Concert for a Cause

Though dead on our feet following last night's revelry and a day full of classes, we somehow found it within ourselves to attend a concert with Eric and Gloria at the Jerusalem Theater. The show was a mix of styles and genres of music, with the Black Hebrews (an American trio) singing soul and blues, Etti Ankri singing country-style music (if such a term can be applied to Israeli music), and David D'Or pretending to be a soprano cantor. The proceeds from the event are being put toward the support of agunot, so even though only half of the music was actually good, the entire evening was worthwhile.

Random meetings of the day - while I was waiting for the bus on Derech Hevron, Isaac Hollander, a co-worker from Or Chaim, stopped his car in the left-turn lane to chat for a few seconds. For dinner, Rina and I went to Shai Mintz's apartment to have dinner with the Arbesmans, a family from the Buffalo days who are here on vacation.

Making Up for Vegetarian Shabbat Meals

After havdala we met up with Held and Evi, both of whom are visiting for Winter vacation, and went out to town to search out some interesting eating experiences. We started off at Ethio-Israel, the Ethiopian restaurant we've been to before, but they were - no joke - out of food. Our next stop was O'Connell's, a bar that came to us recommended.

A business that Jon has always wanted to see established is a bar with kosher bar-food, but no city outside of New York really has the type of population needed for such a venture. O'Connell's is exactly what he has been looking for - an Irish pub with a menu overflowing with meat. We each ordered a beer (which comes by the liter, not the pint), and shared an order of chicken wings, onion rings, and a platter of mixed meats and dipping sauces. Fantastic. We plan to go back at the soonest opportunity.

Not entirely satisfied, Jon and Held convinced Rina that the next stop had to be Burgers Bar, a standard Israeli joint that Jon has never tried. While the meat and grease hit the spot, the experience was not what it had been built up to be, especially following the dream-come-true that was O'Connell's. After a quick meeting with Moishe and Zvi Jesin, we headed home at a reasonable 2 am. Fun!

Ir Amim

After spending the last few days touring the Old City, we decided to spend Friday seeing a different side of Jerusalem, and so signed up for the Ir Amim tour of East Jerusalem. Ir Amim strives to give people a more complete picture of the "City of Peoples" (as its name suggests) by showing them neighbourhoods that are off the beaten path, and explaining the historical reasons for their current economic, educational, and fiscal problems. The majority of this tour focused on area impacted by the constructions of the Security Fence (or Separation Barrier, Barrier for Life, etc., depending on your political stance).


Aside from the many interesting facts discussed during the tour, such as the ways in which families and jobs are disrupted, and educational and tax systems fail, the most intriguing element was the surprisingly a-political stance of the guide. At no point did he claim that the wall should be torn down, nor did he parade any propaganda about decreases in terrorism since its construction. Rather, he seemed to be solely concerned with the plight of the residents in the immediate vicinity of the wall and the decrease in their standard of living. The purpose of the tour seemed to be to open our eyes, not to change our minds.

During the tour I thought about something that one of my classmates mentioned on Thursday. He drew the analogy that our perceptions of Israel are similar to a small child's perceptions of his mother. When very young, the boy thinks that his mother is the most beautiful, the smartest, the best cook, and so forth. As he grows up, however, he realizes that his mother is most likely not perfect, and has many human failings and frailties, the same as everyone else. We need to recognize that Israel may not be the perfect Land of Milk and Honey that we would like her to be, but is in fact a nation involved in the global community, and as such has the same challenges and troubles as other countries. Another classmate added that she deals with these issues by compartmentalizing - on the one hand she has the Holy Land, and on the other the State of Israel. However, I'm not certain that this actually deals with the issues; it may just be sweeping them under the rug, and I can imagine this simply causing more problems.

Generations

At 5:40 this evening we met with Eric and Gloria near the Kotel, at the ticket office for the Chain of Generations tour. None of us had heard much about the experience, but knew that it was new (a rarity in this city) and had received some good reviews. About the content we were in the dark, but gave it a shot anyways.

The museum is a series of rooms filled with glass sculptures, each one completely different from those that preceded it, and commemorating various stages in the history of Judaism, especially as it pertained to Jerusalem. Different textures, lighting, writing, shapes, and orientations helped to convey the emotional state of the artist as he moved through the past 2,000 years of nation building, expansion, corruption, diaspora, and return. The pieces, crafted by Jeremy Langford, were wonderful, and were easily the best part of the museum.

The premise behind the museum, as explained by the guide, is to bring modernity to the Old City, whose other exhibits tend to skew toward historical. To that end, they converted a Crusader passage and several mikvaot discovered nine years ago into the hallways of the exhibit, then filled them with modern art and special effects (like strobe lights and smoke machines, an Israeli necessity). We both found this setup a little jarring, and think that it was probably arranged as such less for the stated artistic reasons and more to offer a kid-friendly alternative to all of the fact-heavy historical edifices for which the city is known.

As we exited the museum we found ourselves in the middle of a giant gathering in the main plaza of the Jewish Quarter, where soldiers and their families had gathered for the swearing-in of a new group of draftees. We stayed and watched for a while and were struck by two things. The first was that we were witnessing the same chain of generations discussed in the museum, with a new breed of Israeli youth at the forefront of the faith's advancement. The second was the stream of Haredi men who walked through the crowds with their eyes screwed tightly shut, probably to avoid the sight of the nationalistic soldiers or the women immodestly clothed in their long-sleeved winter garb. Both those fighting for a contentious future and those hiding in a distant past together in one square. Well, not really together, and that's sorta the point.

Al Quds

For this morning's activity we arranged to be a part of a tour of the Temple Mount. After a swim in a local mikva that left Jon feeling less pure than before he went in, we met up with the Goldberg-parents and headed over to the Old City.

The first sight that greeted us as we approached the meeting place was Rina's cousin Ari, whom we last saw at the conference on heresy. It seems that Tenenbaums like to distance themselves from the Jewish mainstream. Who knew? Anyways, the guide quickly gathered us together and made clear his personality when he yelled at a hunched 70-man for not answering when his name was called, even though he had only arrived seconds earlier. The guide made sure that we looked suitably like irreligious tourists, and we proceeded through security. The last sight we passed on our way through the gates to the Temple Mount was a stack of twenty riot shields with the word "Police" written across them in bold black letters.

After allowing us a moment to take in the impressive sights that greeted us, the guide explained the 'purpose' of his tour as being a solidarity mission. He wanted us to understand the shift of Israeli and Jewish policy toward the right, as well as the policy of apathy toward the goings-on on Har HaBayit, and how those two elements have combined to leave what should be the most important place in Judaism entirely out of Jewish control, and even beyond interest for many. While we toured the platform the guide used maps, photos, pictures, and anecdotes to weave an elaborate history of the area that stretched from pre-Temple times through to the modern day. The tour was full of facts, figures, and stories (both true and apocryphal) that served to give us insight into a hilltop that, while ideologically important, for most of us had been nothing but an idea. He managed to bring depth to an area that sorely lacked it.


The area around the Dome of the Rock was amazing for many reasons beyond its historical and religious significance. Few of us had understood the scope of the space, which is large enough to hold several million people (or so it was explained). The plaza is also beautiful, not only because of the the architecture and art of the buildings, but also because of the gardens and groves that fill it. We were also surprised to find the place relatively empty of pilgrims and prayers, but with many school children running around. To sum up, it was a very different place from what we'd expected, and well worth the visit and possible damnation.*

*Jon seems to think that there was a divine push for him to take today's tour. He was skipping class to make the trip, but almost the moment the tour began he received a text message from the University telling him that his teacher had joined the strike.

There and Back Again

Tonight we (Rina, Jon, Eric and Gloria) went to that Ticho house, whose museum Rina has already visited, and where Jon has already dined. We started off in the lower gallery, where we saw paintings of modern women by several famous artists, such as Picasso, Renoir, Matisse, and Warhol. That doesn't mean they were all good, just that the were all famous. We then moved to the upper gallery, where we looked at Dr. Ticho's chanukia collection, and Mrs. Ticho's sketches and drawings. We then moved back downstairs for dinner.

Every Tuesday night the restaurant hosts a jazz quartet, and offers a wine and cheese (and salad and soup and pasta) buffet as part of the meu. Everyone but Eric trusted their bodies to handle the lactose and went for the buffet, which hosted a dozen types of cheese and a variety of wonderful dairy entrees. While we ate we were entertained by the musicians, who played a mixture of holiday songs, tunes with Jewish roots, and what we assume to be jazz pieces. After noticing that everyone who was in the room when we arrived had long since gone we decided to call it a night, and headed home to sleep before our early wake-up tomorrow.

