Thanksgiving in the Desert! (aka A Lot To Be Thankful For)

Hello everyone!  Happy belated Thanksgiving!  I hope everyone had a wonderful celebration with family and friends.  This year, I was in the desert for Thanksgiving on a class trip, and while it was very different from past years at my aunt Rachel's house with my whole family, it was definitely an experience!  The trip took us to the Arava area (between Beer Sheva and Eilat).  We stayed at a Reform Kibbutz in the area (Kibbutz Yahel), which upholds many of the socialist values that the early kibbutz movement in Israel propagated.  Every person, regardless of income, puts their money into a general fund that benefits every kibbutz member, and each family gets a monthly allowance that is based on family size.  Many people work on the kibbutz, which has a dairy farm, vegetable crops, and guest houses for visitors.  Others work outside the kibbutz in Eilat or the surrounding area.  The Kibbutz is sponsored by the Reform movement but not all of its members are Reform, some are secular and some are significantly more religious. 

There is a rabbi who lives there, but he also works with people at other kibbutzim and communities in the area.  He spoke to our group while we were there, and one of the things he said was that his job was very much about meeting people where they were at in terms of religious observance.  He described a time when a family approached him about having their son have an "aliyah l'torah" (basically, a chance for their son to read from the Torah).  They were not a particularly religious family, and the son's main interest was scuba diving, not practicing Judaism.  They wanted to have the ceremony in their home, and wanted this rabbi to do it.  He was more than willing, and brought over a Torah scroll for the boy to read, and adapted the service to make it appropriate and meaningful for them.  It was a great example of how rabbis need to adapt to the needs of their communities, and its not just about making sure that traditions and rituals are upheld.  In fact, that can often be a turn off and make people feel isolated or excluded from Judaism, but if you are willing to help people find spirituality or meaning in a way that makes sense to them, then that is going to create a more welcoming environment for them to approach Judaism and Jewish life.  I definitely feel that this is why I want to become a rabbi: not to ensure that everyone is practicing Judaism "correctly" or to help people find the "right way" to be a Jew, but rather to guide people towards a sense of connection and meaningful relationship with Judaism and the Jewish people, and to allow people to question and wrestle with their faith in a productive way.  Part of that is teaching people the Jewish traditions and the meanings behind them and allowing for them to interpret those that they find pertinent and important to their lives. 

In addition to spending time on Kibbutz Yahel, we hiked, took tours of other kibbutzim in the area, and went snorkeling in Eilat!  All in all, a very fun and relaxing trip.  Students from the Jewish Theological Seminary and American Jewish University (both Conservative seminaries in New York and LA respectively) came with us, and it was great to get a chance to meet them!  I knew some of them already from other things I have done, but it was fun to see them again and to interact with new people!  Don't get me wrong, I love my HUC class, but a little variety once in a while is definitely nice. 

It was great to spend Thanksgiving in the desert, and being out there really was a beautiful experience.  The stars in the sky there are just so much clearer, and its pretty powerful to look up and see the wide expanse above you.  I was walking to dinner with a student from AJU, and he said "the stars up there--those are the same ones Abraham saw when God told him his people would be as numerous as the stars in the sky."  It was a really amazing sentiment, and made me feel so connected to the land and to the Jewish narrative.

Now is the final push until winter break--so I will be busy with papers and tests and lots and lots of work.  But, I am glad I got to spend Thanksgiving with people I have grown to love over these last few months, and I am so appreciative to each and every one of them for making me feel like even though I wasn't with my actual family for Thanksgiving, I was with another just as wonderful group of people. 

The Knesset, Meeting with Rabbi David Ellenson, and Other Reflections

Hello everyone!

