Transcontinental Cooking

The other day, I was talking with some friends it it occurred to us that we didn't really have anywhere to go for Erev Rosh Hashanah dinner.

So, naturally, it just basically came down to who would host. My apartment is great, and pretty spacious, but we have desperately limited seating. That being said, I had already decided what to make, and I knew it would be too difficult to transport said dishes.

Once that was settled I called my mom (clearly). I said, Mom, I'm going to need the recipes for your chicken soup, and the brisket.

These recipes have been made in my home forever. Every time one of us was sick, we could pull a frozen container of liquid gold (this chicken soup is literally magical) from the freezer and even just knowing you were about to have the soup was enough to already make you feel better.

Thus, I made a list of ingredients and decided to join the masses at the supermarket last night. This was a scary decision but one I'm glad I made. On Tuesdays I have class until 520, so I came back to my apartment right after, dropped off my backpack, and grabbed my shuk cart and my list. I was super anxious because I didn't know how I was going to order the brisket at the butcher (more on that later).

I grabbed one of the few remaining carts in the store and starting shoving. The thing with Israel is that people will get a cart and then leave it in one place in the store (frequently that place is the checkout line) and then just walk around the store picking up an arm's worth, drop that load off in their cart, and repeat as necessary. So, I had to do a lot of cart moving last night. There were families at the store (lots of strollers, which is great, when they do basically the same thing with the stroller that they do with the cart except there's a kid in it), and people restocking shelves, and with good reason.

This evening, all of the stores are going to close because Rosh Hashanah is chag (a holiday). They will remained close through Saturday night. Wait, why would that be? Oh yeah, because as soon as Rosh Hashanah is over, it's shabbat so everything is closed anyway.

This timing means that every Jewish mother is frantically stocking up their kitchen for the next several days, wherein many of them will be cooking for an army. It also means that it was nearly impossible to navigate your way around the super without having to throw some elbows. Luckily my dad is a new yorker so I'm not afraid to be pushy when I have to. Not that you're pushy, Dad.

So anyway at this point I've gathered my vastly overpriced produce that I need, and I can no longer avoid the butcher. I walk over and this guy is working with a woman who is just the neediest customer I think I have ever seen. Then he moves over to the fish counter and this other guy comes up to the counter. I had panic in my eyes and a piece of paper in front of me with a pound to kilo conversion and some translations for brisket that I found online. I had a tiny bit of hope when I asked him if he spoke English.

Luckily, he did. So that made my whole shopping trip easier. So I got my chicken butchered (so gross) and a brisket cut to my liking. It was a giant success. Also, to say brisket in Hebrew, you say "brisket" (בריסקט) so I'll be remembering that the next time I want to spend over $65 (USD) on meat.

I got everything I needed even though the celery was a bit wimpy, and I came home with the mass of women and their children and their shuk carts heading in my direction. And then I called my mom.

We talked about the order everything happens in (which was funny because I had already made her write me the recipes...this was more fun) and how best to make everything. At that point (630 pm-ish) I still thought I'd be making the food Wednesday morning for a Wednesday night meal. That was silly. Brisket is easier to cut, and soup is easier to skim when it's cold.

Brisket!

I then proceeded to spend several consecutive hours online with my mom. Luckily we both have Facetime on our computers, so she was in her kitchen, I was in mine, and we were making the exact same food. It was so cool! I was making soup--she was making soup. I was making brisket--she was making brisket. We talked about the kind of apples she was using for her apple cake (something I'm not making this round). During all of this, her friend Cora came over to work on something, so I got to see her too! (Hi Cora!) Then later, my sister got home from school, and she got the role in the school musical she wanted! So proud. Clearly this was the greatest night--I was basically hanging out with my family at home in my own kitchen, even though I'm halfway around the world. I was even smelling the exact same smells that were happening in that kitchen.

It kind of sucks to be away from family at the holidays BUT I love that I can still kind of be with my family, through both the internet and traditions. I'm looking forward to dinner with a few friends, and I'm hoping we can make some of our own traditions and memories tonight.

Even if we don't, at least the food will be good. And, I got to cook with my mom for Rosh Hashanah even if we weren't actually cooking together. Love it.

