Last Week of Classes

I am SO glad to be done with classes. It does feel a bit weird in the way things are ending- not a huge rush as it gets to be back at Colgate. EEJewry ended on an odd note- the professor gave a lecture on the last day in which we'd never be tested on that material because we had our final on Sunday. Of course, I didn't take notes. For my AJ-IJ, I was literally hanging off my seat, trying to make the most of the last class with this amazing seminar- I'm going to miss it sooooo much. It could go on for ages- the debate on Jewish identity is endless. Hebrew was just all review- I spent almost the entire time thinking how this scene looked so familiar... those old days of teachers prepping students for the Regents exams. That was scary to bring back those old high school memories like that.

I went over to Naomi's for dinner last night though I found myself cooking for most part because she was disorganized and just didn't know the first thing about cooking *right*. I tell you, I am always forever grateful for Mom- since college, I have never taken her for granted. Every time I cook for myself wherever I am, the people who come in the kitchen get all "Oh that smells so good, what are you making?" and I tell them and they said, "Mmmm sounds delicious!" Sometimes I can see the jealousy in their eyes. Often I casually mention that my mom's a cook. If someone doesn't know what to do with certain foods, I can usually figure out how to make use of it- for example, Naomi just randomly cut up onions, thinking she'd put them in the salad. I told her no way, not raw white onions, so I sauteed them and threw them on our pizza toast as a topping. She had also thought of putting apples in a salad filled with red peppers, chickpeas, mushrooms, carrots, and some weird dressing. Goot thing she forgot- it would've tasted awful. Apples would not have worked at all. I used the apples to make "baked apples" over the stove by mixing in some cinnamon and lots of sugar (her Israeli roommate was really excited and loved them and asked how to make them- it's quite an American thing!). Thank you so much, Mom. Even though I underestimate myself a lot, I know that I can cook quite well.

Anyway, I just got back from a great dinner with Wendy, Becca, Amy, Sara, Kate, Lilly, and three guys. It was a "surprise" going-away party for Wendy since she's leaving tomorrow to return to the States. It was quite bittersweet- I love her so much. We ate at Tmol Shilshom, a bookstore vegetarian cafe. It had the best homemade bread I had ever tasted in Israel. I wished I had known about this for Grandma! The menu was quite American- whatever, definitely my style. I finally got grilled veggies and feta salad- delicious... Oh we also had a soldier with us! He met Wendy and somebody else in Mea She'arim and overheard them speaking English... so somehow, he joined us. It was really cool- I wanted to hang out with a soldier but I didn't want to do it randomly like a tourist, you know? So I posed with him and put on his beret.

Hebrew level exam tomorrow. And here I am, totally chilling out. That's just the way I am when I have big exams. I've learned from Mrs. Barker in 8th grade that generally 48 hours prior to exams, you're not going to remember a whole lot. So whatever I'd study tonight wouldn't necessarily be in my mind tomorrow.

Then I go to HAIFA!

Shabbat, Studying, Skype

Last Friday, I had an invite to spend the day at the beach in Tel Aviv with a couple of Israelis from the previous weekend but I chose not to go at the last minute. I finally would be going to Nate and Tobi Bach's for Shabbat and I did not want to be late since I'd have to shower and all that. It was fine as I had so much work to get done for Yad Vashem- I had repeatedly told my boss that I would have the project done by the end of May.... So I stayed in and worked for 4 hours, then quitted to buy some flowers from the street for the Bachs and to make a trip to the shuk in the center. I met one of my friends/classmates Liz on the bus so it was fun having company for the ride back- we made plans to work on our oral exam for Monday.



I took a cab down to the Bachs- still 25 sheklim though I originally asked for 20 (I think from now on, I won't settle for anything higher than 25!). Since it was daylight, I could see everything in their apartment and their view. It's stunning- you can see the western part of the Old City, including the Greek orthodox church and the Citadel, but not really the Dome of the Rock. You could see across Independence Park... just amazing. I helped Tobi set the table for Shabbat- it was so nice to do something like that! (It's funny how at one time it used to be such a hated chore....) She and I lit the candles together- apparently she knew a lot of different melodies- I didn't know anything. She also showed me pictures of her and Nate's family portraits from the early days in Palestine. Then all of us did the Shabbat blessings- the wine, the bread, and the hand-washing. We had soup, salad, some chicken with rice, and a little dessert.



Our conversations revolved around student strikes, the university systems, our families, the Israeli society, real estate in Jerusalem, and a few other things. It was just wonderful to see Nate up and around again- he had been very sick in the last few months. So when I finally was invited to see them- you cannot imagine how thrilled I was! They also told me of how they came to Israel- they had volunteered during the 1948 war and traveled/worked back and forth until they finally made aliyah in 1970. There really are a lot of people in Israel who made aliyah within few years after the 1967 war- I've lost count! I am also starting to see the differences in attitude towards Israel's prospects and future between the older and younger generations as we talk about history and politics in Israel.



Tobi told me to stay in touch and bring a friend next time. I am looking forward to that!



Saturday was filled with running, napping, working on creating dialogues with Liz, making dinner for myself and Naomi, studying for our final exam in EEJewry on Sunday with Naomi (though I was doing most of the tutoring), and trying to finish my project for Yad Vashem.



Sunday was the best and worst day. I lost my entire life- my wallet after I purchased a new mic combo headset for Skype. So I have no money, no credit cards, no check card, no health insurance card, no photos of my dear ones, etc, etc. Including my driver's license (right, when was I planning to drive in Israel?). Fortunately, I still have my traveler's checks that I didn't take with me to Prague to hold me until I get my cards. What fun. Someone's going to have a field day with over $100 to spend both in dollars and sheklim!

Nevertheless, using Skype to talk to my parents was the biggest highlight of the past week! I was so excited to be talking to them for free through the Internet. I really felt a lot better afterwards. I can't wait to do it again this weekend. Even if Mom gets restless and bored sitting at the computer when she'd rather be in the kitchen and talking on the phone at the same time.

Just download Skype from www.skype.com and buy and plug in a microphone, and just talk away! You can look me up under my regular name.

Shavu'ot at the Kibbutz

We planned for a good while for me to spend Shavuot at the kibbutz so it was all quite exciting when I came. Actually a lot more was going on besides my presence. The Ravids have finally moved into their permanent house that they lived in before moving to the States for several years. It's much bigger and more comfortable than their temporary home so all of us were very happy. They were nearly done with the move when I came so a lot of things were finding their places.

