Just a few quick notes.
Thursday was another good day of classes. We got our first assignment in my Emergence of Modern State of Israel class--so far so good. The music class is also going well and it turns out that one of the people in my class played a role in the Israeli equivalent of the Broadway show "Hair". She's one of three people in my class who is not of university age (we're trying to get her to sing for the next class!). My Jerusalem the Gold class with the less-than-amazing teacher went from 9 people to 4 people. That said, I thought the second day was better than the first. More on that in a minute.
Thursday night we went out and met up with a friend of mine from Ramah Nitza Sherman. She and her friend and spending a month in Israel before going to Greece for a week--rough life. Friday, Dani, Elana, Meredith and I went to the Macheneh Yahudah shuk and got food for Shabbos dinner. Dani and I played "spot the foreigner"--he won. The rest of the afternoon we spent cooking (we had a total of 11 people for dinner!). My two years of living off campus and having to cook for myself are finally paying off! For shabbos I went with a group of friends to Shirah Chadasha. I've been there a few times before but I have never seen it so packed, literally standing room only. They run a "conserva-dox" service where men and women are separate but they participate equally in the service leading and obligations. There was a good mix of Israelis and visitors as well including my friends Yoni and Michal Shear, Judah Ferst, Talya, Sarah, and Ilya who just finished Birthright. Talya goes back to the US today after being here for almost a year--hope you got back safely Tals! After services I walked back to Kfar Studentim, it was SO nice outside. Also, coming from Spokane/Seattle, it is such a different atmosphere walking home on Shabbos in Jerusalem. Everyone was outside doing the same thing as me, cool :-D
Today has been very laid back. Most of my roommates went home for Shabbat and a lot of the people living in Kfar Studentim (including Ariel and Leora who arrived Thursday) weren't here. I also found out today that my Jerusalem the Gold class is going from 4 people...to 1. ME. Yea. Mano y mano. It'll be interesting to see whether or not Hebrew U decides to drop the course. Tonight a bunch of us are going to a free concert on the top of Masada being put on by David Broza (I think I previously told people or wrote someone different... I was wrong!) and Jackson Browne. It's supposed to start at sunrise! Should be great.
On a completely different note, Kevin Durant is now a Supersonic. Ray Allen is not. Being in Israel puts me at quite a distance from all this stuff, but it's pretty unbelievable. My take is that Seattle management is going with a young group in anticipation of moving cities. I would love to be wrong... but I won't be surprised if it's the Las Vegas/Oklahoma City Supersonics by this time next year. Oh well, maybe the UW team will take over as Seattle's bball team?
I hope you all are doing well, I'm really enjoying my time in Israel! If you want to visit, just let me know :-D
Col tuv and Shabat Shalom,
Avi
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
I realize that my posts are a little confusing. Often I have been writing them before I go to sleep and planning to send them the next morning... so that's why the post on Thursday says that it's Tuesday night--sorry. Well, right now it is just after midnight on Thursday, I finished my first day of classes and am getting more and more settled. I have class from 9:30 until 5pm each day not including an hour and a half for lunch and some other short breaks inbetween. Nonetheless, it is a lot. The first class is "The Emergence of the Modern State of Israel" with all the students who are participating in the Summer Institute for Israel Studies. There are about 25 of us. The class is really nice and we cover a lot in a short amount of time. Also, my teacher is very good and really has made an effort to keep everyone comfortable and interested.
During the break I ate lunch with a friend from class before getting to my next class, "Israeli society as Reflected Through Music, Literature, and Film." Another good class...with only 7 people. Ruthie is in the class with me along with her cousin and our friend Stan. This class has a weird set-up though--there are three teachers who take turns teaching over the course of the month. So we started with music and the woman busted through almost 100 years of music history and the changes going on in Palestine musically before the founding of the State of Israel. She didn't hesitate to voice her frustration of having to go so quickly which made things pretty funny for the rest of us.
The last class of the day is "Jerusalem the Gold" which is through a different Summer Institute (there are three: Israel studies, middle east studies, and bible studies). Again this class was really small--only had 9 people. Prior to beginning classes, this was the one I was most excited about. The syllabus said we were going to look at the history of Jerusalem with trips to different archaeological sites to further explore... well... that's not exactly true. We are looking at the earliest mentions of Jerusalem dating back to before the First Temple Period to the destruction of the First Temple (586 BCE). In my course with Martin Jaffe at UW this year, I think we covered that section in about 15 minutes. yea. Should be interesting. Anyway, the teacher is also a bit nuts (I told her I was majoring in Anthropology and she decided that meant I am an Anthropologist and should be able to answer any and all questions regarding the processes and strategies Anthropologists use in their field work...) but I think the class will work out.
After class I took the group bus to shop for a bit before talking to Yoni Shear, another Ramah connection. Now that I think of it, in the midst of the craziness today I saw a lot of people I know--Talia from mishlachat at Ramah, Jen Adler, Michal Shear, and Stacy Raab from when I worked in New Orleans! Anyway, the night has ended well, I ate dinner with my roommates, did a lot of reading for my classes, and hung out with friends. So it really is still Thursday this time. Hope you all are doing well - maybe I'll get some pictures up sometime soon :-D
Col tuv,
AVI
During the break I ate lunch with a friend from class before getting to my next class, "Israeli society as Reflected Through Music, Literature, and Film." Another good class...with only 7 people. Ruthie is in the class with me along with her cousin and our friend Stan. This class has a weird set-up though--there are three teachers who take turns teaching over the course of the month. So we started with music and the woman busted through almost 100 years of music history and the changes going on in Palestine musically before the founding of the State of Israel. She didn't hesitate to voice her frustration of having to go so quickly which made things pretty funny for the rest of us.
