not be reading this blog (didn't it seem like we read that portion for weeks? anyone?).

Tonight a group of us gathered at Adam's and Manda's for some delicious shabbat leftovers, and then we went to Yemin Moshe (the windmill I mentioned before--it's really close to my apartment and it has gorgeous views looking to the Old City) for havdallah. We were joined by a couple of visitors, and, right after we finished our singing and havdallah, a group of high schoolers joined us and we did havdallah again. If you're keeping score, I've done havdallah 4 times in 2 shabbats. I feel like maybe I'm really separated from Shabbat now. Is that how that works? Anyway, it was a great night filled with singing and, thank the lord, the heat finally broke so it was actually almost chilly out. Life is good here in Jerusalem.

Thanks to everyone for reading! Also, to anyone who has somehow reached out to me over the last few weeks, I really appreciate it. It's always wonderful to hear from friends and family from home, and it's made all the difference in the world for my adjustment to this crazy city. You guys are the best!

School Begins!

Oh, hello there.

Today we started ulpan, which I'll explain in a few paragraphs, but just bear with me because my brain feels a little bit overfilled right now.

Since my last post, a lot of great stuff has happened. Our orientation week continued, as did the themes of embracing Israel and immersing ourselves in Hebrew. It's tough sometimes, because we all speak English, and so many Israelis want to practice their Hebrew with us. Another common theme of orientation has been that of frustration; every rabbi and faculty member we hear from reminds us that we're all going to have to deal with frustration throughout this whole process. How reassuring!

Clearly, I jest.

On Wednesday we had a limmud (study) session where we talked about Yavneh. While the subject matter was, of course, important (learning about how prayer came to replace sacrifice after the destruction of the Temple), what this program really did for me was give me the opportunity to really delve into a text in the context of rabbinical school orientation.

After our study session in the library at HUC, we got an Israel Update from a highly knowledgable faculty member, Dr. Mendelsson. He updated us on the new anti-boycott law, which many argue infringes on democratic rights. This issue (which is of course related to the cottage cheese boycotts) is an example of how delicate the balance between having a Jewish state and a democracy can be. We heard about other pressing issues happening in Israel right now as well, and it was interesting (and highly informative) to hear about these issues in an academic forum as opposed to just interpreting a newspaper on our own behalf.

SuperDeal, where it's possible to buy sriracha.B''h.

Wednesday evening was awesome, because it was the night we got to explore different neighborhoods of Jerusalem with some of our favorite staffmembers! I got to be in Nancy's group, so my group and I got a tour of the gorgeous neighborhood of Abu Tor. The views were breath taking, and we got the chance to see the dividing line between the Jewish section and Arab section of the neighborhood. It was a cool opportunity to see a different side of Jerusalem, and with Nancy's perspective, we got to see how an Israeli sees her own city. Also she make unbelievable chocolate chip cookies. (Nancy, if you're reading this, I would not say no to some cookies. Any time.)

Interesting graffiti dividing different sections of Abu Tor.

Thursday brought another opportunity to daven shacharit services. I'm getting better at picking up the nusach, which is reassuring actually. After services we did a cool rate-this-from-one-to-ten activity, where questions ranged from "how much do you like to eat falalfel?" to "how connected do you feel to Israeli society?" The activity concluded with breaking into pairs and discussing reactions to the questions and how our class spread out. I thought it was interesting to see how people dispersed, and it was almost like a NFTY program on steroids.

After this 1-10 activity, we did one of my very favorite programs of orientation week. We were split up into small groups and sent to either an intersection or a neighborhood. My group got sent to the intersection of King George (V) and Yaffo/Jaffa/Yafo (sidenote: it's been challenging how to transliterate Hebrew words here, because something that is clearly "yaffo" in Hebrew becomes Jaffa in English). This intersection is filled with shops and bakeries (and delicious borekas!) and it was great to interact with some of the people there. We practiced our Hebrew and asked some of the people about their political opinions, their take on the controversial light rail that may or not ever open, and the neighborhood in general. I was almost surprised by the blunt responses we got; some people had some extreme political views they were pleased to explain to us, others refused to talk to us about certain things, but all in all everyone was willing to take a few minutes and just share some conversation. Also they didn't really make fun of our Hebrew which was pretty nice of them.