Visitation Rights

Tonight, Christmas Eve, began Winter break - for Rina's parents. After meeting them at their Moroccan themed apartment, we headed over to 9 Haportzim (our home) for dinner, then to the Old City. Once there we visited the Kotel and then began the Western Wall Tunnel Tour.

Our guide took us through the underground caverns and systems of arches that support the buildings of the Old City, as well as alongside the continuation of the massive stone retaining wall of which the Kotel is a tiny portion. Along the way he explained aesthetics (Herod's framing of the stones and specific placements), architecture, history, and spirituality. The information ranged from Herod's methodologies to the importance of a tiny archway, the closest spot to the former Holy of Holies. We also walked through a defunct aqueduct, and visited the site of one of the money-changing stations made so infamous by the biblical sequel. All things considered, this was a very nice start to our month of parental visitations.

Music Recital

We saw an ad for a free concert at the nearby music conservatory, so after dinner tonight we went over to check it out. The event took place in what looked like an undersized school auditorium, with plastic chairs set up facing an open area with microphones and a piano. The 'school environment' persisted as a group of 10-year-olds took the stage to perform some songs on piano, flute, and violin. We very much felt like we were at a sibling's amateur recital. The ad we had seen advertised the event as containing jazz, poetry, and Ethiopian music, and the next group to take the stage delivered all three at once. It was a bizarre but interesting experience, and well worth the price of admission.

"And in the morning, I'm makin' waffles!"

After a pleasant Shabbat full of new things - a new crockpot (yay chulent!), a different shul (yay mediocrity!) - we hung out with some Binghamton friends-and-spouses at Ben Yehuda, which was filled with more Birthright children; they seem to have multiplied since Friday, leading us to believe they are either Gremlins that got wet or some sort of fast-replicating amoeba/bacteria. On the way home we stopped off at the Waffle Bar a short way from our apartment, and introduced ourselves to a delicious friend. We're not sure why there aren't all-night waffle joints that also serve liquor and play techno music in North America, but if someone gives us the capital we'll put in the work to make it happen. It is well worth it.

Friday Fun

We continued our weekend with a morning tour of Rechavia, another of the early settlements outside the Old City walls. We learned about the history of the peaceful neighbourhood, as well as the story of its varied residents and their roles in history. Some notables included authors and Chief Rabbis, as well as heads of industry and finance (remarkable that so many philosophies could share one neighbourhood, something you would never see in today's Jerusalem). The area was beautiful, made even more so by the fact that it was tucked away behind some of Jerusalem's busiest and most tourist-packed streets yet has maintained an aura of picturesque un-Jerusalem-ness.

Next up was the shuk, where we gawked and laughed at the hordes of Birthright tourists, and did some last minute shopping. We also had lunch at a little hole in the wall (no, really) called "Chummus", where we had chummus with a hard-boiled egg, shakshuka (a Mediterranean egg and tomato dish), falafel balls, charif (spicy green parsley something), and a basket of pita. We closed off the meal with a drink of sachlav, an undefineable but delicious hot drink. Then it was home to - as usual - rush through our preparations for shabbat.

Random Updates

Today Jon went on another school visitation, this time to the most extreme school thus far. The school was in Beitar, which is beyond the Green Line; the school is run by Shas, the Sephardi Religious party; and the classes were divided based on gender, starting from Grade 1. It was an environment completely like any he had been to, and what was most interesting was that the administrators talked to were completely open about their politics and policies, not trying to play down any potentially sore subjects or avoid any topics. It was very refreshing to see/hear this approach, but also makes a lot of sense - you don't move over the Green Line if you aren't sure and proud of your political stance.

After dinner, we got together with Evi, who is visiting for a few weeks, at Cafe Hillel. Reminiscing and so forth followed. And chocolate pieces in the drinks!

Word of the day:לקונדל (l'Kondel)
It means "to run around to meetings that produce no results." An actual word, inspired by Condoleezza Rice.

Jewish Geography

So many seemingly random connections and people-sightings are made here that it has been a while since we have had one worth reporting. Today, while dropping off dry cleaning at a nearby store, Jon, as he is apt to do, struck up a conversation with the store's owner. Following the standard scripted dialogue, she asked him where he was from, to which he responded "Toronto". She followed this by stating, "oh, I have a cousin who lives there. Can't remember her married name, though. Has a son about your age..." Minutes later, their business concluded, Jon was about to leave when the owner blurted out "Kagan!"
Jon replied, "Nicky Kagan?"
"Yep."
"Of course I know her. I've been working with her for the last four years."
Weirdness.

Culture Day!

Hebrew University today was full of cultural experiences for Jon. For a taste of Israel, he got to witness his professors join the general Senior Lecturers' strike (luckily the Melton Center was prepared, and organized alternative courses). For a taste of Poland, Argentina, Canada, and Florida, he got to eat the remaining foodstuffs from Yom Kehilot (cookies, peanut butter-chocolate thingies, maple-syrup oatmeal, and an orange). K, so this post wasn't so exciting, but we had to somehow convey the silliness of being here to attend Hebrew University for free, but then have no professors.

Yom Kehillot

For some reason, now that Jon's group has known each other for four months they have decided to dedicate a day to learning about each others' communities. To that end, each participant prepared a 15 minute presentation and delivered it today, with fun/educational games interspersed. While it was a shame to give up a Sunday, the event actually turned out to be quite fun.

Aside from the many PowerPoint presentations*, there was a game called "Guess that Food!" in which blindfolded participants were fed regional confections (brought by us), whereupon they had to guess both what the food was and from whence it came. Some of the highlights were Napoleon cake (Russia), Corn meal latke-thingies with syrup (Chile), and TimTams (Australia). There was also a round of Jeopardy (Jon's team won, and he is unnecessarily excited about it) and a delicious** lunch in the Faculty Club (shmancy!).

While the purported purpose of the day was to learn more about each others' lands of origin, the day was worthwhile just because we got to spend time together outside of the formal classroom setting. But don't take that endorsement as a cue to steal more Sundays!

*If for some ungodly reason you want to see Jon's fancy PowerPoint dealie, let us know.
**While delicious, the lunch included a mystery dish that we ate with Jon's students at Marvad Haksamim, which an Israeli promptly explained to save some folk from the mystery. Those little grey things that we hoped were mushrooms? Kidneys. Hurray for iron!

Ein Karem Revisited

Today Rina and a friend went on a tiyul/adventure. We started off near Yad Vashem and followed the trusty picture of a man with a hiking stick along a trail that took us to Ein Karem. We decided that wasn't enough of a hike and made some of our own paths until we made it back to Ein Karem. Once we were in the cute little town we went hiking in the valley and decided to hike up it. We climbed up and scaled some walls and then made it to this huge fortress-looking thing with gates and huge walls. I felt like I was in an adventure novel. We followed the wall until we reached a huge gate and buzzed on the door. We were let into a beautiful monastery. The place was basically a huge garden full of beautiful trees, flowers, and shrubs. It was very peaceful and definitely a wonderful place to stumble upon. After wandering around the rest of Ein Karem we made our way back to Jerusalem.

Tonight we (Jon and I and Elisheva) went to see a great Israeli movie. It was called Bikur HaTizmoret (The Visit of the Band). It was a mixture of Egyptian, Hebrew and English. The plot was about an Egyptian Police band that received poor directions and ended up in the nearly-dead town of Beta Tikva instead of the slightly-better Petach Tikvah, and the soul searching and life changing that resulted. There was a very good mix of comedy and drama; as we've seen in most modern Israeli movies, the plot seems to center around a sort of cynical realism which results in a new-found appreciation for life. It came highly recommended and we definitely recommend it to anyone looking for an Israeli culture movie. Apparently it was good enough to be thought of as a Foreign Language film, but so much of it was in English that it couldn't be entered.

Packed-Jam Final חנוכה Fun

Today our day was filled with great activities, which was great for Rina, who is on vacation, and crazy-commuting for Jon, who is not.

Rina spent her morning with a fellow Toronto ex-pat finding secreted and exciting locations around the city centre. They visited two museums, and lunched on falafel. In the Ticho House there were exhibits on history, women in art, and a massive chanukia collection that puts Jon's parents' to shame. The second museum was maintained and stocked by a single artist, whose colorful and whimsical (read 'hallucinogenic') pictorial representations of prayers and Hebrew letters were astounding in their scope, intricacy, and imagination. Who knew that Judaism could be pretty and fun?

Jonathan met up with Rina and some other friends in the early afternoon at the OU Center for a series of lectures about heresy in Judaism today. The entire event, from the staff to the speakers to the audience, reminded us very much of a Torah in Motion event, moreso as it was all about confronting the challenges of modernity (if you believe that fundamentalism is a modern challenge that needs confronting). The three speakers, Rabbis Cardozo and Brovender and a Hebrew U professor, each approached the topic from a different angle, but all seemed to agree on one fundamental and important point - without a specific definition of what is involved in a Jewish identity nobody can be branded a heretic, and there is no person or group today with the authority to authorize that definition. Other interesting ideas that were discussed included a proposal to get rid of Rambam's Thirteen Principles of Faith, rabbis recently excommunicated, and the Lubavitch movement. While some of what was presented was challenging or off-putting, the series as a whole was very engaging and interesting.

