Yesterday marked my 9 month anniversary living in the Holy Land! Wahoo!
It's been a while since I've written so I'll try and do February and march in a nutshell.
February Highlights:
-Spending some time with Rabbi Gibson and Jessica- they were both in for their program at the Hartman Institute.
-Tel Aviv Week-end to celebrate Jaclyn's birthday with the girls! Good food and quality time. We even squeezed in a modern dance performance of Carmina Burana at the Dallal Center in Neve Tzedek!
-Tu B'shevat Seder at school
-Another boring history tiyul with HUC to Tzippori- took some nice snapshots though
-Visited an IDF (Israeli Defense Force) army training base with the Parallel Lives soldiers. Got to see a live fire drill up close! Never been so close to that many guns or live ammunition before- fascinating!
-Spent Shabbat with the CCAR- Central Conference of American Rabbis (the National organization of Reform Rabbis). It was wonderful to spend some time catching up with a few Rabbi buds from Florida and to catch a glimpse into the CCAR. I even met a young Rabbi from Arizona who works at my cousin's Synagogue- he was actually at her Bat Mitzvah last year. Small Jewish world...After Shabbat services that week-end, HUC students were invited to a beautiful Shabbat lunch to schmooze with the Rabbis. I think it's like being at summer camp for them, or a yearly family reunion- lots of catching up and enthusiastic class pride. It's like youth group for adults- quite comical. They did a complete roll call, going through every single graduating class, back about 60 years! The oldest Rabbis there (not very mobile anymore...) got standing ovations. I'm not sure there is another profession where colleagues care so deeply for one another and share this kind of respect and admiration. I felt very honored to be there and it made me excited for what lies ahead.
-The week-end of the CCAR, I had a huge Shabbat dinner at my house with 17 people. It was lots of fun- a nice mix of my HUC friends, some visiting Rabbis, and other out of town guests. My friend Deb and her husband were on their honeymoon and it was great catching up with them. It had been way too long. Dinner was deeeelicious- I made a few roasted chickens, sundried tomato marinated salmon, potatoes, chopped veggies salad, quinoa, and roasted vegetables.
Moving on to March...
The last few weeks have been very busy with school, Purim preparations, guests, and a few pesky colds that the entire class has been passing back and forth.
One of my best friends from high school, Bayh, and her boyfriend Matt have been with me for the last week. They just left last night. They had an amazing and completely packed week here. I packed a TON into their week long itinerary. Ha, I'm sure they had troubles falling asleep on the plane last night. The week started with Benny (the guide my family used over the summer) as our fearless leader for 2 days. Last Sunday he did Jerusalem with us- the Old City, Mt. of Olives, drove through Mea Sharim (the most religious neighborhood). Monday we did a big North trip (Lisa, Jimmy, and Adam also tagged along)- Caesarea, Akko, Haifa, and a beautiful cave overlooking the Galilee. On the way back down, Benny surprised us with a visit to his vacation home in the North for some tea and coffee. We persuaded him to break out his violin for some music too :-) Of course, everyone fell in love with Benny. Bayh and Matt were so thankful to have him for that leg of the trip- he is truly one of the most special people I've ever met in my life.
We got back to Jerusalem that night around 10 and had a celebratory birthday dinner for Bayh! Tuesday afternoon Bayh and Matt put a little dent in Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum and then the rest of Tuesday was spent celebrating Purim! We started with a fun evening service at school that I helped to organize and lead with a few other classmates. The theme was Shushan Bandstand! We took popular tunes through the decades and changed the words to mirror the prayers in the evening service, while Amy craftily strung together a funny plot about Dick Clark, Mordy Chai, Esther, and Haman. The whole thing went really well and the teachers and students LOVED it. It is a mitzvah to drink on Purim so the whole congregation was getting sloshed during the service. After that, we went down to the Moadoan (student lounge) for dinner and a talent show type entertainment program. People in the class sang funny songs, did parodies, mad libs, and skits. It was a great night, but would have been even better if I wasn't so sick. I have had a miserable cold all week and that night was especially bad. But I was a trooper and put on a happy face on stage anyway!
Wednesday we went to Tel Aviv to soak up the sun. We had lunch on Sheinken, walked along the beach on the promenade, and relaxed on the beach in the late afternoon while the sun started to go down. Perfect weather. We walked the whole Pier and watched the sun set (gorgeous) right over the ocean before stopping for a delicious fish dinner complete with about 18 varieties of Israeli starter salads. My sea bream (one of the bizarre-o Israeli fresh fish) was grilled to perfection. We took a sheirut (shared taxi) back to Jerusalem and zonked out for the night. Great day!
