Friday, January 25, 2008
Tel Aviv
In Tel Aviv for the weekend, enjoying the warm weather, its wonderful to get away from Jerusalem for the weekend, looking forward to a quiet, relaxing few days. Its great to have internet access, check out the last blog I'm very proud of it. I can't believe its beens three months since I got here and I'm almost 50 posts into the blog, I hope you've enjoyed reading it, I've enjoyed writing it. Shalom and Eretz Israel.
Hebrew Names
Our names define us, from the moment we're given a name it becomes our signature. In Judaism our names have a mystical quality, the Hebrew letters used to form them are the same thing god used to create and sustain the world. I've always had a lot of trouble with my given Hebrew name: Mordecai and I felt like I needed to resolve the tension. So this week I went to the Old City's local Chabbad, Rabbi Schloss and talked it over this is what I found out. Mordechi literally means a warrior, my given English name of Myles is derived from miles in Latin, literally soldier. Interesting... Given my discomfort with Mordechi I recently asked my mom what she thought and she suggested my Grandfather Sydney's Hebrew name: Shalom. Which I liked immediately, especially given that I've been told by everyone in my family how much I remind them of him. When I mentioned this to the Rabbi he loved it. Shalom means peace. He suggested that I add it on to make Mordechi Shalom which happen to think is a beautiful name, it works especially well since the names represent opposite ideas, in Ecclesiastes it states:
"Everything has an appointed season, and there is a time for every matter under the heaven (Ch 3, verse 1)...a time for war and a time for peace"(Ch 3, verse 8) Read it, its short and beautifully wirtten.
As for the last part of the name Jew's when called up to the Torah are referred to by their name plus son of ... usually their tribe. You get this from your dad and since mines not Jewish I never knew what to do about this, the Rabbi's advise was to use Adom which means earth in Hebrew, since Adam the first man was made from the earth.
And so I've finally come to peace with my Hebrew name. Mordechi Shalom ben Adom. My translation is: Warrior servant of god bringer of peace son of man. A Good Shabbat to you all.
"Everything has an appointed season, and there is a time for every matter under the heaven (Ch 3, verse 1)...a time for war and a time for peace"(Ch 3, verse 8) Read it, its short and beautifully wirtten.
As for the last part of the name Jew's when called up to the Torah are referred to by their name plus son of ... usually their tribe. You get this from your dad and since mines not Jewish I never knew what to do about this, the Rabbi's advise was to use Adom which means earth in Hebrew, since Adam the first man was made from the earth.
And so I've finally come to peace with my Hebrew name. Mordechi Shalom ben Adom. My translation is: Warrior servant of god bringer of peace son of man. A Good Shabbat to you all.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Updates, Horray!!!
This is the longest single stretch I've gone without posting since I've been in Israel, many, many apologies my family was here for two weeks, and then I started a new program as you'll see if you read on. Hopefully I'll never go this long again without an update, as always I wish it were easier for me to get online and connect with the world. But its just not that simple here in the old city. I've been thinking a lot about what the next few months hold and all in all my future here in Jerusalem is looking bright, I miss everyone terribly even if I hardly ever call or write. Much love.
Gimmel
Three months more or less and its been crazy, in many ways I’ve lost touch with a lot of things that I really enjoyed, in many other ways I’ve discovered things that ring true to me. And in all this time I’ve been forced to evaluate what the things that I’m without mean to me. And at least for now I have no intention to give up many of the things back home. Its my opinion that with most things in my life and life in general its not so much what you do. For instance watching football might take me away form god in the sense that its takes away from my time to directly learn about him. In another way watching football allows me to enjoy creation. In essence when you say no to one thing you’re saying yes to something else. And what is truly important with all human beings is we find our own balance, all else in nonsense. A good Shabbat to everyone, Eretz Israel.
Quotes, Quotes, everywhere but not a drop to drink…
I love quotes, taking a complex idea and summarizing it with a few words or sentences. Over the years I’ve collected quotes from a wide range of sources and in honor of my family delivering my big external hard drive to me from America I thought I’d share a few for your reading pleasure:
"The pagan perceives the divine in nature through the medium of the eye and he becomes conscious of it as something to be looked at. On the other hand, the Jew conceives God as being outside of nature and prior to it. The divine manifests itself through the will and through the medium of the ear. The pagan beholds his God: the Jew hears Him." - Heinrich Graetz
Turn-the-other-cheek pacifism, only flourishes among the more prosperous classes, or among workers who have in some way escaped from their own class. The real working class…are never really pacifist, because their life teaches them something different. To abjure violence it is necessary to have no experience of it.” - George Orwell
Is repetitive action virtuous action? If behavior and conduct are merely repetitive processes then all human relationships actually cease. If I behave mechanically every day, - repeating a certain code of conduct which I have learnt, which I find profitable, or which is pleasant, repeating that over and over again, - my relationship with you ceases, completely - I have become a machine. - J. Krishnamurti
Not how the world is is the mystical, but that it is.
