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!