While I know I haven't put anything up on here for quite some time, I wanted to provide a bit of a wrap up from the year. The last few weeks of the term were some of the most hectic that I had all year.
I wasn't really stressed about finals, there was a lot going on. I was running around trying to see things that I wanted to check off my list before coming back to Minneapolis, friends were leaving and I wanted to see them one more time before they left. Then it started to hit me, some of my classmates I will not be in school with next year.
Once that started to hit me I was spending every free moment with people. Dinners at favorite restaurants, ice creams and just being with people. But I kept trying to keep in mind that I will keep seeing these people. It's not a "forever goodbye".
After finals finished, we had some end of the year programming and wrap up for the year. I had a day or two to pack all of my belongings, a bunch of presents that I have carried back for friends and family and hopped on a plane to surprise my brother for his birthday.
I got home at 1:00 in the afternoon on Wednesday and I'm still working on getting my life in Minnesota in order before I start looking towards Cincinnati.
This will be one of my last updates on this blog, but keep a look out for one last blog on TCJewfolk and probably some sort of final wrap up when I've had the chance to process the year in Israel a lot more. Until then, check out more of my life and my thoughts at my main blog, Behind My Blue Eyes.
Showing posts with label Chapter 9: The Wrap Up. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chapter 9: The Wrap Up. Show all posts
Friday, May 27, 2011
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Note to Self: Read More Books
Here I am, sitting in the library working on study guides. I was pouring over books, reading through notes on my computer and I noticed something strange. When I was trying to read notes on my computer, or go over what I had typed already, I had to put on my glasses.
I'm near-sighted, but my vision isn't that bad. I mean, my computer is maybe a whole two feet away from me. But when I tried to read from my books, I had to take off my glasses so I could read that comfortably. My book was maybe 6 inches closer to me but has smaller writing.
Do I really need to start thinking about bifocals already? Seriously?! I can't need bifocals... That can't be right...
I'm not the World's Biggest Fan of e-readers, or doing too much reading on the computer. I like the feel of a book in my hand. There is something so much more satisfying about turning a page instead of clicking a little mouse. It might sound weird, but I like the smell of a new book, or an old book for that matter. But maybe it's that I have a hard time reading on a screen that makes me want to run to the nearest printer when one of my instructors e-mails a hyper-link to a newspaper article.
Never mind the fact that I can't really write notes along the side of my computer screen the same way I can scribble all over a book, newspaper or even magazine.
I guess I'm rambling a bit, but I think I needed a little study break.
Back to the "books".
I'm near-sighted, but my vision isn't that bad. I mean, my computer is maybe a whole two feet away from me. But when I tried to read from my books, I had to take off my glasses so I could read that comfortably. My book was maybe 6 inches closer to me but has smaller writing.
Do I really need to start thinking about bifocals already? Seriously?! I can't need bifocals... That can't be right...
I'm not the World's Biggest Fan of e-readers, or doing too much reading on the computer. I like the feel of a book in my hand. There is something so much more satisfying about turning a page instead of clicking a little mouse. It might sound weird, but I like the smell of a new book, or an old book for that matter. But maybe it's that I have a hard time reading on a screen that makes me want to run to the nearest printer when one of my instructors e-mails a hyper-link to a newspaper article.
Never mind the fact that I can't really write notes along the side of my computer screen the same way I can scribble all over a book, newspaper or even magazine.
I guess I'm rambling a bit, but I think I needed a little study break.
Back to the "books".
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Shabbat Services
Earlier this year I had signed up with one of my classmates to lead services for Shabbat morning. We spent a lot of time putting together what we thought would be a meaningful and enjoyable experience. I know that I had a lot of fun working with a cantor (cantorial student) for the first time. It is quite incredible working with someone else who can help lead, especially someone with such an amazing voice.
