Saturday, July 22, 2006
Living next to the shuk emphasizes the idea of Shabbat rest. Every other morning, we awaken to endless honking, fights over parking spaces, and the cries of the salesmen in the shuk. But on Saturday morning, it's so peaceful. We slept in till 10:30am. It was beautiful, and necessary.
Friday night we went to a Modern Orthodox shul called Shira Chadasha. It was an intense experience, and it took me by surprise. It's held at a youth center, two equal sides with a sliding curtain (the mechitzah) in the middle to separate men from women. In a radical departure from traditional orthodoxy, a woman leads half the service. What was so incredible about the service was the ruach, the spirit of the congregation. Everyone there really prayed. We sang a few melodies I'd heard before which I didn't care for, but I was impressed by how better it got when everyone participated.
This reinforced my belief that it doesn't really matter what you do in prayer, as long as you have active participation. Which raises the question: how do I, as a shliach tzibur, get the congregation engaged in prayer? The first key is clearly education. If you can't read the words, you can't sing the words. And you can't feel emotionally engaged to a prayer if you don't understand the meaning, at least a little. I'm organizing a progressive Shabbat dinner, with the hope I can take a crack at some of these problems.
Questions, questions, all the time. But here's some fun stuff I did last week. We have "Jerusalem Days" where we take trips out to various parts of the Old City and see neat things. Last week, we went to the Tiyul, a large park overlooking the city, for the morning prayer service.
This is part of the view from the Tiyul:
The tiyul is believed to be a spot mentioned in the bible. In the story of the binding of Isaac, it says that after three days, Abraham looked up and saw the spot where God had sent him. The first place along the path from Beer-sheva that looks over the Old City of Jerusalem is at the tiyul. I might have been standing in the same place Abraham did 3000 years ago...
Afterwards, we went into the old city to take a trip through Hezekiah's Tunnel. As we descended underground, we stopped at an excavation which was once a wall of Jebbus (home of the Jebusites).
That's my teacher, Rabbi Wilfond (known around campus as "Gingy") telling us all about it. There was a picture of a piece of clay excavated from this site, which showed the name of a scribe mentioned in the bible. How funny that of all the billions of people that have lived on Earth, a random scribe mentioned in the bible is also mentioned on a stone thingymcbobber.
We then went through Hezekiah's Tunnel, the original water source for Jerusalem. It was dug by King Hezekiah a couple of thousands of years ago and was used by David to sneak his troops under the wall and take over the city. It's long; it took us about 20 minutes (maybe it was more, but who could tell?), but it seemed like forever. We waded through knee-deep water the whole way. It's about as wide as I am plus a few inches on each side, and the height of the tunnel ranged from 10-15 feet high on down to 4-5' high. It's still the source for water in Jerusalem, and where it comes out is the only natural running water in the city.
It was a little intense in such a small place for so long, but we sang songs and told jokes the whole time to keep the mood light. I can't wait to see what next week's trip brings up.
Friday night we went to a Modern Orthodox shul called Shira Chadasha. It was an intense experience, and it took me by surprise. It's held at a youth center, two equal sides with a sliding curtain (the mechitzah) in the middle to separate men from women. In a radical departure from traditional orthodoxy, a woman leads half the service. What was so incredible about the service was the ruach, the spirit of the congregation. Everyone there really prayed. We sang a few melodies I'd heard before which I didn't care for, but I was impressed by how better it got when everyone participated.
This reinforced my belief that it doesn't really matter what you do in prayer, as long as you have active participation. Which raises the question: how do I, as a shliach tzibur, get the congregation engaged in prayer? The first key is clearly education. If you can't read the words, you can't sing the words. And you can't feel emotionally engaged to a prayer if you don't understand the meaning, at least a little. I'm organizing a progressive Shabbat dinner, with the hope I can take a crack at some of these problems.
Questions, questions, all the time. But here's some fun stuff I did last week. We have "Jerusalem Days" where we take trips out to various parts of the Old City and see neat things. Last week, we went to the Tiyul, a large park overlooking the city, for the morning prayer service.
This is part of the view from the Tiyul:
The tiyul is believed to be a spot mentioned in the bible. In the story of the binding of Isaac, it says that after three days, Abraham looked up and saw the spot where God had sent him. The first place along the path from Beer-sheva that looks over the Old City of Jerusalem is at the tiyul. I might have been standing in the same place Abraham did 3000 years ago...
