That's Just the Way We Get Down in Tel Aviv

Thursday was a fun day at school because I have my favorite students in each class on Sunday and we got out a little early and we played bananagrams in Karen's class. Then a whole crew boarded a bus to Beer Sheva and then on to Tel Aviv. We taxied to our APARTMENT which was a top floor/balcony included/spiral staircase/view of the beach fun zone!!! I went out with some boys to search for some food and drank and then when I got back the kibbutz people had arrived and the party began. I watched the first half of Prince of Egypt with Meir and then we all got ready for a night on the town. We walked to the Port and tried to get into a lot of clubs meant for people older than us and finally we found a club that would give us a private room and everyone was very excited.

The next day, we slept in, lounged, relaxed, chilled out, noshed a little, and finally dressed for the day. We walked though Tel Aviv, which really grew on me this time, on cool shopping streets and to a place where Aaron got dreds. Rachel actually also got one dred, which is really cool. The dredding process was taking a long time though, so Josh and Meir and I found the beach and we found our friends who were on the beach and then we went in the water and swam to the rocks and had some adventures.

We had Kabbalat Shabbat and Maariv on the balcony which was a really beautiful and spiritual experience. Then we had really bad, cold pizza which was not. Then we rested some more and headed to the beach for some circle time by the water. Classic. I slept outside on the balcony on Friday night until I woke up and realized I was really cold and the tile was painful. It was gorgeous under the stars though.

Saturday morning was another lazy wake up, and then after brunch we headed to the beach again. There were books to be read (I don't think I ever blogged about The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, which was excellent, or my failed attempt at reading short stories by JD Salinger which failed because the stories were just too weird even for me); now I'm reading Snuff by the same author as Fight Club and it's totally messed up but a really good read. It's about an aging porn star trying to make a comeback and I wouldn't recommend it to the faint of heart. But very a very interesting social commentary, nonetheless.

Shabbat wrapped up around 8 and we got on a bus headed home. It was great to be back in Yerucham, back on a bed (the floor can only be comfy for so long) and back to routine. Today at work was great--I got out a little early, had good students, and even got through to one of the students written off as hopeless.

After work, the stress began. I am on three Nativ Va'adot (committees) responsible for planning Holocaust Remembrance, Color War, and Yearbook. These are intense jobs! The delegation and time management went to shit on the first two already, and I ended up picking up the slack with a few people. In between planning programs, making handouts, and sending innumerable emails, I also went grocery shopping, made dinner, washed my face, and took my vitamins. I know because I made a to-do list.

Also I think I got stung by a little jellyfish in Tel Aviv. I will read up on this on some internet medical site and report back later.

The Yom HaShoah program was a success tonight, although it was long. We lit candles (I lit mine for righteous gentiles-you can read the quote by Anne Frank at the end of this post), shared personal stories or connections, discussed different media expressions of the Holocaust (Adon Olam Ad Matai-a hip hop song by Subliminal, The Pianist, Maus by Art Spiegelmann, Night by Elie Wiesel, Jew Digging His Own Grave by Naftali Bezem, Falling Leaves by Menashe Kadishman), which, as a va'ad member, I selected for the program. Finally, we heard some words from Elkana, wise and sensitive as always, and then concluded with some prayers. I stayed on for maariv with some people because they were short for a minyan and then I came home and wrote this blog. Good night, and remember the Holocaust tomorrow.

"The best example of this is our own helpers, who have managed to pull us through so far and will hopefully bring us safely to shore, because otherwise they'll find themselves sharing the fate of those they're trying to protect. Never have they uttered a single word about the burden we must be, never have they complained that we're too much trouble. They come upstairs every day and talk to the men about business and politics, to the women about food and wartime difficulties and to the children about books and newspapers. They put on their most cheerful expressions, bring flowers and gifts for birthdays and holidays and are always ready to do what they can. That's something we should never forget; while others display their heroism in battle or against the Germans, our helpers prove theirs every day by their good spirits and affection."
from The Diary of Anne Frank, entry of Jan. 28, 1944

Saad 2.0, Conquering the Castle, and 6 Tunes of Shir Hamaalot

On Monday morning, Meir and his dad came to Yerucham and I showed them a good time--we walked to the lake and the forest! After experiencing some good old Yeruru hospitality in the form of carrots and water in my newly koshered apartment, we picked up David at his base outside Yerucham and we were on our way to Saad. We stopped at a different kibbutz before we got there, which was surprisingly even closer to Gaza, and we met one of the soldiers guarding the kibbutz because he is a friend of the Landau family. This soldier, David (also), is stationed at this kibbutz with seven other soldiers and they guard it and watch Gaza and shoot anyone who tries to climb the fence, but no one can get past all the other fences between Gaza and the kibbutz, so they don't have to shoot anyone.

