My Camera Has Been Getting a Lot of Use Lately

Lots of exciting things have occurred since I last posted on Monday, and I’ve been on high school yearbook editor overdrive with my camera, trying to document the beginning of the end (of Jerusalem). If you haven’t seen the facebook albums, definitely give those a looksie, and make sure to comment!!!

This reminds me! I’ve been wanting to say a word about commenting lately, and it is especially relevant to what I am going to post tonight. I am not keeping this blog for my own memory; I have a diary for that. At the young and impressionable age of 19, I am actually BEGGING for input and debate. I want to see every side of the issues I address here, and I especially want to know the opinions of people whom I respect and miss but are not close by my new Israeli location. So please, please drop me an email or facebook message if you haven’t figured out the comment box on the blog yet. I miss grown-ups telling me what to think.

The commenting on facebook pictures is actually just because I like attention. But the previous paragraph holds true for controversial issues.

So anyway, on Monday night after my hyper sensitive day at school, I was able to let loose a lil bit at FLAG FOOTBALL!!! Wow. It was our last game. The game was so great, it really was. Chocolate Thunder and Vanilla Lightning were ALL over it, and Laura set the whole rainstorm in motion. I caught a ball too, and remembered to run! It didn’t contribute to a touchdown, but it is just a wonderful feeling to make contact with the ball. We had a lively cheering section too, as usual, and everyone was in a jolly mood. I am so glad I decided to go outside (like, way outside) my comfort zone and stick with the team until the end of the season. I got so much closer with girls that I normally don’t see throughout the day, and what a great outlet for my energy! Being on a team is just the best.

Tuesday morning I went to my last Art History class before taking a looovely little nap. I snoozed a few times, whipped up some apple and cinnamon oatmeal, and headed off to Shalva. I got all frummied up for volunteering and people in the lobby asked me where I was off to and I have never been so proud to answer that question. The buses weren’t as much of a timing disaster as usual and it only took 45 minutes to get there. I helped a girl in a wheelchair get down to the pool and then a Sherut Leumi girl helped me change her diaper and get her ready for swimming. She was so excited!!! Her mom came over to me and complimented me on how I acted with her and asked that God make my work easier for me. It was so nice to have her blessing, in a way. It turns out that it’s easier for me to interact with the Shalva kids than the Sherut Leumi girls, but I didn’t tell her that.

I had such a fun time in the בריכה and the older girls even remembered me and they were happy to see me! Orit, the therapist, even asked me over for a Shabbat sometime. She met her husband at Shalva and got married at 19 and now she is 23 and has two kids. We don’t have that much in common, to tell the truth, but she’s really nice and I really like her. She’s sooo good with the kids too. It’s beautiful. It really means something to me when people spend all day just helping other people and making them happy.

I got home in time for a leisurely preparation for the Nativ Formal, themed Arabian Nights. There were lots of belly dancing/Aladdin outfits around town, but Meir and I kept it classy with coordinating brown and white elegant ensembles. The best costumes were by far Aaron and Joey, who switched places/clothes. They are funny kids.

I spent most of the dance taking pictures with people, and I danced a little bit. Dancing is a little less exciting to me nowadays, even though I can’t quite place the reason. Perhaps I spent too much time on top of bars during Minimester. The boys were funny while getting hyphy, and dancing with Razie kind of brought me back to the days of Ayelet and Jordana love fests.

Today I went to school for the last day of classes. We took a group picture together in Talmud, and then Politics went by pretty quickly, and Kaplan made a funny joke which I always appreciate around 5:45 when I think I can’t make it through the next fifteen minutes of life.

The highlight of tonight, after a nice warm oatmeal installment, was definitely Erev Nativ. Rabbi Morris Allen came to speak to us about Magen Tzedek. He is Adina’s dad and he is really funny, first of all, but he’s also doing some really important things. Magen Tzedek is from the idea that keeping kosher isn’t just about the ritual aspect of Judaism (making sure the lungs are smooth, etc) but it’s about the ethical aspect of Judaism--watching out for fair environmental, worker, and animal treatment. We saw a video that was pretty graphic, but I covered my eyes for the bad parts. Some things that really surprised me:
If all illegal immigrants were deported from all over the country (America), kosher meat production would come to a screeching halt.
60,000 chickens are slaughtered every day at Agriprocessor (or something like that-a big kosher meat making place) and they are all salted
The salt completely destroyed the water treatment plant in the city in Iowa where Agriprocessor is in business.
The illegal immigrants who were at meat plants are not only illiterate in English, but also in Spanish. They are taught what to do with dangerous equipment in English, and the signs in the plants are all in English.
In six months at Agriprocessor in Iowa, three workers lost limbs.
The point was-doesn’t Judaism say something about this? Are we really supposed to care about how an animal is killed but not a human being who loses his arm in the process?

I was really moved by this whole thing, but in discussion following, I realized (as a result of Meir) that this shouldn’t be a strictly Jewish issue. Of course non-Jews can purchase products with Magen Tzedek; however, it would also make sense that foods without the OU or Triangle K symbol have a Magen Tzedek of sorts. Also, we discussed calling it “Seal of Justice” or something of that nature, instead of Magen Tzedek, which is Hebrew, and the symbol being a Jewish star. This is such a universal issue, and people everywhere should know that they are purchasing food processed ethically (or not).

Either way, I hope Magen Tzedek takes off hastily. I encourage all Jordana-Junkies to check out the website...I think it’s magentzedek.org. You can sign up for a newsletter and find out on a regular basis how horribly cows are being in treated before you consume them. בתאבון!