The last class of the day is "Jerusalem the Gold" which is through a different Summer Institute (there are three: Israel studies, middle east studies, and bible studies). Again this class was really small--only had 9 people. Prior to beginning classes, this was the one I was most excited about. The syllabus said we were going to look at the history of Jerusalem with trips to different archaeological sites to further explore... well... that's not exactly true. We are looking at the earliest mentions of Jerusalem dating back to before the First Temple Period to the destruction of the First Temple (586 BCE). In my course with Martin Jaffe at UW this year, I think we covered that section in about 15 minutes. yea. Should be interesting. Anyway, the teacher is also a bit nuts (I told her I was majoring in Anthropology and she decided that meant I am an Anthropologist and should be able to answer any and all questions regarding the processes and strategies Anthropologists use in their field work...) but I think the class will work out.
After class I took the group bus to shop for a bit before talking to Yoni Shear, another Ramah connection. Now that I think of it, in the midst of the craziness today I saw a lot of people I know--Talia from mishlachat at Ramah, Jen Adler, Michal Shear, and Stacy Raab from when I worked in New Orleans! Anyway, the night has ended well, I ate dinner with my roommates, did a lot of reading for my classes, and hung out with friends. So it really is still Thursday this time. Hope you all are doing well - maybe I'll get some pictures up sometime soon :-D
Col tuv,
AVI
It is Tuesday evening and I begin classes at Hebrew University tomorrow. It has been a whirlwind last couple of days moving around, meeting people, and getting oriented. Monday morning I very happily left the hostel and spent the morning at the Robinson excavations in the Old City of Jerusalem. Archaeology has always fascinated me and actually was a major reason I chose to study anthropology in university. Also interesting to note that originally the word coined in Hebrew for “archaeology/archaeologist” was derived from the verb “to reveal”—however, today, we say “archaeologia” because the original word (to reveal) is used when you describe strippers. I’ve never heard of an archaeologist who was a stripper in their spare time, but it would be a great Hebrew pun.
Anyway, what made my time at the excavations so much more interesting were my interactions with the different groups there and comparing my previous experiences in the location to today’s layout. First a little frame of reference, the Robinson excavations are all around the Western Wall. Earlier this year there were Arab riots over the continuing excavation in the area because there was concern that the excavations were aimed at weakening the foundation of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Having been there yesterday, I can tell you first hand—that is ridiculous. The work being done now is no where NEAR the mosque and certainly not below it to disturb any foundations. Historically, the Robinson excavations uncovered the life of Israel from the second temple period (up until 70 CE). The temple used to be only used for religious purposes, specifically sacrifices. People would travel to Jerusalem to make an offering usually coinciding with a festival or planting/harvest season. The excavations uncovered what was the market outside the synagogue where people could pay for sacrifices or trade goods. This was also the place where the cohenim (priests) and levites (2nd in command) would read Torah during the week—the origin of reading Torah on Monday and Thursday mornings in addition to Shabbat! The idea was for the commoners to fulfil the mitzvah (and obligation) of hearing the parsha without ever having to disturb their normal shopping routine. Cool, eh?
Directly behind the market were ritual baths that were used to purify oneself before making the sacrifice. These are really cool because there is a path to walk down the “dirty” side and a path to emerge from after being immersed in the water. Lots of Jews still go to the mikveh to purify themselves. From there you would walk up Robinson’s Arch (aptly named after the guy who found it) into the Temple Mount to make your sacrifice. Basically, in case you can’t tell, I am REALLY into all of the archaeology/history of this site…but I tend to ramble, so I will move on ☺.
After my time at the archaeology site, I taxied to the Ramah offices in Jerusalem to have lunch with my friend Arie Hasit. Arie is working with the Ramah Seminar groups who are in Israel for six weeks during the summer and is studying for his masters at Tel Aviv University. Ami Yares, another good friend who’s been living here all year, is also working there for the summer. His band Holler! plays at a local pub each week. It was fun seeing who else I knew that was there—turns out my cousin Yoni “G” Grundland, who was in Israel for the last six months, roommate and good friend is also working for Ramah Seminar. Yoni, if you’re reading this, he (and I) say hi!
That late-afternoon I went to Kfar hastudentim (the Hebrew U student village) to spend the night with Ariel who has been studying Arabic there for his PhD program at Northwestern. He met me outside…and walked right by me! Didn’t recognize me with all the hair and sunglasses—my hair is the longest it has ever been, yikes. It was great to see him. We hung out for the rest of the day, made dinner, and I crashed at his place in anticipation of getting my own room the next day (today).
Tuesday morning I walked to the Hebrew University campus to register. It was really hot out and it made the walk a bit less comfortable than preferred. The campus is still filled with Israelis because of the student-strike last month over tuition prices. I really like hearing all the Hebrew as I walk through the campus, however, when I got to the International School, it was as if I was not in Israel at all! Everyone was speaking English, all the signs are in English, and no one will speak Hebrew to you unless you initiate it and CONTINUE using it as the conversation progresses. Not my favorite attribute of the school so far.
One great thing has been the people. They are wonderful. I have met students from around the country and world. Most are Jewish, but not all. Also, my group, the Summer Institute for Israel Studies, is relatively small so it has been a nice change of pace from the masses of people at the UW. After orientation and a short tour of campus I got my housing assignment…twice. The first time the keys to the apartment didn’t open the door to my room, so I ended up five floors above Ariel in a cluster with four Israelis! It is a wonderful situation to be in because I want to continue progressing in my Hebrew but I am able to walk outside and see friends from my classes—and besides, the roommates are all very nice and fun to hangout with!
Aside from the confusion of classes, translations, and necessities, I am working hard on learning everyone’s names. Also, my friend Dani Charles, who I went to Israel with four years ago, worked with at Ramah, and is Avi’s cousin, is here for the summer as well—always nice to spend time with him. There seems to be more and more students that I know who are here for some program or another—it’s nice!
Anyway, that’s enough for now—I think it’s shorter than last time. Classes start tomorrow and I need sleep! Good night for now.
