רק בישראל

This is the speech titled "Only in Israel" that I will be giving at the sikkum tomorrow:

For as long as I can remember I have been told this year is like nothing I have ever experienced nor ever will again. They were right. But not for the reasons I would have expected. When looking back on my time here it is the seemingly insignificant, relatively minor or everyday encounters that stand out in my mind helping to shape and define my year. The following is my “Top 10 Only in Israel Moments” list:

10. It is a universal truth that when two Jews meet the first thing they do is play Jewish geography. There’s no such thing as six degrees of separation in Israel (it’s never more than three) and we seem to take great pleasure in trying to see just how few degrees we need to find a connection. My encounter on the flight to Israel was no different. No sooner did I mention that I was participating in a Young Judaea program that we discovered a mutual acquaintance. For him, a close family friend, for me, a former co-counselor from YJ conventions. By the time we had landed I had already been invited over to join his family for a Shabbat.

9. One day at volunteering in Bat Yam our students were performing skits, the task being to illustrate a conflict between two groups. One skit I particularly remember was by a group of boys (who I could immediately tell were the classes’ trouble makers) who chose a conflict that was actually taking place in Israeli news. They acted out Arabs planting trees and then religious Jews coming in the middle of the night to chop them down. The "Arab" boys called some form of law enforcement and had the "Jewish" boys apprehended. I was seriously impressed not only by the fact that this was a subject matter being dealt with by 12 year olds but also that they did not take sides while presenting the conflict. The children showed an understanding of a world that is much larger than the sheltered bubble that so many kids their age in America grow up in.

8. Israel excels in the department of bureaucratic shenanigans, a skill perfected most spectacularly by the Misrad Hapanim, Department of Interior. It took me a total of one taxi, two separate offices, three buses and over four hours of waiting to get my visa renewed, a process that only took five minutes and would have been even shorter if the woman would have stopped discussing with her coworkers what they were bringing to a birthday party. Congratulations Israel, you have beaten the New York DMV for the title of most ludicrously inefficient bureaucracy.

7. On the train ride from Tel Aviv to Akko I was sitting across from a woman and her little boy, who couldn't have been older than three. As we were stopped at a station a whole crowd of chayalim boarded the train. Excited, the little boy began speaking to his mom about how one day he was going to be a soldier like those men. It is unbelievable that this boy didn’t even know how to read or write and yet he was bouncing up and down in his eagerness to be a chayal.

But even more mind-blowing is the reality that the protection of the State of Israel rests on the shoulders of a bunch of 18 year olds. And as fantastically insane as this concept is, it has become an intrinsic part of Israeli society. I no longer thought twice when my bus to Beer Sheva was made up entirely of young men and women in uniform or when a boy my age had a gun slung over his shoulder at a wedding. Unlike in America, where the army is something that most of us only know of through the news, this culture of required military service plays a powerful role in defining Israel's identity.

6. All over Israel on any surface that can be written on can be found two phrases: "Am Yisrael Chai" with a Jewish star underneath, and the second, the slogan of the Breslov Jews "Na Nach Nachma Nachman Me'uman". Where else in the world would the most common words scrawled on walls be patriotic and religious phrases?

5. They don’t have mops in this country. Once we grasped this reality we followed what every Israeli seems to do, be it in the restaurant, school or house: dump a bucket of soapy water everywhere and squeegee it down a hole in the floor. Ingenious.

4. Every Monday in Arad without fail I would go to the olive guy at the shuk. By the fourth week I walked up to the olive stand and the man just pointed to the bin of olives we bought from and went “Usual?” He even knew that we always got ten shekels worth. Our short conversations with his broken English and my similarly choppy Hebrew always made the long shlepp back home weighed down with packs full of produce worth it. I’m always saying “I miss the olive guy”, but it’s more than that. It was interactions like this that made life in Arad so unique.

My time in Arad was also unforgettable in large part due to my participation in Garin Tzedek. Our work with the Sudanese community in Arad was substantial and exceptional and for that we should all be proud. Garin Tzedek gave our time this year, and in Arad specifically, purpose beyond the program’s structure. Here were a group of recent high school grads starting up English classes, renovating ganim and impacting a community in a very real way. The best part of my day in Arad was always when I would pass a group of Sudanese children on the street and they stopped to say hello or ask when the next English class would be or the next sports night or just give me a high five or a hug.

