Mamilla with Jenny / Mrs. Malchis / Be'erSheva

Wednesday night, I finally got to meet up with Jenny, one of my wonderful friends from Chicago! We decided to meet at 9pm at the Mamilla mall since I was running late from doing yoga with my roomies. This is a beautiful mall area not far from the Old City. My dentist recommended the lounge on top of the Mamilla hotel because it has a beautiful view of the Old City. No joke! Jenny and I went up to the lounge, and it was true - beautiful! Especially since it was night time and the Old City was lit up. Below us, the mall sparkled with blue and white lights :-) We didn't eat or get drinks because it was pretty expensive, but we went across the street to a restaurant. Jenny got dinner and I got dessert. The place was apparently kosher (certificate hanging outside the window, but neither of us understood what was on it, of course), but everyone was dressed normally, American music was playing, and a bachelorette party came in later. But whatever, food was good, company was good, night was good!

I asked a girl on the street where I can find bus 60, since it goes all the way to my area in Har Nof. She and a few friends were going toward bus 74, which goes to the Har Nof central bus station. I followed her, we got lost a little bit, but eventually got to the bus. Her name is Yael and she's an art teacher in high school. She looked to be in her late 20s. She was hanging out with her students haha! She asked me if I want to stay in Israel. I wonder if most Israelis think that Jews should want to stay in Israel. The concept itself is true, we should, but not yet. It's really difficult when the government and religion are at odds.

Then, I saw Bina get on the bus. She was visiting her fiancee. I talked to her about wanting to spend a Shabbat with a Breslev family. She said she would try to get me in touch. Breslev is a type of Loubavitch movement characterized by a love of life, music, and dancing. Their kippot are large and white. Bina also recommended a good Carlebach shul near one of our teacher's, Rebbetzin Appell. Carlebach services are characterized by lots of singing instead of just saying prayers. It's a lot of fun!

Another place I'd like to go for Shabbat is Mrs. Malchis's. This amazing lady came to speak to us, also Wednesday, about Shabbat at her house. What's so special, you ask? Well, this lady has over 100 guests every Shabbat dinner!! EVERY ONE! She will take in homeless people, people brought from the Kotel (Western Wall) who have nowhere to go, students, families, anyone. It's an experience, people say. You can't move. And there's a whole system to how they run it; she has 14 kids, 5 are married, but the rest help out. So does her husband. They don't sit down during the meal. Amazing. Can you imagine how much FOOD? They use their own money but have been trying to do fundraising. Of course, how can they make do without fundraising? And it's not only Friday night meals. They take people for Shabbos afternoon and Seudah Shlishit, the Third Meal. Last time was "only 35 people" for the Third Meal. They do have volunteers who come cook Thursday and Friday. I'd like to do that sometime before I leave.

Right now, I'm in Be'er Sheva with my family! I'm making challah to show Ira this time. Rita's already got it under control :-) I think she's making challah right now, too. I switched up; I'm at Gera's now and going to Rita's for Shabbat. I hope the challah turns out well! I'm using Shoshana's techniques - lemon juice, sifting flour, and less egg yolk to brush the challah. I'm also using date honey instead of sugar. I hope that turns out ok.

My mom's coming on Monday! So excited!!

Ahava from Israel!

Elina   

Shuk/Ben Yehuda/Zumba

 Yesterday, Tuesday, was a half day at Shearim. I had to let the administration know that I’m transferring to Neve. I was nervous; I don’t like people to be disappointed or to try to persuade me to do something otherwise…but, there was no pressure at all. The bursar just said I would be a loss, and the admin asked me why out of curiosity, where I gave her a couple reasons and she didn’t push further. Both asked when I would be moving out, since they need room for the influx of girls for Shearim’s summer session, which starts Sunday. I called up Neve’s dorm mother, Brendy, who told me that I could move in Sunday. Perfect. I’ll still go to Shearim for Sunday and Monday class; Tuesday will be at Neve. Brendy asked if I’d like to room with someone in particular. I asked to room with Innessa, a girl from Chicago that I met right before leaving for Israel! It’ll be really nice to know someone J I STILL haven’t seen the new roommate, Tamara! She has been coming and going from out apartment in the mornings and late at night, so I’ve always missed her! I hope I get to see her before I move out on Sunday.