Col tuv,
AVI
Anyway, what made my time at the excavations so much more interesting were my interactions with the different groups there and comparing my previous experiences in the location to today’s layout. First a little frame of reference, the Robinson excavations are all around the Western Wall. Earlier this year there were Arab riots over the continuing excavation in the area because there was concern that the excavations were aimed at weakening the foundation of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Having been there yesterday, I can tell you first hand—that is ridiculous. The work being done now is no where NEAR the mosque and certainly not below it to disturb any foundations. Historically, the Robinson excavations uncovered the life of Israel from the second temple period (up until 70 CE). The temple used to be only used for religious purposes, specifically sacrifices. People would travel to Jerusalem to make an offering usually coinciding with a festival or planting/harvest season. The excavations uncovered what was the market outside the synagogue where people could pay for sacrifices or trade goods. This was also the place where the cohenim (priests) and levites (2nd in command) would read Torah during the week—the origin of reading Torah on Monday and Thursday mornings in addition to Shabbat! The idea was for the commoners to fulfil the mitzvah (and obligation) of hearing the parsha without ever having to disturb their normal shopping routine. Cool, eh?
Directly behind the market were ritual baths that were used to purify oneself before making the sacrifice. These are really cool because there is a path to walk down the “dirty” side and a path to emerge from after being immersed in the water. Lots of Jews still go to the mikveh to purify themselves. From there you would walk up Robinson’s Arch (aptly named after the guy who found it) into the Temple Mount to make your sacrifice. Basically, in case you can’t tell, I am REALLY into all of the archaeology/history of this site…but I tend to ramble, so I will move on ☺.
After my time at the archaeology site, I taxied to the Ramah offices in Jerusalem to have lunch with my friend Arie Hasit. Arie is working with the Ramah Seminar groups who are in Israel for six weeks during the summer and is studying for his masters at Tel Aviv University. Ami Yares, another good friend who’s been living here all year, is also working there for the summer. His band Holler! plays at a local pub each week. It was fun seeing who else I knew that was there—turns out my cousin Yoni “G” Grundland, who was in Israel for the last six months, roommate and good friend is also working for Ramah Seminar. Yoni, if you’re reading this, he (and I) say hi!
That late-afternoon I went to Kfar hastudentim (the Hebrew U student village) to spend the night with Ariel who has been studying Arabic there for his PhD program at Northwestern. He met me outside…and walked right by me! Didn’t recognize me with all the hair and sunglasses—my hair is the longest it has ever been, yikes. It was great to see him. We hung out for the rest of the day, made dinner, and I crashed at his place in anticipation of getting my own room the next day (today).
Tuesday morning I walked to the Hebrew University campus to register. It was really hot out and it made the walk a bit less comfortable than preferred. The campus is still filled with Israelis because of the student-strike last month over tuition prices. I really like hearing all the Hebrew as I walk through the campus, however, when I got to the International School, it was as if I was not in Israel at all! Everyone was speaking English, all the signs are in English, and no one will speak Hebrew to you unless you initiate it and CONTINUE using it as the conversation progresses. Not my favorite attribute of the school so far.
One great thing has been the people. They are wonderful. I have met students from around the country and world. Most are Jewish, but not all. Also, my group, the Summer Institute for Israel Studies, is relatively small so it has been a nice change of pace from the masses of people at the UW. After orientation and a short tour of campus I got my housing assignment…twice. The first time the keys to the apartment didn’t open the door to my room, so I ended up five floors above Ariel in a cluster with four Israelis! It is a wonderful situation to be in because I want to continue progressing in my Hebrew but I am able to walk outside and see friends from my classes—and besides, the roommates are all very nice and fun to hangout with!
Aside from the confusion of classes, translations, and necessities, I am working hard on learning everyone’s names. Also, my friend Dani Charles, who I went to Israel with four years ago, worked with at Ramah, and is Avi’s cousin, is here for the summer as well—always nice to spend time with him. There seems to be more and more students that I know who are here for some program or another—it’s nice!
Anyway, that’s enough for now—I think it’s shorter than last time. Classes start tomorrow and I need sleep! Good night for now.
Col tuv,
AVI
Monday, June 25, 2007
Sometimes the best way to tell if you are having an exciting trip is by counting the number of times you say, “Ok, things could be worse.” This sounds a little pessimistic but I don’t mean it to be. Sunday afternoon I left Tel Aviv, the beach, the night life (bars and clubs), and the couch in Sarah’s apartment for Jerusalem, the Kotel, the night life (…in the old city? Not so much… maybe getting lost in the Muslim Quarter…? yea there’s a story to go with this), and the Heritage Hostel—a free place to sleep as long as you don’t mind the constant encouragement to increase your Judaism. SO. Where do I begin? How about Saturday?
Saturday, Shabbat, I rested. Then I went to the beach to rest some more. Tel Aviv is a funny place to observe Shabbat mainly because it seems like no one does. I don’t pretend to have my religious stuff all figured out, but it was pretty weird to not do or see anyone else do ANYTHING for Shabbat. I have a feeling Jerusalem will fill that need come next week. Saturday night, Sarah, Talya and I took a sheirut (BIG taxi that goes city to city) to Jerusalem to meet up with some friends who are in Israel with the UWashington Birthright Trip. Sarah Lawson, a friend who’s worked at the UW Hillel for the last two years, is leading the trip with my friend Judah who I met when I worked at Ramah Poconos. Always a small world. Shirah Rosin, another close friend who’s been in Israel all year studying at Pardes and working, also joined us even though she had to be up early the next morning ☺ Ilya Golovaty, my old roommate, is on the trip along with a bunch of other friends from school—it was really really nice to spend some time catching up and swapping stories.
After the Birthright group left, we met up with more friends from random places. The Edelstein family - Jason (who I’ve been hearing about for the last three years, he went to UW, and FINALLY met), Nathaniel (who I met at Hebrew U when I visited Andrea K, Tamara, Andrea S, Talya, and Shauna in December), and Ruthie (who is a good friend of Jody’s that I met randomly at UW and then again in Israel AND is enrolled in the same Hebrew U program as me for the next month), my friend Adam Levine who I know from CSS days… 3rd grade?, and then Aaron Taylor from Spokane who was randomly with my friend Elana Beale! All in all, LOTS of people, LOTS of different connections—a great night!
