Goodbye to Otzma

In just a few days it will have been a month since Otzma ended. Since we stood together on the Tayelet overlooking a stunning view of Jerusalem and said goodbye to Israel and one another. For me the past month has been full of too many goodbyes and a new start to my life. Unlike most other Otzmanikim, my goodbye to Israel was only temporary. I was home in the US for less than two weeks and then I returned to the apartment in Jerusalem I was on the search for during the majority of Part III. I have another year in Israel, appropriately titled the Year in Israel Program, it is my first year of Rabbinical School at Hebrew Union College. I had two weeks in between one intense experience ending and quite literally the rest of my life beginning.

It's been difficult trying to process the end of Otzma and my amazing year and still getting acclimated to a new lifestyle in the same country. It's strange being in Israel not in the context of Otzma. I miss my friends terribly and the closeness of a group who has endured everything together for an entire 10 months. Otzma was by far the most significant amount of time I've spent in Israel and so my association with Israel is now centered around Otzma and all of my Otzma friends.

I've been struggling since I returned to give Israel to create new associations in my mind. As odd as it has been there is a comfort in the familiarity of the the city and the country. My daily activities are all new, as are the people I am surrounded by, but Jerusalem remains the same. As I'm transitioning I know the country still works the same, or doesn't really work, depending on how you look at it. This weekend I'm going to Yokne'am to visit my adoptive family and enjoy the comfort and familiarity of being there.

As I do become more comfortable being in Israel but in a different setting I expect to still have the constant reminders of Otzma, whether it is visiting a family or friend I connected to last year, or hearing a speaker (I already have!) we heard on an Otzma seminar. I know my Otzma year has set me up for a better life in Israel than I would have had here otherwise. I know this extra year only gives me more of a chance to put down roots here that I can always return to.

In some ways after this year Israel feels so comfortably like home and in other ways it couldn't be more foreign. But what I realized during my brief visit home is that I missed even those crazy foreign aspects while I was away. On Otzma I fell in love with Israel when I wasn't even trying and I built friendships that will last a lifetime. It's almost impossible to say goodbye but luckily for me those two things are still here whether or not right in front of me at the moment.

So rather than a goodbye to Israel, I'm saying goodbye only to Otzma and I'm looking forward to a year filled with Otzma reminders.

Thanks for reading!

Best,

Andi

Summing It Up?

How, exactly, do you sum up the past 3 months living in Jerusalem? For that matter, how do you sum up the past 10 months living in Israel? How do you condense everything into an “elevator speech”, something that you can fire off without thinking when someone asks about your year abroad? How do you keep from chuckling when you are asked for the 400th time, “Did you have a good time?”

Did I have a good time? Well, OF COURSE I had a good time. I just had a once-in-a-lifetime experience, the chance to live and work in a country about as different and familiar to my own as you can get. I lived in a small city with 40 people I had never met who would become some of my closest friends, as we all found ourselves facing a culture shock that many of us had never imagined before. I lived in a town smaller than my college, speaking a language so different that it isn’t even read in the same direction as mine, and somehow managing not only to survive, but even to thrive. I lived in what may be the single most unique city in the world, one that has sparked countless wars as well as inspired countless dreams. I’ve met countless people from incredible walks of life, been to places I had only imagined, and had daily experiences that I can’t even start to describe. So… yeah. I had a good time.

The past few months, I’ve been living at Hebrew University on Mt. Scopus, while working for the Partnership Division of the Jewish Agency. It has been a great experience, especially due to the people I was working with. I’m not going to lie and say I did any sort of groundbreaking work – it was pretty basic office work, with a large part of my time dedicated to working on registration for an international conference last month. Like I said, the people in the office was what made the experience so great for me – I learned a great deal about the Partnership 2000 program, the Jewish Agency, and really even Israel as a whole. Seeing the dynamic of the office and finding my place in it made heading in to the office each day (with a real world schedule!) well worth it.

But now? That’s all in the past. OTZMA 24 has now been over for about 2 weeks, as hard as that is to believe. After a few final hikes, campouts, and swims in the Kinneret, we all said our goodbyes and parted ways, back to our respective homes. Some of us will eventually return to Israel as olim hadashim (new immigrants), some of us will stick around for a while to begin their rabbinical studies (cough cough Andi cough), and many of us will find our places back in the United States. But all of us will, in some way, find our lives affected by our year together in Israel. And really, I’m not sure I can explain it any better than that.

And as for that other question – no, I don’t know yet where I’m going to go from here!

There are Reform Jews in Israel? Who knew!

Since Max and I have been living in Jerusalem for the past two months we've both been spending our weekdays busy doing office work. My internship (finishing next week!) has been working for the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism, the head of the Reform Movement in Israel. I've really enjoyed my time as an intern there, feeling like I've both learned a lot and been able to contribute to the goings on of the movement. I've had the chance to work with various departments from newsletters to marketing projects and with the new Women of Reform Judaism-Israel. As the first intern at theIMPJ, they've taken it upon themselves to make sure I'm enjoying the work I do and that I get a full picture of the Movement in Israel.

A couple of weeks ago I went to visit a Reform Congregation just outside of Jerusalem in Tzur Hadassah. I met with the Rabbi, Ofer (who is also the only paid employee of the synagogue). He spent the afternoon entertaining both me and his son around Tzur Hadassah. This small community, just on the edge of the green line, is filled with people with all different Jewish ideologies. They struggle to get and retain members, to engage existing congregants, deal with other groups' hateful preaching, utilize a single room for services, educational seminars, bible study, etc. Some of these issues are felt by congregations in the US and others are faced by other Kehillot in Israel and still some are specific to Tzur Hadassah. Ofer explained to me how each community in Israel is different, facing it's own set ofchallenges.

Tzur Hadassah has around a 100 families as members, some years more and some years less. While there are much larger congregations in Israel there are also much smaller. Their members come from every social class and educational background. While some Israeli's have never heard of the Movement, many have but don't quite understand what it is truly about. They often think Reform Judaism is "American" and not"Israeli". While there are certainly congregations here made up of mostly Americans and other Anglos who have made aliyah, Tzur Hadassah is an almost entirely Israeli-born Kehilla.