Afterwards, we went into the old city to take a trip through Hezekiah's Tunnel. As we descended underground, we stopped at an excavation which was once a wall of Jebbus (home of the Jebusites).
That's my teacher, Rabbi Wilfond (known around campus as "Gingy") telling us all about it. There was a picture of a piece of clay excavated from this site, which showed the name of a scribe mentioned in the bible. How funny that of all the billions of people that have lived on Earth, a random scribe mentioned in the bible is also mentioned on a stone thingymcbobber.
We then went through Hezekiah's Tunnel, the original water source for Jerusalem. It was dug by King Hezekiah a couple of thousands of years ago and was used by David to sneak his troops under the wall and take over the city. It's long; it took us about 20 minutes (maybe it was more, but who could tell?), but it seemed like forever. We waded through knee-deep water the whole way. It's about as wide as I am plus a few inches on each side, and the height of the tunnel ranged from 10-15 feet high on down to 4-5' high. It's still the source for water in Jerusalem, and where it comes out is the only natural running water in the city.
It was a little intense in such a small place for so long, but we sang songs and told jokes the whole time to keep the mood light. I can't wait to see what next week's trip brings up.
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Many of you, I know, have been seeing a lot about Israel in the news. It's strange actually because I had emails asking me about what was happening here before I actually heard anything from Israelis. Part of the reason is because I can't speak Hebrew and don't understand the news. But also, the mood in Jerusalem is very calm (well, nothing in Jerusalem is calm, but regarding the fighting it's calm). We are very separated here from a lot of the problems in other parts of the country. Jamie and I had been looking forward to traveling around the country soon, but we'll just stay put for now.
I have been quite impressed with the strength of the Israeli people. In a briefing at Jamie's school, we learned a lot about the current situation and its background. Lebanon is shooting small rockets at Israel, but Israel is using full strength to pressure the government. Israel is both sending a message of strength to outside countries, but also one of loyalty to its citizens. This is a country where every young man and woman is required to serve in the military. In return, Israel is demonstrating to its people that they will do anything it takes to bring every soldier home. It's quite a different perspective than listening to reports in the states about young soldiers in Iraq.
Well, the message anyway is that we're safe and the school has assured us that they will let us know at anytime if there are any safety concerns. So, I'd rather leave you with a funny story. Here's a new and exciting thing that Jamie and I are figuring out in our apartment: the Shbath. It's not a shower--there's no shower curtain or hook for the shower head. It's not a bath--there's no plug for the drain and the faucet is a showerhead/hose. We had an in-depth discussion today about the shbath. It's a new word for us and as we're learning new languages, the natural thing to be concerned with is conjugation. So, the conclusion we've come to is that we have a shbath, but we actually shbathe. Shbath, shbathe. It's all very complicated.
Also, our floors are mostly clean! That means we can show pictures soon! Stay tuned.
I have been quite impressed with the strength of the Israeli people. In a briefing at Jamie's school, we learned a lot about the current situation and its background. Lebanon is shooting small rockets at Israel, but Israel is using full strength to pressure the government. Israel is both sending a message of strength to outside countries, but also one of loyalty to its citizens. This is a country where every young man and woman is required to serve in the military. In return, Israel is demonstrating to its people that they will do anything it takes to bring every soldier home. It's quite a different perspective than listening to reports in the states about young soldiers in Iraq.
Well, the message anyway is that we're safe and the school has assured us that they will let us know at anytime if there are any safety concerns. So, I'd rather leave you with a funny story. Here's a new and exciting thing that Jamie and I are figuring out in our apartment: the Shbath. It's not a shower--there's no shower curtain or hook for the shower head. It's not a bath--there's no plug for the drain and the faucet is a showerhead/hose. We had an in-depth discussion today about the shbath. It's a new word for us and as we're learning new languages, the natural thing to be concerned with is conjugation. So, the conclusion we've come to is that we have a shbath, but we actually shbathe. Shbath, shbathe. It's all very complicated.
Also, our floors are mostly clean! That means we can show pictures soon! Stay tuned.
Sunday, July 09, 2006
OK. You can all breathe a sigh of relief. We figured out the washing machine. Of course, that was after we broke it and jammed our clothes in it. Not to mention learning how to tie a clothes line 3 stories up over the street. We invested in a drying rack when we realized that our undies might be flapping over the Shuk for all to see. Not much else to report, but I have some good pictures from this evening's world cup finals. Enjoy!
My new Israeli outfit. I will wear it tomorrow to the Kotel (Western Wall).