First, let me explain why I'm at a kibbutz for Shavuot, not in Jerusalem. Shavuot is a holiday that is celebrated 6-7 weeks after Pesach. It is the first cut of the harvest so kibbutzim are the center of the attention and they throw big parties. Also, people are supposed to eat dairy during this time so Jerusalem was filled, filled with advertisements for cheesecake orders. I definitely wished that I had Mom's cheesecake!!! In Jerusalem, Shavuot is celebrated allllllll night with the celebration in the Old City at like 5 AM or something. I couldn't do that- I'm glad that I got this invite instead!

Not only the move created a bit of chaos, their oldest daughter, Anat, came down also. We got to meet her boyfriend and he joined us for dinner, which was nice. I spent a lot of time hanging out with Anat and Yismin since they were hanging out and Maa'yan was off dealing with moving out of her apartment into the house, her birthday stuff, and rehearsing for the Shavuot event on the kibbutz. Yismin is going off to the States and then traveling down to Central America on Friday and won't be back until September so it was my last time seeing her and I wanted to spend as much time as I could. Anat and I got to know each other better and now we're more comfortable hanging out so we'll make an effort to do more often in Jerusalem.

We went out for a fish dinner at a restuarant in Herzilya and it was delicious. Actually, eating with the whole family and the boyfriend was a bit of an experience- we really ate Israeli style. It means taking your fork and jabbing in food from the little plates of appeitizers and from other people's entree plates. Estentially, Israelis don't use serving spoons or forks to serve themselves food. They also break off bread and just swish them around the hummus or tahini- no knife necessary. I almost felt like scratching my head, trying to decide if I liked this way or the "proper" American way better. Maybe I'm just too possessive of my food. That's probably it. Well, okay, I am possessive of my food and that's basically coming from living with my family where sometimes people eat things that I wanted to have but didn't get a chance to help myself to a serving... especially my "garbage disposal" brother (though he is very good enough to leave me enough of desserts that I really, really like).

Anyway, from that dinner until the following night, we celebrate Maa'yan's 21st birthday... of course being half-American, we teased her about being legal in both countries at last. Shlomi joked about how she has never been drunk...

Then on Wednesday, most of us kids just slept in until 11 or so. We had "breakfast" (brunch by my standards) of crepes, cheeses, tomatoes, cucumbers, bread, and toppings. Yummy!!! I just love crepes- I probably could've asked if I could make some eggs to put in the crepes with cheese... oh well, that's a dinner idea for me.

While they working on their moving, I spent the whole time just studying away for my Hebrew. They were at a stage that it would not make sense for me to help since they were just arranging things and deciding where they would go. I saw some of their little treasures including a photo album of Linda and Anat's trip in Italy and a "dollar bill" that they had gotten at a protest against the Bush administration- it's so hilarious.

Then we had a quick dinner of pasta with chicken and mushrooms and a salad (and mac n cheese for vegetarian Yismin) before going off to the wheat field to see the festivities.

The festivities was a lot of fun... see the following pictures.... pictures are worth a thousand words....

Anat, Me, Maa'yan Me and Yismin
Throwing candy!
Drill Team Performance (really brought back memories of my riding camp!)
Tractor Show
People clammoring for candy
Drill Team again

Collecting wheat- Shavuot is all about the first cut of wheat harvest

More candy...what else?

Oh, I also recorded Maa'yan's dance performance and tried to upload it on YouTube... it was too big or something so I'll edit it later so you all can see what a typical Israeli dance performance is like. :) It was beautiful.

Galilee with the Israelis!

Warning: This will be a very long post....

I had a difficult time deciding whether to go or not.. because from my experiences, usually there's nothing to do on Shabbat in these kind of organized programs. When I found out that Rebecca and Shira were going, I decided to suck it up and sign up. I also figured that this could be good for my seminar paper.

So we left the student village around 8 and made our way towards Nahal Tabor, a hiking area just south of the Sea of the Galilee in the valley. The student leader made me put on a old piece of cloth on my head to keep out the sun. Oh, I also found a perfect pair of big sunglasses that fit my face at a mall during our rest stop! I was thrilled. So anyway, we started marching down a dirt road. I met Laura, who was here for the year, first. I peppered her with questions that I needed answered for my paper- about her feelings for aliyah and why study in Israel. She was here to take Jewish Studies classes- the idea of being in Israel for Jewish Studies seemed so far away in my mind (why? Either because I finished the minor or it's just isn't how I've been focusing so far). She didn't really say anything more....

We came to a stop to do an ice breaker with a tennis ball. But it failed because there were just too many people so the guide decided to try something else with the tennis ball. He wanted to see if we all could come up with a solution to the problem of how to pass the ball around in the fastest possible way. The first attempt had one guy running around the circle while we held our hand out so we all actually touched the ball. The guide said that it has to be passed from one hand to another. So we lined up and rolled the ball down. While discussing, the Israelis just basically took over and started "shouting" at one and another in Hebrew/English, obviously loving the challenge.

When we started up again, an Israeli guy came up to my side and asked how I liked how the Israelis shouted at each other. I shrugged and said, it's cool with me but it's certainly not acceptable in America. I tried to explain to him how people communicate and solve problems together. I tried to give him examples of how we're just more "sensitive" to language and how we're being spoken to. Israelis are terse. Americans like to avoid confrontations. He didn't quite get it so I recruited Laura from behind to help explain.

Along the way, I met Michalle, from UConn, and asked her why Israel and blah, blah. My converses kept sliding down on this bumpy road because they weren't exactly made for hiking so I let Michalle go ahead of me while taking care of myself.

Once we got off the road into the reserve, I passed through several people including Rebecca and Shira. I met their friend, Keren, who just somehow reminded me of Abby Berns- short, a little round, soft light hair hanging down, cheerful face, and very warm gestures. Of course, and the smile spreading over her face.