The kindergarten of the Kehilla is in a small structure that used to also act as the sanctuary. They now have an actual building where they aren't forced to turn a classroom into a sanctuary each Shabbat. The building is essentially one room which serves all of their purposes. Seeing Ofer's pride in this one room shocked me. While it is quite the functional room when I heard new synagogue I thought of the multi-million dollar project that was the remodeling of my own synagogue in St. Louis. But in Tzur Hadassah, and in most places in Israel, this one room is enough for now. This room represents the government agreeing to build four structures to serve as Reform congregations, a huge accomplishment of the Israeli Relgious Action Center. This room represents a movement that is struggling to find and keep members but still persists.

Ofer next took me to a location in Tzur Hadassah where as he said you can see in one place the political situation in Israel. We were standing in Tzur Hadassah looking at a tree line which marks the green line. On the other side of the green line was a Palestinian village and right next to it was a Jewish settlement of Ultra-Orthodox Jews. The growth of the Jewish settlement had literally entered the Palestinian village so that if you didn't notice the difference in architecture it is impossible to see where one begins and the other ends. Regardless of political affiliation or opinions on the settlements, while standing on one side of the green line looking onto the undeniable issues on the other, one can't help but agree with Ofer, this is Israel.

Tzur Hadassah works with leaders in the Palestinian village to help them get their voices heard.

Ofer told me all about existing projects the Kehilla has, it's board of directors, the challenges of being a Reform leader in Israel as well as in Tzur Hadassah and his hope for the future. Our afternoon gave me a chance to observe Reform Judaism in Israel in practice. It's definitely a little rough around the edges but there is true heart and persistence at work.

I mentioned above that Ofer's son was with us for the afternoon. Later on his daughter returned home from school and joined us too. While his wife was still at work Ofer played and took care of his kids. I couldn't help feel I was intruding on his family time but Ofer told me that if he could he would have all his meetings at night (I was not the last on his list to see). He restricts himself to only a couple of late night meetings a week because he is only part-time and has this adorable family. As I'm getting older I always find it fascinating to observe how adults with families balance their family and professional lives. Are they always sacrificing one for the other? In Ofer I saw an unrelenting commitment to both.

I'm a sucker for the hopeful message at the end of the story so here it goes: I spent the afternoon with an impassioned Rabbi who has seen both progress and stagnation during his career. He remains hopeful and hardworking, not overly idealistic, but just the right amount. In the same Rabbi I found an attentive and loving father. Ofer's abilities are important but limited due to the current climate but based on his example as a father and religious leader, if children are the future, I'm not so worried.

So many holidays, so many days off...

My Israeli friend compared passover seder to the way (she thinks) we celebrate thanksgiving. This made me think about something fundamentally different in celebrating Jewish holidays in the US versus celebrating them in Israel. In the US when a Jewish holiday roles around, it's generally known but always something Jewish. I'm celebrating because I'm Jewish, I have to miss school or work. There's something to explain about the holiday to non-Jews. It's something different. But we all celebrate thanksgiving. No one needs to explain to a non-celebrator why we have thanksgiving, no one has to take off work or school. It's expected that everyone will celebrate the holiday with their entire family and for one day the country seems to pause. That's what Jewish holidays are like in Israel. There's nothing different about celebrating the Jewish holidays, it's the only kind. Just like thanksgiving at home, everyone is off work or school. Everyone knows this festive meal happens each year with the entire family gathered for the occasion.

So many of these holidays have gone by and I haven't taken the time to sit down and recount my experiences. So I thought I'll do a quick recap of the holidays that have passed.

Passover:

The first night of passover fell on the day my parents flew into Israel to visit. Luckily, everything went just right and we were able to make it to the seder we were invited to. We spent the night with my friend's entire extended family reading from the Hagaddah, just like we do every year...except this time it was in Hebrew! The country literally shuts down on holidays, as it does every Shabbat, and with my parents visiting it was slightly more annoying that exciting. The holiday got in the way of our travel plans! Only the first and last days were holy days so on Chol Hamoed (the days in between) were able to fit a lot in to a short trip. Some restaurants were entirely kosher for passover while others shut down for the week, of course there are those which fall into neither of those categories: some continue business as usual, others stop putting out bread but still have pasta, etc.

One day during the holiday we spent the day in Tsfat (I made a deal with my parents that as long as they were in Israel they were not allowed to call the city "Safed"). We spent most of the day shopping in the mystical city where we generously donated to the Israeli economy. I started looking at the kipot in a few different stores. My mom pointed out one kipah to me that I particularly liked and so I tried it on in the store. Seconds later a woman who worked there came rushing over to me saying, "Oh, honey, those aren't meant for women." I politely explained to her that she wasn't exactly correct and a few days later I was wearing a kipah for my first time in Shabbat services!

Yom HaShoah:

Holocaust Remembrance Day was the first time in Israel that I heard the siren. At 10:00 am on Yom HaShoah a siren goes off in the country and for one minute everything in the country stops. Cars stop moving, drivers get out of their car and stand on the side of the road, people walking freeze, and everyone is silent. During Yom HaShoah we were in the middle of a seminar in Jerusalem. It was strange because we did discuss the day and we experienced the siren but somehow after the siren, people started moving again and going back to their normal lives. I was told that I missed a significant part of the experience by not having access to a television. On TV, the entire day is dedicated to Holocaust related programs.