After class yesterday, Dana and I decided to go out and look for some shoes and clothes for her. She’s in shidduchim (dating) and wanted to have a few extra things. She decided that the Ben Yehuda area would be a good place to go. On the way, we stopped at the shuk. The shuk is a crazy outdoor marketplace that sells fruits, veggies, nuts, dried fruits, spices, cheeses, halva, and candies. It was a lot of fun to walk though! I bought a few candied pecans and yellow cherries. Then, we walked on Yaffa Street (runs through west Jerusalem to the Old City) toward Ben Yehuda. On the way, we stopped into every small shoe store and every clothing store. No luck L When we got to Ben Yehuda, it was just full of touristy shops. The actual stores were probably on the side streets, still unknown to us. At the end of Ben Yehuda was a mall. No luck there either, except that it felt good to be in an air-conditioned department store that reminded us of the States. By this time, we had been trekking for close to three hours. We were exhausted. Meanwhile, Laura and Melody had gone to another mall and bought great shells (undershirts). Dana and I thought they were going to buy gifts, so we didn’t go with them.

At night, Laura, Melody, Melanie, and I went to Macarena’s Zumba class in the evening. She switched classes to Sundays and Tuesdays – these days work better for her. I’ll have to find out when Neve’s Zumba classes are. I’d like to keep going to Macarena’s; I love her! I finally called Yelena yesterday; bad bad habit of putting off phone calls L I hope we can get together soon to hang out. I also haven’t seen Jenny since she came to try out Shearim last week…I wonder what she’s up to?

My roommate Dana just got some great news! She really wanted to live with a family because she's older and wants to learn from them about keeping a Jewish home. She was struggling to find a family with a decent financial agreement, and one just came through! A family that lives right next to Shearim! Another girl is already renting a room there, and we were all told the lady is really nice! A girl from Atlanta just came today and she'll be moving into my room instead of Dana. That's why Dana has to pack up so quickly. And I'm leaving Sunday...and Tamara is MIA...what a crazy apartment situation we're all in!

Ahava from Israel!

Elina

Vort/Neve

I went to my first Vort ever yesterday! A vort, in Yiddish, means engagement party. Bina, a girl from seminary (from the States), got engaged to a guy also from the States. He wants to be a rabbi-chaplain in the U.S. army. They’re going to be stationed in Dallas soon. So exciting for her! She met him sitting on the other side of the table at a “kosher” bar on Ben Yehuda Street called Off the Wall. This means that the bar is more like a lounge, serves kosher food, and is more observant-friendly in terms of music and dress. So no Rihanna’s new song (yuck! I still can’t believe she would come out with such a song…) and no miniskirts. As soon as Bina said this, I said, “I’m there! Who wants to go?” Hahaha! Well, even though I’m not ready to get married, it would still be fun to go to a classier kind of lounge. His name is Joey, and he has a Guatemalan-Jewish stepmother and half-brothers and sisters! I don’t know if she converted or is a Sephardi Jew from Guatemala, but she was SO sweet! She and Joey’s rabbi and rebbetzin arranged the vort. They bought beautiful flowers and provided drinks and treats. They made Bina a beautiful cake, too. I was happy for her, since her family couldn’t be there. It was a small gathering at first – the men sitting at the living room table and the women schmoozing in the kitchen (lol). Then, a whole host of Shearim girls showed up and it became crowded. I was very glad that Bina had so many guests J On the way home on the bus, I sat next to an older lady who spoke to me in Yiddish. Another lady helped translate for a bit but then had to move seats, so I was stuck trying to interpret! (I think) she gave me a bracha (blessing) to find a husband and also had me write down her phone number so that when I do get engaged, I can call her for another bracha! Then, she told me she had a (grandson?) in New York. I said “Ani rotza b’Chicago” in broken Hebrew, roughly meaning that I want in Chicago. Didn’t know the word for “stay” or “live.” She understood.