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare. - from "Leisure," by W.H. Davies
There are moments when one feels free from one's own identification with human limitations and inadequacies. At such moments one imagines that one stands on some spot of a small planet, gazing in amazement at the cold yet profoundly moving beauty of the eternal, the unfathomable; life and death flow into one, and there is neither evolution nor destiny; only Being. - Albert Einstein
"The pagan perceives the divine in nature through the medium of the eye and he becomes conscious of it as something to be looked at. On the other hand, the Jew conceives God as being outside of nature and prior to it. The divine manifests itself through the will and through the medium of the ear. The pagan beholds his God: the Jew hears Him." - Heinrich Graetz
Turn-the-other-cheek pacifism, only flourishes among the more prosperous classes, or among workers who have in some way escaped from their own class. The real working class…are never really pacifist, because their life teaches them something different. To abjure violence it is necessary to have no experience of it.” - George Orwell
Is repetitive action virtuous action? If behavior and conduct are merely repetitive processes then all human relationships actually cease. If I behave mechanically every day, - repeating a certain code of conduct which I have learnt, which I find profitable, or which is pleasant, repeating that over and over again, - my relationship with you ceases, completely - I have become a machine. - J. Krishnamurti
Not how the world is is the mystical, but that it is.
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare. - from "Leisure," by W.H. Davies
There are moments when one feels free from one's own identification with human limitations and inadequacies. At such moments one imagines that one stands on some spot of a small planet, gazing in amazement at the cold yet profoundly moving beauty of the eternal, the unfathomable; life and death flow into one, and there is neither evolution nor destiny; only Being. - Albert Einstein
New York, New York
I’ve been trying to write on a regular basis since I got to Israel, but I’ve found it extremely difficult since I got here. There are many reasons for this, first and foremost being that now ten hours of my day are consumed by yeshiva learning, the second reason is I don’t spend nearly as much time on / around my computer as I used to, thirdly much time after classes is spent talking to the guys about what we learned, or how we’re feeling about the experience. With that much focus placed on personal growth, on internal transformation many times when I do sit down to write I find myself out of ideas, I feel as though I’ve spent so much time working out how I’m feeling or a question that’s been bugging me that I don’t need to work it out. And when you’re in an environment like this one how much time are you really going to spend analyzing your experience. Some of the time you just have to be in the experience or you’ll have wasted all your time sitting on the side lines, being an observer. And yet I’m living half a world away. And I want all the people I have such a hard time connecting to, to know where I stand, what I’m feeling. It’s important, its necessary for me to let everyone know why I’m still here, and how much I’m questioning, struggling and learning. I always tell people I take it one day at a time that I wake up everyday and remake the decision to still be here, even if it means being uncomfortable some of the time, because I know I made the right decision to be here, even when I’m New York City dreaming…
Class Notes: Week 1 Intermediate
Torah tzeevah lanu Moshe morasha khilas Yaakov
Torah was commanded to us by Moses and inherited by the people of Israel
When one accustoms themselves to doing one thing, making the same decisions over and over you set yourself in motion. After the motion has been set, it’s very hard to change it and it is as if your freewill has been taken away. – In reference to Pharaoh’s refusal to free the Jews during the ten plagues.
Learning Torah is an exposure to a reality that’s at the core of existence and when you get to the core of existence you can start being happy and when you’re happy you might just get somewhere.
Mitzvahs that only men have to do means we have an additional hump to get over to reach the same place. Women’s natural tendency is to be needy, emotional giving. While men are more likely to think they’re god. A man is more likely to perform a mitzvah for the right reason of loving god rather then material benefit because our natural tendency is to think we’re master of the universe with no need for god.
When doing techuva(repentance) we can take the things we had in our previous lives and channel them positively, we’re changing our perspective on life, not everything in our lives.
The goal of Torah is to bring a person to real meaning therefore anything that distracts us from real meaning i.e. Torah is ‘idol worship’, it all stems from our search for meaning. So you can do almost anything and its not idol worship so long as the reason and meaning behind it comes from the infinite, god.
Hebrew phrase for the week: effo ata haetz?: where is the tree?
Torah was commanded to us by Moses and inherited by the people of Israel
When one accustoms themselves to doing one thing, making the same decisions over and over you set yourself in motion. After the motion has been set, it’s very hard to change it and it is as if your freewill has been taken away. – In reference to Pharaoh’s refusal to free the Jews during the ten plagues.
Learning Torah is an exposure to a reality that’s at the core of existence and when you get to the core of existence you can start being happy and when you’re happy you might just get somewhere.
Mitzvahs that only men have to do means we have an additional hump to get over to reach the same place. Women’s natural tendency is to be needy, emotional giving. While men are more likely to think they’re god. A man is more likely to perform a mitzvah for the right reason of loving god rather then material benefit because our natural tendency is to think we’re master of the universe with no need for god.
