A few weeks ago the Parallel Lives group I'm a part of this year went to a young adult center called GalGal. They are a place for young adults (18-26) to go to take a shower, get some food and connect with counseling if they want. We thought that it would be a good opportunity for us to give service to the community in Jerusalem.
The group of us went to the center and learned a little bit about the and the work that they do. Then we got started.
We were divided into groups and given different tasks for us to work on. I ended up in a group of people that were scrubbing the tiles in one of the bathrooms after they painted it. It took our entire two hours of service to clean up the room we worked on. Other groups were painting other rooms, cleaning out trash, moving tiles and sweeping out the dirt.
After the evening that we spent cleaning out the place, we broke into groups for a little discussion about service and how it plays a role in Judaism as well as our different cultures. We had a very meaningful discussion about it and I learned about a place that I can donate blood here and to continue to help the communities around here.
It was a great evening and I'm glad that I had the chance to donate my time to a worth project.
In addition to the Parallel Lives group I'm working with, I'm also working on the Ride4Reform to raise money for the IMPJ. If you are able to donate to that cause, please follow the link on the side of my blog.
Showing posts with label Trumah Project. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trumah Project. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Training Day
Wait, we have a few days off?
Yes!
For Chanukah HUC gave us a four-day-weekend! That means I actually had a lot of free time and a Sunday like I was used to.
So instead of sitting around all day on Saturday doing homework, I joined a a few of the other riders for Ride4Reform this year on a training ride. Dan took us on a short route towards Yad Vashem. But instead of going to the museum, we took a left down a sweet hill into Ya'ar Yerushalayim (the Jerusalem Forrest). It was a nice ride complete with some hills both up and down. I hadn't been out on a bike for a few weeks so it felt great getting out there on the road and feeling the pavement pass beneath me.
The is something rewarding about climbing a hill for five minutes. Winded and fighting for breath climbing over the crest and seeing a steep decline. Whipping down it as wind rushes past your face to the point that you can no longer hear the traffic. There is nothing better for a Shabbat afternoon.
Why on Shabbat? Because most of the city of Jerusalem doesn't drive on that day. Fewer cars means that we all feel much safer.
It's also great going in a group. For me, I do like sitting on a bike at the Yimkah (spelled in English YMCA), and listening to music to keep my legs churning as hard as I can. But it's so much better to go out with a group of friends. Today there were only five of us, which is a good start to the group we have riding in March. I missed a few of the earlier rides, so I am a bit behind.
On the bad news side of things, my brakes were squeaking. Every time I squeezed it, a high pitched whine came from the front wheel. Then, as we were riding, I could hear the brakes rubbing while we were out. That means tomorrow, when I still don't have school, I'm going to head down to the bike shop and see if they can fix that. I would take care of it myself, but there are two issues.
1) I don't own the right tools here.
2) I've never had disc-brakes on a bike and I'd rather not break them.
Back to the homework,
Happy Hanukah
Yes!
For Chanukah HUC gave us a four-day-weekend! That means I actually had a lot of free time and a Sunday like I was used to.
So instead of sitting around all day on Saturday doing homework, I joined a a few of the other riders for Ride4Reform this year on a training ride. Dan took us on a short route towards Yad Vashem. But instead of going to the museum, we took a left down a sweet hill into Ya'ar Yerushalayim (the Jerusalem Forrest). It was a nice ride complete with some hills both up and down. I hadn't been out on a bike for a few weeks so it felt great getting out there on the road and feeling the pavement pass beneath me.
The is something rewarding about climbing a hill for five minutes. Winded and fighting for breath climbing over the crest and seeing a steep decline. Whipping down it as wind rushes past your face to the point that you can no longer hear the traffic. There is nothing better for a Shabbat afternoon.
Why on Shabbat? Because most of the city of Jerusalem doesn't drive on that day. Fewer cars means that we all feel much safer.
It's also great going in a group. For me, I do like sitting on a bike at the Yimkah (spelled in English YMCA), and listening to music to keep my legs churning as hard as I can. But it's so much better to go out with a group of friends. Today there were only five of us, which is a good start to the group we have riding in March. I missed a few of the earlier rides, so I am a bit behind.
On the bad news side of things, my brakes were squeaking. Every time I squeezed it, a high pitched whine came from the front wheel. Then, as we were riding, I could hear the brakes rubbing while we were out. That means tomorrow, when I still don't have school, I'm going to head down to the bike shop and see if they can fix that. I would take care of it myself, but there are two issues.
1) I don't own the right tools here.
2) I've never had disc-brakes on a bike and I'd rather not break them.
Back to the homework,
Happy Hanukah
Friday, December 3, 2010
Ride4Reform Update
As a group, we have been doing a lot of fundraising already. We've had two bake sales, which have been going well. Last night was a ton of fun; the Latke Eating Contest.