We arrived at Saad in the afternoon and got cleaned up for Seder. At 6:30 pm, we headed to the lovely Beit Knesset there for services (sadly, the first time I've been to Pesach services, I think, but still better late than never) and from there, to the Yemenite Seder! Ronit, who is also on Nativ, was also there, and her brother and her brother's friend, so there were a lot of young English speakers there, and it was really fun. Also, we READ THE WHOLE HAGADA in HEBREW which was pretty crazy. I found the only Hagada there with English translation and Meir helped me understand the discussions going on. The food was delicious, needless to say, and that Yemenite soup is to die for! We finished up around midnight as we were all falling into a food coma.

The next day perfect: wake up late for a walk around the kibbutz with friends and little children, eat a great lunch at the Yemenite place, read and nap, wake up for Seudah Shlishit at Yael's family's house, watch The Great Race, go to sleep again. I love days when the only activities are eating, sleeping, and being friends with other people. That's the best.

Wednesday, we set out for adventures in the south. First, we explored Mamshit, which is an ancient Nebotian fortress/village outside Dimona. Since it was Pesach and the entire country was on vacation, there were a lot of visitors and there was a arts festival inside the ruins where the real market used to be. That was really cool, to see it come alive. It was also a really interesting place, because it was a pagan/Christian settlement, not a Jewish one, which we don't see as often. Then we (Fred, Meir, Yael, and I) hiked Ein Avdat in Sde Boker, a hike I did with the Yerucham group when we visited in December, but it was still gorgeous and exciting. We saw a family of ibexes!! We concluded the day with a quick stop at the Ben Gurion graves, a supermarket stop, and the second half of The Great Race!

Thursday, we ate breakfast again at the Saad dining hall and then we were off to Ashkelon. After walking the midrachon (I think that's what it's called-it's a pedestrian mall) in Ashkelon and getting a little bit lost, we ended up at the train station just in time to get a train to Tel Aviv. It was the most delightful of train rides, and once in Tel Aviv, we picnicked in the park, walked a few blocks around the center of town, and then I met up with my Italy Reunion Tour friends (Adina, Rachel, Debbie, Ariella) for our camping/hiking adventure!

First, we trained to Naharriya. Success. Then we bought a few supplies and wine for our host family that coming Shabbat. Stress, but success. Then we took a sherut to our campsite, Achsiv. Also a success. Then we pitched tents, ate our food, enjoyed the sunset, told stories. Major success. Then we tried to sleep as it got colder and colder and colder out. Some succeeded, some boarded the failboat. Then we woke up at 6:15 am, took down our tents, packed our stuff, ate some matzah, dressed, and got our sherut to take us to the trail. Success. Then we hiked FOREVER-on the green trail (Nachal Kziv), along a river, up a mountain, to a fortress, around the fortress (it's called Monfort and it was built by French crusaders, bought by Germans, and destroyed by Mamluks and now it is just the coolest thing ever and there were a group of photographers there and I modeled for them!!), down the mountain, across a river, along the river, across the river back and forth twenty more times (there are no bridges, mind you, just some wobbly and wet stepping stones that completely failed us), with an Israeli youth group, up another mountain, and finally into the welcoming arms of ELKANA our savior. Success, because we survived, failboat, because there was never a moment when someone was hoping another wouldn't.

The following is all success: Elkana drove Rachel to the train station so she could make a family engagement party, then he picked us up and brought us to his family's house in Ma'alot. We were told that there were so many guests that weekend the house was overflowing, so naturally we were given the keys to the neighbors' house, where we stayed for all of Shabbat. We went to services and meals with Elkana's whole family, and everything was taim m'od and everyone was super friendly and welcoming. On Shabbat afternoon, we walked with Elkana and his wife down to a manmade lake in Ma'alot where there is a sculpture festival and lots and lots of things going on. Everyone was out enjoying the art and the nature and the festivities!

