Tiyul!

"Tiyul" means trip - and fortunately for us (but unfortunately for blog postings) we're going on one to Haifa, Tiberias and Sfat tomorrow with HUC. We'll be back Friday night, so look for postings later in the weekend. Have a great few days!

The long version of our weekend

My brother rightly pointed out that I write what I’m learning and what I think, but not what we actually *do.* So here’s a very long chatty post saying exactly what we did this weekend. Feel free to skim or skip at your leisure.

Friday morning Savta and Avraham came with their driver, Avi, to deliver the washer.
It's beautiful, and works perfectly. But of course to just come with a washing machine would be to come empty-handed for Savta - she showed up with two full shopping bags of food, including a jello mold. "I finally feel like a grandmother," she said, "our relationship has always been so intellectual, over email about books and thoughts. Now I can bring you food!" My father does the same thing, always giving us pita and yogurt and salads - and it made me think, I've never really known what it's like to have family around. Three out of four grandparents have always lived in Israel, one was in Louisiana, and I never had aunts or uncles or close family growing up - just my parents and I. How ironic that I had to come to Israel to experience a larger family!

Here's Avraham and Avi with Simcha. The pictures of Savta didn't come out.





Osher in the new washing machine. Savta brought a cover that goes over the opening, so the cats can sit and won’t fall in.




They left at 11am, after only staying a little over an hour. For lunch we went out with Phil, then came home to rest, then got prettied up for Shabbat services at HUC. Mara gave an incredible drasha (found here the Friday Nov 24th post) about how sex, menstruation, and purity laws are treated in the Bible and Talmud. It was a fabulous d'var torah, all the more because it shocked everyone out of their complacency. The best was that there was a family with two young girls in the congregation, they were maybe 8 and 10 - and they kept giggling throughout the entire thing. "She said SEX! And PERIOD!" How wonderful for Mara - I'll bet money that her sermon was their topic of discussion on the way home. It's what everyone wants, to catalyze change in how people see themselves and the way they teach their children and live their lives.

Then afterwards Leah, a mutual friend, threw a surprise "Mara Appreciation Party." Leah lives in Ramat Gan, about an hour away from Jerusalem, and commutes daily. She stays at Mara's about twice a week, and wanted to show her... um.. appreciation. There were only about 10 people there, just her closest friends, and it was great. She even got a cake for her that said "We love Mara." Phil got Mara to stay late at the post-service potluck dinner, and the rest of us snuck out early to get there before her. She was SO surprised. We stayed chatting til past midnight.

Saturday morning it was damned difficult to get up, but I hopped on a sheirut (10-person taxi) at 9am to Tel Aviv, since the buses weren't running on Shabbat. My dad picked me up from the bus station, where I got dropped off, then we went to see my other grandmother, his mother, in the old age home, then back to his place to visit with him and my brother. Doron's knee is wacked so he's been off of work for the week - it was great to chat and catch up. And - and here's a big "and" - Shula gave me one of her skirts! My stepmother is about 4'11 and tiny - and her clothes fit me now! I'm still in shock. Well, after stuffing the skirt and the food they gave me in my backpack, I trucked back to Jerusalem. Jonathan had spent the day writing, so we caught up a bit and then went to bed.

Today was school - eh - but afterwards we made tentative reservations with a travel agent for spring break. We're planning on going to Greece for three days and Rome for four. This winter break Antonio comes in to visit, and Becca comes in February - we've got such great things to look forward to.

Dinner tonight was baked ziti with Jaimee and Helayne. Then homework. Then at 11pm we hear a knock on the door - Rachelle, I love your daughter! She and Joe brought over freshly baked banana-chocolate chip bread. It was still warm from the oven. We drank tea and talked about our respective weekends, then made Joe blush by making him be British and pronounce things in an accent (e.g. alu-min-ium). I asked him what a tea cozy was, and luckily he had brought one over from London, so he got it from upstairs and showed us. All you Harry Potter fans, now I know exactly what Dobby wears on his head!

And that's all, folks...