Yom HaZikaron,

Memorial day in Israel is quite different than Memorial day in the US. Instead of the diving for coins in the neighborhood pool, a memory I will always associate with the holiday, it's a very solemn and self-reflective day in Israel. There are two more sirens like those on Yom HaShoah. On the eve of the holiday I went to an interesting ceremony. The event was in English so there was a trade off experience. Because it was in English I was able to really understand the ceremony rather than just getting the "feeling" or "idea" of it. At the same time, the content of the ceremony was also different than it would have been in a Hebrew language ceremony. The focus was centered on families and soldiers who moved from the US and made aliyah. It was interesting and thought provoking but not the typical experience of an Israeli on the holiday. The next day was similar to Yom HaShoah for me. I lived my normal life, looked at apartments in Jerusalem for next year, froze while I was walking during the 2 minute siren and continued with my day. TV programs, I was told, were again dedicated to Memorial day themes, remembering fallen soldiers with a solemn tone to each program. While it was disappointing that I didn't have a television on either day the experience was still one unparalleled by any other country, and...there's always next year.

Yom Ha'atzmaut:

See below!

Lag B'Omer:

What is Lag B'Omer? I didn't know until I celebrated it a few weeks ago! Apparently there are several reasons for the celebration of this holiday. The first is that it is the day Rabbi Akiva's students stopped dying from the plague. We commemorate the day with a celebration. Another reason is to remember the Bar Kochba revolt around 135 A.D. Supposedly, the different groups communicated to each other with fire so the celebration of Lag B'Omer is marked with bon fires all across the country. The day, TERRIBLE for the environment, was a lot of fun. I spent it with an Israeli friend of mine and her friends where we sat in her backyard roasting vegetables on the fire (get a chance to roast something over a fire and Israelis choose vegetables instead of marshmallow...go figure). We spent most of the night trying to keep the fire from going out (well to be honest, I watched them try to make sure the fire didn't go out) and we played taki...the Israeli version of Uno (and so much better!).

Shavuot:

I spent Shavuot in a small city called Netivot that is in the middle of the Negev Desert. When I was living in Yokne'am my friend was living and volunteering in her partnership city, Netivot. We went down overnight and visited with all the families she become close with during her three months there. Eve of Shavuot we ate a festive dairy meal. The meal is traditionally dairy because Shavuot marks when Moses received the Torah on Mount Sinai. In the Torah the land of Israel is called the land of milk and honey. For this reason there is bountiful amounts of cheesecake being consumed throughout Israel. This was my first time celebrating Shavuot and was marked as most other holidays have been for me here: a big meal with a gracious and welcoming family. We didn't stay up for all hours of the night studying Torah as is traditionally practiced on Shavuot, instead we got a good relaxing night sleep. The next day some families have another dairy meal while others have their own Al Ha Ashe traditions (literally means "on the fire" or barbeque). Shavuot offered a nice relaxing break in the week where I was able to wander a new city and see little kids with water guns spraying each other and anyone in sight (but not me, fortunately!).

It's hard to believe but Shavuot was the last holiday I'll celebrate in my 10 months on Otzma. I've celebrated in new ways and familiar ones and always appreciated the days off the many many holidays provided. With only one remaining month on the program I've already started to ask myself "where did it go?!" and the only thing I find comforting is that I get to do the holidays all over again next year in Jerusalem.

Yom Ha'atzmaut

It seems like it's always a holiday in Israel (at least that's what my mom says). Last week was no exception, two in one week. I'll let Max tell you about his Yom HaZikaron experience (Memorial Day) and instead I'll focus on Yom Ha'atzmaut (Israeli Independence Day). It came at the beginning of last week, so pretty quickly after the move to Jerusalem. We were all in a rush to get settled so that we could make the most of the experience, for most of us the first time we've celebrated the holiday in Israel.

As all holidays start at sundown Yom Ha'atzmaut started Monday night. That night I went with friends to explore the celebration on Ben Yehuda street and the surrounding area. We found people of all ages from all different sects of Israeli society excited and thrilled to welcome the holiday. It seemed like there was another stage with another band playing every couple of blocks. The party went on until all hours of the night with kids running around, teenagers standing in packs, families trying to stay together in the chaos, and of course us. There were blow up toys with the Israeli flag and water guns and glow sticks.

The night was held in stark contrast to the way I spent my previous evening, at a very emotional ceremony marking Memorial Day in Israel and all of the fallen soldiers. You never would have known hours before this enormous street party people were mourning everyone they knew and didn't know. The contradiction was difficult to wrap my head around but at the same time the juxtaposition managed to make each experience more powerful in and of itself.

The next day all of Israel spends the day in the same way: barbecuing. So in true Israeli fashion, we had a barbeque. But because we were too lazy to leave our dorms and because a park in the center of Jerusalem would have been impossible to penetrate, we didn't travel too far. We had our barbeque in the open courtyard/quad we have next to our building (all within the same complex of our dorms). The rest is pretty predictable: good food, good company, and a lovely farmer's tan for me. It was a great way to spend the entire day (especially since I started work the next morning). It was relaxing and delicious and we still felt like we were taking part in the holiday's tradition.

Part III Check-in

This week marks the beginning of Part III of OTZMA, which is the more “professional development” part of the program. Rather than be scattered in small towns all throughout Israel, the group has now been split into a community in Tel Aviv, a small group down on a southern Kibbutz, and the remainder in Jerusalem, which is where I am. From now until the end of the trip, we will all be working in various internships at non-profit organizations. I will be working at the Jewish Agency in the Partnerships division, where I will be working on an upcoming international conference as well as doing some work with social media (which is, as you’ve noticed, something I’m quite familiar with).

Our apartments here are really fantastic – maybe even the nicest that OTZMA has ever had! We are living in the student dormitories in Hebrew University on Mt. Scopus, which is about a 30-minute bus ride from the center of town (and my new office). All of the new Jerusalem residents were taken aback by how nice the apartments were. We’ve been fully equipped with new couches and chairs, a large kitchen space with four gas burners (Sidebar: This is the first time I’ve had an apartment here where I haven’t needed a match to light the stove), a full size refrigerator and freezer, and plenty of cupboard space. In our single rooms, we have a full-sized mirror, a good amount of shelves and hanging space for our clothes, a very large desk, drawers, and another large amount of shelf space. Currently, I’m sitting at our kitchen table looking out of the full-wall windows on the beautiful Hebrew U quad.