After a short break following the five hours of lectures, we headed over to Marvad HaKsamim on Emek for dinner with Jon's A.P. English class from last year. He foolishly promised them a meat dinner if they performed well on the exam, which they then did, to his chagrin. The all-you-can eat appetizers, salads, dips, and meat were far more than we could eat, and will therefore coldly furnish forth our Shabbat table. Hurray! While it was a little weird to slip back into the 'Mr. Parker' persona, the whole evening was lots of fun.

Tranquila

The Y.M.C.A. in Jerusalem (a historic edifice which is far prettier than many hotels we've seen) is hosting a series of newly released and provocative plays, one of which we saw tonight. "Tranquila" is a story set entirely in a Ecuadorian hospital room, where an Israeli who has lost the use of her leg travels between reality and hallucination, life and death. The performance is a combination of acrobatics, comedy, and drama, and incorporates three languages (English, Spanish, and Hebrew), puppetry, trapeze, rope-and-ring contortion, and fantastic (both wonderful and full of fantasy) costuming. While the story may not have been as compelling as desired, both of us were impressed by the seamless incorporation of these many techniques, as well as the troupe's ability to convey a story whose spoken words were incomprehensible to thirds of the audience at a time.

Another Nighttime Tour

This evening's entertainment was another Melton-led tour of Jerusalem, this time in the neighbourhood of Nachlaot. Located adjacent to the shuk, this area is one of the oldest in the city, and for many years was home to the area's poorer elements, including many Chassidic families who had lived in the same buildings for generations. Of late, however, Nachlaot has begun a process of gentrification, so much so that the older residents cannot pay the greatly increased property taxes and are at risk of losing their homes. The tour through the area had many highs and lows, some of the former being the many varied chanukiot we saw on window ledges and in doorways and the masses of children playing freely in the dark alleyways, one of the latter being the jarring contrast between the failing and unattractive hovels on one street and the newly-built mansions around the corner. While we had to compete with crowds of other tour groups, the twilight introduction to an interesting element of the city was well worth it.

חנוכה Fun

Today's Chanuka entertainment began at night, in the Old City. We watched as two communal chanukiot were lit, the first without fanfare but with giant flaming gas jets, the other with announcements, speeches, and song, but too far away to actually make out clearly. What was clear, however, is that that Israeli rabbinate needs to include some sort of singing audition before approving ordination.

After a quick dinner, we joined up with our tour at Migdal David. The name of the tour was "Jerusalem Stories", and it was led by a cute little Israeli draped in a scarf and wielding song-sheets and a flashlight. As we wandered from the Old City to the multimillion dollar homes of Kfar David, and from there to the King David Hotel and the Mamilla shopping district, we were told love stories that each involved the city of Jerusalem. The stories were taken from a range of sources, beginning with the Tanach (David and Michal), then moving on to the Talmud (Akiva and Rachel), and then to the modern day (post-1900 famous families, such as the Ben Yehudas). The leader of the group was very engaging, and the nighttime atmosphere helped set the tone. The tour was also very interesting in that, while the historical elements of our surroundings were mentioned, they were used solely as a backdrop for the emotional stories that took place around them. For pretty much the first time, we went on a tour that cared about the people who made the history, not just the history itself.

We warmed up with coffee and cake at the new Aroma cafe in Mamilla, then it was off to yet another Pardes Chanuka party, where we lounged about with friends from Rina's program. Then Jon, the party pooper not on vacation, made us go home so he could get some sleep. Loser.

חנוכה Parties

Our second חנוכה party of the night was broken up by the police. Who knew that we had regressed to University? Still fun though.

P.S. - You know it is a Pardes party when there is a bedroom-rave for girls only, but the boys are allowed to gawk and photograph.

חנוכה Spirit

Does anyone else find it funny that tonight Maccabi Tel Aviv played against Greece? Does this mean that the team will now declare itself the new rabbinate of Israel?

On the first day of חנוכה...

On the first day of חנוכה the Hanuka-bush gave to us a lecture and an Open-mike night.

At Hebrew University this afternoon the new-ish Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary gave a short lecture, open to the public. The topic as announced was about Heschel and his relationship to Martin Luther King, Jr., but Jon went just to be able to hear the new leader of the Conservative Rabbi factory. The speech wound up being about Heschel's approach to activism and human rights, and seemed to boil down to the premise that each of us has a connection to G-d, and therefore should be able to feel His pain at the injustices being perpetrated on His creations, and should react accordingly. An interesting side-point that arose was the idea that Jewish law, as written in the Bible, is entirely open to interpretation, with no strictly defined limits on what those interpretations are or can be. This is a provocative position for the new Chancellor to take, for what sort of direction can he give to the movement if he believes there are many allowable halachic stances? We understand pluralism and inclusion, but how is this a religion if there are no guidelines?

At night we attended the Pardes Chanuka party/silent auction/talent show, which came along with free latkes and sufganiyot (the rating has been added to the appropriate post below). It was a lot of fun to hang out with Rina's school-chums, and to see their various "talents" at work; there were skits, raps, poems, songs, and musical performances, most of which seemed to require some sort of skill on the part of the performer. The proceeds from the auction went toward supporting the Polish Jewish community, and some of the item available, like gourmet dinners, massages, acupuncture, and shooting lessons were alluring. Overall it was a relaxing and enjoyable way to spend the holiday's second night.

The Festival of Oil

Happy חנוכה! Because we know many of you order your jelly-doughnuts from Israel, we have spent the last few weeks in the arduous and painful task of sampling as many sufganiyot as we could stomach, to save your own stomachs the trouble. Here, in no particular order (unless you consider best to worst particular), are the results:

1. English Cake - we have discovered the reason for the Brit's bad teeth, and it is this bakery's fantastic product. Their ריבת חלב filling (literally translated as "milk jam", but better translated as "ambrosia" or "ohmygodthisisAWESOME") was quite good, as was their chocolate. Even their blueberry, eaten defrosted and heated on the stovetop, was far better than the second place finisher when fresh. English cake provides lots of filling and an appropriately oily and delicious dough.

2. Tal Bagels* - We were told you were the best. You were not. Too little filling and a cloud of icing sugar with each breath detracted from the great taste of both.

3. נעמן* - While the jam was too watery, the dough was easily the best we've tasted. Not that it could have done without the jelly, but still excellent.

4. עזרא - By virtue of your jam actually tasting like strawberries and the fact that you were given to us by a passing motorist while we waited at a rainy bus stop, you beat out #3. But you made our first night of חנוכה start off great, so thanks!

5. Mister Zol* - A very cake-like dough, and jam that tasted like it came from a jar. We could have eaten this as a sandwich. A very very sweet and sticky sandwich.

6. דובשנית* (on Palmach) - Standard fare, but the doughnut-hole glaze instead of powdered sugar gives you bonus points.

7. דובשנית - Meh. You were only good enough not to be #8.

8. Something- French Bakery* - you were eaten at a party, so it was unclear if your lack of filling and staleness was the fault of your baker or your hostess. Either way, not an impressive showing.

9. פאר - While you make great cinnamon buns and the best whole wheat challah in the city, your sufganiyot are overly doughy and your jelly is so watery that it spills out when the doughnut is bit. We demand viscosity!

10. עוגת-חן - filling more watery than פאר's? For shame.

11. Free from Chabad - You were free. So what if your filling tasted like bug-juice from camp.

12. בית לחם של חנה - Apparently one should not buy desserts from a bakery named "the house of bread", as bread is all they know how to make. This sufganiya was all dough, so much so that it was unclear if the doughnut had filling or if the jam had just rubbed off from a neighbouring cookie. Luckily this disaster was eaten before it could ruin the holiday.

*Tried during חנוכה and added in a revision to this post.

Israeli Culture Day

The day began at Hebrew University, where the prolonged professors' strike, which has lasted nearly six weeks thus far, prompted the student body to take action by...striking. Even though only half of our courses are available, the Student Union decided to show the government who is boss by locking the campus' gates to those students and professors unfortunate enough to still want to be involved in education. Jon's first class, Talmud, had only six of its usual thirty-five students, so was let out after only twenty minutes. Three and a half hours later, sitting in a room with only three other students, he came to the realization that his other classes of the day probably wouldn't run either. To make matters more ridiculous, the striking students didn't seem to realize that the campus is completely isolated from the rest of the city, and their message therefore reached nobody but the student body itself. The event didn't even make it to the news.

