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!

Pomegranate Seed Liberation and the End of Ulpan

I don't even know what to put as the caption for this.

Shalom everyone.

Per usual, it's been an incredibly fun and busy week. This week marks the end of our summer session, which means that I successfully completed Ulpan (my modern Hebrew intensive) and all I have left to wrap up are a cantillation final (chanting from the Torah) and a biblical history/archaeology final in a couple weeks.

Aren't these pretty?

Which means right now, I get a teeny tiny summer vacation. Which totally rules. But first, let me tell you about my week.

And also I'll tell you a love story involving me and a pomegranate.

Monday a few of us ventured to the International Arts and Crafts Fair in Jerusalem. We paid a small entrance fee (around $10) and got to browse all these different local and international artists and their cool creations. Since I'm an avid people watcher, this was a really fun night. There were people representing Israel, South Africa, Korea, and so many other countries. There were also performers; we got to see a couple of different dance groups perform, and there were circus performers wandering around all night.

One thing I'm realizing the longer I'm here is how hard it is to speak Hebrew in Jerusalem. Everyone speaks English. Last week at the Wine Festival and this week at the Arts Fair made it even more apparent to me how much English there really is here. Sometimes I'll overhear a conversation and be really proud for understanding it (thinking that my Hebrew has improved) and, alas, the conversation was happening in English. It means that it's easy to communicate with basically everyone here, but it also means that I'm not really using my Hebrew. So, I'm setting a goal for myself to really try to speak Hebrew with Israelis and not give in to the temptation to speak English, even though that's way easier.

How cool is this?

Tuesday was a really great day. After a remarkably successful trip to Sushi Rehavia (there may or may not have been a boat involved) I met up with my friend Micah from college! We met at Mamilla and I got to hear all about his recent Israeli/Parisian adventures. It was a really nice opportunity to see someone from home and ALSO someone who isn't one of my 37 classmates. Don't get me wrong--these future leaders of Reform Judaism RULE, but it's nice to have a break sometimes =)

Sushi on a boat. Delicious. Even though it was crustacean-free.

Wednesday I had my Ulpan final. Luckily my teacher, Osnat, is totally awesome and we got our scores back almost immediately so we didn't have to worry about our test too much. My class got pretty attached to Osnat over the last 6 weeks, and while we're excited to have Zohara as our teacher next semester, we will definitely miss Osnat. She is awesome. All 3 classes combined after the final exams and we did an end-of-Ulpan-spectacular...basically all 3 classes wrote parody lyrics to songs we learned over the summer. We took beautiful Hebrew poetry and changed the words to include inside jokes about grammatical constructions. It was delightfully nerdy, and it meant we got to hear the song Halavai again. Which is always a treat.

Most of my ulpan class with our awesome teacher Osnat!

Wednesday night was, you guessed it, awesome. For two years at The Ohio State University Hillel, I was able to work with and get to know Kasa. Kasa is one of the coolest people ever. And, luckily, Kasa lives an 8 minute walk away from me in Jerusalem. Last night we met up and went to Cafe Yehoshua, where we talked about everything from Ohio to Israeli politics and back again. It's been a good week filled with familiar faces! Also, the OSU Hillel birthright trip gets to Jerusalem tomorrow which is going to be a delight!

So, everything is great as I head into this little chofesh (break) for the next week. I'm looking forward to reading (both for fun and to catch up in my history class) and relaxing and even travelling a little bit! Also...9 days until Buckeye football =)

So that was my week.

And now it's time for the love story.

I really, really love pomegranates. And there are pomegranates everywhere in Jerusalem. In fact, right outside my apartment there's a tree with pomegranates. And on campus there's a teeny tiny tree with teeny tiny pomegranates (it could be a children's book).

What a beautiful fruit.

In Jewish tradition, the pomegranate רימון (rimon) is a special symbol. It's mentioned in the book of Exodus (39:26) and supposedly each pomegranate has 613 seeds, one for each of the commandments in the Torah. (You thought we only have 10? Oh no. No way, friends. 613. And no, I cannot list them for you.)