A few weeks ago two of my classmates had used an arrangement of Dan Nichols's Or Zarua. We decided to use Dave's arrangement for our opening song before services started. Working with Ari, Ben, Brian, Jay and Mike I had a lot of fun preparing and I think we did a really good job with it.
Or Zarua video on Youtube
The service itself, I think, went really well. As always, there are things that I need to work on, but that's the point of school. Right? We've spent all year studying and working hard at improving our skills for leading a community in prayer. I had the chance to share the melody Rabbi Dr. Levine shared with my class a few weeks ago, which I also think went well.
I cannot wait until next fall when I have the opportunity to continue leading services for a community. I received my pulpit assignment for next year and I am very excited to get to work!
A few weeks ago two of my classmates had used an arrangement of Dan Nichols's Or Zarua. We decided to use Dave's arrangement for our opening song before services started. Working with Ari, Ben, Brian, Jay and Mike I had a lot of fun preparing and I think we did a really good job with it.
Or Zarua video on Youtube
The service itself, I think, went really well. As always, there are things that I need to work on, but that's the point of school. Right? We've spent all year studying and working hard at improving our skills for leading a community in prayer. I had the chance to share the melody Rabbi Dr. Levine shared with my class a few weeks ago, which I also think went well.
I cannot wait until next fall when I have the opportunity to continue leading services for a community. I received my pulpit assignment for next year and I am very excited to get to work!
Sunday, May 8, 2011
My Passover Seder
This year (almost) in Jerusalem. Our seder always ends with the line, "This year in Jerusalem". I was so close to that this year, but I have family living in Omer (near Be'er Sheva) and I went to Nanci's house for the seder. However, she is a Messianic Jew, so the night was very different than I had anticipated.
To the best of my understanding, Messianic Judaism connects itself to the early followers of Jesus. They still consider themselves Jewish and therefore celebrate Jewish Holidays, but they have also accepted Jesus as their savior and the Messiah. This does not mesh with my own beliefs and views of the world, however, I thought it was important to be with family for the holiday.
The experience was interesting. The seder was similar to what I am used to, but there were nuanced differences and some very obvious changes reflecting the beliefs of the community I was in. I still don't know exactly how I feel about the seder itself, but I respect the right of that community to celebrate the holiday in the way they see fit.
I'm glad that I was with family and it was an interesting interfaith experience. But I was left wanting something else. I guess there is always next year. I hope I can find time to make a Passover Seder at my apartment next year in Cincinnati.
To the best of my understanding, Messianic Judaism connects itself to the early followers of Jesus. They still consider themselves Jewish and therefore celebrate Jewish Holidays, but they have also accepted Jesus as their savior and the Messiah. This does not mesh with my own beliefs and views of the world, however, I thought it was important to be with family for the holiday.
The experience was interesting. The seder was similar to what I am used to, but there were nuanced differences and some very obvious changes reflecting the beliefs of the community I was in. I still don't know exactly how I feel about the seder itself, but I respect the right of that community to celebrate the holiday in the way they see fit.
I'm glad that I was with family and it was an interesting interfaith experience. But I was left wanting something else. I guess there is always next year. I hope I can find time to make a Passover Seder at my apartment next year in Cincinnati.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Yom HaShoah
Today is the designated Holocaust Remembrance Day. With ceremonies in many places around Jerusalem and around the world. We come together to remember the victims of the Holocaust whose lives were senselessly ended during World War II. It is a time to remember those to whom we are connected, and those that have nobody to remember them. But it is a day not only to remember the atrocities committed against millions of people.
For me it is a day to reflect. I think about the marginalized groups of people who were forced to leave their lives behind and rounded up into ghettos across Europe and I start to ask; why? These people were executed for committing crimes; being Jewish, being gypsy, being political dissidents, being homosexual and many other things. Their crime was being undesirable in the eyes of Hitler, the Nazis and the Third Reich of Germany.
It wasn't anything these people had done.
These people were killed because of hatred.
These people were murdered because they were not understood.
These people were slaughtered because they were different.