Remembering to Breathe.

When you breathe, where do you breathe from?

From your nose or mouth? From your lungs? Maybe from your diaphragm?

This week, I went to a breath and voice workshop led by a man named Fred Johnson. We talked a lot about using breath and voice to connect to each other and to ourselves. Fred had a teacher who answered my initial question, where do you breathe from, with the answer: I breathe from the edge of the universe.

How incredible is that? Breathing from the edge of the universe. If you think about something as simple as breathing as a way to reach the edge of the universe, imagine all of the other people who are doing the exact same thing you are, each and every time they take a breath.

If everyone could feel that connection, the world would likely be a much more humane, peaceful place.

So, with that in mind, this week I've been reminding myself to breathe, and to keep everything in perspective. Because really, no matter how stressed I get, no matter how many pages I have left to read, no matter how long my to-do list, I just need to remember that I am incredibly lucky to be where I am, and also that I'm here pursuing my dream.

I have to say, I am really loving my classes. I'm used to taking 3 or 4 at a time, and right now I'm taking 9 (modern Hebrew, bible, biblical grammar, history of the 2nd temple period, history of the zionist movement, Israel seminar, advanced Hebrew text, liturgy, and a mandatory rabbinical elective). It's a lot to keep track of, but it's all so interesting and I find myself really wanting to do all of the work. Which is really saying something. I don't have a single class where I find myself wanting to skip readings. To me, this is really confirming that this is exactly what I want to be doing, which is a truly incredible feeling.

Herzl--If you will it, it is no dream. Jewish Agency in J'lem

Something that I think is really cool about this year is the amount of academic time scheduled for Israel related learning. There is something very special about learning about the Zionist movement and being in the realized dream. This week, our Israel seminar class took us to Tel Aviv for a (familiar) look at how Israel was created. I've now been to Independence Hall 3 times, but it's still really cool to sit in the room where Israel was declared an independent state. It's interesting also to think about where Palestinians will be visiting some years from now thinking about when their state was declared--we'll see in the coming weeks if this is something that will happen sooner rather than later.

Herzl again--this time where the Zionist dream was realized.

On our trip to Tel Aviv, we did some other learning stuff as well. Our teacher, Jeremy Leigh (who TOTALLY rules) is all about coffee (have I mentioned he RULES?!) and so the first thing we did upon arriving in Tel Aviv was to go to where some of the historic cafes are, to talk about the cafe culture that was so popular during the time of Tel Aviv's establishment and development. When I was in college, in my introductory Hebrew courses, I always thought it was silly that we would practice our new vocabulary in the context of a beit cafe (בית קפה––coffee shop) but I see now how practical it is. I spend so much time in coffee shops here! But in Tel Aviv, sitting outside enjoying a cup of coffee with the other intellectuals was the place to see, be seen, and plan the future of the Jewish state. Thus, we broke into small groups, sat at cafes, and engaged in discussion about how the founders of Tel Aviv tried to make it a Hebrew (not Jewish) city.

These guys may or may not have participated in the original cafe culture.

Later in the afternoon, we visited a cemetery where many of the Zionist greats are buried. Yes, we're spending a lot of time in cemeteries. But, I think it's a unique opportunity to be able to study the works and legacies of people while you're actually surrounded by them, as weird or morbid as that may seem. For instance, from where we sat in this cemetery, we could see how the amazing poet Bialik was literally buried at the feet of Ahad Haam, who was a few spots away from Meir Dizengoff and the poet Tchernikovsky. All of these people had such huge impacts on how Tel Aviv and Israel turned out, and it was inspiring to learn about their influence.

Headstones of Bialik and Ahad Haam

We also, luckily, got some free time on the beach. Which was of course awesome. We learned about how the beach in Tel Aviv was an unprecedented issue for Jews. In the "old world" Jews lived apart from the rest of society, and had a special way of dressing (which is exactly how much of Jerusalem dresses today) but, with the beach in Tel Aviv, an entirely new world of possibilities opened up. Tel Aviv was a city literally built out of nothing onto sand, and so until the city itself was established, nobody really even considered the impact of the beach. We looked at texts that described some of the implications this new place of leisure brought--many considered Tel Aviv to be a perfectly normal European city, which is interesting.