Well, here’s one last pic of cuteness…

I hate spam

As some of you may have noticed, some pathetic brainless slime ball puke bucket worthless parasitic dirt bag has been posting spam on my blog in the form of: “Hey, I love your blog. Did you know you could earn $900 a month from home …..”

If you have seen these posts, please know that he is a servant of Satan and that these posts are a ploy to rip your soul out of your body, leaving you no choice but lead a career as a telemarketer. As I love you all too much to allow such tragedies to happen, I have taken steps to assure the safety of your souls. From now on, when you post you will also be required to do a “word verification”. What it does is show you a word under the box you typed your post in. This word is written with funky letters and you type them (unfunkified) in the box below the funky word. They do this because mindless program drones of the dark one can’t make head or tails of oddly shaped letters (see brainless moniker) and are therefore stymied by this. At least, in theory they are.

Thank you in advanced for your patience with this. Let us all hope that the forces of truth and light will win against the never ending tide of spam!

Turkey day

Though there was no turkey. We went to a sides-only potluck dinner at Stephanie's, and it was AMAZING. Jonathan made cornbread with honey butter, and other people brought sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing, noodle kugel, garlic mashed potatoes, salads, cranberry sauce, plus homemade pumpkin pie, pecan pie, jello, cookies... I am in food coma. There were about 20 or so people, and we schmoozed for hours. Then afterwards we came back and watched Pirates of the Caribbean with Ethan, and then Nicole and Joe came to visit.

All in all, a very full evening!

(and in celebration of the day, we got the kitties catnip. :))

Israeli politics and Orthodox power

I've been having a wonderful email discussion with my grandmother over politics. In a previous post about the Duma I'd said that Israel was a theocracy - and she said (very nicely) that I was wrong, that Iran is a theocracy, and Israel is parliamentary democracy. Here is why. And instead of summarizing, I'm going to cut and paste our emails and quote her directly.

"It is true that Ben Gurion [first Prime Minister] gave the Orthodox dominion over laws concerning marriage, death, conversion, and other concessions. But the basis of the State of Israel is the Basic Laws (since we do not yet have a Constitution) which express the guarantee of civil and human rights. The Supreme Court, the Legislative Body (the Knesset), and the Prime Minister are not connected to religion. The religious leaders, including the Chief Rabbis, etc. are on a separate stream. Ben Gurion did not want to give away authority to the Orthodoxy, but did so in order to avoid a civil war (literally) at the very moment that the State of Israel was being formed... Israel is a Parliamentary Democracy. Much more democratic than in the U.S. where winner takes all -- but very clumsy because every pipsqueak party that can gather up 2% (I'm not sure of today's number) of voters gets representation in the Knesset!"

An example of the power struggle in a Parliamentary Democracy:

"The Supreme Court of Israel made a very important decision today. Gay couples who were married outside of Israel (for instance, in Canada where it's legal) will be recognized in Israel as a married couple, entitled to all rights etc. of marriage. You see, Israel is not a theocracy, although that is what the Orthodox would like to achieve. They are enraged by this decision, but they are always at war with the Supreme Court which does uphold the civil status of Israel's Jewish Democracy. Because the Orthodox still have control over some areas of Jewish life including marriage, gays cannot marry inside Israel -- neither can heterosexuals who are not both "halachically" Jewish. They too go to Cyprus or wherever to be married and then return to Israel where the union is recognized. Isn't that RIDICULOUS!!???!!!

....That [Orthodox power is] why we don't have a Constitution yet. A Constitution would expand in detail upon the Basic Laws which protect our civil rights, so the Orthodox will not agree to its creation.

By the way, except for the Zionist Religious Party, none of the Orthodox parties agreed to take part in government for the first many years of Israel's existence because they were opposed to the State having been formed before the Messiah arrived. It was after I had been here for a while [she got here in the late 70s] that they lowered their principles and took active roles politically, and accepted minisries and money. The Zionist Religious Party used to be moderate and a bridge between the secular and religious; today it is one of the most extreme parties."

It's interesting, I've never been that much into politics, either American or Israeli. But living here, political decisions seem to have more weight - I'm effected by the little things, like whether or not malls should be open on Shabbat. I think Israelis as a whole are much more politically aware than Americans... maybe I'm just starting to fit in!

