Identity Crisis and Turkey-Massacre

Get ready everybody, there are some big surprises in this week’s entry, but I guess they are balanced off with some classic times too…

Apparently each week I am lucky enough to have a visit from back home; Monday morning I went down to breakfast and was greeted by Harry and Dianne Schneider. Our Family has known the Schneiders since before I was born. Nina and I became friends even before I moved back to Cincinnati after living in England, and it’s been so lucky having her on Nativ with me, because we’ve known each other for so long. Since Rachel (Nina’s older sister) just moved to Israel, the Schneiders wanted to take advantage of having both their daughters in Israel at the same time, and are visiting Israel twice this year (once being for thanksgiving/Chanukah). I knew they had just arrived Sunday night, but hadn’t gotten to see them, so it was by chance that we were at breakfast at the same time that morning. Nina had already left for Ulpan when I got there but it was so great to see Harry and Dianne and get such nice hugs to start out the day. That night we also had our usual football game; I was worried I wasn’t going to be very energized since it was soooo cold out, so all I really wanted to do was curl up in a ball and sleep, but once we got on the field, it was a whole other story… WE WON! If you haven’t been following our game situation, the past three games we have lost… badly. But this week we played the little giants, suuure they were younger than us, but we beat them by 6 touchdowns, which felt amaaazing! Even though we know how it feels to lose and had some sympathy for the other team, we couldn’t help but cheer with each touchdown and interception that was made. After the game I got the treat of going out to dinner with the whole Schneider clan. We found this really cute restaurant near Rachel’s apartment, called “The Garden Café”.  The restaurant was so quaint, it was all glass walls so you could feel like you were outside in a garden, but still stay warm. I got a delicious hearts of palm salad (it was so big I got to take home leftovers), and spending the night with family friends made for an extra special end to the day. But what made the night even more special was when we all got back to Beit Nativ and the Schnieders took me to their room to give me my winter boots that my parents had sent with them. I was really excited to get my winter boots, and I knew I was getting a few other treats PLUS one of our family’s Chanukah song sheets, so I’d have a bit of family with me during the holiday. But to my surprise there were 4 extra little goodies included in my “package”. Imma had been soooo sneaky, and had included 4 little treats to open during Chanukah so I have s little piece of home during the chag.

The following day seemed like a pretty normal day. I did get to go to the shuk with a few friends, with a mission to get a filet of salmon that my chevruta (one of my study partners at the yeshiva), Evan Ravsky, would make for me for Thanksgiving! Since our whole family is vegetarian, every year of my life, instead turkey, we have salmon. Since I had already had Evan’s amazing salmon, I had asked him if it would be at all possible for him to make me the salmon, and being the great guy that he is, he graciously took on the responsibility with honor. Since Evan had been so busy writing essays to get into rabbinical school, he didn’t have time to get the salmon but gave me perfectly clear directions of where to get salmon in the shuk and what to “order”. Not only did I get salmon but my friends and I discovered a great health food store with a huge variety of delicious dried fruit. I thought that would be my only excitement for that day since I knew our weekly Teusday night Erev Nativ, would just be a discussion/ learning session about Kashrut with our Be’er Sheva  group. Little did I know, that night held one of the hugest impacts I would have on this Nativ trip. After our discussion, Yossi Garr, the director of Nativ, turned around a white board with a map of Israel on it, and marked with a few cities including the 3 cities  that our 3 tracks would be spending the second semester. With a weird introduction, Yossi broke the news that made all our jaws drop… our group would now be group Karmiel! Instead of Be’er Sheva, our track is going to be the first group on the history of Nativ to be going up north for second semester. Apparently for the past three months the staff of our program have known that the absorption centre we were supposed to stay at in Be’er Sheva got shut down by the Jewish Agency, and have been struggling to find a place for our group to stay, whether in Be’er Sheva or other cities… such as Carmiel. I don’t handle change very well so I was not happy with the news, but after talking/venting with Imma for a while about the change, I took a deep breath and started to look at the positives. Ultimately the city is beautiful and near a lot of nice places, the only downer is that now we are way far away from the 2 other tracks that are based in the south. But because I can’t change the fact that we are going to Carmiel, my biggest issue is getting used to calling our group, group Karmiel, what an Identity Crisis.

After that load of drama, I was lucky enough to have my Wednesday fun-filled and drama free. I spent my lunch break with a nice movie break. One of our staff members, Maya, just made aliyah (became an Israeli citizen), so she was able to get a library card, and is now able to take out 2 movies at a time for free. She told me that she had taken out the movie Hair, and I’d always wanted to see it, so after lunch, Maya, Calah, and I watched the first half of a really cool musical (I had to get to class so well finish it this week). That evening I still went to the Beit Midrash activity where Nativ students can discuss/learn about different Jewish subjects with JTS students. I had my leftover salad from my dinner with the Schneiders (yum) and was ready for discussion. It was such an interesting topic, astrology and how our ancestors used/believed in it while still believing in god. The stories and texts were so fascinating, and I loved hearing different people’s points of view in if they think it has any affect on our lives or not. Immediately after Beit Midrash I had to rush down to JET; even though we have one more class I will have to miss it because I have plans that night to have dinner with a family friend from Cincinnati, so I couldn’t miss my last session. As always JET was fun, mostly because of the people and our really funny teacher, Mark Lazar, and even though it’s over, I had fun during the whole process, and definitely learned a lot that can help me with my work at Northern Hills Synagogue. To sweeten up the night after the ending of JET, I got to go out to Max Brenner ice cream (it’s an extremely popular gelato company in Israel). My friend Aviva’s dad was in town for business and took out a bunch of Aviva’s friends for dessert to meet them. Her dad is so sweet and ice cream is always a special and scrumptious treat. To end the night after a very busy day I was just happy to curl up with my friends, Kayla and Hillary, and watch the newest Glee episode, which was amaaaazing (I might have cried of happiness).