3. Two universal facts about hospitals: that the patients are obviously ill, disabled, elderly or some combination thereof and the second, that hospital food is absolutely disgusting. However, the Israeli love of fresh produce combined with a lack of patience equals a breakfast consisting of a whole apple, a whole tomato or cucumber, and a hard boiled egg- breakfast items that are difficult to cut, peel, chew and swallow. Where’s my Israeli chopped salad when I need it?

2. In Israel, Chol Hamoed Pesach means hiking and camping up North. For the entire country. Where else would there be hours long traffic delays because of the sheer volume of vehicles trying to get up to a lake so that their inhabitants can then pack onto a rocky beach and sleep in tents? Barbecuing and camping on the Kinneret: who needs matzo?

1. Israel is Bipolar: In a fashion only befitting a country as emotionally complex as Israel, the saddest day of the calendar is back-to-back with its happiest day. The celebrations of Yom Hazikaron and Yom Haatzmaut are a whirlwind of emotion that would make any non Israeli dizzy.

It is this resilience and determination of the people who make up this country that allows it to push forward despite all the tragedy it has faced. The sabra mentality of being able to remember the past while still being able to look towards and celebrate the future has been fundamental in shaping Israel’s unique personality.

To wrap up, whether my experiences spoke to you or not I hope you look back on your year here in Israel and not just let it be defined by categories like volunteering, classes and apartment life. I hope you remember your own “Only in Israel” moments that helped to make your time here the complete experience that it was.

מסיבה אחרונה: Forest Party

One aspect of Year Course that I have not spoken about this year is the partying/drinking scene. This is such an inescapably large element of the program that I would be remiss if I didn't address it. I've been to my fair share of clubs, parties and bars. I've done the whole hanging outside of Muza in Arad, and going to "Crack Square"* Thursday nights here in Jerusalem. And yet that's nothing in comparison to most Year Coursers.

It's been a year full of "first times" and I regret none of them. It will absolutely be strange going back to the States where I won't be able to legally drink or set foot into most of these places for another two years. It will be weird not seeing alcohol in every corner store and for it to be illegal to drink in public areas. I really liked being able to order a glass of wine with my friends at dinner or buying a beer at the store.

Thursday night was the last big party that Year Coursers were going to. Hosted by the teens from one of our Tsofe's kibbutz, it was a forest party at the top of the mountain by the kibbutz (near Beit Shemesh). There were enough of us coming from Jerusalem that we organized a tour bus to drive us there and back.

The logistics of arriving was somewhat ridiculous though. We planned to leave Jerusalem at 11pm but because we had to wait for the Bat Yam bus to leave, we were sitting on the bus for an extra 45 minutes. Once we got to the mountain we were informed that because the road up was extremely narrow only one bus could go up and back at a time. And so we waited. When it was finally our turn to make the ponderous trek up the mountain I had the misfortune of sitting near the front and being afforded a great view through the front window. (To give you an idea of how scared we were I actually think I would have preferred taking Chaim's car up that mountain.)

It was a seriously cool party though. After hiking a ways into the forest there was a huge clearing where they set up a DJ and a huge dance area (and also unlimited alcohol). There were predominantly Israelis shnat sherut aged there but Year Course still had a strong presence.

We had planned in advance to meet back up at 4 to take the bus home. So we were all milling around and we see our bus making it's way up the road. Long story short: our bus comes up to take the section 3 kids down and then was planning on dropping them off at the bottom and then going back up for us except that he didn't make it all the way down before another bus started up forcing him to go back up the mountain...backwards. And then he still had to go back down with them and come back up for us. Excellent. We got home at 6am.

*Dubbed "Crack Square" for its reputation as a place for yeshiva boys to do drugs. For Year Course it was a hang out place to drink near all the bars in the center of town.

222 days gone, 5 days left

If the school year went by as quickly as this one did then students worldwide would be decidedly happier.

