Yeurshalayim Matook Yerushalayim

Dear Mom-

The fact that Meredith's friend, Katie, had yet to have schwarma was a terrific excuse to go for you. Here's a picture of proof. So Meredith and I took her to that place on Emek Refaim and she said it was the best schwarma ever.

Love,
The Best Daughter

Not surprisely, I had trouble falling asleep between 2 to 5 AM and I got up for half-hour and surfed around the Internet while trying to fall back asleep. I woke up again at 9 ish and helped myself to breakfast. Linda and Shlomi had already left.

This began my "backpacking" adventure in Israel. This is going to be a rehearsal for a future trip to Russia even though Russian customs and manners are different. Anywayyyy, I carried all of my stuff to the bus stop outside of the kibbutz and waited and waited for my bus. I was supposed to take 501 to Tel Aviv's north station so I could get on 480 to Jerusalem. But the bus never came after half-hour so I gave in and took the 48 that took me all the way down to central Tel Aviv. With all of my stuff. I transferred to the 4 bus to Tel Aviv station. Theeennnn I proceeded to my normal route in the station (it really IS a mess-I'll post pics in August). I was able to get on the 1:15 bus to Jerusalem along with lots of other people.

Once I arrived in Jerusalem, one thing struck me. I knew that they had completed that "bridge" for the light rail and boy, I did not expect to see it right as the bus got off the freeway towards the central station. It looked... odd. I'll admit that my travel from that point to Hebrew U was... in a disappointing way. I counted several new developments for residential apartments along bus 28's route. I just knew that wealthy Americans and Europeans will end up buying these places, not Israelis. That's one aspect of Jerusalem that bothers me- no affordable housing for Israelis to stay. I later learned that I was correct- these new buildings will be very expensive.

When I arrived at Hebrew U's Kfer HaStudentim and met Meredith there, it was great! When I wakled in her apartment, it felt like i was coming "home." The familiar smell and sight of the place brought back lots of fond memories (it was in a different building). It struck me as I put my stuff down that I had made Jerusalem far more of my home than I thought. I put that thought aside since I had just gotten here. I met Meredith's friend, Katie, and two of her Danish roommates (who were studying Biblical Hebrew). Everyone was very, very nice. Before we headed out for dinner, we all took a short nap. I was definitely tired.

We set out around 5 to downtown. First, we went to the shuk. I thought, "Thank goodness I haven't changed my dollars yet and I only have 20 shekelim and whatever change..." That addiction never left me- I drooled over the sight of amazing produce and smell of baked goods. I wanted to buy that 5 shekelim hummus and some pita bread along with cucumbers... I ended up only buying a mango and some baklava. Meredith did buy some chocolate rugalech (which she later gave me ONLY ONE piece). I didn't want to buy the rugalech knowing that it would never make it home after dinner. Meredith and Katie wanted to do some skirt shopping so they looked around in this shop at the shuk and another shop down on Agrippas near King George. I found some beautiful clothing but truly refrained myself from buying anything. My current plan is to refrain from buying anything unnecessary August 8th so that I can have enough money to do some traveling after my Haifa ulpan ends.

After shopping around and dollar-changing on Ben Yehuda, we took the bus down to Emek Refaim. Katie had yet to have her first shwarma and Meredith wanted to go back to this place on Emek. So there we go, Mom, a good excuse me to get a little fat for a couple hours. I ordered mine on a pita instead of a laffa since I hadn't had a schwarma in a year and my stomach would not be accustomed to it. Katie loved her schwarma and joked how she felt pregnant as she wore an empire waist t-shirt that hid her full tummy.

By this point, I had to admit that Jerusalem certainly had a place in my heart despite the rapid changes it would undergo in the next decade. Mom was right. It's so full of history and I love how I know a lot of the side streets that randomy twist and turn. Yes, the haredim drive me a little nuts (especially when the 4/19 bus climbs up the hill to Mea Shearim) but what's more important is being there for Jerusalem, for Israeli control over Jerusalem. I think the fact that Jerusalem truly is a historical city that's going through changes is what makes it a home for me in Israel as a historian and avid fan of watching history happening in front of my eyes.

Tomorrow, off to Ein Gedi!!!

