Back Home

We got back home on Wednesday 8.13.
I found the experience thoroughly enjoyable and look forward to telling you all about it in person and ultimately repeating it all again soon.
Here are some random thoughts about Israel:

• Nobody knows the bus routes. Everyone knows the one bus they take to work. Other than that they will tell you to ask the driver. The driver knows two bus routes --the one he takes to work and the one he drives.
• You can't help but have a great time in Israel. Just be sure to bring plenty of money. Nobody wants dollars, by the way. Use you ATM card and get shekels.
• Take the time to talk to Israelis. You will learn more than you will from looking through a tour bus window.
• Visit all kinds of synagogues. They all have something to offer.
• In restaurants, order one meal and share it. Portions are unreal.
• Don't book a return flight at 5AM.
• Talk Hebrew to Israelis. They will be more than happy to help you learn.
• Shop in the Shuk. Buy something you have never seen before.
• Become an overseas member of my synagogue --Moreshet Yisroel. It is a beautiful synagogue that serves many of our children when they are in Israel. They struggle to sustain themselves with only Israeli members. It is not expensive. Contact me for information.

Mevareset Tzion/Mea Shearim

We were fortunate today to get a tour of the Ethiopian resettlement village at Mevareset Tzion. We were led by Dani Mor, Yossie and Sylvie's daughter and Saul Mindel's granddaughter. She is vice president for educational funding at The Jewish Agency. Here over a thousand recent Ethiopian olim are learning to live in Israel. They are learning a new life, really. They have no idea about such basics as the use of plumbing. They need to learn to speak and read Hebrew. Although they speak Amharic, they are illiterate. Here they are first taught to read their native language and then Hebrew. Instruction ranges from simple life skills to acceptable child discipline. In Ethiopia, families are adult centered. It is acceptable to hit children when they misbehave. Now they learn to use communication skills with them.
In the village, there is a hut just like back in Africa. It is used for meetings and is there to give the people a feeling of home.

The children receive instruction in language as well as help with academic skills. They also get religious instruction from local volunteers. Here is a young lady praying shacharit.

The children are so charming that you can't help but love them. Here I am with two new friends.

They really do not have much beyond the basic necessities. Of course they are far better off here than back in Africa. We were entertained by some kindergarteners. Their teacher accompanied their singing on a recorder. There is not a piano in the entire village. She promised to reward the best singer with a balloon. I noticed, for example, an unprotected electircal outlet in the classroom, something we would never see in the States. I thought about what a simple and life saving project it would be to supply the village with those little plastic plugs that are so common back home.

The project is working well. The new olim are getting educated and becoming part of Israeli society with decent jobs. Recently the first physician was graduated and there are already a number of attornies.

After this, we went shopping in Mea Shearim. This is a neighborhood of very religious Jews. There are lots of little shops with some bargains if you know where to look. What a busy place.

Here I am with another new friend.

It seemed like every other store sold sephorim (books). I could not help but notice that if this were an American street in a busy commercial area, every other business would be a bar. There were none in sight at all.
Sadly, this is our last night in Israel. Roz leaves mid-day on Tuesday and I am flying in the early hours of Wednesday. We shared a meal at El Gaucho and walked back to the apartment to start packing.

Tanks alot and Mini-Israel

we dicided to take an adventure and get ourselves to Latrun. Instead of a taxi, we went to the Central Bus Station and found a bus. We got there just fine. One attraction to see there is the Museum of the Israeli Tank forces. There are hundreds of different tanks including many that were captured from the Syrians, Lebanese, and Egyptians. Some of the Syrian ones were originally Nazi built, captured by the Russians, and given to Syria only to be lost to Israel. This one is a medical evacuation tank. The gun turret has been removed to make room for two stretchers. Notice the IV bag hanging.

Similar to the Vietnam War Memorial in DC, here is a wall containing the names of fallen members of the tank corps.

In the center of the arrangement of tanks is an old British police station. This building was originally built by the Turks and abandoned by the British in '48. It was occupied by the Jordanians untill '67. Inside are meeting and training rooms, a very beautiful synagogue, art exhibits, and a tribute to Jewish soldiers who have served in many of the world's militaries. The inside has been nicely restored and there is an observation deck on the roof.
Although this is a difficult picture to understand, I included it anyway. Inside the museum is a room called the wall of tears. The walls are made of tank steel. They are constantly wet to symbolize tears shed for lost soldiers. The floor is glass and reveals a pool of hope for peace.

As we walked through the displays and saw the cold, hard, heavy steel of the tanks, we kept thinking of how sad it was that we must keep sending young soldiers off to fight.
Also in Latrun is a display called Mini Israel. It is a model of interesting parts of the country that you can walk throug. It covers a few acres and we spent a few hours there. Many of the buildings reflected corporate sponsorship. I would not make a special trip there, but it was fun.
We took the Egged back to Jerusalem. Our bus was full of soldiers returning from some camp or other. I sat among them, some alone and some talking with friends but all looked very tired. As we got into Jerusalem, the one next to me, who had been sleeping, woke up and took out his phone. I heard him talking to his mother and telling her that he was back in Jerusalem. A little while later I heard the young girll in front of her call her abba to tell him the same thing. They are so young.