When doing techuva(repentance) we can take the things we had in our previous lives and channel them positively, we’re changing our perspective on life, not everything in our lives.
The goal of Torah is to bring a person to real meaning therefore anything that distracts us from real meaning i.e. Torah is ‘idol worship’, it all stems from our search for meaning. So you can do almost anything and its not idol worship so long as the reason and meaning behind it comes from the infinite, god.
Hebrew phrase for the week: effo ata haetz?: where is the tree?
Growing up (Aish HaTorah Intermediate)
I started a new program at Aish HaTorah this week, before beginning the Intermediate program I had an interview with the director of the program and his last question of me was did I understand that they only wanted serious students in the program. I assured him I was serious and I was in. Boy I didn’t realize how serious he was, us yeshiva boys are really growing up now. No longer are we listening to simple lectures, going from one to the other. Now almost every class has some work to do outside of it, the Rabbi’s expect everyone to be aware of the material before hand and come to class prepared. It’s kind of like going from middle school to college in one swift jump. No more playing around classes for nine hours of the day and work to do afterwards, days are a minimum of ten hours long now. Its really going to force all of us to reassess what we want out of being here. Some people I’m sure will leave, find other places to be, realize this isn’t for them and our numbers will change. It’s inevitable, it’s natural. That being said I think this is a great program, my goal by the end of the next three months is to work on my Hebrew, not an easy thing, as easily as my mind absorbs the logic of Talmud or the concepts in or Philosophy class, just as uneasily does it learn Hebrew I find myself learning words and seconds later forgetting them. A friend told me I’m over thinking it, that I need to allow my flow brain to take over, to get the rhythm to feel it. He’s right for sure and I noticed the less I try to learn to words, the more I just try to feel the language the better it sinks in. So that my goal and the other learning I’m doing will be gravy I have my whole life to learn the details. And if I want to be able to get the details, explore the subtleties, I need to be able to learn them in the original Hebrew. So we’ll see how it goes, I’ll keep you posted. In the mean time its time to buckle down, I’m excited to see where the next months take my mind, what they force me to think about. Eretz Israel.
Family Matters
My family left Israel a few days ago and I’m just now getting a chance to sit down and write about it, this blog is always two weeks behind but that’s just the nature of the game around here. I can’t believe eleven days passed so quickly, where did the time go? It felt like an eternity and a split second now that they’re gone. Let’s start at the beginning. My Mom, Dad, Sister and Brother-in-Law arrived in Tel Aviv at 9:05 on at beautiful Saturday morning, I traveled to Tel Aviv the day before and spent my Shabbos evening in my friend’s apartment, she wasn’t there but I had a nice night with her two roommates. It was an uneventful evening but very nice, I went to bed early with the delusion that I would sleep soundly. As I said I was delusional to think I’d sleep well the night before my family arrived, I tossed and turned all night, waking up every hour or two scared to death I’d overslept. When the morning finally arrived I was relieved to get out of bed and head over to my parents hotel which was just a quick walk from where I was staying.
I arrived just after my family did and ran up the stairs to surprise them. Which I did it was a great feeling to know they were in Israel for the first time and would soon be getting a chance to see the country that I love. And with that our adventure began, we spent Saturday afternoon wandering around Tel Aviv, we went down to old Jaffa and wandered through the old city. After Shabbos ended we headed off for dinner, at my request we found a Sushi place and had a wonderful meal. Unfortunately it wasn’t so great for my sister and brother-in-law both of whom were completely incapacitated the next day with a bad case of food poisoning. Me and the parents spent Sunday wandering around Tel Aviv: Jaffa market is a place where you can find weird items its fun to bargain with the Arabs down there. The Carmel Market is wonderful its Tel Aviv’s main bazaar you can watch the butchers cutting up meat and filleting fish, or simply watch the chaos or buyers and sellers trying to get the best possible price on/for candy, socks, hookahs, breads of all shapes and sizes and more. The Diaspora Museum is a must visit it right by Tel Aviv university and its free to get in, go wander around and see the history of the Jewish nation unfold before your eyes. By the end of the day my mom wasn’t feeling to hot either so me and my dad ended up grabbing dinner alone, although I felt bad for the rest of the family in the hotel feeling bad it was really great to get to spend the night with my dad, we had a good dinner and then wandered the streets before calling it a night.