While we walked along a stream, another Israeli, Uri, and I introduced ourselves. He had his sister, Deena, and their friend Masha, trailing behind us. He was something else- very outgoing! He told me that he was born in middle of Siberia (yes, I raised my eyebrows!) and his family made aliyah in 1991. I thought, "hmmmm this could get interesting...." Uri and I stayed in touch throughout the hike. He introduced me to the girls- Masha's from Australia but is Russian. I didn't get a chance to find out her story. We hiked together for a while then they stopped for something but I kept going. (Because I can be a slowpoke!!!)

The hike was just very pretty and it was definitely a bit hot outside. We crossed several streams- not an easy feat for me! I met up with a girl from my EEJewry class, Lilly, as we crossed the stream. Masha asked me questions about sign language and my deafness because her relatives were hard of hearing and signed. I stayed with Lilly until our lunch break under this big tree.

The guide, Rafi, told the story about the tree and what nots. He explained that because we made a steep descent into the valley, "we will be making a vicious ascent." One of the Israelis attempted to make coffee- he bought along a little stove that reminded me of a Benson Burner (in chemistry labs) and set a small put on it. It collapsed when it was nearly done! So he tried again and placed it on a flatter surface. What amazed me was how innovative he was about keeping glass cups from breaking- he used package tape around the glasses and stacked them! Oh, the Army...

The rest of the hike was about 2 hours and just beautiful! We walked along a dirt path and over lots of rocks, crossed several streams and even rock climbed a bit! When I climbed the rocks, I thought "Thanks, Mom, for sending me to that rock climbing camp!!!!" Just because I climbed them faster than most people and knew how to manuver. Anyway, I didn't talk to too many people along the way because I didn't have a great sense of balance and really needed to stay focused on where I put my feet. I fell several times but nothing to cry about. The hike was much better than the one I did on my birthright at Tel Dan- prettier and less rocks to walk on. I totally enjoyed myself and felt that I should do more of these! First, I would need to invest in a pair of Tevas- so I can just walk through the streams instead of balancing on rocks and stop slipping. For a good portion, we just went through the valley and then we made a very steep climb up the valley- about 1/2 mile up. I felt very strong! And hot. I saw a small lake nearby and jokingly asked Michal if we could just run over there for a dip! Uri offered me his gigantic bamboo stick but it was way too big for me!

Finally we were back on the road that we had taken before back to the bus. And finally the two Israelis, Shai and Gal, who I had been keeping my eye on, took notice of me and asked how I was doing. I asked them if they were Army buddies or something because they totally seemed like best friends forever but they said they were roommates. We talked for a while while we waited for the rest of the group to catch up with us. Sheesh, men.

Then we took a trip to Maritzpan Museum where we learned about marizpan (a dough with lots and lots of sugar and some almonds and some honey and something else) and got to play with colorful pieces of dough. Before we left, the gift shop ran the chocolate fountain and a bunch of us stuck our fingers in the falling chocolate. Mmmmmm delicious!!!!

We got to the hostel around 5:30ish. I roomed with Nicole and her college classmate, Rebecca. Then I had a little surprise- an Israeli guy joined us. Immediately, he hit on her. I kept asking Nicole if they even knew each other or met on the hike or something... and she insisted not before this room assignment! It was pretty hard to believe. Anyway, the shower felt so good- I didn't realize how much mud I had on my legs until I started putting soap on them!

While waiting around for Shabbat, I met Layah and Shira. I remember meeting them a bit two months ago at a dinner in their apartment. Shira's quite interesting and is making aliyah this summer to attend Bar-Ilan University. They were both from New York City. Shira and I talked for a while while Layah went off somewhere else about aliyah and why we would do it. And of course, Israel.

I dragged myself to the Shsbbat services just because my friends were going and it was getting dark so I wanted to be with them for support. So I just sat there, listening to all the prayers while thinking about how lucky I was to be in Israel and what Israel was meaning to me at that moment.

Dinner was just a-okay. I actually put myself in middle of the Israeli group. So I had Deena on my left, Uri across from her, the first Israeli guy I met on the trip across from me, and another guy, Harak, next to him... and one of the guys who sat across from me on the bus to my right. Most of the conversation was in Hebrew but I encouraged them to do it anyway so I can listen to their pronounciations. Uri and the Israeli told me what they did in the Army. Uri had different jobs each year while the Israeli was a tanker. I argued with him that it's quite good to be a tanker because he's out in the field. He rolled his eyes and kvetched about how it's not like actually running on the ground with the M-16- the tank just moves him! He was annoyed how he was just trapped inside and couldn't stick his head out. We had a good laugh. Then after I finished off several slices of brisket, I went over to another group of American/Israeli mix. Shira and Layah sat with Hillel, Gal, Shai, Laura, and few others who I would meet later on. I had taken one of the Israelis' seat just because. I wanted to see how he'd react when I would tell him the common thing to say in this situation as he came up behind his friend and started massaging his shoulders (very deep as G.P. does!). He said, "You're in my seat." I said, "Well, in America, we say, 'You move, you lose!'" He retorted, "In Israel, you move, you die!" I laughed and he smiled. Then I motioned for him to poke his friend in the ribs, then he talked to his friend in Hebrew. He looked back at me and said, "He thinks I'm lying!" I gave him a questioning look. His friend said, "Was he lying? Did you tell him to punch me?" I shooked my head, "No, I meant for him to poke you in the ribs!" Then it was time to say the final prayers.

After the meal, we went back to the shul to do our evening activity. We did a couple of ice breakers and then eventually broke up into two large groups. In my group we discussed stereotypes first. The Americans immediately responded "rude" when asked about the stereotype for Israelis. Seriously, the word would not come to my mind at all, not even when I first came to Israel. When I think of rude, I think of the French. And the Israelis said "drinking" and a couple other things.... so Rafi let the Israelis discuss why they might be perceived as "rude." One girl explained that Israel feels like such a large family and everyone thinks of the other and their sibling so they just say, "ugh" when someone slams into them rather than a "I'm sorry." I don't think the Americans really bought it.

Afterwards, we played a fantastic chair game that's very similar to musical chairs. I can't wait to teach my little cousins this!!!!

Then we just sat down and just started talking with colleges as a conversation starter. I eventually devulged into a conversation with a first generation Sabra born to American parents who made aliyah in 1980. He's trained to be a paratrooper and ranked as lieutenant in the Army. What was really amazing about him and the other Israeli was that both of them were born to American parents and yet, they have absolutely no clue about the American culture or whatsoever. I was shocked- I would certainly teach and expose my children to the American culture if I raised them in Israel because it's part of their heritage. Now he's studying computers after flunking out of med school admissions.

