Yom Tov and the Dead Sea

Today was one of the most amazing days of my life. Yesterday morning I found out that me and a few other newly arrived students here at Aish HaTorah would be going on a field trip with Yom Tov Glazer. Yom Tov is the kind of guy who could make me give up my entire life back at home and spend the next ten years studying at the Yeshiva. He grew up secular, toured the world surfing, until one day when he happened upon Jerusalem and sixteen years later he’s still here. He exudes spirituality, he doesn’t even have to try to, he just is. So last night we were sitting around the Rova square which is one of the main centers of the Jewish Quarter here in Jerusalem, smoking hookah, Benyomin and others were rapping (Ben was in a fairly successful band back in California before he got tired of his physically fulfilling but spirituality empty life) this place is crazy. It’s a mix between a college campus and the holiest place you could ever imagine. It’s an amazing mix of energy that I doubt I’ll tire of quickly. With an adventure planned for the morning I called it a night and went to bed. I awoke full of verve. I grabbed my Teffilin and Siddur and headed to the Kotel. With my morning prayer done I headed for breakfast and our adventure soon began. We headed out of the Old City, through East Jerusalem, it’s bizarre because the Israelis recently celebrated the 40th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem and yet the city is in no way complete. No Jew’s exist in the East and to go there is not just foolhardy but very unsafe. We passed the Mount of Olives (religious Jews believe that when the messiah comes, those buried in the Mount will get to walk with the messiah into the gates of heaven) and through the tunnel. With Jerusalem behind us we drove, as the scenery passed by, I was struck (not for the first time) with the unbelievable beauty of this place, it’s indescribable. We drove down, down past sea level until we arrived. We hiked though the brush, until we arrived at the spot Yom Tov had in mind. The first order of business was a through rub down with the mud on the flats; it’s incredibly smooth and great for the skin. Now that we all looked like swamp people we headed off. There was a cliff and a deep pool and after a little convincing (and watching, one crazy Aussie and one crazy Rabbi do it first) I took the plunge. It’s an amazing feeling running as fast as you can off a cliff into the salty waters, I quickly scrambled up the cliff ready for more. Then it was off to the hot springs, the Rabbi quickly engaged us in conversation (not the first or last of the day for sure) talking about life, the pursuit of wisdom and about our own person journeys to Israel, it was special. It’s in many ways a completely selfish pursuit; most of our usual energies are focused outwards, changing the world in various ways. The word Israel is derived from the story of Jacob, Jacob on his way home to the land of his father Isaac, knowing he is about to be confronted by his older brother Esav. Esav has raised an army in order to prevent Jacob from returning. The night before the encounter Jacob spends the night alone in his tent, when an angel enters, Jacob struggles all throughout the night with this angel, until as day is dawning the angel blesses him and gives him a new name, Israel the word literally means spiritual struggle. And much like Jacob all of us here are engaged in our own spiritual battles. We then proceeded to our second to last activity of the day: sensory deprivation. With ear plugs firmly in our ears we wadded out into the Dead Sea, relaxing our entire bodies and closing our eyes the only thing to focus on was the sound of our own breathing. It is an experience I will never forget. After a satisfying lunch it was time to head back to the city of light. With my skin feeling wonderful, and tired out from the days activities here I am again. I often wondered why exactly I decided to pick up a life I loved to come to a foreign land, in moments like this I know exactly why. Eretz Israel.

Waking Life

Have you ever seen the movie waking life? If you never have, it might be the only way I can properly describe what it’s like living here. Everyday I feel like I’m bombarded with mind boggling information, it feels like living in a dream, and just as I love this movie and I love being here.

First Shabbos in Jerusalem

Shabbos ended in Jerusalem a few hours ago and I made it! Phew, this city is a truly magical place but none more so then on Shabbos. With a full moon rising over the Kotel (Wailing Wall) the black and whites as I like to call them (the Orthodox Jews) began to fill the area, I watching this with one of my new friends Yitzchak (he’s from South Carolina and a Jewish convert) we went down to the wall and davened before heading back up to the terrace, we talked for a while and then headed our separate ways. I went to dinner with old friends from NY one of whom’s brother lives two minutes away from me in the Old City, dinner was amazing, filled with children running around, lots of singing, drinking wine, and amazing conversation. Then I headed off to bed, I awoke full of vigor (late, I missed Morning Prayer but I’m still fighting a bit of jet lag) and then wandered around, hooking up with some new friends before heading off to lunch with one of the Rabbis who does work for Aish. Another illuminating and wild meal ensued before I sleepily headed back to my room. I met up with some roommates / friends, and we sat around our kitchen table, making jokes, talking about stupid stuff and just generally being stupid boys. As Shabbos came to a close we did the division ceremony and then the world went back to normal, phones were turned on, computers brought out and life went back to normal. Shabbos is amazing when you go a whole day without changing anything, even the mundane becomes extraordinary. Most people go there entire lives without realizing the miracle in the everyday, the ordinary. I had a wonderful first Shabbos in Israel, I’ve been shown nothing but warmth and kindness everywhere I go thus far and I’m truly grateful for that.