That brings me to Sunday. OHHHHH Sunday. What a day. First, I met up with Shira Rand-Lakritz who came down from Kfar Vradim to visit and we spent the majority of the early-afternoon braving the heat and chatting. Sidenote: those guys who are selling the little slushies are making a KILLING in this weather—I bought two within a half-hour and probably could have used more… Anyway, Shira and I went through the Tel Aviv shuk, I bought sunglasses so I don’t have to squint anymore. Niiiiiiiiice.
Later, Shira met up with other friends and I went back to Sarah’s to pack and go to Jerusalem. It took me a while to get my stuff together but it worked out and I only had to pay about $15 to get from Sarah’s apartment to Jerusalem (an hour’s drive away). Not bad. Grabbed a quick bite and then took a monit (taxi) to the hostel where I am staying. I got a tip from a friend about the Heritage Hostel—she said, it’s free and close to the Kotel (the western wall). Basically the only people who live around the Kotel are super religious or studying in yeshiva on their way to being super religious, so I probably should have put 1 and 1 together quicker than I did. The Heritage Hostel welcomed me with open arms—seriously, the guy hugged me. Then he proceeded to ask me for every piece of info that he could think of, we’re talking favorite ice cream, what I want to do with my life, how many kids, how I feel about Judaism—the whole shebang. Don’t worry Mom and Dad, I told him we were in the midst of moving and didn’t have an address or telephone number…
After the interrogation, I received sheets, a towel, and an “I hope you’ll join us for study in the morning—but only if you’d like to.” Yea. Thanks David. So the hostel locks its doors at midnight and it was only 9:30 so I headed out to explore. I have a great sense of direction and can usually figure out where I am without a problem. But Jerusalem’s neighborhoods are weird. Every road turns into another road even when you haven’t turned, there are almost no straight paths and the hills mean nothing—you walk UP to get the store and somehow you’re walking UP when you leave…even though you’re going the opposite direction…this makes no sense. Well, couple that with talking on the phone with Mom and you get Avi walking NOT towards the Kotel like he thought, but into the Temple Mount/Dome of the Rock. For the uninitiated—you can’t just do that…which a policeman told me very nicely. And by nicely I mean without shooting me.
So I made it to the Kotel. It is another beautiful night (maybe you should assume that every night is beautiful from now on unless I say otherwise? …still batting 1.000) and I sat out by the Kotel for probably just over an hour. Even though I wasn’t praying or even standing at the wall, it was nice and very relaxing. Also got me thinking about something a friend of mine said, “If Judaism teaches that G-d is everywhere, why is it more holy to pray at a wall than anywhere else?” Hmmmmmmm. While I could debate this for a while, my short answer is that Judaism puts a lot of emphasis on our people’s shared history and the Kotel is the most physical memory of the holiest place in our history. Of course, I think the holiest moments in my life have come in other places… so what does that mean? Clearly, there’s more to talk about later.
Around 11pm I decided to go back to the hostel. I left the area by the Kotel the same way I entered (which was a new path for me) and went up the stairs, past a sign that said Police in Hebrew… and then a bunch of signs in Arabic. So I got a little confused because the Old City part of Jerusalem is split up into different quarters: The Jewish Quarter, Muslim Quarter, Armenian Quarter, and Christian Quarter. Generally, albeit sadly, most people stay in “their” quarter. When I saw the Arabic I assumed I was in the Muslim Quarter, so I turned around and went back the other direction—makes sense, right? Well, I don’t think I looked lost, even though I was, but a boy probably about twelve or thirteen comes up to me and asks in Arabic if I’m Muslim and needed help. I know a little bit of Arabic so I answered him with everything I had, “Why? …I will only pay 10 shekels for that fake jewelry!” (that’s pretty much the end of my Arabic). He then gave me very detailed directions on how to get to the Dome of the Rock. Nice? Absolutely. Helpful? Not really. So I turned around and headed back the other direction—or so I thought—I told you, those streets are TRICKY! The next path lead me past what looked like an old synagogue…except it had a big X over the Hebrew…that didn’t seem to fit in with what normally happens in the Jewish Quarter, so I turned around again. After walking through dark streets, watching children chase after rats (seriously, this happened at least 3x during the evening), and getting weird looks from the random men in the street every time I would switch back and go the other direction in hopes of finding the Jewish Quarter and my hostel… I finally asked for help.
Yes, yes, I know. This was a big step for me. I figured, I’m in a foreign country, I might as well try a foreign strategy—dependence on others. Yea. Well, turns out that the route I initially took WAS the correct direction, I just forgot to turn left down a specific road. To conclude this long long LONG story, I finally got back to the Hostel (in time to hear people discussing the meaning of life and G-d’s role versus human’s role) and get out this post before heading to bed.
I hope you all are doing well and I’ll work on shortening these blog entries,
Lila tov,
AVI
Saturday, Shabbat, I rested. Then I went to the beach to rest some more. Tel Aviv is a funny place to observe Shabbat mainly because it seems like no one does. I don’t pretend to have my religious stuff all figured out, but it was pretty weird to not do or see anyone else do ANYTHING for Shabbat. I have a feeling Jerusalem will fill that need come next week. Saturday night, Sarah, Talya and I took a sheirut (BIG taxi that goes city to city) to Jerusalem to meet up with some friends who are in Israel with the UWashington Birthright Trip. Sarah Lawson, a friend who’s worked at the UW Hillel for the last two years, is leading the trip with my friend Judah who I met when I worked at Ramah Poconos. Always a small world. Shirah Rosin, another close friend who’s been in Israel all year studying at Pardes and working, also joined us even though she had to be up early the next morning ☺ Ilya Golovaty, my old roommate, is on the trip along with a bunch of other friends from school—it was really really nice to spend some time catching up and swapping stories.