everyoneenjoyed the yummy ice cream



When Thursday rolled around, I was more than surprised that it was already Thanksgiving, not only has time flown by but the weather here is still so warm, it definitely did not feel like Thanksgiving day. Some of you may also wonder if Thanksgiving is even celebrated here because it’s an American holiday, and why would we celebrate it if we’re in Israel? Well first of all, most Americans will still celebrate the holiday, and every year Nativ throws a huuuge Thanksgiving dinner and all families and Nativ alumni are invited (but I’ll talk more about the dinner later). But to answer the other question, why would we celebrate thanksgiving in Israel? Not only is at a nice family holiday that is about being thankful, but I think that it is secretly a Jewish holiday too... Another name for thanksgiving is Turkey-day and “turkey” in Hebrew is “hodoo” which also means thanks in Hebrew, which must mean something! Because of the excitement, the morning classes flew by.  Everyone gets dressed up for Thanksgiving dinner at Nativ because the night is so special, so I decided to straighten my hair. In the midst of the chaos of everyone getting ready for the evening activities, I was glad that I had a skype date planned for Tamar and me. I was definitely missing being with the family at home on this extremely family-oriented holiday, so seeing Tamar and Imma in the kitchen while the Macy’s thanksgiving day parade played in the background, put me in high spirits. Plus, Tamar and I were able to book our hotel for the night we go to Eilat when she visits me in Israel (it’s sooooo soon!). Even though I was missing the family, that skype session really helped, and when I signed off, I got a call from Evan, my chevruta, who was just around the corner with my salmon(even more home-comfort)! I was so thankful for my salmon and gave Evan a big hug, and it was so sweet because he was so concerned that it would be alright. On my way back from the corner where I got my fish, I saw my friend Aviva, and was so excited, that I showed off my salmon. As we were walking back onto base we passed the kitchen windows (which we usually pass by without noticing) and saw Yossi Garr (the Director of Nativ), Elkhana  Cohen (the Assistant-Director of Nativ), and David Keren (the Director of Nativ before Yossi) COOKING/ MASSACRING SOOOO MANY TURKEYS FOR THANKSGIVING DINNER. It was hilarious to see all three of them in aprons and gloves slicing and carving all those turkeys (I tried not to think of them as birds, and put aside my vegetarianism). With that distraction, I had very little time to get dressed, and joined the mad rush of girls in our hall, so we’d be ready by 5:30 for the night’s entertainment. Luckily I managed to be on time, and there was time for photos before the evening. We were then shuffled into the Synagogue on base (Nativers, families, and alumni!) to get treated to an amazing performance by the Nativ accapella group, I was definitely surprised by some people, who I had no idea could sing. Plus there was a small video that three Nativers made that showed clips and moments from our past three months here (I was in it studying at the yeshiva, I’m famous!). Finally it was the main event… dinner! I had my salmon and was ready to go, but Nativ had a little surprise for us at the entrance to the dining hall... letters from our parents! I had e-mails, from Imma and Abba, Leah and Matthew, Tamar, and even my Imma’s friend, Jenny, who has been following my blog.  Reading the letters definitely brought a few tears and made me a little sad I wasn’t with my family for the holiday, but mostly the surprise was a very exciting treat for everyone. Dinner was next on the agenda and I made everyone at my table say what they were thankful for, just to throw in one of my family traditions. Surprisingly the food was really good. The salmon was obviously delicious, Evan had used an Asian sauce, and was perfectly cooked. Nativ itself had really good green beans, yams, and even vegetarian stuffing. Needless to say, like any other thanksgiving, I was stuffed to the gills. Even though I was done eating, people were still enjoying talking and I had heard that some Nativ alumni that had been on Tamar’s year were at dinner. JJ, who used to work for Nativ and got close to Tamar when she was on Nativ, introduced me to the 4 people, and having that connection to Tamar was pretty special. After meeting Tamar’s friends, I ran up to my room, to put away my camera before the last of the night’s festivities. As habit, I quickly turned on my computer to check if I had gotten any mail and while I was changing into comfy clothes for the night, my computer started ringing. I got to skype with my family a second time that Thanksgiving. Abba was there too this time which was extra special, and I got to tell them all about my delicious Thanksgiving (even though they hadn’t even had theirs yet!).  After the “visit” from the family, it was nice to spend the rest of the night in the auditorium where they were playing all the Thanksgiving episodes from the show “friends”.

Sam, Tali, and I, all spiffy for the evening

Hillary, Ariel, Becca (clad in Nativ American attire)

JJ and I

Ari and Aaron, before we said what we were thankful for

 I woke up reeeally early (6:30) Friday morning, which is usually my sleep in day, because I hadn’t been feeling well the previous night and stayed up till 2:30, dealing with not feeling well and packing for the Yeshiva Shabbaton (spending Shabbat with a group of people, usually at a different place, like a youth hostel) and I had to go to the doctor. We were supposed to leave at 8:30, but I knew I needed to go to the doctor first. I was really worried I’d either not be allowed to go on the trip, or miss the bus, and I had been looking forward to it since I’d heard about it. Considering I wasn’t feeling well, and I had barely anytime to figure out my transportation, I was very stressed and flustered. Even though this was an awful time to not be feeling well, I got the best turnout for an awful situation. I talked to Rabbi Goldfarb, who is in charge of the Conservative Yeshiva, and basically, after many phone calls, he was able to find me a later ride to the Shabbaton, plus the medicine the doctor gave me made me better by the afternoon! Even though I missed the hike that all the other Yeshiva students got to do, since I arrived later, I wouldn’t have been able to do the hike anyways since I wasn’t feeling 100%, so it worked out perfectly. I got to the youth hostel in time to wait for the rest of the Yeshiva students to return from their hike. Everyone got ready for Shabbat, and the evening went on from there. Kabbalat Shabbat (services to bring in Shabbat) was beautiful (a lot of people in the Yeshiva have nice voices, unlike me). Dinner was adequate taste-wise, but being with all my friends from the Yeshiva for dinner was so much fun, and when people finished they started singing songs. There was a Chumash study session following dinner, but it was only 7:30 and I was already exhausted, and I still wanted to have energy for the Tish (sing songs, eat food, and tell stories, usually relating to the weekly torah reading). Becca (one of my roommates that weekend, fellow Nativer, and friend) and I decided to take a nap before the tish. It was definitely worth it, the singing was so fun, and afterwards I hung out with a bunch of people, bonding was definitely a big plus to the Shabbaton, so it was a fun night.

I didn’t get much sleep, like I usually like to get during Shabbat, because I had stayed up late the previous night hanging out with friends, and still had to get up for services. Even though I was still a little sad that I had missed the hike from the previous day, I was lucky that we were located in the north in Ein Harod in Beit She’an, which had some really cool landmarks, so after services there was an option to go explore/hike to those locations.  We got to see Harod’s spring, which was the location of where Harod was able to test the soldiers/eliminate them to a smaller number for god(the story isn’t so clear in my memory but I’m sure it’s on google J). From the spring we hiked up a small mountain that ended out the grave of a huge Zionist, who was a huge cause for the establishment of Israel. Not only were these cool sights, but the view was amaaazing. Even though it was the end of November, the weather was so sunny and gorgeous; the flowers were still in bloom on the trees the sun just makes everything happier. Another mediocre meal followed the hike, and we were given free time in the afternoon to rest, or in my case, play games! Abby Ravsky, Evan’s wife, who I clicked with during Yom Kippur came to the Shabbaton (everyone’s family was invited), and she introduced a big group of us to the card game FLUXX. It’s too complicated to explain, but it’s definitely addicting.  We played all afternoon until it was time for an early dinner. We had quick evening prayers and were on the bus by 6:30. Although it was so early, it was so dark out that it felt like it was 8:30, and I was exhausted from my nap-less Shabbat. After getting carsick I enjoyed a “nice” ride back home, and after reuniting with friends after a long weekend, I passed out in my bed, sleep deprived, and realizing how much I needed an American Sunday the next day, instead of classes.

