...You see something remarkable.
Tonight as we finished Havdallah at Yemin Moshe, the big windmill overlook of the Old City in Jerusalem, we looked to the sky and notice a huge flock of birds flying in a V. It was hard to believe our eyes, we'd never seen birds flying so clearly in the night sky, let alone a V this big.
Shabbat is a special time, I like to argue that Havdallah and the time following it is special too (although a different kind of special as not to make say "hamavdil" - the blessing differentiating from the special and the normal - irrelevant), it's moments like this, in that setting, that further support my claim.
Shavua Tov! A Good Week - may gladness reign and joy increase! Une bonne semaine!
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Friday, September 16, 2011
A Break from Our Regularly Scheduled Programming...
I realize that next in the line up is a blog about my end of summer break, but that ones not ready to publish and this pressing thought has invaded my brain.
It's sinking in that I don't live in Toronto anymore. I realisze that right now I live in Jerusalem, but at the end of the year I won't be returning to live in Toronto. I'll be home for a very short visit and then I'll be in Los Angeles for a few weeks and then I'll live in New York City. Now, as exciting as being able to call my self a resident of NYC makes me, this is absolutely one of the weirdest feelings I've ever experienced. I was tempted to write terrifying, but it's not, it's just a big deal. Even when I lived in Albany for a year, I still considered myself to be living in Toronto, just on a brief departure to another place - I realize this was not the most logical thought, but the point is that I don't think I actually thought of myself as not living in Toronto in some sense of the word at that time. So that makes this the first time that I have ever not been a resident of Toronto...well sort of...I still pay a phone bill and I still have a bank account, so I suppose there are things that give me some sort of resident status.
Not the point. The point is that this feels like a very big deal to me and the enormity of it is sinking in. I'm excited about all of this, but along with this realization it has sunk in that, as I don't live there, I do have to prioritize and save and plan out when I visit Toronto. It should not surprise many of you reading to know that I'm a bit of a homebody - I really like my family and friends and spending time with them - I am not much for LONG periods of separation and distance. I like to feel connected and detachment scares me. I need to consider when I need to come home versus when I want to come home versus when I can come home. I need to save money appropriately. I also need to live my life and explore the rest of the world and take a vacation every once in a while. I'm realizing that there is a very fine balance to all of this.
So now I'm faced with a bit of a dilema. I left Toronto very confident that I would not return until May or June 2012. I reasoned that it was expensive to come home and that it was more important to spend my money on visiting places I had not seen and that are much easier to access from this side of the Atlantic. However, when I left I did not know when my classes would start in LA and I did not know when my classes would start in NYC. I still do not have official confirmation, but it seems that I will need to be in LA by June 8 (possibly even earlier to settle in to an apartment). At the end of the summer I will only have at most 3 weeks to move to New York. This means that I will probably be home for 2 weeks at the ends of May and then not again until Labour Day weekend for Margot's Wedding. I find myself torn. On one side, I think that I should stick with my original plan and go somewhere in Europe for 2 weeks on my break in January. On the other, there's a part of me that's thinking that I need to come home. Even though my parents are coming in February, my sister may not be, my Bubbie is not, my aunts and uncles and cousins are not, and many of my friends are not. It is my responsibility to maintain my relationships while I am far from home, is there no obligation to come home and makes sure I get some time in Toronto while I can? This lifestyle/scenario is so new to me, I don't know how I feel about this. I am confused and fixated on not making an "irresponsible" decision - although I'm not sure what that is in this case.
I'd love to hear some thoughts on this matter - any advice is welcome.
The month of Elul is a time for reflection....right now I find myself thinking about the future by reflecting on my past.
Shabbat Shalom!
For those of you wondering, I will be doing some travel this year, a trip home would not be in place of those opportunities, it would just take one away. I booked flights to Greece yesterday - yay I'm going to Greece in October! I also have time to travel for a week over Pesach.
