Laura's Visit

A few short days later my friend Laura came to visit! Yet another happy surprise that I didn’t know I’d get to have when I first trekked off to Israel. I seem to really love playing tour guide (whether here, or Los Angeles, or Albuquerque, you name it), so this was a blast. It was especially wonderful since Laura had never been to Israel before. We started in Tel Aviv. My roommate Maya and I took the bus there for the weekend (We also celebrated my birthday- 26! Wow!). The 3 of us had a great time walking around the funky artsy section of Neve Tzedek, going to Rabin Square, lounging on the beach, eating a wonderful birthday fish dinner at the Tel Aviv port, and walking around Jaffa.

Enjoying the beach in Tel Aviv

At Kikar Rabin (this sculpture is a Star of David from an aerial view)

We headed back to Jerusalem for the week. I had a wonderful time showing her the sites and seeing this wonderful/often bizarre country through fresh eyes. We filled ourselves silly on hummus and pastries, and she’s such a wonderful explorer that when I had classes I had to just point her in the right direction and she was off exploring the city for herself.

My delicious cheese filled bourekas in the shuk

View of the Western Wall from above from our Old City tour

The Tuesday she was here I played hooky from class and we signed up for a tour for “independent travelers” that took us to Masada, Ein Gedi, and the Dead Sea. First stop at Masada. We hiked the “Snake Path” which is 2mi long and an ascent of 1,300ft. It was blazing hot and quite a hike. I don’t understand how the Romans could possibly have done that with all their equipment. We got to the top and explored a little bit, but determined to not pay for the cable car on the way back down we nearly sprinted back down the snake path to catch our bus.

Thoroughly exhausted, but we made it to the top!

After that we were bussed to Ein Gedi. Ein Gedi is a beautiful nature reserve. Luckily it was not a strenuous hike, but merely a walk and we got to see some beautiful waterfalls.

At the first waterfall

In front of the David waterfall in Ein Gedi

After that we were bussed to the Dead Sea. They took us to a wonderful section that didn’t have too many other people. The Dead Sea has different areas along the water and not all of them have accessible mud. Luckily for us, the mud was right under our feet so we could just dig it up and slather it on.

Soaking up the nutrients in the mud

Friday morning Laura and I bussed it up to Tiberias. The city itself normally isn't a major destination point, but we wanted to see the Sea of Gallilee (Kinneret), and without a car it seemed to be the easiest point to find a place to sleep at night. We had a wonderful (although quite hot) hike with gorgeous views of the Sea. And then with a little effort we found a nice place to go for a dip.

View from our hike

Where we went for a swim

The next day we headed to Tsfat- the city of mystical Judaism/Kaballah. It was a nice city with lots of artists. It’s an interesting place as you see a lot more “hippy Orthodox” than other places.

After that we returned to Jerusalem and Laura took off back to America literally at the crack of dawn the next day.

I only have a handful of weeks left for my classes so I’m working on wrapping up my projects and enjoying the rest of my time in Jerusalem.

Yom Yom Yom Yom!! (i.e. Endless Holidays)

Shortly after my parents left it was Yom HaShoah- Holocaust Memorial Day. The international school I take a class at (Rotherberg International School) had a ceremony where students did readings, played music, and danced. It was a very lovely ceremony. In the morning a siren sounds that everyone in the whole country can hear. No matter what you’re doing, wherever you are, everyone stops for a moment of silence.

Here is a video I found on YouTube of the cars on the freeway coming to a standstill: 

About a week after is Yom HaZikaron- Memorial Day. Unlike in American where for the average person this is a day off work/school for BBQ’s, in Israel it is a very somber day, because of the unfortunate reality of the relatively recent wars that come with the price of living in Israel. Much like on Yom HaShoah there are 2 sirens- 1 the evening of, and 1 in the morning the following day that again stops the whole country in a moment of silence. I went to the Western Wall to attend the main ceremony where President Shimon Peres spoke. I didn’t understand a word of what was said, but I hear it was a very moving speech and regardless, it was nice to be at the ceremony. It was interesting because the wall itself was actually closed off for prayer, which I had never seen before.

Picture borrowed from Jewlicious of the ceremony

View I had of the ceremony

My apartment complex hung an enormous flag down the front of it

As with all Jewish holidays, they start at sunset. So the ceremony was in the evening on the 25^th and the next day (the 26^th) is also the holiday. But that also means that the evening of 26th was the start of Yom HaAtzmaut, which is Israel Independence day. It’s very interesting to see a country go from a day filled with mourning and sadness to a day of celebration. I think that’s sort of the reality of life here. There are a lot of hard realities to face living here, but in spite of it all it doesn’t stop anyone from celebrating. I went in to the center of town with my friends and the place was just swarming with people out celebrating. There was a huge free concert in one of the squares, including a performance by Israeli musician Subliminal (who I know a few songs of his from camp). There was also a DJed dance party for students right outside the Old City. The following day is filled with BBQs which I enjoyed a night of hot dogs and baked beans in my apartment with friends.