Today, I went to Neve again because it was their last day of classes. Summer session starts July 5^th. On the way to the school, I saw Mrs. Freishtat, the administrative coordinator at Shearim. She said, “You’re going the wrong way!” Oops…I told her the truth, that it is Neve’s last class session and I was interested in seeing what it was like. She asked if I had told anyone. I hadn’t. She told me to let her know next time. So this isn’t a secret anymore. Anyway, I sat a level up this time, Level 9 (they don’t go in order on purpose). We had Rebbetzin Heller for Chumash (Bible)! I was so excited – she’s very well-known and has written TONS of books. She likes doing round-table discussions and had her students prepare dvar Torahs (discussions on the Torah portion of the week (called a parsha). It wasn’t the parsha of this week, so I was quite lost. One girl was very prepared; the others had a little bit of wisdom to offer. But I’m excited to do this kind of prep when I’m actually in-the-know. At Shearim we don’t have assignments or test; at Neve they do. On the one hand, it’s annoying because it’s the summer. On the other hand, information retention is that much better. And you don’t have to be stressed about a grade on these assignments/tests. Speaking of grades, I really hope that I can still get Loyola credit even though I’m between two seminaries. I’ll have to have each of them write something up for me.

The next class was this week’s parsha, parshas hookas. The rebbetzin who taught it was very animated! Afterwards, Rabbi Bear (yep, that’s his name), taught on davening (prayer). And then I joined Mechina (beginner level) for the famous and beloved Rabbi Katz. I had heard him last year while on Hamerkaz. He is a fantastic rabbi who used to be a film-maker in Australia! Crazy, no? He likes to incorporate terminology and analogies from his past life in his shiurim (lectures) J He is very esoteric! He spoke on the topic of Shabbat. Then, lunch. After, I went to the admissions office where they looked up my application which, thankfully, was still on file. The lady had me write a note to the rabbi-principal explaining my situation. Then, I went down to see the financial director, Mr. Starr-Glass, yet another Scottish Jew! His name really sounds Scottish, too! He told me when he was growing up, the community in and outside of Glasgow was 12,000 people! I couldn’t believe it. He said that it has since been halved. He explained that Jews ended up in Scotland and Ireland and on the British west coast because they were originally trying to get to America but decided to settle in those areas instead. He had a tiny hint of an accent J Tuition for my stay: approx $1400. This includes housing and three meals a day (not exactly happy about this – I like having a kitchen, fruit for breakfast, and salads/fish for dinner...but it’s ok, it’s not for that long. Mr. Starr-Glass said that there might be some work-study opportunities; I’ll have to grab one asap. I went back up to admissions where I found out that I’m admitted to the summer session! Yay! I am very excited and hope that this will be a good experience for me.

I went back to the apartment, put in laundry, went to Ye’sh, the grocery store (where I spoke French with the Tunisian-Jewish lady at the cash register and Russian with the store’s security guard), and then to She’arim for my toranut (duty) (but work-study, in actuality) of cleaning the fridge together with Julie. My, what a wonderful job. We finished in an hour and a half. Went back to the apartment, did 50 minutes of a cardio tape and 15 minutes of toning exercises, made dinner, and am now updating this blog. By the way, we have a new roommate who I haven’t even seen yet! I came back from cleaning the fridge (Melody and Laura had waited for me and came back with me) and was told by Melanie and Dana that there is a new roommate, Tamara, who had come, dropped her things, and gone to the old city. Well, this is interesting! Melody and I were just joking that we will wake up tomorrow and see someone we don’t know in the bathroom haha! I wonder if she’s going to be Sephardi like all the rest of the Russian-Jewish girls? I need Ashkenazi representation here! J

Ahava from Israel!