Motzei Shabbat, Elkana drove us to the train station and on the way he totally inspired us because he was talking about Judaism and observance and religion and synagogue and everything he said was amazing! We were all sitting with our mouths hanging open. The train ride back to Tel Aviv was nice and smooth, and we were able to find a bus right away to Jerusalem, and from there, a bus to Talpiyot, where we stayed with Young Judaeans for the night. The next day, we all met up in the center for some shopping and lunching (which is absurdly easy in Israel-every restaurant is kosher for Passover!), and then we parted again for second Chag. The Landau contingent picked me up and we went to JJ's for dinner and I slept at Josh's and everyone was just on their most hospitable and lovable behavior. I even went to shul again on Sunday night! On Monday, we all went to JJ's friend's house for lunch and it was another young family who invited even more families over and there were so many families and children everywhere, and it was fantastic. We barbequed and ate the barbeque and it was fantastic.

Monday night we were out late for an adventure with many friends in the center of town, and then again on Tuesday we explored the city, the shuk, and the Old City. We saw the new and improved Chorva synagogue and it was very beautiful, and we walked until our feet were screaming.

Tuesday night at the bus station, I spotted Reuben, Alex, and Eric, my fellow Yeruchamites. They saved me! I was planning on taking an 8:30 direct, but there WASN'T ONE! And they told me, and they told me which bus I should join them on, and when we had to transfer in Be'er Sheva, they helped me through the pushing and squeezing and cutting balagan that occurred at the entrance to the bus. I arrived safe and sound in Yerucham.

Today is Wednesday and I am working on the website and trying to make improvements, and tomorrow is work and then heading off to Tel Aviv for a birthday extravaganza!

PS. Rak po-counting the Omer on a restaurant receipt, right next to the date.

Rak po-a picture of the Lebuvavitch rabbi graffitied on a highway sign

Yerucham to Afula to Yonatan and Back Again

Thursday morning I cleaned up around the Yerucham Lake and then headed off to Afula. I stopped in Be'er Sheva for an hour to get a connecting bus and I made best friends with a soldier girl and we sat next to each other on the bus and chatted the ride away. I got into Afula around five and Meir and his dad, Fred, picked me up. We spent the night with relatives of theirs in a gorgeous suburb overlooking the valley. Everything was green and healthy, you could see for miles and miles, and there was even a cat I could pet and play with!

On Friday, we explored Afula a lil bit, picked up Yael and David, visited Kibbutz Merhavia and saw where Golda Meir spent some of her younger years working and living, and made a quick stop at a shopping mall. After lunch, five of us packed into the compact car and piled it high with backpacks and suitcases. We drove along a very scenic route around the Kinneret and stopped in pretty places to take pictures. Finally we arrived at Moshav Yonatan, where Yael's sister's family lives, and we spent Shabbat there.

Everything was delicious, fun, friendly, comfortable, beautiful. The Golan is like a different country compared to Yerucham, and it was great to spend 24 hours immersed in greenery, fog, and heavy gray clouds. There were also four incredibly adorable children to play with, which is always fun.

The ride home motzei Shabbat was pretty crazy as far as Israel standards go--traveling from the Golan to Yerucham in one fell swoop is as far as you can get. We left at 8:23 pm and I stepped foot in the apartment around 1 am. Not far for upstate New Yorkers, but in terms of Israel, we saw half the country last night.

Today we all woke up around 11 and started vigorously cleaning the apartment for pesach and kashering countertops, sinks, tables, pots, stovetops, the whole shebang. It has been good for our apartment but it is difficult to evenly divide up work; everyone takes a break once in a while and says, someone else has to finish it, I've been doing the whole thing! Anyway, we're just about done now, and then we're going to have pizza in the park tonight. Tomorrow, I am off to Sa'ad for my first Yemenite seder and then I don't know what I'm doing for a few days and then I am hiking up north and then spending Shabbat with Elkana's parents, and then hiking again and spending second chag in Jerusalem at JJ's. Check back in a week to see how everything played out!