The apartments are meant for five people, but there are four of us living in my apartment – Jeremy (from San Francisco), Ari (from Milwaukee), and Alex (from New Jersey). All four of us were already very close – Jeremy was my roommate during Part I in Ashkelon; Ari and I were very active in BBYO at the same time in high school, and he was also a member of AEPi while at Wisconsin; and Alex is a recent graduate from Wash U, so she and I have been able to bond over shared St. Louis experiences.

Andi is also living in Jerusalem, but I’ll let her fill you in on her side. Needless to say, we are all very excited to be living here in Jerusalem, for our upcoming internships, and for our great new living spaces!

In Praise of Arkady

So, as of today, our three months in Yokne’am have come to an end – and quite quickly, we might add! As you have read, there have been many twists, turns, challenges, and pleasant surprises, and you’ve only heard about some of them! But the truth of the matter is that we would have never been able to survive Part II of OTZMA were it not for our fantastic coordinator, Arkady Hasidovich.

As anyone who has met him can attest, Arkady might very well be one of the most capable people in the entire State of Israel. A recent recipient of the prestigious Nahum Goldmann Fellowship, Arkady is fluent in at least three languages, is an experienced world traveler, and in dealing with us, he may have run into his most difficult challenge ever. (I kid, I kid. Sort of.) Arkady was able to answer any question we had (no matter how stupid), defuse any situation we ran into (no matter how ridiculous), and help us with anything we needed (no matter how trivial). Furthermore, his ability to remain calm and gracious no matter what the situation was continues to amaze us. Somehow, no matter how flustered we might have been, a conversation with Arkady always seemed to relax us and solve the situation.

Furthermore, Arkady was always willing to go above and beyond his job without us even having to ask. If he overheard one of us grousing about an issue we were having outside of our volunteering, he would, without fail, ask us what was happening and how he could help – and then he found a way to fix whatever we were worried about. Folks, this man could and would move mountains for us.

You’ve all heard a lot of stories from us this year, and we’ve got a few more months to go. But believe us, many of these stories would not be possible without Arkady’s help. He is, in very large part, the reason why our time in Yokne’am was such a positive experience. The St. Louis Jewish community should feel blessed that there is such a gifted, caring, responsible, and capable friend on this side of the world, and we truly hope the Jewish Agency realizes what a remarkable person they have working for them. We know we do.

-Andi and Max

Things that would only happen in Israel...

1. I was in a cab the other day with friends when the driver asked if we wouldn't mind waiting while he pulled over to get some dinner. He didn't exactly pull over though, he stopped in the middle of the road. He both blocked in parked cars and completely stopped traffic in one lane. We were being honked at in all directions while he was inside the restaurant putting toppings on his shwarma.

2. As a going away present my friend was given a necklace with a Kabbalah symbol on it. The necklace is meant to help her attract a boyfriend. She was also told that at the ripe old age of 23 her clock was ticking. This was done with no other motive than the genuine hope that it would work for her. There was no shame, no embarrassment. It seemed completely logical and in no way offensive.

3. Do not mispronounce the word for cup in Hebrew when ordering ice cream, it is highly embarrassing and offensive. I learned this the hard way.

4. When I speak Hebrew I am so concentrated on the words I'm saying that I don't even begin to worry about my thick American accent. For this reason I suppose, on more that one occasion I have spoken Hebrew to an Israeli and the response has been "I don't speak English".

5. In the fall I went to Tel Aviv with a group of girlfriends for the weekend to celebrate a friend's birthday. We took a Sheirut (a big taxi) from Ashkelon to Tel Aviv on the way there. It cost 20 shekels each, that's about 5 dollars. At the end of the trip we got in a Sheirut to head back to Ashkelon expecting the cost to be slightly higher because it was Shabbat and there were no other transportation options. We begrudgingly agreed to each pay 35 shekels, about 9 dollars. After five minutes of driving a man gets on the Sheirut (presumably the driver of another Sheirut) and tells us that the journey will cost us 5000 shekels. After the same drive had previously cost us 5 dollars each, we were told the return would cost us all together 1500 dollars. After a long debate and many threats to exit the Sheirut, we each payed 35 shekels.

(The driver did not realize that we understand Hebrew and asked on the radio how much the drive from Tel Aviv to Ashkelon should cost on Shabbat. We all heard as he was told 32 or 33 shekels.)

6. Gifts, without fail, always have a religious Jewish context. Always. (I love it!)

7. Max, Tali, and I were all late to a meeting with the Yokneam mayor the other day (luckily he was running even later than we were). Arkady, who works for the partnership and was given the delightful responsibility of being in charge of each of our lives for the last three months in Yokneam, declared that we had officially completed our absorption into Israeli society. We were, after all, late for the mayor.

8. About a month ago I was visiting a friend in Kiryat Shmona over Purim. I arrived on Friday afternoon and we went directly to her adoptive family's house for lunch. Every Friday her adoptive mom makes enough Kube to feed an army. I wasn't particularly hungry when I arrived (and everyone had already eaten) so when she asked me if I wanted some Kube I very clearly said "No, thank you." A minute later there was a steaming bowl of Kube in front of me as she told me I was lucky because this was the last of it. Now, there are two very plausible explanations for this...

A. She was not listening to my response because it was never really a question. What I said

didn't really matter, there was only one right answer.

B. She heard my response and continued to get me Kube because again, my answer didn't

really matter.

Either way, the outcome was the same. I didn't even comment as she put the bowl in front of me. I just realized my error and ate my delicious lunch.

9. A couple weeks ago Max was walking through Daliyot and saw two kids doing some kind of project with an empty bottle of Jim Beam. He asked them what it was (as he got a whiff of the leftover bourbon stench) to which they simply replied, "a bottle." Concerned, Max told the Vice Principal who immediately handled the situation. She explained to the arts teacher who had brought in the bottle for a project that in the future the bottle needs to be thoroughly cleaned and the label removed before giving it to elementary school students.