We have no kids. So instead, here are pictures of our cats!

We have this very lovely fake flower holder in our bedroom. Or should I say, it *was* lovely. It's now getting progressively more scraggly.



Cuddling under Jonathan's desk. Osher's on the left, Simcha's on the right.



Jonathan took this one. I was asleep, I disavow all knowledge. But hey, now you can see the cats and the wondrous flannel, too.



And I've saved the best for last - Osher and Star Trek! This is his favorite viewing spot. He must think to himself, "how do all those people get in the wall??"


We took pictures of the Christian quarter too, but they suck. Sorry. But come visit us instead and see it in person. :)

Winter

Three lovely things about winter:

Flannel sheets that my grandmother sent, with a European-style comforter and cover. So warm!

Going to movies with friends when you get all bundled up, then unbundle in the theater. Popcorn is even more heavenly. And Daniel Craig as Bond, by the way, is not so shabby either.

Neighbors who have cravings for tea and cookies like mother used to make. Nicole and Joe came over with freshly baked chocolate chip cookies in hand.. mmmmmm.

Gay Pride Rally

I hadn't written on it last week, since Jonathan and I didn't go - there was a security warning at the time, plus I was really angry that the protestors had caved from a parade to a rally, based on Orthodox pressure. But someone at HUC emailed out this clip and I now have to share:

Jon Stewart on the Jerusalem Gay Pride Rally

Food!

So I am in pasta heaven. Last night Mara and Stephanie came over for dinner and Jonathan made lasagna. One layer was cottage cheese mixture, the other layer was bulgarit (like feta), and he put emek (type of sliced cheese) on top... yuuummmm. They brought salad and garlic bread, it was like in a restaurant! Then we had ice cream and movie.

This afternoon Jonathan and I went to the Old City and wandered around the Christian quarter for fun. They had baklava there to die for. Pictures to follow... of both the Quarter, plus of the baklava!

I went to Mara's for Shabbat dinner, and she made two kinds of baked ziti, one traditional and one olive. It was sooo good. And I think I made a new friend - there's a male classmate who's been an acquaintance, but we had an excellent conversation tonight on the way home. I want to hang out with him more, so we're all going to go see Casino Royale together tomorrow.

Still on my food theme: Israel has no soup cans. They're all freeze-dried veggies and noodles in bags, you stick it the contents of the bag in a pot and add water. It's very odd. And oh so sad - last winter Jonathan and I got hooked on Campbell stews out of a can. I need my cream of corn and my beef with potatoes! Ah well. Something to look forward to next year when we're back.

And trivia of the day: modern Hebrew words are derived from Biblical terms. The Israeli desert is called the "Negev." The modern word for towel is "magevet." It has the same root, M/N, G, V - because what do you do with a towel? Dry yourself off. And what is the desert? Dry. It makes sense, in its own warped little way. I *love* this language.

Ode to Savta

My amazing, wonderful, fantabulous grandmother has had enough of us drying all of clothes in the living room with the space heater. "Avraham and I want to buy you a dryer," she said. Jonathan and I told her we'd have to get back to her - that's a HUGE gift, I didn't know if we could accept it. The next day she calls back and leaves a message: "Hi, this is Savta. This is ridiculous, I ordered you a dryer. It's a gift, you have to accept it. No strings attached. It should be there in a few days." THEN she says she's getting a new washing machine, so she's giving us hers! It's eons newer than the clunker in our apartment. So as of right now, we have a dryer being delivered tomorrow, and a washing machine coming next week. And as if that wasn't enough, she sent us a package with flannel sheets and a comforter, plus a supply of hats, mittens, and scarves.

Life is good. Winter will be vanquished.

Life is also fabulous because Jonathan and I made homemade lasagna. No, of course we didn't make the noodles, hah - but we DID layer in noodles and a mix of cottage cheese/bulgarit (like feta), made our own sauce, and browned and spiced meat. So we had a lovely, albeit entirely unkosher dinner. I'm in heaven. CHEEESE!