View from Abu Tor. Wow.

Thursday night I partcipated in a program called "yerushalayim sheli" (my Jerusalem) which was SO COOL. We went to dinner at a restaurant called Ha'Moshava 54, which was delicious. The point of the evening was to experience Jerusalem with Israelis, so Shevy and Aviad shared stories with us about their lives here and traveling and all of the other fun things they like to do. They took us to the Israel Museum for a special event that was happening that night. First, we got to walk around the museum, where so many amazing exhibits are housed. We got to walk through a wing where each room was a different reconstructed synagogue from places like Germany, India, and Italy.

After exploring part of the museum, we went outside for what was arguably one of the coolest parties I've ever been to. Everyone was given a pair of (ridiculously large) wireless headphones. Then, we had a SILENT DANCE PARTY. Everyone was listening to exactly the same music at exactly the same time, and dancing like crazy people. Taking the opportunity to remove your headphones, even if just for a moment, was one of the most hilarious things I've ever seen in my life. Basically, hundreds of people dancing around, sometimes singing very loudly and off-key, just enjoying themselves led to a very entertaining evening. At one point, our group even started the electric slide, which was EPIC. We had a bunch of Israelis trying to learn how to do the dance with us (haven't they ever been to a bar mitzvah?) and it was just a really amazing experience. Plus we got to listen to such jams as Grease, the Black Eyed Peas, and the Time Warp. I love Israel.

Rachel and I living the dream at the Wi Dance Party!

Friday was an exciting day because I saw Harry Potter (or, הארי פוטר) which was a huge deal. I even sported my Gryffindor tshirt. And yes, I cried throughout the whole thing. And yes, I thought the soundtrack was gorgeous. And yes, I am so sad it's over and I wish I could watch the 8th movie for the first time a million more times. And yes, the part where McGonagall rallied the statues was incredible. I love Harry Potter, sorry I'm not sorry.

Friday night brought Shabbat with it, as sometimes happens. We had services outside facing the walls of the Old City (SO GREAT) and, right after we finished kabbalat shabbat (the prayers that kick off the service) and said the reader's kaddish (which separates sections of the service) the siren that announces the arrival of Shabbat started ringing throughout Jerusalem. The timing could not have been more perfect. Shabbat doesn't mess around here, folks. Following services we had a very lively dinner, followed by a joyous and disorienting song session where it was difficult to tell what page we were on, let alone what song we were singing (and I was sitting at the table that was picking the songs) but it was so much fun.

Full moon rising over the Old City

Saturday morning we all returned to HUC for morning services, which I then followed with what might have been the most epic Shabbat nap of all time. At least in recent memory.

In my post-nap stupor I returned to school for a nosh and havdallah. We were in the Persian gardens, which is where we accidentally ate spleen on Monday, and it's just a really peaceful place on the campus. I loved sharing this time with my classmates as we moved from orientation week to the rest of our year in Israel! In fact, havdallah was so great that I did it twice this week! A few of us stuck around to lead for a Kesher Birthright trip. It was fun!

Then we went to Mr. Michael Danziger's stand up show. As it turns out, one of my classmates has been awarded the honor of being the Funniest Jew in the Deep South.

And he really is funny! For instance, he observed that we're going to the only rabbinical school where you get trained to be a British rabbi (since basically all the rabbis here are British). Very good stuff!

It was a great night of laughs, which was unfortunately cut pretty short because SCHOOL STARTED TODAY!

That's right, friends. We finally started school. And yes, it IS Sunday. And yes, that is incredibly confusing still.