Gorgeous joyful pomegranate seeds.

While these Jewish traditions about pomegranates are nice, they are not the motivating factor behind my love of pomegranates. I think it's the excessive amounts of Shirley Temples that I drank growing up (grenadine comes from poms--the word comes from the French word for pomegranates--grendade!) or maybe just the really delicious pomegranate juice. Who knows. But the fact of the matter is that I really love pomegranates and so this week I decided to go on a pomegranate seed liberation mission. One day before school I cracked open a pom that I had bought at the shuk, and it was the best pomegranate ever (until the one I will probably buy next week). The color of the pomegranate seeds is so pretty and the juice is so tangy and, while I realize this is out of control, I also promised you readers a love story.

Who wouldn't love this?

So there you have it.

I bless the rains down in Africa.

For those of you who don't recognize it, the name of the blog post is an allusion to an epic jam called "Africa" by Toto. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORyUCu7fAt8&feature=fvst

I've decided to name this post after this awesome 80s song because, although I am not technically in Africa, I am pretty close to Africa. And also because it kind of rained here last Saturday.

That's right, friends. We had a teeny tiny minuscule bit of precipitation (precipitatzya) (but actually משקעים I think) on Saturday morning. It was unbelievable. Apparently last year there wasn't even a hint of rain until January, but here we are in the middle of August with some bizarre unseasonable temperatures and a few droplets of rain. I didn't realize how monotonous (but gorgeous) the weather is here until I woke up on Saturday and couldn't tell what time it is because there were clouds and the sun wasn't brilliantly shining in my face. It was really rejuvenating and felt a bit like home. I've actually had several dreams about rain here in Jerusalem so I felt very relieved after this tiny bit of rain. Also, it smelled like summer for a while which was nice. You know. That smell right before a storm. Where you can feel the atmosphere shifting around you and you can basically sense the plants getting ready for some hydration. Awesome.

Before those rains, though, I joined some friends at Rebecca and Jessie's for a delicious and fun Shabbat dinner. Most impressive, apart from Rachael's homemade and professionally boxed chocolate parve cake, was Ben's ridiculous salad. This salad was kind of based of of Chipotle (something I am very much missing right now) and featured all sorts of seasonal goodies: pomegranate seeds, a corn salsa, some black beans, and a billion other tasty treats. Best salad ever, quite possibly. Also there was challah so clearly I was happy. The food was great and the company was even better.

Sometimes you just want the middle of the cake. Right?

World's prettiest salad.

Saturday was fairly relaxing. After that hint of rain I was feeling pretty good. Saturday night I went with a few of my fellow singing classmates to lead a havdallah service at school for a birthright group that was in town. It was a great experience, and a few of the participants even stayed after to learn more about HUC. Woohoo potential future rabbis! Then, luckily, Michael was doing standup so we went to Off The Wall comedy club (after having gelato for dinner oops) to watch. He was great, per usual. Always nice to end your weekend with a good laugh.

Still weird to me that the weekend ends Saturday, but alas, מה לעשות (what can you do)

The week has been pretty great so far.

Monday was "Tu B'Av" which is kind of like Israeli Valentine's day...basically in Ulpan we told love stories. I talked about Disney's The Little Mermaid. It was kef (fun). Tuesday we had a meeting after school where we learned about the different community service projects we would have the opportunity to participate in. I'm hoping to get to work with the Ethiopian population in M'vasseret Tzion (not far outside of Jerusalem) to help families adjusting to Israeli life (and also because I would love to be able to practice my Hebrew and maybe, maybe learn a wee bit of Amharic).

Notes that have fallen out of the Wall, and some unsuspecting feet.

Wednesday we had tests in both Hebrew and Biblical archaeology, which is always fun. Who doesn't love tests in 100% of your classes on one day? After school I went to the Old City with Jessie & Vlad for a quick trip to the wall and then some time in the Jewish Quarter. At the Wall, I was standing next to a woman who was teaching her daughter how to pray there. It was a really incredible thing to watch. Also, we had an interesting interaction with an Israeli clown. He had all these kids with him and one kid was schlepping this giant suitcase. It was weird.