And random trivia of the day, courtesy of my Bible class: Any city with Beit (house) in its name originally had a temple and a god parked in the center of the town. The most famous example is Bethlehem, aka Beit Lechem, aka Beit Lachmo. Who was Lachmo, you ask? The Canaanite god of vegetation, back in the day!

And I found out why the Book of Maccabees isn't included in the Hebrew Bible, but is in the Apocropha, even though it's very close in time to the last few books of the Tanach - it was writen by the Saducees, who portrayed themselves as heroes. But the Deuteronomic editors of the Bible were Pharisees, the opposing party. It was purely a political decision!

(And yes, I know this is three posts in one night. I have a Hebrew test tomorrow. Procrastination, anyone?)

Jewish identity

What perfect timing! I write an article on Israeli identity, and then we have a whole day on it in Israel seminar! I didn't like our speaker much at all, but we had a wonderful class discussion about Jewish identity. We looked at some statistics about secular Israelis - did you know that, as of 1992, only 23% of Israelis went to synagogue on Saturday, but 69% keep kosher at home? 78% participate in Passover seders, and 71% light Chanukah candles. And Israel has only gotten *more* traditional over the past ten years - it's amazing, the people polled are all like my Israeli family. They're what's called secular Jews in Israel. My question is, what's the difference between an Israeli secular Jew, and an American Reform Jew? I'm starting to think nothing, except that Americans have to work harder to have what Israelis experience by virtue of living here.

We also discussed some real-life case studies:

Bacon and pork products sell at a brisk pace. Can a kibbutz raise pigs in order to make a profit?

What happens when an Israeli immigrant soldier who dies in the army and is buried in a Jewish army cemetary is then found to not be halachally (in terms of law) Jewish, if his mother isn't Jewish? Should the body be moved to a non-Jewish section of the cemetary?

Can a cafe in Jerusalem be open 24 hours on Shabbat if it's located next to a yeshiva? (school for Orthodox)

Should schools teach Israeli kids Arab history, and vice versa?

Many Russian immigrants had a cultural Christmas tree. Should a store or pub be allowed to have a Christmas tree in Jerusalem?

Can a man who underwent a sex change and became a woman be allowed to represent Israel in a contest such as the Eurovision Song Contest, since sex changes are forbidden in traditional Judaism?

We talked about all of these questions and more, and our class had diverging opinions. This country is a Jewish theocracy, and was founded that way, but how does that play out in practical life? I'm a Zionist, but I was also raised to believe in the separation of church and state... and I don't know that I agree with policies that makes Israel solely Jewish. Currently a huge percentage of Israelis fly to Cyprus to get married, because they don't want to get married under Orthodox auspices. Someone who converts to Judaism under a Reform rabbi isn't technically Jewish here. Ultra-orthodox men don't have to serve in the army and get stipends from the government in order to study at yeshiva. I can't remember if I wrote this already, but Mea Shearim, the haredi section of Jerusalem, has an average age of 13 and is one of the poorest areas of the country. Would abolishing a theocracy change any of these social problems, or just bring about new ones?

The Duma

This Monday our rabbinic, education, and cantorial class reconstructed the Duma, the Russian Parliament of 1907. Everyone was divided into 7 groups, representing political parties of the time: the Bund (socialists who promoted internal change in Russia while keeping Yiddish and Jewish culture), the Poalei Zion (socialist-Zionists), the Territorialists (who wanted a Jewish homeland NOW, no matter where it was), the Autonomists (who wanted to live in Russia with Jewish autonomy), the Russian communist party, the America party (who supported immediate immigration to the land of opportunity) and the Haredim (ultra-Orthodox).

Obviously, in real life the so-called "America Party" won - people voted with their feet, and all of us in the room were the descendents of former Russians and Poles. But in our re-creation - in which everyone gave a speech, sang their song, and asked questions of another group - the Zionist party came in second. This was completely inaccurate - there WAS no Palestine really at the time - but I think that students living here in Israel wanted to believe that even back then, our great-greats knew we'd get here. (Personally, I voted for the Bund, which is what I think I would have done had I lived in that time.) Heckling was tolerated, even encouraged, so a couple speechwriters got booed off (though the speeches were very well-prepared), and we all made fun of everyone else. My job was co-songwriter for the Zionist party, and we came up with a new song based on "If I Had a Hammer."