חג שמח!!!!!

Health Care for All!!! And other reasons to celebrate

1. Health care for all in America!!!! That is a good thing!

2. I went on a run with LeeAnn yesterday and we found a MINI MASADA IN YERUCHAM!! Complete with ruins, archways, ovens (we think), and a mikvah!

3. The weather here is FANTASTIC!

4. I love my friends, and we are going to go on a hike together over Pesach!

5. Even though Adina wasn't with us for our amazing apartment dinner last Thursday, she made me really happy and did something to support me that I don't quite remember but I remember it was important.

6. Meir visited Yerucham and Ari was here visiting Rachel at the same time and both boys came to the apartment dinner that I COOKED with Ilana and it was delicious and we all dressed in costumes beginning with the letter P.

7. We went to a MASA Shabbat program in Jerusalem and learned lots of things and an Israeli Arab came to talk to us. He was a very charming young man and gave me hope for the peace process!! It begins with the people, not the politicians!!

8. I finished my book, Beaufort, the best book ever! And then I loaned it to Meir, who is reading it too!

9. I treated myself to two new songs by the Weepies! And I heard Rihanna's new song for the first time, RUDE BOY! And now I'm obsessed and I am euphoric whenever I hear it.

10. I worked at the soup kitchen in Dimona the last two days and I fed poor people and peeled lots of carrots!

11. I went to my host family tonight for dinner and a Hebrew lesson and reading with the five year old girl who is the cutest thing born to two humans on this planet and I am in love with my family! They are so nice to me and they make me so comfortable. Aliza taught me to make a cabbage salad by chopping the cabbage and adding vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and garlic powder and it's so delish!!!!! They also let me borrow a sleeping bag for Pesach!

Wow, life is great.

For Yossi, but also for you:

I wrote this to promote Yerucham for some newsletter that Yossi is writing or something, I don't know. Here it is.

It is 11 pm on my first night in Yerucham. The shower is moldy, there are eight thousand suitcases in our living room, the sink is flooding the kitchen, and I just found out I have no closets. When I took out the garbage, I was almost killed by a gang of feral cats who live in the dumpsters, and I have no idea what to buy at the grocery store.

It is midnight in Jerusalem after my first open Shabbat, and I am waiting for the direct bus back to Yerucham with several Nativers. I am jittery because I am overtired and I want to make sure I get a seat. The bus finally arrives, I board, I sit. Relief floods through me: I am going home.

Yerucham has been my home for over a month now, and I love it more each day. What makes this town of 9,500 in the middle of nowhere so lovable? On a less personal level, Yerucham and other desert development towns are amazing concepts that fulfill the Zionist dream, which is pretty cool. It is so inspiring to see the people who have made their homes here for ideological reasons and have worked to make Yerucham the beautiful place it is today.

For me, though, Yerucham is less about Zionism and more about growing up. The responsibilities I have taken on in the last month here are of a different breed than what I’ve grown up with. Suddenly, life is not about procrastinating my homework, going to club meetings, getting into college, getting a job. Now, my apartment mates and I meet once a week to discuss cooking and cleaning jobs, quiet hours, and other matters of apartment procedure. Although taking out the garbage all the time is a schlep, especially because nine girls fill up a trash bin pretty quickly, there is a certain delight in doing something for yourself. There are no parents to nag us, no cleaning ladies to fill in the cracks. Every chore is made more meaningful by the fact that what we do is for us and by us, because we are committed to the apartment family.

Volunteering, of course, gives responsibility a whole new meaning. Unlike school, there is no room for playing hooky, no sleeping in class, no texting under the desk. Teaching English to seventh through twelfth graders has redefined everything. First, it is hard. The kids have no discipline, and we are working with the lowest levels, so they also have basically no English. Second, it is exhausting. Keeping up with hyperactive eighth graders for two hours straight, breaking for fifteen minutes, and then doing it again with the loudest eleventh graders you’ve ever heard is tiring! Third, it is extremely rewarding. The kids know my name, they look forward to seeing me in class, they ask me to sit with them. They help me with my Hebrew and they don’t laugh (too much) when I accidentally ask if they want to get married instead of asking if they want to practice. I love it when “my” students see me around town and they are excited to see me.

