Milah Monday!

It's time for Milah Monday!

today I have chosen two words that I have found to be very important for every day life in Jerusalem.

סבלנות
sav-la-noot
It means "patience"
as in: Today while waiting for the number 18 bus which was 15 minutes late, I had to practice סבלנות.

רגע
ray-gah
It means "wait"
Usually it is accompanied by a hand motion. you put your hand palm up with your thumb against your fingers.
as in: When a cabbie didn't see me in the street and almost hit me, I yelled רגע. The cabbie did not have any סבלנות so he just kept on going.

Also a bonus word for this week in honor of the holiday Tu B'Av.
אהבה
ah-ha-vah
It means: "love"
as in: On the holiday of Tu B'Av, we celebrate אהבה, much like Valentine's Day. But this one is way cooler because it's Jewish.

Happy Milah Monday!

Al Naharot Babel

Al Naharot Babel,
Sham yashavnu, V'gam B'Chinu
V'Zochreinu Et Tzion

On the Rivers of Babylon
There we sat, and there we cried
And we remembered Zion

As I learn more about Tisha B'av, I feel a lot of conflict with the commemoration, and what it represents. For those of you who do not know much about the Holiday, I urge you to learn more- http://www.myjewishlearning.com/holidays/Jewish_Holidays/Tisha_BAv.shtml , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tisha_B. The Reform Movement does not officially recognize the commemoration of Tisha B'av, as it is the mourning of the destruction of the Second Temple- and We as a movement do not Mourn that destruction. Interestingly, the "Mishkan T'filah", the Reform Movement's new prayer book, does not include any prayers or readings for Tisha B'av. But that does not mean that people in the Reform Movement do not recognize this day as an important one in our people's history. I have recently begun to understand Tisha B'av in a new and more personal way. First of all: for me, fasting is not always about mourning, or recreating the experiencce of death, or causing myself pain. Instead, it is a way for me to heighten my awareness of a certain situation or subject. By fasting, I take away the distraction of food, and allow myself to focus on a higher level. On Tisha B'av, I do not mourn the destruction of the Second Temple. I do not desire for the Third Temple to be built- and not just because it would put me out of a job :) On Tisha B'av I remember the numberless acts of Baseless Hatred in our history. Historically, the Rabbis saw Baseless Hatred (sinat chinam in Hebrew) as the reason for the destruction of the Temple. Baseless Hatred is a difficult concept, but very basically speaking is hatred or pre-judgment with no reason. The destruction of the Temple, the Holocaust, the Modern Day anti-semitism. I also recognize the acts of Baseless Hatred against other peoples: Genocide, War, Harmful Dictators, and so much more.

For the last two years, I have been in Jerusalem on Tisha B'av. Last year, while sitting on the Tayyelet with my Birthright group, it was difficult for me to mourn the destruction of Jerusalem, while I looked out on the lights and heard the noise of the thriving modern city of Jerusalem. This year, I had a similar reaction. There is no better way to see the strength of the Jewish people, than to see thousands gathering together to commemorate the times when people have tried to destroy us. We gathered at HUC for a special service. Josh Breitzer, an HUC Cantorial student and one of our summer interns, brought students together to sing and play music during the service. It was a very non-traditional yet absolutely beautiful way to commemorate the day. We had students singing the mournful songs of Tisha B'av, chanting from Eicha-the book of Lamentations, and playing songs remembering Zion and Old Jerusalem. All the while, we were watching the sun set on the remnants of the Old City of Jerusalem and the Tower of David, and seeing the golden glow of the Modern walls of Jerusalem. It was quite the site to behold.

After services, Rabbi David Wilfond took us on an educational walk to the Old City, ending at the Kotel. We stopped once again at the same spot that he took us to during Orientation. Har Tzion. Mount Zion. We sat and learned with Rabbi Wilfond, and he taught us a new Niggun with the words of "Al Nahalot Babel". I always get very excited (nerd alert) when we are singing niggunim and studying texts about the places where we are actually sitting, and this instance was no different. I took a short video of our group singing- the lighting was very bad but you can still hear it and it was a very moving experience which I hope is captured on film. The wall that you see to the left is one of the outside walls of the Old City. Behind me was the Jaffa Gate, an entrance to the Old City. We are about a 5 minute walk to the Kotel itself.