Beach in Tel Aviv

Israel seminar isn't the only great class I have, though (but it is the one with the best field trips obviously). I am obsessed with my biblical grammar class (delightfully nerdy) and I feel lucky to be learning from some of the greatest scholars in Jewish thought and history this year (and for the next few as well!).

Jerusalem prison from the British Mandate period

Looking back at my blog I can't believe I haven't posted since my tiyul to the North! So behind. Since then, I've had a couple of great shabbats (already thought about how much I'm going to miss Naaman challah when I get back to the states--more on that in a different post) and a nice walking tour of Rehavia (a neighborhood in Jerusalem--we went with Israel seminar). Today we even had a teensy tiny bit of rain (the streets were a tiny bit wet when I woke up this morning) and I watched the clouds in between readings. I LOVE when there are clouds here. It's great.

A rose in Rehavia.

Also, for those of you who don't know, we're wrapping up the Jewish year and heading for Rosh Hashanah very quickly. Yesterday we had a selichot service at HUC (for more information on selichot, please click here), and, afterward, I joined some classmates at the Great Synagogue to experience an Orthodox selichot service. There, we heard some amazing cantors singing traditional prayers, and we heard Israel's Chief Rabbi, the Rishon L'Zion, Rabbi Shlomo Moshe Amar. It was a great opportunity!

So now, the homework continues, as does High Holy Day preparation. It's an exciting time of year here in Jerusalem!

Tiyul to the North!

Shalom!

First of all, to understand this post, I should inform you that the word "tiyul" means trip.

After a crazy and chaotic week (I had 2 finals from the summer semester as well as a week filled with new classes) the HUC YII class (yii = year in Israel) departed with some of our favorite faculty for an educational and kef (fun) trip to the North of Israel. [Sidebar: if you're finding these parenthetical Hebrew translations to be distracting, I apologize...it's just that I've been speaking a lot of Hebrish lately and I thought it might be good to clarify]

Looking back on the trip, I'm realizing how much we saw/learned/experienced, so I'm just going to do the highlights reel version. With photos, of course. (Betach is how you would say "obvi" in Hebrew basically. Look what you're learning!)

View of the Kinneret from the Kinneret Cemetery

Okay! Let's jump right into the tiyul. We left Jerusalem bright and early on Thursday morning, and embarked on a quick two hour or so bus ride to the North. We left campus and within about 20 minutes it looked like we were in a different world. We crossed the green line heading east, and were almost instantly in the desert. Now, when I say desert, I really mean desert. Rolling hills and mountains of sand and dust...and, sometimes, you pass a convenience store that has a camel in the parking lot for authentic camel ride opportunities. We even (don't read this Mom and Dad) drove through the West Bank!

Let me tell you something. Being here is not nearly as scary as reading about Israel on the news.

Anyway, we finally got up to the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) and started our program with a framing activity. We stood on this mountain looking into the valley of the Kinneret and we listened to the song Shir Lamaalot by Sheva. This song is really incredible, and it comes from Psalm 121. As we stood above the Kinneret, I was struck with inspiration; from that overlook, I thought about all the people who had seen that same water, who had found a place in that land to start building this incredible country. A large portion of our trip was dedicated to learning about the חלוצים (chalutzim--pioneers/vanguards) who took the leap in realizing their visions of a Jewish state. We also discussed the idea of pilgrimage. Frequently, tour groups to Israel go to the same set of locations; there's a reason that certain places are visited over and over again by people traveling to this land, and we got to see some of those places but from an academic perspective.

Great view of the valley of the Kinneret from the overlook where we started our tiyul

After our time at the overlook, we visited the Kinneret Courtyard. This was cool because we got to watch this semi-hilarious dramatization of the poet Rachel's life and experiences in the North of Israel. For those of you who don't know, I graduated from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Hebrew. Yes, I majored in Hebrew. What does that mean? It means I have this weird love for Rachel the poet, thanks largely to some incredible poetry classes with Dr. Tanenbaum. This, in combination with my love for dramatizations (have you ever seen Trauma: Life in the ER?? This stuff is GOLD people!) made for an entertaining video watching experience.