It's sinking in that I don't live in Toronto anymore. I realisze that right now I live in Jerusalem, but at the end of the year I won't be returning to live in Toronto. I'll be home for a very short visit and then I'll be in Los Angeles for a few weeks and then I'll live in New York City. Now, as exciting as being able to call my self a resident of NYC makes me, this is absolutely one of the weirdest feelings I've ever experienced. I was tempted to write terrifying, but it's not, it's just a big deal. Even when I lived in Albany for a year, I still considered myself to be living in Toronto, just on a brief departure to another place - I realize this was not the most logical thought, but the point is that I don't think I actually thought of myself as not living in Toronto in some sense of the word at that time. So that makes this the first time that I have ever not been a resident of Toronto...well sort of...I still pay a phone bill and I still have a bank account, so I suppose there are things that give me some sort of resident status.
Not the point. The point is that this feels like a very big deal to me and the enormity of it is sinking in. I'm excited about all of this, but along with this realization it has sunk in that, as I don't live there, I do have to prioritize and save and plan out when I visit Toronto. It should not surprise many of you reading to know that I'm a bit of a homebody - I really like my family and friends and spending time with them - I am not much for LONG periods of separation and distance. I like to feel connected and detachment scares me. I need to consider when I need to come home versus when I want to come home versus when I can come home. I need to save money appropriately. I also need to live my life and explore the rest of the world and take a vacation every once in a while. I'm realizing that there is a very fine balance to all of this.
So now I'm faced with a bit of a dilema. I left Toronto very confident that I would not return until May or June 2012. I reasoned that it was expensive to come home and that it was more important to spend my money on visiting places I had not seen and that are much easier to access from this side of the Atlantic. However, when I left I did not know when my classes would start in LA and I did not know when my classes would start in NYC. I still do not have official confirmation, but it seems that I will need to be in LA by June 8 (possibly even earlier to settle in to an apartment). At the end of the summer I will only have at most 3 weeks to move to New York. This means that I will probably be home for 2 weeks at the ends of May and then not again until Labour Day weekend for Margot's Wedding. I find myself torn. On one side, I think that I should stick with my original plan and go somewhere in Europe for 2 weeks on my break in January. On the other, there's a part of me that's thinking that I need to come home. Even though my parents are coming in February, my sister may not be, my Bubbie is not, my aunts and uncles and cousins are not, and many of my friends are not. It is my responsibility to maintain my relationships while I am far from home, is there no obligation to come home and makes sure I get some time in Toronto while I can? This lifestyle/scenario is so new to me, I don't know how I feel about this. I am confused and fixated on not making an "irresponsible" decision - although I'm not sure what that is in this case.
I'd love to hear some thoughts on this matter - any advice is welcome.
The month of Elul is a time for reflection....right now I find myself thinking about the future by reflecting on my past.
Shabbat Shalom!
For those of you wondering, I will be doing some travel this year, a trip home would not be in place of those opportunities, it would just take one away. I booked flights to Greece yesterday - yay I'm going to Greece in October! I also have time to travel for a week over Pesach.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
It's Good To Be 4!
Meet Vivian.
Vivian is the younger daughter of my friend Nicole, a Rabbinical student, and she just turned 4. As I see it, it's pretty darn good to be 4.
I had the privilege of tagging along on a recent outing with Nicole's family to Kef Tsuba - a bouncy house amusement park on Kibbutz Tsuba just outside of Jerusalem. I went to see what this place was like and because I figured there was little chance this journey would not be fun. There was almost nothing for someone taller than 4ft to do at this place. It was cool and if I was 7 or 4, as these Cassie and Viv, I would have had a blast bouncing, and going in the bumper cars, and playing in the 3 story jungle gym/maze. Rather, I had a blast watching these young girls do just that and offering some adult conversation to their parents.
After lunch, Vivian, whose 4th birthday was on this very day, fell asleep in her stroller and there she stayed, asleep until it was time to get in the cab back to the city. As she slept, without a care in the world, not worried by a single movement around her or concerned for who would watch over her belongings, it was clear to me just how good it is to be 4. I sometimes long to return to the days where I can have so little to care about in the world.