What's in the suitcase?

Lachish

Thursday was our last field trip of our summer Biblical archaeology class. We went to Lachishand Maresha. We learned about the way the ancient city of Lachish was set up, and the views from up there were seriously amazing. I had brewed some coffee WAY too strong for our 7am call time and spent the first 45 minutes or so twitching (a good problem, in my book, because it meant that I had had too much caffeine--a nice problem to have after a severe lack of good coffee). Also at Lachish were some beautiful vineyards (this will connect to something later).

Views from Lachish

Ruins at Lachish

Heading to Maresha I decided to man up and not freak about about the cave situation, which was a great idea because actually these caves were amazing. Basically, they have this system of caves underground that range from Columbarium to this expansive cave with ridiculous acoustics where we did a little bit of singing as a class. It was really incredible to hear. So, the caves were good and I didn't have a panic attack (little victories, people).

Sign we basically ignored

View from the bottom of a cave at Maresha

Thursday night was the Jerusalem Wine Festival, which was quite possibly one of the most fun nights I've had since arriving in Israel. A group of us went and tasted wines from all over Israel. Maybe even some with grapes grown in Lachish! Whoa. But seriously some of these wines were so delicious. It was a great night filled with tasty יין (yayin--wine) and wonderful people watching. After the wine festival a few of us split a cab back towards our apartments and we had quite possibly the best cab ride ever because our driver was loco. He asked us what we were doing in Jerusalem, and when we told him, he made us sing for him, and then he was singing with us, and it was absolutely out of control. Maybe he was also at the wine festival. I don't even know how to describe his voice except for exuberant. It was a really hilarious night and I think everyone had a great time!

Jerusalem Wine Festival

Lindsey, Daniel, Rebecca, and Jessie at the Jerusalem Wine Festival

Yesterday I spent the whole day getting ready for shabbat. My roommate Becka and I decided to host a shabbat dinner this week, so we ventured to the shuk with Jessie in the morning. Going to the shuk on Fridays is really fun because it's chaotic and crazy and also you get to run into random classmates doing their shabbat shopping as well. For those of you who don't know, there was an attack on Thursday in Eilat (not close to Jerusalem) which meant that there was a much stronger security presence at the shuk. I still feel very safe to be here, and I also really appreciated this increased security, just in case. But the shuk was hugely successful (I'm pretty sure we bought every type of fruit and veg that they had) and we prepared a FEAST that was also a potluck so when I say feast I really mean it.

Our tiny table set for 9--somehow we all fit!

On the menu for last night's epic shabbat meal:

• Two challot from Marzipan.
• Assorted salatim (salads) with my homemade za'atar pita chips.
• Israeli salad
• Pasta with veggies (green beans, eggplant, garlic, onion, tomatoes, bell pepper, etc)
• Ina Garten's ridiculously good zucchini pancakes (recipe here) topped with labeneh (somewhere between sour cream and greek yogurt), as they should be.
• Roasted asparagus with olive oil and garlic. Plainly delicious.
• Fruit salad filled with figs (which are unbelievable in Israel) plums and cantaloupe
  
• A giant delicious rugelach sort of cake. Yum.
  
• Chocolate with hazelnuts and chocolate with chili.
• A fine selection of Israeli wines, some sodas, and, of course, Nestea.
  

It was a really delicious and fun night. We really stretched the capacity of our apartment (and our little kitchen table) but it was absolutely worth it and I can't wait to host shabbat dinner again!

This morning I let myself sleep in a little bit so I'm feeling rested. This is good, because I'm also feeling pretty behind on school work so I'm going to take some time today to get caught up. Ulapn is almost over! Time is certainly flying here. Meanwhile my brother just moved into his residence hall at University of Central Florida, which is absurd to me but of course I am so proud. Hi Abe.

Thanks again for reading!

A post about: Tisha B'Av, Talent Show, City of David, and Challah.

Every time I sit down to write a new blog post, I look through my calendar to see all the things I did this week, and then I basically compile a highlights reel of things to share. As the summer continues, it's getting more and more difficult to select which things to highlight, since every single day is so jam-packed with learning and sight-seeing and general fun stuff.