As I sit and think about these things I can't help but think about the losses this world suffered because of hatred, fear and misunderstanding. People suffered because other people were whipped into a frenzy and followed along.
In some ways this was a Jewish tragedy. In other ways it is a global tragedy. And it can serve as a lesson for us about the dangers of hatred.
May all of humanity never forget the atrocities of the Holocaust.
For me it is a day to reflect. I think about the marginalized groups of people who were forced to leave their lives behind and rounded up into ghettos across Europe and I start to ask; why? These people were executed for committing crimes; being Jewish, being gypsy, being political dissidents, being homosexual and many other things. Their crime was being undesirable in the eyes of Hitler, the Nazis and the Third Reich of Germany.
It wasn't anything these people had done.
These people were killed because of hatred.
These people were murdered because they were not understood.
These people were slaughtered because they were different.
As I sit and think about these things I can't help but think about the losses this world suffered because of hatred, fear and misunderstanding. People suffered because other people were whipped into a frenzy and followed along.
In some ways this was a Jewish tragedy. In other ways it is a global tragedy. And it can serve as a lesson for us about the dangers of hatred.
May all of humanity never forget the atrocities of the Holocaust.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Return to Haifa Haifa
On my last day of break I had the chance to head back up to Haifa. I love that city. Yes you need a car to get around, which is a little bit annoying, but the city is just beautiful. The weather was a little humid when I got off the bus, but really not that bad, and it was a nice change from Jerusalem's chilly air.
I tried to get ahold of my friend Ayelet, who was coming to pick me up at the bus station and surprise! I found my friend Zohar who was also meeting to hand out for the day. We talked for a little bit until we met Ayelet to go around the city.
We checked out the Behai Gardens, which are done with their renovations on their shrine, and it was really cool to see that again. We didn't take the entire tour, but hung out on the steps at the first level. After a short coffee break in the German Colony we went towards the Druze Village nearby for lunch.
I'm really starting to like this hummus with Ful, but I don't really know what ful is. It's a little spicy and look like beans. But I don't really know what they are aside from good!
We went to the Carmelite Monastery to look at the amazing view from this height. The pictures don't do it full justice, but I can't really describe the valleys, mountains and cities that we looked at. As it turns out, this monastery is the location where the Prophet Elijah battled against the Priests of Ba'al. More random history I didn't expect to find.
After the monastery we walked along the beach. The boardwalk was very cool to walk up and down. None of us were prepared to go in the water so we just hung out for a while talking on the edge of the water. It was a great way to end break. I had a lot of fun seeing friends from camp and seeing other parts of the country I hadn't been to in a while.
Since I've already had a few days back to school and we have lectures again tomorrow, I should probably get to a little homework and reading for classes. Finals are on the way soon, so perhaps I should get a little ahead of the game this time.
Shabbat Shalom,
I tried to get ahold of my friend Ayelet, who was coming to pick me up at the bus station and surprise! I found my friend Zohar who was also meeting to hand out for the day. We talked for a little bit until we met Ayelet to go around the city.
We checked out the Behai Gardens, which are done with their renovations on their shrine, and it was really cool to see that again. We didn't take the entire tour, but hung out on the steps at the first level. After a short coffee break in the German Colony we went towards the Druze Village nearby for lunch.
I'm really starting to like this hummus with Ful, but I don't really know what ful is. It's a little spicy and look like beans. But I don't really know what they are aside from good!
We went to the Carmelite Monastery to look at the amazing view from this height. The pictures don't do it full justice, but I can't really describe the valleys, mountains and cities that we looked at. As it turns out, this monastery is the location where the Prophet Elijah battled against the Priests of Ba'al. More random history I didn't expect to find.
After the monastery we walked along the beach. The boardwalk was very cool to walk up and down. None of us were prepared to go in the water so we just hung out for a while talking on the edge of the water. It was a great way to end break. I had a lot of fun seeing friends from camp and seeing other parts of the country I hadn't been to in a while.