Grave of Rachel the Poet.

Essentially, Rachel the poet was a woman who came to Israel and felt a strong connection to working the land to establish Israel as a Jewish nation. Her poetry is beautiful and poignant. She wrote a lot about the North of Israel, and she felt very connected to Rachel in the Torah. Her poetry is sometimes referred to as a sort of secular liturgy. Continue reading--once we get to the section about havdalah you'll see some of her poetry. We went to the Kinneret cemetery after visiting the courtyard. This cemetery is unlike anything I've ever seen. Buried there are many of the pioneers of the state of Israel, and the location is exquisite. Basically, you stand surrounded by the brilliant and inspiring pioneers of Israel, and you turn to one side and see the Kinneret. It's absolutely incredible because, instead of feeling like you're surrounded by death, you actually feel like you're surrounded by life. It's as if the ideas these people embodied are still alive and tangible. There are even headstones there that just simply list the person's name and when they arrived in Israel--these humbling inscriptions truly demonstrate how important Israel was to those buried there.

This inscription contains only the name of the person and that they came with the Second Aliyah.

Later that day, we traveled to Tel Hai, where we learned about how the top part of the state of Israel got added after WWI and the fall of the Ottomon Empire. We learned the story of Joseph Trumpledor (not to be confused with Dumbledore) and the fighting that went on in the North to secure those communities as a part of the British Mandate.

Tel Hai

That night, we stayed at a hostel in Karei Deshe. We had some free time that evening, so we went for a swim in the Kinneret. That water is so rejuvenating! In 1919, Rachel the poet wrote a piece of prose called On the Shores of the Kinneret, and in this piece she wrote the following:

The Kinneret is not simply a landscape

Not just a part of nature;

The fate of a people is contained in its name.

Our past peeks out of it to watch us

with thousands of eyes;

with thousands of mouths it communicates with our hearts.

The time we spent in that water was short but sweet. Our teachers even came with us which was unexpected and hilarious. After swimming and dinner, we had a program about the New Jew in Film. When we talk about the New Jew, we're talking about those pioneers that were here working hard to establish the land.

Gorgeous view of the sparkling city of Tiberius on the Kinneret

The next morning we woke up and had an incredible session with a man named Muki Tzur. He provided a first hand perspective on what it was like to establish the kibbutz movement in Israel, and he told us all about the these New Jews were encountering. There was so much pressure; many of these young people were leaving their families behind to travel to a strange new land where they were unwelcome, and they basically established utopian communities of orphans.

Because of all that they had left behind, and because of their lofty goals, many of these pioneers battled extreme depression and feelings of hopelessness and failure. It's interesting to me because we hear about these New Jews, and they're presented as these larger-than-life but humble heros. and then we learn about how, truly, many of them could not handle the pressure. Muki Tzur was a great speaker, and he referenced so many of the intellectual greats of his generation that he learned with personally. The thing that struck me most about our time with him, though, was the phrase "life is an obligation." I found the session to be inspiring, and it really helped me to formulate a context for the pioneers we're learning about.

Another view of the Kinneret

Next we got the amazing opportunity to hear from a student at Tel Hai College in Kiryat Shmona. Nimrod, our speaker, was the spokesperson for the student activists at the college, and we got to hear about his perspective on some of the social justice movements that are happening in Israel right now. We even got to go visit the tent city in Kiryat Shmona! This was awesome because, for the entire summer, we've been learning about these tent protests all over the country, and we finally got to see one first hand. This one was particularly cool because they had an area of the tent city that was set up specifically for study. I love that these people are coming together to make a difference, and they're prioritizing learning! Nimrod told us that they meet with political experts and talk about all sorts of different issues; at the end of the day, their goal is to make the living situation in Israel fair, which right now it absolutely is not.

Tent city in Kiryat Shmona

Next we went to visit Moshav Avivim, which is a community on the Lebanese border. There, we heard from a man named Yaakov about the community and what their living environment is like. The community is made up of Moroccan immigrants, and they literally live on the border with Lebanon. This border is not always peaceful, and it was fascinating to hear about how it is to live there. This was also an excellent activity in practicing Hebrew, even though Yael was translating for us.