If I had a nation,
I'd build it in Ziii-on...
I'd be a socialist,
While living in Zi-oon

We'd start a revoluu-tion
Following Borochov [the founder]...
etc. (now I don't remember the rest)

It was quite fun. The haredim were the best - these young post-college rabbinic students got really into being Orthodox from the shtetl. Their costumes were beautiful, as the men were in dark suits and all the women had pillows under their jackets and looked like they were pregnant with triplets. They set up a mechitza (screen) between the men and the women, and wouldn't let anyone enter the room of the Duma unless they went in on the correct side. Their slogan was "Boycott the Duma!" and since my party was Zionist, we went at it - they thought (and the haredim still think) that only the Messiah could bring about change and a Jewish state. At one point their group brought a trash can over and pretended to light it on fire (like the real haredim did to protest the Gay Pride Parade last week). If it wasn't so funny it'd be offensive.

I didn't take any pictures of my own, but here are some from Jessica. Here are others from Mara, including a very goofy one of me.

I learned a lot about Jewish history in the Settlement of the Pale in Russia, and how they interacted with the more general population. It makes me wonder: is socialism dying out? It was such a heady movement one hundred years ago, but now no one believes in it. And my generation especially, who grew up with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the privatization of the kibbutzim, doubt it even more than our parents. My great-aunt met her husband at a protest (or was it picket line?) - but I don't know of anyone today who really thinks socialism can work. Jews contributed immensely to that ideology - it's sad that it's going by the wayside.

Request

Jonathan and I LOVE mail, whether it be letters or packages. But I must ask, if anyone sends us something, please please PLEASE write both of our names on it. Jonathan has more free time than I do, so he's often the one who goes to the post office... and they won't let him pick up anything that has only my name on it. So for all you wonderful people who send us things, don't stop! But please put "Michal and Jonathan" or "Jonathan and Michal" so that one of us can always get it.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming....

Article for December Temple Israel bulletin

I am Jewish. I am American. I am an American Jew. My Judaism and my American identity are seamlessly interwoven.

Sounds simple enough to you, right?

Wrong. To most Israelis I’ve encountered, this seemingly easy duality of national and religious identity is inscrutable. To be Israeli and to be Jewish is one and the same, but to be Jewish and any other national identity presents a dichotomy that cannot be easily understood.

Let me use my life as an example: every Wednesday of last year I served as a graduate assistant at CSULB in the morning, and then I taught at Torah Center in the afternoon. It felt completely natural to me to give a lesson on Kant and Rashi in the same day, to an entirely different audience. One group was Jewish, one was not. In one group, I would use Yiddish phrases for emphasis, and in the other I would be as non-religious as possible. Yet, the experiences were not contrasting; they simply were. I was an American Jewish teacher, and in the future I will be an American Jewish rabbi. I can separate the two identities if I wish, but it’s merely an exercise in semantics. In my heart, I feel both identities at once; there is no difference.

My brother, on the other hand, does not call himself an Israeli Jew. He calls himself simply Israeli, for to be Israeli, to him, is to be automatically Jewish. He is secular but celebrates all the holidays, speaks Hebrew as his mother tongue, and doesn't fully understand why I would not want to make aliyah. He and most other Israelis I know consider Israel to be the center of Jewish life in the past, present, and future. The educational system supports this belief – the high school curriculum teaches very little about Diaspora history aside from pogroms, persecution, and the Holocaust. In this religiously Zionist society, living in Israel is the ultimate expression of one’s Judaism, for it is the only Jewish safe haven and the empirical fulfillment of Torah and Talmud. To live elsewhere is to be less authentically Jewish, and to invite a fragmentation of self-identity.

