From the Kibbutz to Yom Kippur

Shalom L'Kulam!

Since we last talked much has happend.

The weekend after my last post I spent a Shabbat at Kibbutz Hannaton in the Galilie region up north. Before we got there we stopped in the Daylat al Karmel...a Druze village outside Haifa. They had some nice shops and stuff. After that we went the Kibbutz, checked in and chilled for a while. Ryan and I explored the area, we saw what we thought was the sea of Galilie/Kinneret but it was actually a reservoir. We then went back and had Kabbalat Shabbat services at the Kibbutz's Shul. It was the first egalitarian minyan I had been to in Israel so it felt like home, since that's what I was used to. After that we had dinner...a lot of this remined me of Hillel, so I started to reminisce. Anyway, I realized that it was 23 Elul which meant it was my Hebrew Birthday so I got an Aliyah the next day at services in the morning.

After dinner we had a talk about Rosh Hashanah to get us ready for the holiday and then sat around and played mind games for a while and went to bed. In the morning we had services, lunch, and then we got a tour of the Kibbutz. On the tour we got to see how they milk cows! I'd never seen that before, so it was interesting. All the cows line up by individual machines and then the milk things are comupterized to take the milk from them and it goes into a bottle below which is taken away and sent off. Later on we had dinner, Mincha, Maariv, and Havdalah. It reminded me of my last Shabbat at UMass and I started to miss it. However, Israel continues to be awesome.

Later that week we had a read through of Annie, and he still hasn't picked the parts.

Then on Thursday it was my 22nd birthday! I had people over and we had Pizza and cake. Thanks everyone for coming :) It was a great birthday! I sang Master of the House for the umteenth time. Oy, I need a new song. After the party died down, a few of us stayed and discussed religion and politics, one always seems to lead to the other. It was all in all a great birthday and a great way to end 5769.

The next day, Ryan and I left for Efrat for Rosh Hashanah at my Cousin's. It was nice weekend. We davened (prayed) at Chabad and then came back for dinner at my cousins's. Afterwhich, I played some basketball with Ryan, Asher, and David while Steak the dog watched. The next day we went to Chabad again, had lunch and then chilled at the house for the afternoon. Then we davened at Chabad and had dinner which was a quiet one since some of my cousins and their friends went to dinner elsewhere. Ryan and and I then played Set, a card game, with Shmuel. The next day, Went to Chabad, this time we heard the Shofar since it wasn't Shabbat. In the afternoon, we had lunch and then went to an old aquaduct in Efrat for Tashlich, a ceremony where you cast away your sins into water. After that, we and played football and soccer and then we rested and went back to Jerusalem.

I must say that Efrat is such a nice town. It's a quiet place where everyone knows everyone...kind of like small town america. Everyone you pass says "Shanah Tovah." It really has the feeling of a community.

Then...the week from hell began... THE END OF ULPAN!!!! The first day we talked about the fact that we also have an oral exam on top of our final exam. We all got nervous...we had to read 3 texts, study it and then be able to answer questions about it in Hebrew.

In the meantime, That afternoon we went to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museam. It was my second time. Despite the fact that I heard the stories throughout my life, it's important to hear more so that we can pass the story of the Holocaust on to future generations so it's never forgotten and it never happens again. When genocide does happen again, like in Darfur, it is equally important to stop it in its tracks.

I was struck while standing in front of an Auchwitz-Birkenau bed, about the fact that 3 people were in the bed and they were so close together that if one turned the other had to turn which would wake everyone up. In addition, they didn't get much sleep anyway since they were woken up at 4 am.

At the end of the tour, we walked outside and saw Jerusalem in the distance. It was fullfiling, seeing the fact that now Jews have a homeland and never again will we have to deal with the horrors of the Holocaust, despite what the pseudo-President I'm a dinnah Jacket of Iran has to say. Am Yisrael Chai! The nation of Israel lives!

That night, I went to dinner with Alma and Eric and then went to Beit Midrash...a study session with a partner about Judaism. For the past few weeks we've been reading "Gateway to Happiness"...It talks a lot about controlling your thoughts to think more optimistically. It's a really nice one-on-one talk for an hour, and puts me in a good mood at the beggining of the week.