With Rina spending the evening at a wedding, Jon decided to continue his Shwarma search. Tonight's experience - אוכל בכייף. Having been told that this establishment was run by the same people as מלך הפלפל, our long standing front-runner, Jon expected great things of tonight's competitor, and it delivered. We're not sure if the server was new or this is the most amazing shwarma-place in town, but the wrap was so stuffed with meat, french fries, eggplant and the like that it could not be closed. After eating some of the dinner's entrails, it was over to the salad bar that was stocked with both the usual salads as well as a fluorescent and spicy cauliflower concoction that was outstanding. Watching the natives stalk their prey Jonathan came to a realization - you can take the salads and put them in a bag, rather than in your wrap. Sadly and deliciously, this opened up new, very large doors to his gluttony. The bulk, taste, and indoor-seating experience all combined to make this the new front runner in the most delicious competition ever.

Rina's evening was spent at the wedding of a classmate from Matan. The event was a mixture of many different cultures, including Israeli, formal, and Persian. The groom wore an untucked pullover shirt, and the chupa ceremony was filled with speeches, poetry, and raucus singing (as well as Birkat Kohanim, for some reason). The party had a cool mechitza, made of bamboo stalks, with lounge chairs and couches on either side, and the dancing was wild (especially when the music turned from standard wedding fare to standard Persian dance party fare). Overall, the entire experience was a lot of fun, and a cultural eye-opener, especially the dancing.

Project of the Fellowship

As part of Rina's programme at Pardes, she has to create a project for the betterment of the Pardes community. She has been working on creating a monthly series of lectures, the first of which was tonight. At around 7:15, our apartment was filled with the most pluralistic group of recently graduated North American Jews we could find, as well as the smell of free pizza (it smells different than paid-for pizza, and you know it!).

The topic discussed tonight was the halachic ramifications of giving up land within Israel's borders. The rabbi who spoke presented a series of viewpoints from Jewish thinkers spanning hundreds of years, and concluded with several modern takes on the issue. The resulting stance, from the lecturer's perspective, was that the sanctity of life is more important than the sanctity of the land, and that military and political specialists must be consulted to determine the possibilty of violence in each situation. To him, the withdrawal from Israeli lands has become less a halachic issue than a strategic one, but somehow this seemingly liberal ideology is supported by tomes of modern day rabbinic poskim. Overall the entire event was a success, both in terms of the turnout and the psychological prodding and provocation it provided.*

*We apologize for the scarcity of details, but the source-sheets were many pages long and would be difficult to recapture here. If interested in the sources discussed, e-mail us and we'll be happy to pass them on.

Birthday fun

Across the street from the Hartman Institute is a decrepit park that has only two things in it aside from thistles and dead shrubs - bonfire pits and signs forbidding bonfires. Tonight, in celebration of Yonit Schiller's birthday, we went over to the park to hang out, eat roasted marshmallows, and partake of a garbage bag full of popcorn. A happy birthday, indeed.

חמשושלים Finale

For the third and final weekend of חמשושלים, we decided to spend our Thursday evening at the Bloomfield Science Museum, which is near to the Israel Museum and Gan Soccer. The museum is laid out like most other kid-friendly museums (haphazardly) and is full of whirring, spinning, falling, and flying colourful items, as well as enough levers, cranks, buttons and magnets to make NASA jealous. While there we ran into half-a-dozen friends, and enjoyed making the rounds with them. We even got to participate in one demonstration, by being tied together and told to extricate ourselves. We failed miserably, to everyone's delight. That same demonstration utilized a jar of liquid nitrogen, whose coolness more than made up for the embarrassment. Toward the end of the night (12ish) we waited in a stinky line with many impatient patrons to watch a light show, basically a man dressed in black wowing us with optical tricks, then explaining the science behind them. Who knew nerdiness was so popular and so much fun?

Who knew Plinko had science behind it?

Abu Tor Tour

Every so often, one of the administrators from the Senior Educators Program offers guided tours to the participants and their families. Today we took advantage of this opportunity to walk with a small group from the Tayelet, the scenic overlook of Jerusalem, through the neighbourhood of Abu Tor. The unifying theme of the walk was the linkage of the land's geographical and philosophical past with its present. We examined maps and the scenery to understand why the city developed as it did, and discussed quotations from the Bible and modern poetry to understand the psychology of the region. One of the most interesting statements that came out of the tour was made in the neighbourhood of Abu Tor, where a street and bullet-pocked wall mark the boundary between Jordan and Israel as it existed before 1967, and where the Jewish and Muslim residents of the are still largely divided by clear geographic boundaries. The leader of the group summed up the tour by saying something like, "it's interesting that in this region where one man nearly sacrificed what he held most dear, the residents still daily grapple with the threat that they, too, will have to sacrifice for this land."

חמשושלים

This weekend started off splendidly, and we hope it continues throughout.

We started off with a Thanksgiving dinner at the apartment of one of Rina's classmates. Although there was no football, there was an entire roasted turkey, sweet potatoes with marshmallows and pecans, and pumpkin pie. Yay! We gorged ourselves like it was a Jewish holiday*, and then got ready to walk it off for our next event.

Like last weekend, Thursday night starts off the weekly carnival Chamshushalayim, where the city's museums are open to the public for free until late in the evening (morning?). We hiked over to the Old City, where we toured the Migdal David complex. The museum is, as we recall from teen-trips, interesting in the daytime, but at night it takes on a whole other reality. The glass sculptures shine in what little light there is, and the walls are lit up by spotlights - all very dramatic and pretty. Next we wandered over to hear a Balkan ensemble toot on its horns and bang on its drums in an interesting polka-klezmer-ska combination that even had some of the crowd dancing. Lastly we walked through Mamilla, the new chic shopping and upscale residence plaza next to the Old City, to get to a small amphitheater. Minutes later the troupe showed up dancing wildly to a massive drumbeat, with torches and wheels on fire. The ensemble, which was dressed in what looked like army-fatigue body stockings with plumbing glued on, then gyrated to the rhythms in what we can only hope was an interpretive dance of some sort. The whole scene was like something out of "Lord of the Rings" but without the budget. Or dialogue. Or imagination. yeah. But still, lots of fun! Then it was home to cook a little, and then off to bed for our few hours of sleep before a tour tomorrow morning!



*There was even a short improptu dvar Torah: How do you say "turkey" in Hebrew? הודו. And what country is named הודו? India, exactly where Columbus was attempting to sail. And what is the word for thanks, which is our feeling for the explorer who accidentally located our home? הודו.

Oud

Tonight's entertainment - the International Oud Festival.

As everyone knows, the oud is a bloated and misshapen guitar played throughout the Middle East and Orient, which sounds far nicer than any other misshapen and bloated instrument we have yet to hear (yes, we're talking about you, uberorgan). The oud is often used in conjunction with Middle Eastern percussion and string instruments, such as hand-held drums, tambourines, and qanuns, in order to create an authentic Arabic flavour.

Speaking of authentic, aside from ourselves, there was only one other pair in attendance who wasn't clearly of Arabic or Sephardi descent. We were fine with this, though, it just meant that we didn't quite understand the lyrics to the songs, the cheers shouted out at the performers, the conversations next to us, or the directions to the fire exits.


The two hour long show was lots of fun, and featured several different singers and instrumentalists, all centered around the work of Imad Dalal, who is apparently a very famous oud player. Who knew there were famous oud players? Who even knew there were ouds? Anyways, the music was very evocative and entertaining, and we highly recommend your buying tickets to the next International Oud Festival in your area.

Joy!

To celebrate Rina's completion of a six-month project for her workplace back in T.O., we went out tonight for our first non-shwarma meat dinner, to a restaurant named "Joy". The meal was fantastic, and we highly recommend the venue to anyone who enjoys steak, fish, fried things, delicious things, ambiance, or friendly staff. We especially recommend ordering items that the kitchen has run out of, because, if you are as lucky as us, it will garner you free wine and desserts. Joy!

Shabbat in the Gush

This weekend we decided to escape our standard Jerusalem routine and spend some time with friends who live in Neve Daniel, part of the settlements outside of Jerusalem. We started off by going to Kfar Etzion, a kibbutz, to pick up my Naot at an outlet store, and have a picnic lunch, sort of a last grasp at summer before the torrential downpours begin. Once our shopping and lunching was over, we hitched a ride over to Neve Daniel.

This was a first experience for both of us in this sort of community, and even though we'd heard about it we were still shocked when confronted. The community is tiny (350 families), surrounded by hills and other tiny gated communities (the gates aren't ornamental, either - they are barbed and menacing.), and look exactly like the suburbs they are. Totally unlike Jerusalem, Neve Daniel is quiet, clean, and full of actual houses.