After the Birthright group left, we met up with more friends from random places. The Edelstein family - Jason (who I’ve been hearing about for the last three years, he went to UW, and FINALLY met), Nathaniel (who I met at Hebrew U when I visited Andrea K, Tamara, Andrea S, Talya, and Shauna in December), and Ruthie (who is a good friend of Jody’s that I met randomly at UW and then again in Israel AND is enrolled in the same Hebrew U program as me for the next month), my friend Adam Levine who I know from CSS days… 3rd grade?, and then Aaron Taylor from Spokane who was randomly with my friend Elana Beale! All in all, LOTS of people, LOTS of different connections—a great night!
That brings me to Sunday. OHHHHH Sunday. What a day. First, I met up with Shira Rand-Lakritz who came down from Kfar Vradim to visit and we spent the majority of the early-afternoon braving the heat and chatting. Sidenote: those guys who are selling the little slushies are making a KILLING in this weather—I bought two within a half-hour and probably could have used more… Anyway, Shira and I went through the Tel Aviv shuk, I bought sunglasses so I don’t have to squint anymore. Niiiiiiiiice.
Later, Shira met up with other friends and I went back to Sarah’s to pack and go to Jerusalem. It took me a while to get my stuff together but it worked out and I only had to pay about $15 to get from Sarah’s apartment to Jerusalem (an hour’s drive away). Not bad. Grabbed a quick bite and then took a monit (taxi) to the hostel where I am staying. I got a tip from a friend about the Heritage Hostel—she said, it’s free and close to the Kotel (the western wall). Basically the only people who live around the Kotel are super religious or studying in yeshiva on their way to being super religious, so I probably should have put 1 and 1 together quicker than I did. The Heritage Hostel welcomed me with open arms—seriously, the guy hugged me. Then he proceeded to ask me for every piece of info that he could think of, we’re talking favorite ice cream, what I want to do with my life, how many kids, how I feel about Judaism—the whole shebang. Don’t worry Mom and Dad, I told him we were in the midst of moving and didn’t have an address or telephone number…
After the interrogation, I received sheets, a towel, and an “I hope you’ll join us for study in the morning—but only if you’d like to.” Yea. Thanks David. So the hostel locks its doors at midnight and it was only 9:30 so I headed out to explore. I have a great sense of direction and can usually figure out where I am without a problem. But Jerusalem’s neighborhoods are weird. Every road turns into another road even when you haven’t turned, there are almost no straight paths and the hills mean nothing—you walk UP to get the store and somehow you’re walking UP when you leave…even though you’re going the opposite direction…this makes no sense. Well, couple that with talking on the phone with Mom and you get Avi walking NOT towards the Kotel like he thought, but into the Temple Mount/Dome of the Rock. For the uninitiated—you can’t just do that…which a policeman told me very nicely. And by nicely I mean without shooting me.
So I made it to the Kotel. It is another beautiful night (maybe you should assume that every night is beautiful from now on unless I say otherwise? …still batting 1.000) and I sat out by the Kotel for probably just over an hour. Even though I wasn’t praying or even standing at the wall, it was nice and very relaxing. Also got me thinking about something a friend of mine said, “If Judaism teaches that G-d is everywhere, why is it more holy to pray at a wall than anywhere else?” Hmmmmmmm. While I could debate this for a while, my short answer is that Judaism puts a lot of emphasis on our people’s shared history and the Kotel is the most physical memory of the holiest place in our history. Of course, I think the holiest moments in my life have come in other places… so what does that mean? Clearly, there’s more to talk about later.
Around 11pm I decided to go back to the hostel. I left the area by the Kotel the same way I entered (which was a new path for me) and went up the stairs, past a sign that said Police in Hebrew… and then a bunch of signs in Arabic. So I got a little confused because the Old City part of Jerusalem is split up into different quarters: The Jewish Quarter, Muslim Quarter, Armenian Quarter, and Christian Quarter. Generally, albeit sadly, most people stay in “their” quarter. When I saw the Arabic I assumed I was in the Muslim Quarter, so I turned around and went back the other direction—makes sense, right? Well, I don’t think I looked lost, even though I was, but a boy probably about twelve or thirteen comes up to me and asks in Arabic if I’m Muslim and needed help. I know a little bit of Arabic so I answered him with everything I had, “Why? …I will only pay 10 shekels for that fake jewelry!” (that’s pretty much the end of my Arabic). He then gave me very detailed directions on how to get to the Dome of the Rock. Nice? Absolutely. Helpful? Not really. So I turned around and headed back the other direction—or so I thought—I told you, those streets are TRICKY! The next path lead me past what looked like an old synagogue…except it had a big X over the Hebrew…that didn’t seem to fit in with what normally happens in the Jewish Quarter, so I turned around again. After walking through dark streets, watching children chase after rats (seriously, this happened at least 3x during the evening), and getting weird looks from the random men in the street every time I would switch back and go the other direction in hopes of finding the Jewish Quarter and my hostel… I finally asked for help.
Yes, yes, I know. This was a big step for me. I figured, I’m in a foreign country, I might as well try a foreign strategy—dependence on others. Yea. Well, turns out that the route I initially took WAS the correct direction, I just forgot to turn left down a specific road. To conclude this long long LONG story, I finally got back to the Hostel (in time to hear people discussing the meaning of life and G-d’s role versus human’s role) and get out this post before heading to bed.
I hope you all are doing well and I’ll work on shortening these blog entries,
Lila tov,
AVI
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Israel is wonderful. Really wonderful. But I want to quickly recap my time in NYC which was really the first time I have been able to explore the city on my own!