After he went off to bed after staying up until 4 AM the night before with a party on his roof, I joined Layah, Shai, Gal, and Laura in their conversation. This was perfect- two Americans and two Israelis have absolutely no idea about the other's culture and attitude. I sat there, with my hands in my pocket, and hood over my head, and listened. I intervened several times to explain some things to Layah who was obviously trying very hard to "win" this losing battle. Here's the difference: the Israelis don't understand how the Americans can feel so much more "religious" in Israel. For them, you're in the Holy Land and that's enough. You've achieved the ultimate dream. Layah also brought up how "amazing" and fulfilling it was for her when she described how in her program there were only four religious people: herself, a Muslim, a Catholic, and some Protestant, and how they respect each other and did things together... it was a beautiful group relationship. I scoffed quietly and I could see the Israelis rolling their eyes in their head: "She believes in peace and tolerance... yeah, we want peace too but honestly, we just don't think it's possible and she does think it's possible." I also brought up how it's not fair that the haredim don't serve in the Army and they shouldn't be in Israel if they're not going to do anything to serve the state. Laura defended herself that she had a friend who served in the Army. I argued pointly with her that her friend made a choice to serve in the Army since haredim didn't get drafted. She said that I couldn't make generalizations like that and I argued back that it's great that some of the haredim decided to go into the Army but it's the fact that they got exempted from the draft just because of their observance/religious level that really bothered me. How was praying in a shul different from giving your blood to protect the borders? Gal muttered how he hated the haredim and Shai nodded in approval with my argument against Laura. We basically stayed up until 2 AM just talking.

In the morning, I woke up around 8:45 and found that Grandma left a message not to call at my usual time on Shabbat since they'd be out all day. I did a quick math and realized it's still only 10:30 over there so I called them.... talked for a half-hour... it was pretty hot just sitting on the picnic table with the morning heat and humid! I went back to sleep in the cool room (even if the bed was made of rocks). I woke up around 11:30, showered, and got dressed in my Shabbat clothes.

Then I hung out on a bench under a tree, literally ready to fall asleep... my eyes were so tired. Then the American Israeli came by and asked if he could sit with me. So we chatted for a while while we watched everyone else get up and get ready. Then we had Shabbat lunch around 1 PM- it was alright but the best part was that they served hot dogs in phyllo!!! Mmmmm. Again, I sat with the Israelis with two Americans next to me. I looked around to see if there were more of mixing since the night before- some, but not so much... Actually not really.

I spent the rest of the afternoon chilling out with different Israelis. I played solitaire while sunning with a couple of girls and two Israelis, one of them next to me. His name was Ran and he told me about himself and different trips he took after the Army-worked at a summer camp in the States (it's becoming very popular) and he took a trek from the very north of Israel to Eilat with a bunch of Israelis. That took two months! I think he was happy with his choice even though he wouldn't deny that he didn't take a "real" trip like to Thailand or South America like "everyone else." After we decided that it was just getting too hot for us, we split off. Then I saw two Israelis sitting in a box filled with cold water. I jumped right in with them even though they were smoking hookah. They offered me some and I tried it. Whoo, a little much.

Yes, I realize that I've been basically meeting only Israeli guys on this trip- truth is, there were much more Israeli guys than the girls and much more American girls than the guys. Hey, it's natural that this should happen anyway.

I spent almost the rest of the time with Lilly. She helped me to work on my numbers so I can pronounce them right for the cab drivers. She's actually half Israeli- her mother's Israeli. So she's fluent in Israeli Hebrew. She still has a lot of family in Israel and is considering returning to Israel in the future but not at the moment. Her mom wanted her to join the Army but she refused to and would rather go to school. I was amazed by her background- she didn't really come off as an Israeli to me (and said it back to me) but girls are just nice to each other, I guess.

I came home at midnight... absolutely exhausted but still had the energy to unpack my stinky shoes and socks, and check my e-mail quickly.

Law of Return/Halakah Explained-Defining a Jew

One of the hot-button topic that is going on between the Chief Rabbis and Knesset is the conversion issue. Unless you are already a Jew through your mother or have been converted by an orthodox rabbi, you are not considered "Jewish" and can't get the benefits of being recognized a Jewish. Yet, a Jew with a Jewish father and a non-Jewish mother can still fall under the Law of Return even if the Rabbis doesn't see him/her as a "real" Jew. Confusing? Unfortunately it is once these kind of people who consider taking advantage of the Law of Return find out what it really means... the issue becomes even more complicated and scary. The Knesset is trying to eliminate the "conversion by orthodox rabbi" part so more olims can claim the Jewish identity in Israel after going through the process with a conservative or a reform rabbi in their countries. The Rabbis just make conversion impossible in Israel-even embarassing and demoralized.

In a series of questions and answers in JPost, someone asked an excellent question about how does Israel decide who's really Jewish and who isn't.

Aharon Martin, Chicago: Why does the Law of Return go against the Halachic definition of what a Jew is, and allow the offspring even just one Jewish grandparent immigrate? It seems this policy has allowed for the legal immigration of hundreds of thousands of gentiles into Israel. Does this not stifle Israel's efforts to maintain a Jewish majority in the state?

Boim: These almost 300,000 new immigrants to whom you refer may not be Jewish according to Halacha but are an integral part of the Jewish People. They have made aliya in order to become a part of the Jewish Nation and the State of Israel. When David Ben Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, composed the Law of Return, he felt that it would be most appropriate to open the gates of the fledgling Jewish State to all those victims of the Holocaust who had survived and in memory of the six million Jews who were murdered by the Nazis; many of these individuals were classified as Jews based on the Nuremberg Laws because their only crime was that they had a Jewish grandparent. Ben Gurion felt that if this criterion was good enough for people to be murdered as Jews it was good enough for those who survived the Holocaust to immigrate to Israel as Jews. This would be the true revenge against Hitler's attempt to annihilate the Jewish People. These new immigrants were fulfilling the Zionist dream of building a sovereign Jewish Nation State after over 2,000 years of exile.

A little uncomfortable to think that the "gentiles" can belong here as Jewish people and help build the State of Israel... but I guess if even a "gentile" can't argue their way out of being deported dring the Shoah just because s/he has only one Jewish grandparent, then they're Jewish by blood....