Then in Ulpan it was crunch time before the final...we rushed to the end of the book and reviwed. Tuesday afternoon, did Taschlich again in the Herbew U Botanical Gardens. Afterwhich I got in a deep philisophical discussion with Ria, John, and Kyle, mainly about the messiah. Interestingly enough, I was the only person there who believes that messiah has not come yet. Anyway, we left Kyle off at his place and continued the conversation as we walked to the Kfar, where Devorah joined us and we kept talking Moshiach (Messiah), we then went to John's room where we talked for a few hours about the world and what our purpose in it is. Then it was 6 and we hadn't started studying for the oral exam, which was the next day. So, we studied all night. I read and then Devorah, who is in Gimel (Level 3) asked John and I questions about the texts, which helped a lot.

The next day we had the exam, which was easier than I thought, the asked me a couple questions after I picked 2 out of the 3 stories I studied out of a hat. After all that, we had a party where we sang songs played 1 truth and 1 lie. I sang Master of the House again. Although, it was the first time I said "welcome Madame"... my Teacher was my guest.

That night I went to a soup place with John and some others to study for the exam...it was a really chill place with good soup. It helped a lot for the exam, I learn better talking with people than alone I've been realizing.

Then we had the exam, I wrote a story about Shabbat and the exam took 2 hours and wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. and then... I WAS DONE WITH ULPAN!!!! I was so happy, and soooooo tired. I went back to my room and all of our roommates were talking about it and we were so tired we forgot how to speak English, what a day. It was sad though that day as well, Jenny moved out :( She moved into a new apartment, she will be missed, but will be down the street, so we can still hang out.

That night we had a bonfire to celebrate the end of Ulpan! Afterwards, Eric, Ryan, and I went to his place and planned our trip to EGYPT!!!! It looks like it's going to be a lot of fun.

The next day Ryan and I went to Tzfat, to visit some other cousin's of mine. They live in the old city, which was cool, I felt like I went back in time. my cousin Meir is a cantor at a Carlebach minyan, which is shul with dancing and singing! Very spiritual! The next day he took us around the city and explained all of the rich history! At night, went to havdalah, where Meir played his guitar while we danced in the new week. Hannah also found some family pictures which was a nice way to look back and connect the family.

Then we went back to Jerusalem for Yom Kippur. I went to the Student Center for the pre fast meal and the to the Regency Hotel for Kol Nidre. In the morning, Ryan and I went to a nearby conservative synagogue for services, since I wanted something familiar on the holiest day of the year. Avigail, the UMass Hillel Israel fellow from my sophmore year was davening there as well, which was another Random Israel meeting!

Went back later for Mincha and Neliah and broke the fast at Ryan's.

Today, planned more for Egypt/Jordan...and tommorow we're off to Tel Aviv for visas.

That's all for now...L'hitraot!

Welcome to Israel!

Welcome to my blog! I hope to be telling friends, family, and anyone else who wishes to read it about my experiences in Eretz Yisrael. Slicha, Sorry it took so long for me to update...with Bezeq issues (internet) and the like it took me a while to start one but I hope you enjoy reading it!

As I took off from Newark Aiport I realized I was about to start the best experience of my life to date and I had no clue what Israel had in store for me. I was nervous because of not knowing what would happen and excited to see what would happen.

The flight was really long and I didn't get much sleep. I schmoozed with Marissa, a fellow Rothberger (Rothberg International School is the name of the program). I got the airport and was greeted by my Cousin Avraham. It was nice to see family in an unfamiliar place. We then went to our apartments where I didn't meet any roommates all day. Then I went on a trip to a mall in the city where I met more Rothbergers

Later that Night I met roommate number 1: Jenny. She was away for the weekend but left some goodies to welcome roommates. She's an American from Kentucky/Virginia who's here as a grad student.

Then the balagan of Ulpan began...I went to the first class which I, along with my classmate Jessie, realized this wasn't the right placement since we both had taken Hebrew for a year already. So we talked to the teacher who told us to go talk to someone who told us to talk to someone else...and after all that I was placed into Alef Intermediate (rather than begginer).