Journeying back to Eretz Yisrael

(I thought this was a pretty cool sunset over Toronto, taken from the shuttle plane)

Air Canada, I must declare, has the coolest jet I've been on. It's the jet of the future! I'm glad that I didn't pack any books or magazines because the tv screens were touch-screens and everthing's On Demand. So it meant that if a movie already started in another flight, I would've had to wait for the next showing. Here, you could start your shows anytime you wanted. You could pick any shows! So I picked two movies- "The Counterfeiter" (about the huge counterfeit operation during Nazism where they attempt to destroy Britain's economy by putting in extra pounds in its currency) and another one about the South Korean women's handball team's journey to the Athens Olympics. I picked them just because they had subtitles- I could barely hear the regular movies. They were actually showing some of the recently opened movies like "10,000 BC" and "Definitely Maybe." The first class/business class looked like it was blasted from The Jetsons. (Apparently Ofek, the son, is going on this airline for his Canada trip at the end of the month so I told him all about it and he's really looking forward to it!)

We had to make an emergency landing in Halifax because the plane had no water so we were delayed for 90 minutes. I was soooo tired and sick that I just wanted them to shut off ALL the lights!

Otherwise, everything else was cool with Air Canada. Just A LOT of little kids!

Not so cool with the passport control, on the other hand. It went like this:
PC: What's your purpose of your visit to Israel?
Me: Ulpan study in Haifa.
PC: How long are you studying for?
Me: 4 or 5 weeks.
PC: You'll need a student visa.
Me: What? I'm here less than three months!
PC: Yes but you have a student visa here and it's expired. If you're going to study here, you need to get a student visa.
Me: But it's only for 3 or 4 weeks and I'm here for another 2 weeks!
PC: Then where are you going after you finish studying?
Me: I'm just going to Tel Aviv. (panicky response)
PC: You have family there?
Me: Yes!!! (sorry Mom and Dad, I wanted her to shut up and let me go already)
PC: Okay, fine. If you're going to be studying for another 2 weeks, then you NEED to get a student visa.

I called Meredith, my old roommate from last year who's in Jerusalem now doing the ulpan. She had no problems apparently. I think it was just the fact that I had a student visa.

Shlomi picked me up and we drove back to the kibbutz. We had a quiet dinner of spaghetti and meatsauce while watching the news on Jerusalem's "terrorist" attack. I called Meredith again to get the English version of the story and apparently, the cab drivers were having a field day.

It's already all over and I'm just going to go into Jerusalem early afternoon tomorrow and spend the night with Meredith. I'm too anxious to see her as I won't really see much of her at all after our ulpanim are over but I will see Linda and Shlomi again in August. I know it's a long wayyyy off but with my own family coming in for two weeks in two and half weeks, I want to see them and show them around!

Pickin' Up Where I Left Off...

I've been making some phone calls via Skype to Israel to get some things together. I know, why am I planning things less than a week before leaving? Maybe I really have been in Israel for too long!

This summer hasn't been quite summer-y in terms of weather so I'm pretty anxious to greet the 80+ degree weather with full sunshine. Sometimes I wonder why I'm sitting in my house for 4-5 weeks. But I owe it to my brother to show up for his graduation this Saturday. But when you're unemployed and the weather doesn't call for pool, it's easy to get fidget-y about the time passing faster.

But my mom thinks I've been in Israel too long. She'd read the paper and say, "Oh it's going to be like 70, 75 degrees next week. You should be able to go to the pool." Then I would stammer and say, "But Mom, it needs to be at least 80 degrees!" Then she would reply, "You really have been in Israel too long!" But I think it's just how I adapted and haven't dropped any habits. I love plain yogurt and don't mind eating tomatos, zucchini, and cucumbers for breakfast with my eggs. I still keep kosher 99% of the time within the parameters of my current surroundings. Shabbat tends to come and go for me but when I do it myself, it feels relieving that another week has gone by and I survived it. As implied in my last post, Israel is becoming a priority in my decision-making. I have also cut back on my shopping needs and gone scouting for cheapest sales, even in stores like Abercrombie. Not because I'm about to become a poor graduate student, but why pay more just for that brand-name? If I can get a pair of jeans for $20 at final mark-down from Abercrombie, then why not? Otherwise, I'll find another pair of jeans elsewhere or just wait.