Jerusalem pt.2

Jerusalem is a festival and a lamentation. Its song is a sigh
across the ages, a delicate, robust, mournful psalm at the great junction of spiritual cultures. David K. Shipler

Jerusalem

I have arrived in Jerusalem; well to be technical I got here yesterday but just the same. As I write this I’m sitting in my new place with a bunch of guys around me, and I couldn’t be happier. I already feel like I’ve been here for a few weeks, everyone here is so welcoming, they immediately made me feel like I belong which is a huge relief. After stressing about what I’d be doing for the last few weeks it feels really great to be in it now, the anticipation of the event was as always more stressful then the event itself. Now I know as I’m here longer things will inevitably come up, I’ll meet people I don’t like, I’ll argue with people over lifestyle choices, etc. This is life after all and life is tough, but it just feels really good to be here now. I had my first day of classes, and there are a few Rabbis that I was drawn to immediately, so it all made for a very interesting first day that’s for sure. The flow of Yeshiva life is definitely going to be an adjustment, lunch for instance is a mad rush, I kept running into people, within five minutes I stopped apologizing and just pushed my way through. My head is on a swivel, every twenty minutes I find myself looking out the windows of Aish at the Kotel and thinking “Am I really here?” Yup! Highlights of classes today: Jewish History with Rabbi Ken Spiro, Practical Spirituality with Rabbi Yom Tov Glaser (who happens to be the brother of a Rabbi I know in New York) and Contemporary Issues with Rabbi Motty Berger (he’s very physical, always hugging everyone but a really genuine, good soul), a few pieces of knowledge for your pleasure:

There are four Holy cities in Israel: Jerusalem represents fire, Hebron (Earth), Tiberias (water) and Tsfat (air)

People are angered by critique only to the extent that they believe its true.

In the way man wants to be, God leads him

All is well, I’m looking forward to Shabbos tomorrow. Much love and Eretz Israel.

Jersey

Its really starting to feel real now just had to say it. Yesterday I moved out of New York and now I’m sitting at home talking with my parents, unpacking so I can repack and realizing that in less then five days I’ll be gone. It’s hard to explain the gamut of emotions that I’m dealing with on a daily basis but at the end of it all I’m just really excited and I feel ready for the next challenge. I’d like to take a moment to thank all of the wonderful people in my life for being so supportive I feel truly blessed to be surrounded by so many people who want nothing more then to help me, I do not take it for granted. Now I’m sitting here in the quiet town I grew up in, after living in New York for a year its weird to realize that I had gotten used to a general level of background noise all the time. Out here in New Jersey there is none of that, especially on a beautiful autumn Saturday. That’s all for now.

A view from my window

Looking down



North

South

Looking out from 57th street and 5th avenue, my former office. Excellent view, good people, off to Israel in 13 days.

Next Year in Jerusalem

I got this quote from a great article titled “Next Year in Jerusalem” it is an incredibly moving piece of journalism. It chronicles a young mans journey from secular life to Orthodox Judaism. I don’t relate to any one character in it more then any other, I just think it’s an exceedingly honest account of the intellectual and emotion struggle involved when one has their faith or lack there of challenged. A copy of the article in its entirety can be found in PDF format here.

It seemed that losing your faith and losing your lack of faith had much in common. At some point you were suspended between two competing, self-consistent realities, knowing you had to go back or forward, with no one to help you and no net. And once you were out there, you realized that skeptic and believer were mirror images, reflecting a vision of logic in the universe. – Next Year in Jerusalem p.14

The countdown officially begins

Isn’t it weird how you can trick yourself into believing things sometimes? Case in point I spent all last week ‘not’ freaking out about my trip. I talked to tons of people most of which I got one of two responses from: “That’s amazing, have a wonderful time”, or “Wow your effing crazy” and everyone asked me how I was feeling. And I glibly assured everyone that I was feeling great, wasn’t worried a bit and taking care of business. And I even managed to convince myself of this. But here is there truth: I was freaking out, totally and completely. Luckily for me I have wonderful people in my life. On Saturday me and an old college roommate, one of my best friends caught the New York Metropolitans game in Flushing Meadows, a weekend we had had planned for over a month. When we made the plans we weren’t expecting the Met’s to be fights for their playoff lives, but they were. And so we witnessed a truly magical game, needing a win badly the Mets put a hurting on the visiting Nationals. The intrepid John Maine came within four outs of a no hitter, it was one of the greatest games I’ve ever been to. (note: they got creamed the next day and missed the playoffs, in one of the biggest collapses in sports history but I don’t want to talk about it) that game was still remarkable. The next morning we caught the new Wes Anderson movie the Darjeeling Limited. I could try to describe why I love his movies so much but as with all great art I can’t. This movie like his other three, The Life Aquatic, The Royal Tannenbaum’s and Rushmore just makes me feel good about life. It might be the best of the bunch, maybe it’s just because it’s a story about a spiritual journey and I’m about the embark on my own, but I couldn’t hide my smile as I walked out of the theatre. As we walked home I was stuck (not for the first time) by the beauty of New York, it was a picture perfect autumn day. And I was inspired to create a: why I love New York post for this blog. I can think of no better tribute for the city that has given me without a doubt the greatest year of my life. Look for a picture collection courtesy of my new camera before I leave. I then spent the rest of the day with my family, watching football and sleeping on the couch. It was just what I needed to clear my head. Because as I was saying at the beginning of this post I was not dealing with my move well, it’s not easy to just pick up a leave a place you love to chase a dream. What if that dream is just a seductive illusion? What if I find out my adventure is an exercise in futility and I could have gotten what I wanted in New York, a place where I’m happy? These are questions that haunt me. Unfortunately I’ll never know the answers all I can do is trust my instinct and accept that I’ll never know everything. I have to thank my wonderful family and friends for helping me collect my thoughts and for listening to me. I am truly blessed to have people in my life who understand me so well. And so my journey is a scarce three weeks away. My plans are now coming together; I got accepted into school, made my flight plans and created a very long list of things to do. It’s all beginning to become very real now. Enjoy the beautiful autumn season.