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.