Yet, I do not wish to leave you with the impression that Diaspora Jewry is not appreciated. Israel is a nation of immigrants, and all Jews, no matter their country of origin, are of course welcome here. My point is merely this: we in Long Beach, in our humble juxtaposition of brisket and apple pie, Halloween and Purim, and matzah with peanut butter and jelly, find it effortless to be both American and Jewish. Our identities overlap, and may even completely overlay the other. This is difficult to explain to someone in Israel, where Judaism the religion is inextricably intertwined with Israel the land. I freely admit that it is easier to be Jewish in this country, where the workweek is Sunday to Thursday, and challah is sold in every store. But I am grateful to be a Jew in the Diaspora, and I am proud of my heritage – I transcend culture and territory, and am a daughter of an ever-evolving faith. As an American Jew, I straddle two worlds and call both my own. You might even say that I have my bagel and eat it too.


I included the picture of myself and my sister from September, with the caption:

Two Jews, different lifestyles: My American Diaspora self and my native-born Israeli sister, who is serving her compulsory army service.


(BIG THANKS to Mara, by the way, who unwittingly inspired my article with her blog)

The ultimate in feline stupidity

Simcha is an idiot. We love him, but he’s an idiot. At 1 in the morning we heard him meow. And he kept meowing and didn’t stop. At 1:30 I finally got out of bed, but I couldn’t find him anywhere. Guess where he was? *Inside* our washing machine. We have a top-loading drum-style washer, and he had apparently been inspecting it and fallen in. Unfortunately, he’s heavier than he used to be, and we think he tried to climb out by putting pressure on the side of the drum. Instead of climbing out, he turned the entire drum over, and managed to latch himself in! By the time I found him and called Jonathan over, Osher was running around in circles in front of the washer, and Simcha was uttering little plaintive mews. Jonathan and I were worried – we’d ruined a sweater before when the washer hadn’t been latched correctly and the sweater tore through the metal treads – what if he had a paw or tail stuck, how were we going to get him out without hurting him? We decided to rotate the washer inch by inch until the clasp came into view. At one point there was a huge THUMP and no meows – we panicked! Thankfully Simcha was fine – just disgruntled. The moment we opened the latch he leapt straight up and bolted from the kitchen. I think we were more worried than he was!

Becca had asked about the meeting with the Israeli soldiers – honestly, there really wasn’t that much there. It was an HUC program with the goal of getting to know "real Israelis." We sat with a girl and a guy, 20 and 22, who are officers and train new soldiers. They have another couple years in the military before they get out, but see this as a stopover because they don’t know what they’re going to do in the future. We chatted about us, school, their lives at home… nothing particularly fascinating. They remind me of my siblings and their friends, just with another stripe on the uniform shoulder. The food was decent though – and it was even catered by the army!

Tomorrow our history class is recreating the Russian Duma government of 1907. I’m in the Poalei Zion Party. Don’t ask me what it is – all I know is that we’re some odd hybrid between socialists and Zionists. But my sole job was to write a song, which I did, so my contribution is done! I also have one paper and one test this week. This is by far the easiest round of midterms I’ve ever experienced – and I LOVE it!

Museums galore

To quote Mara, "Israelis love interactive museums." Since coming to Israel, I have now been to the following museums:

Hapalmach Museum, about resistance fighters in 1948
Diaspora Museum, about Jews in, you guessed it, the Diaspora
Israel Museum, which has the Dead Sea Scrolls and other wonderful archeology
Herzl Museum, about Theodore Herzl who created the concept of the modern Jewish state
Yad V'Shem, the premiere Holocaust museum in the world

And Wednesday, we went to the Menachim Begin Heritage Center, about the first Likud (right-wing party) leader in Israel. He was the one who signed the peace treaty with Egypt and got us into Lebanon in the 80s, among other things.

What's interesting is that almost every museum has a story to it. Most of them have headphones you put on so you listen to a narrative as you walk through a predetermined path, so people go through the museum in groups with a guide, and go from room to room to watch the video or look at stuff on the walls. Yad V'Shem was the notable exception to this, but still - even the museum culture is different in Israel than the States, or at least CA. There we're more old-school.

In other news, I heard a marvelous talk by Etger Keret, a leading Israeli author, and I participated in a program where we met Israeli officers in the army, and chatted over lunch. I was, of course, older than all of the officers.

Hmm... this really isn't my most fascinating blog entry. As I told Becca last night, I do day-to-day things, but nothing lately stands out like it did when we got here this summer. Oh well. That's life in general, I guess.

