Food and politics, the stuff of life
I love food. Yes, I realize this is known, but I just thought I'd reiterate. Let me list the multiplicity of love...
1) Pizza with Joe and Nicole. I hadn't realized there was order-in Pizza Hut in Israel!
2) Homemade pasta at Mara's with a parve (non-dairy and non-meat) ice-cream seeming-cake.
3) Fettucine with Miriam. Mmm.
4) Reese's pieces that Sandra sent. They're going fast.
In other, non-food news....
Monday my Hebrew class went on a short tiyul to the outskirts of Jerusalem. We read a few passages in the Bible about "the surrounding hills of Jerusalem" and were confused... there ARE no hills surrounding Jerusalem! Then we passed Mt. Scopus, where Hebrew University is, and it clicked - we don't even notice the hills today, they're incorporated seamlessly into the city. The ancient city, however, was tiny in comparison and sat in the middle of the (non-populated) surrounding hills. Nothing like literal geography to help make sense of text.
Today was also interesting, we participated in a student simulation of the Israeli government. Israel's governmental system is based on the British/European model, and makes very little sense at first glance to an American. There are many political parties, and there is no such thing as separation of powers (much less separation of church and state). The Knesset, or the Israeli governmental body, is comprised of 120 members. The public votes for one party that they want in office, and since there is no constituency, Knesset membership is based on the proportional percentages of the country's votes (e.g. if half the population wants Likud, 60 seats go to Likud). The Knesset is the governmental body, but not the government itself - since no party ever gets 60 seats, the parties form coalitions to work together and pass decisions. It is this coalition that is the actual "government," and so non-coalition parties (including big ones and minor ones like the Arab parties or the ultra-ultra-ultra Orthodox), sit in Knesset and are outside the government, either supporting it or working for its demise from the outside. The Knesset is elected every four years, but if a coalition falls apart before then, there can be a new formulation of coalition/government, or even a new election. The Prime Minister is the head of the majority coalition party and holds most of the power, and the President is like Britain's Queen, mainly ceremonial. Interesting, no?
In our simulation I was a member of the Shas party, one of the right-wing Orthodox parties. We were really a swing factor in formulating the coalition, because the right likes us (we're Orthodox and want to give tons of money to yeshivas), but the left also likes us because we're willing to give up land for peace. It was actually quite intriguing to watch - if there was such chaos at HUC, I can only imagine the real thing! At the end real life had flip-flopped - we're all liberal, but we formed a completely right-wing coalition, because none of the leftists could agree.
I'll end on a fun side note. I miss Hidalgo, yes... but our current pets are just as cute.
1) Pizza with Joe and Nicole. I hadn't realized there was order-in Pizza Hut in Israel!
2) Homemade pasta at Mara's with a parve (non-dairy and non-meat) ice-cream seeming-cake.
3) Fettucine with Miriam. Mmm.
4) Reese's pieces that Sandra sent. They're going fast.
In other, non-food news....
Monday my Hebrew class went on a short tiyul to the outskirts of Jerusalem. We read a few passages in the Bible about "the surrounding hills of Jerusalem" and were confused... there ARE no hills surrounding Jerusalem! Then we passed Mt. Scopus, where Hebrew University is, and it clicked - we don't even notice the hills today, they're incorporated seamlessly into the city. The ancient city, however, was tiny in comparison and sat in the middle of the (non-populated) surrounding hills. Nothing like literal geography to help make sense of text.
Today was also interesting, we participated in a student simulation of the Israeli government. Israel's governmental system is based on the British/European model, and makes very little sense at first glance to an American. There are many political parties, and there is no such thing as separation of powers (much less separation of church and state). The Knesset, or the Israeli governmental body, is comprised of 120 members. The public votes for one party that they want in office, and since there is no constituency, Knesset membership is based on the proportional percentages of the country's votes (e.g. if half the population wants Likud, 60 seats go to Likud). The Knesset is the governmental body, but not the government itself - since no party ever gets 60 seats, the parties form coalitions to work together and pass decisions. It is this coalition that is the actual "government," and so non-coalition parties (including big ones and minor ones like the Arab parties or the ultra-ultra-ultra Orthodox), sit in Knesset and are outside the government, either supporting it or working for its demise from the outside. The Knesset is elected every four years, but if a coalition falls apart before then, there can be a new formulation of coalition/government, or even a new election. The Prime Minister is the head of the majority coalition party and holds most of the power, and the President is like Britain's Queen, mainly ceremonial. Interesting, no?
In our simulation I was a member of the Shas party, one of the right-wing Orthodox parties. We were really a swing factor in formulating the coalition, because the right likes us (we're Orthodox and want to give tons of money to yeshivas), but the left also likes us because we're willing to give up land for peace. It was actually quite intriguing to watch - if there was such chaos at HUC, I can only imagine the real thing! At the end real life had flip-flopped - we're all liberal, but we formed a completely right-wing coalition, because none of the leftists could agree.
I'll end on a fun side note. I miss Hidalgo, yes... but our current pets are just as cute.
posted by Michal at 5:24 AM
1 Comments:
Wish we would've known about Pizza Hut when I was there-- it's my favorite!
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