Since my last post, there have been so many things to discuss. On Sunday, I gave a presentation (prezentatzyah) in my ulpan class. We have to speak for about 5 minutes on the topic of our choosing, so naturally I tried to do something with music. I ended presenting on the song "Shir Lashalom," which I think is an incredible song. We sang it in the Meshuganotes, which is how I know it, but it's a song with a lot of back story. It was used as a sort of anti-war propaganda when it was written in the late 1960s, and, most interestingly, Yitzhak Rabin had a copy of the lyrics in his pocket when he was assassinated in Tel Aviv. I enjoyed the opportunity to share this song and its meaning with my classmates.

Sign at the Catholic Community of the Beatitudes

Monday was mi padre's birthday, and was also the evening before Tisha B'Av. I can say with all honesty that I have never in my life done really anything at all to commemorate Tisha B'Av, and I was excited to learn more about the holiday and the traditions surrounding it. Monday evening, my classmates and I ventured to the Catholic Community of the Beatitudes. We did some learning about baseless hatred vs. boundless love, and we got to hear some selections from Eicha/Lamentations, as well as various songs to commemorate the destruction of the First and Second Temples (as well as countless other catastrophes in Jewish history), all the while surrounded by Byzantine era ruins at the site where Christian tradition suggests Jesus appeared after being resurrected. I had never heard Eicha being chanted before (a sample can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCgViip7kpY&feature=related) and it's really a haunting tune. Certainly one of the most beautiful melodies we have in Jewish music, in my opinion. Following a selection from Eicha, a cantor named Orit Perlman and her accompanist Gal performed several Tisha B'Av themed songs. We heard songs in Hebrew, Ladino, and Yiddish. It was certainly an interesting experience.

The next morning, we went to Pardes after Ulpan to do some Tisha B'Av educational programming. I decided to go to a session that was taught by the Dean of HUC's Jerusalem campus, Rabbi Naama Kelman. She led a discussion of some of Yehuda Amichai's poems. I first read Amichai in Professor Tanenbaum's class at OSU, and I think he's one of the most incredible poets. We read one of my favorite of his poems, from his series of Poems of Jerusalem.

On Yom Kippur in 1967, the Year of Forgetting, I put on
my dark holiday clothes and walked to the Old City of Jerusalem.
For a long time I stood in front of an Arab's hole-in-the-wall shop
not far from the Damascus Gate, a shop with
buttons and zippers and spools of thread
in every color and snaps an buckles.
A rare light and many colors, like an open Ark.

I told him in my heart that my father too
had a shop like this, with thread and buttons.
I explained to him in my heard about all the decades
and the causes and the events, why I am now here
and my father's shop was burnt there and he is buried here.

When I finished, it was time for the Concluding Service.
He too lowered the shutters and locked the gate
and I returned, with all the worshipers, home.

The English doesn't really capture the brilliant wordplay being used by Amichai, but essentially what he's done here is compared his trip into the newly-reunified Old City of Jerusalem on Yom Kippur with that of a prayer experience. He compares his father to this Arab shopkeeper, and even though he doesn't share his thoughts with the shopkeeper, Amichai reflects on his past and the meaning of the day. I think it's a really powerful poem, so I was glad to study it again.

On Wednesday, things continued normally. We finally got to hifil in ulpan (which is my favorite verb category in Hebrew) so that was nerdily exciting. Wednesday night was the Beit Cafe (or, beit ha-cafe if we're doing our smichut correctly.) I have to say: I am SO impressed by the talent in my class. We had so many wonderful music performances, a monologue, some great cantillation (brady bunch to the tune of...the Torah?!) and even some mad libs. I sang in a trio with Emma and Rachel; we sang "One Voice" by the Wailing Jennys. It was so fun to see everyone performing (and also the potluck was particularly epic). Some highlights of the evening: the interns' skit, Gehenana (mint lemonade with vodka, the signature drink of the evening) and the awesome silent auction. It was a great night!

Our hilarious interns.