However, just as Vivian is a constantly showing us why it's good to be 4, she also shows us how it's sometimes hard to be 4. Vivian is a very determined child, she refuses to accept that she might not be able to do something - everything is possible, even when it's not. I admire this attitude and the perseverance and determination with which she faces new tasks. Sometimes it's good to be grown up. To be tall enough and strong enough and stable enough to do anything I want to do. I take these abilities for granted; I have not been aware of my strength. I have spent a lot of time treating myself as weak or incapable, but, as I'm discovering in yoga, I am doing myself a disservice. For the sake of all that Viv is still too little to do, but tries anyway, I need to embrace my power and acknowledge my strength. I need to respect the 4 year olds of the world and appreciate what I can do, because they really want to and can't.
 |
| Photo taken by Sarah Gimbel |
I had the privilege of tagging along on a recent outing with Nicole's family to Kef Tsuba - a bouncy house amusement park on Kibbutz Tsuba just outside of Jerusalem. I went to see what this place was like and because I figured there was little chance this journey would not be fun. There was almost nothing for someone taller than 4ft to do at this place. It was cool and if I was 7 or 4, as these Cassie and Viv, I would have had a blast bouncing, and going in the bumper cars, and playing in the 3 story jungle gym/maze. Rather, I had a blast watching these young girls do just that and offering some adult conversation to their parents.
After lunch, Vivian, whose 4th birthday was on this very day, fell asleep in her stroller and there she stayed, asleep until it was time to get in the cab back to the city. As she slept, without a care in the world, not worried by a single movement around her or concerned for who would watch over her belongings, it was clear to me just how good it is to be 4. I sometimes long to return to the days where I can have so little to care about in the world.
However, just as Vivian is a constantly showing us why it's good to be 4, she also shows us how it's sometimes hard to be 4. Vivian is a very determined child, she refuses to accept that she might not be able to do something - everything is possible, even when it's not. I admire this attitude and the perseverance and determination with which she faces new tasks. Sometimes it's good to be grown up. To be tall enough and strong enough and stable enough to do anything I want to do. I take these abilities for granted; I have not been aware of my strength. I have spent a lot of time treating myself as weak or incapable, but, as I'm discovering in yoga, I am doing myself a disservice. For the sake of all that Viv is still too little to do, but tries anyway, I need to embrace my power and acknowledge my strength. I need to respect the 4 year olds of the world and appreciate what I can do, because they really want to and can't.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Summer Visits Come To An End
First off, there's a new post up at my other blog ariellerb.bogspot.com, which now has a title: If You Don't Have Anything Nice To Say, Maybe You Should Still Say Something Where as this blog is a log of my journey to becoming a Jewish Educator, that blog is a place for discussing issues as they arise.
Now on to this post....WARNING: The following is mostly gratitude and a little insight into some of the details of my life this summer, to expect much thought provoking content.
I need to start by publicly thanking Jesse Paikin. Jesse is in charge of staffing Birthright trips for Kesher - the Reform movement's group for college and university age youths. By pure luck, many of my friends received staff positions this summer. Thus, THANK YOU JESSE for sending me my friends!
My first visitors this summer were Aron and Jenn Katz. I went to lead Havdallah for their trip at HUC - this became a bit of a trend - and then met up with them for an evening on Ben Yehuda St. We had a lovely dinner at Burger's Bar and it was great to see familiar faces from home so soon after arriving in Jerusalem.
Next came Shayna Goldberg. Shayna was not sent to me by Jesse, but rather Canada Israel Experience - thank you Barbara Reich??? :S After spending a month, post-Birthright, touring India, Shayna stopped by my apartment for 4 nights. She helped me to decorate it and cleaned out some drawers, which was such a great help in making me feel more settled. She was also a trooper. She came with me to not one but 4 HUC events that weekend, although one was a party. Shayna was with me for services on Friday night and Saturday morning and then came to an intimate Seudah Shlishit/ Get To Know You/ Havdallah at Rabbi Naama Kelman's (the Dean of HUC in Israel) house.
August brought lots of quality time with Dave Vaisberg and Miriam Sherman-Palmer! First off, was the usual Havdallah, except we didn't do Havdallah together, followed by dinner on Ben Yehduda. This time we went to Tmol Shilshom and got to watch from above as the protestors marched to Kikar Zarfat to demonstrate for cheaper housing. After their trip, Dave came to stay with me for a night, he came with me for yoga and then showed me one of his favourite bars in Jerusalem. Dave went to his family for Shabbat, but returned on Sunday for more yoga and to take me to IKEA! This was not only fun but essential. By means of his rental car and previous experience setting up in Jerusalem, Dave was invaluable in helping me buy what I still needed for the apartment. Dave departed the next morning to pick up Miriam from the airport and travel for a few days. The following Friday, I hosted them for a lovely Shabbat dinner, complete with Schnitzel, at my friend Nicole's with a few of my friends from HUC and on Saturday I joined them for a lovely Shabbat lunch hosted by Nanacy, the Director of Student Life for us at HUC.