David Ben-Gurion is basically every Israeli's idol.

יום יראשלים

Today, Jerusalem is celebrating 40 years of reunification since 1967. The media is all hyped up about it- issued a special magazine devoted to the War of 1967 and the "miracle" of reunifying Jerusalem after 14 years of East Jerusalem under Jordanian control. I felt very drawn into the history of this war- the excitement and ambivalence of the soldiers roaming their way to Jerusalem and being told that they needed to capture the Western Wall. The soldiers knew that something was up and they were about to go on a very important mission but chaos was everywhere- no one knew where to go. No one had been to Jerusalem and thus, did not know the streets and alleyways. The Jordanians literally put down their weapons and fled the Old City to the east. Hebrew University, the Temple Mount, and the Jewish Quarter were once again under Israeli control. The capture of Jerusalem was only one small part of the War of 1967 where Israel also took over the Sinai, the Golan Heights, West Bank, and Masada. This war certainly was a turning point for Israel in the face of international attention.



Today, Jerusalem boasts over 700,000 residents of nearly 70% of them Jewish and the other 30% being Arab. The sad truth is that by 2020, the percentage of Arabs will rise to 40% as there is an average of 6,000 Jewish residents leaving the city each year. Part of the eventual demographic changes is due to the Arabs having higher birth rate and the other part is that housing is becoming more expensive for the Israelis. There are lot of "absentee owners"- mostly Americans who buy up housing and only stay there for one or two months year and don't rent them out when they are not there. Jerusalem is also growing "blacker" each year because of American religious people settling in the neighborhoods. Soon enough, Jerusalem will not be filled with as many secular Israelis as it is today because of the wealthy religious Americans being able to afford the housing and having the desire to be in the Holy City.



I love Jerusalem because it is a very cultural city. At the same time, I felt a bit uncomfortable with the Israeli media and government campaigning for "4o Years of Reunification." How is Jerusalem reunifed? Physically, yes, it is all under Israel's control. With a deeper look and a passing through East Jerusalem and portions of the haredi neighborhood, there is a sense of trouble. For example, there is an effort to build a light rail system from Jerusalem to the rest of Israel. People are skeptical, not only because of the construction's timing but also whether it would be used to its full potential. Currently, the Arabs and the Jews do not ride together on the public buses. The Arabs have their own buses. If both population ride their own buses and generally live in separate neighborhoods, how is Jerusalem "reunifed"? This is may be a "wishful" thinking but that is the reality of how the Israeli government ignores the Arabs so much that they feel that they might be better off handling their own public transportation. East Jerusalem is horribly disgusting and filled with garbage everywhere. Arab boys run around loose, Arab men chain smoke and hang out in front of mini-marts, and Arab women and girls are hardly seen in the heart of East Jerusalem. The Arabs are in their own little world- the government gives them attention whenever necessary, including giving them garbarge pick-up service. Jerusalem reminds me so much of Germany during the Cold War. Israel is East Germany, occupying "Berlin" while the Palestinian Authority must deal from "West Germany" in the West Bank with its Arab population still "stuck" in East Jerusalem.



Therefore, to be celebrating Yom Yerushalayim with the Israelis and my friends, I just didn't feel the spirit. I did not want to. I only simply went to the concert with Wendy and Rebecca in the Sachar Park, right off Yitzchak Rabin and Yitzchak Ben-Zvi roads. The music was good- I was very disappointed that it ended only at 10 PM after starting at 8 (well, we were an hour late....). I thought the Israelis liked to PARTY!!! I definitely wished that I had stayed at the Independence Park where the Student Day concert was being held- only that I didn't realize that Wendy and Rebecca meant to go that other concert. I guess I didn't call up enough people as I discovered at the bus stop later that some of my other friends did go to the Student Day concert- ugh, could've met up with my Israeli friends there too....



By the way, Rebecca, Wendy, and I stopped in Nahalot- a small neighborhood behind Mehane Yehuda to visit a old high school classmate of Wendy's, Shaina. She is the craziest American I have ever met in Israel. She made aliyah right after high school and has been here for almost 3 years. She's religious Jew... I'm pretty intrigued by her so I'm going to get her number from Wendy. Just because... what kind of American girl who just picks up herself and leaves for Israel after a religious trip for a couple weeks? I think she's crazier than Sylvie.

Just a Jew? No, You're an non-Orthodox Ashkenazi!!!

In America, your Jewish family does not care who you marry as long s/he's Jewish. I can assest that from my family, especially my grandmother, though no one's really said it explicitly. It's an unspoken understanding.

Since reconciling with my Jewish identity, I knew that I wanted to marry a Jew- 100% kosher, not necessarily by the Orthodox/haredi laws.

In Israel, it's a common practice that you should marry/date someone of your "race." If you're an Ashkenazi, you marry an Ashkenazi. If you're a Mizrahi (North Africa/Middle East/Sephardic), you marry another Mizrahi. If you're haredi, you marry a haredi. There's no just "Jew." Here, I'm not just a Jew, I'm an Ashkenazi. And therefore, I draw other Ashkenazi men's attention. I went on a date with a half-Ashkenazi and half Mizrahi and he never called me back (can't be the only reason though- no worries). Of course, inter-marriages do happen anyway but only common as interracial marriages in America.

Oy....vey. I thought dating in America would be difficult because of all the races and religions. I am discovering that Israel isn't easy either. Also there's a point that 95% of American Jewry is Ashkenazi so I guess we just don't think about "other" Jews. Meeting the Mizrahim in Haifa was my first time and the Ethiopians for security guards...

Donna Rosenthal's book, The Israelis, brought all of this to my attention. It was one of the books that was being presented in my AJ-IJ class. The students began presenting it last Thursday and they never got to finish because there was so much to tell about it. I bought the book on Friday and haven't stopped reading it since. I've put off my Hebrew and internship work because this book is so fascinating. Israel is much more multi-cultural than people perceive it to be. There are many different groups:
1) Ashkenazim
2) Mizrahim
3) Russians
4) Ethiopians
5) Haredim
6) Orthodox
7) Non-Orthodox
8) Muslims
9) Christians
10) Druze
11) Bedouins

My head totally spun when the students wrote down these names on the board.