I arrived Thursday night to beautiful weather and a long ride on the subway to my best friend Avi Spielman's apartment in the upper west side. If you don't know the story about Avi and I, briefly, we met four years ago. That was brief, right? Anyway, we met up with an old friend Jon Schwartz for dinner before Avi's girlfriend Hanna Ritt and others came over. It was a nice night that included seeing a cover band dressed up as chasidic rabbis (picture black hat, long pais--taped on in this case!, and drawn-on beards), discovering you can't wear shorts into a club, and bumping into an old friend of mine from Kansas, Lauren Rabinowitz. Like almost everyone else I met during my time in NY, Lauren is working there for the summer. Friday, I had lunch with another east-coast friend Dana Etra before going down to Times Square and exploring for a bit on my own. In my search for inexpensive broadway tickets, a person working at the 50% off same day shows area (one block off Broadway and 5th Ave) gave me great piece of info, student tickets are usually LESS THAN even the 50% off tickets! I of course failed to take advantage of the great deal, but for everyone else, who is or wants to be a student, please go for it.
After Shabbat, I met up with some friends from when I worked at Ramah three summers ago. Jen Horowitz is working in NY for the summer at Cosmo--she's a big shot :-D, and Michal Wachs is in Philly after being abroad for six months in China and learning how to be a bar tender! It was really nice to see both of them and meet some of their friends along the way. The next morning Jen, Michal, and I walked around the Union Square area--where almost all the NYU students live. There was a huge street fair and lots of crafts and music.... and I didn't have my camera! Oh well. ANOTHER beautiful day, for the fans at home, I'm batting 1.000. After an excellent sushi dinner with Avi's roommates, I met up with Lauren and her friend Jessica Shaw, who knows some of my friends at Wisconsin, before going out with Michal, Jen and some of Michal's friends from her time in China. Good people, good places, good night!
Sunday was Father's Day. Sadly none of the Zellman boys were home to celebrate with Dad--so we celebrated a week early when I was home! I did get to call and say hi, and turns out Mom and Dad will be staying not too far from where Avi lives when they come to take Jody to university in August. Anyway, later that afternoon was possibly the highlight of my time in NYC. In Central Park (about three blocks from Avi's apartment) during the summer there are free concerts at their SummerStage. Idan Raichel and his group were playing that Sunday! For the uninitiated, Idan Raichel is one of my favorite Israeli artists. They play kind of an afro-israeli-fusion sort of deal, VERY cool :-D They also came to the UWashington during my first year there and I got to meet them! Lauren and Jess met me there (an adventure in its own right). A guesstimate put the number of people there around 8,000. PACKED. Of course I ran into people from everywhere--and got messages later from friends who were there but we missed each other! Marley Blonsky, who is from Spokane and also goes to school with me, is in NYC for work this summer and apparently had just gotten to the east coast the day before! Shir Lerman is also in NYC working this summer and she was with Jason Segal who is a friend from UW but has been in Africa for the last year! It was great to bump into them--have a wonderful summer you guys!
After the concert I walked around Central Park until really late. With such nice weather, I'm not sure who would want to go inside?!? While I was walking around, I saw a couple getting married and then on a gondola ride, a dance-party of sorts with lots of people on roller skates (at first I thought it was some sort of marathon dance thing... but no... people were just dancing because dancing is fun :-D), AND I bumped into.... IDAN RAICHEL! He had stayed after the concert and was playing soccer with seven other guys. Awesome.
That night Avi got back from his cousin's bat mitzvah and we chilled with Jon. Very laid back, great change of pace. Monday was my last full day in NYC. I got in touch with the cell phone company who had my Israel cell for the summer. Their office is in Brooklyn--sounds like another good day trip! Before heading south, I met up with Jen for lunch at Columbus Circle. Such is my luck, the sun was out so walking outside was more of a pleasure than a burden (although, my feet may disagree). After lunch I followed the directions to the subway stop in Brooklyn and got out. Hmmm. Run-down residential area, lots of graffiti, ZERO people walking around. Was I wrong to feel like I had entered some movie where I was about to be dropped and forgotten about? Well, I walked past tire yards and a few abandoned warehouses (read: broken windows, graffiti, sign saying NO TRESPASSING) before I found the cellphone company's address. Third floor, back room in the middle of another office I found two guys surrounded by little cellphone boxes and electronics. wow. He gave me a small unmarked package that looked like I could be making a drug drop and I left. Of course, I wanted to explore Brooklyn a bit so I just picked a direction and started walking. Saw a few more people around and then finally ran into Broadway in ....downtown?... Brooklyn. LOTS of people there. Most people were just milling around, it's hard to do much when it's so hot out! But, I also got to watch a woman throw a fit at a hotdog stand for having to pay $1.50 even though she didn't want all the toppings. That was fairly entertaining.
A grabbed a subway from there planning to go to the financial district in Manhattan. One of the stops said "Brooklyn Bridge" though, so I decided "why not?" Got off there and I walked the Brooklyn Bridge! Very touristy, I know. But it was cool! Many thanks to the guys selling water on either side of the bridge, you will make millions if every day is as hot as it was when I was there! Got to City Hall on the other side and made my way to the World Trade Center site. I was there in 2004 and really, it looks very similar--a big construction site. I wish I had seen the towers before 9/11, it would definately give me better benchmark. Then I just started wandering. I walked into the World Financial Center, down to Wall St (which was SWARMING with interns who looked way too perky for 6pm after a workday and 90 degrees outside, and eventually to the eastern shore of Manhattan. Before heading back to Avi's place, I had one more stop to make--Katz's Deli. Expensive? maybe. Delicious? ABSOLUTELY. A great meal to finish NYC with.
After a relaxing evening in Jon's apartment with Avi, Hanna, our friend Hal Belok, and a few guys who go to school with Avi, I crashed. The next morning I got all my stuff together for Israel, said goodbyes, and (in true Avi fashion) was the last person to get to the airport and board the flight from my group. Nothing like a little anxiety to get you going in the morning.
The flight to Israel was long but easy with good company and lots of things to look forward to. So, we're caught up. Kinda.
ISRAEL! Basically, I've spent time at the beach, met up with my friend Amir Cahn, gone to a great festival in Yafo, spent time at the beach, made Shabbos with Sarah, Talya, Benji and Aviva (Sarah's roommates), and ...yea... spent time at the beach. Hard life.