Anyway, today we started ulpan, which I promised I'd explain. Basically, this is a big immersion experience with the goal of teaching us Hebrew. I'm really happy with the level I got placed in, because it's definitely a challenge, but I already feel like I'm learning about. It's a long morning (today we were in a Hebrew-only classroom from about 930-2 with a couple of short breaks) but I can tell it's going to be hugely beneficial.

Off to sleep--Ulpan starts at 830 am--בבוקר!

כי מציון תצא תורה–-For from out of Zion will come the Torah

What an astounding couple of days it's been here in Jerusalem.

First of all, it finally hit me that I'm here and I'm starting rabbinical school. And it hit me hard. It's been a meaningful couple of days, filled with moments and memories and the realization that I am here, in this holy city, beginning my studies to be a rabbi.

I'm still letting it all soak in.

Yesterday, orientation began. Notice I'm not calling it snore-ienation, or bore-ientation. The activities and programs that have occurred since orientation began have been awesome!

We started orientation with a welcome from Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback (who is awesome and in charge of the year in Israel program) and Nancy Lewitt (pronounced leh-veet and is also awesome and head of student services). This opening program was another opportunity to welcome everyone, including some later-arriving students (who must be terribly jet-lagged). Rabbi Yoshi discussed, before a big l'chaim, the potential of a grape. Grapes can be sweet, and turned into wine or juice, which (in moderation) are also sweet. Grapes can also be turned into vinegar, which has its uses, but you wouldn't want to drink it. He encouraged us to see our year as full of potential as a grape, and to make it a sweet one.

The state bird of Israel...the crane.

After this beautiful welcome, we began a program called "mi ani--who am I?" to help us get to know each other. I expected an activity wherein we had to pick an adjective that started with our initial (Exciting Elle or similar) or a game where you had to act something out that started with your initial (my name is Elle and I do the electric slide). I was pleasantly surprised, though, that our activity included meaningful questions what were thought-provoking and helped us find out things beyond the surface.

We then joined together in the Persian Garden (a little oasis on campus, including a fountain with tiny stairs for tiny rabbis) for dinner. And we accidentally ate spleen. Because spleen look like olives.

This city is beautiful.

Following dinner, we walked together towards the Old City for a program called "כי מציון תצא תורה'' which means "From out of Zion will come the Torah." Rabbi Yoshi brought his guitar with him. We sat on Har Tziyon with our backs to the walls of the Old City and listened to Rabbi Yoshi and Dr. David Mendelsson discuss why were are here. Why here, in Jerusalem. Why here, in this city that has been destroyed and rebuilt so many times. Why here, in a city filled with tension and religion and modernity and ancient ruins, we have come to study, to learn, to build community.

If that isn't enough to make you cry, then you aren't me, because even just reflecting on this I'm tearing up again.

At the end of the program, feeling the presence of the Old City behind us, and seeing Hebrew Union College before us, feeling the history of our surroundings, we sang from Isaiah 2:3.

כי מציון תצא תורה, ודבר–יי מירושלים

For from out of Zion will come the Torah, and the word of Adonai from Jerusalem*.

The impact of these words was strong enough alone. However, as soon as we stopped singing, in that moment of ringing silence, we could hear a group of people somewhere unseen singing Hatikvah, which is Israel's national anthem. It. was. unreal.

After this impactful day of programming, Lenette, Jessie, Rebecca, and I went to a coffee shop called "Coffee Shop" (in English!) where we had some deeeelish desserts and lovely conversation. Also, I absolutely fell down. I slid on the slippery Jerusalem stone and wiped out, causing my mom (who I was on the phone with at the time) to think that I got hit by a CRAZY Israeli driver. Alas, I am just clumsy.

The moon above the Old City

This morning was the second day of orientation, and it was also awesome. I got to daven (pray) my very first weekday shacharit service! This year is going to be crucial for my development as a Jew, and while I certainly don't have a set way that I practice my Judaism, I loved the opportunity to broaden my horizons, so to speak. I haven't yet formed an opinion on how I feel about women wearing t'fillin, but Rabbi Naama (our dean!) wore t'fillin today during services, and shortly after we finished davenning, she got up to speak about our year in Israel and the marks from her t'fillin were still evident on her arms.