Thousands showed up to watch the world cup finals projected on an enormous screen in a square. To get an idea of the size, look at the buildings near the screen.
New Friends:
My new Israeli outfit. I will wear it tomorrow to the Kotel (Western Wall).
Thousands showed up to watch the world cup finals projected on an enormous screen in a square. To get an idea of the size, look at the buildings near the screen.
New Friends:
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
We got an apartment! It's right in the shuk. What's a shuk you ask? I will tell you. It's a huge outdoor market place. There are two in Jerusalem, the Arab shuk and the Jewish shuk. We're at the Jewish shuk. It's like living next to an enormous farmers market that's open all day, 6 days a week. Fresh produce, meat, bread, sweets, clothes, dishes, all at a very reasonable price! How fun does that sound?
The apartment is huge. They say it's 3 bedrooms, but really that means 2 with a living room. It's really dirty right now and we always have shoes on our feet, but the school is going to help me find someone to clean the floors for me (trust me, it's disgusting). We've taken some pictures, but i won't send them until I have the after shots to show; I don't want anyone to panic just yet.
Everything around here is a new adventure and a learning experience. Before I left, a rabbi told me that Israel balances between 1st world and third world. Is that ever true! For example, we have to buy our own gas here -- literally, we call the company and they deliver a tank of some kind which sits outside of the apartment. However, the cheapest DSL we can get is the premium in the states. No built in stoves or closets, but the best internet connection around. I'm not the only one who thinks this is weird, am I? Today, we are going to test out the washing machine. Say a little prayer for the laundry.
We've been hanging out with Jamie's future classmates. There are 57 total in his class this year, 7 are cantors, a few educators and around 40 rabbis. We were a little surprised by how much we've already enjoyed meeting all these people, but I suppose that it makes sense that we're making fast friends within this group. It's a small group of people who are just as nutty about Judaism as we are, and who are just as confused in Israel as we are! And, so far there's no difference being the spouse of a student. Everyone here is part of the HUC family and everyone seems to want to take care of everyone else. I'm sure once the year gets going, people will start getting annoyed with each other, but for now, we have a really wonderful community and have yet to spend a day without new friends.
Orientation starts next week, which I'll be a part of. After that, I'm off to find an ulpan (intensive Hebrew class) and some paint for our weird cabinets. We'll have our own internet connection soon (we're currently snagging our neighbor's wireless--shh!) and we'll start skyping after that.
All our prized possessions - everything that came to Israel
Outside of our first hostel
Outside of our second hostel (we had a more difficult time sleeping here)
Our very first day having lunch with new friends
Jerusalem
Jerusalem again
The apartment is huge. They say it's 3 bedrooms, but really that means 2 with a living room. It's really dirty right now and we always have shoes on our feet, but the school is going to help me find someone to clean the floors for me (trust me, it's disgusting). We've taken some pictures, but i won't send them until I have the after shots to show; I don't want anyone to panic just yet.
Everything around here is a new adventure and a learning experience. Before I left, a rabbi told me that Israel balances between 1st world and third world. Is that ever true! For example, we have to buy our own gas here -- literally, we call the company and they deliver a tank of some kind which sits outside of the apartment. However, the cheapest DSL we can get is the premium in the states. No built in stoves or closets, but the best internet connection around. I'm not the only one who thinks this is weird, am I? Today, we are going to test out the washing machine. Say a little prayer for the laundry.
We've been hanging out with Jamie's future classmates. There are 57 total in his class this year, 7 are cantors, a few educators and around 40 rabbis. We were a little surprised by how much we've already enjoyed meeting all these people, but I suppose that it makes sense that we're making fast friends within this group. It's a small group of people who are just as nutty about Judaism as we are, and who are just as confused in Israel as we are! And, so far there's no difference being the spouse of a student. Everyone here is part of the HUC family and everyone seems to want to take care of everyone else. I'm sure once the year gets going, people will start getting annoyed with each other, but for now, we have a really wonderful community and have yet to spend a day without new friends.
Orientation starts next week, which I'll be a part of. After that, I'm off to find an ulpan (intensive Hebrew class) and some paint for our weird cabinets. We'll have our own internet connection soon (we're currently snagging our neighbor's wireless--shh!) and we'll start skyping after that.
All our prized possessions - everything that came to Israel
Outside of our first hostel
Outside of our second hostel (we had a more difficult time sleeping here)
Our very first day having lunch with new friends
Jerusalem
Jerusalem again