I would like to say that once we got to the Kotel it was a very meaningful and life-changing experience. Some of you may know that I have some issues with the Kotel (I won't post my opinions on the blog quite yet, but maybe another day) and I tried very hard to go into this evening with an open mind. But as I stood in the very long security line to enter the Women's section, I started growing more and more frustrated. We finally entered the Kotel plaza, which was filled with thousands and thousands of Jews commemorating Tisha B'av. Before arriving, Gingy had told us that usually there are groups of people gathering and singing songs from their traditions and chanting Eicha with different styles. I was looking forward to seeing and hearing that. However, what I did not realize that "people" do not do that. Men do that. Instead, we were approached on countless occasions by the "modest police" commenting on our dress (fyi we were all decked out in head to toe frum attire) and also asking the men who were standing near us to please go to the men's side. The Modest Police go around making sure that everyone is dressed appropriately to be at the holy site of the Western Wall. And they were out in full force this evening. On this special evening, the Mechitzah (or barrier that divides men from women in prayer) was extended all the way up the Plaza. Men and women were not allowed even on the same side in the back of the plaza. This did not make me very happy. I tried to snap a picture of the extended Mehitzah but it was difficult because of the lighting and the swarms of people. Most of us stayed at the Kotel for only a few minutes, and for me it was difficult to have a meaningful experience. However, I will admit that it was pretty cool to see so many people gathering together in this powerful and historical place. I mean how many of us can say that we were at the Kotel on Tisha B'Av?

On this Tisha B'av, I focused on the destructive power of Baseless Hatred- while seeing the Hopefulness that is so difficult to ignore in this city. We are hopeful that the day will come when people will no longer pass judgment on other people, will no longer hate without reason, and will no longer wish for the destruction of any people. May we have the resilience to rise up from the destructions that we have faced, to rise above Baseless Hatred, and to be hopeful for a more promising future.

Temunah Tuesday!

They DO recycle in Israel! Ok, maybe just at HUC where I found this recycling bin. But here is an interesting Hebrew language bit of information. The word for recycling in Hebrew is מיחזור which comes from the word לחזור which means "to return." I love how in Hebrew, if there is not a word for something, you can just form one from a similar word. Do I sound like the father from "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" yet?

A movie poster in Tel Aviv for "Bruno."

Anchor Alert! I visited

Old Yaffo this week, which I have already mentioned is arguably the oldest inhabited city in the world. It is perfectly placed on the edge of the beautiful Mediterranean Sea. Which means- anchors everywhere! Nobody that I was with understood why I put this up, but I

know my dg girls will!

A hot dog restaurant in downtown Jerusalem. No comment.

Milah Monday!

*Disclaimer. I am writing this post from bed with the flu, so please excuse my poor spelling and grammar- I blame the fever*

Thanks to Beth for the suggestion of a Hebrew word of the day post! Every Monday I will be posting a Hebrew word or phrase that was important during the week. This week's Milah Monday word is admittedly a bit self serving:

יום הולדת שמח

Pronounced: Yom Hoo-led-et Sa-mey-ach

and it means: Happy Birthday!

Yesterday was my 24 birthday! It started off a little rocky in the morning as I woke up to realize there was nobody in the doorway to sing happy birthday loudly like mom and dad usually do, but once I got up and going things got much better (Thanks Jason!). The birthday celebration actually started Saturday night with Taco night. I have been craving Mexican food since I got here, so I decided to make tacos for some friends in honor of Yom Keara. Let's just say that while they were tasty, they were not quite the same as in the states. I found some ground chicken at the Shuk for 25 shekels (very cheap! and it was enough meat to feed about 8 people). I also found orange bell peppers (my new favorite veggie), onions, and corona beer to cook the meat in. We also consumed mass amounts of Rugelach from Marzipan (thanks mom!) and candied walnuts thanks to Carolan.