Happy Tuesday!  This week has been busy (and its only Tuesday!) and its only about to get busier!  Yesterday my Hebrew class took another field trip and we went to the Knesset building.  I had been there several years ago when I came to Israel the first time with my family, but this time the tour was in Hebrew!  It was really fascinating, and gave me a first hand glimpse into what Israeli politics is like.  It's one thing to read Ha'aretz or Jpost, but to really see where the action happens is incredible.  The building itself isn't particularly interesting, but there were two things in particular that stuck out to me.  As part of the tour, we got to visit the room where the knesset members meet, and it was really cool.  Very different from the capitol in DC.  The room itself clearly hasn't been renovated since the early 70's, and the whole beige/orange/brown decor is pretty terrible.  But, it was still really amazing to be in a room where so many powerful people sit, and where so many important decisions are made.  The guide we had told us that the cameras that film the knesset meetings are always facing the opposition of the party that is in power.  This is because apparently they make for more interesting television!  It's more exciting to see their reactions rather than those who already agree with what's going on, so they focus the cameras towards them.  Hilarious.  Also, there was apparently a problem in the past with members pressing the voting buttons of their neighbor, in the hopes of scoring some more votes, and so they had to put people's names on their buttons to make sure it didn't happen again!  Sneaky Israeli Knesset members!  The tour was pretty awesome, and I understood about 70% of what was happening, which I was happy about.  Clearly my Hebrew is improving!  Always a good thing. 

This week the Board of Governors of the college is visiting, and they are all on campus in meetings and such all week.  They are even coming on our tiyul with Israel Seminar tomorrow--which should be interesting.  Tonight we met with the president of HUC-Rabbi David Ellenson.  I had met him several times before, because his son was actually a camper of mine at OSRUI, but it was nice to see him again (and he most definitely had no idea who I was, so I had to introduce myself again.  Totally understandable---I am sure he meets and talks to a million other more important people than his son's summer camp counselor!) The conversation we had was really nice, it was certainly very candid and honest which I appreciated.  He talked about his own journey to his job, which was cool to hear.  He also touched on the financial situation of the college, which also was interesting.  He told us the outrage that people felt at the thought of closing one of the campuses, and how they had to come up with other ways to cut costs so all three could stay open.  I appreciated his willingness to be open and honest with us! 

In other news, I am leading services again next week, which I am very excited for.  This one is a mincha (afternoon) service, which means its a lot less work and a lot fewer prayers than the one I led before.  I am MUCH less stressed about this one.  The support I felt from my classmates when I led a few weeks ago was unreal, and I was so grateful to each and every one of them.  I am struck constantly by the incredible generosity of so many of my classmates.  Example: I needed someone to co-lead services with me, and I was having trouble finding someone who was able to do it because everyone was already leading the week before or after, or was already participating in some way in the Torah service.  My friend Lenette immediately offered to lead, even though she certainly didn't have to because she was already leading later in the semester with someone else (we are only required to lead one of each kind of service this year). Also, when I asked my friend Jeremy to play the guitar for us he immediately said yes, no questions asked.  I was so happy to have their support.  And, when I was expressing how nervous I was before services, my classmate Yael said "don't worry about it, we will support you no matter what."  It was so incredible to hear that.  Not to mention reassuring!  Everyone sang super loud and participated fully and it was so so so wonderful. 

Ok, time to go finish studying for a Hebrew test!  Another post will come soon.

My first service!

Hi everyone!

This past week, I led my first HUC service.  It was such an incredible experience!!  I have been preparing for this for weeks, and my friend Lenette (another rabbinical student) and I have been working hard trying to create meaningful prayer experience for our classmates.  I was SO nervous before the service, I actually was shaking a little bit as we started the opening song.  But, as we continued through the service, I began to relax.  My classmates were unbelievably supportive, and looking out at their smiling faces as Lenette and I went through the prayers of Thursday morning services, I felt so warm and happy to be part of such an amazing community.  It was wonderful to feel supported in such a tangible way, and I really couldn't have done it without everyone.  My classmate Jeremy played the guitar for a few songs, which was also fantastic! People came up to me afterwards and told me how much they enjoyed it, and it meant so much to me.  It reminded me why I wanted to come to rabbinical school in the first place.  One of my classmates told me that he entered the synagogue feeling a little down, and by the end of the service he felt refreshed and so much better.  I was SO happy I could provide that for someone, and it made me feel great!  I am leading again in a few weeks and I can't wait! 

Things have been crazy busy here with midterms and lots of work, but I am still enjoying everything so much.  Israel is a crazy country and I love living here!  My parents and sister were just visiting, which was wonderful.  We went to Yad Vashem, the Israel Museum, spent time with my family in Ra'anana, and i was able to introduce them to many of my classmates.  I loved being able to show them my life here.  We also went to visit my cousin Ariel at his army base in Beer Sheva, which was incredible.  Seeing my little cousin wearing a uniform and holding a gun was a little overwhelming, but it was great to see him and he seems to be enjoying his army service.  He's in the air force and hopes to be a pilot one day! 