I so clearly remember arriving at Ben Gurion and being met by Tal, Melanie and Ilana it is as if it was just last week, and yet it simultaneously feels like a lifetime ago. Each section has been so distinct, living in such different environments and under such varying conditions that it's hard to believe I was on the same program then.

Today and tomorrow are blocked out in the schedule as cleaning and packing days. We've all sort of been procrastinating (partly because it's thoroughly ridiculous that they're asking us to pack 6 days before we leave).

It's a very bittersweet time for everyone. Many are looking forward to going home- they've had their year, they've had their fun, but now they're looking forward to going back to their friends and lives back in the States.

For me, it's more bitter than sweet. I can't describe how much I've fallen in love with this country. I feel more comfortable and at home here than in the country I've lived in all my life.

I think I once bought a magnet at a tourist shop years ago thinking it had a cute phrase. Now I really mean it:

I love New York but Jerusalem is my home.

Shavuot

I don't like pulling all nighters. I don't like studying Talmud. Put those together and you can understand why I approach Shavuot with some trepidation.

Erev Shavuot, Year Course was gracious enough to provide us with dinner. It consisted neither of blintzes or cheesecake: failure.

After that reassuring start to the night I decided to go off with a group of friends rather than rely on Year Course to take us around.

Our first stop: Yedidiya- a shul literally out our door and across a field. From what I understand it's similar to Shira Chadasha in that it's Orthodox with a mechitza but women have some level of involvement. The shiyur (lesson) taught in English was being held in a small room in the basement. The question being posed... Which is better: someone who follows the mitzvot because he was commanded to do so or someone who chooses to do so on his own? One would think that a person who takes on additional responsibilities and does something good on his own accord would be regarded higher, yet the speaker was quite insist on the opposite. About half way in, I gave up and started dozing on and off and came out of the shiyur with this: God/Judaism puts a higher value on obedience than self initiative....lovely.

After a break with some blessed homemade cheesecake and a fresh pot of coffee, we continued our shiyur hopping and made our way to Pardes, a yeshiva right down the street. There the English shiyur was held in the Beit Midrash, the largest room in the building and was still standing room only. The topic of this one was rather than zooming in on one פסוק (sentence) and analyzing it for hours we were going to zoom out and try and get a bird's eye view of the Tanach and what is the thread that connects it all. The format was to be that after his intro we would split into chevruta groups for around 20 minutes and then come back together and listen to him. My friend and I grabbed a Hebrew copy of the texts, went out into the hallway and began reading. After half an hour we realized that we were doing so well on our own, why ruin it with whatever the speaker would have to say. So we spent the next couple hours having the best chevruta I've ever been in.

Once we had all reconvened we started to walk over to the Old City where one of their teachers lives and was leading shiyurim all night. His shiyur was great! It was about the male-female relationship in Kabbalah but it sounded more like a Seventeen magazine article. The rabbi was engaging and funny. According to Kabbalah the male has energy potential and the female actualizes this energy. It's a symbiotic relationship with neither side more powerful than the other. Furthermore, the יצר הרע (evil side) of the male is his fear of being boxed in and the female's is her fear of being left alone. It was all quite fascinating. around 4:30 we made our way down to the Kotel, being gently pushed by the wave of people all heading to this holy site.

I have never seen the Kotel this crowded before. They extended the mechitza into the plaza and even that area was packed. I found a spot in the lower women's area and davened shacharit next to my friends. By the time I had finished the sun had risen.

Standing at the Kotel is always a special moment but this time was even more significant because it was on Shavuot. There is that undeniable parallel between the pilgrimage made during the Temple period on the שלוש רגלים and the crowds that flocked to the Kotel that day. Two thousand years later and we still got it!

Malchat Hamidbar: Part 2

Several months ago I spent a day doing a joint program between Malchat Hamidbar and MASA. Thursday was part 2 of this program. On the schedule for the day: jeep riding in the Negev.

Bus picked us up from Beit Ar-El at 7am. Drove to Ashkelon to pick up the Australian girls who were also participating. When we arrived at the meeting spot we were greeted by a row of SUVs. This came as a surprise for two reasons:

1- I was expecting old school open topped jeeps.

