Classes

Classes have been in Session for a while now so I think it's time to tell you all about what I'm learning!

Hebrew
Ok there's not much I can say about Hebrew. We have Hebrew 4 days a week for 1.5 hours (3 hours on Tuesdays, how lucky). It's a lot of verb drills, newspaper reading, vocabulary learning, and talking. I have to say that my favorite day of the week is news day because we read real Israeli newspapers and listen to the real news- we have a lot of help from our teacher, but it's fun to be reading what the Israelis read!

Classical Grammar
I love our teacher, but this is a reinforcement of what I learned in Dave McCreery's class (Hi Dave!) in college. It's nice to have a class where I feel confident and on top of everything.

Tanach (Bible)
Basically my favorite thing to do, 4.5 hours a week. We go through the text in Hebrew, translate, and discuss the nuances in Hebrew and in the larger Biblical context. It's a blast.

Ancient History- 2nd Temple Period
A continuation of the 1st Temple Period archaeology class we had over the summer. Basically a lecture class, the title speaks for itself.

Liturgy
Taught by a Rabbi who works with the Shalom Hartman Institute and who comes with rave reviews. It's a fun class where we go through the Israeli Prayerbook "Rinat Yisrael" and translate and discuss the prayer service. One of the goals of the course is that we will be able to pick up any prayerbook and feel comfortable with it. I am definitely looking forward to learning the ins and outs of the siddur.

Modern Zionist History
With the lovely Paul Liptz whom I met when he was in Portland last year lecturing for the Federation's Community Relation's Council. This class is fascinationg, especially since before this year I have learned basically nothing about modern Israel Zionist History.

Israel Seminar
In this class, we learn about Modern Israeli History and Society by taking Tiyyuliim (field trips) around Israel. A very fun way to learn about Israel outside of the classroom, but still with the direction of Dave Mendelsson.

In addition to 7 classes at HUC, I am also taking voice lessons with the lovely Sonia Nizny (a Significant Other of a Cantorial Student). It has been a nice creative outlet for the stress of living in Israel and studying almost nonstop.

I'm also starting a Rabbinic Students Seminar with the Shalom Hartman Institute! I haven't started yet, but here is the basic concept. Rabbinic students from different movements get together to study texts such as the Zohar and also to discuss various topics such as "the soul of the sinner: from chet to geulah". Needless to say it should be a fascinating and challenging opportunity. It's also led by Rabbi Bill Berk, formerly of Temple Chai in Phoenix, Arizona!

I'm also busy writing my first HUC D'var Torah on parsaha Toldot- if you'd like to give me any insights, they are all welcome!

So if you all are wondering why I don't write as often, this post should give you a better idea of what is keeping me busy over here.

I hope everyone Stateside is doing well!

Aharei HaHagim

Israelis have a saying אחרי החגים that means "after the holidays" and I never quite understood it until living in Israel for the holidays. Basically everything stops during the months of September and the beginning of October, and as soon as Simchat Torah is over in October, everything picks back up again in full force. It is quite a strange phenomena and while it was nice to have experienced it, I am glad that everything is up and running again! This also means that I have not blogged in ages, but hopefully I will be able to get back into the swing of things again.

My High Holy Day experience was incredible, I have written A LOT about it, but it was much too wordy to post on a blog, if you are interested in reading let me know and I can send it to you!
We had a 10 day break during Sukkot and my boyfriend Jason came all the way from Portland to visit! It was a wonderful and relaxing vacation, and I'm posting some pictures below.







My first meal in a Sukkah! Nearly every restaurant in Jerusalem turned its patio, or the walkway in front of the restaurant, into a sukkah! This is Jason and I eating at an asian restaurant











We went up to Haifa for a couple of days and had a wonderful trip! This is Jason and I on the Mediterranean right before sunset.

I posted pictures from the Baha'i Gardens in my post about my first trip to Haifa, so here's a non-scenic picture of Jason and I at the Gardens!