The next day with my sister, brother-in-law and mother all feeling much better, we packed up our stuff and headed for the North with the guide we hired, he’s taken many of our family members though the Holy Land and it was a lot of fun to hear stories from their trips while we drove our way up Israel’s Mediterranean coast through Hertzelya, Haifa and up to Akko. Our first stop was a British camp used to house Jews who retuned to Israel illegally after World War II, it was amazing hearing their story’s and getting a chance to feel first hand the struggle they endured to making it to Israel. In Haifa we stopped to see the beautiful Baja gardens. And in Akko we explored ancient Crusader ruins. Our last stop for the day was at Yardent its where Catholics can go to be baptized in the Jordan river, its supposedly very close to where Jesus was baptized. With another exciting day done we made our way to Tiberius and called it a night. Highlights of the next day were: Mt Bental a lookout point up North from Mt Bental you can see the Syrian and Lebanese borders. It gives you one of the most breathtaking views that I’ve ever experienced in Israel. Tzfat was our next stop for the day. It was my third visit to the mystical city and just like before I loved it. It was special to share the experience with my mom and sister especially they both loved the array of colors, sounds and smells that Tzfat offers. And had fun looking for artwork, we met any amazingly cool artist, a Hassid born in France, part of the post acid movement in Greenwich Village New York, before coming to Israel, finding god and settling down in Tzfat. Our last stop for the day was a Kibbutz, my brother-in-law had old family relatives living there Tora and Zeevik. They showed us around the Kibbutz, talked about how life has changed the integration of free enterprise into their lives and the decline of the Kibbutz system and treated us to a delicious meal. This was my personal highlight of the trip, even though we did a lot of really cool stuff it was just a great experience to get to sit in their home, hear about how Israel has changed and where they think its going in the future and with that another exciting and busy day was finished.
The next day we were confronted with rain, not to be deterred we headed off for Ceasarea we drove around and looked at the aqueducts. Finally the rain subsided enough for the family to jump out of the van and see the ruins. It’s a beautiful place right on the beach with a theatre, chariot races, a bath house, and much more. Our next stop was the Ayalon Institute, Kibbutzim Hill where we took a tour of an underground bullet factory used in the war for independence in 1948. It was an amazing experience to get to see what people went through to provide the necessary equipment and supplies to the newly formed Israeli army. And with that we all piled back into the van and headed for Jerusalem, as we got closer and closer I found myself on the edge of my seat I hadn’t realized how much I had been anticipating this moment, my family was finally going to get to see what I was doing in Israel. As we pulled into the hotel I found my head pounding I was in short totally stressing out, I had to get away, after the family settled down in the hotel me and my dad eager to get away from a tired and cranky family headed for the Old City. I got to show him my apartment and Aish, it was much more stressful then I imagined it would be, I’ve bee here for the last two and a half months living and suddenly I had the most important people in my life sharing it with me. And I had a hard time with it. It can be hard to express to everyone back home why exactly I want to be here, why I feel it’s important to be learning what I’m learning. A lot of people don’t get why Judaism the way I’ve begun to see it is worthwhile to me. And I don’t always have a simple answer for them, if I did that would make it easy but its not easy and having my family share in my world here really brought that to life. After we all settled in for the night, we went for a lovely dinner and went to bed; Masada and the Dead Sea beckoned.
We woke up early and headed down the Judean hills dropping altitude as we approached one of the most unique places in the world. The Dead Sea is the lowest point on the earth, the water in the Dead Sea is unlike anything in the world. It’s rich in minerals, and has a trampoline like quality to it; you can stand straight up and float. But before we went for a soak we had to ascend Masada. The family took the snake path challenge and off we went a short 40 minutes later we were standing at the top and marveling at the landscape below. As our guide gave us the history of Masada I couldn’t help but be amazed by the amount of people at the top with us, tour groups from all around the world were marveling at the natural beauty stretching out seemingly forever below us. Next stop Ein Gedi, a beautiful nature preserve, King David supposedly sent time around Ein Gedi’s waterfalls writing some of his famous Psalms. And with that another day was done.
Shabbos was next on our agenda and thank god for it, after running around for the week it was wonderful to experience a Shabbos in Jerusalem with the people who I love most in this world. We had a leisurely morning, before meeting up at the main market in the city, it’s an experience any day of the week, but on a Friday morning/afternoon there is really nothing like it. Everyone in the entire city meets to buy goods of all kinds and prepare for Shabbos. You can hardly move a muscle or hear a thing while walking through the many isles and pathways, the market itself is a giant mix of vendors selling, meat, poultry, fruit, sweets of all shapes and sizes, fresh baked breads and cookies, socks, t-shirts, you name it they have it. You can take care of all your day to day needs with one efficient sweep of the market. We had a great time sampling the wide variety of food; my brother-in-law discovered a wonderful new juice combination: orange and pomegranate which he got from one of the many fresh squeezed juice vendors in the market. With our shopping complete we headed back to the hotel where we got ready for Shabbos and headed into the old city, unfortunately it began to rain hard so they missed out on a real Friday night experience at the Kotel, but I think they still got a real taste of what Shabbos means in the Old City. Dinner was at one of my favorite Rabbi’s houses, he lives in Mea Shearim so the family got to see what its like in that section of town on Shabbos, everyone walking though the streets, the shuls rocking with everyone singing loudly, me the family and a few friends who came along had a wonderful meal together I kept wondering if I was dreaming having my family with me in Israel, in Jerusalem for Shabbos. After two plus months of living here and beginning to feel like I belong here it was great to share it with my family.