The weekend was really nice. We spent time with our friends (Shira and Ricky) and their two adorable children, as well as two reticent midrasha girls who were spending the shabbat there. The Pleasantville-atmosphere we felt when we first entered the town pervaded our time there, and made for a very relaxing break. It wasn't necessarily something we'd want to move to permanently, but it definitely has its allure.

The Hershey's Kiss

Tonight was the first of three weekends on which Jerusalem's museums are free from 9 p.m. until 2 a.m., with special activities and attractions at each. We chose to attend a choir's performance at the Shrine of the Book. We got to tour the facility for about twenty minutes before the tuxedo-clad performers filed in and began their 45 minutes show. The songs sung covered a range of languages, styles, and eras, and were all fantastic. One of the most engaging aspects of the event was the fact that a room usually silent, filled with the texts of a long-dead sect, was suddenly filled instead by a rapt audience and a talented chorus of voices. There was life in a usually cold, both physically and emotionally, cave. We are very excited to try out the municipality's other events in the coming weeks, and hope they compare favourably with tonight's excitement.

Ethio-Israel

For dinner tonight we decided to take advantage of the many different cultures represented in Israel, and went out to an Ethiopian restaurant called, sensibly enough, Ethio-Israel. Please, no jokes about there being such a thing as an Ethiopian restaurant.

Although a little bit challenging to find, the eatery was worth the trip both in terms of taste and culture. The dining area was decorated with tapestries, and straw-and-wood furniture was scattered throughout. The food was, we have been told, authentic Ethiopian cuisine (again, no jokes, please) but with the spices altered so as to not horribly burn our unprepared palettes. The entire meal was made up of a variety of sauces, pastes, and meat stews served atop a huge pancake called "engera", which was the serving platter, utensil, and meal. We tore off pieces of the slightly-sour dough, scooped up the topping(s) of choice, and piloted the mass toward our mouths, trying to keep as much as possible in the bundle and off our clothes. The colourful array that we had selected were all delicious and completely new tastes to us, and the eating experience was well worth the visit. We did, however, leave a little bit hungry (control yourselves).

Striking Teachers Still Know Arts-and-Crafts

The striking High School teachers here in Israel are complaining about their low wages, and haven't yet been paid this year, but somehow had the money to plaster these very creative posters on trash bins all around the city.

Negev Tiyul

For two and a half days this week I (Rina) was on a Pardes Tiyul in the Negev. I was a little apprehensive about going especially because Jon was ditching me and not coming, but it ended up being a lot of fun. We stayed in this place in the Negev called Hatzeva Village. It is a little enclosed area with 95% of the population being Thai. The Thai people are there for cheap farming labour. In the middle of this Thai area this Israeli guy opened what he calls an Israeli version of a Bedouin Tent. It was really cute. It is basically a large area partially enclosed with a bamboo roof. The place was decorated with mats and tapestries, colourful mattresses and hammocks, and a jacuzzi. There were some rooms off to the side for people who did not want to sleep outside. They even had the delicious mint tea and turkish type coffee. It was great and the food was delicious (there was steak at a Pardes event!). One of the nights I went with a few people star gazing, which was very pretty. During the days we hiked. The first day I was there we went on a hike called Nahal Gav which involved a 6 hour hike with ropes and ladders. It was awesome! The second day we went on a hike in the Machtesh Ramon which was also very beautiful. I definitely have a new-found appreciation for the desert and realize that everything in the desert really does look significantly different.
Overall, the tiyul was really fun and gave me an opportunity to really get to know some of the people, which I have not really made an effort to do yet. It was also fun to have a girl slumber party, which is very foreign once you get married.

The Search Continues

I recently realized that I have been remiss in my search for shwarma. It is just that Melech HaFalafel seems so perfect - cheap, delicious, and close. But for three days Rina is on a retreat with Pardes, making this the perfect opportunity* to continue my research. I was given added incentive when a fitness fanatic instructed me to "work out and eat shwarma", and who am I to argue?

Today's stop was another shop near Ben Yehuda, called "Al HaEsh". The restaurant caught my eye with its proclamation of a 17 shekel shwarma, and drew me in with what appeared to be a clean establishment, replete with tables and chairs. I placed my order, and the man behind the counter asked me what I wanted in my wrap, to which I responded "everything." Apparently at this store "everything" includes only a fraction of the items behind the counter. There was no eggplant or charif inserted, and only a minimal amount of the mainstays (french fries, salad, meat, and chumus). Luckily, there was an expansive salad bar from which to supplement the disappointing wrap I was handed. I (more than once) added zucchini, beets, carrots, cucumbers, and an interesting zatar spread. They also had what I assumed to be free toasted pita pieces, which I made sure to load up on. Even with all of the additional salads, however, I couldn't get past the absence of the necessary oils and juices from the eggplant, fries, and meat. All the spicy carrots in the world can't make up for that amazing combination flavours. Oh well. For now it looks like Melech HaFalafel remains...er... the king of falafel.

*Perfect opportunity = Rina doesn't know I am spending more money on shwarma unless YOU tell her, the meal costs half as much, and I am tremendously jealous of the meat-heavy meals that she is being served in a "Bedouin tent".

Shuk Moment

In the shuk today searching for a place to go out for chumus, I passed a pile of meat in the middle of the walkway and could have sworn that there were a pair of horns sticking out. Not wanting to merely think I saw them, I went back to check, and found out I was mistaken - there were TWO bull-scalps in the pile of meat in the middle of the pedestrian walkway. Unfortunately (fortunately?) I didn't have our camera.

Ein Karem

Today we finally had a Friday free of obligations (work, homework, or cooking) so we decided to get out and see the town. Today's stop - the neighbourhood of Ein Karem.

Best known to most people we've spoken to (Mrs. C. Parker) for its hospital and the hospital's Chagall windows, the area is actually inhabited by people other than tourists and the ailing. The city is home to several churches and monasteries of various sects of Christianity, most of which base their presence on the town's heritage as the birthplace of John the Baptist, as well as a place visited by Mary before Jesus' birth (when she apparently had a get-together with John's mom). All of the edifices are beautiful (and, to judge by our pictures, very blurry) and the architecture of the buildings in the the city is both quaint and engaging. After ditching a tour after 45 minutes (we thought it was free, but found out otherwise) we wandered the streets admiring the surroundings, both natural and man-made. We then went out for lunch to a wonderful bistro named "Cafe Inbal". If you happen to be in the city, and have to choose between the two kosher establishments, look at their breakfast-for-two before choosing. Scones, omelettes, pastries, juice, assorted dips, coffees - it could easily have been breakfast for three, but it was lunchtime, so no.

How the Fish Pisses

Tonight we decided to take in some native culture by attending an Anglo-only concert by HaDag Nachash, an Israeli funk/pop/rap group. The event was sponsored by MASA, an organization that allocates scholarships to students from abroad wanting to study in Israel for the year.

While the music was a lot of fun (especially finally getting to hear Shirat HaSticker, a song made up entirely of juxtaposed bumper-sticker slogans), some of the most entertaining parts of the concert were entirely unrelated to it. Highlights included people on stilts dressed as trees (a la "Lord of the Rings"), the rhythmic-swaying/body-surfing crowd of teens at the front of the auditorium (in a concert hall usually reserved for, you know, formal concerts), the techno theme song for MASA, and the fact that instead of lighters creating a sea of lights in the audience, the glow came from dozens of digital cameras and cell phones recording the concert in all its pixelated glory.

Eating Like You Live on a Stipend

Our newest discovery for eating dinner on our budget - business lunch. Apparently business people like to eat lunch, bargain-priced, large lunch - until around 5 p.m., a reasonable time for non-business people to start eating dinner. Rina and I ate lupper this twilight at Macaroni, a great Italian diner near Ben Yehuda street. For 39 shekels per person we had soup, antipasto, homemade bread, salad, and pasta, and all were delicious. We highly recommend the eatery to anyone hungry for (what we believe to be) relatively authentic and tasty Italian food. Or businesspeople.

Quality and Advertising

I am always amazed by the tag-lines thought up by advertising companies, and more amazed when their clients purchase those ads. For example, I once passed a massive Coors billboard that read "Colder than Jenn when you called her Susan." Funny line, yes, but is 'cold' the best thing you can say about your beer? A variable that is entirely out of your control and has nothing to do with the beer itself is what you are marketing?

I mention this because we have recently been introduced to a nearby pizzeria named Reshet Pizza, whose slogan is "Almost Free". While that is true (only 20 shekels for an entire pie), that doesn't bode well for the taste or gastronomical effects of your product. Sadly, the slogan has been effective, and I have bought three pizzas there since Wednesday; I guess that is why those advertising companies are being paid.

Side comment - why was there an Asian choir singing along with two acoustic guitars in the middle of Ben Yehuda street tonight?