(ps, contrary to what you may think, the Trailblazers did not actually pay Jason to wear their shirts every day in Israel...)

We went to the Kotel!

School has been back in session for a couple of weeks now, and boy is it busy! I am taking 8 courses plus a program at the Hartman Institute where I get together with Rabbinic Students from the other movements to study Texts every week. Look for more posts about my classes!

It's beginning to look at lot like Rosh Hashanah

Shana Tova!

Well the time has finally arrived to put on our fanciest clothes (which in Israel means clean crocs and a fancy top), bake our favorite sweet apple recipes, break out the nice china, and spend 2 full days in Synagogue. That's right, it's Rosh Hashanah!

If you think preparing for the Hagim (Holy Days) in America is cool, try doing it in Jerusalem! Think of it in terms of Christmas in the wintery states in America. About 2 months before the holiday the santas and decorations start appearing, people start saying merry christmas in their cheeriest voices, the music appears on the radio, and then boom. It's Christmas. I wrote a post at the beginning of the month of Elul and said that Rosh Chodesh Elul (the first day of Elul) begins the month long preparations for the High Holy Days. We heard the Shofar blown every morning, we went to Selichot services, and people started wishing each other a Shana Tova (a good year) on the streets. In certain places in America, we are lucky if someone on the streets even knows what Rosh Hashanah is. In Jerusalem, it's a standard greeting at grocery stores, the gas station, even to a stranger on the bus. It is hard to ignore the Rosh Hashanah spirit!

This year, Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbat which makes it extra fun becase we get to add in some of the special Shabbat prayers, but also less fun because we do not hear the Shofar on the first day because it is against Jewish Law to sound the shofar (a musical instrument) on Shabbat. I took a little walk up my street Emek Refaim to see what kind of last minute preparations were going on. The grocery stores were all busting with people who had forgotten a jar of honey, or a bottle of wine, or whatever they were cooking for this festive meal. outside the stores are tables set up by people selling gift baskets filled with apples, honey, wine, and other sweet things- all of the baskets adored with labels wishing people a "shana tova" or "chag sameach". All of the boutique Judaica stores had tables outside selling pomegranante candlesticks and honey jars. Even in our own building I can smell the various meals being prepared- briscuit, kugel, cholent, baked apples and honey.

Jerusalem during Rosh Hashanah is a wonderful place to experience. I'm sure I will have plenty more to say after 2 days of services and quiet streets. But for now, I am wishing you all a happy, healthy, and sweet New Year!

A Sign outside a popular restaurant called "Little Italy"

a box of chocolates with a "Shana Tova" greeting on the box!

A Sign in the window of a clothing store that says "Chag Sameach" meaning Happy Holy Day

a poster on the side of a building that says "shana tova"

In my family we always joke that while we are eating one meal, we are already planning the next. Well in Israel, the same goes for Holy Days. Before Celebrating Rosh Hashanah, people are already looking towards Sukkot. This sign just cracked me up.

Milah Monday

Word #1
ספרים
Meaning: Books
Pronounced: se-far-im
Sentence: On my first days of class this week, I bought a lot of new ספרים.

Word #2
שיעורים
Meaning: Lessons
Pronounced: she-oor-im
Sentence: Every day we have a lot of different שיעורים on subjects like Hebrew, Tanach, Liturgy, and more!

Word #3
שיעורי בית
Meaning: Homework- Literally "lessons at home"
Pronounced: she-oor-ey Ba-yit
Sentence: Taking 8 classes each semester means I have a lot of שיעורי בית every night.

3 days in the Golan and Galilee

This week all of the first year students went on a Tiyyul to Northern Israel. The theme of our week was "In Search of the New Jew" and we spoke a lot about the 3 big waves of immigration to Israel beginning before the State was established.