One of the major issues that each group that she interviewed was defining who's an "Israeli." Apparently, one student pointed out that the very basic requirement is to be living in Israel. I wanted to add that it seems like those who claim to be "Israeli" consider themselves as supporters of the State of Israel. The State's existence is much more fragile than any other country- I don't think anyone deserves an Israeli citizenship and passport unless they do support Israel- I would not mind telling off an haredi or anyone who did not serve in the Army that people gave up 2-3 years of their lives to fight for the borders and to protect them from danger. Who says that studying the Torah and praying is just as worthy as serving in the Army? This is a very common backlash by the Israelis when they encounter the Muslims and the haredim and I do think that they have the right to argue that.

For me, sure, I would accept the government's view of me as an Israeli if I was given the citizenship privileges but I would not feel "Israeli" until I can behave and talk like one. Israelis are notorious for being blunt and straightforward. They don't say "perhaps" or "maybe" in their rheotric- they just say "You're wrong!" or "No! There's another way to do this!" Their brain gears never stop working- always improvising and looking for alternatives. Even when it comes to driving. They are also impatient- that's why they cut in line. The Russians notice that- people in Soviet Union used to cut in lines because they feared that there would be no more food. In Israel, people don't want to wait. You argue until you get your way.

I did today- I decided to take a cab down to Emek Refarim to visit an oleh. Usually the cab fare is around 35 sheklim- he probably would've charged a bit higher because of the rush hour. But I stood my ground and say 25 sheklim. I don't mind being rude to strangers and officials and what nots but it's much more difficult when it comes to connecting personally. Sometimes it does get exhausting and bit overwhelming! I usually walk away in slight shock and hitting my forehand as in "Goodness!" My class did touch upon this topic and I have talked about this quite a few times with my American friends. They're much less forgiving about the Israeli attitude of being argumentive. I almost asked the class if anyone had their families in shock when they saw their child pushing a bit. I would like to think that they were- I am sure that my family was too. I've always been asked to take care of the cabs and the restaurant bills (if there were difficulties) not only because I already live in Israel and understand how things work, but because I am much more assertive and not afraid to shout. Zev and I worked together pretty well with me taking care of getting the attention and him talking in Hebrew- we complemented each other.

Donna Rosenthal also touched upon homosexuality, prostitution, drugs, high-tech, security, and dating/sexuality. Though it is not an academic book, it is just well done with tons of research evidently done. She basically cracked the code in understanding the Israelis.

This book certainly is helping me with my seminar paper for my AJ-IJ class where I'm focusing on whether my generation is "Are We One?" And I am going on a shabbaton trip with the Israelis and some Rothberg students up to the Galilee this weekend. Should be exciting!!!!

The Landsmans' Visit

Oh I forgot to mention that for part of last week, it was very hot here in Jerusalem. 35 degrees Celsicus- about 100 Fahrenheit! I had to laugh at myself for wearing jeans and not realizing how well I'm tolerating the heat. Remember, anything above the knees is considered "American" so you won't see me strip down to my mini-skirt. I'm going to be pretty cold when I return to the States at 80 degrees Fahreneheit. I bought two boxes of ice cream bars for my apartment- partly because it was so hot and partly because it was buy one, get second half off. Everyone enjoyed the ice cream throughout the week. Now it's cooler out.

I saw the Landsmans on Wednesday night on their night free from their group trip. They didn't mind, actually, they wanted to, walking to dinner from the Citadel. So we walked a good 30 minutes to Sami's, another Israeli grilled meat restaurant. It's right across the street from Sima's where I've been to twice. They wanted to know more about the student strikes and what was happening politically. I answered their questions and explained how things work here and it's just all so corrupted. I also shared some of my stories and experiences. They have been to Israel several times but haven't been in over a decade. Debby remembered the major changes that she saw from her first time in Israel in the 1960's and her last visit in the late 1980's- thought it was even greater than this visit from the last. They could relate to Dad's excitement about being in east Jerusalem. We had a great dinner- they thought it was the best meal they've ever had thus far on the trip. I was shocked- they had been to Darna's the night before and it's one of Israel's best restaurants. "It was okay- everything was preordered....so we didn't really get a chance to sample more food..." I agree- I just think casual places like this just totally beat going to nice places. (Heck, one of my dates took me to a moderate-level restaurant for lunch, it was just a little much for my taste...) I saved them from nausea by ordering lamb kebab instead of Jerusalem mixed grill. I had an opportunity to meet their trip organizer- an Israeli student at Hebrew U- Givat Ram who was also at the restaurant. I told her that I was up at Scopus and asked why the gates were never locked. It was only down at Givat Ram.

The Landsmans did have an opportunity to watch me "in action" by bargaining with cab drivers for prices. They got a kick out of it- just like every visitor I had. I'm actually get really good at guessing fair prices to get around Jerusalem. I tried to bargain with the guy for dropping the Landsmans off at the Citadel and taking me up to Scopus for 35 sheklim. He insisted that I use the meter but I lost the battle. Yet, I ended up only paying 38 sheklim on the meter! Excellent.

I saw the whole group last night for Shabbat at the Citadel. There was no way I was going to pass up a chance to eat there. The food was aboslutely delicious except for the apple strudel at the end. Everyone except for a couple had been to Israel before. I sensed that the Mission trips weren't exactly designed for a total first-timer as birthright trips were since this trip only took them to Tiberias, to the Lebanon-Syria border, and Jerusalem. They were not going to Masada or spend time in Tel Aviv. Plus it was only for one week. I met Larry Fine- finally, after all these years. He's the director of the Jewish Federation of Rochester. I was able to share some of my experiences with some of the people but not as much as I would've loved to- I think they just didn't know what kind of questions to ask and I didn't know where to begin. I don't think I'll ever know where to begin!!! Plus, I wanted to be a bit careful since the Israeli organizer was there at our table for a bit.

I had a more successful round of bargaining with the cabbie for the way back- only for 30 sheklim. I think I could've stared him down for 25 because he gave up pretty quickly.... but it's Shabbat and it's only right for me to tack on about 5 extra sheklim.

I am reading an amazing book called The Israelis by Donna Rosenthal. Though I didn't have to read it for class but a couple of students presented the book on Thursday and it just sounded like a very worthwhile reading right now instead of waiting until the program was over.... so I bought it yesterday. And I'm already on page 200. I'll talk more about it after Tuesday when the students finish up the presentation.