Even though I had school, because of the Shabbaton, we got to come in Sunday a half hour later than usual, which is better than nothing. I was still tired from the weekend, so during our lunch break, I took a nap and got to watch Bones with my friend Zoe (it’s our show). That evening turned out to be really fun too. We had our Carmiel November-Birthday party, and it was dress-like-a-superhero theme! My friend, Debra Goss, dressed up as “catwoman” together, there was also a superman, 2 powder puff girls, and even captain underpants. Seeing everyone’s costumes was a fun surprise, and the food and games added to some group bonding, and just a fun rest of the night.

Debra and I dressed as cat woman

Catwoman surrounded by Powder Puff Girls (Zoe Kronovet and Allie Griff)

Roni (my staff) was a troll!

Making Up For Last Week

Even though last week I had some stories to share, it was still a shorter entry, and the routine was pretty monotonous. But this week, if you think you can handle it, I have redeemed myself with more adventures and stories than should be legal to enter in one blog entry.

Unlike last week, where I skipped some days in my blog entry because nothing happened, this week’s adventures pick up the very day after I left off, Sunday. Imma and Abba (Hebrew for mom and dad) actually went to Michigan for the weekend to visit my Bubbe and Zayde, and Grams (my Grandparents) and the rest of our family there. I hadn’t been able to talk to them since I left for Israel, so when Imma and Abba visited, they brought a web camera with them to set up on Grams’ computer so we could skype (video chat over the internet). Because of the time difference I left class early (my teacher completely understood even if he jokingly gave me a hard time) and after two and a half months (wow has it been that long already?!?) I finally got to SEE and talk to my grandparents and 2 of my cousins! I was so excited and thankful that not only had my uncle worked hard at figuring out how to install the camera and skype program onto Grams’ stubborn computer, but also, my Grams had organized a brunch so that my Bubbe and Zayde and cousins could come over and skype. It was so exciting to finally “see” the family, and now that skype is installed I’ll be able to plan more skype “dates” with the family! After seeing the whole family, I realized how much I missed not being able to visit everyone with Imma and Abba like usual, so to distract me, my friends, Zoe, Dave, and Jessica let me help them cook dinner. Even though I already had a salad prepared, I really miss cooking at home with my Imma. They were all happy to have extra help with making the stirfry, and I was so glad to be back in the makeshift “kitchen”. (Nativ has now converted the bomb shelter into a “kitchen” by supplying 2 hot plates, a toaster oven and a microwave, but we’d have to buy our own pots and pans to use it). I was having such a good evening after skyping and cooking, but I still had another JET program (Jewish Education Training). It was actually a really fun class, we got to act out classroom scenarios for different age groups and situations, so not only did we learn how to deal with them as teachers; we got to play roles and act like little kids for fun. I guess I was already in a childish mood, so it was great that I got to watch the first half of Lion King with one of my friends, Debra, before she had to skype with her mom.  Lion King is definitely one of my favorite Disney movies and singing along with the songs always puts me in a good mood.

Not only have my days been full of happiness, so has the weather in Israel. It’s already the middle of November and it is still 80 degrees and sunny. Even though this makes the days really enjoyable, it’s actually dangerous for Israel because Israel has a very low water supply and depends on the rain in the winter time just to get by. Right now it’s practically a drought, but the weather is still nice to appreciate, because it’s just plain hard not to enjoy the sun. Because Nativ supplies lunches for the Yeshiva and Ulpan students on Monday, a bunch of us decided to take advantage of the sunny weather and take our food in to-go-trays from the lunch room to the park across the street. It was so sunny and the music and blankets made for a really nice change of scenery from the usual lunch room. I got another special meal that night when I want to Alex and Laura’s house for dinner. It had been a really long time since I’d seen my cousin, and since I hadn’t been able to go to their house for Shabbas dinner because of our closed weekend, we were lucky to find that Monday night was open on both our calendars. Dena Rapaport was also able to come to dinner, and it had been quite a while since I’d seen her too, which added to the awesome evening.  Laura (with the help of Alex) baked some delicious salmon, Israeli couscous, and a delicious salad, not to mention a plum tart for desert. I was in heaven with delicious homemade food, and had such a fun time just talking and catching up on everyone’s lives. I left full to my gills and enjoyed the walk back to base, to walk off some of the night’s dinner. When I got back, I found I had made it back just in time to see tonight’s Israel movie. It was called “The Secrets” and is about these orthodox women studying In Jerusalem, who meet a Russian woman who wants their help repenting before she dies. There are some really intense scenes and was really interesting, plus the movie only came with Hebrew subtitles, so even though 2 of our Israeli staff translated some of the movie, it was cool to watch and understand some of the Hebrew that they didn’t translate.

Seth, Sean, and I enjoying the picnic

Nina, Tamar, Becca, Ariel, and I (the girls)