A new post will be up soon but I just wanted to give a short update now since its been so long since my last post.

xoxox
Rebecca

A Time To Turn...

As the High Holidays approach, I have been thinking a lot about the idea of repentance.  When we sit in services (for what seems like hours on end!) during the Days of Awe, who are repenting to?  Are we asking God for forgiveness, or are we seeking it from other people?  Perhaps we are truly looking for forgiveness and pardon from ourselves, in order to move on and embrace the New Year with a clean slate.  I have participated in High Holiday services for years, and every time I do, I don’t necessarily think about repenting.  I listen to the music, I appreciate the solemnity and importance of the day, but I never leave services feeling truly “refreshed,” like my sins are really gone and have been forgiven.  I have trouble with a lot of the liturgy that is said on the High Holidays, especially the part about God being the ultimate decider as to “who shall live and who shall die.”  To me, that’s not the kind of God I believe in, and I don’t think that’s the kind of God most Reform Jews believe in either.  And what does it mean to truly repent?  Does it mean that we sin all year long and then make sure we remember all the bad things we did during Yom Kippur, so we can ask forgiveness before the sunset and the “book is sealed”?   Does it mean saying “well, that thing I did last week wasn’t great, but rather than reflecting on it now and trying to make amends, I’ll just ask forgiveness on Yom Kippur”?  Maybe.  But I think repenting means more than that.  There is a reading that I love that my synagogue growing up does on Rosh Hashanah, and it was also done at an HUC service we had on Saturday night. It says:

To everything there is a season, and an appointed time for every purpose under heaven.  Now is the time for turning.

But for us turning does not come simply.  It takes an act of will for us to make a turn.

It means breaking with old habits.

It means admitting that we have been wrong, and this is never easy.

It means losing face.

It means starting all over again, and this is always painful.

It means saying “I am sorry.”

It means admitting that we have the ability to change, and this is always embarrassing.

These things are terribly hard to do, but unless we turn, we will be trapped forever in yesterday’s ways.

God help us turn…

From callousness to sensitivity

From hostility to love

From pettiness to purpose

From envy to contentment

From carelessness to discipline

From fear to faith.

Turn us around Adonai, and bring us back towards You.  Revive our lives, as at the beginning.  And turn us towards each other God, for in isolation there is no life.

I love this reading for a lot of reasons.  I love it because it says that turning and truly recognizing our sins and faults and discretions isn’t something that we can do in the hour and a half service on Yom Kippur afternoon.  It’s difficult and messy and confusing and frustrating.  I love it because it says not only do we need to renew our faith, whatever that means to us, (whether its faith in God or not doesn’t matter, at least in my opinion) but we need to renew our relationships with each other.  We need to remember those who have touched our lives and thank them for it, and remember to call friends on their birthday and send a note when a friend is sick, and make sure to schedule in a coffee date or a lunch with someone who we don’t see as often as we’d like.  I love it because even if you don’t agree with the idea that God needs to help us turn, the sheer recognition that making a serious change in our behavior and in our lives isn’t easy makes doing so even more powerful.  Whether God helps you or not, admitting you are wrong or apologizing is not something a lot of people like to do, but when we do it, the impact is astounding. 

Those are my thoughts on the High Holidays.  It’s a little heavy and not necessarily entirely coherent, but I’m still working out how I feel so I apologize for the messiness.  In other news, classes are in full swing and have been great so far.  I translated a really long verse in the Bible the other day in class, from Biblical Hebrew to modern Hebrew to English, and when I was done the whole class breathed a collective sigh of relief and said ! ישר כוח which is colloquially used to mean “good job!”  It was a great moment for me, because the verse was hard and I was so nervous translating it my palms were sweating and I was shaking a little, but I did it!  And, to have the support of my classmates was great too—it made me feel so good!  My assuredness when it comes to speaking Hebrew is relatively low, but it is definitely something I am working on.  Being able to translate that verse and do it well was a really important confidence booster!  I have really been enjoying my classes this semester, my teachers are interesting and passionate and clearly love teaching.  One of my favorite classes is Israel Seminar, where we learn about modern Israel and the issues facing it today, as well as historical information about the State and what that means in the context of its current form.  We go on trips all over Israel to experience what we learn in the classroom, and I have loved them all so far.  Last week we went to Tel Aviv, and ended with some relaxing time on the beach, which was so nice!  (And in my opinion, very well deserved by my classmates and I—we all work so hard!)  I also am really liking my Biblical Grammar class—even though its challenging that it’s in Hebrew.  I love the teacher and I find her to be incredibly dynamic and interesting, and she’s just hilarious to be around. 