Right now, I am thinking.... Is FM Livni nuts to say that Israel should give up West Bank for the two-state solution?!!? It's either the Gaza Strip or the West Bank- the Palestinians can't have both when PA is still too unstable. Israel is asking for trouble by pulling out of West Bank- there'll be more suicide bombers en route between the two territories. I nearly banged my head on my desk when I read the headlines on the Internet.

What Does Being Jewish Mean?

From my readings for my AJ-IJ class:

From AJC (American Jewish Committee)'s essay contest in 2005 on what does being Jewish mean to you. Excerpts from several essays that striked me:

Every morning when I get to work, the first thing I do is surf the Web to nytimes.com. After quickly perusing the front page and checking last night's Yankees score, I head straight for the International section and read up on Israel. These days my ears are attuned toany mention of Jews, Israel, Hebrew, or scwarma. I find it difficult not to chime in when I hear a cowroker's skewed perspectives on Judaism or Middle East politics. Is this how i identify myself as being Jewish?... The answer is that being an American Jew in his or her twenties is defined by whatever we want it to be. Judaism is not a scientific construct and cannot be approached as such. For me being Jewish means lighting candles during Hanukka. It means calling up my mother to ask the meaning of a Yiddish phrase. It means complaining about the Yom Kippur semon even though it is the only one I will hear for another year. It means looking forward to matzo ball soup and a slightly inebriated but pleasantly boisterous interpretation of Had Gadya. It is family. It is tradition. And, yes, it is spirituality.

This is how I felt when I was living in America. That's written by a guy who has a MA in religious studies, made two trips to Israel, went to Jewish day school, and still goes to services only twice a year.

I was about to immerse myself in a Jewish society where Judaism is uniquely shaped, for better and for worse, by Israeli politics and Zionism... To him and other secular Israelis, making a cultural and Zionistic contribution to this country is as religious and as important as praying, upholding Jewish customs, or believing in God. For the last five years, I have been caught somewhere in the middle of Israel's spectrum of Judaism. I admit that, since living in the Jewish homeland, I've been more secular than at any other point in my life. But I've also been more proud, more aware, and more at ease with my Jewish identity than at any other point in my life. Where else does an entire country stand together in silence to recognize and remember those who perished in the Shoah?

That passage struck chord with my current attitude. It just felt right to agree with this woman who made aliyah. Since my family left, I've been examining myself as finding who I am as a Jew and an American living in an Israeli society where Judaism takes root. I spent two months settling in Israel, attempting to maintain my own "American" Jewish traditions with the exception of going to Shabbat services (no English transliteration texts here). Then my grandparents came for a month and I practically lived in an orthodox life due to Zev and the apartment rental. At the same time and after my whole family left, I have been connecting with the secular Israelis.

Now, I am looking at myself today after going through all the stages. Where am I comfortable? What am I comfortable doing? When do I want to recognize mysefl as Jewish? How can I maintain my own sense of identity? With whom do I want to be with? Why these choices?

(I know that by this point, Dane will be thinking "She's crazy!!!!" But hun, you told me to stop and ask questions every once in awhile, you know?)

I am being tested on my identity. A possible analogy for this would be the Asians. Nevertheless, I am thinking of these questions and wondering how to answer each of them rationally. And realize that I am living in an Israeli society and connecting with Israelis which are major influences right now.

I also have to look back on my attitude towards Judaism since I was a child. I did not have a Jewish friend until I met Helen (though just half-Jew) and that was when we were 13. My mom bribed me with a doughnut every Sunday morning on our way to Sunday school. Hebrew meant nothing to me (though I do remember learning the aleph-bet) because I thought English was the only language in the world. Israel was a dream or something out of the Torah. My parents only kept the High Holidays, Passover, and Chanukkah. The only time I felt "Jewish" was whenever I was with Grandma. I used to love going through a series of books that she had in the library of her house on Jewish holidays. Other than that, I did not want to identify myself as Jewish. Nobody else was Jewish that I could relate to. What was the point if I had to make the effort? Being Jewish was hard work to me and I didn't like it. Even saying the ha'motzi was just ugh.

Now I can say all the Shabbat prayers effortlessly. Hebrew is becoming a second nature. I love saying shabbat shalom to the venders at the shuk on Fridays. I don't feel guilty about not going to Shabbat services at all- nor the morning services. I immensely enjoy the national holidays as day-offs from school. Even if I don't even go anywhere, it feels right to enjoy the free day with other Jews without worrying about missing something at work or school. Everybody goes out together- both on religious and Israeli holidays. I don't enjoy the orthodox way of celebrating Shabbat. Sometimes I do roll my eyes over some things that the secular Israelis do and say because it seems unkosher for an American Jew. Nevertheless, living in Israel has given me new ideas and perspectives on how I can define myself as a Jew today. As I have said, I don't like to work hard to maintain my identity. The identity should be a natural part of self. Here, my Jewish identity feels natural, even if I have to work at my Hebrew (one day, it will be nearly fluent and that'd be the end of my worries).

I look around and see different contributions that people make to Israel to express their Judaism in a Jewish state in progressive ways. Some secular Israelis believe that giving 2-3 years of their life to the Army is enough that they don't feel the need to fulfill all the religious obligations- they defend the borders of the Jewish state. The olim made aliyah, fulfilling the dreams of the Zionists- to bring about a strong Jewish majority in a Jewish state. The religious contribute their stubborn stance on civil laws to ensure that Israel remains a real Jewish state. And the Americans? I often like to amuse myself that they just roll in the money.

What did I do today? Only those who can read Hebrew can follow my little essay:
היום שלו היה יופיץ אני נפגשתי גם סתודנתץ אתה בא לקולגט באבגוסתץ אנהנו אכלנו בבר קציצהץ היא היה נאהץ אנהנו ריברנו על ירדאל, יראשלים, קולגט, וישראלים מדברים באנגלית רה ועברתת שלנוץ היו רוצה להתנרב הצבאץ אני אמרה אותו לעשות את אחרי קולגט. אנהנו עושים חיים

מדברת ביברית

Every time I have a good time with an Israeli, my motivation level to study my Hebrew skyrockets. Usually my reason is one of the three:

A) I want to impress him/her with my conversational skills because he/she is awesome.
B) His/her accent is so heavy that it seems a lot easier if I just speak in Hebrew.
C) Wants to trade me for English lessons by teaching me Hebrew.