Since I've already had a few days back to school and we have lectures again tomorrow, I should probably get to a little homework and reading for classes. Finals are on the way soon, so perhaps I should get a little ahead of the game this time.
Shabbat Shalom,
Monday, April 25, 2011
Kiryat Shmoneh, Day 2
Not only did I get to sleep in incredibly late, 10AM, but once I work up Ariel made an awesome breakfast. As soon as breakfast was finished we needed to start thinking about lunch. We made a salad and some hotdogs to bring with us. We tried to find these hot springs, but after an hour or so of searching, we gave up and headed into the Banyas.
As a school, we had the option to go there while we were in the north. I had gone with the group up the mountains to see the Syrian border from a mountain lookout. Being back in the north I wanted to see the Banyas Park. It was a beautiful forested area and a nice river flowing through it. Not one of the little trickles one usually sees, but a river with a quick enough flow it feels like it could sweep you off your feet.
It was pretty amazing. We spent a very long time just hanging out in a nice area next to the river, lunch was great.
We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening just hanging out at their apartment, playing games on the Wii, talking, and working on Labaneh (a cheese made from yogurt, stirred and left to sit and drain until it becomes a cheese).
The next morning the Labaneh was our breakfast with some olive oil, zatar and menta on Matzah. I got to hang around with them for a few more hours before I had to get on the bus back towards Jerusalem.
I learned my lesson about which bus to take. A little note to myself, make sure you don't take the one that stops at every single stop on the side of the road. It only took four and a half hours to get back to Jerusalem. Instead of taking a cab back from the bus station, I decided to walk since it was so nice.
It turns out that the walk is about 40 minutes, and if I didn't need to go to the station early in the morning I'd take the walk instead of dealing with a cab. I really had a good weekend in Kiryat Shmoneh and I'm glad that I was able to spend so much time with Michal and Ariel.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
A Nice Break
It's been great having a lot of time off of school that last week. I really have a good chance to appreciate parts of Israel and even parts of Jerusalem when I don't have the weight of classwork in the back of my mind.
I hadn't seen any of my Israeli friends for a while, so for the weekend I went up north to Kiryat Shmoneh to hang out with Michal, one of the shlichim (Israelis that come to work at summer camps) that I became really good friends with. Even though I hopped off the bus in the rain, the backdrop of the city is beautiful!
You have the mountains in the background and if you look off into the distance you can even see Mount Chermon, the highest peak in Israel, if the sky is clear enough. The city itself is a sleepy little town in the periphery of Israel (this has been one of the themes of Israel Seminar this year) and there isn't an overwhelming number of things to do.
PERFECT!
We went for a drive on Friday afternoon to try to find something called Knafe. I will write about that at another time. On the way to Masadeh (a town up in the hills) we picked up some hitch hikers, and this is something completely normal. When you live out on the periphery, often times you have no way to get around when you don't have a car. The answer is to walk and hope a car passes that is willing to give you a ride somewhere. It was really interesting talking to these two guys who were out on the week of leave from the army to hike trails in the Golan.
After trying Knafe at a two different restaurants in the Druze Village we went for hike to see the ruins of a Syrian town, I don't remember the name of it, that appeared to be have been abandoned after the borders moved in 1967. Nature really conqures everything in the end. The houses that had been damaged, apparently due to fighting during the war, were filled in with grasses and the woods creeping back in to retake their land.
Standing inside one of these ruined houses we could see some stunning views of heights. It was absolutely breathtaking.
For dinner, Ariel, Michal's boyfriend, cooked an amazing vegetarian, Indonesian flavored, dish. It was a little like a stir-fried, Asian Chipotle. But instead of a burrito, it is wrapped in rice paper.
(For those of you wondering why I'm eating ride, it's passover. I do not exclude Kitniyot from my diet during the holiday)
I have to say that Ariel is an amazing cook, dinner and the trekking that day was amazing.
