Monday, October 23, 2006
As you know, Anna and I decided to start keeping kosher. I was a little skeptical of the plan, but I believe anything worth trying is worth doing whole-heartedly. One week later, the results are more or less in: it's not that different. I expected it to be a muddle of confusion over which dishes we use, where we wash pots, and a general frustration of my eating habits. We did tackle a few strange issues, but it's been pretty easy. Heck, it's been more difficult making the transition to soy milk with my Cheerios. (No, that's not related to keeping kosher. Separate issue.)
Eating out is easy too, since most restaurants are kosher, and even the trayf ones have many milk-and-meat-separate dishes. The lounge on campus only makes vegetarian or tuna sandwiches, and most of my eating out occurs during school hours. Of course, what happens if we take this plan into America? Suddenly, it turns into a significant act of cultural rebellion. What happens when cheeseburgers are sold on every corner, and a pizza joint without pepperoni is non-existant?
As Anna wrote in the last post, the real issue here is in the meaning. What does it mean to keep kosher? How does that relate to a Jewish life, to feeling Jewish? I'm not expecting any insight on that issue for awhile, so I wait.
One of the more exciting projects we're apart of is the FSU Project. For the last five years, HUC has sent a contingent of students to Progressive congregations in the Former Soviet Union (FSU) to help lead Passover seders. Anna and I have signed up for the trip, and we're really excited. One of my professors works on issues relating to the FSU, and as part of that has a lot of resources on Jewish genealogy. I took the name of the town that Abraham Stoller (my mother's mother's father) lived in, Rafalowka, and searched the resources in my prof's office. We found it on the map, and discovered a little bit about the history of the place.
Most exciting, it's about an hour away from the town of Lutsk, where exists a Progressive congregation that participates in the FSU Project! I'm going back to look into the history on my father's side as well, but it looks possible that Anna and I could see the shtetl of my great-great grandparents' lives. How amazing is that?!
Eating out is easy too, since most restaurants are kosher, and even the trayf ones have many milk-and-meat-separate dishes. The lounge on campus only makes vegetarian or tuna sandwiches, and most of my eating out occurs during school hours. Of course, what happens if we take this plan into America? Suddenly, it turns into a significant act of cultural rebellion. What happens when cheeseburgers are sold on every corner, and a pizza joint without pepperoni is non-existant?
As Anna wrote in the last post, the real issue here is in the meaning. What does it mean to keep kosher? How does that relate to a Jewish life, to feeling Jewish? I'm not expecting any insight on that issue for awhile, so I wait.
One of the more exciting projects we're apart of is the FSU Project. For the last five years, HUC has sent a contingent of students to Progressive congregations in the Former Soviet Union (FSU) to help lead Passover seders. Anna and I have signed up for the trip, and we're really excited. One of my professors works on issues relating to the FSU, and as part of that has a lot of resources on Jewish genealogy. I took the name of the town that Abraham Stoller (my mother's mother's father) lived in, Rafalowka, and searched the resources in my prof's office. We found it on the map, and discovered a little bit about the history of the place.
Most exciting, it's about an hour away from the town of Lutsk, where exists a Progressive congregation that participates in the FSU Project! I'm going back to look into the history on my father's side as well, but it looks possible that Anna and I could see the shtetl of my great-great grandparents' lives. How amazing is that?!
Sunday, October 15, 2006
I think we brought some rain home with us from England. I'm sure that after a full season of rain, that will be upsetting. But right now it's a welcomed change. Before I inundate you with the many pictures from our trip, I'll catch you up on our lives.
First of all, we've decided that it's finally time for the big experiment: keeping kosher. It's been a long time in debate and discussion, and now that we're in Israel and it's so easy, we figured it's time to try. There are a lot of theories about the purpose of kashrut. Many think it has to do with health concerns from long ago; others believe it creates a distinction between Jewish and non-Jewish; others believe it's about recognizing your body as holy and therefore the food you put into your body must be holy. The list goes on. None of these reasons really made perfect sense to either of us, but we thought we'd give it a go and see if any clarity comes. We'll keep you updated on the progress of our experiment.
In other news, after a long string of emails, I've learned that I have a rather large family, on my father's side, here in Israel. It just so happened that the day we got back from England, Grandma B's cousin, Esmond, was having his 80th birthday party in Netanya. So, we went straight there to meet everyone all at once! Esmond is my great-grandfather's nephew (Grandma B's first cousin, who she's never met). He has 4 children, who have all immigrated to Israel, and between them I couldn't count all of the grandchildren and great-granchildren. They are a lively bunch, singing and hugging. We had a lovely time meeting everyone and getting to see cousing Rhoda again.
And now, on to England! Stacy and Kevin just bought a new home:
We joined them for the first dinner in the dining room. Unfortunately, the chairs haven't been delivered yet, so Jamie and Kevin had trouble reaching the table.
Here is the street Stacy works on. She's only about a block from St. Paul's Cathedral. She's also across the street from a chain restaurant--check out the name!
It turns out that the new town Stacy and Kevin have moved to used to be a Jewish neighborhood. There are a few relics left on the high street. A kosher deli and a bagel shop. Jamie came into the bagel shop, as always sporting his kippah, which started a whole relationshiop with the owner and his brother. Turns out that they grew up in Israel, their father was a cantor and grandfather was a rabbi. They are pictured below, too.