Elina

Bina and I

Bina's cake

The men (Bina's fiancee is the young man sitting on the left side of the table next to the older man

Moshav Matityahu

Yesterday, I went to Neve Yerushalayim to check out classes. This is the seminary that I was originally supposed to attend, but couldn’t because their summer session starts July 5^th and they don’t take summer students before then. Laura had gone previously to check it out, too. She’s not 100% happy with Shearim. She suggested that I sit in the Level 5 classes, which are the next level up from beginner. I did so for the whole morning until lunchtime. I really liked the classes! The first teacher was Rabbi Smith, who I remember taught our Hamerkaz group from last summer! He started off the class talking about music and its power (this is where I thought of my sister!) Yesterday was a huge cooking day! Laura, Melody, Melissa, and later, Dana, helped cook for Seudah Shlishit – the third Shabbat meal we are going to have at the Shabbaton on Moshav Matityahu this weekend! Wow…none of us knew how many hours this would entail! We stayed after school for 5 hours. We made so much food! Garden salad, tuna salad, cabbage salad, pasta salad, potato kugels, and apple kugels and chocolate chip cookies for dessert. There will also be humus (with zatar!) and matbuka (red pepper dip) (not homemade). And don’t forget the challahs we made with Shoshana! And all this for 45 people! We are all a bit confused why we were given such a huge job. I know Shearim is trying to cut down on expenses, and I understand this, but it’s still way too much work. I am going to ask for work-study hours for this! I am currently at school finishing up dressings and packing into containers and labeling – probably another hour. I’m excited to go to this moshav! It’s probably going to be similar to Har Nof – American baalei teshuvah (people who have come back to the religion). It’s probably all separate homes instead of apartments, like in Har Nof. I’m staying in the same place as I am eating (not everyone has this arrangement) with Laura, Melody, and Shoshana (our communal 74-year-old Russian grandmother!)

The Shabbaton at the moshav was wonderful! Mrs. Migdal and Rebbetzin Sperling both live on the moshav and work at Shearim. That’s a long commute! We all had to take a bus separately to get to the moshav – it took 50 minutes. Mrs. Migdal’s son was the rabbi-tourguide leader on our tiyul! Mr. Migdal talked to us about how the moshav was founded exactly 30 years ago. The mindset was to create a Torah community. They are also very Zionist. There is quite a spectrum of people – black hat and crochet kippot. The moshav 30 years ago  was a big dirt hill that had to be leveled off. To get to it, you had to use a cattle truck and there were 5 arab towns surrounding it. Wow. I wouldn’t have the courage to up and go to such a place, but what they’ve turned it into is AMAZING! Concrete roads, trees, flowers, a playground, a kindergarden, single-family homes, the works! The moshav is about 20% Israelis and 80% Americans. I stayed with Melody, Laura, and Shoshana by the Norden’s, a cute, older couple from the States. It was a very relaxing Shabbat. Unfortunately, it’s more humid on the moshav (it’s closer to the Mediterranean), so we didn’t take Shabbos walks. Shabbos evening, though, we walked around for a bit. They have a huge chess set on the grounds, but no one knew how to play in my group L The third meal was wonderful – I was worried about the food, of course, but people liked it. Shoshana’s challah was a success; everyone got to try it. We had also given a loaf to Yitzkah, the man who takes care of Shearim, cleaning, fixing, doing everything. He had cleaned our oven for the challah very last-minute, so I told him we’d give him a challah! We also had lots of left-overs, and someone found out that there was a family sitting shiva (one week of mourning for a family member that passes away), so we brought over some of the food. I had never been in a shiva home before. There is a blessing to say before and after coming, wishing them strength and only happiness in the future.

We got back after 11pm to Har Nof. We came into our apartment and saw all the lights on. It was freaky! Then, we found out we have a new roommate, Melanie, from England! No one had told us she was coming. She’s very sweet. Laura and I did a quick tape of a few 5-minute toning exercises, and then off to bed.

I had checked in with Rita and Gera before Shabbos. Rita was making challah from the recipe I left her! I was so excited, and so were her boys! It’s very cool that she’s doing this. Maybe it’ll become a tradition J Today, I am sitting in Level 1 classes at Shearim instead of Taste of Torah. In the morning, I did Chumash with Rebbetzin Raff. This means that we took a few “psukim,” verses, from the Torah, read them in Hebrew and translated them. We didn’t get to Rashi commentary (one of the biggest rabbis of all time and the most well known commentator), but it was a great start. Imagine, reading and translating the Torah! But, that was the most interesting thing today. I was bored the rest of the time, and now it’s lunch. Maybe classes will be better after lunch, but if not, I’m going to transfer to Neve. Even though I’m not paying right now for seminary, I will have to pay over $3000 later, when I get a job. It’s like a future contract. So I better get the most out of it. It’s really hard to know which seminary you want to go to…

Ahava from Israel!