Thursday I went to school and Bayh and Matt did a day tour to Masada and the Dead Sea. Yesterday morning they finished Yad Vashem, we stopped for the best falafel on Ben Yehuda and then checked out the Shuk in all its glory on a bustling Friday. They tasted the world famous Marzipan rugalech and some other must-tastes at the Shuk, and we picked up some sweet challah and desserts from my favorite bakery for Shabbat dinner. I said hello to all of my "Shuk friends," the halvah guy and the guy who sold me my Shuk cart. I met them both over the summer and always stop by for a quick conversation when I'm shopping there. My Shuk cart guy was so impressed with my Hebrew and told me how much I've improved since the summer when we first met. That made my day! Post Shuk, we did some running around in the afternoon, and I bought some beautiful scarves that my Mom requested from the Old City on our way to one last stop at the Western Wall.
We met the Cantorial students at 5pm to walk to one of the orthodox services that Tamar (head of our program about to be on maternity leave) wanted us to see. The service was pretty boring. In the middle, Bayh and I shul hopped over to The Great Synagogue down the street. That place is always jumping! Packed per usual. They have a famous Chazan (Cantor),a wonderful choir, and a magnificent building. The Great Synagogue After services we went back to Evan and Don's house (visiting Rabbi and Cantor from L.A. Evan is filling in for Tamar during her leave) for a delicious potluck Shabbat. Delicious salmon, quiches, salads, quinoa, cous-cous, fruit, corn muffins- if we have learned nothing else this year, we have all mastered the art of a successful Pot luck meal!
The sheirut picked Bayh and Matt up from their house in Abu Tor at 9pm and that concluded the whirlwind week! We had a fabulous time and I'm so happy that they made the long journey to visit me and experience Israel.
Today is going to be spent catching up on school work and taking it easy-still trying to fight this nasty cold. I might head over to Evan and Don's house this afternoon- they are hosting a forum on the working relationship between Rabbis and Cantors. Interested topic and one that we will all deal with on a daily basis!
This is also a busy time because the Cantorial students are in the middle of pulpit placement (student internships) for next year. We recorded a DVD a few weeks ago and are now in the phone interview process with many congregations around the U.S. More on this soon...
Also around the corner is our final class tiyul of the year- The Negev Trip! The day after we get back (the 29th) begins the 5 day bike ride, Ride for Reform, that I am doing in the Golan Heights. Last Friday was the first time I've been on my bike in months. It was a really tough ride. The first 3 hours were great, I was so proud of myself. Hour 4 was torture. At that point, I was done pedaling. I looked at the last hill and knew there was no way I was going to make it up. I threw my bike in a cab and went home. Was sore for a few days...Haven't been on the bike all week because of this cold, but hopefully, this week I can start riding again. Oiy! The Ride for Reform is soon followed by Passover and my trip to the Former Soviet Union to lead Passover Seders. Amy (my travel buddy) and I are placed in St. Petersburg, Russia. I think, by the end of my time here, I'll have traveled to 9 countries in one year! Amazing.
2nd semester really flies by. PURIM. PASSOVER. PACKING. DONE. Yikes. Not ready to leave yet! In other exciting news, I accepted a job as a unit head at Camp Eisner this summer. It is known to be one of the top notch URJ (Union for Reform Judasim) camps in the States. I'm totally stoked to be working at a URJ camp this summer. I grew up as a camper my whole life...I couldn't wait to go back every summer. Eisner is located in Great Barrington, in the heart of the beautiful Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts. Camp Eisner
I have to be at camp by June 12th for staff orientation so I'm not going to have very much down time after Israel. I think finals are over around May 25th. I'll probably fly back to NY around that date. I'm hoping to spend a few days in Boca catching up with some people there, and perhaps a few days in Pittsburgh before heading to the Berkshires. I'll have to leave camp a week early to be back in NY by August 18th when HUC orientation starts. It's a busy life I lead, isn't it???? Whew. It's more exciting that way!
Time to make some breakfast and get going on school work. I hope this update finds you well.
Much love from Israel,
Leslie
As always, check out my new photo albums at, Leslie's new photo albums