Oh, not to mention that when I went to Jersey Shore with my oldest friend, I was seriously hallincuating while hanging out on the beach. I saw Tel Aviv and people playing in the water and on the shores. I was really missing that scene. I tried to "transport" back to Israel just by laying in the sun and playing Israeli songs on my iPod. Okay, I guess I have to admit that I was in Israel for too long.

When I made calls over to Israel, it didn't matter who, I just felt that connection to the land. It's so weird that I can't explain it. It's different from Facebooking and instant messaging. But when I heard someone's voice from over there, I felt as if I was right in the next room, a wall separating us. When I talked to Nate and Tobi, it's similar being back in my dorm room at Hebrew U making those weekly calls to see how Nate was doing with his chemo. When I called Linda and heard her warm voice, it was so easy to fall back in the old habit of being part of the family. When I talked with my old Jerusalem ulpan roommate, Meredith, I was so excited. I couldn't wait to get there already!

Hm, nope, I don't think I was in Israel for too long. It's definitely alive in my heart and soul (as this blog is appropriately titled). Even though I'm a little nervous but overall, I'm very excited to pick up my life where I left it (persumbly with lots of changes in terms of location).

Here's a tentative itinerary:
July 2nd-3rd: On the kibbutz with the Ravids
July 3rd-July 6th: Jerusalem
July 6th-July 30th: Haifa
--> July 18th-20th: My aunt's family visit Haifa so I get to play tour guide!
--> July 25th-27th: Jerusalem
July 31st-August 8th: Still up in the air, depending how the dollar is doing, the weather... and what everyone's up to. I'm sure at some point here, I'll go back to the Ravids' and spend time in Tel Aviv.
August 9th-August 14th: Melissa comes back and we're in Jerusalem!!!

I think my goal this time is try to take a few more trips like Caesarea, Modi'in, and Eilat. And yes, plus get the hang of Hebrew. I am making a goal to finish this David Copperfield that I'm reading so that when I go to Israel, I'm only going to read easy children's novels in Hebrew and anything in Hebrew. There's no Jerusalem Post in Haifa but maybe there's a copy around on Friday if I look carefully for some reading materials on Shabbat.

Goodness, how am I going to sleep? I got up at 6 AM this morning...

Returning Home with Political Baggage

I am being very aware of how days I have left before I jet out of Rochester to Tel Aviv (via Toronto on AirCanada) on July 1st. I am become extra aware of the news in NYT and Israeli papers so that I am prepared to answer some questions that Israelis may pose for me, particularly the upcoming election.

It means having to be specific on why so much of the West and liberal Americans want to support Obama. It means telling them what a disaster the US is domestically and we are in need of a president who can fix and prep the US for the future. Americans are sick and tired of being ruined after 7 years of presidency, especially that Bush has turned into a lame duck. And explain why Hillary Clinton lost. I cannot defend John McCain as to why he is a better choice other than for Israel. And I am on the fence about the whole thing, no matter who's Obama's VP. This is a bad time for American Jewish communities who still very much want to support Israel and are Democrats.

My friend asked me over dinner a few nights ago to remind her why "Obama is bad for the Jews." She's fairly secular Jew who is just beginning to explore the Jewish world a bit so what I had said to her shocked her. She came from a staunch Hillary Clinton family so here she was, in the same uncertain position but would like to vote Democrat. First, I told her that Obama has not been to Israel enough- only once in 2006 to Chicago's sister city. What bothers the Jews the most is how he wants to deal with Iran, Israel's current biggest enemy. Obama, in summer 2007, explicitly stated that he would meet dictators upfront including Iran without using envoys or UN sanctions. Here's the transcript:



Question: Would you be willing to meet separately, without precondition, during the first year of your administration, in Washington or anywhere else, with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea, in order to bridge the gap that divides our countries?


Obama: I would. And the reason is this, that the notion that somehow not talking to countries is punishment to them -- which has been the guiding diplomatic principle of this administration -- is ridiculous. ... And I think that it is a disgrace that we have not spoken to them. We've been talking about Iraq -- one of the first things that I would do in terms of moving a diplomatic effort in the region forward is to send a signal that we need to talk to Iran and Syria because they're going to have responsibilities if Iraq collapses.