School on Strike? Shop at the Shuk

As it turns out, only senior professors are on strike, and any class taught to international students is exempted, so most of Jon's classes are still running. Today, however, class was over by 11, so he got to explore the shuk at a relatively calm time, and made two amazing (awesome-tastic?) discoveries. The first is a store that sells nothing but beer and cheese. While that spells trouble for midgets with lactose intolerance and liver problems, for us it marks the starting point of a delicious and expensive adventure. The second store is not actually a discovery, but our first foray into the purchase of perishable and easily-diseased foodstuffs at the shuk (sounds even more delicious than the beer and cheese, no?). Anyways, the picture above nicely captures the excitement that fresh fish markets provide during dinner. NB: This is Rina writing now... Jon is the ONLY one that partook in eating the fish head.

Final Weekend of Freedom

For the last Shabbat before Jon begins school and Rina chooses between her two schools (we hope), we decided to finally have some company. Actually, Rina's friend Tobi decided we would have company, but it worked out well. Seven girls with whom Rina attended Midreshet HaRova seven years ago came over to christen our shiny blue tablecloth and have dinner, and we had a great time. An odd note about those in attendance - it was a bit of a British Empire party; there were representatives from England, Australia, Scotland, South Africa, the Colonies/U.S., and of course Canada. The accents were terrifically entertaining.

After shul on Saturday we decided to take a walk instead of heading directly home, and en route passed a large crowd lined up outside a home. It turned out to be a recently renovated building which was part of a walking tour of historical homes in the area. The residents had hired an Israeli architect to redesign their house's interior, and had turned it into a functional piece of art that utilized intertwining stairways, balconies, skylights, custom windows, and modern fixtures and furniture throughout. We can't imagine owning, or even renting, something like this, but it was fun to see how the ridiculously rich and ridiculous live. The entire experience was a very nice and engaging surprise.

For our post-Shabbat entertainment, we went to a movie, an experience far more exciting than it sounds. It was my first time experiencing an Israeli film in theaters (it was called "Noodle", and was a heartwarming comedy/drama about an Israeli stewardess who gets stuck with a Chinese child when her cleaning lady is deported, and we highly recommend it) as well as the mandatory "intermission". I phrase it that way because there was no segue into the break, no sign, no gradual brightening of the lights, just a CLUNK, a stoppage of the film, and sudden daylight. Also exciting was getting to eat movie theater popcorn for the first time in a dozen years. Next time we'll drown it in butter.

Summer's over, that's how it ends...

The summer here has ended. Its demise was easy to note - the temperature rapidly dropped, the rain began, and Jon submitted his class-schedule for approval. Luckily, all three of these autumnal adversaries are easily overcome by either winter coats, umbrellas, or the impending strike by the University staff that threatens to ruin all plans made by everyone on Jon's progam. We'll miss you, summer.

The past and the future of Israel lie in the Negev

The paraphrased quotation from David Ben-Gurion encapsulates the two days I recently spent with my fellow Melton Educators, in terms of sights seen, speakers spoken to, and topics talked about. Throughout the trip we immersed ourselves in the southern region of Israel (staying away from what would certainly have been a dull, grey, and boring trip to Eilat), trying to understand the important role that the desert has played in the nation's history and future.

We began at the archaeological site Tel Be'er Sheva, where we studied texts about Avraham and Yitschak's founding of the city nearby (Be'er Sheva) as well as the construction of cities during the biblical era. It was very interesting to intertwine our study of the bible, historical texts, and the physical evidence upon which we stood in order to build a complete picture, more complete than I've ever received in a classroom setting.

From there we moved to the outer edge of Har Hanegev, with a beautiful Arizona-esque panorama, and from there we moved to Kibbutz Sde Boker, where Ben Gurion (former Prime Minister and proponent of desert development) lived out his life after retiring from the government (twice!). We learned a great deal about his progressive plans to bring agriculture to the arid landscape, as well as to populate the huge (relative to the rest of the country) and undeveloped area. From this point, we travelled to the city of Yerucham, an unfortunate result of Ben Gurion's dream. The city was built upon the massive failure of several waves of immigration from Northern Africa and Western Europe immediately following the War of Independance, when the population of Israel doubled in just a few years, without the doubling of manufacturing capabilities, agricultural produce, or employment. The families coming to realize their Zionist dream left behind wealth, friends, and positions of power to be duped into unemployment and homes without electricity, running water, or more than one room. Even today, nearly sixty years later, Yerucham and many cities like it are struggling to survive. What was perhaps the most interesting part of our discussion with the residents we met was that they have civic pride, and are constantly disappointed by the media's (and probably my) portrayal of their city - they believe in the neighbours and and in their future together, regardless of poverty and unemployment that surround them.

We spent a short night at the Isrotel-Ramon Inn (which I highly recommend - nice pool, huge rooms, and MAMMOTH breakfast (which I would be happy to describe in detail for those who enjoy such things)), and left at 4 a.m. for the Ramon crater, the massive geological remnant of a meteor colliding with Earth. We spent about an hour in solitude and complete darkness, and as the sun rose I noticed that even the insects and wildlife of the desert had been silent during the night. We then spent two hours touring and learning about the travels of Eliyahu the prophet through the region, again bringing physical examples to support and explain biblical characters and images. Then it was back to the hotel for the above-mentioned feast and some time to relax/sleep/swim.

We ate lunch with students of Ben Gurion University, in Be'er Sheva, and we talked with them about their experiences living with and tutoring underpriveleged local children (the students are part of a program that encourages social responsibility by offering rent-free apartments (albeit in undesirable neighbourhoods) to students who partake in the described activities). We then moved on to one of seven Bedouin cities in the Negev. The cities were built as a part of an initiative by the Israeli government to either facilitate the tribes' move into the modern world or to control a potentially volatile part of the Arab population (depending on who you ask). The city was unique in that the houses were all modern, but the spaces between and around them were filled with hovels and live animals, as not all of the tribes had agreed to live in the development. We also saw a traditional Bedouin village, which is still without electricity, running water, or roads, which relies on herding and handcrafts for survival. Most interesting was our discussion with two school principals, who described the unique challenges they face in trying to bring their constituents into modernity without losing their nomadic heritage. My favourite line spoken, which I will give here out of context, was that "My school has no Parent-Teachers Association. Every school I know of that had one has closed."

Overall, the trip was great. I feel much closer to my classmates and teachers, had a break from classroom learning, and learned a great deal about a little-known aspect to Israel. After experiencing the history of the Negev ranging from the prehistoric past through to the modern day, I have to agree with Ben Gurion that the region shows immense promise, while at the same time realizing that to this point almost everything that has happened there has been a colossal failure. The region is a bittersweet mix of natural beauty, amazing history, and tragic human pain.

Saturday night stand-up

After Shabbat, we headed out to the grand opening of a new comedy club in the city center. There was no air conditioning, no door to the bathroom, and the walls were spraypainted styrofoam. Oh, and the best act was the playing of national anthems on the harmonica. Ouch.

Little Johnny's First Day of School

Knowing that we would be home late from the wedding, we planned out the first day of Melton just like every over-protective mother would have liked - the school bag was already packed and next to the door, the outfit was draped over the back of a chair, and the food was bagged and in the fridge. All that was left was to actually go to school. Which I did.

The next two weeks are all about orientation, both to each other and to the program itself. The first day, all 9 hours of it, was spent getting to know the other participants in the program. The thirteen of us come from all over the world and cover a range of ages, areas of experience, and levels of education, as well as Hebrew ability. The first few hours were spent learning together with our teachers and a professor from the university (who gave an interesting lecture about the original Jewish calendar, which she believes to have been solar, not lunar, and responsible for the Jewish holidays and universal literacy). After lunch we spent five hours playing the same group-building games that everyone who has attended summer camp has played before, but everyone got into it and we had a lot of fun. Well, it was fun until we had to have the same discussions about group-building that everyone who has attended summer camp has had before; those of us who talked at the bus stop afterwards agreed that was a little tedious.

My biggest concern going into the day was that my Hebrew would not be at a high enough level to allow me to integrate into the group and understand discussions. While there were many difficulties in terms of expression, there are several others at or around my level, and the entire group was very accommodating, and made us feel comfortable. Overall, it was a great first day.* I am excited for tomorrow, when we begin our course selection, take a tour of campus, and have dinner at on the of the administrator's homes.

*It doesn't hurt that there were platters of rugelach/cheese danishes and that we went out for Maytal and Safi's "wedding" for dinner.**

**I'm sorry, but food is important to us!

Israeli Wedding

Last night Rina and I attended the wedding of a friend from Toronto who has moved to Israel. While the bus was very late in arriving and we both had to wake up early for school, the event was overwhelmingly fun. I have been told that too often our posts concern food, so I'll just say that all was delicious and leave it at that.