Yesterday was a hot mess. We went to the City of David, which was cool, but then we also went into Hezekiah's tunnels. I'm not even going to elaborate but let me tell you---this was NOT a claustrophobe's dream come true.

City of David. A city I will NEVER return to. Probably.

But, better to get the low point of the year out of the way early. After such a disastrous field trip, some of us met up in the Ben Yehuda area for outrageously expensive beverages and some great people watching. Worth it.

View of the Arab village across the Kidron Valley from the City of David. Some of these still have visible tombs from the First Temple Period. Unbelievable.

Today I joined Emma, Rebecca, and Jessie for a trip to the Shuk in all of it's pre-shabbat glory. It's really an incredible experience to go on a Friday morning, because you hear all sorts of different languages and people advertising (LOUDLY) their low prices on everything. The chaos is incredible. Luckily I didn't have an extensive shopping list so it was just a fun little adventure.

Shabbat just isn't shabbat without delicious Challah.

Shabbat Shalom, everyone =)

Shabbat in Jerusalem--שבת בירושלים

Tonight in Jerusalem

So far, each shabbat in Jerusalem has been an incredible experience. After only being here for a few weeks, I can already feel myself growing accustomed to living my life on the Jewish calendar. The weekly rhythm here is so different from in the states; the school week starts on Sunday, and Fridays are now typically spent preparing for Shabbat. At home, shabbat has always been a priority. Even when my brother, Abe, had football games on Friday evenings, we would find a way to eat dinner together (even if it felt like the early bird special) or we would light the candles following a Mason High School football victory. I have always loved shabbat, most likely because it was such a great way to spend time with my family. Going to college meant that my shabbats changed, but they were still great. However, even during quarters when I had no class on Fridays, it would be untrue to say that I spent really more than half an hour or so getting ready for shabbat.

In Jerusalem, I don't "prepare for shabbat" by getting myself ready and presentable for services. Here, it's an attitude shift. Friday mornings I wake up and figure out what I'm cooking/bringing to a potluck that night. Then, I, with all the masses of women in this city, go to the shuk/grocery store/bakery to get what I need. Since everything is closed on Saturdays, sometimes this means getting whatever I'll need for lunch at school on Sunday as well. I have decided (and we'll see if this lasts into the regular school year) that Friday afternoons are best spent relaxing, instead of doing school work. I usually tidy up my room, get myself organized, and then leave my school books in my backpack. Then it's actually time to prepare for services!

Tonight in Jerusalem

This week, I had the opportunity to daven (pray) at Yakar Synagogue. Yakar is a synagogue that's a pretty long schlep away from my apartment, but I have a feeling I'll be going back again anyway. I had an AMAZING time davenning there. I had never experienced an orthodox erev shabbat service (friday evening) before, and this was a great first experience. There was a mechitza, which is something I didn't think I'd be comfortable with. However, this one was pretty see through (which makes me feel like maybe it was a formality? not sure) and I really appreciated that the man leading services addressed the women through the mechitza whenever he addressed the congregation. This community is also very egalitarian, and the women's side was often singing even louder than the men's side. The harmonies I heard, as well as the melodic mumbling of prayers during the service (on both sides) was a really incredible thing to experience. I'm still not used to a Hebrew-only siddur, but I enjoyed the challenge of following along. I'm really still floored by how awesome this service was. There was an entirely different feeling during the prayers; everyone seemed so spiritually connected to what was going on, whether or not they were just going through the motions, and I loved being able to really participate in the service.

After the awesome time I had at Yakar, it was time for a delicious dinner at the interns' apartment. Unfortunately (so sad!) the interns have to go back to the states, even though we all wish they could stay here with us. I had a great time spending the evening with two of our lovely interns and some of my classmates! We really feasted (my compliments to the chefs) and then we did some nice zmirot afterwards. Even though it's not something we ever really did at home, I love ending a shabbat meal with singing. It's so fun!