So, I hope you all are doing well, I apologize for the long entry. Now I'm off... to the beach. :-D
Col tuv,
AVI
I arrived Thursday night to beautiful weather and a long ride on the subway to my best friend Avi Spielman's apartment in the upper west side. If you don't know the story about Avi and I, briefly, we met four years ago. That was brief, right? Anyway, we met up with an old friend Jon Schwartz for dinner before Avi's girlfriend Hanna Ritt and others came over. It was a nice night that included seeing a cover band dressed up as chasidic rabbis (picture black hat, long pais--taped on in this case!, and drawn-on beards), discovering you can't wear shorts into a club, and bumping into an old friend of mine from Kansas, Lauren Rabinowitz. Like almost everyone else I met during my time in NY, Lauren is working there for the summer. Friday, I had lunch with another east-coast friend Dana Etra before going down to Times Square and exploring for a bit on my own. In my search for inexpensive broadway tickets, a person working at the 50% off same day shows area (one block off Broadway and 5th Ave) gave me great piece of info, student tickets are usually LESS THAN even the 50% off tickets! I of course failed to take advantage of the great deal, but for everyone else, who is or wants to be a student, please go for it.
After Shabbat, I met up with some friends from when I worked at Ramah three summers ago. Jen Horowitz is working in NY for the summer at Cosmo--she's a big shot :-D, and Michal Wachs is in Philly after being abroad for six months in China and learning how to be a bar tender! It was really nice to see both of them and meet some of their friends along the way. The next morning Jen, Michal, and I walked around the Union Square area--where almost all the NYU students live. There was a huge street fair and lots of crafts and music.... and I didn't have my camera! Oh well. ANOTHER beautiful day, for the fans at home, I'm batting 1.000. After an excellent sushi dinner with Avi's roommates, I met up with Lauren and her friend Jessica Shaw, who knows some of my friends at Wisconsin, before going out with Michal, Jen and some of Michal's friends from her time in China. Good people, good places, good night!
Sunday was Father's Day. Sadly none of the Zellman boys were home to celebrate with Dad--so we celebrated a week early when I was home! I did get to call and say hi, and turns out Mom and Dad will be staying not too far from where Avi lives when they come to take Jody to university in August. Anyway, later that afternoon was possibly the highlight of my time in NYC. In Central Park (about three blocks from Avi's apartment) during the summer there are free concerts at their SummerStage. Idan Raichel and his group were playing that Sunday! For the uninitiated, Idan Raichel is one of my favorite Israeli artists. They play kind of an afro-israeli-fusion sort of deal, VERY cool :-D They also came to the UWashington during my first year there and I got to meet them! Lauren and Jess met me there (an adventure in its own right). A guesstimate put the number of people there around 8,000. PACKED. Of course I ran into people from everywhere--and got messages later from friends who were there but we missed each other! Marley Blonsky, who is from Spokane and also goes to school with me, is in NYC for work this summer and apparently had just gotten to the east coast the day before! Shir Lerman is also in NYC working this summer and she was with Jason Segal who is a friend from UW but has been in Africa for the last year! It was great to bump into them--have a wonderful summer you guys!
After the concert I walked around Central Park until really late. With such nice weather, I'm not sure who would want to go inside?!? While I was walking around, I saw a couple getting married and then on a gondola ride, a dance-party of sorts with lots of people on roller skates (at first I thought it was some sort of marathon dance thing... but no... people were just dancing because dancing is fun :-D), AND I bumped into.... IDAN RAICHEL! He had stayed after the concert and was playing soccer with seven other guys. Awesome.
That night Avi got back from his cousin's bat mitzvah and we chilled with Jon. Very laid back, great change of pace. Monday was my last full day in NYC. I got in touch with the cell phone company who had my Israel cell for the summer. Their office is in Brooklyn--sounds like another good day trip! Before heading south, I met up with Jen for lunch at Columbus Circle. Such is my luck, the sun was out so walking outside was more of a pleasure than a burden (although, my feet may disagree). After lunch I followed the directions to the subway stop in Brooklyn and got out. Hmmm. Run-down residential area, lots of graffiti, ZERO people walking around. Was I wrong to feel like I had entered some movie where I was about to be dropped and forgotten about? Well, I walked past tire yards and a few abandoned warehouses (read: broken windows, graffiti, sign saying NO TRESPASSING) before I found the cellphone company's address. Third floor, back room in the middle of another office I found two guys surrounded by little cellphone boxes and electronics. wow. He gave me a small unmarked package that looked like I could be making a drug drop and I left. Of course, I wanted to explore Brooklyn a bit so I just picked a direction and started walking. Saw a few more people around and then finally ran into Broadway in ....downtown?... Brooklyn. LOTS of people there. Most people were just milling around, it's hard to do much when it's so hot out! But, I also got to watch a woman throw a fit at a hotdog stand for having to pay $1.50 even though she didn't want all the toppings. That was fairly entertaining.
A grabbed a subway from there planning to go to the financial district in Manhattan. One of the stops said "Brooklyn Bridge" though, so I decided "why not?" Got off there and I walked the Brooklyn Bridge! Very touristy, I know. But it was cool! Many thanks to the guys selling water on either side of the bridge, you will make millions if every day is as hot as it was when I was there! Got to City Hall on the other side and made my way to the World Trade Center site. I was there in 2004 and really, it looks very similar--a big construction site. I wish I had seen the towers before 9/11, it would definately give me better benchmark. Then I just started wandering. I walked into the World Financial Center, down to Wall St (which was SWARMING with interns who looked way too perky for 6pm after a workday and 90 degrees outside, and eventually to the eastern shore of Manhattan. Before heading back to Avi's place, I had one more stop to make--Katz's Deli. Expensive? maybe. Delicious? ABSOLUTELY. A great meal to finish NYC with.