The basic event was the same as weddings in North America, but the entire wedding atmosphere was different here, things were somehow more festive. Maybe it was because ties and gowns were in the severe minority, or maybe it was the free food, but a feeling of relaxation pervaded the whole evening. The singing was great, as was the dancing (we even danced the groom to the chuppah), and there was only one speech! There were also a lot of the groom's former campers, and they brought a lot of energy to the dance floor. The bride and groom both sang and danced without pause, putting to shame everyone trying to "m'sameach chatan v'kallah", and seemed amazingly happy. Overall it was a fantastic evening, well worth falling asleep in my first classes of the year.

Happy Times in Mea She'arim

Here are two episodes witnessed today in Mea She'arim that brought smiles to our faces.
1. En route to a bookstore, I peeked into a dry cleaner's. Every rack, without exception, was filled with nothing but various lengths of heavy black coats and dresses. I could almost have been looking at Marylin Manson's dressing room, or the costume department for "The Matrix".
2. In front of a tallit store was a giant inflatable Hassid draped in, what else, a tallit. Of course, one of the small children waiting outside the store was disrobing him, and we were shocked to discover that underneath his religious garb the Hassid was wearing a bright red snowsuit! It was SANTA. All this time Jewish world leaders have been bemoaning the rate of assimilation in North America, but nobody has publicized our high profile converts! Who knows - maybe this year there really will be some gelt under our Channuka bush...

Simchat Torah

For some reason, probably because neither of us are mathematicians, we imagined that because there are so many more shuls and practicing Jews in Israel than in Toronto there would be far better Simchat Torah celebrations here than there. To that end, we set our hot-plate to begin warming dinner at 8:15, and left for a night of revelry.

Our first stop was Shirah Hadashah, a progressive Orthodox congregation that seems to appeal to a younger crowd. We again based our assumptions on false premises, this time that "young and progressive" meant "fun and exciting". In fact, it meant "sing one song per hakafa and stick to a strictly timed schedule, regardless of if you are interrupting people singing and dancing". There were some interesting points, such as when the first hakafa was opened to "Kohanim, the daughters of Kohanim, and the wives of Kohanim", and when women were honoured with the leading of hakafot. We'll give the shul another chance on a regular Shabbat. Once we tired of the Shirah Hadashah scene we headed back to our own neighbourhood to Yakar, a Karlebach synagogue. They were still singing and dancing, the women in the sanctuary and the men and children filling the police-lined streets. It was more fun, but finished within an hour of our arrival. We ended up getting home at 8, fifteen minutes before our food began to heat up.

The daytime was much better and just what we were looking for. We went to Shir Hadash (unrelated to Shirah Hadashah from the previous paragraph), a Modern Orthodox congregation peopled mostly by North Americans. They held one of the better services either of us has attended in recent years, with great songs, lively dancing, and little dragging-on. We left at around 1:30 for a pot-luck (meat, this time) lunch with some old and new Toronto friends, which was also wonderful.

After the chag ended (hurray for one-day yontif!) we went to Hakafot Shni'ot, a musical celebration marketed to Jerusalemites of all religiosities and ages. We enjoyed the music and the spectacle for a while, but most enjoyed bumping into friends, especially the family of a soon-to-be-married Torontonian. Rina finally feels like she is back in the Israel she remembers of seven years ago.

A Tiring Vacation

Rather than post short updates that were just recaps of our daily activities, Rina and I decided to smush them all together into one big recap recap of out Sukkot vacation. Enjoy!

Thursday
We spent the first night with David Resnick and family, some strangers who got our number through the Melton Center. They were very friendly, good cooks, and we had a great time with them. The next day we guessed at the starting time for a nearby shul, and guessed horribly wrong, showing up halfway through the service. We made it in time to do some lulav shaking, but since we are only keeping one day of yomtov this year we were mostly out of luck. Lunch with our neighbours made up for it, though, as they have an adorable daughter and made us feel at home. Once yomtov was over we headed out to the city's most publicized attraction, the Sukariah (the word being a combination of the hebrew words "Sukkah" and "candy"). We expected a Hansel-and-Gretel-esque gingerbread house, teeming with insects and salivating children, but were met with a standard Sukkah (albeit a very large one) with gumball machines and candy themed decorations. Harumph. Everyone else we spoke to was also misled in the same way.

Friday
We took a guided tour of the City of David, the area thought to be the original capital of Israel, before King David captured what is currently called The Old City. The tour guide was excellent and really made the history interesting. We finished off the tour with a crawl through Hezekiah's Tunnel, a man-made underground passage that brought water from a spring outside the city's walls into a pool within them. The spring, and therefore the tunnel, are both still active, making the pitch-black 30 minute trek quite wet, and therefore quite fun.

Friday night we went to Yedidya for services. Yedidya's setup has varying levels of mechitza, ranging from 6 feet tall to none at all. Once finished there we attended a pot-luck dairy dinner on the roof of Pardes. The evening was very nice, aside from the fact that everyone is operating on a student's budget, and therefore brought only a parve side dish or a bottle of wine.

Saturday
Shul at Shir Hadash, where there was an amazing kiddush afterwards (chulent!) of which we could not partake because we were headed to a dairy lunch with a childhood friend of Rina's (lasagna, sushi, and cheesecake!). After shabbat we attended a randomly selected concert at the Yellow Submarine. The band was called Marsh Dondurma, and had an outrageously fun sound that was something like a brass marching band conducted by George Clinton.

Sunday
By far our busiest day, we woke up at 6:30 a.m. so that we could get good spots at the Kotel for Birkat Kohanim. In Israel the bracha is given far more often than in the diaspora, but Sunday's was special because it was organized so that all of the Kohanim present would bless the assembly at once. Jonathan was within arm's-reach of the wall, while Rina chose a spot behind a fence to best capture the circus on film. The experience of praying and blessing with thousands of people was nice, but at the same time disappointing. The pre-blessing blessing said by the Kohanim mentions that they are to bless "b'ahava", with love. Hundreds of men, draped in linen, standing in the Jerusalem sun for hours, throwing elbows in every direction to gain better positioning is not conducive to a loving environment.

Once the hours-long service was over, we went on the Ramparts walk. The guided section took us through the Armenian and Jewish quarters and explained the history of the various sights, while the unguided part took us through the Christian and Muslim quarters, where we had only three stones thrown in our vicinity! Our tour let us out in the Arab market, where we looked unsuccessfully for a backgammon board for $5.

On our walk home we stopped by the Inbal hotel to marvel at their sukkah, whose drapings and chandeliers make it more of a ballroom than a hut. Once cleaned and fed, we got on a bus to Beit Shemesh for their holiday concert, where a number of Jewish/Israeli performers of various styles played for the assembled crowd. And Rina ate cotton candy (candy floss/se'arot shel savta).

Monday
In the morning we walked to the Tayelet, a point from which most of Jerusalem, both old and new, is visible, and went on a guided tour of a tunnel used by the Hasmoneans to transport water from a distant spring. This tunnel has been out of use since the British Mandate, so was dry, but was still very interesting especially because we convinced the guide that our cell phones could be our flashlights (it was more fun that way). At night we enjoyed "Tastes of Jerusalem", a gathering of 20+ restaurants selling their most popular dishes at discounted prices. It was the most wonderfully aromatic event we have ever attended. There were also cheerleaders performing to current pop music on a stage, as well as a Mexican guitar trio playing Spanish and Israeli tunes. Not simultaneously.

Tuesday
We are calling today the "Un-Gloria", which only makes sense if you know Gloria. We began by taking a bus to the central bus terminal, where we bought tickets on the bullet-proof bus to Gush Etzion. We disembarked at a stop in the middle of the highway and walked to the Gush Etzion winery, where we took a short tour and many free samples (including really yummy dessert wine and chocolate liquer). We then hitchhiked/tremped to a nearby kibbutz, Kfar Etzion, where we got directions to a hike that had been recommended by our guide the day before as having "many beautiful springs". The hike was a on a dirt road frequented by roaring 4x4s and vans full of children. We saw two springs, both of which we were sure couldn't be the right ones, as they were built up with tile and steps and benches, completely unlike the magnificent sights and pools at Ein Gedi. Once we were resigned to the fact that the sand/dirt and child filled frigid basins were our destination, we plunged in and had a good time. On our way out we found a wild fig tree, from which we ate, then hitched back to the highway, climbed aboard a bus and came home to some much desired down time (and fish from the shuk).