This morning, we went to HUC for morning services, which were good. Rabbi Yoshi is back from his visit to the states, and, for some reason, I feel like some sort of balance has been restored. Today, Rabbi Yoshi spoke about this week's Torah portion, as well as about how easy we can take things for granted. A lot of what he said resonated with me, and I reflected on how lucky I feel each day to be in Jerusalem. I am really loving being here, and living here, and getting to experience the Jewish state in such a hands-on way.

Tree in Tel Aviv

After an EPIC shabbat nap, I joined some of my classmates at Nicole's new home for seudah shishit, which was awesome. Nicole is here for the year with her husband and two adorable (and totally extroverted and hilarious) daughters. Their new place is unbelievable. We enjoyed some delicious food and a breathtaking view, and we had havdallah out on the mirpesset (porch) which was lovely. It's amazing walking back from peoples' homes and seeing the city wake back up after havdallah. I'm really glad that my class is starting to form our own traditions, and I hope these incredible shabbats continue throughout the year. There is really something unbelievably cool about living (and praying) in the city that Jews around the world are praying towards. Jerusalem rules.

One of Nicole's daughters, Vivian. She is hilarious. She was also the mustache fairy today.

Havdallah

Other cool things that have happened since last post:

1. The tent demonstrations are expanding across the country. Young couples and families are essentially camping out around Israel in major cities to protest the ridiculously high rent prices. This is a sign that things are peaceful in Israel; if people are able to focus on social issues instead of security, things are good =). Right now it's about 10pm and I can hear the demonstrators from my window, even though they aren't actually close to my apartment. There are THOUSANDS of people out right now.
2. We had a biblical archaeology tiyul (field trip) to the Eretz Yisrael Museum//Tel Qasile in Tel Aviv. We are seeing some pretty cool things this summer.
3. I keep getting different arrangements of songs stuck in my head. Right now it's the shalom aleichem (a song welcoming the shabbat angels) that we did Friday night at dinner. I don't know whose arrangement it is but it's so catchy.
4. Some of my classmates and our interns went Wednesday night to a karaoke bar called Capricorn for a night of hilarity and song. Song selections ranged from I don't wanna miss a thing (me) to California dreaming (Jeremy) to a French song that resulted in the bar being closed (....Vlad.)
5. It's been great. Thanks for reading. Shavua Tov, everyone. (shavua tov means "a good week" and it's customary to say this after havdallah, since that's when we start the new Jewish week)

Demonstrators

Kenny at Karaoke

We're learning a lot of confusing things.

Nescafe.

Okay.

This is a tale of caffeine consumption. So, grab a caffeinated beverage of your choice (or maybe a little piece of chocolate) and buckle your seat belt.

For those of you who don't know, I love caffeine. I consider it a huge contributing factor to my GPA, social skills, and general well-being. The love affair I find myself in with caffeine began a long, long time ago, back in high school. Yes, I'm being ironic; I graduated high school in 2007 and I realize that wasn't a long, long time ago. Back when everyone started driving, and it became oh-so-cool to go to Starbucks after school (Courtney Reeves, I'm looking at you) I realized how tasty a Mocha Frappuccino could be. A frozen treat filled with caffeine, sugar, and ridiculous whipped cream...it was love at first taste.

From there, I realized how great coffee drinks were, and slowly but surely I began to take some of my parents' freshly brewed coffee to school with me on mornings I had tests. Which of course quickly spiraled into me taking a gigantic travel mug (and of course I have a collection of these because G-d forbid I used the same expensive travel mug every day in high school...) every single morning to school.

For those of you who don't know, I get migraines. It's really fun, I assure you. Because of this, though, my caffeine addiction seems particularly problematic. On days I would miss my morning coffee, my head would begin pounding painfully. Are you seeing how this is slipping out of control? So now (circa 2007) that I'm addicted to coffee, the punishment for skipping that hot mug of productivity is a painful headache. So why oh why would I ever stop drinking it?

At this point I realize that I sound like I have a severe problem. Don't worry. But do keep reading.

So I graduate high school and off I go to THE Ohio State University, where of course I bring a contraband coffee maker to my residence hall. Which I then use daily to prepare for class. What's that? You want to have a study date at Brenens? Sure! Hmm? The Pumpkin Spice Latte (omg) is finally back at Starbucks? Great! Let's go!