I started my volunteer project last week.  I am working at KEEP, Kol HaNeshama’s English Enrichment Program.  The program is for kids who are struggling in English, usually failing it in school, and need extra help.  The woman who runs it, Helen, is unbelievable, and I have so much respect for her.  She’s hilarious and dynamic and engaging, and I definitely want to emulate her as much as possible.  The program is held at Kol HaNeshama, a Reform/Progressive synagogue in Jerusalem, but its not affiliated with the shul itself.  The kids are 5-6^th graders, and many come from difficult home lives.  There is a large group that comes from the domestic violence shelter in Jerusalem, and there are others who are living well below the poverty line.  I worked with a girl last week who was great in English, but needed some help with sentence structure.  She was so sweet and seemed to love hearing that I was impressed with her skills.  It struck me that she might not hear “I’m proud of you” very often, and I really want to be able to provide her with more confidence.  I have only had one session, but I really loved it so far.  I hope to continue building relationships with the kids and gaining their trust, and being able to have an impact on them (and vice versa!).  It’s a great program and it offers these kids not only English language help but also a safe place for them to go and be nurtured by caring and supportive adults, which isn’t necessarily something they get very often! 

I think that’s about it for now—but I wish you all a sweet new year and I will be sure to write more after the holidays. 

Xoxoxox

Rebecca

The New Jew, A Pluralistic Kibbutz, and New Perspectives on Jewish History and the State of Israel

This past week I went on a tiyul (that means trip in Hebrew) with my class to the north of Israel.  The tiyul was based around our Israel Seminar class, which is a year long seminar focused on the history of modern Israel and our connection to the land and the people as Reform Jews.  This week we have been learning about Zionism and the history of the movement.  Our tiyul involved visiting various historic sites, meeting individuals connected with the aliyah movements, and spending time on kibbutzim.  The whole trip was unbelievable, and Northern Israel is probably the most beautiful place on earth.  The mountains and the Kinneret are breathtaking, and I love every minute of being up there.  Rather than recap the entire trip for you (we did so much in so few days, I can barely even remember what happened!) I will pick out a few key moments and experiences that really resonated with me. 

One of the things we have been learning about in class is the idea of the New Jew.  This stems from the early Zionist movement, and is a result of the Jewish need to shed the Eastern European characteristics in favor of newer, stronger, better qualities.  The thought was that in order for Jews to truly progress as a people, certain changes had to be made.  Individuals who wanted to come to Israel were considered chalutzim, or pioneers. They were seen as strong, tough people who wanted to connect with the land.  Gone were the days of sitting in a beit midrash and studying Talmud all day, gone were the long beards and the modest clothing.  This was a new era: an era that sought to re-claim the Jew as a people and as a nation.  A lot of this stemmed from the stigma that Jews carried in Europe of being weak and fragile.  The New Jew was supposed to erase those stereotypes and usher in a new people that was physically and emotionally stronger.  Early propaganda posters that sought to advertise the appeal of Israel both in terms of getting people to move there and in terms of gaining financial support showed Jews standing with agricultural farming tools and looking off into the distance at a horizon that promised prosperity and a bright future.  It showed men and women working side by side and cultivating a land that not only had biblical ties to the Jewish people but also was a fresh start for Jews escaping anti-Semitism in Europe.

I had learned about the New Jew prior to coming to HUC.  We studied the movement in Hebrew school and I also learned about it on Alexander Muss in high school.  However, this time around I got a totally different perspective that shattered my preconceived notions about Zionism and the early pioneers of Israel. 