View of Lebanon from the Moroccan Moshav

Yaakov and translator extraordinaire, Yael

After Moshav Avivim, we went to Kibbutz Hanaton, where we spent the rest of our tiyul. This kibbutz was founded by the Conservative (Masorti) community in Israel, and it's a pluralistic kibbutz with members of various levels of observance to Jewish law.

View from Kibbutz Hannaton

Friday we got acquainted with the kibbutz and their rabbi, Yoav, and then shared shabbat with the community. Saturday morning, during services, we got to experience a Sephardic Torah reading, and, to add to the experience, it was the Torah portion I read for my bat mitzvah! A Sephardic Torah looks different on the outside than an Ashkenazi Torah (even though the inside is the same), and it is chanted in a different melody than in an Ashkenazi tradition. It was very beautiful to hear something so different but so familiar.

Ashkenazi Torah

Sephardic Torah--it's read standing, instead of on a table.

Saturday afternoon we spent some time doing some classwork with our teachers; we discussed an article that discussed some of the same topics we had been hearing about throughout the tiyul, but from an academic perspective. Then we got to go swimming in the kibbutz pool (huge success) and then it was time for an interactive tour of the kibbutz (complete with team building and communication exercises), dinner, and a Jewish meditation session. I absolutely love meditation so this was a real treat.

Horses seen on our drive to the kibbutz

Following meditation, it was time to end the trip with havdalah. We started our service with Eili Eili (I wrote about this in my post about Ulpan Break) and then I contributed the following 2 poems, both by Rachel the poet.

To My Country––אל ארצי

I have not sung to you, my country,

not brought glory to your name

with the great deeds of a hero,

or the spoils a battle yields.

But on the shores of the Jordan,

my hands have planted a tree

and my feet have made a pathway

through your fields.

Modest are the gifts I bring you.

I know this, Mother.

Modest, I know, the offerings of your daughter.

Only an outburst of song

on a day when the light flares up

only a silent tear

for your poverty.

And Perhaps--ואולי

And perhaps these things never were

and perhaps

I never rose at dawn to the garden

to work it by the sweat of my brow

Never, not on long and blazing days

long and blazing days of harvest

on top of a cart full of sheaves

I did not raise my voice in song

I never washed in the peaceful azure

and innocence

of my Kinneret

Oh my Kinneret.

Did you exist?

Or did I dream a dream?

After havdalah, it was time to return to Jerusalem. We learned a lot during our time in the North, and it was a refreshing break from the tension of עיר הקודש (ir hakodesh--the Holy City).

Pre-shabbat sunset on the kibbutz

Now that we're back in J'lem, nothing has slowed down at all. We're in our Fall semester now, which means that there are lots of classes to go to, lots of books to schlep, and lots of knowledge to be had. I'm at a point where I'm unable to prioritize my work effectively because I just want to read everything and know everything right away! Never in my life have I ever wanted to do my homework quite like I do now. There are only so many hours in the day, though. And sometimes you have to sleep. Right?

Anyway, life is good here in rabbinical school. I'm learning so much, and I am just so excited to finally be able to start the coursework that I've been dreaming of for so long.

Oh also really quickly yesterday I had orientation for the volunteer project I'll be doing this year--I'm going to be in Mevasseret Zion once a week volunteering with the Ethiopian immigrants there. We met the staff and a couple of families yesterday, and I can already tell it's going to be an incredible experience! I'm excited to really get started there, but, like a lot of things in Israel, it will have to wait until אחרי החגים (acharei hachagim--after the high holidays) so I'll be going back in October.

I hope this post makes sense--it's been (like always) a really busy couple of weeks, but I'm trying to process through the chaos and let these incredible experiences really sink in. Thanks for reading!

First REAL Day of Rabbincal School!

Hi everyone!

Today was a really awesome amazing inspiring day. After months (years) of waiting, today I finally really started rabbinical school. Summer ulpan was kind of a tease; I think it was really a way to help everyone transition back into school mode. That being said, today we started our real fall semester.