And Hannah, good luck tomorrow - I know your Bat Mitzvah will be beautiful.

YAY!

On two major fronts.

1) My faith in American voters is restored! As of this writing, we know we have the House and the vote's still out on the Senate. I'm hopeful.

2) I had a truly thrilling moment today. I was in the library, doing research for my d'var Torah (words of Torah/sermon), and I had six books in front of me with post-its laid out all over. And I realized - this was IT. This was what I'd been wanting. For the first time in my life, I was actually reading Rashi and Ramban, not just talking about them. I was going to be quoting them, and eventually be able to read them in the original. It felt like home, literally being surrounded by the wisdom of the ages, and the words of our people. It cemented that this is what I want to do. And it felt quite... rabbinic. :)

Rabbinic stresses

Well, I read Torah yesterday. Danielle, Hannah, Jennifer and any other students who might see this – I feel for you. I felt like I knew my portion, and if you ask anyone else, they might say I did fine… but for my part, I know that I lost my place twice and completely forgot my memorized English translation. At least my Hebrew was fluid. But man, Torah reading is tough – I had practiced out of a tikkun, a book that has the words with vowels on one side, and letters without vowels (as they look in the Torah) on the other side. But the layout of the words in the tikkun wasn’t like the words in the actual Torah! It threw me off, I’m so visual. Arg.

I went to this wonderful forum last night led by a Rabbi Margie Meyer from Cincinnati. It was extraordinarily helpful, but it also stressed me out. We talked about everything in the rabbinate that we’d always wanted to know but no one had told us – e.g. that a woman rabbi shouldn’t expect to have kids in the first two or three years of a posting, and that if a woman is pregnant when she applies for a job, she almost never gets it. We talked about the benefits/detriments of lifetime contracts, that a rabbi should always try and stay out of budget concerns in a congregation, the practical differences of a small versus large congregation, etc.

We also discussed lots of larger issues with no set answers. E.g. how do you maintain a sense of self within the role of rabbi? Can you be friends with your congregants or should you be more distant? What is the line between private and public life? If congregations put you on a pedestal, what happens when you fall off? Some advice will be easy to follow, such as don’t mention your kids in sermons – but, to my utter lack of surprise, most of our discussion came down to “it depends on your congregation.”

The idea of kashrut, for example, is a Pandora’s box. I don’t eat pork, but Jonathan does. Both of us mix meat and milk. Maybe these things will change in five years, but maybe not. Maybe I’ll decide to keep kosher outside the house, but Jonathan won’t. Maybe neither of us will. What happens if some congregants see us eating eggs and bacon at Denny’s one morning? Will it be scandalous, or not? Would Jonathan be treated differently than I, if only he was eating it, and not me? Will people coming over for dinner at our house expect us to have a kosher kitchen?

Many of you reading this are members of a congregation, so I want to ask you all for your advice and opinion. What are your expectations for your rabbi? Respond at will to anything and everything I’ve said above.

This past Saturday there was a Yitzhak Rabin memorial in Tel Aviv, and in class we read a practically anti-government speech given by David Grossman, a prominent Israeli author. I really admire how Israelis can be so supportive of their country, yet not be ashamed or shy to criticize it. It’s the opposite in the States - no matter how much we talk about freedom of speech, I don’t think we’re really that free. Remember the Dixie Chicks scandal when they spoke out against Bush? Two weeks ago here I walked through a 1000-odd-person anti-government corruption demonstration in front of the Prime Minister’s office. Unlike at home, I feel that here every vote does count.

And lastly, here is a picture of our adorable kittycats. Osher is on the left grooming Simcha.

The end of the weekend... sigh

Simcha the Brave decided that today would be a good day to squeeze out the door between the living room and the balcony, and jump off to the ground floor beneath. This didn’t work out nearly as well as he had hoped, primarily because the resident tomcat, Tiger, did NOT take well to an upstart pisher of a kitten invading his territory. Many yowls later, we found them squabbling and rescued Simcha – he was, of course, filthy, having been chased through a construction area and multiple rosebushes. In punishment, we gave him a bath. And, since we already had one massively unhappy cat on our hands, we decided to give Osher a bath too. The look on his face was priceless, you could see it in his eyes – I didn’t do *anything,* don’t punish *me*!! So our two cats are a little bit peeved, but they do look very handsome and feel oh so soft… if a bit fluffier than usual.