When the chalutzim came to Israel (or Palestine as it was called pre-1948), they came for a variety of reasons.  Some came because of a religious connection to the land, others wanted a fresh start and to escape the rampant anti-Semitism in Europe.  Regardless of their reasons for coming, they all hoped to find prosperity and happiness in this new land.  And based on the propaganda posters they saw, it seemed like a done deal.  However, once they got here they found that the work was hard, the desert was unforgiving, and life generally sucked.  They didn’t speak the language, they didn’t know anyone, and they were far away from anything or anyone familiar.  Many of them who came during the 1^st Aliyah left and went back home.  During the 2^nd Aliyah more stayed, but there were still those who couldn’t handle it, and right across the street from the first Kibbutz in Israel (Kibbutz Degania, one of the places we visited), there is a small plaque underneath a tree.  The plaque designates that tree as the “suicide tree” where many men and women hung themselves because the despair was so great.   The disappointment at not finding everything they were looking for in this land was so intense that they felt they had no choice but to end their lives.  Later on in the weekend we met with Muki Tzur, a historian and Jewish teacher that has studied Zionism and was colleagues and friends with many of the famous Zionist thinkers.  He said “one of the foundations for the creation of the society of Israel was despair and loneliness.  The New Jew was a symptom of something problematic and broken, and that Zionist society was mainly a community of orphans, people who left their families and friends behind in search of a better future.”  He talked about how orphans create utopias, but once it is formed then they aren’t orphans anymore, and the second and third generations don’t understand the roots of the movement to create the utopia in the first place.  Then, there becomes a new set of problems.  There is nostalgia for the old days and guilt that these people can’t explain to their children the passion they had for creating this society.  But, “you can’t create a country on nostalgia and guilt.” 

Obviously not every pioneer or person who came to Israel during any of the Aliyot was full of despair and pain.  Many found success here and obviously the state of Israel wouldn’t be what it is today without all of those people who dedicated themselves wholeheartedly to its creation.  We spent the last part of our tiyul visiting Kibbutz Hannaton, a pluralistic community in the northern Galilee that sought to re-vamp a struggling kibbutz.  The people there are pioneers of sorts, trying to create a community of people that is open to new ideas and experiences all within the context of communal living.  Everyone on the kibbutz has different religious backgrounds, some are very religious and others are secular.  But, even despite their differences, everyone lives in relative harmony with each other, and is willing and able to work through any challenges.  This is especially evident when it comes to prayer.  They have one synagogue, and it is there for all to use.  However, since everyone comes from different backgrounds, how prayer services should work and look varies from person to person.  As a way of dealing with this, they compromise.  When a person who is orthodox wants to lead a service, they put a mechitzah up.  When a person who is Reform wants to lead a service, they use musical instruments and have mixed seating.  Everyone is uncomfortable at least some of the time, but it allows for the whole community to function cooperatively.  Obviously its not easy, and they certainly have struggles, but they are working through it and are so dedicated to creating this pluralistic community that sometimes its worth feeling a bit out of place for a few hours to make that happen.  When I heard about this, a quote from the Chief Rabbi of the Commonwealth came to mind.  He said: “Whenever Jews pray, we end with a prayer for peace, and at that point we take three steps backwards. To make peace you have to make space for someone else. You have to give up a little of your dream for the sake of someone else's dream."  I truly believe that the people on Kibbutz Hannaton embody this idea.  They are willing to take steps backwards to allow someone else to achieve their dream or to feel comfortable, both in a prayer setting and in daily life.  They work together on committees and make decisions as a collective, all the while allowing for disagreement and compromise.  It’s an incredible effort, and one that I really connected to.  If I were to move to Israel, I would absolutely live there! 

We ended our tiyul on Kibbutz Hannaton, and I truly felt like it was one of the most magical places I had ever been.

On the way home, we listened to the radio and heard about the Egyptian attack on the Israeli Embassy in Cairo.  That, coupled with news earlier in the week of Israel’s strained relations with Turkey and the tension that is mounting because of the UN vote on the Palestinian state recognition coming up, brought me out of my fairytale world of Kibbutz Hannaton and back into the harsh reality of this country.  Is this what the early pioneers fought so hard for?  Is this what people sacrificed everything to create: a country with so much violence and strife?  It was hard not to think so catastrophically as I listened to the news report, and wonder if there really would ever be peace in the Middle East.  But then, just as I was sinking down into what I knew would be a really intense sadness about this country, I thought back to Kibbutz Hannaton and the incredible work that is being done there.  Perhaps there is hope that those who are different can work and live and create a world together.  Perhaps there will be a day when the dreams of the early pioneers will be realized, we might just have to take a few steps backwards to get there.