Right, but it makes Israel nervous. US' plan could fail and erupt in a Middle East war that would seriously threat the Jewish state. Iran's president, Ahmadinejad, denies the Holocaust and does not recognize the State of Israel. So the logic is that Ahmadinejad must recognize the State of Israel and accept the Nazi Holocaust in order for any peace talks with Israel and the US.



In general, Obama's attitude and foreign policies annoy and worry the Jews. Some Jews go as far to point out his Muslim background and his middle name, Huessein, and argue that he'll be pro-Palestinne. The fact is that fundamentalist Muslims are angry with him for not recognizing his own Muslim background so there is very little for those Jews to worry about.



Further reasons for Obama's weak stance with the Jews are his ties to the black church that he just divorced from (aka Reverend Wright), lack of abroad experience (3 weeks in Pakistan and romping around Indoesia doesn't really count), and general historical Jewish-black tensions. My biggest gripe in his cheap talk, especially his speech on Memorial's Day. He spoke to a group of WWII veterans and told them that his great-grandfather had served in WWII and helped to liberate Auschwitz. BUZZ! The Americans did not liberate the camps in Poland, it was the Soviet troops that did. Historians called on him on that. Later, the campaign revised its statement that the grandfather liberated Buchenwald. Kind of like picking a name out of the hat to me.



Recently, he has been attempt to connect with the Jewish voters. He says that he supports undivided Jerusalem under Israeli control while entertaining the idea of a two-state solution. Jews know better. Two state solution cannot happen unless Jerusalem divides.

Obviously as I have lived in Jerusalem and observed what has happened in Gaza since Hamas took over, I don't believe that Abbas could take better care of East Jerusalem than the Israeli government, no matter how much the Arabs complain.

So what do I do at this point? Zev says to keep an eye on Chicago's Jewish community given that they have known him the longest. I should update the Israelis without leaning to one side of the fence which I don't want to do until October or November. But also watch what happens when Israel attempts to talk with Syria and how Israelis react.

Or, maybe the Israelis won't say anything.... not that it matters but as I said to my mother several weeks ago, "I'm not anyone's spokesperson. I'm just a voter." As a voter and an US "ambassador" to Israel, I should be informaed of both sides of the issue at hand so that I can answer any questions without bias (if anyone can help it) and eventually make an informed decision.

Canada's PM on Israel

The Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, delivered a speech forIsrael's 60th. It is so extraordinary that I must lead off with this today:

"All of my life, Israel has been a symbol of the triumph of hope and faith. After 1945, our battered world desperately needed to be lifted out ofpost-war darkness and despair. After so much pain and suffering, humanityneeded comfort and optimism. After so much death and destruction, we neededthe renewal of the dream of a better and more civilized world. In short, weneeded to be inspired. It was the people who had suffered who most providedthat inspiration. By their example, they led the world back ! to the light. From shattered Europe and other countries near and far, the descendants ofAbraham, Isaac, and Jacob made their way home. Their pilgrimage was theculmination of a two-thousand-year-old dream; it is a tribute to the unquenchable human aspiration for freedom, and a testament to the indomitable spirit of the Jewish people.

"In the sixty years that followed, Israel blossomed into one of the mostsuccessful countries on earth; a land of ingenuity and enterprise, an oasisof agricultural genius, a wellspring of fine art and high culture, a modelof democracy. Israel truly is the 'miracle in the desert.'" But the source of Israel's strength and success,! in my view, is itscommitment to the universal values of all civilized peoples: freedom,democracy, human rights and the rule of law...

"Unfortunately, Israel at 60 remains a country threatened by those groups and regimes who deny to this day its right to exist. And why? Make no mistake; look beyond the thinly-veiled rationalizations: because they hate Israel, just as they hate the Jewish people. Our government believes that those who threaten Israel also threaten Canada, because, as the last world war showed, hate-fueled bigotry against some is ultimately a threat to us all, and must be resisted wherever it may lurk.

"In this ongoing battle, Canada stands side-by-side with the State ofIsrael, our friend and ally in the democratic family of nations. We havestood with Israel even when it has not been popular to do so, and we willcontinue to stand with Israel, just as I have always said we would...

"There will be many challenges along the way, but considering how far Israel has come in such a short time, in the face of such seemingly insurmountableodds, I can foresee no dark force, no matter how strong, that could succeedin dimming the light of freedom and democracy that! shines from within Israel."