Alex, Laura, and I after an delicous dinner

Apparently the change of scenes for my meals wasn’t over yet. Tuesday for lunch I got a very special treat! If you didn’t know, my family lived in England for three years, when I was in 1^st through 3^rd grade, and we made a lot of good friends, some like family. It’s been hard to keep in touch with everybody but one family we’ve kept in touch with are Charles and Pauline Posner. I can still remember when I was little and playing in their house during a Shabbat lunch after services. They were always such good friends when we lived in England and even though I hadn’t seen them since I was in 5^th grade, Tamar was able to see them a lot when she was on Nativ (they visit Israel a lot) and e-mail has been a great way to keep in touch.  When I came to Israel it was obvious I had to tell them I was here in case they ever visited Israel. I was so happy to find out that Pauline would be visiting Israel and would be in Jerusalem for two days, so lunch was a great way to see her. Seeing Pauline made it seem as if it hadn’t been forever since my last visit to England, and as always I love having “family” to spend time with in Israel. I showed Pauline around the Nativ base, where I live, and as we headed out to lunch, we ran into a very funny coincidence. Since I live next to the Yeshiva and it was the Yeshiva lunch time, sometimes teachers and students come outside and enjoy the weather or go out to lunch. At the very time we were walking through the outdoor amphitheater, one of the Rabbis who teaches at the Yeshiva was walking outside too. Apparently this rabbi is now the Rabbi for Pauline’s shul (the shul that my family helped start when we lived in England)! Pauline stopped in shock and began talking with Rabbi Joel Levy, apparently he knows my family, and he became the Rabbi of the shul just as we were moving back to Cincinnati. He was surprised to find out I was a “famous” Pentelnik, and the Jewish geography was very exciting. Pauline and I still had lunch to attend, and she treated me to this delicious lunch at Restobar, which I’ve passed a lot when walking around the city. We got to sit outside and enjoy the sunny weather while still being in the shade and I had a delicious Sweet Potato Soup and Blue Cheese Salad. Though the delicious food was a really exciting treat, being with Pauline was even more amazing. We talked forever until her friend picked her up from lunch so they could spend time together. I was also so excited to hear that both Pauline AND Charles would be visiting Israel 2 more times while I’m on Nativ! We had had so much fun, that our lunch had run late of course, but luckily, I was still able to make it in time for mine and Tamar’s skype date. It had been so long since we’d talked, and now we were finally able to start discussing our plans for when she visits in December. Now we have so many ideas and I even got permission from my Nativ Director that I can leave early before my break starts so Tamar and I can spend two days in Eilat, I’m so excited.  Now that the plans are starting to come together, everything seems real.  Apparently Tuesday was also family day, because after Tamar and I skyped for a long time, Imma and I skyped for another hour, just discussing all my plans, and really catching up on both of our adventures. It was so nice just to have a “family” evening. With skype, it makes the distance seem so much smaller, even though I couldn’t really hug Tamar or Imma, the fact that I could see them and talk with them, was awesome. The rest of the evening I worked more on plans, and cleaned up my room (which can be very fulfilling/relaxing) and had Erev Nativ, and a much-needed-early-bedtime.

Pauline and I with our meals that looked beautiful

One last goodbye until later

The amazing weather was still keeping up by Wednesday, so after lunch I wanted to walk around Jerusalem, since I didn’t have anything to do till class time. I was able to find that two of my friends, Zoe and Becca, were planning to go check out the artist colony near the Mamilla Mall. I’d passed it a lot on all of our tours through Jerusalem, and had always been curious, so I didn’t hesitate to join them on their escapade. Unfortunately the artist colony wasn’t really interesting and the art was less than expected, but at least, now I know. At least I was able to enjoy another sunny day. That night, after class, we had another Beit Midrash class, this time I attended a class that discussed astrology and its correspondence to ancient Judaism and Judaism today, It was so interesting to learn about the stars influence on some Rabbis theologies, and it went really well with my leftover soup and salad from my lunch with Pauline J.

Of course this week kept up with more antics, and Thursday afternoon, since we get out of class early, I finally went shopping (It had been over a month!). I had heard about this consignment shop on Yaffo Street, and I really wanted some big sweaters to wear with leggings (it is starting to get chilly in the evenings), plus consignment shops are always fun to explore and check out. I told my friend, Allie Griff, about the store and she really wanted to check it out too, thus our adventure began. The store was so cute and small, it had some crazy full length dresses (if only I had another prom or ball to go to), and I was able to find 2 great sweaters for the winter while Allie found a really cute poncho, basically, the shopping was a success. We got back with smiles on our faces and in time for a quick Nativ dinner before football practice. There was a program that night for people who would work at camps that summer, so a lot of our team wasn’t available for practice. It was fun having another small practice, we even had fun goofing around, singing, and dancing, but don’t worry we still worked hard. The night wasn’t over yet though, at 9:30 I got to see… HARRY POTTER 7. Not only did I see harry Potter opening night in Israel, but I saw it before people in America were even ABLE to see it! Plus it was just an amazing movie in general, and the Israel experience made it very unique. In Israel, when you buy tickets, you are actually assigned seats. Since my friends and I arrived only 7 minutes before the movie, the only row available was row 2. But the theater we were at is actually a converted theater for plays, so we had awesome seat since there was an entire distance of a stage between our seats and the screen. Plus, there were Hebrew subtitles on the bottom of the screen, and I enjoyed glancing at them at points and understanding the Hebrew- what a cool experience.  Lastly, in Israel their movies have “intermission”. They stop the movie in the middle of its viewing, and even though it’s technically a “smoking break”, because a lot of Israelis smoke and “need” that intermission (gross), it’s also a great break to run to the bathroom or get a drink. Harry Potter was an exciting end to a fun day of being with friends.

Harry Potter was so exciting and scary!

The next morning, I had to wake up early to pack for Pizgat Zev (a community in north Jerusalem), where the Weiner family live, because I was going to spend Shabbat with them! Even though I wouldn’t be leaving till 1:30, I had just gotten a phone call the day before from Shir Cohen, my friend from Netanya, who was in Jerusalem and wanted to meet up Friday morning.  So after starting packing, I went down to breakfast, where I heard that my friend Zoe’s plans had been canceled a second week in a row, which no one should have to go through. I asked her if she’d be interested in coming with me to the Wieners, even though I told her there was no guarantee, since it was last minute, but she said she’d really like to if it was possible. On my walk to Ben Yehuda Street to meet Shir, I called the Wiener family, and even though I said they shouldn’t feel obligated at all, they are such a loving family and said of course Zoe could come. When I got off the phone I was able to spend the morning with Shir, which was so much fun. We just spent the morning walking down Yaffo Street, browsing in all the stores, while catching up on life; basically, it was a great way to start the weekend. Zoe and I left for Pizgat Zev after lunch and got to the Weiner’s house at around 2:30. Just entering the home, it felt like any stresses were lifted away, I could tell it was going to be a vacation-like weekend! Whenever I come over its like being at my home in Israel, I feel so comfortable and I’m with “family”. Plus, that Shabbat, Yael, their daughter who is my age, was in, and their daughter Michal (Tamar’s age) came too. It was so awesome seeing them both, especially Yael, even when we won’t talk for a long time; it’s always easy to reconnect, and ever since I came to Israel we’ve been keeping in touch more and more. Before Shabbat it was fun to just talk with the family, and watch Glee, of course. But dinner was a different story. As I’ve said before, David Weiner is an amazing cook, For Shabbat dinner, not only was there homemade challah, there was a delicious Indian soup, a yummy rice/onion dish, and a special vegetarian tofu and vegetable stir-fry, I was in heaven.  I definitely don’t get food like this on Nativ, and the family atmosphere was a refreshing break from the college-like atmosphere I’m used to.  After a delicious dinner, Zoe and I were so exhausted that we were falling asleep at the table, so we took an early night and went straight to bed. The second my head hit the pillow, I was out.