I walked in and the teacher was talking in Hebrew and was trying to tell me that they were playing bingo...but I was a bit overwhelmed and she said "Ata medaber ivrit?" (do you speak Hebrew?). I finally realized that we were playing Bingo and then ended up winning! So, I was overwhelmed, but that's what Ulpan is supposed to be... you feel like your drowning in Hebrew and then you learn more and reach the surface. It's a great class with great teachers. We have people fro all over the world. The US, Canada, Australia, France, Italy, Germany, Slovenia, and Israel. It's weird, I've never been in a class with so few Americans. It gives you a real global perspective. Then you start hearing all of them talk in other languages and wish that Americans were able to speak more than just English and Un poco de espanol. Well, that's another story for another blog.

After the first day I met roommate number 2: Alma. She's in the same program as I am and from California.

That week the Madrichim (couselors/RAs/guides) organized get to know you games which was a lot of fun. I then went to look for the shuk with some friends...

We waited a while for the bus and then finally got on it and the bus driver told us when to get off. So we did, and got lost so one of the people who spoke hebrew decently asked a security guard how to get to the Shuk. He told us it was closed and to come back at 1 for the bars, with him. So, we decided not to take his advice and started walking to see what we would find and lo and behold we ended up on Ben Yehuda (major pedesteridan/tourist area) in the City Center. We had falafel and watched a mime on stilts walk around. And then a dance broke out in the middle of the street and I was about to join when I saw Anat from UMass walking by me and we were both equally shocked to see each other and then we schmoozed for a bit. Only in Israel.

That night I realized that this wasn't just an experience to be had once and then it's over like my 10 day trip with Prozdor...I'm going to be here until January so I'll have more fun times like this in the future.

That weekend the OSA (Office of Student Activities) organized a Shabbat Dinner at the nearby hotel. we had good food and fun singing Shabbat songs while I helped some people along who wanted to learn the songs. A few of us walked back and schmoozed for a bit after the dinner. The next day they had lunch sponsored by the shul on campus in an apartment in the Kfar HaStudentim(Student Village...where I live). There was also a Sedua Shlisit (Third meal/Dinner) at the Jeff Seidel Student Center. Basically a place for learning and for international students to go.

The next week after assuming that Alma, Jenny, and I would be the only people living in the apartment...I met Roommate number 3: Yitz. He walked in with his full army uniform and gun after being in the reserve duty of the army. I wasn't to sure what was going on until I realized he was my new roommate.

Now, that day I also got Internet from the evil of all evils: Bezeq. I had called them the day before and asked for the internet to be hooked up and the guy said "Ok, I will make the construction and you will be surfing the internet tommorow...ok, Mr Josh?:" The "construction" was the set up...altought he was translating it wrong. This line has become a running joke with my roommates and I. That line unleased the curse of Bezeq onto the apartment.

So, then the next day I hooked it up but it wasn't working...it would freeze whenever I turned it on. So, Yitz, Alma, and I called someone else from Bezeq to ask for wireless and he said that he would put a modem into all of our rooms. So, we agreed but the next day the guy never showed up and my computer was still freezing. oy gevalt! (will be continued later)

So, that night I ended up having dinner at a friends apartment (the same group I went to Ben Yehuda with). We had a nice time and a lot of laughs.

That weekend I went up to the Golan for another trip with OSA. We hiked to Gamla...an synagouge that they found where the Jews died fighting the Romans. It was a hot day and was hard to get through but we got through and we were all encouraging each other. It wasn't as but the Shabbat was nice and relaxing after a long hike. We made Kabbalat Shabbat (Shabbat evening prayers) with the group outside. It was nice to see all the mountains in the distance while davening (praying). We also played some fun games with the Madrichim at night. The next day we walked to a cemetery where there was a statue of an Trumpeldor, an Israeli hero. Later on we swam in a pool, had dinner, made Havdalah (end of shabbat) and went back.

So, it was a nice time but then I was back to Ulpan and Bezeq craziness. I called Bezeq up to help me with the freezing problem...but they said that they couldn't do anything, it was my computer's problem. So, I didn't feel like wasting money to fix my computer for 4 months of internet use so I decided to cancel. Then they decided to give me a "special deal" after I called them again trying to cancel. So, The guy with the deal, called me back later and said it would be for 9 months which I said wasn't good...and then he said he would give it to me for free and would have to talk to the wire providers to see how much they would charge (In Israel, the ISP and equipment suppliers are 2 different companies). So I did but they didn't speak English. So, I decided to forget it and cancelled.

