צום קל

   Yom Kippur ended a couple of hours ago, but I cannot fall asleep. Instead, I decided to update my blog. I think that this year has been the easiest fast I have ever had. Last year, I got sick enough that I needed to end the fast a few minutes early. I think I was dehydrated when the fast began so not eating or drinking for another 25 hours was not good. I do have to confess that I have drastically changed my diet in the past year as well. My pre-fast meal consisted of whole wheat/ whole grain challah, tofu and veggies and a combo of lentils and brown rice. The biggest difference is that now I only eat complex carbohydrates, along with foods that are high in protein, and low in fat. This may have had an impact on how easy my fast was.

   I think the key factor in this being an easy fast, was Sod Siach, the Minyan (a group of people who gather to pray) I attended from Shacharit (morning service), through Neilah (ending service). This was exactly like the Minyan I have been attended the past few years for Yom Kippur, but higher energy if that is possible. The services were held in a small space with a low ceiling, and it was packed! By the time we got to the very last part of the service, I felt like I could go a few more hours, easily. I davened with some my peers from Pardes, people I had met from Yeshivat Talpiot, one relative, and someone I went to high school with. It definitely did not hurt that Rabbi Elie Kaunfer, one of the founders of Mechon Hadar, led Neilah. Being surrounded by people I know, who were all contributing, helped to make this Yom Kippur one of my favorites. If I had not decided to come to Israel and Pardes this year, I probably never would have had this amazing experience. I should also mention how cool it was to be able to just hang out in the middle of street in Jerusalem, because there are almost no cars on Yom Kippur. This is certainly something I could never experience anywhere else.  I hope that everyone had as meaningful and as energy filled a fast as I have. If you did not, I hope that you get to experience one like it in the near future. Shana Tova!

סוף השבוע הראשון שלי בפרדס

For anyone who does not read Hebrew, the title is, "The end of my first week at Pardes". Wow! What an amazing week. Great people, great programming, challenging but rewarding work. The one thing that I need to change is the amount of time I spend sitting during the day, it is way too much. My back hurts because of it. I also need to work on my posture, which will probably alleviate the pain. 

So, I should start at the beginning. Last Thursday night, was a meet and greet for new students and my birthday. It was great to finally start meeting people, especially those I had spoken to before. Everyone is really nice. A bunch of people just finished ulpan that day and came right to Pardes from Haifa with all of their belongings. When one of these people heard it was my birthday, she ran to her bag and pulled out a birthday candle and stuck it in a flat pretzel. Sincerely, one of the nicest things someone has done for me literally minutes after meeting. On Friday night, I ended up eating dinner at the home of one of my teachers. I could be wrong, but I don't think there are many schools where this is a regular occurrence, but at Pardes this is.  On Saturday there was a huge potluck lunch on the Tayelet (Has Promenade) for Pardes Students. On Sunday morning (we have class from Sunday through Thursday afternoons) we had the opening circle. Every single person associated with Pardes introduces themselves to the community, this took about two hours. This was very long, but I am glad we were able to do it.  Most of the first day was orientation, but we did have one class. There are also evening classes offered (more like after school activities). I decided to finally, actually learn how to read torah (one of the evening classes). This is one of the ways I am challenging myself this year.

I think the thing that will be most difficult for me is the style we use to learn. I am not talking about Chavruta (working with a study partner or two). I am talking about being giving a text and being sent off the Beit Midrash (literally meaning house of learning). In my limited experience with studying Jewish texts, I have been given a list of key terms and concepts to aid our understanding of the texts. If you don't know much about traditional Jewish texts, they are in Biblical Hebrew, Rabbinic Hebrew, and Aramaic. As you might imagine, learning in these languages requires a lot of trial by error, I usually understand the big picture of what we are learning, but get smaller details wrong. It is only the first week so I am hopeful that after a couple of weeks I will be  used to learning this way. 

The most important thing is that the teachers are inspiring and for the first time I am actually excited about learning Jewish texts. As much as I am feeling challenged I am also having a good time. Shabbat Shalom!

The Museum In My Pocket

This is a story that I meant to post last Friday, but time got away from me. Last week, I went to Marzipan near my Ulpan after a difficult day (I mentioned before that half the time in Ulpan is self study and half is with the teacher. During one of the half hours I was supposed to learn some new words and for what ever reason my brain refused to absorb them). As I was paying, I handed the guy behind the counter a 10 agurot coin. He looks at the coin, then at me and says, "Where did you get this?" I explained that before I came to Israel I went around my parents house to find all the Israeli money that had been brought back from various trips. Then he laughs, holds up the coin and says, "this is very nice but you cannot pay with it."
"What", I said.
He told me that the coin has been out of circulation since 1986.
I paid with real money, went home, and googled Sheckel coins in circulation. Sure enough, the coin had not been legal tender since 1986. So of course I looked at all of the coins I brought with me. Almost all of the very small denomination coins (5 and 10 agurot), were completely useless. These coins only amounted to about 3 dollars, but they are heavy and I brought them all the way from America! The question is, what should I do with them now? 