That glass pyramid is attached to HUC's campus

I was struck by the staying power these symbols had (they're meant to remind us during prayer that G-d brought the children of Israel out of slavery in the land of Egypt); even after we had finished our prayers together, Rabbi Naama still had a physical marker on her arm of the Shacharit service. In the same session, we discussed the importance of balancing school with everything else. Rabbi Marmur remarked that it is not okay to ask "is this for credit?"because now everything is for credit; some is credit that will appear on our transcripts, and some is credit that will be important for the years to come.

Later came another getting-to-know-you session, where we talked about what we would do if we had an unexpected afternoon off of school. I found it interesting how many people in my group would want to spend time alone (myself included!) to explore the city or relax or just take some time being "off" since our jobs will require so much time being "on." Then we talked about the complexity of helping other people facilitate their connections with Israel even though we might have a complicated relationship with Israel. I am learning so much from my classmates already, and I hope that this continues, because I can't wait to hear what everyone has to say!

The afternoon concluded with a panel discussion about why we're in Israel (are you noticing a common theme yet?) and we got to hear from Dr. Mendelsson, Rabbi Jacobs (president-elect of the URJ) and Rabbi Naama. Then we did a quick security briefing with Nancy (hopefully we won't ever need to use the information we got, but Mom and Dad don't worry, there's a good system in place) and headed home for the day.

Tomorrow brings a Hebrew placement test (this should be מענין interesting) and some other exciting activities.

Moral of the story: it's an amazing opportunity to be in Israel, and, more specifically, Jerusalem, for the year, and I'm so so so glad we're finally starting school. I'm officially a rabbinical student!!!

*Translation from Mishkan T'filah

2nd Shabbat (and another trip to Tel Aviv)

Shaloooom!!!

I cannot even decide where to begin this blog post because so many incredible things have happened over the last few days. I suppose I better go in chronological order!

On Thursday, our interns hosted an Open House for us at school. There, we were able to schmooze and nosh (two things every rabbi loves) and we got to welcome some of our newly-arrived classmates. That night, though, was even better. Rachel and Emma live in an apartment with incredible acoustics, and they hosted a jam session (or, jam sesh) Thursday evening. I absolutely loved the opportunity to gather with people who love music as much as I do to sing and harmonize and just really create some incredible music.

It was one of those nights that could have happened anywhere, but it was particularly amazing because it happened in Jerusalem (or, as a fun nickname, yerush). We sang anything from The Beatles to This Little Light of Mine (which was amazing; I'm getting chills just remembering how it sounded). Rachel and I also sang a song together that we haven't done since high school, which was really amazing and we'll probably have to do it for a beit cafe (literally translates to coffee house but is used as a term for talent show or similar) or something this year!

Jeremy and Sarah made this awesome video of the jam sesh: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v​=jjjFsjmcNtE

Harry Potter comes out July 13th in Israel. YES!

Friday was another excellent day. I met up with Brian and we trekked in the blistering heat to Ben Yehuda. Here's the thing about the weather here. Every day there is brilliant sunshine, which rules. This week, though, has been a terrible heatwave and basically everyone is just really sweaty all the time. There's no way to avoid it. I'm not sure how Moses did it, but I'm trying to channel my inner nomad every time I leave the apartment. It's a shame there aren't misty fans lining the sidewalk. I'm not complaining, though, because really the heat is kind of great, and I wouldn't trade the sunshine for anything. It is, after all, the desert.

It's not the Oval, but it'll do just fine.