Shir and I



Yael and Michal let me in on a sister pic



Zoe, Yael, and I



After about 12 hours of sleep, I awoke, well rested and very relaxed. Zoe was also awake, so we joined the family pajama party; everyone was just enjoying the relaxing Shabbat with a good sleep-in and family time. By 11, we figured that it was time to eat, so we started putting together a Shabbas brunch that reminded me of home. The feast of fresh veggies, cheeses, tuna salad, and homemade challah was delish and very relaxing. For the next couple of hours (while we were still in our pajamas) we played Bananagrams and Anagrams, perfect games for Shabbat that are just plain fun. Even though I had slept so much the previous night, I somehow still got tired after a playing the games for a while, so I took an hour nap, while Zoe read a book and Yael rested. By the time I woke up it was already time for Havdalah (when Shabbat ends- when there are three stars in the sky) because Shabbat ends so early in the winter. After Havdalah, we thought a movie was a good way to enjoy Zoe and my last bit of time with the family. The movie was a classic that Zoe and I had never seen before, “Music Empire”. It was a really funny movie, and it was the first time I’d watched something on a tv screen in over 2 and a half months! (we watch our shows and movies on our computers).  It was especially nice that when it was time to go, David drove us home rather than having to take the bus home at night, and even though I’d had such a relaxing day, completely in my pajamas, I was still exhausted when we got back and I went right to bed.

Sunday wasn’t very eventful; it was just a day to get back into the swing of things. There wasn’t much to do because almost everyone went to go see the new Harry Potter, but I had seen it on Thursday already. Luckily I still had a great night, because it was apparently family night! After skyping with my friend Lainey back in Cincinnati I had 3 consecutive skype dates; first I skyped with my parents, next was Tamar, followed by Leah! Even though I didn’t really have any special adventures, “spending the night” with my family was special in its own way.

As always, have a good week, and I know there was a lot to read this week, but there was just so much that happened, so I hope it was entertaining.

No News is Good News…

Contrary to the title of this blog, some things did happen in my life this past week on Nativ, just not as much as usual, which, like my title points out, isn’t necessarily a bad thing. So even though this is a short entry, everything is still great on Nativ, no worries.

Like every Monday, I had a football game. We played against the team with the head of the league on it, so it was assumed that we’d lose. Even though we lost by around  40 points, we still got a touchdown. Plus the first 2 times I played defense I was doing a pretty bad job and was feeling awful, but my third and last time on the field, I made up for my bad game and never left the side of the person I was defending!

Tuesday was Erev Nativ, like always (I’m pretty sure you will all know my schedule pretty well after reading my blog a couple more times). In our meeting that night we had a speaker from AIPAC, which is The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, America’s pro-Israel lobby.  It was pretty interesting, and I’m not even interested in politics and that kind of thing. Later that night I also joined google voice, which was very exciting!! Basically they assign you an American cell phone number which I can access from the internet. Now I can text friends and family in America and there are no extra fees. I stayed up late that night texting so many people that I hadn’t been able to reach in forever.

I was able to finally veer away from my weekly repetitive schedule Wednesday night. As I mentioned in my last blog entry, I celebrated my chevruta’s 1 year wedding anniversary, Saturday at Shabbat lunch and got invited to another party Wednesday in honor of Abby and Evan’s anniversary. It was actually funny, in a sad way, because Evan had to leave Yeshiva early that day because he got sick, and couldn’t even make it to the party that evening, but Abby was happy to see me!  I went with three of my friends from Nativ that go to Yeshiva: Becca, Joel, and Tamar. We got there and it was a little bit awkward at first because we didn’t know many other people, but as the night went on we met the other guests and had a blast. Plus, at the very beginning when Abby started introducing me to people, one of those guests turned out to be Rachel Zakem! Rachel is a family friend from back home in Cincinnati, we go to the same shul, our families have been friends for a long time, and I’m friends with her younger sister Mimi. I didn’t even know Rachel was in Israel so it was such a cool surprise and as always, it’s nice to see a familiar face. The party was so fun, meeting new people and being with friends, and when we got back I saw my friend Aviva. I was sitting with her and a few other people when we realized it was past midnight, and she had just turned 18! To celebrate we ran to the convenience store so she could buy Ben and Jerry’s ice cream to celebrate. We sang happy birthday, but then it was time for bed.

Rachel and I!

Celebrating with Abby, the famous "bride"

Aviva the birthday girl!

The next day, the only thing exciting was more celebrating Aviva’s birthday. Since they had a meeting for the people going on the Poland trip Thursday night, when the meeting got out, Aviva was able to get one of the staff members setup the movie Inception in the auditorium. It was like going to the movie theater for free. The movie was sooo good and intense. I left confused and wanting to see it again and again to understand it just a little bit more with each viewing.

Friday morning I was disappointed to wake up and not remember my dreams, after watching Inception the previous night. But I was excited that we would be leaving for a Shabaton (a trip to another place as a group to celebrate Shabbat). All three different tracks were going to different places so they could “bond” that Shabbat. My track, Be’er Sheva, was leaving after lunch to Ma’alot. Not only is it the town that Elkana, Nativ’s assistant-director, grew up, it’s also a small city in the very north of Israel, only 7 kilometers south of the Lebanon border. The bus ride was just over 2 hours, and it was nice to see that our group could be chill and quiet and not get on each other’s nerves. When we arrived, Elkana took us to a lookout point to see how beautiful Ma’alot is, and showed us Israel’s only manmade lake, which the governor decided to build to bring tourism, even though all it did was bring pollution into the lake.  Ma’alot also has the second largest ice skating rink in Israel, so that does bring in some intense ice skating events.  Because they wanted us to bond that weekend, we were housed with people our staff didn’t see us hang out with as much. I got housed with Rachel David, and we were put at one of the only two Israeli homes (the rest were all American or Canadian families that made Aliyah). Even though there was a bit of a language barrier, Rachel and I both learned Hebrew in day school, so we were able to make it work. The family was really sweet, and the whole town is an Orthodox Jewish community, so the family had 7 kids, though only one lived at home. They made a nice and simple Shabbat dinner, and that evening our entire track met back at the shul for a tish (a get together where we sang songs for Shabbat). We also heard Elkana’s father, Boaz, talk about the history of Ma’a lot which was very interesting, in fact he gets hired to be a speaker, even in America.

Elkana and I in front of beautiful Ma'alot

Israel's only man made lake



Rachel and I in our room



Saturday morning, Rachel and I woke up to the bright sun, and got ready for shul. We came back to the house for lunch and the family had two of their married kids join us for lunch, which was fun because there were 5 grandkids to add some entertainment. After lunch Rachel and I enjoyed our Shabbas by reading and sleeping, I didn’t realize how tired I was till my head hit the pillow. Rachel woke meu up in time so that we could head over to Elkana’s father’s house to be together for Seudat Shlishit (3^rd meal during Shabbat) and pray for Minchah and Maariv. After some more songs and Havdalah (the ceremony to end Shabbat) we went to our host homes to pack up and met at the bus. Because of traffic we didn’t make it back till 10 o clock, but since we never got a real dinner, Nativ still ordered us pizza, and after a fun weekend away, I was tired enough to just want to hang out with people on base before going to bed.