The Year in Israel Program was challenged by the Los Angeles campus of HUC-JIR to a latke eating contest. The rules were, eat as many latkes as possible in 7 minutes. After our Chanukah celebration last night, the contest was on. I decided that I didn't really want to risk throwing off my "intense training regimen" (read; casual workouts) by piling on tons of latkes. Instead there were six competitors that ate as many as possible. Guess who won? Yeah, my roommate. Apparently she is the latke eating champ! And she beat the highest number put up by LA by eating 25 or 26 latkes.
I wish I had pictures to put up, but my camera is in transit to the states to get fixed. Hopefully that will be back with Kaitin when she gets here so I can resume taking an obnoxious number of pictures.
There are also a few quick updates about the Ride4Reform this year;
Check out the page I created on Facebook at the link here.
Or if you would like to check out their page, they have a Facebook Fan-Page, complete with some photos from a recent ride on part of the route for this spring.
Finally, the last place you can check out if you need to get your fix of ride4reform information, Marina and Dusty put together a wordpress site that will be the main way the group will put information out, read bios about everyone who is riding with our team this year, and look at some of the videos from the latke eating contest.
And last but not least, I will shortly be finally registered for the ride. Once I have taken care of that, I will let you know how you can donate to the cause if you are able to. Honestly, every little bit will help!
Off to the gym, I'm going to try to sit on the bike for a little while this afternoon.
The Year in Israel Program was challenged by the Los Angeles campus of HUC-JIR to a latke eating contest. The rules were, eat as many latkes as possible in 7 minutes. After our Chanukah celebration last night, the contest was on. I decided that I didn't really want to risk throwing off my "intense training regimen" (read; casual workouts) by piling on tons of latkes. Instead there were six competitors that ate as many as possible. Guess who won? Yeah, my roommate. Apparently she is the latke eating champ! And she beat the highest number put up by LA by eating 25 or 26 latkes.
I wish I had pictures to put up, but my camera is in transit to the states to get fixed. Hopefully that will be back with Kaitin when she gets here so I can resume taking an obnoxious number of pictures.
There are also a few quick updates about the Ride4Reform this year;
Check out the page I created on Facebook at the link here.
Or if you would like to check out their page, they have a Facebook Fan-Page, complete with some photos from a recent ride on part of the route for this spring.
Finally, the last place you can check out if you need to get your fix of ride4reform information, Marina and Dusty put together a wordpress site that will be the main way the group will put information out, read bios about everyone who is riding with our team this year, and look at some of the videos from the latke eating contest.
And last but not least, I will shortly be finally registered for the ride. Once I have taken care of that, I will let you know how you can donate to the cause if you are able to. Honestly, every little bit will help!
Off to the gym, I'm going to try to sit on the bike for a little while this afternoon.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Ride for Reform
Earlier this week I went to the first meeting for the Ride for Reform, the bike ride I am doing next spring. I'm really excited to be getting started on this. Then reality started to set it, I only have a few months to get ready for the ride.
They have posted the route on their website, and it doesn't look that intense, but I've never rode this far on back to back days before. But other than that, I think I can get my legs into shape to take care of that. Tomorrow I'm planing on joining Dan and Leah, and maybe others, on the road to take a little ride to the Jerusalem Forrest.
The route this year starts in Modiin, if you're familiar with the Channukah Story, it is said to have taken place here. By the end of five days we will be finishing at Masada and the Dead Sea. So I guess I have a way to get down there this year, it's just going to be on a bike and not a bus!
I am worried about one thing though, fundraising. I've never done fundraising for myself before. We're kicking it all off by having a bake sale on Sunday to see what we can start raising together. Adding in to my wariness is that I need to do this all from Israel with little "actual" contact with people in the states. I know this is the digital age, but I would feel more comfortable doing this face to face. ?מה לעשות (Mah La'asot). What to do?
If you are a facebook user, I have created a community page. Please follow along there as I post about my progress. I will probably be putting more on that page than on here.
But what organization is this fundraising going towards? The Ride4Reform collects donations that benefit the IMPJ (Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism). Reform Judaism in Israel is very different from back in the USA. The communities are smaller and there are not a ton of them. Part of the issue is that they are at a disadvantage because so many people in Israel see what many call Orthodoxy as the only way to be observant.
The IMPJ is the Israeli version of the URJ that helps support these communities, helps them with outreach and putting out information about being involved in the Progressive Movement here. They also support youth activities and so much more. This is an incredibly important cause to me, especially in light of some of the issues with the "Rotem Conversion Bill" that was in the forefront this summer. I am really excited to help the IMPJ and to have a lot of fun riding across Israel to do it.