The morning started out with Bible. It looks like all of my non-history classes are going to be taught in Hebrew, which will be challenging but thanks to my Hebrew major from The Ohio State University (we beat Akron 42-0 last night, O-H!) I'm pretty used to classes being taught in Hebrew. My teacher for Bible seems really amazing, and I can't wait to learn with him! After Bible I went to Modern Hebrew, which is basically like a continuation of ulpan. While I miss my ulpan teacher Osnat, today I started learning with Zohara, who seems totally awesome. She's energetic and passionate about Hebrew, and I really think I'm going to get a lot out of that class. After a quick break we all joined together in the auditorium for 2nd Temple History with David Levine. He rules. I thought the lecture was really interesting and I'm excited especially because this semester we're going to get to learn about Qumran (Dead Sea Scrolls) and I think that will be great because I took a quarter long translation class of the DSS and LOVED it. Then we had a quick lunch break, and then mincha (our afternoon service). I thought mincha was really great today. We have such a musical class, and it's nice that people aren't shy with harmonies because every service we have together is beautiful. After mincha, the three types of students split up. Let me explain: for most of our classes (Bible, Modern Hebrew, Classical Hebrew Grammar, Liturgy, etc) we're split up by Hebrew level, so for the most part my classes are with the exact same 11 people I had ulpan all summer with. In my program there are rabbinical students, cantorial students, and education masters students. So, in the afternoon, the ed. students go to their seminar, cantorial students have special sessions, and rabbinical students joined together with the hilarious Rabbi Michael Marmur for a mini-course on Reform Judaism. He is an absolute riot and I'm glad to have him as a teacher.

All in all it was a really incredible day!

The only snag is that I still have two finals from summer session still to do. But, I'm channeling my inner mustache (have I told you guys how awesome my archaeology teacher's mustache is? Because it is EPIC) and trying to learn as much as I can before the exam on Wednesday.

Thus, tonight it's a short blog. I just wanted to share with everyone how excited and inspired I am to finally be starting what I've dreamed of for so long! =)

Ulpan Break!

Right now, I'm on break from school. We finished ulpan last week, and we start Fall Semester on Sunday. And, since ulpan ended, I have been doing some pretty cool things. If I do say so myself. And I can do that, since, after all, this is my blog.

So, since last post, here are some of the great things that have happened.

Friday, I went to the shuk for the normal pre-shabbat adventure. Afterwards, I went over to Jessie's to help get things ready for shabbat! We worked on cantillation with a couple of friends (we have an exam coming up--gotta flex those Torah chanting muscles) and then started cooking up a storm.

Before people came over, though, we met up with some friends at the Great Synagogue, which was, to be honest, not so great. The Great Synagogue is an orthodox congregation not far from my apartment, and, instead of a divider between men and women praying, the women get to pray upstairs. Which would be fine if I had any sort of attention span and/or didn't LOVE people watching. I enjoyed getting to see the wide range of people at services, and the cantors that they had were so very talented. So, it was an interesting experience, but it felt much more like a concert or a performance than it did like shabbat services. After services, it was time to eat.

What did we make for dinner? Funny you should ask. We made some ridiculously yummy teriyaki veggie bourekas. With a homemade from-scratch teriyaki glaze. And they said "shabbat shalom" on them with some of the extra puff pastry. We're very fancy. We also made honey mustard/curry marinaded chicken, which was also ridiculously yummy. There was also sweet challah (foods I could exist on) and wine galore. And, of course, chocolate rugelach from Marzipan. Clearly we're getting this whole shabbat dinner thing down. We had a great group of people at dinner, and some really fun and hilarious conversation. It was one of my very favorite shabbat dinners so far.

Saturday I let myself sleep in, because I was absolutely exhausted. Then, Saturday evening, I went to meet up with Dima, since he was in town with the OSU Hillel birthright trip. How exciting! It was great to catch up and just see someone from home.

When you come out of the museum, this is the view.