Last Day of school

Thursday was our last day of class. I was privileged to learn from many fine teachers here at the Conservative Yeshivah. Among them was one of the finest geachers I have ever had. That was Michal, my Ulpan teacher. In addition to having a thorough knowlege of both Hebrew and English grammar and vocabulary, she was also familiar with the classics of English, Hebrew, and world literature. She taught us about Israeli society, politics, and attitudes often using examples from language to make her point. She has a passion for her work and her country and represented the best Israel has to offer. I know I will think of her often and fondly.

Later that evening, Roz and I went off to find an all soup restaurant that Beth's friend John had recommended. It was a long walk but it was also a beautiful Jerusalem evening, we had nothing better to do so we set off to find Marakiah. Of course we walked right past it but after asking for directions a few times, we got there.
It was the most unusual looking place I was ever in. Nothing matched. Every table was different. Ours was an old sewing machine table. There was a chandelier made of spoons and ladles and no two soup bowls were the same either. The soups had the taste of home-made. I ordered the leek and Roz the creamy tomato but we ended up switching as hers was a little peppery for her. I later recalled that they offered free tastes prior to ordering which we should have done but it all worked out well.

After dinner we started walking along Jaffa St. with a goal of making it all the way to the Machaneh Yehudah Shuk which we did not think would still be open. It was a long but enjoyable walk. The carachter of the neighborhood seemed to change every few blocks from bistro to touristy to commercial. Suddenly we started to detect the aromas that could only be the Shuk. The Shuk smells like fruit, vegetables, fish, and most of all bakeries. There are a number of bakeries right there complete with ovens. Our doubts about whether it was open ended quickly. It was around nine and the place was a mad-house. People were jammed into the aisles. These were very serious shoppers. Merchants were calling out there prices with barely intelligible song-like pitches. Shoppers were grabbing up bargains frantically. Shopping carts were flying behind wild shoppers. This scene is typical only of Thursday night and no other night as people were buying for Shabbat. Where else is shopping such an adventure?

Friday morning we took an Egged tour to Masada and the Dead Sea. This was my third trip to Masada but it is always awesome. Here is a picture of one of the food storage areas.

I have a number of other pictures including one that I had never noticed before. On the mountain are the ruins of a Byzantine church. The church was built there as it was felt that the area was somehow sacred. They soon realized that they could not live up there and abandoned it. I can understand why they did not want to stay. It is a difficult place to be. It is hot and dry. Water and food have to be brought up with great difficulty.

Next we went to the Dead Sea. The last time I was in Isreal, 2000, we rode past the Sea and it was said that the Sea was shrinking because of global warming. The problem was made even more dramatically clear this time. When I first came here, in 1977, the lake was right outside the spa. Today, bathers need to take a tram from the spa to the Sea. Here is a picture from the Sea back towards to spa which is so far away you can barely see it. There are signs along the former Sea bed warning visitory not to walk in it as there are sinkholes in the mud.


There are a number of activities at the spa. Inside, ther are sulphure baths, you can imagine how the building smells. Out back ther is a swimming pool and, of course the tram to the Sea. A traditional favirite activity here is to cover yourself with mineral-rich Dead Sea mud. We did not try this but here is a picture of some people who did.


Another fun, although exhausting, day in a country with so much to offer.

Drug dealer at Ulpan

In Ulpan we read a great story full of Hebrew slang about the benefits and drawbacks of being an international drug dealer.
Rabbi Goldfarb taught about the High Holiday amidah. We compared its structure and content to the amidah during the year. We spent a while talking about the k'dushat Hashem paragraphs. I got some great ideas for teaching to the Junior Congregation this year.
In halacha class we talked about permitted marriages for kohanim. The sources deal extensively with the definition of "zpnah" which I always assumed was undisputed.
After class we had a dinner meeting of the Legacy Fellows. We talked about what we were bringing home from out experience. I said that I was able to put a face on Israel by living here and interacting with the people rather than just touring around as I had done in the past. Earlier in the day, Michal, my Ulpan teacher, talked about culture differences between Americans and Israelis. Americans who donate money to Israel also want to be able to tell Israelis what to do. Israelis, naturally, resent this. Culture clash often shows up in subtle but real ways. We don't always correctly interpret what to us seems to be apparent anger but mey not be. Communication can break down as we depend on culturally bound non-verbal signals. Nevermind our inadequate Hebrew does not always provide us with the right word.
After the meeting, a few of us went to a poster shop hidden in a court yard behind a building on King George. After that we went to Ben Yehuda as some of us are leaving for home tomorrow and wanted to get some gifts for friends and family.