Later that afternoon, I met Rebecca (future Cincinnatian) for some delicious lemonade at Cup o Joe. That's right, it's called Cup o Joe. It's not like the cafe in Columbus, although it's not so different (unfortunately you can't get Jeni's at this Cup O Joe, even though you can in Cbus. Come on, Jeni). In Hebrew classes, especially in the lower levels, I felt like it was silly that all of the vocabulary or conversation exercises were all about sitting בבית קפה, or in the coffee shops. After living here for about two weeks, I understand why; basically a day consists of doing a bunch of things but almost always one of those things (or maybe two or three) is going to meet someone at a coffee shop. From frozen mint lemonade (limonana) to icecafe (not iced coffee, but a sort of slushie treat) these cafes (usually with wifi) are a great place to enjoy some shade and a refreshing beverage.

Israeli flags proudly hung at the beach in Tel Aviv

After chatting with Rebecca, it was time to get ready for Shabbat. In Jerusalem, people start wishing you a "shabbat shalom" on TUESDAYs. Here, the week truly does revolve around Shabbat. I have never experienced anything like this, but I LOVE it. It means that all week, people are thinking ahead to celebrating Shababt with friends and family. It means getting shopping done ahead of time, arranging dinner, and enjoying a day of rest together. This Shabbat was one of the best I've ever had, in my almost 22 years. Friday night, a group of HUC students met up and walked to Kol HaNeshama, which is a progressive congregation here in Yerush. What a great service! I loved hearing familiar melodies and prayers, and this congregation can sing!!! It was a packed house (standing room only by the end of kab shab!) and I loved getting to pray in this setting. I know that there are basically infinite synagogues in J'lem, but I would love to return to Kol HaNeshama.

After services, Lenette hosted a group of us for dinner. Despite her cooky neighbor, the night went off without a hitch. We had a great group and enjoyed some delicious food and good conversation. The last time I was in Jerusalem was for Birthright a couple of years ago, and it was during my friend Meredith's first year at HUC. As I walk to people's apartments and explore the city, I am reminded more and more of places Mere took me when I was here (Mere, in particular, I walked by the sushi place on Azza that you took Axe and me to and I was like, whoa, deja vu!).

Saturday morning, Becka and I decided to go to HUC for Shabbat morning services. I am not accustomed to having cantors leading services, so it was really cool to see the rabbi and the cantors leading together. The rabbi leading services was Michael Marmur, and I LOVED his d'var about this week's Torah portion. He spoke about how sometimes, the only way to revelation is through pressure-filled situations, and I found him a compelling speaker. I can't wait to learn more from him!

Saturday after services I joined Rebecca and Jessie, and we walked to Rebecca's friend's house for Shabbat lunch. It was a great afternoon, because her friend is shomer shabbos and it was a cool experience. I love how welcoming and hospitable everyone is here, especially on Shabbat.

Later that afternoon, HUC hosted an afternoon of learning for alumni weekend. The topic was "Teaching Israel: Challenges and Opportunities," and I really enjoyed hearing some faculty and alumni opinions and experiences with teaching Israel. I went to Rabbi Marmur's breakout session on Ohev Yisrael then and now and we, as a "small" group of 30 (some rabbis, some educators, some cantors, some future all of the above) discussed a midrash about issues of peoplehood. He even remarked on the potential for pluralism in Mahane Yehuda! Sitting in the classroom on HUC's campus, studying midrash with Rabbi Marmur and some of my future colleagues, it finally hit me that this is all really happening. I really am going to be a rabbi, and the road to the rabbinate begins here and now. AMAZING.

After the discussions, it was time for havdalah. I really, really love havdalah. Essentially, it is a ceremony meant to separate Shabbat from the rest of the week (thus separating the sacred from the profane). It's a beautiful ceremony filled with something to entice all of the senses. A sip of wine, the smell of spices, the sight of the braided candle, and the beautiful melody of the blessings makes for an experiential and meaningful separation. Typically, I love havdalah and am happy just to participate.