Ivrit, Ivrit Daber Ivrit

Hello everyone!  For those of you who don't speak Hebrew, or who don't understand my terrible transliteration, the title of this blog post is: Hebrew, Hebrew, Speak Hebrew!  I just finished my second day of fall semester classes, and it's been an exhilarating, slightly terrifying experience.  I have seven classes this semester: Biblical Grammar, Bible, Liturgy, Modern Hebrew, 2nd Temple History, History of the Zionist Movement and Israel Seminar.  I also have two mini courses that don't count for grades, but are part of exploring our Jewish identity.  We have one entitled "Why I am a Reform Jew" and one that is a discussion section based on our experiences and trips through Israel Seminar.  I also will be volunteering once a week at a local synagogue teaching underprivileged fifth and six graders English.  Basically, I am going to be busy all the time and this is probably the last you will hear of me until May.  Just kidding!  But seriously, I have a jam packed schedule!  I wanted to give you all a taste of what I have experienced so far, so I thought I'd break it up by each class that I have had so far and describe it to you.

Modern Hebrew: This is a continuation of our ulpan, but with a different teacher this time.  Her name is Rivki, and so far she's great. We are doing a lot of conversation and dialogues which is awesome, and definitely going to help my Hebrew skills!

Bible: This class, unbeknownst to me when I walked in the room, is taught entirely in Hebrew.  Oh boy.  Today we took a passage from Samuel, read it in the biblical Hebrew, translated it into Modern Hebrew, and then again into English.  It was really difficult!  The teacher was relatively patient with us, but I could tell that he was getting frustrated that we didn't know everything we apparently should know.  It will be a very challenging class, but hopefully really interesting too!

Biblical Grammar: This class, which thankfully I did know before hand, is taught in Hebrew as well.  Our teacher is hilarious, she's probably in her 70's.  She is incredibly feisty and definitely going to be entertaining.  Luckily, I took Biblical Grammar in college so I have a pretty strong background in it--which will make this a lot easier!

Second Temple: A class in English!  Finally.  We've only had one lecture so far but it's super interesting and will hopefully be a good class.  The professor is great and really passionate about the subject, which definitely helps.  He is funny and dynamic and a great lecturer!

Why I am a Reform Jew: Another class in English.  Hooray!  This class is taught by Dr. Michael Marmur, who is on staff at the college.  He's great, and has an excellent British accent.  The first day we talked about the difference between modernity, post modernity, and pre modernity and how Reform Judaism looked in each of those periods.  We also talked about how other streams of Judaism reacted to changes in society and whether they felt that modernity and Jewish tradition could interact in any way.  It's going to be an interesting class, and hopefully will give way for some good discussions.

Those are all the classes I have had so far, but I will keep you posted on the rest of them!  This week we have a trip to the northern part of Israel for our Israel Seminar class, so I'll  be gone Thursday-Saturday.  I am not entirely sure what we are doing on it, but my general practice thus far has been to get on the bus at the designated time and let someone else handle it from there!  I'll be sure to write more about the trip when I get back, but for now, I need to go study!

Love and miss you all,
Rebecca

She wasn't where she had been, she wasn't where she was going, but she was on her way...

Hello everyone!  Happy September!  My summer classes have come to an end, and we just had a week chofesh (break).  While some of my classmates took off for Budapest, Greece, and Turkey, I stayed around Israel and relaxed.  I spent Shabbat with my family in Ra’nanna, which was lovely, and then met three of my friends for a few days in Haifa.  It was so nice to see my family and get out of Jerusalem for a few days—sometimes this city is overwhelming!  Haifa is my favorite city in all of Israel, so it was great to be there too.  I love everything about it, the sea, the air, the way the city lights up at night and sparkles against the sky—its all so beautiful.  We were in Haifa for three days, and managed to do a lot!  Monday we arrived and picked up our rental car (which took forever!  When I was little I remember my parents renting cars for various vacations and standing at the counter for what seemed like forever, and I never understood what took so long.  On this vacation, I was the one who stood at the counter for what seemed like forever, and I still don’t understand what takes so long up there) and drove to our hotel.  That afternoon my friend Elle went off to meet some relatives that she has living in Haifa, and the rest of us went to the Haifa zoo and out for lunch.  Monday night we had dinner at the restaurant that Elle’s family owns—it’s right on the beach and absolutely delicious!  Tuesday we got up early and drove to Ceasarea (I drove both ways!!), a beautiful national park that has remains from the Roman period.  It’s right on the water, and completely breathtaking.  There is an old ampitheater there that has been renovated slightly and is now used for concerts, and several other ruins scattered all throughout the park. 