I also know this upcoming week will have a lot more exciting news but I hope this still had some interest and, as always, enjoy your week (and thanks to all the comments and followers, I really appreciate it).

Celebrations from beginning to end

In order to make this blog entry true to its title, we have to begin immediately where the last blog entry left off. It was Halloween, and like I said, I was too tired and didn’t want to go out and celebrate with everyone else. I also didn’t want to be all alone so I hung out with my friends, Aaron Lapping and Jacob Feinberg, and some other friends kept popping in to hang out. I was tired, but it was Aaron’s Birthday at midnight, so I decided to stay and celebrate since mostly everyone else had gone out. Jacob and Aaron had long balloons and an air pump in their room, so to celebrate Aaron’s birthday I made him a hat out of balloons, and Jacob found videos online on how to make balloon animals. I made Aaron a balloon dog too, and Jacob made me a balloon bunny! 

The birthday boy with his hat and balloon dog

balloon bunny

 Since Sunday carried into Monday, the fun kept continuing. Michal Washofsky is a good friend back home from Cincinnati, and she made Aliyah (moved to Israel) this year and is in the army. Michal was able to spend some time in Jerusalem and I got to see her for lunch! It was so nice seeing a friend from home, and since Michal did a gap year in Israel last year, like what I am doing now, she was able to relate to all my new experiences and give me great advice.  That evening was also going to be our first real football game (the last was only a scrimmage) plus it was the first one I would be able to play in since the last time I hurt my leg and ankle. As I was getting ready, there was all of a sudden a mass collection of people outside of Bet Nativ… it was a huge protest!! There were so many people, roads were closed off and there were police everywhere. The protest was against the government for giving money to Charedi (Ultra-Religious) Jews to study at Yeshiva, while all the other students don’t get any money and have to go to the army. It was understandable why it caused such a riot, plus it was such an experience to be part of a moment in history; it can be a pretty cool place, living at Beit Nativ with its awesome location. We still had our game that night, I was pretty nervous since I have no experience with football. Even though we lost pretty badly, we still got one touchdown, we had a lot of fun, and I was able to play my defensive role without getting lost, lol. When I got back, I had missed a bit of the Israeli movie that they play every Sunday night, but my friend Jacob had already seen it, so he explained the movie and what I had missed so I was able to watch it. The movie is called, “Walking on Water,” and it’s an amazing movie about an Israeli soldier who’s supposed to catch an old Nazi that is suspected of still being alive. It was so intense and had such deep meanings, I’m so glad I was able to watch it even after our game.

Like every day on Nativ, something always happens even if it’s something small, like on Tuesday. That afternoon I went to the shuk because I wanted to get some kedem grapejuice. In Israel their grapejuice tastes awful and it’s what we get every week on Nativ. My friend, Tali, and I had been talking about how much we missed kedem grapejuice, but it’s very hard to find in Israel and is quite expensive.  I also knew that my friend, Dena Rapaport would be bringing me some of my Imma’s homemade challah the next day, so I figured it was the perfect opportunity to get some Kedem and enjoy the classic combo from back home. I was so happy I could find it at the shuk, and even though it was around $4 for a normal sized bottle, it is so worth it! That night we also had Erev Nativ, our mandatory night with our tracks. That night was a roommate competition. Roommates had to dress up in matching costumes and then we competed in trivia. Rotem , my roommate, dressed up as guys, and even though we didn’t win the competition it was so fun playing and seeing everyone’s costumes.

Rotem and i as "bros"

Our fun table with "KISS"

Wednesday evening I went to this new activity Nativ is starting. It’s called Beit Midrash, and we will basically get to study Jewish topics every week with students from the Jewish Theological Seminary. We discussed different topics that we’d like to study for the rest of the semester and I’m excited to learn more about some teshuvot and other modern day topics. That night I also got my homemade challah that Dena delivered, and that was freshly baked with love by my Imma on Sunday. Of course I wasn’t going to wait all the way till Shabbat, so I cracked open the bottle of kedem grapejuice (of course I gave a little to Tali) and enjoyed the best meal I’ve had since I got to Israel. I was so happy I was telling everybody about my “package” and even shared a few tastes. The fun continued through to the next day. One of my friends, Tali Marcus, who I mentioned has celiac disease, was turning 19 on Wednesday! As I’ve mentioned before, I have family friends that live in Pizgat Zev, in Jerusalem, the Weiner family, and one of their daughters has celiac disease too. I took Tali there for Sukkot and she had such amazing gluten-free meals when she was there. I was thinking about Tali’s birthday and thought about how she couldn’t get a real birthday cake because of her celiac, but then I thought of David Wiener, and when I called him up he said he could make a gluten-free birthday cake! Even though I had wanted to help bake the cake, our calendars didn’t match up, but David said it would be easy for him to bake one up and deliver it! I got the cake Wednesday, so I talked to Tali’s roommates about coming over and surprising Tali with it at midnight. Aimee and Roshana, were all for it and even had blown up tons of balloons that day to surprise Tali too. Tali had basketball that night so I came over around 11:45, the plan was for her to come back and while she was in the shower we’d bring all the balloons in and light the cake. Unfortunately Tali had homework she wanted to finish and she didn’t get our hints about taking the shower, so she didn’t start showering till 12:30. Luckily we were able to still surprise her when she came out of the shower. She was sooo happy with the surprise and with the birthday cake, and just the fact that her friends wanted to celebrate her birthday. It was so fun celebrating I didn’t get to sleep till 3.

getting the balloons from one room into Tali's while she showered

Tali, Aimee, and Roshana

giving Tali her cake

Tali enjoying her gluten-free birthday cake

The next day, Thursday, school ended early because it was Thursday. I was just coming back from picking up a small treat for Tali on her birthday when I ran into her on her way to the shuk. I decided to join her even though I had her gift in my bag (a crazy hat we both wanted so neither of us got it, 1 month ago). It was so fun exploring the shops; we were just enjoying the afternoon exploring and even found this consignment shop with crazy clothes that made us laugh a lot. It was fun spending so much time with the birthday girl all afternoon. When we got back I had just enough time to write her card before dinner. After dinner there was football practice and there was also a mandatory meeting for all the people going on the Poland trip Nativ is offering for people who have never been. I went to football practice, but because of the Poland meeting only 8 girls came. I thought it was going to be such a waste of a practice but it was actually really good. I could feel myself improving with my defense, and the girl I was defending said she noticed I improved too, which was a very good feeling (not to mention I didn’t hurt my ankle). Even though I was tired after practice I was also pumped from my success and ready to spend the rest of the night celebrating Tali’s Birthday by going bowling! Before we left I gave her the hat, which she loved, mostly because I remembered how she’d loved its craziness when we’d seen it. I made her bring it to bowling to wear as her birthday “crown”. The night was so fun, even though my throat was feeling pretty soar near the end of the night.