Shabbat was wonderful – we went to Jeffrey and Courtney’s and had Shabbat pizza. One of the things we talked about was moving to Cincinnati next year. As much as we would love to buy a house, it just doesn’t seem feasible (unless some rich unknown relative dies and bequeaths us lots of money). So, at the moment, it looks like we’ll fly back to LA as planned, and then Jonathan will go to Ohio to apartment and job hunt while I tie up loose ends in Long Beach. Then a short cross-country drive with two cats in tow, and woohoo, we’ll be settled. (right, like it’ll be that easy)

Mara came over on Thursday and we watched Mean Girls. I’d never seen it, thinking it would be a stupid teen movie, but both Jonathan and I really liked it! It was a truly satirical, biting commentary on high school life today. Though it makes me feel old to say it, it’s probably the Clueless of this generation. For our next movie, I'm on a search to find An American Tail or Feivel Goes West. For some reason, the lyrics just keep running through my mind: "There are no cats in America, and the streets are paved with cheese..."

Thursday was also the day I was on the phone with Netvision, the internet company, for two and a half hours. It’s a long story, but basically, they were charging us for two accounts, not one. I was getting nowhere by myself, so I went to HUC and Helen, one of the administrators, kept them on the phone from 2:30pm til 5pm, yelling at them til they gave in and gave us a full refund. I think I’m too nice for this country - the word “pushy” has nothing on Israelis. If you want something, don’t take no for an answer. Helen literally refused to hang up, and we were transferred about six times, but it worked! Hooray for Helen, everyone cheer.

And since I'm on about cultural differences, let me add that I *really* miss a clothes dryer. Our washer is slow, which is bearable, but we hung laundry out to dry and it was out there for three days... it kept raining and getting wet again! We've finally given up and are hanging it inside with a space heater. The cats, at least, are enjoying the process – they currently think that the sheets and towels in the living room are their own personal obstacle course.

I read part of Vayishlach, in Genesis, in services on Monday, so have been practicing the Hebrew all afternoon. Afterwards, I’ll be two-thirds done with my tefillah (service) requirements… all I’ll have left is to give a d’var Torah, or sermon. That seems easiest to me – no Hebrew, just write and deliver a speech. Public speaking I can do, but service leading? That’s something else. It’s funny though - talking to Helayne today, I realize I’m the opposite of a lot of the other students here. They may be able to lead services in their sleep, but are terrified of the sermon-giving. It does take all kinds, as they say.

Have a wonderful evening, everyone. As you sleep late on Sunday, think of me in class at 8:30. :)

Jeep ride and East Jerusalem

This is a picture from last month, on our night jeep ride in the Galilee. It was the trip where we picked our own plums and peaches off the trees in the fields... and didn't see any animals.

Mara, me, Stephanie, and Rebecca on our way to Sheik Ibrahim's in East Jerusalem. Directly behind us in the foreground is the ancient cemetery on the Mount of Olives. This cemetery was used in the time of King David, and supposedly, he, Solomon, and other famous Biblical people are buried here. In the background you can see the gold Dome of the Rock and the walls of the Old City, with modern Jerusalem surrounding it. I love that the Dome of the Rock (so easily identifiable here) was only painted gold when color TV came out. Aah, the practicality of religion!

Sheik Ibrahim introducing himself. We were sitting in an open amphitheatre behind him, looking out over Jerusalem.

Most of my pictures of his house didn't turn out too well (too dark), but I love this one of his ceiling - you can see "Shalom" in Hebrew letters backwards on one banner, and Arabic lettering saying "Salaam" behind it. All on rainbows. Peace!

A totally organic lunch, fruit of the earth. Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, watermelon, canteloupe-y melon, huge grapes, persimmons (one of my favorite fruits), bananas, plums, kiwis, and more. It was incredible. And no one had any kashrut (kosher) issues, so it worked out perfectly!