Sukkot in the City

The business of the shuk has lost its allure, so today we ventured out into a new hip-checking, full contact, street-fighting environment - the lulav market. We spent an hour this morning in a humid tent nearby the Central Bus Station haggling over lulavim and etrogim (read: branches and lemons) until we found the set that suited us swell. Perhaps the most interesting part was the stratification of the products. There were a range of varieties, from Mehadrin through three stages of Mehudar down to the lowest stage, Kosher. When we asked a retailer about the difference, his response was "this is 100 shekels, this is 20." Somehow I don't think he answered the question. Or maybe it did, we were just hopeful that our religion was governed by something other than money.

TVA Break

Monday morning was my final final exam in Ulpan, so we decided to start our summer vacation. We met at the central bus terminal, and headed up to Tel Aviv.

The first thing we did was to check into our hostel. Rina had turned down my suggestion in favour of what she promised would be a cleaner option. When we arrived at the room she had booked, however, we decided that we would have to burn all of the clothes that touched the room's surfaces. Oh well - at least we got to pretend we were refugees hiding from the law in a run-down Mexican shanty.

After checking into the hostel, we headed to the beach for a few hours, then out to dinner at an outstanding dairy restaurant on the water, where our appetizer was a plate of deep-fried everything (even the ravioli!). Awesome. For our after dinner entertainment we headed to a club where we listened to the worst electronica ever performed. Imagine a dying cat being pummeled by an asthmatic elephant and you'll approach the awfulness.

Today, after eating the hostel's complimentary breakfast (instant coffee) we went over to a local artisans' fair. While there, we saw the cutlery sculptures I held back from buying at a similar fair in Jerusalem, but this time caved to their overwhelming amazingness and a pile of warped spoons striking a John Travolta "Saturday Night Fever" pose now adorns our bookshelves. We then met up with some friends for lunch, which was a bottomless supply of pita and a table full of toppings. Bliss. We then walked down to the beach to catch the sunset before heading back to Jerusalem.

Yom Kippur

For Yom Kippur we went to Midreshet Harova in the Old City (where Rina studied 7 years ago). When I studied there we had Yom Kippur in the midrasha. One of the rabbis led it and they imported 9 other guys. Surprisingly, it was the best Yom Kippur davening I had ever participated in. So, when I got an e-mail saying that bogrot were invited I managed to convince Jon that he wanted to spend 25 hours with 150 girls and 9 other guys! Apparently, Yom Kippur at the midrasha has turned into something a little more fancy than I had experienced 7 years previously. They rented out the Hakotel auditorium, had each rabbi lead a different service, and in the end there were 20 guys instead of 10. The experience was amazing. Davening went from 6:45am until about 6:30pm with no more than a 10 minute break. It sounds kind of crazy, but you definitely didn't feel like you were in the same chair for almost 12 hours. Even though everything about it was great, I think I prefer the old 'low key' style where everyone was stuffed into the beit midrash; it was more authentic.
On another note, it was fun seeing people from my year. It's crazy how it feels like no time has passed since I was last there, yet when I look at the girls who are there now, they seem so little (side comment.. one of my campers from 8 years ago is learning at Harova this year and she recognized me. It was exciting).

Atonement

As an interesting start to Yom Kippur this year, I thought I would attend the kaparot in Mea She'arim. For those who don't know, kaparot entails circling a live chicken above you head as a receptacle for your sins, then donating that chicken to the poor for their pre-fast dinner. For some reason I imagined the proceedings to look something like a cross between an ultra-orthodox synagogue and an exploding pillow factory, but it was surprisingly humane and sanitary (as humane and sanitary as such an activity can be). The proprietors of the stands wore gloves, and most participants were very gentle with the birds while they filled them with evil. Even the chickens were calm, sitting quietly atop their crate once the spinning was spun. Rina and I simply purchased a bird on behalf of the poor, and while our souls may not be any lighter or cleaner, it was still a very interesting way to open the Day of Atonement.

The Play's the Thing

Today was a day of field trips. Instead of our regular morning schedule, we had a truncated first class, then boarded a bus to Har Herzl. While I couldn't tour the cemetery with the rest of the group, I did get to visit the museum with them, and it was a real pleasure. The museum is very modern, with videos and interactive exhibits, and our tour guide was also terrific. I'm pretty certain that I would never have undertaken to learn about Herzl on my own, but the historical and philosophical backdrops to the founding of the State of Israel was actually very engaging and interesting.

Tonight Rina and I attended a play, written by two Israeli playwrights, at the Khan theater. The theater itself is quaint, with a courtyard instead of a lobby, just off of Emek Refa'im. We were a little nervous, as the website's blurb described the play, "The Winners", as something akin to a less successful version of "The Producers". By the time the innocent Russian adoptee was locked in the attic of a whorehouse halfway through the Pesach seder, however, we were sure that the two plays had nothing in common. It was a great piece of work that had the entire audience laughing throughout. The moral of the story, as sung by the entire cast in the big closing number, is that "there's a little bird in my heart, and that bird is a little bit of a whore." I fully endorse this play to anyone and everyone who isn't one of my students or younger cousins.

Shmita

Tonight I attended a lecture titled "A Practical Guide to Shmita", in which the Rabbi explained what produce we could eat this year, where to get it, and how to dispose of it. It basically boils down to paying more to eat less, and starting a compost-bin on your porch. What I found most interesting, though, was the Rabbi's response to the loud groan from the crowd when he began describing how to treat flowers grown in Israel. Rather than pacify the crowd with a joke or quiet them with a pause, he instead criticized us. "It is because of these laws that we have the Land of Israel today," he said sternly. "That our Rabbis and ancestors studied and explained these laws is what kept this dream alive. Hertzl had nothing to do with it. If you are living here because of Hertzl, you are here for the wrong reason.*" Not quite what I expected from the lecture, but still very interesting to hear a moderate Rabbi talk about.

*This wasn't exactly what he said, but close enough.

Rosh Hashana

This was the first year that Rina and I spent Rosh Hashana without visiting either one of our parental pairings, and we went into it hopeful of experiencing something new and different that would serve as an exciting beginning to our year in Israel.

We started off on Wednesday night at Yakar, where were bumped into our friend Arielle Berger and her family. We walked with them toward our hostess for dinner. Unfortunately, because we were so engrossed in conversation, we didn't realize until we were already on the hostess' street that neither of us knew where she lived. We each took one guess, at opposite sides of the street, and once we proved them wrong I ran home to check on the exact building number. Of course, the building was at the intersection we had arrived at initially. By the time we arrived, we were an hour later than expected. The assembled were nice enough to wait for us, and we settled in for an enjoyable family meal with all of the standbyes - gefilte fish, apples and honey, chicken soup with matza balls, multiple meats (including tongue - hurray!) and so on. We were hoping to see a crazy tradition, such as sheep heads or their equivalent in weirdness, but sadly there were none. What there were plenty of, instead, were characters to entertain us. Other guests at the the dinner included Leora, a non-Jewish Chinese student who will be returning to Beijing after Sukkot to complete her Master's Degree in Jewish Thought; the hostess' non-religious daughter and family, including their aethiest son; and a 17-year-old who recently graduated high school, who spent last summer in Israel with one of my own recently graduated students. The chief entertainer of the evening was an Aunt, who arrived 90 minutes later than we because she had gone to the wrong building (next door) and had to be escorted over by the police. Once settled in, she complimented the hostess on her choice of wine, having forgotten that it was she (the Aunt) who had brought it. There are many other examples of the hilarity she provided, but I think these suffice to demonstrate the fun we had that evening.

The next day we prayed at a synagogue named "Nafka Mina", which exists only for three days each year (Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur) in the dilapidated Bnei Akiva main office. Even though the building was crumbling around us and the air conditioned attempted to evolve into a refrigerator, the singing was beautiful and you hardly noticed (hardly) that the service took 5.5 hours. For lunch we went to my cousins, who live nearby, and had a very enjoyable afternoon. The evening was spent with the aforementioned Bergers, and the enjoyability continued.

After shul Friday we finally got to see a weird tradition when we joined our friends the Cremas and their family for lunch. Apparently, the pagan Jews of Italy plant wheat on the first day of Rosh Hashana on a plate in the center of the table. If the wheat sprouts within a certain amount of time, they are destined to a good year. If not, they with no doubt be plundered by cossacks or something similar. The lunch was dairy, which was a nice break, and of course concluded with ice cream (in cones!) and rice pudding (real, not from a jello packet!). The rice pudding is only an "of course" moment if you know that Sima is British. Which you do. Now.

Shabbat was spent quietly, just the two of us, in celebration of the massive amount of calories we'd taken in and Rina's birthday. This evening, before Shabbat ended, we went over to the Goldstein's (Caren is in my program at Hebrew U, while Ben is studying at Pardes with Rina) for Seuda Shlishit, and will soon depart to celebrate Rina's birthday in a less Sabbatical fashion. Overall, it was a great weekend, appropriately spiritual, comedic, and pagan, as all Jewish holidays should be.