We went to go see Parliment, which turned out to be the first day in session, so the protestors were of course out to mark the occasion. And, unsurprisingly, they were protesting Israel with a lovely swastika. Anyway, no one took them very seriously, even the cops who seemed to spend most of the time rolling their eyes and giving tourists directions.
And here are a bunch of other lovely sights from England:
Whew! That was a lot of pictures! Jamie's most likely going to post soon as well to give his review on London theatre. Stay tuned...
First of all, we've decided that it's finally time for the big experiment: keeping kosher. It's been a long time in debate and discussion, and now that we're in Israel and it's so easy, we figured it's time to try. There are a lot of theories about the purpose of kashrut. Many think it has to do with health concerns from long ago; others believe it creates a distinction between Jewish and non-Jewish; others believe it's about recognizing your body as holy and therefore the food you put into your body must be holy. The list goes on. None of these reasons really made perfect sense to either of us, but we thought we'd give it a go and see if any clarity comes. We'll keep you updated on the progress of our experiment.
In other news, after a long string of emails, I've learned that I have a rather large family, on my father's side, here in Israel. It just so happened that the day we got back from England, Grandma B's cousin, Esmond, was having his 80th birthday party in Netanya. So, we went straight there to meet everyone all at once! Esmond is my great-grandfather's nephew (Grandma B's first cousin, who she's never met). He has 4 children, who have all immigrated to Israel, and between them I couldn't count all of the grandchildren and great-granchildren. They are a lively bunch, singing and hugging. We had a lovely time meeting everyone and getting to see cousing Rhoda again.
 The birthday boy, Esmond, and his wife, Barbara |  Cousin Rhoda, Esmond's sister, Grandma B's first cousin |
And now, on to England! Stacy and Kevin just bought a new home:
We joined them for the first dinner in the dining room. Unfortunately, the chairs haven't been delivered yet, so Jamie and Kevin had trouble reaching the table.
Here is the street Stacy works on. She's only about a block from St. Paul's Cathedral. She's also across the street from a chain restaurant--check out the name!
It turns out that the new town Stacy and Kevin have moved to used to be a Jewish neighborhood. There are a few relics left on the high street. A kosher deli and a bagel shop. Jamie came into the bagel shop, as always sporting his kippah, which started a whole relationshiop with the owner and his brother. Turns out that they grew up in Israel, their father was a cantor and grandfather was a rabbi. They are pictured below, too.
We went to go see Parliment, which turned out to be the first day in session, so the protestors were of course out to mark the occasion. And, unsurprisingly, they were protesting Israel with a lovely swastika. Anyway, no one took them very seriously, even the cops who seemed to spend most of the time rolling their eyes and giving tourists directions.
And here are a bunch of other lovely sights from England:
Whew! That was a lot of pictures! Jamie's most likely going to post soon as well to give his review on London theatre. Stay tuned...
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Well, we're off again! We are leaving before dawn on Saturday to England!!! We're visiting Stacy and Kevin (Jamie's sister) and get to see their new house. After very intense High Holy Days, with Jamie practicing solos and prepping for weeks, and me getting used to sitting by myself in the congregation, it's time for some play time. So, we're going to play in the city and see sites and hopefully a couple of my cousins and my host mother from when I studied in London.
In the process of trying to find my English relatives, I discovered that I have family right here in Israel! So, when we land back in Israel next Thursday, we're heading straight to Netanya for my cousin Esmond's 80th birthday party. Some of the relatives from England will be there, along with Esmond's children, grandchildren and great-granchildren!
I'll leave you with a couple of fun pictures. The first is of the shuk which we've written about. It shows just a small portion of the market that we live right next to. The photo was taken by our friend Kate. As you can see, she's on her way to being a professional photographer. You can see more of her pictures of Israel at www.klstambler.com/Israel.
The next two pictures are taken from our mirpeset (balcony, remember?). As many of you know, Friday begins the holiday, Sukkot, where Jews are supposed to build a temporary living structure and live in it as much as possible for a week (usually the meals are eaten there). These sukkahs have been popping up all over town, including right across from our apartment as you can see below. Jamie and I will be observing this holiday by living in a temporary dwelling place, which is Stacy's permanent dwelling place.
In the process of trying to find my English relatives, I discovered that I have family right here in Israel! So, when we land back in Israel next Thursday, we're heading straight to Netanya for my cousin Esmond's 80th birthday party. Some of the relatives from England will be there, along with Esmond's children, grandchildren and great-granchildren!
I'll leave you with a couple of fun pictures. The first is of the shuk which we've written about. It shows just a small portion of the market that we live right next to. The photo was taken by our friend Kate. As you can see, she's on her way to being a professional photographer. You can see more of her pictures of Israel at www.klstambler.com/Israel. The next two pictures are taken from our mirpeset (balcony, remember?). As many of you know, Friday begins the holiday, Sukkot, where Jews are supposed to build a temporary living structure and live in it as much as possible for a week (usually the meals are eaten there). These sukkahs have been popping up all over town, including right across from our apartment as you can see below. Jamie and I will be observing this holiday by living in a temporary dwelling place, which is Stacy's permanent dwelling place.