A Wonderful Visit from my Parents

I forgot to include this photo for the last post. At the beginning of Passover it is traditional to burn you hametz (leavened bread). I've never actually done this before, and I don't believe people burn full loaves of bread, but usually just throw a few ceremonial pieces into the fire and get rid of the rest by other means (hopefully either donating it or hiding it away until after Passover to be used later). But on our way to the train station to go to Haifa we encountered a good handful of small bonfires just out in the open on the street.

View from our train watching the burning of hametz in an Orthodox neighborhood

A few days into the week of Passover my parents came for a fantastic visit. I had not expected them to visit me while I was here, so it was a wonderful bonus to have them come. We got to experience what it’s like to live in a Jewish city where everything during the week of Passover either shuts down or has to become kosher for Passover. Unfortunately lots of my favorite restaurants don’t bother becoming kosher for Passover (cleaning out all of their leavened bread- which in order to keep your Kosher certificate involves a very lengthy cleaning process) and just close for the week. Though we did find some incredibly delicious restaurants that were either not kosher to begin with, or did the full cleaning process. Both were good- though the verdict on the fake bread products made for Passover (made out of potato flour usually), was a little underwhelming.

Sign on our hotel- your leaved bread is not wanted here! ...and in most of Jerusalem for that matter

There is no shortage of matzah  here though, however.
Matzah as far as the eye can see in the shuk

We had a wonderful time running around Jerusalem, going to the Israel Museum, seeing the new Sarah Wetsman Davidson Hospital Tower at Hadassah Hospital, the light show at the Tower of David, and enjoying the hustle and bustle at the shuk.

My parents inside the beautiful new Sarah Wetsman Davidson Tower of the Hadassah Hospital

My parents and I capturing our reflection in an Anish Kapoor sculpture at the Israel Museum

Then we trekked down south in our rental car (kudos to my parents for braving the streets of Israel!) and covered ourselves in mud at the Dead Sea to reap all the benefits that you supposedly get from the minerals in the mud.

Slathered in mud at the Dead Sea

From there we headed down to Eilat, which would be our docking point to head out to Petra for the day. Petra was absolutely magnificent. It was somewhere that wasn’t necessarily on my radar of places to visit before I came to Israel, but once I got here everyone said it was such a wonderful place to go that I had to do it. It did not disappoint. The place is truly magnificent and has a very interesting history to go with it.

My parents walking in to Jordan

View overlooking Jordan before reaching Petra

In front of the Treasury in Petra

Jordan and Petra were wonderful, but returning back to Israel was also a really wonderful feeling.

Hanging out at the Red Sea in Eilat

After that we returned to Tel Aviv for a little relaxation on the beach, meeting my mom’s cousin who lives in one of the suburbs, and had an informative tour of Jaffa.

It was sad to see them go.

This Year in Jerusalem! AKA Passover

I know I’m long overdue for a new post. I’m going to attempt to knock out a post every day or 2 in order to leave out as little as possible and to catch up to the present day.

Being in Israel and celebrating Jewish holidays is a very unique and special experience. Having been here a few months now and celebrating my fair share (I'm pretty sure there's a holiday once a week here in addition to Shabbat), I’m realizing that being in Israel doesn’t necessarily make the holiday itself more special. In fact, sometimes the way its celebrated in Israel is different enough that the familiarity and lack of family I’m used to make it feel like a whole other celebration, but it is a wonderful experience to see how Jews around the world celebrate it, and to still feel that it is familiar and see how many similarities you have with people you’ve never met before.

Liz and I at the seder

My favorite thing about being in Israel during Passover is that when people tell you “Chag Sameach” (Happy Holidays) at the grocery store or anywhere else, there’s something very nice about hearing it and actually celebrating the holidays they’re referring to. Around Christmas time in America, everywhere you go people say happy holidays, and as a Jew you say thank you and move on knowing well and good they mostly mean Merry Christmas (and just partially New Years).

For the first night of Passover I had the opportunity to go with my friends Rachel and Liz to Rachel’s extended family’s seder up in Haifa. Her family was so warm and welcoming of us. In Israel, for the most part, if you’re not “religious” (i.e. Orthodox), you’re considered secular (this is something the progressive movements- Reform, Conservative, etc. are working on bringing into more mainstream Israel- to bring a religious option to people who want to practice their Judaism, but not be Orthodox). The seder was absolutely the shortest I’ve ever attended. We read a few key parts in the Haggadah for maybe 30 minutes, and then we moved on to dinner and never came back to “finish” the Haggadah after dinner. The food was delicious. I ate so much I thought I was going to pop. For the most part I have no idea what I ate either- some delicious cabbage dishes, matzah ball soup (though slightly different than the version I’m familiar with), and tons more.

Liz, Rachel, and I on the beach near Haifa. This is on a Moshav (village) that we visited with Rachel's family the 2nd day we were there.