After a relaxing evening in Jon's apartment with Avi, Hanna, our friend Hal Belok, and a few guys who go to school with Avi, I crashed. The next morning I got all my stuff together for Israel, said goodbyes, and (in true Avi fashion) was the last person to get to the airport and board the flight from my group. Nothing like a little anxiety to get you going in the morning.
The flight to Israel was long but easy with good company and lots of things to look forward to. So, we're caught up. Kinda.
ISRAEL! Basically, I've spent time at the beach, met up with my friend Amir Cahn, gone to a great festival in Yafo, spent time at the beach, made Shabbos with Sarah, Talya, Benji and Aviva (Sarah's roommates), and ...yea... spent time at the beach. Hard life.
So, I hope you all are doing well, I apologize for the long entry. Now I'm off... to the beach. :-D
Col tuv,
AVI
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Quick Hits
It has come to my attention that there is some information I may have assumed everyone knew regarding my summer.
I am in Israel for the next three and a half months. Next week I begin classes in Jerusalem at Hebrew University. It is not an ulpan course (an intensive language program)--instead I am participating in the Summer Institute for Israel Studies, which is a fancy way of saying I am learning about the history, culture, and future of Israel. I will be living on campus during the month long program.
After that I am working in the Stagerim Program (a professional internship program) until the end of September. I am still getting details but I will probably be living outside Tel Aviv working at Bank Leumi doing international business stuff. We shall see. For those two and some months I will be living outside (or in) Tel Aviv.
I have a cellphone here. I would love to hear from you, even if it's just a quick hello.
From the USA, dial 011-972-52-386-8142
If you are also in Israel, just dial 052-386-8142... but you probably already could have figured that out!
Lastly, I tried to change the name of the blog when I started it, but I couldn't figure out how. SO, due to the number of responses requesting a change in the title, I would love to have some ideas.... and instructions on how to go about changing it! Please feel free to comment or email :-D
Hope you all are doing well, I will update, as promised, about New York soon!
Col tuv, AVI
It has come to my attention that there is some information I may have assumed everyone knew regarding my summer.
I am in Israel for the next three and a half months. Next week I begin classes in Jerusalem at Hebrew University. It is not an ulpan course (an intensive language program)--instead I am participating in the Summer Institute for Israel Studies, which is a fancy way of saying I am learning about the history, culture, and future of Israel. I will be living on campus during the month long program.
After that I am working in the Stagerim Program (a professional internship program) until the end of September. I am still getting details but I will probably be living outside Tel Aviv working at Bank Leumi doing international business stuff. We shall see. For those two and some months I will be living outside (or in) Tel Aviv.
I have a cellphone here. I would love to hear from you, even if it's just a quick hello.
From the USA, dial 011-972-52-386-8142
If you are also in Israel, just dial 052-386-8142... but you probably already could have figured that out!
Lastly, I tried to change the name of the blog when I started it, but I couldn't figure out how. SO, due to the number of responses requesting a change in the title, I would love to have some ideas.... and instructions on how to go about changing it! Please feel free to comment or email :-D
Hope you all are doing well, I will update, as promised, about New York soon!
Col tuv, AVI
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Wednesday, June 20th
Hello everyone! I arrived in Israel this morning after spending the past nine hours watching The Breach (CIA agent sells secrets to the russians--people get angry), Shooter (Mark Wahlberg kicking butt for two hours), Bridge to Teribithia (Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe meets Never Ending Story... except it really never-ended...), and the man in front of me attempt to lay in my lap while not spilling any of his sandwich on himself (entertaining but not all that much fun). For what it's worth, the flight from Newark to Tel Aviv went by quickly and I was lucky to sit next to nice people :-D
Israel is MUGGY. But the weather didn't stop me from dominating the transportation system--I maneuvered my way through the train and bus situation at 9am on almost no sleep dragging two bags behind me arriving at my friend Sarah Persitz's apartment in less than a half-hour. Good way to start the day. Sarah has been studying and working in Israel since December when we participated in winterbreak israel trips through the UW. Later we met up with another good friend Talya Gilman who has been here since July of last year also studying and working. Interestingly, I found out today that she worked through the same program that I will be starting in July (Stagerim).
So what did I do during my first day in Israel? The only thing a university student should do during break--we went to the beach! Don't worry Dad, I put on enough suntan lotion for the both of us. It was a perfect beginning to my time in Israel. Tomorrow, I may meet up with some friends who are on a Birthright trip... but nothing's set!
I will post pictures as I figure out how to use the blog---or just look for links to my facebook site. Hope everyone is doing well, I will write about my AMAZING time in NYC prior to Israel soon.
All for now,
AZ
Hello everyone! I arrived in Israel this morning after spending the past nine hours watching The Breach (CIA agent sells secrets to the russians--people get angry), Shooter (Mark Wahlberg kicking butt for two hours), Bridge to Teribithia (Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe meets Never Ending Story... except it really never-ended...), and the man in front of me attempt to lay in my lap while not spilling any of his sandwich on himself (entertaining but not all that much fun). For what it's worth, the flight from Newark to Tel Aviv went by quickly and I was lucky to sit next to nice people :-D
Israel is MUGGY. But the weather didn't stop me from dominating the transportation system--I maneuvered my way through the train and bus situation at 9am on almost no sleep dragging two bags behind me arriving at my friend Sarah Persitz's apartment in less than a half-hour. Good way to start the day. Sarah has been studying and working in Israel since December when we participated in winterbreak israel trips through the UW. Later we met up with another good friend Talya Gilman who has been here since July of last year also studying and working. Interestingly, I found out today that she worked through the same program that I will be starting in July (Stagerim).
So what did I do during my first day in Israel? The only thing a university student should do during break--we went to the beach! Don't worry Dad, I put on enough suntan lotion for the both of us. It was a perfect beginning to my time in Israel. Tomorrow, I may meet up with some friends who are on a Birthright trip... but nothing's set!
I will post pictures as I figure out how to use the blog---or just look for links to my facebook site. Hope everyone is doing well, I will write about my AMAZING time in NYC prior to Israel soon.
All for now,
AZ
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)