Elina

Challah, Pool

Yesterday, Shoshana held a last-minute challah baking class. She wanted oh so much to hold one, but no one organized it, so I decided to do it for her, even though I know how to make challah (I didn’t tell her that). Because the dough has to rise a lot, we decided to make it at 7:30am (class starts at 8:30am) so that it could rise in time for lunch (1pm), when we would invite girls to come watch braiding. It didn’t turn out to be very hands-on. It’s ok, because I still think it was helpful for the few girls who came. Dana, my roommate, came early in the morning with me to make the dough. She doesn’t know how to cook and has always wanted to learn to make challah. Shoshana cemented the idea that flour should be sifted, just like Rita told me to do this past Shabbos. Why had we never done that at my house? Shoshana also said that challah, and dough in general, likes to be treated like a baby – gently! I always kneaded dough very strongly, thinking it would be best to get the air out. This is wrong! It has to be done gently and with love J Also, Shoshana put her yeast into water (lukewarm, whereas I always used quite warm) and then put it into her flour/sugar/salt/egg mixture without even letting the yeast froth! That was surprising, but it worked out. I’ll include the recipe in this post at the end J

The dough rose wonderfully! We started braiding challah during lunch, and a few girls and teachers came over to look. Zahava, who works at school, told us that she knew how to make a 6-braided challah (challah is usually 3 braids). We asked her to show us and I videotaped it! It came out beautifully! Shoshana also made a little “grape bunch.” She made 10 little balls, stuck them together, and put a long piece of dough at the top to hold it all. Very cute.

Then, Laura and I went to a pool we heard about in the Jerusalem Forest. It had women’s hours from 1pm to 6pm. 3 other girls went, as well. But, when we got there, we were told the cost was 50 shekel ($15) instead of 36, as Laura saw on the website. So the other girls left L Laura and I figured that since we made it all the way (taxi to get there the last 5 minutes because it can’t be reached otherwise by bus), we may as well enjoy ourselves. I won’t go again, because that’s super expensive, but we had a glorious time in our bikinis (in the middle of Jerusalem!), swimming and tanning. It was quite funny to see all the other religious ladies in their two- or one-pieces, whereas they are usually very clothed! Yet, they kept their hair covered, which was quite funny. And, there were a couple male lifeguards and the snack shop had a guy running it! I was quite confused…maybe this counts as an instant where they save lives, but they could’ve tried getting female lifeguards and snack shop overseers for a couple hours. Oh well, they stayed where they were and didn’t really walk about. It’s really nice not to be self-conscious at the pool haha! Girls, you know it’s true! Whenever there are men, all you think about is how you look! Here, we just enjoyed ourselves J We shared a taxi with a woman and her daughter to get back to the bus station.

Today, Jenny came to Shearim! Jenny is one of my great friends from Chicago. She just finished a women’s trip called JEWEL and is checking out Shearim to see if she likes it. She didn’t particularly like Neve Yerushalayim. I still want to check Neve out; I don’t want to switch seminaries because it’s a hassle if I’m only staying for the summer, but if I like it A LOT more than Shearim, maybe I will. Neve is where I was supposed to go in the first place.

Today is also Melody’s birthday! She, Laura, Melissa, and Dana are out right now, going to the Mamilla Hotel (my dentist told me about this famous hotel with a gorgeous view of Jerusalem from the top lounge). I’m quite jealous haha, but I’m still at school. I signed up for work-study to help pay my cost just a bit here at school, and I have to help the cook in the kitchen today. Hopefully I’ll be able to come out with the girls later, but if not, I’m sure I’ll make it out to Mamilla at some other time. Zumba tonight as well!

My sister is writing a blog, too. It’s very cute! I’m happy she’s doing it. Funny enough, her writing style resembles mine!

I am on the committee to cook the third meal for the Shabbaton this weekend. Dana, Melody, Laura, and Melissa agreed to be on my committee! I drew up a list of salads/kugels/desserts and we’re going to cook tomorrow evening and Friday morning (salads, so that they’re fresher). Looking forward!