Pictures this morning

We got to the Fuchsberg Center a half hour early this morning for group and individual pictures of the Legacy Heritage Fellows. We are starting to talk about the end of the session and I just don't want to see it end.
This morning in Ulpan we read a story about the changing face of the modern Israeli. The original settlers cut themselves off from the rest of the world. Although they were almost all European immigrants, they thought of themselves as "born from the sea." They shed the studious image of Torah scholarship in favor of the strong farmer and soldier. They did not recognize any differences among themselves and maintained a single image of the Sabra. The Eichman trial marked the change in Israeli society. For the first time Israelis were able to place the blame for the Holocaust where it belonged and not on their European ancestors. Interest in researching their family trees was revived. They sought an answer to the question of who were my grandparents. Moreover, they started recognizing the value of their diverse society. The thinking person rose to the level in society previously held exclusively by the laborer.(I hope you remember that we read this whole story in Hebrew!) It was my reaction that this was a very good change. The laborer was perfectly suited for bringing the nascent country to maturity. Now, however, a widely diverse nation of talented people can compete globally.
The passion whith which Michal, our Ulpan teacher, spoke was evident today more than I had ever noticed. This is not an intellectual exercise for Israelis but rather a matter of survival. It should touch us all because I firmly believe that the futures of Israel and of the Jewish people are firmly bound together. Do you know that within the next ten years, the majority of Jews in the world will live in Israel.
In our Midrash class we read a series of Midrashim that told of God's creation of the world and stressed that he created the world after looking in the Torah much like a builder consults architectural plans. Also, that God created the world all alone with no help, even from angels. The Midrash proves this by asserting that angels were created either on the second day when water was created or on the fifth day with the creation of the birds. The Midrash proves these assertions by bringing quotes that associate angels with either water or flying. Regardless of which day it was, it most certainly was not day one proving that God was acting alone. All this is important because ultimately the creation story is used by the Jews to respond to their neighbors in Canaan when they are accused of stealing the land (who would have thought that would ever happen?). The Jewish people can answer that the One God made the universe and He can decide who lives where. This story is echoed by Rashi in his commentary in Beraishit.
In our last Teaching Israel class we got to summarize our personal feelings about Israel. We had decided that in order to bring other people closer to Israel, we had to come to terms with our own feelings first.
When I started thinking, I realized that for me, my attachment is all about the little things. For example, just last night we took a cab from the Kotel back to the apartment. As we had four people, I sat up front with the driver. He asked me a question that I realized had been asked many times. The driver asked me how long I was staying here. When I told him that I was here for a month, I also said I was studying at a yeshiva. Then he wanted to know which one. I told him and coincidentally we were just about to pass the Agron St. address. Here's the point of it all: Where else would a cab driver want to know about your yeshiva? How is it important to him, and to so many other strangers, how long I am staying. These are the kinds of questions family members ask eachother --not cab drivers. One of my classmates told me that Israelis were nosey --but in a good way. There is a closeness among these people that shown itself in subtle ways. Even the rudeness, the horn blowing, and the cutting in lines are things that you would never do to complete strangers. That's because there are no complete strangers here. No, the people on the street are not all my friends. But they are not strangers either.
Roz is up north with Sandra and Moshe so I have some time to reflect and to write.
I called Rabbi Moshe Aranov who co-officiated at our wedding and has retired to Israel. I am not sure he recognized who I was. His wife passed away and he sounds a bit depressed about his own failing health. It reminded me of the Adon Olam which we sing wth so many unusual tunes. This week we learned that although it begins by talking about our universal and infinite God, it ends with a personal God who is there when we feel alone and afraid. Along with the Shema, it is recited at bedtime and with a person near death.
I made my supper and enjoyed it on my mirpeset listening to the periodic roar of the number17 bus and cooled by the evening Jerusalem breeze.

Generations Center

This afternoon Rabbi Goldfarb's tefillah class covered the Aleynu and Adon Olam. Two parts of the service we have done so many times but do we have any idea what they mean? In Adon Olam, the focus of the poem starts with God as universal and infinite and ends with God watching over the poet on a personal level.

In our halacha class we had a guest speaker. Rabbi Miriam Berkowitz has written a book about Mikvah and is leading the movement to encourage use of the mikvah by Conservative Jews. We discussed the Biblical laws of purity and some Talmudic discussions of nida.

During the day,, Roz visited Mt. Hertzl where Theodore Hertzl is buried.

After class, Roz, I, Sandra, and Moshe went to meet Yossie and Sylvie at a restaurant in Machaneh Yehuda called Simas. We enjoyed a number of Israeli favorites in cluding a sour soup with dumplings and pumpkin called kubbe. It was especially good to go out with the Pinhasis who can tell us what the unfamiliar dishes are.

After tea and baklavah, we went to the Kotel to walk through an exhibit called Generations. This is a multi part glass sculpture built into a 900 year old house. The glass sculpture tells the history of the Jewish people from Temple times to today. Throughout the exhibit, Jewish names are featured. It begins with our forefathers and progresses through Moses, the prophets, the Rabbis, and finally the founders of modern Israel. Not only are the glass sculptures dramatically presented but the building itself, including an ancient mikveh displayed below a glass floor, is a fascinating feature of the tour. At the end, there is a holographic presentation of the story of an Israeli freedom fighter.

After the tour, we walked slowly past the Kotel. This powerful place has a center-of-the-world quality to it that never ceases to amaze me.