This week was different, though. I was really touched by the ceremony, and as all of the rabbis in town for alumni weekend gathered together with the first year students and faculty members in song and prayer, I started to reflect on both the community and what the service symbolized. For me, that havdalah was the last one between college and rabbinical school (we haven't actually started yet--tomorrow orientation begins) and I can't believe that it's already time to start this next portion of my life. I look excitedly to the future and sentimentally to the past; I can't believe I graduated from college less than a month ago, but it seems equally strange that in 5 years (gd willing) I will be ordained as a rabbi.

The entire Shabbat experience was awesome, and it was something that could only really happen here in Jerusalem. After our day at HUC, a group of us ventured back to Ben Yehuda, where we had dinner at a yummy place called Rimon. I'm excited to start ordering food in Hebrew (and using Hebrew menus instead of English, even if it means I don't know exactly what I'm ordering).

Gorgeous tranquility of the Mediterranean sea

This morning, Rachel, Emma, Lindsay, and I went to Tel Aviv for a day on the beach. It. Was. Awesome. There is nothing quite like the sand in your toes and being able to swim in the Mediterranean Sea. I feel so lucky to be here and to be able to experience all of the amazing things going on here!

Lindsey, Emma, Rachel, and me on the beach

BBQ, Shuk, Tel Aviv

Shalom, chaverim (hi friends!)

I would like to start today's post by taking a moment to thank all of you for reading. I have a little visit counter at the bottom of the blog that shows how many times this blog has been looked at, and I am beyond astounded at how high that number is. So thank you.

It's been a few days since I've blogged which means one exciting thing: I'M BUSY. The first couple of days here it was great to have nothing to do so I could guiltlessly catch up on sleep. The next few days were dedicated to exploring. But then...what to do? School is still around the corner, but we haven't started yet. Luckily, I'm finally feeling busy, with lots of plans meeting new classmates here, there, and everywhere.

Typically on the 4th of July I like to celebrate by grilling with the familia and watching fireworks. This year, being in Jerusalem, neither of those things happened. However, HUC helped coordinate a BBQ in the park across the street from my apartment (called the liberty bell park--more on that later, once I do some etymology-related research) which was awesome. It was somewhere between an epic potluck and a multicultural picnic. Something incredible that I am learning about being in Jerusalem is the close relationship and proximity between many different cultures and groups of people. As we future rabbinical/cantorial/Jewish education students gathered together to have a little slice of home on improvised hot dog buns with shady knock-off doritos, a large Muslim family (maybe families?) gathered in the park for a picnic with some fun and games.

As the evening progressed, something very cool happened: suddenly, Jay was racing (and arm wrestling) with our new friends, and we were conversing with one of the older girls who studies English in school. It was an experience unique to Jerusalem (at least, so far in my life) and I'm glad I got to be a part of it. While it's been strange realizing that everyone in my apartment building is Jewish, and while I don't think I'll ever get used to seeing Orthodox Jewish men with intense peyes (the sideburn curls shown here) and iPhones, I'm finding a deep appreciation for the diversity around me.

Jay and the guy he was arm-wrestling.

On the 5th, I did a lot of cool things (clearly). As it turns out, the strange situation I found myself in at The Ohio State University wherein I couldn't walk anywhere without running into somebody I know has followed me to J'lem. One evening, I was walking with some new friends to find a cool (and wallet friendly--come on, we're students) restaurant and I ran into an old friend, Emily. WAY back in the day, I was an assistant teacher in Emily's religious school classes at Rockdale Temple. She was in town for her brother-in-law's wedding, and staying at the hotel around the corner from my apartment! We made plans to meet for coffee, and seeing her was amazing. We talked about college, and starting at HUC (in fact, she initially thought I was in town for Birthright!) and all of the amazing things to look forward to about being in Israel for the year and for all of the great things to come during rabbinical school. I got to hear about where she's working now and it was so refreshing to see a familiar face and get to swap stories.