Challah Recipe:

4 cups of flour, 1.5 c lukewarm water, 1 tbsp yeast, 1tbsp sugar, 1 egg, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1.5 tbsp salt, 1 tbsp lemon juice

1. Combine egg, sugar, olive oil, lemon juice (secret ingredient - Shoshana didn't tell me why! She said just to try it!) and salt in a large bowl

2. In a smaller bowl, mix the yeast and the lukewarm water together.

3. Add the yeast mixture to the large bowl

4. Start adding the flour (sift it!) until you put it all in

5. Mix everything very well to get a smooth dough

6. Oil a bowl, put the dough in, and cover and let stay for 1.5 hours, making sure it is in a warm place

7. After the dough rises, knead it GENTLY!

8. Put it back into the oiled bowl for another 1.5 hours

9. Gently cut the dough into strips for braiding

10. Braid 3 or 6 braid challah

11. In a separate small bowl, crack open an egg. Take out a little bit of the yolk (yolk burns!). Mix the rest and brush down the MIDDLE of the challah, not overdoing it.

12. Preheat the oven on 500F for a few minutes so that it gets very hot. Lower to 350 and only then put the challah in. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until golden.

13. Cool on a countertop that is not cold (such as granite). If it is cold, put a towel on it.

Ta-da! You did it!

Golan Tiyul Be'er Sheva

Wow what a beautiful week I have had! I apologize for the lag in blog posts. I haven't been on the internet in forever! Oh, and now there is no more internet in our appartment; the family from whom we were mooching secured their internet. Great. So now, I have to do this at school.

The Golan excursion was very nice! It was Tuesday and Wednesday. On the way up north, we saw camels just hanging out by the road, small Bedouin shacks (real shacks standing on sand dunes! I was shocked...), and sand sand sand.

We did kayaking down the Jordan river, a rocky hike (downwards all the way) for an hour, a stop at an overlook to see the Syrian and Lebanese borders...So close to those who hate us, but everything was so quiet! I have a lot of respect for the people living on the kibbutz that is on the border with Syria.

Our lovely neighbor, Syria

The hike

The hike





Smiling at the border?



We also did a water hike in a beautiful place somewhere in the Golan. The deepest the water was a bit lower than the waist. There were tiny fishies in the water :-)

Water hike

We made a stop at the burial place of Rabbi Yonatan ben Uziel - a place affectionately called Amuka. This site is known for prayers for shidduchim (matches). Unmarried girls, especially, go to ask for a shidduch in the merit of Rabbi Uziel, who said that he would ask G-d to hear the prayers of those praying at his site (we never pray to other beings; only in the merit of them). The custom is to read Psalm  121 from the book of Tehillim (compiled and majorly written by King David) while circling the rooftop 7 times. I did this and prayed not only for myself but for all my friends and for the girls at seminary.



Amuka - circling the rooftop



Tuesday night, we stayed at a kibbutz overnight. It was very nice! They served a good dinner, which was much needed after the kind of travel food we had been eating all day. We sang songs and then made a bonfire (with kosher s'mores!). There was some kind of party going on a bit farther down the kibbutz...I don't know who was partying it up, but it was awesome to have music at our bonfire :-)

Kibbutz



We also made a 1.5 hour stop in the holy cite of Tzfat! I was very much looking forward to this; Tzfat is in the mountains and is SO beautiful! If I wanted to live in Israel, I would probably choose Tzfat for it's kabbalah and greenery. I just don't think I can handle the heat and Jerusalem stone colors of some other cities. I haven't yet been to Netaniya, where lots of French Jews go; it's on the water and probably very nice as well. There was a Rabbi tour guide on our trip who was very good and knowledgeable. He took us to several well-known, beautiful synagogues. We also went to the famous candle factory. Such chef-d'oeuvres they make!



Aaron HaKodesh (where the Torah scroll is kept)





Noah's Ark



Candle Flowers

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Candle chess set!

The beautiful hills of Tzfat

All in all, I really enjoyed this tiyul! I got get to know the girls a little more; there was even a girl from W. Rogers Park, Tova, who was at She'arim for a week (she's working now). Hopefully, we can connect back in Chicago, too.