Tali with her birthday hat

I'm such a bowler

Yossi and I were the best team... even though we lost

The next day I woke up (After sleeping in because the weekend starts on Friday in Israel!) and my throat was feeling worse than the day before because of drainage. I thought I’d check out the clinic to nip whatever-I-was-getting in the bud, and since my friend, Jenny was already going. Unfortunately we didn’t get there till 9:30 and the drop-in clinic closes at 9, so it was a wasted visit, but at least we got to walk 20 minutes there and back for some exercise. I had already decided to take a break from travels and enjoy a simple weekend relaxing on base and since I wasn’t feeling so healthy I decided to enjoy my day off, resting in my room and catching up on some American tv shows that I’ve missed. It was nice to have a day where I didn’t have to do anything; they don’t come often on a program like Nativ. Plus, that night I got to enjoy more of my Imma’s homemade challah and Kedem grape juice, which made my Shabbas amaaazing.

Like the title of this blog entry states, I got to end my week with more celebrations, and this time, not another birthday. At the Yeshiva we have many classes and with each class we have a chevruta which is a person you study one-on-one with before class time with the teacher. In my Chumash class I am chevrutas with Evan Ravsky¸ and I met his wife, Abby, during Yom Kippur who I immediately clicked with, and always get hugs from whenever I see her. It is their one year anniversary on Monday and Evan said to come to Kedem for services on Saturday because they would be sponsoring Kiddush in honor of their anniversary. It had been a while since I’d gone to Kedem but I’ve always loved services there. It was so nice to finally be back with the kehilla of friends, I knew so many people from Yeshiva that all waved Shabbat “hellos” when I walked in and the service was lovely as always. I even got the Levi aliyah, which is always an honor, and they told me that next time I could even wash the Cohens’ hands before Birkat HaCohenim! During the repetition of the musaf amidah, I left early to help Abby setup for the Kiddush, and it was just nice to see her again and catch-up. Kiddush was of course yummy and it was nice to talk to friends and feel like a part of the congregation. Abby and Evan even invited me to a lunch party one of their friends was hosting for them, which of course I accepted. I knew almost everyone at lunch because they were mostly from Yeshiva, and there were probably around 20 of them. It was so fun talking with friends and even meeting some new people. It was extra special because it was Evan and Abby’s last Shabbat within in their first year of marriage so it was the last time they would be putting honey on their challah (until Rosh Hashanah), but it was sweet to share that experience with them. The food was also amazing! Evan made this delicious honey mustard salmon and there was eggplant and sweet potatoes and salad and more, it was quite a buffet. They even sent e home with 2 meals worth of salmon! Plus I got invited to another celebratory party for Abby and Evan Wednesday night. Jewish geography even played a role in the event, because the party is being hosted by Jon Canel, who knows one of my friends from USY, Dan Bardenstein - even in Israel, American Jewish Geography still works. I was having so much fun celebrating that I didn’t get back to base till 4:30, and realized I never caught up on my rest because I missed my Shabbas nap. Since my cold is escalating I’ve taken the evening to rest up and go to bed early so hopefully I can heal before having to visit the doctor.

I hope your upcoming week will be as fun as y week has been. And don’t forget to change your clocks!

MASA, Machpela, and more

(this should have been posted sunday but the internet hasn't been working, sorry)

Wow, what a way to start off the week. There is nothing better than a concert, especially when its free, it’s with all of your friends, and it’s with Idan Raichel! MASA which grants thousands of scholarships to people going for the year to Israel, sponsored this Idan Raichel concert, and since all Nativ participants are signed up with MASA, Nativ bought us all tickets and made it a mandatory event - which doesn’t seem like such a demand.  We all got Nativ 30 t-shirts, which is pretty cool and the concert was amaaazing. I’d already been to one of his concerts before but it was such a different experience- the first time was in Cincinnati and it was outside, a lot less people, and I got to stand in the “front row”. This time, the concert was inside and it was a huge theater, and Nativ seats were in the balcony. As the concert went on most people went downstairs to stand up front and get close to the stage. Since I’d already had that experience, I stayed up top and enjoyed watching the whole bands’ interactions. Even though there were also speeches by MASA people at the beginning, there were also some cool mini performances, one even included fire breathers! What an awesome evening.

we got our t shirts!



cool act



Idan Reichal concert!

Even though I’d usually be tired after such a crazy day, I woke up Tuesday morning with a lot of energy and excitement – we were going on a field trip with Yeshiva! We still had our morning Tuesday class that day (Chumash) and even though it was shortened, I had a really awesome class; me and my chevruta (study partner) were really productive and brought some of our own drashes (new interpretations of the text) to share with the class. When the second class was done, most of the Yeshiva students were rushed onto a bus to go to the Supreme Court. I’ve been making a lot of friends with the non-Nativers at Yeshiva so I was really excited to spend the day with them outside of the Beit Midrash.  The Supreme Court building had such interesting symbolic architecture and I got a brochure that described the symbolism of each room. It was so cool how the building combined the ancient with the modern to define Israel and its Supreme court. Even though I pretty much hate government and politics, I actually found it interesting when our tour guide tried to explain how Israel’s Supreme Court works. But it got much better when the Yeshiva left for lunch and went to a bird observatory for a picnic! There weren’t many birds out at  time, but we learned a lot about how birds are tracked, and the tremendously long journeys they fly for winter. It was also fun being on a field trip, I thought those days were long gone (even though this entire year is kind of like one giant field trip). The fun didn’t end that night either, we had erev Nativ. We were divided into our groups (Be’er Sheva etc.) and while the other groups had fun games/activities, we were going to have discussions, so I wasn’t too excited. It turned out we got to learn and discuss more about the Teshuva (new laws) on ordaining homosexual Rabbis in the conservative Movement. 3 groups of 4 were randomly chosen to represent the 3 teshuvot of the Conservative Movement.  I find teshuvot very interesting and I got chosen to be on a debate group to represent the Teshuva Rabbi Levy proposed. It was cool to read an entire to Teshuva and research it, even if our team didn’t win (it’s okay, I agreed with the teshuva of the winning team anyways.) Basically an amazing day, until our group sat down at the end of Erev Nativ to hear about the week and I started getting an awful headache, my eye started twitching and I couldn’t help but start to cry it hurt so bad. (I’d been having at least one for the past 2 weeks but I kept not wanting to deal with it) but because this one made me cry, I knew I had to go to the doctor.