The outside part of Mahane Yehuda

A covered section of Mahene Yehuda

After catching up with Emily, I met some of my new classmates for an adventure to the market. Confession: I know it's cliche to take pictures of fruits and veggies, but they are SO GORGEOUS here. Clearly the novelty of in-season produces has not worn off on me just yet. We strolled around for a few hours inspecting 1/2 shek onions and kilos of cherries for 10 shek. (Sidenote: in Israel the currency is the NIS, or "New Israeli Shekel"--we just call them sheks. also the symbol (instead of $) is ₪ which is kind of fun). For lunch we got shawarma. If you haven't had shawarma, you should hop on a plane and come visit me and I'll take you because holy guac and chips that stuff is amazing. Clearly I should have named this blog ellelikesisraelifood.blogspot.com or similar. Also at the shuk--an Aroma. Aroma is oftentimes regarded as the Starbucks of Israel, but let me tell you something. Aroma has frozen lemonana. This is my weakness.

Gorgeous dried fruits (kiwis, strawberries, etc) in the shuk

Typical. An icthus next to a sign that says FishenChips.

These are raw almonds! They're related to peaches, apparently.

After an (exhausting) afternoon at the shuk, I rested for a bit and then it was time to socialize. We journeyed back to the Germany Colony for a fun evening--we even tried a semi-pricey restaurant called Olive which was pretty dee-lish. Luckily they have another location right downstairs from my apartment. Yum.

In Jerusalem a lot of signs are trilingual; typically Hebrew, Arabic, and English are pictured. Here, though, is a sign with an Ethiopic language (my best guess? Amharic) in the shuk.

Today, though, was maybe the most exciting day of the last few, although obviously everyday is exciting here. This morning, Rachel and Lenette and I traveled to Tel Aviv for the day! And it was AWESOME. Here's the deal: Jerusalem is filled with history and religions and is awesome, and Tel Aviv is filled with history and a million other things and is ALSO awesome. Our trip to Tel Aviv was inspired by Rachel; she studied abroad there for 5 months, so she knew about some cool places to go check out. We (and by we I mean Rachel) did an excellent job navigating the transportation issue. We got to Tel Aviv ahead of schedule, so we walked around Shuk HaCarmel, which was a similar setup to the shuk in J'lem, but had more clothing options (including Dora the Explora hats) and it was much smaller than the market here.

Israeli flag in the shuk in Tel Aviv

Incredible grapes. Tel Aviv.

After browsing through the shuk, we hopped over to the Palmach museum. Before going to the museum, I felt that I had a pretty good grasp on the events that took place before the official declaration of the State of Israel, as well as a strong personal connection to Zionism and the people who worked so hard to lay a foundation for this amazing place. However, this museum made me realize that there was even so much more to the story to know. The way the museum is set up is unlike any other museum I've ever been to.

Palmach Museum

Essentially, the basement (underground on purpose because the Palmach was an underground group) is set up like a timeline. You begin in 1941, and each room takes you one year closer to the war of independence. This museum had intense footage of the fighting that took place, and it was a highly interactive exhibition of history. Perhaps the most striking bit was the real photographs of the group of Palmach members that the exhibit followed. Because the museum is set up where you follow the lives of a group of fighters throughout the 1940s, you feel a close personal connection to the history. It was an amazing museum, and having seen it this early on in my year in Israel I feel a new appreciation for the streets I walk on and the establishment of the state itself. I've been to Independence Hall a couple of times here as well, and between memories of that and the Palmach museum today I'm feeling a sort of adopted patriotism (maybe because of the lack of 4th of July fireworks, maybe because of ancestral ties to Zionism) to this country.

Plants are stubborn here. I see them growing in unexpected places, like in this wall outside the Palmach museum.

After some meaningful time spent at the museum, we hopped in a cab (and practiced our Hebrew--nothing like Israelis laughing at you to help teach you a lesson) and headed for a delicious restaurant Rachel knew called Benedict. It was delicious and the portions were ridiculous. After lunch we had an interesting ride back to J'lem (don't worry Mom and Dad, we made it back safely). A fun detail I will include about our trip was that our sheirut (the group taxi that we took) had a lovely 80s inspired pink and grey upholstery. In Hebrew the word for party is "m'seeba" and the word for bus is "autoboos" so I decided we should call it a "m'seeboos"--don't act like you're not impressed by my wit.