The first stop on our Journey was a city called Zichron Yaakov which was one of the first settlement cities in Israel during the First Aliyah in 1881 (for more info on the First Aliyah- here's the wiki site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Aliyah). We spoke about their difficulties in turning that region of Israel from a swamp land into a viable and thriving place for people to live. For more information about Zichron Yaakov, visit this website: http://www.gemsinisrael.com/e_article000004384.htm. It is now a very quaint city with shops and restaurants, I would definitely recommend that if you are in Israel to visit Zichron Yaakov!

We left Zichron Yaakov for the springs in Sachne. While most of Israel is dessert, the Galilee and Golan areas have much more running water and springs. Sachne is a beautiful site with cold water springs and waterfalls. We spent a lovely afternoon swimming in the springs and enjoying the cool weather and water!

In the evening we met with our Modern Israeli History teachers Paul and Jeremy. Jeremy showed us clips of movies about several different periods in Israel History during the major immigration periods. These discussions were very interesting to me and I am looking forward to learning more about Modern Israel history during this year. Israel is a very old place, and at the same time it is a very new place. The ways in which it is ancient are mostly obvious. However, it can be difficult to see Israel as a new country, especially when we spend so much time in Jerusalem which hasn't changed all that much in a while. During our sessions on this Tiyyul, we spoke about the "New Jew" and the Aliyot (immigrations) to Israel which happened BEFORE it became a state in 1948. Before these immigrations Israel was barren and swampy, and the first settlers worked the lands to make it liveable and beautiful as it is today. This Tiyyul helped me to understand the work that went into creating the Modern State of Israel, which helps to explain the pride that Israelis feel for the land itself.

In the morning on Day 2 we travelled to Tel Hai, which was another early settlement town. Tel Hai is in the Upper Galilee in an area disputed between Israel and Syria. There is a very interesting story about a battle that took place at Tel Hai which left 8 Settlers Dead including the famous Soldier Joseph Trumpledore. For more information, here's the wiki site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tel_Hai. At the end of the battle, the Settlement was burned to the ground, but archaeologists have reconstructed it as a National Monument to the first Settlers of Modern Israel. Below is a picture inside the Settlement.

After Tel Hai we visited the city of Metullah, which is the northernmost city in Israel at the border between Israel and Lebanon. At this stop we spoke about the security issues in Northern Israel and the Golan Heights. Today, these borders are relatively quiet, and I was surprised to see that at this point in the border in Lebanon there is not even a fence or border crossing. However, there is not a peace agreement between the two countries and nobody is allowed to cross these borders. The picture below is taken from Metullah, and it is looking into Lebanon. Looks like a fun place to visit, I hear the food is fantastic! I hope that one day soon a peace agreement will allow people to travel between these two great countries.

We departed Metullah for the Golan Heights and the Israel-Syria border. While only a 15 minute drive, the landscape of the Upper Galilee and The Golan Heights could not be more different. The Golan Heights are beautiful and almost Pacific Northwest-esque with thick green trees and a lot of wind. So much media attention is given to the conflict in the West Bank and Gaza, that it is sometimes easy to forget that the Golan Heights has also been a heavily disputed area. The borders were redrawn in 1973 after the war, and while the border is quiet today, there are many remnants of war in this area. We sat in an old Syrian Army Bunker and heard the story of Eli Cohen, an Israeli spy who helped Israel during the war by reporting on the location of Syrian troops in The Golan. Our teacher, Paul Liptz, told us stories about his army service in the Golan and Upper Galilee during the War. He told us one story about a mine field he encountered: a cow walking a few meters in front of him stepped on a mine which exploded at which point Paul and his fellow soldiers realized they were standing in a live mine field and they had to walk very carefully to safety, not knowing which step may be their last. These mine fields still decorate the Syria/Israel Border in the Golan Heights, although they are well marked today.

A tank left over from the war. Now it is a chilling reminder of the war and the conflict that still exists.

A sign blocking off a mine field- we saw a lot of these signs and barbed wire fences blocking off the fields.