As my visit with Dave and Miriam ended, my visit with Jesse started. Later on Saturday, I went to HUC to host Havdallah for Jesse Paikin and Shelly Vaisberg's bus. It was one of the best Havdallah's thus far - there was great energy and lots of presence from the leadership perspective. I then walked with them to Ben Yehuda and got to hang out with everyone for a bit. On Sunday, I took a cab ride with Jesse from HUC out to Harel Mall in Mevasseret Zion where he was reconnecting with his bus after some meetings on campus. It was brief due to timing but a quality trip none-the-less. With that my stream of regular visitors ended.
I am expecting some family and more friends in the coming months, still not positive of any of these plans. In the meantime, I am so appreciative of the fact that I've had a regular stream of friends to help ease me in to life so far away. I am forming a great social group here, but it's always nice to see a face from home.
Now on to this post....WARNING: The following is mostly gratitude and a little insight into some of the details of my life this summer, to expect much thought provoking content.
I need to start by publicly thanking Jesse Paikin. Jesse is in charge of staffing Birthright trips for Kesher - the Reform movement's group for college and university age youths. By pure luck, many of my friends received staff positions this summer. Thus, THANK YOU JESSE for sending me my friends!
My first visitors this summer were Aron and Jenn Katz. I went to lead Havdallah for their trip at HUC - this became a bit of a trend - and then met up with them for an evening on Ben Yehuda St. We had a lovely dinner at Burger's Bar and it was great to see familiar faces from home so soon after arriving in Jerusalem.
Next came Shayna Goldberg. Shayna was not sent to me by Jesse, but rather Canada Israel Experience - thank you Barbara Reich??? :S After spending a month, post-Birthright, touring India, Shayna stopped by my apartment for 4 nights. She helped me to decorate it and cleaned out some drawers, which was such a great help in making me feel more settled. She was also a trooper. She came with me to not one but 4 HUC events that weekend, although one was a party. Shayna was with me for services on Friday night and Saturday morning and then came to an intimate Seudah Shlishit/ Get To Know You/ Havdallah at Rabbi Naama Kelman's (the Dean of HUC in Israel) house.
August brought lots of quality time with Dave Vaisberg and Miriam Sherman-Palmer! First off, was the usual Havdallah, except we didn't do Havdallah together, followed by dinner on Ben Yehduda. This time we went to Tmol Shilshom and got to watch from above as the protestors marched to Kikar Zarfat to demonstrate for cheaper housing. After their trip, Dave came to stay with me for a night, he came with me for yoga and then showed me one of his favourite bars in Jerusalem. Dave went to his family for Shabbat, but returned on Sunday for more yoga and to take me to IKEA! This was not only fun but essential. By means of his rental car and previous experience setting up in Jerusalem, Dave was invaluable in helping me buy what I still needed for the apartment. Dave departed the next morning to pick up Miriam from the airport and travel for a few days. The following Friday, I hosted them for a lovely Shabbat dinner, complete with Schnitzel, at my friend Nicole's with a few of my friends from HUC and on Saturday I joined them for a lovely Shabbat lunch hosted by Nanacy, the Director of Student Life for us at HUC.
As my visit with Dave and Miriam ended, my visit with Jesse started. Later on Saturday, I went to HUC to host Havdallah for Jesse Paikin and Shelly Vaisberg's bus. It was one of the best Havdallah's thus far - there was great energy and lots of presence from the leadership perspective. I then walked with them to Ben Yehuda and got to hang out with everyone for a bit. On Sunday, I took a cab ride with Jesse from HUC out to Harel Mall in Mevasseret Zion where he was reconnecting with his bus after some meetings on campus. It was brief due to timing but a quality trip none-the-less. With that my stream of regular visitors ended.
I am expecting some family and more friends in the coming months, still not positive of any of these plans. In the meantime, I am so appreciative of the fact that I've had a regular stream of friends to help ease me in to life so far away. I am forming a great social group here, but it's always nice to see a face from home.