Sunday was a busy day. After our typical which-lenses-are-you-bringing conversation, Jessie and I hopped on the light rail on Yaffo and rode it to Mount Herzl. The light rail has been a controversy in Jerusalem over the last few weeks/months/years. During the first two weeks that it's open, it's free to ride it. Thus, there were a TON of people on this light rail. But it was still pretty fun! Good people watching, at the very least. From Mt. Herzl we headed to Yad Vashem, after enjoying some of the amazing views from up there.


I have been to Yad Vashem three times now, and each time it affects me differently. Essentially, Yad Vashem is a Holocaust museum, but it is so much more than that. It sits on a massive campus, and there are seemingly endless exhibits and monuments to see. We started by going through the Holocaust History Museum, which is set up chronologically in a series of rooms filled with documents, photographs, and videos. As we walked through the museum, I jotted down some of the documents that caught my eye. There was an anonymous diary that was written in the margins of a French novel; the diary was written in English, Hebrew, French, and Yiddish, and it expressed reactions to the Antisemitism the writer was experiencing. There was also a small glass case filled with a purse and some shoes; Torah scrolls were sent to leather craftsmen with explicit instruction to use the holy parchment to line these mundane objects. Alternatively, there was a small mezuzah that was made from a bullet cartridge; inside was a normal scroll that you would find in any mezuzah, and there was even a "shin" etched onto the outside. It was shocking to see this article of war converted into a mechanism to make a Jewish home.

I was walking through one of the rooms and was totally intrigued by a video exhibit they had put up. A man was talking about how Torah study and Jewish culture didn't stop in the ghettos; he kept remarking on how people weren't afraid, because they had such faith in G-d. He told a story about how men would wear their tefillin underneath berets, and all of the men in berets would walk together on their way to work in the morning in order to create a makeshift minyan, so that they could still do their morning prayers together. In fact, one man would be designated among them as the prayer leader, even though they were all praying silently. Watching this video made me feel incredibly lucky, since I am able to practice Judaism the way I want both here and in America, and that is certainly not something to be taken for granted.

This time going through Yad Vashem was different for me also because I was able to understand a lot more of the Hebrew that was used throughout the exhibits. Also, some of the poetry used throughout the museum was stuff I had read in various Hebrew classes in college, so it was really cool to recognize those.

Valley of the Communities

After going through the main museum, we saw the Valley of the Communities and the Memorial to the Deportees. The Valley of the Communities is a giant monument made of huge stones, and there are names of over 5000 Jewish communities that were destroyed or affected by the Holocaust. It's an interesting segment of Yad Vashem because, instead of people's names or family names that are being remembered, it remembers the place names. It's a very striking thing to see. The Memorial to the Deportees is the cattle car that they have set up as a monument to all those who were taken from their homes and transported across Europe to concentration camps. This is one of the most haunting images of the museum, in my opinion, because you see this cattle car that was used to move humans towards death, and it's set up on this mountain with incredible views. It's simultaneously eerie and beautiful. I really got a lot out of my trip to Yad Vashem, and it was a meaningful use of an afternoon during break.

Memorial to the Deportees

Monday was when the fun really got started, though. Monday morning I got up early and went to the train station, because it was time for my trip to Haifa!!! Jessie and I met Rebecca and Lenette in Tel Aviv and we took a train together to Haifa. Then, we went to Avis and rented a car which was only kind of a fiasco. Jessie and Rebecca were both great (and calm) drivers, and handled the Haifa roundabouts with great finesse. We stayed at the Nof Hotel (which means "view" in English) and we had AMAZING views from our rooms! Monday afternoon, my cousin Erez and his son Omer picked me up from the hotel and they gave me a beautiful tour of Haifa.

What? I have cousins in Haifa?

Let me explain. My dad's grandmother had a sister. This sister's grandchildren are Eli and Erez, two brothers who are remarkably like my dad and the rest of his family in America. I'm telling you, the resemblance is unbelievable. Erez took me all around Haifa, and I got to see all sorts of beautiful things, including where my grandmother grew up.

Going to Haifa for the first time felt like returning home after a long time away. I instantly felt at home with my family, and even just exploring the city, seeing things that I'm sure generations of my family have seen, was an unbelievable experience. I feel so connected to Israel in general, and I think a large part of that is due to family history....but I have never felt like that in Jerusalem. Every thing I did in Haifa reminded me of my family so so much, and it was awesome.