Making Tacos at Carolan and Mindy's place!

My Tacos! with Carolan and Kelly's homemade Israel-style Salsa.

Sunday, aka Yom Keara, I had Ulpan bright and early until 1pm, and then Mincha, and then Cantillation, and then birthday time! I went with a few friends to Tel Aviv, or more precisely Old Yaffo, to see the Opera "La Traviatta". Let me just say, that the view of the Mediterranean Sea from Yaffo is one of the most beautiful sites I have seen in my life. The water is perfectly blue/green, the air is salty and warm, and the beach smells incredible. We ate a delicious dinner at a quaint restaurant that was squashed in between two old buildings. For those of you who do not know, Old Yaffo is one of the very oldest continually inhabited cities in the world. And most of the buildings have been standing for a VERY long time. I've included some pictures of the restaurant.

The Opera was really cool. One of our 4th Year Interns, Josh, has a wife who sings opera and she was in the performance. It was pretty cool to know someone up on stage! After the show ended at about 10:30 we headed for the sheirut station to take us home. Somehow we got on the special "warp speed" sheirut that took us home in half the time it should have taken. Let's just say it was the scariest 35 minutes I've experienced in a while. But it was good to be home in cool (relative to Tel Aviv, that is), clean (also relative to Tel Aviv), and quiet (once again, relative to Tel Aviv), Jerusalem. All in all, a very good birthday.

Thanks to everyone from America for good birthday wishes! And also thanks to everyone in Israel for presents, cards, and rousing renditions of Hayom yom Huledet!

Week 1, Check!

This has been a whilrwind of a week! and I'm sorry to report I have no pictures to accompany this blog post- I will be better next week.



Ulpan officially started on Sunday and I was placed in Citah Bet. After two days in class it was apparent that I was at a different level than the other students. We took a quiz on Wednesday and after seeing that I scored 100% my teacher recommended that I sit in on Citah Gimmel. While it feels like a much better fit, there are a lot of words I don't know, so it will be a challenge! I see a lot of vocabulary flashcards in my future...



On Thursday we began our Biblical History course entitled- The Geography and Chronology of Biblical History. We had about 40 pages of reading from the Encylopedia Judaicato read prior to class, and after the reading I was not looking forward to it! However, the first lecture (8:30-12 every Thursday) was fascinating. We spent some time learning about the topography of modern Israel, which means I got to draw color coded pictures- definitely a bonus. We also learned a little about archaeology and our professor told us about the different trips we will be taking this summer. The first one is a tour of the City of David- sounds like a lot of fun! Throughout the lecture I had flashbacks of my Archaeology class with Dave McCreery at Willamette. Our Prof for this class David Ilan is not quite as Indiana Jones-esque as Dave is, but he is a fantastic teacher. I'm really looking forward to this class!

And Sof Sof (finally) Friday, Yom Shishi, the day before the day of rest. aka, my day off. I woke up super early according to my internal alarm clock, and because of the usual hustle and bustle of the busy street outside my apartment. I met up with a friend of my mom's who was given orders by my mother to take me to lunch and buy me my favorite things for my birthday. Mission successful! We had a delicious lunch at the shuk at an adorable little restaurant that I didn't know existed! I had a sandwich with goat cheese, zuccini, fresh fruit, and walnuts- tasty! And she bought me beautiful flowers and tasty rugelach. Thanks mom! I then took my usual 3 hour pre-shabbat nap before heading to shabbat services.

I had a very interesting Kabbalat Shabbat experience this week. It is a community that meets once a month in the basement below the Reform synagogue near Talpiot. The call themselves "renewal" but Haim, our Israeli intern, refers to them as "the closest thing to paganism you can get in Judaism." We enter the room and see chairs set in concentric circles with drums and guitars. Jews Next Dor-esque! The first 30 minutes or so were fantastic. The ruach (spirit) of the community was impossible to ignore, right down to the people dancing in the aisles singing yedid nefesh and other niggunim (wordless tunes that you can set any prayer to- google "niggun"). About 2 hours into the service, 2 hours of trance-like dancing and loud clapping and singing, we quietly made an exit. It was a lovely spiritual service, but not really my style. A good experience though! Here is the website if you are interested: http://www.navatehila.org/35897/Nava-Tehila

I hope you enjoyed this picture-less post. Pictures from my Israel birthday celebration will be posted soon. And keep a lookout for my new "Milah Monday"

Shavuah Tov!