Friday, September 2, 2011
The End of Summer (School)
Allow me to backtrack for a moment. I thought I had written about the summer semester earlier, but I may not have been clear. So best to clarify things before talking about their conclusion.
On July 11 I started Orientation. We had a week of getting to know you activities, expectations discussions, and programming to help us begin to think of ourselves in our future roles as community leaders. On July 16 I started Summer Semester. This semester is best understood as a pre-school program and was often referred to as summer camp, without a lot of the essence of camp, by me and my peers. In this session we had Ulpan for most of the day, as well as Cantilation (learning to chant Torah) once a week, and a Biblical History lecture twice a week, along with a Study Tiyul (trip) on Thursdays. I was in the highest level Hebrew class, the beginner cantillation, and the Biblical History class for those with some background in the topics.
This summer I also started my Education Seminar which will continue through the whole year. I truly look forward to this class every week and the opportunity to start delving into Education Theory and really geek out as an educator. Sally, my teacher, is wonderful....I can actually say this about all of the faculty I've interacted with so far - but Sally's had us over for dinner and movie night :)
Thursday August 25th was our last day of summer session. I have since enjoyed a week long vacation, which I'll write about soon, and will be beginning Fall Semester on Sunday.
So Summer has come to an end, I came to Israel for 11 months, I only have 9 months left. I still don't feel settled...I am under the impression this is normal. I hate when everything is a blur, but I have been told that that is exactly what this year will be, I'm going to fight against this.
It has been a productive summer and I have definitely done a lot in the last 2 months. My Hebrew Grammar has improved immensely and I feel like I have a new understanding of the language. My teacher, Osnat, was AMAZING! She truly cared about each of us. She worked very hard to help us succeed and she will definitely be missed, as she is not going to be our teacher for the year. I've learned the Teamim (notes for singing Torah) and I've toured parts of Israel as an archaeologist. I've travelled to the Israel Museum for a night of culture, a study tiyul, and a wonderful wine festival. I've gone to Tel Aviv for a free day and a day of sailing. I've wandered in and out of the old city, hung out at Ben Yehuda St., shopped at Hadar Mall in Talpiot, walked to the end of Azza, eaten in Emek Refaim, and fought my way through Machne Yehuda many a time.
I've felt very busy and I have been, I've also felt very flustered and like time was moving faster than I want it to. It never seemed like there were enough hours in the day. I think the fact that I feel like I'm still settling into my apartment has contributed to this. My second roommate, Mike, arrived today and with his help I'm sure this place will feel settled soon. It will be nice to finally set up some routines and to get the place a bit more organized. Feeling like there's work to be done and being too tired to do it at the end of the day is very exhausting - this is probably why I have not been updating as often as I would like to. That and the fact that I had 6 blog ideas in mind by the time I got off the plane and I have not been as good at staying one step ahead since then. I am also trying very hard to make this blog thought provoking and not just a log of the events in my life.
Summer session was an interesting time for us. It was a time of adjustment and it was a time that was misunderstood by many. It was clearly set up - in my opinion - to be more of an ulpan than a start of my Masters. However, many felt that it was the start of their program and were frustrated by the lack of depth with regards to those programs thus far. I think everyone is definitely excited for this program to really get going. There have been a lot of sign ups in the past few weeks and thus signs of the approaching school year. We're going on a tiyul to the North next weekend and needed to sign up for rooms. We needed to sign up to lead services - I've shown great initiative and leadership and opted to go last :) We needed to sign up to give a 5 minute D'var Torah - stay tuned for Parsha Trumah at Kabbalat Shabbat Services at HUC on February 24th - in case you're planning a trip. Finally, we've needed to sign up to chant Torah twice. I will be reading Toldot on November 26th - this year is the Bar Mitzvah of my Bat Mitzvah and I will finally read a Torah portion that is considered obligatory as opposed to the Maftir. I'll also be reading some time in March - although I don't remember what and when at the moment. Yes, there IS a lot of preparation to do.
Thus my "summer" ends. Who's excited for Fall?