I bought an Israeli film- Yossi and Jagger (basically Israeli version of Brokeback Mountain- only a little better) and it's got a lot of phrases that I want to learn. So I'll be watching it every once in a while. It's not even long anyway- only an hour. I may buy a few more before I return to the States.

I survived 30 minutes of Hebrew conversation with my favorite teacher last Thursday! She was impressed that I lasted so long and thought I spoke it well. Of course, my friends and family know that I'm pretty critical of myself so I disagree in terms of my pronounciation. She encouraged another session for this week- before I could even ask!

I am going to try to speak as much Hebrew as I can when the Landsmans visit this week in terms of making requests in public so they can tell my parents that I'm not wasting away their money for my tutition. I also try to think in Hebrew as I'm walking or cooking or in the shower or working out and coming up with different phrases to use. I certainly try not to let off that I'm an American when I'm shopping around the shuk and they're telling me the prices.

The more I am engaged with this native language and the people of this country, the more I am unsure of myself when I return to the States...

Class dinner, American IDF soldier, the Winograd Report...

It's been quite interesting in the past few days. But I will start with the least exciting to most exciting part, basically in reverse of order that's happened.

I just came back from a class dinner at my EE Jewry professor's apartment in Rehavia. I think I won't see eggs for the next few days- too much quiche!!! Nevertheless, we talked about Yiddish literature since this was actually a 'make-up" class and after dessert, she read us a Sholem Alecheim short story. Cute. During dinner, we discussed student strikes, tutition/financial aid, and subjects relating to those. The professor finds it very surprising how Israeli parents will pay a good portion of their child's down payment for an apartment but not their university education at all. (By the way, she is an American who made aliyah in the 1970's from Buffalo, NY). It's really something else to watch young Israelis work their butts off for a year or two to earn enough money to be able to go to a university since the universities don't give out a lot of financial aid. By the way, they showed us their collection of traditional Russian toys (they go there a lot for research), including a matryoshka with portraits of famous Russian figures on each doll from throughout centuries. It was really freaky but cool!

Next, I met an American who just finished his Army service two weeks ago. He actually volunteered from Brooklyn. Never, ever I had encountered anyone from the Army who really enjoyed his experience- he said to me, "Party's over!" He showed me a lot of pictures from his camera of his service, including ones that would not be posted publicly (pretty cool!). I felt really relieved just to be able to talk to him, especially with his upbeat attitude, about the Army and what goes in a soldier's daily life. He wasn't fazed by my asking about the Second Lebanon War and he told me how his unit was one of the first to go in Lebanon (counter-terrorism). The more he shared, the more I understood where the Israelis were coming from in terms of their politics and personal attitudes towards the Army and the Israeli government. I just needed the whole story, and here he was, giving me the story, filling in the gaps. What was surprising was to hear what happened during the first days of the Second Lebanon War and why the soldiers who fought in there were so bitter about it- it was basically chaos and lives were lost without justice. We also touched upon other topics relevant to both of us- the idea of returning to the American culture, cochlear implants (his sister is bi-lateral and his niece has one), and colleges. By the way, he told me that there are no swear words in Hebrew! Oh so much for finding a way to curse at someone when I'm being ripped off. The Israelis just do it in Englsh or Arabic. Another interesting thing- he's a Republican and would vote for Guilani! Whhaaaattt??? Anyway, he was fun to chill with and said he'd call me when he got back from his trip to the States for a couple of weeks (doing fund-raising for his unit at various Jewish day schools and events). Even though I'm not crazy about hanging out with other Americans living in Israel, sometimes it's just good to have them for resource- they can tell you things that Israelis can't or won't tell you.

Lastly, Israel is going through a lot now. Namely, the impending war with Hamas, the Winograd Report, and the student strikes. The headlines on JPost are pretty intense with the talks of IDF creating strategies and reports from Hamas about wanting to kidnap more Israelis and do more roadside bombing. I am not too worried since the IDF learned a major lesson from last summer- always be prepared with plans, even if they don't really want to. That leads to the Winograd Report. It's basically a report card for the government and the Army, mostly for the Prime Minister and Defense Minister (Olmert and Peretz). I wish that we had one for the US government (though we did sort of- the Iraq Study Group Report). There are talks about Olmert feeling that he will not be able to make through all the criticism and he's losing support from his party because the party officials don't want to lose their jobs. There's a possiblity for a female PM in the future - Tipiz Livni. (This should get interesting when I bring this up to Kobe who believes that women shouldn't lead Israel- I'll smack him for that). Peretz is determined to keep his job. Before the report, Olmert had only 3% approval- wow, so low. Now it's 0%. It's incredible how much more the Israelis hate their government than Americans do. Even I can say one or two nice things about President Bush as much I want to see him out of the office however. So yeah, the government's pretty corrupted and Israelis are very, very critical about it. One single mistake costs the PM his job. Not a bunch like we allow for our President. There will be a rally in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square tomorrow night (Thursday) for him to "GO HOME!"

By the way, the student strikes have been going on for 3 1/2 weeks. I have one friend who texted me today that he's forgotten what it's like to be in school (while typing his paper...). The students are striking because the public tutition is too high for them. They want more aid and the tutition to decrease by 50%. I saw several buses waiting in front of Hebrew U today for the students to go to a rally. I think the system is really messed up. Why should the Israelis have to pay full price tag when the government is giving olims (new immigrants) practically full rides for their university education? Generally, the olim have more money and can afford the $10,000 price tag (compared to $42,000 in the States!) while the Israelis don't and can't.

This is what I love about living in Israel- being part of the living history. So much is happening in Israel- culturally, socially, economically, and politically and that works pretty well for someone who loves history. I want to be able to tell my grandchildren all the changes I've seen over the years. I feel as if Israel is struggling to create its own national identity, using the Jewish identity as the basis. Exactly how does one define Israel?

By the way, I did actually find some cute skirts for the warm weather- looks like I'll go shopping on Friday! No one here wears their skirts above their knees- either they cover the knees or below or they wear jeans. And I'm getting a little warm to continue wearing my jeans. It's the fashion here-even at the university with the student body being largely secular.