2- These all belonged to different Malchot (members of Malchat Hamidbar). SUVs and 4x4 jeeps are not all that common in Israel and here we were looking at a row of over 20 of them.

They divide us into jeep groups. I was with three malchot and two other girls from my section. The drive took us down along the border with Gaza, past Keren Hashalom (the checkpoint base where Shalit was taken from), next to the Egyptian border and finally into the riverbed of Nahal Lavan.

Before heading into the riverbed, the destination for the jeep ride, we stopped at a small oasis for lunch. Stepping out of the car we saw that tables were already set up and laden down with food. Last time, one of the highlights of the day was the most successful potluck I had ever seen with dozens and dozens of homemade dishes. This time was no different. Amazing food!

The jeep ride through the riverbed was insane. All I kept saying was how it looked like one of those car commercials and felt like an old wooden roller coaster.

After a few hours bumping along, we made our way to a cliff and they surprised us with these kite making kits that we decorated and then got to fly. That was the first time I ever remember successfully flying a kite. I couldn't stop grinning.

Dinner was down below the cliff in the park where we got to relax and enjoy the sunset. We even got a journal, bumper stickers and key chain as a goody bag.

Every time we made a stop the women would turn up the volume in one of the cars and start dancing. They have so much energy and such big hearts, it was just infectious. I know I say this a lot, but these were some of the nicest people I've ever met.

It was a long and fun day.

A Day in the Golan

Two weeks ago (May 9th), Uncle Chaim rented a car and took my friends and I on a day around the Golan. We visited a Golani base, went to Har Bental and had a fabulous barbecue at the Kinneret. And of course we can't forget the raucous sing-a-long on the car ride home.

This is a very nice email Chaim wrote about our day:

I took the day off yesterday and went north with Laura and three friends. The objective was to visit Avi and give out water bags but because of a large military exercise that he was involved in we were not able to visit him. But we made the best of the situation, Leon made contact with the base of Golani 13, a place that Yashar gives generously and they welcomed us onto the base and gave the girls a tour of the new personnel carriers that this unit in particular has. The girls sat in the carriers and were explained how things work. The sergeant made sure that the girls got cold drinks.

A chayal boded (a lone soldier) actually from russia met with us and explained his part in the operation of the personnel carrier. The girls asked many questions. Laura has developed a good grasp of Hebrew, she understands alot and can get her point across. She really picks up fast.

After the army base we made our way to Har Ben Tal, a look out with a commanding view of the Golan Heights. Here the Syrian border is only a few miles away. On Ben Tal there is a bunker where the girls wandered about. We preceded south west toward the Kinneret where we set up a campsite for a BarBa Q on the the waterfront. The girls helped me put together a festive dinner. It was a lovely evening to be there. Laura had a great time and so did her friends. They all enjoyed the VIP treament, Leon's efforts to make sure the girls got an inside look at the Golani base helped make it a successful day.

Thanks Chaim for a really memorable day!

Jerusalem vs. Tel Aviv: the ultimate showdown

I went into Tel Aviv today for a few hours to go to the artist's market one more time. Strolling along Allenby in the center of the city I realized how much more I liked Jerusalem.

I knew that cities have different personalities but never was it more obvious than today. Tel Aviv is very much the Israeli version of New York:

1- It's crowded

2- It's dirty

3- Public buses congest the streets and strongly discourage use of private cars (similar to taxis in NYC)

4- Everyone walks quickly and with a purpose

5- Stores line every street for kilometers on end

6- Save for a few small neighborhoods and specific buildings, Tel Aviv is fairly ugly.

Save for a few small neighborhoods, Jerusalem is gorgeous. Even the less afluent neighborhoods are prettier. The municipality has really made an effort to beautify the city with trees and flowers lining the streets, lots of grassy parks and sculptures. The commercial center is much, much smaller. When someone says "I'm going into town" they mean very specifically the Ben Yehudah/King George/Yaffo area where there is really the only real concentration of shops, restaurants and bars. But I think this just helps lend to Jerusalem's personality. The uniqueness of the city as an ancient and holy place is not overwhelmed by modern consumerism. Similarly, Jerusalem has managed (for the most part) to resist the pressures of modern architecture and has maintained that special atmosphere by continuing to build with Jerusalem stone and in the style prevalent to this city.