Temunah Tuesday!

Temunah Tuesday is coming this week on Wednesday. Not because I've been too busy to write (although it has been a super busy week!) but because between Hebrew Ulpan, Cantillation class, Hebrew Homework, and Orientation activities- I haven't taken any interesting pictures! So here are a few things that I have seen around town :)

Five shekels goes to whoever can translate this.

Me too!

Some things just don't translate :)

Hineni

Walk about Zion, and go round about her; count the towers thereof. Mark ye well her ramparts, traverse her palaces; that you may tell it to the generation following (from Psalm 48).

I was there. On Zion. Holding a Torah and saying the shema. Ok, I don't even believe it myself, so I will say it again. I stood on Har Tzion singing the words of shema while embracing a torah. I walked about Zion, went round about her, counted the towers, marked her ramparts, traversed her places, and I am studying to become the next generation of Jewish leaders. Wow.

Let me back up a little bit. After a month of intense Ulpan with just 8 students, the other 42 have arrived and Orientation began just a few (long) days ago. I thought I had come to the realization that I am here for the year to study, that I am going to be a Rabbi, that I am going to be (hopefully) fluent in Hebrew. But little did I know, that I would be standing on Mount Zion with my classmates, Teachers, Mentors, Dean, watching the golden sun set on the Ramparts of Jerusalem, beginning to form the lifelong bond with the people and places that surround me. The first night of Orientation began with some get to know each other mixers and BBQ (nothing better than a hot dog in a pita- why don't we do that in America!) which was followed by a beautiful walk to the walls of the Old City. Rabbi David Wilfond (or "Gingy" as we and many classes have affectionately called him) led us on a walk through the Gehenna valley (also known as Hell- more to come on that later) which separates HUC from the Old City. We studied texts on stops along the way, sang niggunim, and admired the beautiful golden light descending on the city. We read texts from Isaiah and the Psalms, all describing this beautiful place where we were sitting- with our backs propped against the walls of old Jerusalem, as if to say "Jerusalem is here to hold us up". We stood in a circle, singing prayers and niggunim, and passed the Torah to one another forming a bond of friendship and learning, that will last in some way through our careers. **no pictures are posted because there is no way to capture the beauty of this moment on a camera- come see it for yourselves!

Days 2 and 3 of Orientation were a little more business-y. Learning more about what is expected of us this year inside and outside the classroom. We are all itching to get started! We learned of our Hebrew Cita (class) placements- I'm in Cita Bet! and today we took a field trip to Yad Sarah, an organization started in Jerusalem with locations all around Israel, that offers various types of healthcare and resources for people with disabilities in Israel. They offer resources such as a choir for stroke patients who cannot speak but can only sing, programs for children with disabilities, low cost geriatric dentistry, and a lending library of medical equipment for a nominal fee. They told us that they save the Israeli government a huge amount of money every year because they reduce the need to keep hospitals and institutions open by enabling the elderly and people with disabilities to live at home. They showed us a room with Occupational Therapy tools to help people who have been in accidents, including soldiers who have been wounded in war. This is a shoutout to my mom who is an Occupational Therapist! It looked very much like a facility in America, and it warmed my heart to know that this need is being met in other places, in a non-profit organization which relies on donations both from Israel and the United States. We even got to help out cleaning wheelchairs! not the most glamorous work, but it needs to be done- and HUC offered 50 of its finest students to help out!

As Orientation winds down, we have our first Shabbat together as a class, and Ulpan begins bright and mookdam (early) on Sunday (still getting used to the class on Sunday idea). I am looking forward to getting to know this wonderful group of people better, as well as my teachers and this incredible city. It's going to be a great year!