So now (2007-2008) I'm up to a multi-cup-a-day habit. Sure, I grew up in a home where my parents could EASILY knock out a 12 cup coffee maker by lunchtime. (Mom.) But at that point in college my coffee drinking was still largely recreational. As classes got harder and more time-consuming, I became even more likely to be consuming coffee at any moment.

My sophomore year of college, the NY Muhlbaums sent me a Keurig.

This was, almost certainly, what led to my demise.

Long gone were the days of waiting impatiently (for what, 5 minutes?) for a freshly brewed pot of coffee. Now I could have any flavor of coffee at any strength I wanted hot and ready to go in 60 seconds or less. Much like other miracles (Noah, Chanukkah, etc.) this Keurig was in and of itself miraculous. It completely changed my mornings (and afternoons)(and sometimes evenings, in lieu of a nap before going out). Luxury at its finest, folks.

Fast-forward to my 4th year of college, wherein I was rarely seen without a coffee in my hand. I had grown accustomed to certain accoutrement with my Keurig coffee--I had a little coffee carousel that held the several varieties of coffee I particularly enjoyed; frequently I would have some sort of non-fat non-dairy what-is-it-made-of hazelnut creamer in the fridge to enhance my coffee drinking experience...you get the picture.

While the Keurig was hugely unnecessary, I'm so happy I have it.

The issue, though, is that right now, the Keurig is living in my basement at home. And right now, I'm in Israel.

Why is this a problem?

Well, curious reader, the fact of the matter is that in Israel, a nation unfamiliar with the concept of a siesta, and a people that are constantly going-going-going, the coffee SUCKS.

It just does.

There are two major types of coffee here. Fancy, expensive espresso based drinks, and INSTANT. There is nothing in between. No drip coffee. No cheap, too acidic, tastes-a-little-burnt bad coffee. Just espresso and then instant "coffee". The main perp? Nescafe.

In order to make "coffee" you first have to use the kumkum, or electric water kettle, to boil water. This invention totally rules and is particularly handy for when you want a quick cup of tea.

I'm rolling my eyes right now. This guy looks like he's really enjoying his Nescafe. This is false advertising.

One spoonful in a mug filled with boiling water and a spoon of sugar doesn't quite do the trick. Nor does two spoonfuls. Today I experimented with three spoonfuls--while the caffeine content seemed improved, the taste was just basically terrible. And, frankly, I can't afford to stop and buy a cappuccino or cafe afooch (called this because it's "upside down" and contains more milk than coffee, unlike a standard coffee drink, apparently) on the way to school (or during school or after school) every day.

Totally helpful Hebrew instructions.

Thus, I will continue to try the different brands of instant coffee (Emma even found vanilla flavored--it was actually drinkable!!) until I find one that does the trick...all while thinking fondly of my poor Keurig that's just chilling, waiting for me to get back to Ohio.

Also, the icecafe (kind of a coffee-flavored slushie of excellence) here is insane. It is absolutely out of control. So, I can still get my frozen coffee treat fix, and even better than in the states. So that's good.

[Note: I'm not actually so upset about the coffee situation, and, frankly, if this is my biggest problem, then clearly I'm doing just fine. I just really like coffee. Also, this post was not sponsored by Nescafe, Starbucks, or Keurig. Although I sponsor all of them. Clearly.]

In other news, school is going great, Jerusalem still rules, and life is good. Mamash* good.

Lenette and I went out for some highly delicious and non-coffee related FroYo on Yafo this week.Yum.

*Mamash: a sort of emphatic that means something like really. Example: someone asks if you want a cup of instant coffee, and you answer MAMASH LO. "I very much would NOT like that at all...But I will drink it if I must. And I must. So yes, please."

[Another note: I do not drink the most coffee out of anyone I know. My parents certainly drink more coffee than I do. Also, once, I went to office hours for a psychology class and in the 45 minutes I was in my professor's office, she drank an ENTIRE pot of coffee. 10 cups. AND she wasn't even twitching. Unbelievable.]

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