On day 3 we visited Tel Dan, one of the most archaeological sites in Israel. We had the distinct pleasure of spending the day at Tel Dan with David Ilan, our professor and one of the archaeologists who conducts excavations at the site that has been excavated by HUC for a long time. Tel Dan was a very interesting site to visit because it shows an entire city including a Temple for worship and sacrifices. Most recently at Tel Dan, they have uncovered a gate dating to the Bronze Age that they are calling "Abraham's Gate" because it is mentioned during Abraham's travels in the Torah. Below is a picture of the gate. Archaeologists are still deciding the vailidity of whether or not Abraham stood here, but it is pretty cool to think that I could have stood at that same place where Abraham stood!

After visiting the archaeological site at Tel Dan, we walked through what has been made into a nature reserve. It is a beautiful and lush area with running spring water! For about 15 minutes, I felt as though I was back in the Pacific Northwest in Marshal Park!

Milah Monday!

This week's words are related to the recent change in temperature in Jerusalem!

Word #1
מזג אוויר
Pronounced: Mezeg Avir
Sentence: This week, there has been a change in the מזג אוויר in Jerusalem.

Word #2
חם
Pronounced: Cham
Sentenced: Usually, it is very חם in Jerusalem.

Word #3
סתיו
Pronounced: stahm
Sentenced: The מזג אוויר in Jerusalem this week changed from חם to פחות חם (less hot), I hope it's a sign that סתיו is here.

Haifa

This past week we have been on vacation between Summer Hebrew Ulpan and the Fall academic semester, and it couldn't have come at a better time! I already wrote a bit about our camping trip in the Jerusalem foothills, which was a great way to start my vacation. On Sunday, some friends and I decided to go to Haifa (a city about 2 hours north of Jerusalem and on the coast) for the night. Haifa is known for being a very secular city, meaning not very many kosher restaurants, etc. Basically Haifa is the opposite of Jerusalem, and it was the perfect place to go on vacation.

Usually when travelling between cities in Israel we take either a sheirut (10 person taxi) or the bus. The bus is the cheapest way to travel but the central bus station is a balagan (chaotic mess)and can be very difficult to navigate. Plus, you have to deal with the scary driving on Israel highways. For this trip, we traveled by train, and it was a great experience! this was my first time on a train besides the mini-trains at the railroad park by my parents' house. There are trains between jerusalem/tel aviv/haifa every half hour or so. The train station is very easy to navigate and the trains themselves are much nicer- there is air conditioning, comfortable seats, a bathroom, and you can get up and walk around. It took about an hour longer to get to Haifa, but we put Planet Earth on our laptop and had a blast!

We arrived in Haifa in the afternoon and headed straight to the beach. All due respect to the beautiful Oregon Coast, the Haifa beach is amazing. The weather was perfect, not too hot or humid, and the water was beautiful. I channeled my father for a couple of hours letting the waves bang against me and push me around the water, soaking up the warm saltwater and sand. We had dinner at a restaurant right on the beach, and I was able to snap a few pictures of the beautiful sunset.

After dinner, we made our way to the top of Haifa where we heard there is an incredible view of the city and the bay. It turns out, they are right about the view. It was so beautiful! People there say that the view of Haifa at night rivals the view of San Francisco at night, and I can see where they get that idea from. From Haifa you can see into Northern Israel cities as well as the bay on the Mediterranean sea, definitely a sight to behold.

The next day we made plans to see the Baha'i Gardens. I'm not an expert on the Baha'i Gardens, so if you'd like to learn more about their history, go to this website: http://www.ganbahai.org.il/en/. and I strongly suggest that you do read up on the Gardens, it is fascinating! It is very interesting for me that the strongest religious presence as far as land/property in Haifa, is not Jewish, but Baha'i. The Gardens start at the top of Haifa, and there are 17 (I think, it could actually be 19) beautiful terraces going down the hill. From the top of the Gardens, you can see most of the city and the coast. Here are some pictures!

After the Baha'i Gardens we were supposed to get back on the Train and head home, but we were having such a good time that we decided to stay another night in Haifa! We mostly relaxed the rest of the day at the hotel and the beach! It was a fantastic vacation!