That week Roommate 4 moved in: Eric from New York who I had met on the group flight. He's here for a year, doing the same program I'm doing.

That weekend I went to spend a Shabbat with my Family in Efrat. Had a nice time there, met a few cousins. They were speaking Hebrew a lot, which I could understand somewhat, which meant Ulpan was helping me. The other funny thing was that I found out that one of my cousins is friends with my Roommate Yitz, since my cousins lived in Philli for a while and Yitz grew up there. Ah, Jewish Geography.

The next week I decided to venture across Jerusalem with my roommate Jenny to get internet with a Talk N' Save wireless modem after I cancelled Bezeq once and for all! And we did...finally I had internet. At the same time I got a call from Rebecca, a friend of mine and my families from New York to meet since she was visiting Jerusalem with her parents.

Jenny, Eric, and I met them the next day on Ben Yehuda...and then we went with Rebecca to a bar where they gave Eric and I Nachos that was really Doritos or as the waitress put it "They're like Doritos but Mexican."

That week we had a midterm in Ulpan which I did ok on. I had to write a story, so I wrote one about Harry Potter.

Then I met Rebecca again this time with the whole crew from the apartment. While wating for Becca I ran into my cousin who knows Yitz and Yitz introduced us, since he wasn't there the weekend I was in Efrat. It was yet another random Ben Yehuda meeting.

My roommates and I decided to go to an Argeninian steak place, El Gaucho which was a nice place and Becca came a little later. The waiter spoke Spanish, Herbew, and English...which was weird because Alma was talking to him in Spanish and Yitz was talking to him in Hebrew. So, the 2 languages I sort of know were being spoken. I wasn't sure if I was in Israel or Argentina.

The next day I left for Tel Aviv with John from Ulpan/group flight, Ryan from the group flight, Meira from Ben Yehuda trip 1, Marissa...the one I sat next to on the group flight, and Sam from Sudbury, and Tammy from the Ben Yehuda trip. We got there and checked into the hostel and then shmyed around at Nahalat Binyamin, an outdoor artsy market. John, Ryan, and I then walked to the beach and schmoozed for a bit there with them. We then met Sam and Mallory from UMass and ate dinner while watching the sun set. At night we went to the beach where we sang Jewish songs and I also entertained them with Master of the House.

The next day John, Ryan, and I walked to Yafo. An ancient city with much history. It's the place where Yonah got his ship when he didn't want to go to Nineveh. There was a church we went into which was having a service all in Latin, we didn't stay that long though...none of us knew what was going on. Then, we went back and met everyone else, had lunch, and then we to the beach. The water was so warm! Then we went back to Jerusalem in a sherut (shared taxi).

The next day I met Becca and her parents for dinner and we talked about all things Israel.

Later that week, I went to a wedding of one my cousins and met the whole family! It was nice to finally see everyone. It was in a cave which was interesting, they were all dancing the hora and such...after the Chuppah they played "shout" which everyone was suprised about.

The next day I had an Interview for an internship with the Ethiopian National Project. It seems like I would be possibly teaching theater with teenagers while blogging about it, or maybe fundraising, it sounds like a good oppurtunity with a lot of things to do

That weekend I stayed in the Kfar HaStudentim. Went to Kabbalat Shabbat outside and then had dinner with Ryan. The next day the Shul on campus sponsored another lunch and Sedua Shlisit in an apartment.

This week, I had Ulpan as usual, we went on a field trip to the first neighborhood outside of the Old City. It was built by the Monetefiori family. It was all in Hebrew and I understood it! My hebrew is getting better.

Today I had a test in Ulpan and then went to Audition for "Annie" (in English). It's a musical put on by the Hillel. I sang Master of the House and then he had me improv for a few charecters. It's a big time commitment but it should be a lot of fun. Theater in Israel!

That brings us to today. I hope you enjoy reading it and I'll try to update weekly from now on.

L'hitraot! (see you later)