Most of all, though, I am taking the responsibility to improve myself and become who I want to be. I am learning to be the Jew that I want to be in the future when I have a family--from keeping a kosher kitchen to Pesach cleaning to figuring out how to keep food warm for Shabbat lunch. My friends here have made it easy to be the friend I want to be, living in an apartment with nine girls has made me more considerate and more self-aware than ever before. I am taking initiative in all kinds of ways that bring me out of my comfort zone just a little bit, like visiting my host family weekly and going to Hebrew lessons that are a tad above my level and stir frying chicken.

The sandy sidewalks lined with palm trees, the gold street lamps at night against the black velvet sky, the complete quiet at 2 am when everyone is asleep and you just got off the midnight direct bus. I could go on forever about this place, my personal paradise. As Yerucham grows and improves with the amazing work that people do here every day, so do I. I wouldn’t trade these blessed days for anything, anywhere.

-Jordana Gilman, Nativ 29

PS. check out http://nativyerucham.weebly.com to learn more about Nativ in Yerucham over the years!

To Make a Long Story Short

As per the request of Adina T. A., my life in a few words:

Thursday after teaching a Miley Cyrus song at school (complete with dance moves), I bussed to Kibbutz, got a ride to the caravans, toured the lool and refet and fields with Meir, and nearly died from the smell and inhumane treatment of turkeys.

Friday morning we bummed a taxi ride off of his kibbutz host family who sends a disabled child to school in Jerusalem every morning. It would have been great but Meir got sick when we were almost there. Failboat.

I accomplished my goals in Jerusalem of buying cheap sandals (very cute!) and getting kosher Burger King. Two additional success stories include buying hummus for the first time at a supermarket in Talpiyot and navigating solo to said supermarket.

For the second week in a row, I experienced the enormous hospitality of people in Israel. We crashed at a friend's apartment for the afternoon, showered, read, slept, and then we went to another friend's for dinner and to sleep.

I fell in love with three small children where we were staying for Shabbat. I even snuggled with the girl before we fell asleep and it was almost like having a cat in the bed, only it was a child.

Shabbat was a pleasant mix of reading, eating, sleeping, bell's palsy, friends, settling, walking, and delicious weather.

A wonderful surprise in the form of my two favorite Wheel's staff members arrived at the apartment motzei Shabbat and there was an incredibly agreeable assortment of humans around me.

I reunited with my 'cham chaverim at the bus stop for the midnight direct. It was a dream, literally, and I woke up when Jesse patted me on the back to tell me we were home.

My first class on Sunday is actually a cleverly disguised wormhole that leads to Hell.

My run on Monday was the opposite: an incredible sensory experience and a feeling of awareness and inner peace that I firmly believes one can only find on the outskirts of a desert town with a population of 9,500 people.

My team lost the fire building competition on Monday night but I learned new constellations so it evened out.

Today we went to Tel Aviv and cleaned up a river bank and ate in a beachside cafe and it was the most welcome change of scenery-not because I don't love Yerucham, I just love environmental stimuli more.

I want presents and mail and letters and facebook notifications. Is that bad?

This is the way I live

stack my money lay low and chill, no need to work hard that's the way I feel

Just kidding!!!!! That's part of a song, sillies. Anyway, this is the way I lived today:

I walked to school and saw two donkeys and two women on the way.

I taught English one-on-one with nice kids and they were really funny and we read a short version of Dorian Gray, and then I got out at a nice 12:45 pm.

I walked to the lake with Joshy and it took a really long time but it was beautiful and the lake was so full! We saw more donkeys, lots of wild dogs, and even a flock of sheep on the way!

I took pictures of things in Yerucham partly for me and partly for the website that I'm working on, and it made me really appreciate the beauty here.

I hung out at the apt with my girls and watched An Education, which was a creepy movie but also really good with good actors.

We ate uncooked brownies and cooked raviolis for dinner, in that order.

I met Stacie and friends at the youth hostel down the street and we met up with the boys and then we all hung out in the boys' apartment and the park and it was super fun.

Life, I love you, all is groovy!