And Shoshana, the 74-year-old lady from Russia, was perfectly wonderful! She came with and did the kayaking and the water hike! She skipped out on the rocky hike, and thank goodness for that! Small word: at the kibbutz, there was a group from an Orthodox junior high school in San Diego on a graduation trip. Shoshana is from San Diego, and who does she see but one of the Rabbis on the trip...her neighbor and fellow synagogue peer! Shoshana is so great by the way...so sweet and caring and yearning to learn! She and I organized a challah baking class tomorrow after lunch because we have half-days on Tuesdays. Well, it's challah braiding and cooking, but it's better than nothing. We can't do the dough with everyone because it has to rise. Shoshana and I are coming into school at 7:30am to make the dough together.

Thursday evening, after classes, I took the bus to Be'er Sheva to visit my wonderful relatives! My grandpa's sister lives there; she has a son and daughter who are my mom's cousins. One has two daughters and a son, and the other has two sons. All except the second son are close to my age, which is fantastic because I never grew up with anyone close to my age except my sister! I stayed by Rita's for Thursday night since Gera's family was at a wedding. We had a very nice dinner and even included my mom and sister in on it; we put the computer on the table. We toasted with wine, they with keifir :-)

Friday, Rita took me to an art gallery (which featured some Ethiopian figures from her own workshop!) which was beautiful. It was in the old city center of Be'er Sheva, which looks VERY middle-eastern. The building architecture is arabic; I can definitely tell the difference. We also went to the big mall in Be'er Sheva, which is famous for being open-air with special wind fans that cool the walkways. The shops themselves aren't open air. We had coffee (ice coffee for me, which is delicious in Israel) and espresso for Rita. Then, she took me to her workshop! Quite a few Ethiopian ladies work with her; they make beautiful figures and animals. Rita gave me three as a gift!



Art gallery - a "competitor" of Rita's




Art gallery




Rita's workshop!



Rita and I at the mall!

Rita's pomegranate tree

  

When we got back from our excursion, we set about making food. I made challah and apple kugel for Shabbat dinner (to be held at Gera's) while Rita made potatos and meat. My challah turned out more beautiful than I have EVER made it! The differences: made in Israel, and we sifted the flour. We never sift the flour back home, but I'll start doing that and see if there's a change. Oh, and the oven was really hot already from other food that was in there. Maybe it's good to super preheat the oven. Shoshana says that she preheats hers quickly at 500F and then lowers it to 350. Dani and Alex, Rita's boys, loved it! I left the recipe with Rita and hopefully she'll make challah sometime for them.



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I made challah at Rita's for Shabbat!



It was so nice to be with the whole family there! Grandpa's sister came with her husband, all of Gera's kids were there (Anya is married and doesn't live in Be'er Sheva, so I got lucky! Her husband, Yossi, could'nt come though, and I've never met him :-( ), Lena's boyfriend, Shauli, was there, but he was pretty sick, so that was sad. Dinner was delicious! Ira is a great cook. The challahs and apple kugel turned out well, so I was glad. Dani ate lots of challah :-) Oh, and they have a new dog that is SO cute! Her name is Libby and she looks a bit like Misha because she's part golden retriever as well. They don't know the other part, but they suspect it's a big, white, hearding dog. Maybe it's the kind I saw when on the alpaca farm in Wisconsin! Yup, alpacas are hearded by dogs.

Shabbat was very calm, of course. Gera walked me to the nearest synagogue; a Sephardi one. I wasn't flustered; I'm used to that since I went to one in Paris :-) I really liked the women's seating area: a balcony with a one-way glass. We can see the men; they can't see us! I personally think that this is the best variation.

Lunch waited for a bit while Gera came back from the gym. It was very delicious, as well. Ira made a sort of sour yogurt with oil and hyssop (a middle-eastern spice) that was delicious! I couldn't believe it, since I'm usually really weird with dairies. It had a hummus-like consistency. I'm definitely getting that recipe.

All in all, I'm VERY happy I went. I can't wait to go again. This Shabbat is a trip to a moshav, which is sort of like a private village. This is for people who want to own privately but live in a separate community outside of the city. I even think they have their own schools. So after the moshav shabbaton, I hope I can go back to Be'er Sheva. And my mom is coming July 4!