Consider yourself at home

I am starting to feel at home in Jerusalem. On Sunday, I took the bus to the central bus station and got a RAV-KAV (card that allows you to ride buses at a discounted rate). Then my roommate and I walked over to Machaneh Yehudah (the market). Over all, I was very surprised by how expensive food is in Israel. In the grocery store I paid 9.90 Shekels (about $2.48) per Kilogram for grapes. In the market the same amount is about 5 Shekels (about 1.26). There were so many things I would have bought, but in the end I bought fresh, whole wheat pita. This trip was one of the ways I oriented myself in Jerusalem. The neighborhood I live in is one I was not that familiar with. Seeing it on a map is not the same as walking around. Taking the bus showed me how close I am to the city center and the old city. Today, I walked through the German Colony on a tiyul for my ulpan. This is when I realized how close I live  to one of my landmarks, a youth center, which is at the other end of Emek Refaim from where I am currently staying. Knowing where you are in relation to familiar places helps establish connections to new places.

A note on language:
My courage to speak Hebrew, comes mainly from my participation in a Hebrew immersion program at JTS, last summer. Last Spring, I volunteered at a school where I spend several hours a week in Hebrew classes. I did lose some Hebrew during the year. This is why I am very happy to be in Ulpan this month. Ulpan Or, is a great method, with several pieces; part one is a grammer book, two is a book of exercises aimed at increasing vocabulary (reading comprehension, translating, ect.), three is listening to music with a vocab. list. and lyrics, four is tiyulim (trips around Jerusalem). When we meet for class, half the time we work with a teacher and half the time we work individually with mp3s of all the parts mentioned above On occasion, youtube videos and their e-tone a clever play on the Hebrew word for newspaper. If your students are able to deal with being self directed about their work this is a great method to use.

As for me, when I am around town, I try to speak only hebrew if possible. The exception to this has been opening my bank account. While I know the word for account, and atm card, I wanted to make sure I knew what I was getting into. The only way to overcome a fear is to face it head on. Think about it this way, if you make a mistake while ordering food or talking to a cashier you don't need to be embarrassed because you will probably never see them again. Even if you do it is unlikely that they will remember because they deal with novice Hebrew speakers all the time. Most importantly the only way to get better is to practice.

So time travel is possible...

   I just arrived yesterday and it feels like I have been here for about a week already. I have already gotten lost while trying to find a place to at dinner with my new roommate (RM). We ended up at Tal Bagels on Emek. Before going inside I said, "Tal is a New York bagel place, it will be a taste of home!". RM said, "you have only been here for like 5 minutes!" We went inside and who do I see, but two people from JTS.

I already found my bank, pharmacy, grocery store, and Marzipan off of Emek (this took a little detective work).

 To give you an idea of my journey to Israel:

   A few hours before my flight I checked the status and it said the flight was delayed enough that I would miss my connecting flight at Heathrow. I was able to change to an earlier flight, but could not switch to the vegetarian meal (I never order the Kosher meal when I fly, most of the time it is meat) because it was too close to the flight. We left the house at 2:20 first to pick my sister up from camp, then to pick up my father at 125th St. in NYC. We got the the airport at 5 PM for my 6:50 flight. Luckily, I was still 20 minuets early because the terminal is small. The first flight was uneventful, I watched part of Juile and Julia and tried to sleep. 

   Heathrow Airport is one of the most beautiful airports I have ever seen, even nicer then Ben Gurion! Still I had trouble there as well. When you have a connecting flight, you need to go through security again. Before security you show a british version of a TSA agent your ticket and they make sure you are in the right terminal. This a very good thing because had I gone right to my next flight, I would have found that I was taken off of it. Long story short, after 20 minutes I was back on the flight and I set of to spend the one pound I had in my Wallet, which is not that hard to do. The airport was deserted, at least it seemed that way because the international terminal was huge compared to the British Airways terminal at JFK. The second flight had several young children on it, including one old enough to kick my seat, but not old enough to understand proper airplane etiquette. This was fine because I spent about 1/4 of the flight standing. 

   It took about 5 seconds for me to get though customs at the airport, both my suitcases made it with me despite the removal from my second flight. I hopped on a Sherut (shared taxi) bound for Jerusalem and got a mini tour of my neighborhood. When I had trouble finding the apartment someone from the next building helped me find it and helped bring my bags.      

       

Next Stop Everywhere

I meant to post this last week and did not get around to it:

  Next week I am off to Israel for 10 months. The main thing I will be doing is studying Jewish Texts at the Pardes Institute in Jerusalem. I never did a gap year program or studied abroad during college. This will be my first solo trip to another country. Luckily, I do speak the language, though many Israelis do speak English, and sort of know my way around Jerusalem.

 I will also be skyping with students from the religious school I have been teaching at for the past three years. This will supplement their Israel curriculum. Through stories, pictures and videos about my encounters with Israeli culture and people, I will give them a clearer picture of what it means to be Israeli and help create stronger ties to the land.

Oh! I will have a brief layover in London...During the Olympics.

The Post Limmud NY High

   I have not posted in a while because my life has been extremely busy. Over the past few months I have been planning for Limmud NY with the Steering Committee, as one of the coordinators of the Family and Camp Team. I finished my Masters Degree in Jewish Education. I still teach religious school, and I now have an internship with the Schechter Day School Network. I also have another teaching internship pending. Now starts the search for a "real job".
 
   Limmud NY has just ended and I am still feeling the adrenaline rush of the weekend.
In fact every time I attend a Jewish Learning Conference I feel the same way. I am optimistic about my future and the future of Jewish Education and peoplehood.