With Friday night dinner over and Shabbos waning the beginning of the end came, my sister and brother-in-law left on Monday and my parents left on Wednesday night and just like that life here went back to ‘normal’. Saying goodbye was without a doubt one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, knowing that I won’t see my family for a long while, knowing that when I do see them again, I’ll have learned so much, changed so much, experienced so much. Those changes will seem gradual to me, I’ll know how much I’ve struggled though those changes, how much I’ve fought and won and fought and lost and won again. And they won’t get to see that they’ll just see the ‘end’ result. Not that there is ever really an end result. It’s all a process it’s all a battle to figure out who I am, what is truth and what is falsehood. Luckily I’m comforted in knowing that I have the love and support of people greater then myself. It’s a double edged sword it makes being here both very hard and very easy. As I walked home having said goodbye to my parents I thought about all this. As I’ve mentioned many times being here is a great challenge, being so far from home, so far away from those I love, but having those people here with me only made me realize how committed I am to them and to the life I’ve began back at home. And it’s a good feeling to know home will always be there.
I arrived just after my family did and ran up the stairs to surprise them. Which I did it was a great feeling to know they were in Israel for the first time and would soon be getting a chance to see the country that I love. And with that our adventure began, we spent Saturday afternoon wandering around Tel Aviv, we went down to old Jaffa and wandered through the old city. After Shabbos ended we headed off for dinner, at my request we found a Sushi place and had a wonderful meal. Unfortunately it wasn’t so great for my sister and brother-in-law both of whom were completely incapacitated the next day with a bad case of food poisoning. Me and the parents spent Sunday wandering around Tel Aviv: Jaffa market is a place where you can find weird items its fun to bargain with the Arabs down there. The Carmel Market is wonderful its Tel Aviv’s main bazaar you can watch the butchers cutting up meat and filleting fish, or simply watch the chaos or buyers and sellers trying to get the best possible price on/for candy, socks, hookahs, breads of all shapes and sizes and more. The Diaspora Museum is a must visit it right by Tel Aviv university and its free to get in, go wander around and see the history of the Jewish nation unfold before your eyes. By the end of the day my mom wasn’t feeling to hot either so me and my dad ended up grabbing dinner alone, although I felt bad for the rest of the family in the hotel feeling bad it was really great to get to spend the night with my dad, we had a good dinner and then wandered the streets before calling it a night.
The next day with my sister, brother-in-law and mother all feeling much better, we packed up our stuff and headed for the North with the guide we hired, he’s taken many of our family members though the Holy Land and it was a lot of fun to hear stories from their trips while we drove our way up Israel’s Mediterranean coast through Hertzelya, Haifa and up to Akko. Our first stop was a British camp used to house Jews who retuned to Israel illegally after World War II, it was amazing hearing their story’s and getting a chance to feel first hand the struggle they endured to making it to Israel. In Haifa we stopped to see the beautiful Baja gardens. And in Akko we explored ancient Crusader ruins. Our last stop for the day was at Yardent its where Catholics can go to be baptized in the Jordan river, its supposedly very close to where Jesus was baptized. With another exciting day done we made our way to Tiberius and called it a night. Highlights of the next day were: Mt Bental a lookout point up North from Mt Bental you can see the Syrian and Lebanese borders. It gives you one of the most breathtaking views that I’ve ever experienced in Israel. Tzfat was our next stop for the day. It was my third visit to the mystical city and just like before I loved it. It was special to share the experience with my mom and sister especially they both loved the array of colors, sounds and smells that Tzfat offers. And had fun looking for artwork, we met any amazingly cool artist, a Hassid born in France, part of the post acid movement in Greenwich Village New York, before coming to Israel, finding god and settling down in Tzfat. Our last stop for the day was a Kibbutz, my brother-in-law had old family relatives living there Tora and Zeevik. They showed us around the Kibbutz, talked about how life has changed the integration of free enterprise into their lives and the decline of the Kibbutz system and treated us to a delicious meal. This was my personal highlight of the trip, even though we did a lot of really cool stuff it was just a great experience to get to sit in their home, hear about how Israel has changed and where they think its going in the future and with that another exciting and busy day was finished.