On July 11 I started Orientation. We had a week of getting to know you activities, expectations discussions, and programming to help us begin to think of ourselves in our future roles as community leaders. On July 16 I started Summer Semester. This semester is best understood as a pre-school program and was often referred to as summer camp, without a lot of the essence of camp, by me and my peers. In this session we had Ulpan for most of the day, as well as Cantilation (learning to chant Torah) once a week, and a Biblical History lecture twice a week, along with a Study Tiyul (trip) on Thursdays. I was in the highest level Hebrew class, the beginner cantillation, and the Biblical History class for those with some background in the topics.
This summer I also started my Education Seminar which will continue through the whole year. I truly look forward to this class every week and the opportunity to start delving into Education Theory and really geek out as an educator. Sally, my teacher, is wonderful....I can actually say this about all of the faculty I've interacted with so far - but Sally's had us over for dinner and movie night :)
Thursday August 25th was our last day of summer session. I have since enjoyed a week long vacation, which I'll write about soon, and will be beginning Fall Semester on Sunday.
So Summer has come to an end, I came to Israel for 11 months, I only have 9 months left. I still don't feel settled...I am under the impression this is normal. I hate when everything is a blur, but I have been told that that is exactly what this year will be, I'm going to fight against this.
It has been a productive summer and I have definitely done a lot in the last 2 months. My Hebrew Grammar has improved immensely and I feel like I have a new understanding of the language. My teacher, Osnat, was AMAZING! She truly cared about each of us. She worked very hard to help us succeed and she will definitely be missed, as she is not going to be our teacher for the year. I've learned the Teamim (notes for singing Torah) and I've toured parts of Israel as an archaeologist. I've travelled to the Israel Museum for a night of culture, a study tiyul, and a wonderful wine festival. I've gone to Tel Aviv for a free day and a day of sailing. I've wandered in and out of the old city, hung out at Ben Yehuda St., shopped at Hadar Mall in Talpiot, walked to the end of Azza, eaten in Emek Refaim, and fought my way through Machne Yehuda many a time.
I've felt very busy and I have been, I've also felt very flustered and like time was moving faster than I want it to. It never seemed like there were enough hours in the day. I think the fact that I feel like I'm still settling into my apartment has contributed to this. My second roommate, Mike, arrived today and with his help I'm sure this place will feel settled soon. It will be nice to finally set up some routines and to get the place a bit more organized. Feeling like there's work to be done and being too tired to do it at the end of the day is very exhausting - this is probably why I have not been updating as often as I would like to. That and the fact that I had 6 blog ideas in mind by the time I got off the plane and I have not been as good at staying one step ahead since then. I am also trying very hard to make this blog thought provoking and not just a log of the events in my life.
Summer session was an interesting time for us. It was a time of adjustment and it was a time that was misunderstood by many. It was clearly set up - in my opinion - to be more of an ulpan than a start of my Masters. However, many felt that it was the start of their program and were frustrated by the lack of depth with regards to those programs thus far. I think everyone is definitely excited for this program to really get going. There have been a lot of sign ups in the past few weeks and thus signs of the approaching school year. We're going on a tiyul to the North next weekend and needed to sign up for rooms. We needed to sign up to lead services - I've shown great initiative and leadership and opted to go last :) We needed to sign up to give a 5 minute D'var Torah - stay tuned for Parsha Trumah at Kabbalat Shabbat Services at HUC on February 24th - in case you're planning a trip. Finally, we've needed to sign up to chant Torah twice. I will be reading Toldot on November 26th - this year is the Bar Mitzvah of my Bat Mitzvah and I will finally read a Torah portion that is considered obligatory as opposed to the Maftir. I'll also be reading some time in March - although I don't remember what and when at the moment. Yes, there IS a lot of preparation to do.
Thus my "summer" ends. Who's excited for Fall?
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Of Things to Come...
It's been pointed out to me a few times in the past few days that I am not doing a great job updating my blog - it's not easy to be consistent!
I promise to write a few blogs in the next few days and make an effort to keep you all better updated. Here are some things to look forward to:
The End of Summer (School)
The Last of the Visitors
It's Good to Be 4.
That Time I DROVE in Israel!
HUC presents The Truman - errr - Trumah Project
In the meantime please enjoy my friend Kenny's picture tours of the Mamila neighbourhood and downtown:
It's Fun To Stay At - a tour of Mamila
You Can Always Go...Downtown! - about Downtown Jerusalem
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)