That was just day 1.
I'm writing this from the bus ride home (yea for having internet on the busses), so there will be another post later with more of my break and a few pictures as well.
I hadn't seen any of my Israeli friends for a while, so for the weekend I went up north to Kiryat Shmoneh to hang out with Michal, one of the shlichim (Israelis that come to work at summer camps) that I became really good friends with. Even though I hopped off the bus in the rain, the backdrop of the city is beautiful!
You have the mountains in the background and if you look off into the distance you can even see Mount Chermon, the highest peak in Israel, if the sky is clear enough. The city itself is a sleepy little town in the periphery of Israel (this has been one of the themes of Israel Seminar this year) and there isn't an overwhelming number of things to do.
PERFECT!
We went for a drive on Friday afternoon to try to find something called Knafe. I will write about that at another time. On the way to Masadeh (a town up in the hills) we picked up some hitch hikers, and this is something completely normal. When you live out on the periphery, often times you have no way to get around when you don't have a car. The answer is to walk and hope a car passes that is willing to give you a ride somewhere. It was really interesting talking to these two guys who were out on the week of leave from the army to hike trails in the Golan.
After trying Knafe at a two different restaurants in the Druze Village we went for hike to see the ruins of a Syrian town, I don't remember the name of it, that appeared to be have been abandoned after the borders moved in 1967. Nature really conqures everything in the end. The houses that had been damaged, apparently due to fighting during the war, were filled in with grasses and the woods creeping back in to retake their land.
Standing inside one of these ruined houses we could see some stunning views of heights. It was absolutely breathtaking.
For dinner, Ariel, Michal's boyfriend, cooked an amazing vegetarian, Indonesian flavored, dish. It was a little like a stir-fried, Asian Chipotle. But instead of a burrito, it is wrapped in rice paper.
(For those of you wondering why I'm eating ride, it's passover. I do not exclude Kitniyot from my diet during the holiday)
I have to say that Ariel is an amazing cook, dinner and the trekking that day was amazing.
That was just day 1.
I'm writing this from the bus ride home (yea for having internet on the busses), so there will be another post later with more of my break and a few pictures as well.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Pre-Flight Checklist
I've done checklists before. Enough times to know that I might not get everything on this list finished. But that isn't going to stop me at all. A few of my friends started a list of things to do before we return to the states. I slimmed down the list that we made together down to the things that I really want to do. I'm going to start trying to take things off this list as soon as possible.
Here's to experiencing Israel before I go home!
1. Beach Weekend in Haifa/Eilat
2. Camping/hiking somewhere up North
3. Israeli food-themed potluck Shabbat dinner
4. Group ride on the light rail
5. Museum on the Seam
6. Biblical Zoo
7. Caesaria
8. Wine tasting somewhere
9. Full Day Ein Gedi Hike
10. Attend Israeli Soccer Match
11. Visit Tzfat.
12. Play Shoots and Ladders on the board in the park on Azza
13. See Hadag Nahash perform
14. Bike/Hike trials around Jerusalem
15. Walk Via Dolorosa
16. Day Trip to Abu Ghosh
17. Latrun
18. Tel Aviv Museums: Diaspora and Rabin
Here's to experiencing Israel before I go home!
1. Beach Weekend in Haifa/Eilat
2. Camping/hiking somewhere up North
3. Israeli food-themed potluck Shabbat dinner
4. Group ride on the light rail
5. Museum on the Seam
6. Biblical Zoo
7. Caesaria
8. Wine tasting somewhere
9. Full Day Ein Gedi Hike
10. Attend Israeli Soccer Match
11. Visit Tzfat.
12. Play Shoots and Ladders on the board in the park on Azza
13. See Hadag Nahash perform
14. Bike/Hike trials around Jerusalem
15. Walk Via Dolorosa
16. Day Trip to Abu Ghosh
17. Latrun
18. Tel Aviv Museums: Diaspora and Rabin
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