Breakfast at Benedict: Israeli Breakfast with a fritatta-style omelette, israeli salad, and iced coffee. Also, there were freshly baked rolls that came with nutella and apple butter. Did you need a napkin? Because you're drooling.

After getting back to the apartment, it was time to meet and welcome my roommate Becka! I'm so glad she's finally here. Luckily I pretty much know my way around the important areas (school, food, shopping, bank, etc) so we'll probably do a little tour tomorrow to help her get acquainted with the neighborhood. Yay!

An angle I rarely see of the Old City

First Shabbat of the Year In Israel (yii)

Good Afternoon!

I'm writing to you this beautiful sunny Sunday (which in Israel is the first day of the week--this will take some getting used to) after having an incredible shabbat experience in Jerusalem.

I had an absolutely lovely time hosting some of my new classmates for shabbat dinner this week! Vlad, Aaron, Rachel, Jamie, and Lenette came over (and Brian made a cameo appearance) and we had a great time getting to know each other over dinner. Hilariously, nobody wanted to lead kiddush or motzi--I'm not sure if this was due to shyness or what but at one point we even nose-goes'ed to see who would say kiddush. After the blessings over the wine, challah, and candles, we dove into dinner. I'm still getting used to my kitchen, and this was by no means the best meal I've ever offered friends, but we're getting there. We moved the table out of the kitchen and into our living area, and I just generally had a really fun time. Hopefully everyone else did too!

Saturday morning I woke up (at 10:45 am...HUGE victory) and Rachel, Lenette, and I decided to venture into the Old City to visit the Kotel (sometimes also called the Wailing Wall or the Western Wall, or, just simply "the wall") on our first shabbat together here. We met at Mamilla mall, which, for the record, is very fancy shmancy, and walked through the Jaffa gate.

Since it was shabbat, I didn't feel comfortable taking pictures of the Wall, but it was an incredible experience. I have a different reaction every time I visit the Wall. This time, I stood facing it and thought of all of the people who had stood in that very spot, touching those very same ancient stones. It's really an incredible thing to consider throughout Jerusalem, and, in particular, the Old City, because everything is so astoundingly old. There was something simultaneously joyful and heart-wrenching about this trip to the Wall.

After we spent a brief time over by the Kotel, we retraced our steps through countless vendors selling anything from Jerusalem bagels to jewelry to t-shirts towards the Jaffa gate. Since yesterday was the hottest one we've had since I got here, the girls and I decided we could go for some freshly squeezed orange juice. We definitely got ripped off BUT it was amazing anyway.

Kites flying by the Damascus Gate

After leaving the Old City, we walked over to Rachel's amazing apartment. She's living in a really diverse area, and it was an interesting cross-section of the cultures in Jerusalem. Every day that I'm here, I hear so many different languages, and my inner linguist is absolutely loving it. From English to Hebrew to Arabic to Amharic to Spanish etc. there are just so many languages represented here.

Pretty gate would look right at home in Tzfat

After seeing Rachel's place, we walked back towards my apartment, just as the sun was starting to set. We walked back over to Yemin Moshe and took in the view, realizing that we could see the walls of the Old City, as well as the wall that separates East Jerusalem. It's a striking view, and once the reality of what you're seeing sets in, it's clear that there is a lot of reality here in J'lem, if that makes any sense.

Love people watching, love the sun.

After taking in the views (and watching 3 different wedding parties get photographed in the awesome park across the street from me) it was time to meet Aaron and Sam for dinner. We wandered around for awhile, grabbed something to eat, and then headed back to Sam's place for a bit. All in all, it was a great night, and I'm thrilled to have so much in common with the people I'm surrounded by.

Panoramic view--for a larger version click here

Thanks for reading!