If you're looking for more information about the IMPJ, you can visit the IMPJ website.
There is also plenty of information on the web about the Rotem Bill that still has not been defeated in the K'nesset.
They have posted the route on their website, and it doesn't look that intense, but I've never rode this far on back to back days before. But other than that, I think I can get my legs into shape to take care of that. Tomorrow I'm planing on joining Dan and Leah, and maybe others, on the road to take a little ride to the Jerusalem Forrest.
The route this year starts in Modiin, if you're familiar with the Channukah Story, it is said to have taken place here. By the end of five days we will be finishing at Masada and the Dead Sea. So I guess I have a way to get down there this year, it's just going to be on a bike and not a bus!
I am worried about one thing though, fundraising. I've never done fundraising for myself before. We're kicking it all off by having a bake sale on Sunday to see what we can start raising together. Adding in to my wariness is that I need to do this all from Israel with little "actual" contact with people in the states. I know this is the digital age, but I would feel more comfortable doing this face to face. ?מה לעשות (Mah La'asot). What to do?
If you are a facebook user, I have created a community page. Please follow along there as I post about my progress. I will probably be putting more on that page than on here.
But what organization is this fundraising going towards? The Ride4Reform collects donations that benefit the IMPJ (Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism). Reform Judaism in Israel is very different from back in the USA. The communities are smaller and there are not a ton of them. Part of the issue is that they are at a disadvantage because so many people in Israel see what many call Orthodoxy as the only way to be observant.
The IMPJ is the Israeli version of the URJ that helps support these communities, helps them with outreach and putting out information about being involved in the Progressive Movement here. They also support youth activities and so much more. This is an incredibly important cause to me, especially in light of some of the issues with the "Rotem Conversion Bill" that was in the forefront this summer. I am really excited to help the IMPJ and to have a lot of fun riding across Israel to do it.
If you're looking for more information about the IMPJ, you can visit the IMPJ website.
There is also plenty of information on the web about the Rotem Bill that still has not been defeated in the K'nesset.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Trumah Project - Parallel Lives
As a part of our Year in Israel Program, we are all asked to take part in something called a Trumah project. Some of them involve volunteering to spend time in other communities, and others involve raising money for other causes. One of the projects that I am taking a part in is called, Parallel Lives.
The gist of the program is that we are spending time with Israeli Soldiers and learning about their lives as young Jews in Israel. We also will get a chance to share with them, what it means to be a Reform Jew from America (although some of our participants are from other countries as well).
A few weeks ago, we had our first meeting and got to know the majority of the Israeli participants. It was a really nice program that we got to talk with them about where we are in life. A common theme that we shared with them was that for the next few years, we don’t have a large amount of choice.
I know I will be in school for the next five years, maybe six, and at the end of that time I will hopefully be setting up what could be the rest of my life. Many of the soldiers shared a similar point of view. We’re all in transition and we hope to know who we are at the end of it.
I am really excited to get to know the soldiers better and think this could be an opportunity to build some good friendships. I’m also excited to work with one of my classmates and some of the soldiers to write a program. It should be a lot of fun!
I did hint that I am working on another trumah project this year. Expect an announcement when I need to actually start the fundraising aspect of it. In the spring I will be riding a large swath of road in Israel as a part of the Ride for Reform. This is the reason why I bought a bike earlier this year (you can read the blog about my Orange Dreamcycle). It will be a lot of fun getting to ride a long ride and this project will raise money that will go to helping progressive movements in Israel.
The gist of the program is that we are spending time with Israeli Soldiers and learning about their lives as young Jews in Israel. We also will get a chance to share with them, what it means to be a Reform Jew from America (although some of our participants are from other countries as well).
A few weeks ago, we had our first meeting and got to know the majority of the Israeli participants. It was a really nice program that we got to talk with them about where we are in life. A common theme that we shared with them was that for the next few years, we don’t have a large amount of choice.
I know I will be in school for the next five years, maybe six, and at the end of that time I will hopefully be setting up what could be the rest of my life. Many of the soldiers shared a similar point of view. We’re all in transition and we hope to know who we are at the end of it.
I am really excited to get to know the soldiers better and think this could be an opportunity to build some good friendships. I’m also excited to work with one of my classmates and some of the soldiers to write a program. It should be a lot of fun!
I did hint that I am working on another trumah project this year. Expect an announcement when I need to actually start the fundraising aspect of it. In the spring I will be riding a large swath of road in Israel as a part of the Ride for Reform. This is the reason why I bought a bike earlier this year (you can read the blog about my Orange Dreamcycle). It will be a lot of fun getting to ride a long ride and this project will raise money that will go to helping progressive movements in Israel.
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