The Straight Lines and circles represent justice and something else I forget lol
but its very cool symbolism

Tamar and I at the Supreme Court

Tamar, Aaron, and Becca
enjoying lunch at the bird observatory

I woke up Wednesday and rather than going to tefillot, Kayla (who had an eye infection) and I left for the health clinic. I was really nervous and even got a headache on the walk over, just to find out that I have migraines! How fun… L. I picked up my medicine from the pharmacy right below the clinic, which I’m supposed to take whenever I feel a migraine coming on, and went back to my room to rest for the day. It was a pretty sad day considering I found out about my migraines (but the medicine is working now, don’t worry J) and I thought that my weekend plans to Hebron had been canceled because no other girls were allowed to go. The day would have been pretty “blah” if Tali and I hadn’t gone out to dinner that night! We had heard of the restaurant that was vegetarian and had gluten free food (for Tali), that was only 10-15 minute walk away. The food was delicious! I chose the “salad” bar. But with the salad bar I could get tons of different stewed vegetables in different sauces plus tofu and more! Tali got that and a butternut squash soup; ultimately it was amazing dinner we could both enjoy.

Tali and I at our delicous dinner

After the uplifting dinner, the next day continued to heighten my happiness. I found at that morning that my friends, Daniel Lewis and Sean Haber, also wanted to go to Hebron and by lunchtime our staff member, Achi, told us she had a host family for us In Hebron that would host all three of us together!  Plus, that night, some of our yeshiva friends hosted a Halloween party at their apartment that some of the Nativers from the Yeshiva were invited to. I got dressed up as a Pink Lady from the movie Greece, and all the other costumes at the party were awesome! It was soooo fun being with Yeshiva friends outside in such a different and fun environment.

Ben (the tourist) and I (a Pink Lady)

Yotam from Yeshiva was a beggar

Lior dressed as a vampire, about to "kill" Reka

Waking up Friday morning, I was excited and nervous to be heading to Hebron. Some of you may not know, Hebron is in the West Bank, it is the city that contains the Cave of Machpela , which Abraham bought for Sarah and future generations to be buried in. There lie the bodies of Abraham, Sarah, Yitzchak, Yaakov, Rivkah, and Leah! It is such a spiritual and holy place, the issue is that it’s not always the safest place because it’s mostly occupied by Arabs who don’t want the Jews to live there. But this weekend was way different. The Torah Portion of the week was “Chaye Sarah”, which is THE portion where Abraham purchases the cave. 20,000 Jews come this weekend to see the “cave”, so it’s extra safe, and special.  In fact most people (including us) are hosted by families in Kiryat Arbah, which is a small, completely Jewish town, right outside of Hebron. After lunch, the boys and I headed to the bus. Since soooo many Jews go to Kiryat Arbah that weekend, they have special buses set up for that specific trip. We first got on a public city bus, and at a switch point, we were transferred onto bullet proof buses for extra safety (though it wasn’t really necessary). We got off the bus at the stop at Kiryat Arbah, and called our host family, but when we tried to describe where we were, we didn’t know how. I was very thankful for a storekeeper who explained to our host that we were on the only real road of Kiryat Arbah (quite humorous). Esther met us at the stop with the youngest of her 10 children, Morasha. Achi knew this amazingly interesting family, we were so lucky to be hosted by. They had 10 kids (most had grown and left the house, only 2 were there that weekend).  The mom’s dad was the rabbi that started the Yeshivas that teach both Judaic studies, like Talmud etc., and general studies, like math etc., how interesting! After dropping off our bags (I got my own room!), we asked if we could see the cave before Shabbat so we could take pictures, at first Esther was going to have us hitchhike (funny to watch such a tiny women suggest such a sketchy adventure), but after declining she showed us the really short walking route, it was so close to their house! It was an amazing experience to be right there! Seeing where our forefathers and mothers were buried! The holiness of the land must have rubbed off on me, because at the cave I saw Claudia Namdar, who I had gone to school with in England and hadn’t seen since 3^rd grade. Freshman year we became friends on facebook, but I hadn’t seen her picture since, and hadn’t talked to her in 9 or 10 years! It turns out she is studying in Israel for the year at a Seminary, so I gave her my number and we’re definitely going to meet up soon.  We walked back after taking photos, and got dressed in time for Shabbat. The family said we could do Kabbalat Shabbat and Maariv back at the cave. Even though it is so close, the main part of the path is a really steep dirt hill. After the hill there is a bit more walking on the roads, but I felt extra safe because there were so many other Jews walking on the path with us and the roads were stationed with tons of Israeli soldiers. I didn’t enjoy evening services as much as the boys, because we obviously had to pray separately and there was no room to pray inside. It was cold and I could barely follow one of the many services going on outside, but after services our host family had an amazing Shabbat dinner that warmed me up and left me so full of yummy homemade food.

There's only 1 road in Kiryat Arbah?

"cave" (building built over) of machpela

Claudia and I!

We woke up bright and early the next morning (7:20) because we wanted to pray inside of the building that is built over the cave, and we wanted to get there early enough so there would be enough room. What is extra special about this weekend is that it is one of the four weekends where the bigger part of the building is opened up for Jews, because usually it is controlled by the Muslims who don’t let us in. The room is where Yitzchak and Rivkah are buried and it’s where I was able to have morning services! I got to hear the Torah Portion about the cave of Machpelah as I stood in that very room! It was an amazing service. Plus, walking to services that morning, IT RAINED! Rain is really special to Israel, and to have it truly rain (not just sprinkle/drizzle) in such holy land was such a moving experience. After morning services we walked down to the campsite where there was free Kiddush for everyone, so I took two pieces of regelach back on our way to the house that I gave to soldiers for a Shabbas treat. The food for Shabbas lunch was just as good as dinner, but instead of taking a Shabbas nap, we returned back to the cave since we  would probably never get to have this amazing experience again and we wanted  to take advantage of being in Hebron. There was this English tour of Hebron that we were going to follow, and at least 300 people showed up for it! Dan and I didn’t finish the tour because we felt it was inappropriate how some of the people were acting, singing songs of Israel loudly through the Arab quarter, so we told Sean we’d meet him back at the house for dinner and walked around the campsite, taking in the land, since it would be our last time there (as far as we know).  Leaving the family was sad and filled with hugs, and offers to come back (I doubt I ever will lol). The bus ride home included the bullet proof bus which was weird, considering how safe I’d felt all weekend, and after saying hi to a lot of friends on base, I passed out in my bed, exhausted from such an amazing weekend.

Avraham!

Yitzchak

Sarah

Our adorable host family

Today was Halloween, but since Halloween isn’t celebrated in Israel, a few friends and I went to the shuk (outdoor market) and bought candy in celebration, which I plan to pass out tonightJ. We also have the JETs class tonight but nothing too exciting. So have a good week.