So, after getting an awesome tour of Haifa (did I mention Erez drives JUST like my dad??) I finally got to go to Misadag. For years (like, for 20 years.) I have been hearing about this alleged restaurant in Haifa that's owned by my family. And it's on the ocean, and it's called Misadag. This is a pun; in Hebrew, misadah is restaurant, and dag (rhymes with dog) means fish. So, Misadag is a fish restaurant. And, for years, I've been saying "there's no way that restaurant exists."

Misadag! Yum.

Let me tell you something: not only does that restaurant exist, but it truly is RIGHT on the beach, and, most importantly, they sell shrimp. And I really, really love shrimp. So basically I got to the restaurant, met my other cousin, Eli (pronounced the same way my name is. This was a distinct and new challenge for me, since I am never around anyone else with my same name). We schmoozed over some delicious food, and then Eli took me on a tour of the Mount Carmel. This is the mountain that Haifa is on, and it is just an exquisite place to see. We drove all over the mountain, even going through a Druze village. Then I got to Eli's house and met his wife, Yael, and his kids, Moshiko (names for his grandfather) and May. May and my sister Yaffa have the exact same birthday (day and year), which is totally weird but awesome. The whole thing felt like living parallel lives. I felt so at home with these new family members and I can't wait to visit again!

They all thought it was hilarious that a bunch of future rabbis (all women) ordered shrimp. Oops.

Monday night, I went back to meet up with the girls and we went to Misadag for dinner. The whole event was delicious, and with only one small snag; Lenette ordered tilapia and was served a whole fish instead of a fillet, which was super hilarious.

The next morning, we woke up, had some breakfast, and headed to Caesarea. I went to Caesarea the first time I came to Israel, as well as when I was on birthright a couple of years ago, and it's one of the most beautiful places I've been. The water is the most perfect color of blue, and I think out of all of the ruins we go to see, these might be the most picturesque.

Ruins at Caesarea

More ruins at Caesarea

When we got back from Caesarea, we went straight to the Baha'i Gardens, which were about a five minute walk from our hotel. We did a walking tour of the gardens, which were amazing. The whole garden is set up symmetrically, which I totally loved, and our tour guide Marina explained to us that in Baha'i tradition, all humans are seen as equal, living in symmetry like the gardens. It was an educational trip and also a great photo op.

Bottom of the Baha'i Gardens

Baha'i Gardens from the top

After a quick siesta, we went to the beach. It was pretty uneventful, but that was exactly perfect. There was even this little dachshund that was running around in the sand, which was comical because of how little his legs were but how deep the sand was. We did some good people watching, some swimming, some relaxing...all in all it was a hugely successful trip to the beach. It was hard to leave. But after sunset it was time to go to the Chinese restaurant in our hotel. Clearly.

Eili Eili written in the sand. Original words by Hannah Szenes.

Sunset in Haifa

Wednesday we got up and I met up with my cousins again. I spent some time at the restaurant with them and then, sadly, it was time to go back to Jerusalem. Don't get me wrong--I really like living in Jerusalem. I particularly liked it before visiting Haifa. However, now having visited Haifa I know how much I felt at home there, and I just don't feel quite the same way in Jerusalem. Luckily Haifa is a quick train ride away and it's easy to visit!!

Family photos

Since getting back from Haifa, I've done some random things in Jerusalem, just trying to get ready for Fall Semester to start tomorrow. Last night a few of us went to Shira Chadasha, which is an egalitarian feminist modern orthodox congregation not far from here. It was an interesting service, and kabbalat shabbat (the first part of the service) was actually led by a woman.

Also, today is Saturday September 3rd, which means that it's finally GAME DAY!!! It's weird being halfway around the world from Ohio Stadium, but I'm still wearing my buckeye necklace. In honor of game day, here's a video that OSU made last year as a commercial for game day--my sparklers OHIO picture can be seen at 0:21 http://www.osu.edu/features/2010/gameday



That's it for today...GO BUCKS!