The next day we were confronted with rain, not to be deterred we headed off for Ceasarea we drove around and looked at the aqueducts. Finally the rain subsided enough for the family to jump out of the van and see the ruins. It’s a beautiful place right on the beach with a theatre, chariot races, a bath house, and much more. Our next stop was the Ayalon Institute, Kibbutzim Hill where we took a tour of an underground bullet factory used in the war for independence in 1948. It was an amazing experience to get to see what people went through to provide the necessary equipment and supplies to the newly formed Israeli army. And with that we all piled back into the van and headed for Jerusalem, as we got closer and closer I found myself on the edge of my seat I hadn’t realized how much I had been anticipating this moment, my family was finally going to get to see what I was doing in Israel. As we pulled into the hotel I found my head pounding I was in short totally stressing out, I had to get away, after the family settled down in the hotel me and my dad eager to get away from a tired and cranky family headed for the Old City. I got to show him my apartment and Aish, it was much more stressful then I imagined it would be, I’ve bee here for the last two and a half months living and suddenly I had the most important people in my life sharing it with me. And I had a hard time with it. It can be hard to express to everyone back home why exactly I want to be here, why I feel it’s important to be learning what I’m learning. A lot of people don’t get why Judaism the way I’ve begun to see it is worthwhile to me. And I don’t always have a simple answer for them, if I did that would make it easy but its not easy and having my family share in my world here really brought that to life. After we all settled in for the night, we went for a lovely dinner and went to bed; Masada and the Dead Sea beckoned.
We woke up early and headed down the Judean hills dropping altitude as we approached one of the most unique places in the world. The Dead Sea is the lowest point on the earth, the water in the Dead Sea is unlike anything in the world. It’s rich in minerals, and has a trampoline like quality to it; you can stand straight up and float. But before we went for a soak we had to ascend Masada. The family took the snake path challenge and off we went a short 40 minutes later we were standing at the top and marveling at the landscape below. As our guide gave us the history of Masada I couldn’t help but be amazed by the amount of people at the top with us, tour groups from all around the world were marveling at the natural beauty stretching out seemingly forever below us. Next stop Ein Gedi, a beautiful nature preserve, King David supposedly sent time around Ein Gedi’s waterfalls writing some of his famous Psalms. And with that another day was done.
Shabbos was next on our agenda and thank god for it, after running around for the week it was wonderful to experience a Shabbos in Jerusalem with the people who I love most in this world. We had a leisurely morning, before meeting up at the main market in the city, it’s an experience any day of the week, but on a Friday morning/afternoon there is really nothing like it. Everyone in the entire city meets to buy goods of all kinds and prepare for Shabbos. You can hardly move a muscle or hear a thing while walking through the many isles and pathways, the market itself is a giant mix of vendors selling, meat, poultry, fruit, sweets of all shapes and sizes, fresh baked breads and cookies, socks, t-shirts, you name it they have it. You can take care of all your day to day needs with one efficient sweep of the market. We had a great time sampling the wide variety of food; my brother-in-law discovered a wonderful new juice combination: orange and pomegranate which he got from one of the many fresh squeezed juice vendors in the market. With our shopping complete we headed back to the hotel where we got ready for Shabbos and headed into the old city, unfortunately it began to rain hard so they missed out on a real Friday night experience at the Kotel, but I think they still got a real taste of what Shabbos means in the Old City. Dinner was at one of my favorite Rabbi’s houses, he lives in Mea Shearim so the family got to see what its like in that section of town on Shabbos, everyone walking though the streets, the shuls rocking with everyone singing loudly, me the family and a few friends who came along had a wonderful meal together I kept wondering if I was dreaming having my family with me in Israel, in Jerusalem for Shabbos. After two plus months of living here and beginning to feel like I belong here it was great to share it with my family.
With Friday night dinner over and Shabbos waning the beginning of the end came, my sister and brother-in-law left on Monday and my parents left on Wednesday night and just like that life here went back to ‘normal’. Saying goodbye was without a doubt one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, knowing that I won’t see my family for a long while, knowing that when I do see them again, I’ll have learned so much, changed so much, experienced so much. Those changes will seem gradual to me, I’ll know how much I’ve struggled though those changes, how much I’ve fought and won and fought and lost and won again. And they won’t get to see that they’ll just see the ‘end’ result. Not that there is ever really an end result. It’s all a process it’s all a battle to figure out who I am, what is truth and what is falsehood. Luckily I’m comforted in knowing that I have the love and support of people greater then myself. It’s a double edged sword it makes being here both very hard and very easy. As I walked home having said goodbye to my parents I thought about all this. As I’ve mentioned many times being here is a great challenge, being so far from home, so far away from those I love, but having those people here with me only made me realize how committed I am to them and to the life I’ve began back at home. And it’s a good feeling to know home will always be there.
The Shabbos Switch
It’s a common thing here at Aish HaTorah, and it goes like this. Every Shabbos this entire world shuts down, everyone turns off their cellphones, computers, and we enjoy life itself without as many distractions. You have many options at the yeshiva for getting a meal on Shabbos. If you know people who are having a meal you can just call them up and if they have room for you and a friend or two maybe you now have a Shabbos meal. Another option is you can sign up with Aish and they’ll set you up with a family who lives in the Old City or the surrounding area. Or friends might invite you to their house. If Shabbos falls and you still need dinner you can spin the wheel with Jeff Sidel at the Kotel, he’s been setting up Yeshiva students and wandering travelers alike for years. As Shabbat falls you can always count on plans changing at any moment. The scenarios are endless.