10. Most of the above are all ridiculous stories that have happened to either friends of myself over the past seven months. But there are of course many other things that would only happen in Israel that are more of a testament to the country than these silly anecdotes.

A. People here are honest to a fault and while intimidating at times it is above all, genuine.

B. Random acts of violence do not exist here to the same degree they do in the states and

so children and women can feel safe in a way that is often lacking at home.

C. Families invite you into their homes for a meal or an extended stay without considering

for a moment the imposition you might create.

D. Etc, etc, etc.

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye

As our time here in Yokne’am draws to a close, the goodbyes are coming in hard and fast. Today was our last day at Dalyiot, and I think I can speak for all of us when I say that we are sorry to see it come to an end! Even though we have another week here, the school is going on break for Passover next week, so our volunteering will be limited to the youth center and Kol HaLev.

The students weren’t too happy to find out we were leaving (Sidebar: Well, for the most part. I think a couple kids had a big smile on their faces.), so the day was filled with a ton of big hugs and kids asking why we had to leave. One fifth grader told me flat out that I wasn’t leaving and that I was going to stay at Dalyiot, no questions asked! Sadly, that’s not the case, and we finally managed to make our way out for the last time, promising to come back and visit when we can. I don’t think we could have asked to be placed in a better school with a more supportive staff, and we especially had some fantastic students to work with the past few months. So, from the bottom of our hearts – thank you to all of them.

I took some pictures of the school today before we left, so enjoy! (click to enlarge)

Finally the Weekend

This past weekend was filled with tons of food, hiking, and a little bit of chaos. Welcome to Israel. It started Thursday night (the beginning of the weekend in Israel) at a Masa culture day event. Otzma is one of many Masa programs so we are often privy to attending Masa events for free or at a small symbolic price. I chose to attend the Israeli film section, although dance, literature, and theater were also offered. The film spoken about was Waltz with Bashir, the 2009 Oscar nominated film. But before the actual event, it was quite the hassle to get to Tel Aviv, where the event was held.

Masa volunteered to send buses to take us down to Tel Aviv since so many Masa participants finds themselves spread out all over the country. Several of these buses were canceled the day before and day of the event so I was lucky there was still a bus coming to Yokneam. I had several friends taking the public bus to Yokneam to then catch the Masa transportation. Everyone hurried to get in, to make the 3:45 pm bus on time. They all made it just in time. Except that the bus actually showed up at 5:15. We all realized that after being in Israel for 6 and a half months, it was really our mistake for thinking the bus would be there when we were told.

We still made it to the event in plenty of time and the film discussion was really very interesting. It was only about an hour though and so each speaker unfortunately had to be cut off. We heard from Ron Ben-Yishai, an Israeli journalist whose real life experiences in the first Lebanon War are documented in the movie as well as Tal Gadon, the lead animator for the project. We were then told we needed to hustle to a bus waiting on a busy Tel Aviv street because it was going to take us to the next portion of the evening.

Each group was then taken to one venue for a Subliminal concert, an Israeli rapper. I wasn't familiar with his music before that night and while I'm not a big fan of hip hop, he is very talented and I found myself enjoying it more that I would have thought. The entire event I anticipated running from about 8:00 pm until 11:00 pm at the latest (and really I thought it would be over earlier). I got home at 1:30 am. After the concert ended it was really by sheer luck my friends and I found the right bus back to Yokneam.

So, after the unexpected late night on thursday, came an early morning on Friday. There was a high school group from Atlanta in Yokneam this weekend. Tali, a visiting Otzmanik Yael, and I all met them Friday morning for a hike and jeep ride in a nature reserve just outside of the city. They are all high school seniors (from a Jewish private school) who are all but graduated and are now in Israel for the next three months until they return to Atlanta for graduation. They are spending these months in Israel traveling throughout the country on organized seminars and were in Yokneam this weekend to see their partnership city and to meet Israelis their own age. We tagged along to show them other work the partnership does, and let's be honest...to promote Otzma.

The hike was on the same trail as the Yokneam walk the week before (I forgot my camera but to see pictures of the area check out Max's last blog) . I was thrilled to get to walk through the same gorgeous scenery as before and this time without hordes of people. Afterwards we went on jeep rides through the area. Israelis are already crazy drivers, so I was a little more than nervous getting into a vehicle where the purpose was to drive wildly through rough terrain (and even more so when the driver instructed me not to wear my seat belts because it was unnecessary...I'm sure my mother will be proud to know that I did not take his advice and remained buckled). The ride was a lot of fun, and safe presumably, although I guess I'll admit that a screech or two did escape my mouth. We were sent home from that excursion with a huge box of leftover food from the provided lunch...dutifully fulfilling our role as the always desperate volunteers.

After a little relaxation and much needed showers, Yael and I were off next to Shabbat dinner with my adoptive family. As always, it was a delightful evening with a delicious meal and great company. Friday night dinners in Israel are a staple, incredibly important to all families, religious or not. Two of my adoptive sisters were present (the third was busy working and studying in Tel Aviv, where she goes to college). Also in attendance was my adoptive dad's sister visiting from the US. The oldest sister's husband spent a significant portion of the meal showing off his self-proclaimed most prized possession, his iPhone...his pregnant wife seeming used to the obsession (this wasn't my first time witnessing his excitement over the gadget).

After the delicious meal, prepared by my adoptive dad (who loves to cook) and his sister, and the deserts...or the masterpieces my adoptive mom produces for every occasion, I was again sent home with a bag full of food. However, this time I was thrilled to accept the homemade kube, homemade bread and a bag full of nana...a kind of mint Israelis put in tea (I'd say it has changed my life, or at least the way I'll forever drink my tea).

Yael and I then spent Saturday lying around the apartment, catching up on the important goings on in the US, namely Grey's Anatomy and The Office. Our plans for Saturday evening, of course involved more food, in more ways than one. Tali, Max, and I all volunteer at a food pantry called Kol HaLev. Another woman who regularly volunteers there invited us over for dinner on Saturday night at her home in Haifa. This invitation was even more generous than usual, considering our conversations are usually limited to "how many oranges go in this bag?"