Once again, I couldn't be happier that I am ending my year in Jerusalem.

Making the Connections

Thursday was a day filled with Jewish geography, reconnecting with old friends and making new ones.

Much to our delight, another intern at JCPA and I discovered we had both attended Solomon Schechter School of Queeens (or as we say: SSSQ). Over lunch we delighted in reminiscing over all the hilarious personalities of the teachers we both had. He's 7 years older than me and yet many of the teachers were the same.

Later that afternoon I get a call from my advisor from my time on National Mazkirut and we have a great conversation about past Young Judaea and the implications for the future, a future that I hope to play a role in.

While at the supermarket with Ilana we get an excited call from Tal telling us to get home and guess who's in our apartment. I got to see possibly my two favorite counselors of all time: Tishel, who was the counselor of our chug's boy bunk back in Hadracha and Amit, my counselor from Machon. Not only are they both doing the summer program (granted with FZY), but they're also best friends! Very exciting to see them.

That night Rafi and I were planning on going to dinner. He calls me saying he's bringing a friend and that I should bring mine. We go to a meat place (obviously) on Emek Refaim. It was so much fun sitting around the table with my best friends, cousin and his friends and seeing everyone enjoying themselves and having a good time.

MASA Seminar

Tuesday was a huge all day MASA campus activism seminar at Binyanei Ha’uma. I lost count of how many times we were called “young ambassadors for Israel”. For the most part the speakers were engaging and interesting and talked about everything from branding Israel to the stereotypes about our generation. The only topic they didn’t seem to really mention was HOW we should combat anti-Israel sentiment on campus. It’s like an army general telling his troops the enemy is waiting at the other side of the mountain and that’s it. No strategy, no words of wisdom.

Anyway, the highlight of the whole day, and the reason why most Year Coursers actually stayed was the closing ceremony at which Natan Sharansky and Benjamin Netanyahu both spoke. Of course this serious assembly quickly fell apart into a teenage mob once Hadag Nachash took the stage.

MASA is a fairly young organization but has been enormously successful in helping gap year and post grad programs bring young adults to Israel.

Lag B'Omer

Lag B'Omer is my kind of holiday: bonfires and barbecues. Oh, and I got to spend it with the Baldasares. Need I say more?

This was my final Shabbat in Mitzpe Navo this year, so I couldn't have been happier to hear that everyone (except Avi, unfortunately) was going to be home. As always, a wonderful Shabbat. Shabbat at the Baldasares will definitely be one of the things I will miss most about my year here. So todah raba to all the Baldasares for making me always feel a little reluctant to leave and have to return to my program. Your family is one of a kind.

Chaim constructed an elaborate show for the Happy Minyan by having a torch arrow race down a wire via pulley into a medura that was easily the tallest I saw all night. And the icing on the cake (humor intended) was watching Karen throw her old nurse uniforms into the fire.

Everywhere you went there was a fire burning. The area around the Bnei Akiva snif was described very fittingly as looking like the aftermath of a battle. Each shevet had their own fire and barbecue and singing and games. I spent some time with Michal's group singing and cheering near their fire.

Around one in the morning, my friends and I joined Rafi and his group of friends for their medura and barbecue. I had so much fun. Even though to these kids it was nothing more than making a bonfire, cooking some steaks and sitting around talking and singing, I absolutely loved it. Nights like that make it almost painfully obvious how different it is to grow up in a tight knit community like Mitzpe Navo as opposed to the cold isolation of New York City. (Can you tell I'm just a tad jealous?)

All in all there were around 20 boys and girls, 18 or 19 years old. Some had to leave early the next morning to go back to the army or Sherut Leumi while others had the next day off from Yeshiva because it was Lag B'Omer. As it got later and later the group started to dwindle down and the last of us were finally pushed inside once it started to rain. I went to sleep around 5:30, slightly damp and strongly smelling of smoke and fire but very happy.

Two final tidbits to mention:

(a) I cooked all the steaks. I knew I had done good when Rafi complimented them.

(b) Even though most of his friends knew English, I spoke almost entirely in Hebrew. It's been confirmed: I can speak the language.