First Week in the Holy Land

Shalom!!! Day 3 Israel, Day 2 Ulpan, Day 1 Adventures

[I wrote this first part a few days ago when I thought I could post from my iPod, but had to hold off until my laptop was hooked up to internet.]

One word to describe my time here so far: overwhelming. Which is to be expected. Being in a foreign country throws you out of your comfort zone, which was one of my many reasons for coming. My other main reasons are to learn Hebrew, become a better artist, and experience as much of Israel as I can.

I had my 2nd Ulpan class today (Hebrew lessons) and I'm really enjoying it. Having the knowledge of the alphabet and a general knowledge of some vocabulary has been extremely helpful in class to make it a nice balance of reviewing old material and learning new material.

I took my first trip into the center of Jerusalem today (my apartment and school are up on a mountain with a gorgeous view, but in order to be a part of regular city life, you have to take the bus in). This was an accomplishment for me because not only is my head still spinning a bit from being here, but also I think in all my travels that it is highly likely that while I used public transportation frequently, I never actually took it by myself in a foreign land. This venture probably came sooner than later since I wanted to hang out with my friend who insisted he would not come out to where I live because it's in the middle of nowhere. While I would have preferred to live more in the center of Jerusalem, I wanted to make my day-to-day life easier by living near campus. But luckily for me I have now learned that the bus system in incredibly easy here. Also, if you're ever lost apparently all Israelis are happy to tell you what to do and where to go. I met a nice Romanian olim (immigrant) on the bus who also attends Bezalel (the art school I will begin taking classes at in about a month) and not only got off at the stop I should get off at but also walked with me a good 7 minutes to show me where I was supposed to be meeting my friend.

My official bus card- Rav Kav

Luckily I was where I was supposed to be and met my friend Aaron (a friend I met at Camp Newman when I worked there in 2008 as art director. He recently made aliyah and just finished serving in the IDF. He has been a great resource to me as to how to get around Jerusalem, as well as helping me learn Hebrew- particularly forcing me to test out my knowledge to attempt to speak to the waiters in Hebrew). We immediately started running around the center with him imparting all his knowledge of Jerusalem and helping me orient myself within the city center. He took me to a wonderful little hummus bar, called Ben Sira, where I tried the mushroom hummus. When you order hummus here, it comes as a whole meal. It comes with chopped onions and tomatoes on the side, and some pickles, and garbanzos, and even falafel.

And then I easily bussed home. Of all the places in the world I’ve taken the bus, so far Jerusalem has been much easier than most (that includes both Rome and LA).

A view of my apartment from the outside

Living room, kitchen and bedroom. All a little dormy/sterile looking for me, but comes with modern conveniences that many Israeli apartments don't come with.

[Now that we’re caught up, this part I wrote today]

Shabbat (and no longer feeling so overwhelmed)

My dear friend Becka (who I have known since 7^th grade when we met at Camp Newman), is living in Jerusalem for a year, studying at the Hebrew Union College. It is very exciting for me that we get to be here at the same time as each other, at least for a few months. She invited me for Shabbat at her apartment, which was a great way to spend my first Shabbat in Jerusalem. We made (Becka did most of the work) baked balsamic tofu, cous cous, and roasted vegetables.

To back track, we started Friday morning by heading to The Shuk. The best way I can describe the Shuk to someone who hasn’t experienced it, is a large outdoor, permanent farmers market- but much, much crazier. This is not a place for the timid. It’s jam packed, the produce towers over your head, and you have to be ready to aggressively ask to pay for your produce, as well as aggressively walk through any of the aisles. When people try to pass others in the aisles, I found you much more commonly hear people say, “yalla!” meaning, “let’s go!” (equivalent to vamanos/andiamo), rather than hearing “s’licha,” meaning “excuse me.” We purchased what we needed for the Shabbat meal, as well as I picked up a few things for me to eat during the week (including life changing rugelach- a delicious cookie/pastry filled with chocolate, which I will be sure to fill my bags with when I return back to the U.S.). We then prepared the meal and set it aside so it would be ready to just heat up after Shabbat services.

Becka then took me to what she describes as a progressive, feminist, Orthodox service. I found the community very warm and welcoming and I enjoyed the melodies they used, and would love to go again during the next few months. The prayer books also have lots of interesting information in it, so if you don’t want to follow along with the service, you can learn about the ins and outs of the prayer.

What are some of the qualities that made it progressive Orthodox? On the more religious side of things, everyone is dressed very modestly, long skirts, etc. However because it is more progressive, you do find some women in pants. It felt like such a warm community that I really can’t imagine anyone would’ve looked down on you for wearing whatever you wanted so long as it was modest, and possibly somewhat nice. The first part of the service is led by a woman (which would not be found in strict Orthodox) and then a man led the second half of the service. Also, for Jews, one of the requirements to hold a service is that you need a “minyon.” A minyon is considered to be 10 people. Traditionally 10 men, but more liberal organizations, like Reform Judaism count women as part of the minyon. This particular temple does something in between- they do a 10 + 10 minyon. So they need 10 men AND 10 women to count as a minyon.

The thing I like least about the service is they do use a “mechitzah,” which is a cloth that divides the men and women. It is sheer so you can see through (I think this is slightly progressive for it to be sheer?). From my understanding the mechitzah is used so that the women are not distracting to the men during the service and vice versa. I personally feel no less distracted or less likely to daydream when there is a mechitzah, then when I am at a service without one, but this wouldn’t stop me from coming back.

After services we walked back to Becka’s and ate a delicious dinner. After dinner I took a taxi back to my apartment because busses don’t run in Jerusalem on Shabbat.

Sunday starts the workweek here, so I went back to Ulpan. I am still really enjoying the class. It’s the first time I’ve been in a language class and felt like I knew enough so that when new info was taught I could actually catch on and not be totally lost.

After class today I met up with Aaron on Emek Rafaaim for lunch at a different restaurant for hummus and Hebrew studying. Apparently soon I’m going to need to have an opinion on who has the best hummus in town. They've both been pretty fantastic so far.

The weather has not been the greatest. I know in Israel you’re supposed to always be happy for the rain… so I am. It’s the cold and the wind that I’d prefer to do without at this point. Yesterday’s weather was so horrendous that in my 15 minute walk back from class I looked like I had taken a shower in my clothes, despite having an umbrella (which I used mostly as a shield since the rain was completely horizontal). Which of course the umbrella broke about 5min from my apt. Luckily I have a raincoat for future storms.

*Please note, any educational knowledge about Judaism and/or Hebrew is only to the best of my knowledge, so I make no claims to be an expert on either of these subjects.

**For those who think my blog title is referring to Chai Tea lattes, it is not (though I do love them). In Hebrew, “chai” (pronounced “Hi” but with the very throaty sound you make when clearing your throat), means “life.” Like the toast made over drinks, “L’chaim!” But also sounds similar to “Hi.” So we have the double meaning of “Life/Hi from Jerusalem.” Glad we’re all on board. And we can thank my mother for the genius behind the title. Hi mom!

L’hitraot (pronounced: Liheetraoat. Means: see you later)!