Anyways, we gladly accepted (minus Max who was out of town for the weekend).

While we were on our way out the door I realized that I had forgotten to buy wine or flowers as a thank you for dinner. Luckily we were warned to bring a few go-to gifts from the US for situations such as these. I grabbed a St. Louis ballparks book and was out the door. A friend of Vivette's, our host, who lives close picked us up in Yokneam. Confusion over whether or not we were supposed to be waiting for him at the Junction or Central Bus Station caused a slightly dramatic beginning to rest of the calm and interesting evening. The very gentle and nice man, clearly did not like to be kept waiting.

Once we arrived in Haifa, Vivette took the book as if it was the most random gift she's ever received. I guess I should have expected that. I tried to explain the connection between St. Louis and Yokneam and the importance of baseball in not just the US but St. Louis in particular, even so I'm pretty sure that was all lost. At least I wasn't empty handed!

As per usual we were treated to a huge Israeli meal. But it was really the company that was most fascinating. We were seated at a long table so I spent the night talking to those on my half of the table. I was sitting with two people who were both born in Israel, grew up the States, and then moved back to Israel permanently. Also there was an Israeli engineering professor and of course Yael. The five of us spent the evening discussing various topics, some serious and others light. I was surprised to find out that most of the people there had met at a cafe they all frequented that played jazz music. They all happened to meet one another there and have formed bonds that have lasted years. They have created this unexpected family, the sum just as welcoming as all of it quirky parts. They were all of various ages from various backgrounds and I had a fabulous time spending the evening chatting them all up.

Afterwards I found myself exhausted from the long weekend, all those big meals wore me out, and had a nice restful sleep since luckily my volunteering doesn't interfere with my much needed Sunday morning laziness.

'Cause I Was Walking in Yokne'am

Since we've been in Yokne'am, we've been hearing a lot about this event called the "Yokne'am Walk" that was coming up, how it was such a huge deal, how everyone went to it, and how much we should be looking forward to it. Well, last Saturday it finally came! Basically, this was a huge American-style festival, with game booths, a moon bounce, junk food for sale, people selling random trinkets, and a stage set up for various bands and dance groups. Along with the carnival was a marked path for a little hike of either 6 or 11 kilometers. First, we checked in at the Dalyiot booth which was being run by my adoptive mom (who's the vice principal of the school) and Yuval, my 4 year old adoptive brother. After Yuval gave me a hat and some candy (but none for Andi and Tali - he's shy!) we headed out on the walk.

We were looking forward to the whole thing, but we were especially watching out for a booth set up by the kids at the youth center. Well, to our surprise, it wasn't just a booth - it was a whole other carnival! They set up about 30 minutes into the walk, and had a lot of the same features as the first carnival. We were really proud of them - they came up with everything and ran the whole thing themselves. Even Nadav, the youth center's director, was able to just sit back and watch them at work. It was really impressive!

Following our stop, we headed out for the rest of the whole 11 km walk/hike. The landscape in Yokne'am is really gorgeous, and it was the first time we really got to see it all. Along the way, we ran into a bunch of people we had met over the past few months, including a ton of our kids from Dalyiot.

After completing the hike (and returning to a shut down and empty carnival - guess we took a while), I decided I was tired of walking, so I gave Efi (my adoptive dad) a call to see if he could come pick us up. He did us one better, offering to bring us to their house where they had "a lot of food". Well, the reason they had so much food was that his ENTIRE FAMILY was there to visit! I was shocked, as I had just had Shabbat dinner with them the night before and he didn't mention that anyone was coming. Turns out that they had been planning on inviting us all along, but they didn't know when we would be done with the walk. So, we were treated to an amazing Shabbat lunch after a long hike, and Andi and Tali got to meet my extended Israeli family. Just another reason why I love Shabbat in Israel!

I could go on, but I think in this case I'd rather show, not tell. Enjoy!

Rain, Rain, Rain

It's the rainy season (aka fake winter). I guess in Israel you never really know what this will mean but this rainy season there's actually been rain! ...a lot of it. A few weeks ago I spent the weekend visiting an Otzma friend in Kiryat Shmona, a beautiful city up north that sits in a mountain valley so that anywhere you walk provides a spectacular view. My friend's adoptive family insisted on taking us on a Shabbat road trip to see a couple waterfalls up north. They insisted, it was urgent. And it wasn't just going to be us, we left at 8 am on Saturday morning because people were coming from all over the country. But it wasn't that us or any of the other people were going to see the waterfalls, instead the huge crowds were going for the excitement of the water itself. The water that had arrived with the pouring rain that to me seemed to be never ending.

We couldn't help laughing how excited these crazy people got over water. A friend of ours was told that he couldn't wait even a day to go see these waterfalls, the water might be gone! But of course in just one day the water would not be gone, why were these people in such a fuss? With full knowledge of the water crisis in Israel it was still difficult to grasp how hordes of people could put their families in a car and drive all the way up north in a hurry for a good view.

I heard someone liken the situation to a minor archeological find in the US. Something so ancient, found in the US! Wouldn't swarms of people come to see this hypothetical discovery? Israeli's wouldn't blink twice...they're not exactly short on ancient history. But water, what a novelty, how exciting for it to pour!

And then we saw the waterfalls. We tried to maintain our American nonchalance but couldn't help getting caught up in the excitement. I found myself giddy with delight as I felt the mist from the waterfall on my face and saw the full rainbow it created (look closely to see it in the second photo!). Look at the water! There was something so special about standing with people from all over the country coming to witness this rarity that I no doubt take for granted.

And by standing with I of course mean everyone pushing in typical Israeli fashion to get the best view.

I started to get it. I always understood: they don't have enough water here, it's a big problem, it rained and people got excited. But standing so close to this waterfall, watching the water rush by, the excitement that causes traffic jams worth of people waiting to see the water...it was just so Israeli.

New Volunteering Site!