Yesterday, a former She'arim alumni from a few months ago got married! Her name is Ilana, and she invited everyone to come dance at her wedding. This is a common custom in religious circles; you come to dance to make the bride and groom joyous on the wedding day. Girls came from the seminary Neve, and there were also random junior high girls. I even saw some girls on JEWEL, a girls program that my friend Jenny is currently on. I recognized Carly from Hamerkaz last year!

Bride having fun!



With my Chicago roomies!



Chuppah outside!

Ahava from Israel!

Elina

Life

The squash turned out GREAT and one squash ended up feeding three people for 1.5 days! Today was the second day of class. Had fabulous teachers all morning and afternoon, until the Halacha class where I was the only one. Either everyone else ditched (not that many people, anyway) or had private tutors during that hour. It was kind of awkward. The rabbi wasn’t very interesting, and he spoke very quickly. I’m actually hoping to get a private tutor myself, for Hebrew! Ani rotza lilmod ivrit! I want to learn Hebrew! It’s really helping that I can read it, thank goodness! A couple tidbits from what I learned today: In “Exploring Torah,” I learned that the Torah was given outside the land of Israel so as not to connect the Jews to a land. What connects the Jews is Torah and other Jewish people; this is how we were able to survive the exile as a nation without being in our land; this is why there can be so many Jews living in so many parts of the world without losing themselves. Usually, a nation has a land, but we weren’t tied to one. Yes, it’s a reward to live in Israel, but it’s not necessary for our survival as a nation. In “Ethics” we had a substitute, Shani, who is just wonderful. She is very young and has a two-year-old daughter. We read from a book called Striving for Truth. The chapter we read was on giving and taking. It says that at any given moment, we are either givers or takers. But we can’t be both. There are two types of taking: selfish, maximum profit for yourself with the minimal effort; and, taking in order to give back to others, such as taking tzedakah (money for charity) or taking “knowledge” in order to perfect our souls and teach others. To be a positive taker, you have to ask yourself the question, “Am I taking in order to give?” To see if you’re slipping up, ask “Am I giving in order to take?” I think this is a hugely important concept! Shani said this book is part of working on our “midos,” or character traits. Judaism is huge on that!

In the Siddur, our prayer book, we read a portion from the Shmonei Esrei, the personal prayers said three times a day. In the part where we pray for G-d to gather everyone in exile together, Rebbetzin Appell pointed out the word freedom in the portion, in Hebrew, also means engraved. What’s the connection? G-d engraved our mitzvot (commandments) on stone. Engraving is more permanent than just writing. This makes the Jewish people One with the mitzvot and the Torah. Contrary to what many may think of religion, it does make us free to live spiritually. Otherwise, we get enslaved to physicality. In my opinion, no rules = more freedom doesn’t really hold true in most cases. People get lost, get hooked on unhealthy things, get depressed, don’t know what to do with themselves…whereas some rules in life can actually be very healthy!

In other news, I signed up for some kitchen duty twice a week as a work-study because I can’t afford to pay the seminary tuition. The way it’s supposed to work is that you pay them what you can or you pay later in life (I’m hoping!). I thought that I’d do what I can right now, so I’m glad I found out about the work-study. Also, I was able to get a hold of my relatives in BeerSheva. I talked to Gera and Rita and Lena. I’m coming this Thursday evening to spend the weekend! Well, unfortunately, not the full weekend, because in Israel Sunday is a workday due to Friday off or half-off. Darn! But I’m SO excited to see them! And my mom called, which was fabulous! And my grandparents called yesterday night, which was also fabulous! J

Tonight, Melody, Laura, and I went to the school where a Chilean Jewish girl, Macarena (yep, that’s her name!) was holding Zumba class. She’s actually a professional! It was VERY good! An hour long – just perfect. Shower and bedtime, right away. Tomorrow, we’re leaving at 7am to go to the Golan! It’ll be a fun two days! On the schedule is a hike (including a water hike) and the holy city of Tzfat, as well as fun stuff in between!

Ahava from Israel!

Elina