After Ceasarea we headed back to Haifa for a tour of the Bahai Gardens, which were also beautiful.  I don’t know much about the Bahai faith, but from what I gathered from our tour guide it sounds like an interesting religion.  It’s a monotheistic faith and was started by a prophet who was in Iraq.  The religion is relatively young-- it’s only been around since the 1800’s.  They believe very strongly in equality among all people, so the garden is completely symmetrical and has even amounts of all the decorations and plants.  The tour was only about 45 minutes, but the gardens were so peaceful and serene that I really wanted to stay and just take it all in.  Unfortunately they are very strict about only going into the gardens on an official tour, so we had to leave.  After our tour, we went to lunch and then headed to the beach.  The beach was beautiful, and it was so fun swimming and relaxing in the sun.  We had dinner at a Chinese restaurant in our hotel, which was delicious.  We had planned to explore the area a bit more but we were all so exhausted that we ended up just going to sleep!  Wednesday we had breakfast at the hotel, Elle saw her family again, and Jessie and I went to go get pedicures at a place near our hotel.  It was such a treat to get a pedicure, and definitely needed!

 The woman who was doing it started chatting with me, and before long we got into a pretty intense conversation.  She grew up in Haifa but had spent a lot of time in the States, and felt very connected to the US.  Her boyfriend is from New York, which I think helped.  She asked me what I was doing in Israel, and when she found out I was going to be here for a year, she asked me why I wanted to come here for so long and be away from my family.  Wasn’t I afraid?  I didn’t understand the question at first—afraid of what? And to be asked this by an Israeli was also strange—that had never happened before.  People in the US asked me if I was nervous about spending a year in a country with a lot of turmoil, but no Israeli has ever asked me if I was afraid, because it never would have occurred to them that I should be.  However, despite the fact that her question caught me off guard, I realized that perhaps I really should think about the answer.  I was surprised at how easy it was to explain to her that as part of becoming a rabbi, I was required to spend a year in Israel, and that if that was what I had to do in order to fulfill my dream, I was going to do it.  Also, I didn’t want to avoid coming to a country that has a lot of personal meaning for me and for my family, as well as for my faith, just because I was afraid.  She seemed to understand, but still thought that the US was much safer and a more pleasant place to live than Israel.  I completely recognize that this woman is very much in the minority, and that most Israelis really don’t feel that way, but it was an interesting perspective nonetheless. 

There have been times this year when I have felt anxiety—sometimes we get text messages from the head of Student Services telling us about a security alert or to stay away from crowded areas, but then I look at my teachers and my family who have lived here for decades, and I realize that if they aren’t panicking, I shouldn’t either.  Caution is obviously necessary anywhere that I go in Israel, but I think that’s true of anywhere in the world.  I don’t walk around alone at night, I don’t go to areas that aren’t governed by the State of Israel (Gaza, Bethlehem), and I look both ways before I cross the street.  (This is probably the most important one!  Israeli drivers can be a little crazy sometimes.)  I think about where I worked last year in Chicago, and how Uptown isn’t exactly the model of a nice neighborhood.  There were gang shootings all the time, in broad daylight, and the side street that led to one of the shelters near my office was affectionately referred to by my clients as “murder alley.”  I never felt unsafe there, so why should I feel differently here?  Yes, the threats may be different, but I couldn’t avoid going to work any more than I can avoid going to school or to the grocery store.  I just have to live my life, recognize when I feel unsafe or uncomfortable, and react accordingly. In the wise words of Eleanor Roosevelt: “we gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face…we must do that which we think we cannot.”