As you all know, we have been busy with all of our volunteering here in Yokne'am, from teaching English at Daliyot, to helping out at the youth center, and even coaching a little bit of baseball. As of last week, we added a new site to our repertoire. A man named Yochai Yitzhari has been running a food pantry called Kol Halev since 2002, and his efforts reach around 100 families (about 600 people) in the Yokne'am-Meggido area.

After recieving a $15,000 grant from our very own St. Louis Jewish Federation, our coordinator Arkady wrote an article for the Jewish Agency of Israel detailing his efforts. I won't go into the details of the program here (you can follow the link provided at the end of this entry), but needless to say, once we learned about Yochai we were eager to join him.

The work we do isn't particularly hard, but it is certainly rewarding. If you've worked in a food pantry, you know the drill - gather the food and bag it up. The crew working there is a very warm and inviting group, and they made it easy for us to jump right in and start helping. Even though the work is simple, it's nice to be able to step back and see exactly what you did that day, as opposed to the more abstract results from teaching.

It's also great working with Yochai - the 65 year old former naval commander is full of life and energy, and you can tell how much he truly loves the work he is doing. It hasn't been uncommon for us this year to encounter people who are jaded from years of work, but Yochai is truly passionate. As he told us after driving us home (he personally is driving us to and from Kol Halev each week), his "life is volunteering", and he loves being able to provide the children of the community with food each week. It may just be for a few hours a week, but I think I can speak for Andi and Tali when I say we are excited to join his efforts!

Jewish Agency article: "Former Naval Commander Dedicates His Life to Helping the Needy"

St. Louis Jewish Federation article: "JFed Grant Pays for Food to Poor in Yokne'am"

The Perfect Storm

A “perfect storm” is defined by Wikipedia as “an expression that describes an event where a rare combination of circumstances will aggravate a situation drastically.” Besides the fact that Israel is currently experiencing its third straight day of countrywide rainstorms, I think it’s safe to say that today’s events at Daliyot School would fit that description.

So Andi, Tali, and I have been working at Dalyiot for about 2 weeks now, and have had nothing but positive experiences. For the most part, we have been working in various English classes and helping where we can. Also, I have been working with a 1st grader named – you know, let’s just call him Jed, a boy who has had some behavioral issues and has for whatever reason quickly connected with me. The school has been fantastic, the staff has been incredibly supportive, and the kids are a pleasure to teach. That being said, if you’ve ever taught, you know that sometimes you just have one of those days.

Upon arrival to Dalyiot, I headed down to Jed’s class to work with him. Apparently today was immunization day, and his class and many other students were lining up to receive their shots. I got there right before Jed headed in, and he was, as always, very excited to see me. Once we got in, however, Jed was told that they did not have his immunization card and would not be treated. Most kids might take this as a plus – hey, no shot today! Jed, however, was extremely upset to have been left out of something the rest of his class was taking part in. It became impossible to get him to work, and for a while he just sulked in the corner and took out his anger on me. Finally, his teacher and I got to the root of the issue and he pretty much spent the last 10 minutes of class hugging me as hard as he could, until recess came and he forgot all about his troubles.

That was the easy part of my day.

So after that, Andi and I were supposed to go with one of the English teachers to her class. Normally Tali would be with us, but she had been feeling pretty sick and we told her to go home and get some rest. Before reaching the class, a school counselor grabbed me in a rush and started babbling about some kind of major disaster, she desperately needs our help, she can’t teach English, and on and on. Honestly, for a minute I thought I was going to walk into a room with a fire burning and kids playing catch with other kids!

Turns out there were about 5 teachers out sick that day, and they needed help covering one of the rooms. So, Andi and I moved to a 4th grade class that we all spend a lot of time in anyway. Now, I walked in expecting to take over English class, but we were then told that it was currently science class. So why was the counselor so concerned about teaching English? No clue, but if someone could explain that I’d be thrilled. So, being unable to teach science in the first place (let alone in Hebrew), the class was introduced to what would end up being 3 hours of English class.

At first (and this wouldn’t be the only time) the class was extremely difficult to get under control. This was one of those times where my classroom experience helped me survive, as I knew some basic ways to get the class under control… that sort of worked. While we were trying to come up with a lesson plan in 10 seconds in front of the class, we thankfully noticed many of the kids asking where Tali was. Not that I’m happy she’s sick, but that saved our butts. For the first hour, we had the kids make get-well cards for her, letting them learn some English while getting to draw and color, a favorite pastime of the class. Unfortunately, the counselor left (I’m sure to deal with another crisis) and we were left alone with our very limited Hebrew skills to control a class of 9-10 year olds. Admittedly, the cards idea worked out great and kept them busy for an hour – but we still had another hour to fill.

For the second hour, Andi and I decided to split the class in half and each take one group for half the time. The class had a test later that day in their actual English class, and I wanted to help them prepare. In my half, we played a game where everyone stands in a circle and tosses a ball around, and when you catch the ball you have to say a word in a certain category, such as “words that start with B”. Since the test was over hobbies, that was the category. The game went well for a little bit, but not surprisingly, it wound up devolving into kids throwing the ball at each other and running around, refusing to pay attention to the guy speaking English at the front of the room. Thankfully the 2nd half of the class went better, as I made sure to better demonstrate how the game worked and how not to toss the ball to each other.

As was par for the course today though, we wound up with another crisis. One particular student in the class is exceptionally good at English, to the point where she almost sounds like a native speaker. Unfortunately, during elementary school it isn’t uncommon for someone to get made fun of for being smart, which was exactly what happened. There’s nothing – NOTHING – more heartbreaking for a teacher than to hear a student talk about how she wishes she was stupid or that she wants to go back in time so she never learned something. Just awful stuff. Sadly, that was the end of our day – the main English teacher came to administer their test, we managed to get the student back into the class, and returned home, where I started writing this.