Now how does the Shabbos switch work? It goes a little like this, a friend signed up with Aish and then got invited to a friend’s house, now what happens is a roommate or friend might need a dinner for the night and just like that the Shabbos switch has done its magic. In the end everyone gets to go to a nice family dinner and celebrate Shabbos, drink a little wine and then head home. The Shabbos switch, it’s a thing of beauty when it all comes together.
Now how does the Shabbos switch work? It goes a little like this, a friend signed up with Aish and then got invited to a friend’s house, now what happens is a roommate or friend might need a dinner for the night and just like that the Shabbos switch has done its magic. In the end everyone gets to go to a nice family dinner and celebrate Shabbos, drink a little wine and then head home. The Shabbos switch, it’s a thing of beauty when it all comes together.
In my Brain
My family is coming to Israel in 36 hours, have I really been in Israel for two months? How is that possible? I fell like I was just in New York working all day, living a beautiful quiet life. And now I’m a yeshiva student, studying Torah, learning the prayer services, Gemara, Chumash, the list goes on. The longer I’ve been here the less I know, I thought I had a good idea of what Judaism was before I left, but now I know just how much there is to know. I know how much I need to learn, how much I want to learn. It’s always been my nature to study something, try to understand it and now I realize I’ll never be done learning Torah, it’s a lifetime pursuit. Because there’s no end to it and because I know so little now, I know enough to realize that my short adventure is likely to turn into a long stay, how long? I don’t know, what I do know is I have business to take care of in Israel right now. And when I feel like I’ve gotten what I was looking for and done what I need to do I’ll be home. It’s hard to realize this. But it’s important; I could have lived my whole life without asking what it all means. And woken up one day and found out I had wasted it all. I feel fortunate to have the time I need. My family is coming to Israel in 35 hours.
A North Country Road
It’s been over a week and a half since I last sat down and wrote and a lot has happened. As I mentioned in my last post me and the Aish Pre-Intermediate class spent last week in northern Israel and it was a great time. Our days were spent going to classes in the morning (largely a waste of time) and exploring in the afternoons, with our nights spent talking, laughing and having a good time. It was really nice to get to hang out as one big group, because we’re a fairly tight class but in the day ins and day outs of yeshiva life we form our own little groups and stick to them. So it was an excellent opportunity to spend time together without distractions.
Highlights of our vacation: Our first stop was Beit Sha’an it’s an old city that has some of the most spectacular ruins I’ve ever seen. It’s a vast site, the coolest part was one of the members of our class is training to be a tour guide and showed us the whole site. After that we stopped off at the Golan Winery for a wine tasting before pulling into our residence for the next week Moshav Hispin. With that we unpacked, drank a few beers and went to bed. The next day was Friday and erev Shabbos, we had a relaxing day wandering around Hispin, it’s a beautiful rural down in the Golan Heights, there isn’t a whole lot going on but its just incredibly beautiful, check out all my pictures on Facebook, if your not my friend just send me a request. Rabbi Zeldman joined us with his family, it was really nice getting to meet his wife and kids, they’re wonderful we stayed up late into the night talking with them. In one of the weirder experiences of my life we ended up meeting a birthright group that night, so we hung out with them as well. They we’re with Mayanot which is the very same group I went with almost two years ago, I found myself talking with them, listening to what they had to say. It was incredibly strange if you had told me then that two years from now I’d be studying at yeshiva, I’d have told you, you we’re crazy and yet here I am, good times. Shabbos day was uneventful largely due to Friday night being so much fun.
The next day we spent in Tzfat, Tzfat is one of the four holy cities in Israel, its represents air and it is where the Kabbalah masters of ancient times wrote down the texts. It’s very high up in the mountains and has a mysterious aura around it that’s hard to explain. with our fearless leader Y.D leading the way our first stop was Livnot Ulihibanot which is a volunteer organization that Americans come to, to live, learn and volunteer for. We spend an hour helping to dig out a house that was buried in the last earthquake. It was an incredibly satisfying experience getting to help shape and change the physical land of Israel, with 27 yeshiva boys working hard we were told that our hour plus of work was equal to almost a week’s worth of effort put in by the regulars. Then we went to the cheese factory where I fell asleep and then to a local artist’s studio who does Kabbalah inspired art. He was very interesting to listen to and he had some wonderful pieces. Last stop of the day was the Ari’s Mikveh is the holiest mikveh in the world supposedly, eight dunks later very cold but very spiritually clean I jumped out and tried to warm up. I have to say it was an amazing experience and in my top two or three for the entire trip. Tzfat just has a special energy about it, being there is inspiring. The next day we went ice skating at the Canada Center, after a few laps around the rink I found an edge and spent the next hour chasing / being chased around and generally annoying the rink attendants.