Now, this was a pretty rough day, and you might think that I have a lower opinion of Daliyot than when I started. To the contrary, my thoughts on Daliyot haven’t changed one bit. It’s still a fantastic school, with remarkable and incredibly supportive staff, and the kids are (normally) great to teach. But, as any teacher knows, sometimes these days just happen. Sometimes, the weather is bad and kids are restless. Sometimes, a kid is upset about something and takes it out on everyone else around him. Sometimes, teachers get sick and have to go home. Sometimes, teachers panic and overreact (Like you’ve never done that?). Sometimes, lesson plans fall apart. Sometimes, kids get bullied. And sometimes, it all happens at once in a perfect storm. But tomorrow morning, I’m going to wake up, get dressed, and head back in for another day. Hopefully, it’ll go better. But if it doesn’t? I’m still gonna do it again every day for the next 2 ½ months. And these days will happen again, and they will be offset by the great days that are much more frequent. That’s just the life we lead – wouldn’t have it any other way.

Yokneam! (and the past month...)

We've finally moved to Yokneam and I can say that we're just about settled. Our apartment is one enormous step up from the absorption center we lived in during our three months in Ashkelon. We have an oven!...not that any of us can quite figure out how to use it.

A full kitchen and living room had all of us shocked and quite pleasantly surprised. It's a shock to the system to move from a dorm style building with 38 Americans to the much quieter existence of an apartment with two roommates (not to imply that we can't still hear every word each other says because with the way noise carries here, its as is we're always all in the same room). But before talking about Yokneam, a quick summary of my last month:

I was in Istanbul for about a week with a friend from Otzma and we had a wonderful time. Going to Turkey was something we planned incredibly last minute (two weeks before we left, maybe?) and somehow everything just magically fell into place. We were friendly before the trip but ended up traveling really well together and enjoying each others company.

We luckily found most of the same things fascinating and I'm a little embarrassed to admit we would get so excited at each new site (while simultaneously reading our individual copies of Lonely Planet: Istanbul) that we'd make notes on scrap paper and go back to our hostel to look up our homework online later in the night. I was exposed to a whole new culture that I previously knew hardly anything about. I was so shocked (probably a big reflection of my own ignorance) how much amazing history there was to find in Istanbul itself. I had never been to a Muslim country and found the stunning mosques absolutely fascinating. And since the Bosphorus River, which runs right through the city, separates both the city and country into part Europe and part Asia...I went to Europe over break!

We decided one evening to try and find one of the few synagogues in the country which represent the very small Jewish community in Istanbul. As we happened upon the building and decided to take a picture of the exterior (we wanted to record how understated and really hidden the building seemed) a man in a suit ran at us yelling to stop taking pictures. He can only be described as secret service as he was in a suit and spoke into a tiny microphone in the lapel of his jacket. He watched us delete our pictures and after swearing up and down that we are Jewish he explained to us that in order to get a tour of the synagogue we would have to contact the Chief Rabbi of Turkey to receive permission. We walked away stunned but on a mission.

On the last day of our trip we were able to visit two synagogues and a Jewish museum. Both shuls were hidden and extremely difficult to spot unless you are explicitly seeking them out. But then as you enter they somehow open up into these big beautiful establishments.

Neve Shalom, where we were encountered the security guard, we found out was the victim of two attacks in the past couple decades. Gunmen entered the synagogue during Shabbat services in the 80s and just a few years ago there was a car bombing. Amazingly Neve Shalom is still beautiful and active.

After returning to Israel I was in Jerusalem, studying at Pardes for two weeks. It was a really interesting experience and overall I really enjoyed the text study. Being in Jerusalem I expected to get back into being forced to use my Hebrew but since I had never before lived in Jerusalem I now realize, that was just not true. I hardly spoke a word of Hebrew over those two weeks since everyone's English was far and away better than my Hebrew. And that's really an understatement since I felt surrounded by Americans almost the entire time, and when I was around Israeli's they were all pretty much fluent in English. I was relieved honestly to get out of the city so that I could feel like I wasn't trapped in an American bubble and I could be around Israelis again.

A week and a half in Yokneam and I already have improved my Hebrew more than I ever would surrounded by English speakers. We've been working in an elementary school for three days and being with children makes is extremely necessary to improve, quickly! The teachers communicate with us in English and there are even a few kids who know the language but for most of the day, Hebrew is really essential. It's a situation I've really managed to avoid amazingly enough over the past four months because I've been terrified to use the language. Now that it's unavoidable it's putting a lot of pressure on me to get better fast! And really in three days I'm already utilizing a lot more of what I know than I have been. I definitely still sound absolutely ridiculous when I speak, but I understand a lot more and I'm just hoping someday I'll get to a point when I don't sound absolutely ridiculous.

Yokneam itself is a beautiful city with a real small town feel. There is one large shopping center and I have yet to go there without recognizing someone (and we only moved here last week!). It's located in the mountains so its hilly and offers a great view from almost anywhere. Because it's the partnership city to St. Louis when I tell people where I'm from they get really excited (not something you'll find ANYWHERE ELSE in Israel where they usually say "I've never heard of that place"). The Partnership 2000 coordinators, people associated with federation in St. Louis, have really taken care of us here and are still helping us to figure out the logistics for all of our volunteering while in Yokneam.

Last night we volunteered at the youth center for the first time and just spent time hanging out with the kids who were there doing mostly nothing with friends. I played a couple games of foozeball and ping pong. Fun fact: the direct translation of foozeball in from Hebrew to English is "table soccer" (from cador regell shulchan). We had a really fun night hanging out with some of the high schoolers there, trying to communicate in the Hebrew I could speak, and the little bit of English they could contribute too.

So far its been a pretty smooth transition to living up here. Even though I see the importance of taking Ulpan in Ashkelon and I did volunteer a few days a week there, I often felt frustrated that I wasn't doing what I came here to do this year, which is to volunteer full time. Now that I've moved to Yokneam and the second track of Otzma has begun I know that I'm finally getting that opportunity. I'll be happy to share as those unfold! (picture: Max, me, and Tali with a view of Yokneam in the background)

Yom Tov!