The last two days of our trip we were treated to the most spectacular views of our journey Rosh HaNikra and Tiberias. Rosh HaNikra was a two hour bus ride from Hispin all the way up and right on the edge of the Israel / Lebanese border. It’s also in the Mediterranean side of Israel, the rocks jut out over cliffs and the ocean seems to go on forever. It was well worth the long ride. Tiberias is another holy city in Israel, it’s associated with earth, because its home to the graves of many of Judaism’s greatest sages: Rambam, Ramchal, R. Akiva among others are all buried there. It is located on the edge of the Kinneret and is one of the few places in Israel I can imagine myself living. It has everything you could want out of life, a relatively modern and diverse city, with lots to do and great scenery. And with that our trip came to a close, our last stop was in the very forgettable deaf museum in Tel Aviv, nothing more needs to be said about that. So with that we headed home, it was a great experience going away and coming back we all agreed it was nice to get away, to get a chance to know each other and some of the older students at Aish better. And of course to really get an appreciation for what we have in the Old City. After all how many people get to live and study in the Old City right across from the Western Wall. Sometimes we lose our perspective on what an amazing opportunity we all have and it was great to be reminded of that.
Highlights of our vacation: Our first stop was Beit Sha’an it’s an old city that has some of the most spectacular ruins I’ve ever seen. It’s a vast site, the coolest part was one of the members of our class is training to be a tour guide and showed us the whole site. After that we stopped off at the Golan Winery for a wine tasting before pulling into our residence for the next week Moshav Hispin. With that we unpacked, drank a few beers and went to bed. The next day was Friday and erev Shabbos, we had a relaxing day wandering around Hispin, it’s a beautiful rural down in the Golan Heights, there isn’t a whole lot going on but its just incredibly beautiful, check out all my pictures on Facebook, if your not my friend just send me a request. Rabbi Zeldman joined us with his family, it was really nice getting to meet his wife and kids, they’re wonderful we stayed up late into the night talking with them. In one of the weirder experiences of my life we ended up meeting a birthright group that night, so we hung out with them as well. They we’re with Mayanot which is the very same group I went with almost two years ago, I found myself talking with them, listening to what they had to say. It was incredibly strange if you had told me then that two years from now I’d be studying at yeshiva, I’d have told you, you we’re crazy and yet here I am, good times. Shabbos day was uneventful largely due to Friday night being so much fun.
The next day we spent in Tzfat, Tzfat is one of the four holy cities in Israel, its represents air and it is where the Kabbalah masters of ancient times wrote down the texts. It’s very high up in the mountains and has a mysterious aura around it that’s hard to explain. with our fearless leader Y.D leading the way our first stop was Livnot Ulihibanot which is a volunteer organization that Americans come to, to live, learn and volunteer for. We spend an hour helping to dig out a house that was buried in the last earthquake. It was an incredibly satisfying experience getting to help shape and change the physical land of Israel, with 27 yeshiva boys working hard we were told that our hour plus of work was equal to almost a week’s worth of effort put in by the regulars. Then we went to the cheese factory where I fell asleep and then to a local artist’s studio who does Kabbalah inspired art. He was very interesting to listen to and he had some wonderful pieces. Last stop of the day was the Ari’s Mikveh is the holiest mikveh in the world supposedly, eight dunks later very cold but very spiritually clean I jumped out and tried to warm up. I have to say it was an amazing experience and in my top two or three for the entire trip. Tzfat just has a special energy about it, being there is inspiring. The next day we went ice skating at the Canada Center, after a few laps around the rink I found an edge and spent the next hour chasing / being chased around and generally annoying the rink attendants.
The last two days of our trip we were treated to the most spectacular views of our journey Rosh HaNikra and Tiberias. Rosh HaNikra was a two hour bus ride from Hispin all the way up and right on the edge of the Israel / Lebanese border. It’s also in the Mediterranean side of Israel, the rocks jut out over cliffs and the ocean seems to go on forever. It was well worth the long ride. Tiberias is another holy city in Israel, it’s associated with earth, because its home to the graves of many of Judaism’s greatest sages: Rambam, Ramchal, R. Akiva among others are all buried there. It is located on the edge of the Kinneret and is one of the few places in Israel I can imagine myself living. It has everything you could want out of life, a relatively modern and diverse city, with lots to do and great scenery. And with that our trip came to a close, our last stop was in the very forgettable deaf museum in Tel Aviv, nothing more needs to be said about that. So with that we headed home, it was a great experience going away and coming back we all agreed it was nice to get away, to get a chance to know each other and some of the older students at Aish better. And of course to really get an appreciation for what we have in the Old City. After all how many people get to live and study in the Old City right across from the Western Wall. Sometimes we lose our perspective on what an amazing opportunity we all have and it was great to be reminded of that.
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