A Blog About Not Being Able to Write a Blog

For the past 3 weeks I have been accumulating topics that I want to write about, making notes of stories I want to share, and keeping track of thoughts that I've had. However, I have not been able to write any of them down. I am a bit back logged with school work and every moment where I could potentially write is a either a moment where I should be doing work OR a moment where I choose to read/watch a show and give myself a rest. Thus my blog gets neglected. I realize that it might be a bit of a let down to those of you that enjoy my writing to be left waiting for so long, but trust that I'm sad about it too - after all this is my log and if I don't write then I don't share or record the things that I've deemed worthy.

I am almost out of the back log, but exams are just around the corner. We also have a tiyul to the south this coming week. So I promise to write some posts soon...but most likely not for another week.

Here's hoping December is a better month for blogging and that all of you, my readers, are doing well!

Greece is the Word

Over Sukkot, we had a week and a half break from school. I took advantage of the free time and booked a cruise around the Greek Islands. My friends Daniel (fellow Ed student), Jeremy (Rebbinic student), and Sarah (Post-Doc Fellow at Hebrew U/Jeremy's wife) headed out to Athens by way of Larnaca in Cypress and took a 3 night/4 day cruise that went to Mykonos, Ephesus, Patmos, Heraklion, and Santorini. Jeremy and Sarah have packaged the experience into a multi-post blog and included links to the flickr site with all their (and some of my) pictures. So since they do such an amazing job of these things, I will simply share their blog with you.

Greece is the word - The Video

Greece is the Word - Day 1

Greece is the Word - Day 2

Greece is the Word - Day 3

Greece is the Word - Day 4

Greece is the Word - Day 5

Something that Jeremy and Sarah do not talk about is the excursion to Ephesus. They visited Turkey in August, so they sat that one out. Daniel and I woke up at 6:15am and headed off the ship at 7am for a brief tour of the famous archaeological site. There are a lot of great artifacts to be seen there, however, much of the site has been moved around and, as Daniel explained to me, when archaeological finds are moved, they lose their context and become almost meaningless. Nonetheless, it was a lot of fun to wander around taking pictures - I'm working on improving my photography skills. It was also very cold - science lesson of the day, it's not warm outside until the sun has been up for a little while. Before heading back to the ship, our tour guide took us to a Turkish Rug store for a demonstration and opportunity to purchase. It was definitely an experience to be served apple tea and watch their sales pitch.

I had a fabulous time on this trip. We saw a lot of beautiful places and ate some amazing Greek food. I will probably go back to Crete and Santorini one day, but for now Greece is no longer sitting at the top of my "must visit" list. Check!

Here are my pictures on Facebook:

Album 1

Album 2

Enjoy!

There Are No More Jews In Gaza

Last year, after a key note presentation by Benjamin Netanyahu, one of the students participating in Do The Write Thing returned to our conference room excited about an interaction he had on the way back. Upon leaving the hotel where the speech was given to cross the street back to the Sheraton, he came across a protestor holding a sign that said "Free Gaza" - specifically Gaza. He asked the man, in a sensitive manner, "What are we freeing Gaza from?" and the man replied "The occupation of the Jews." This student asked the man if he was aware that there were no Jews in Gaza, that they had been forced to leave in 2005. The man seemed confused, and asked "Really? No Jews, at all?" to which the student responded "Well there is one, his name is Gilad Shalit and he's being held as a captive and being denied his basic human rights." This was new information for the man and he claimed that he would go home and do more research. this was all the student could hope for and therefore a successful interaction. 

Now there are no Jews in Gaza.

Gilad Shalit came home this week. After five years and 4 months, a number of days that when added up equal 18 (the Jewish number for life), he returned to Israel and his family. For the first time in 5 years, we can celebrate Simchat Torah and now pray for this particular soldier's return. Just as we will take down our Sukkahs, so to can the Shalit tent outside the Prime Minister's residence be taken down. 

This is the moment we were waiting for, a moment that was hard to believe possible up until it actually happened. As I spent the day watching the live stream from BBC World News and checking updates on JPost and Haaretz's websites, I thought about the many years of campus activism and campaigns that kept the focus on Gilad. I thought about my involvement with them. The first major event I helped coordinate as a student at Hillel was a community rally in November 2006 to kick off the Missing Soldiers campaign - rallying for the return of Ehud Goldwasser, Eldad Regev, and Gilad Shalit, who had all been captured in the summer of 2006. The last event I planned for the Jewish community before leaving for Israel involved a banner of support for the Shalit Family. Now this activism can end. 

I am ecstatic that Gilad is back with his family, that he is alive, that he has the chance to regain his life has a free man. I believe that bringing him home was essential and that his safety would only have been increasingly threatened if he remained in captivity. 

However, I am also quite saddened by this event. The deal that brought him home is a lousy deal. It is a deal that says "We value our children's lives more than we hate our enemies" but it also says "We are willing to negotiate with terrorists and hand over 1000 prisoners in exchange for one captive." I fear we have placed a huge price tag on the heads of our soldiers and made the business of kidnapping even more appealing to Hamas. 

I am also quite bothered by the return of the prisoners. I am bothered that people who have committed heinous crimes are being allowed to walk free - I am bothered by this more than I fear them repeating their crimes. I am bothered that there are people in the world who don't see the difference between Gilad Shalit, a captive who was captured in his own country, being returned to his family and prisoners - murderers - who were serving sentences for crimes, being returned home and thus let off the hook. What frightens me is that these terrorists were welcomed as heroes and that in rallies welcoming them, public statements were made calling for more kidnappings so that more of these monsters can be returned home. What frightens me is that they don't show any remorse - they don't understand what was wrong about their actions - they do not feel sorry or shameful. There is no part of the civilized world that would think this release makes sense. There is no part of the civilized world that shouldn't fear these people having freedom. 

As a Canadian citizen who expects that people who commit heinous crimes will receive just punishment, it is hard to accept these prisoners being freed - at home, I wouldn't sleep well knowing that people like this were living amongst the public. Yet, the rules seem to be different here and in this case. As bothered as I am, it would be more bothersome to have watched Noam and Aviva and the rest of the Shalit Family told repeatedly that the deal is not good enough or, worse, that we waited too long and their son had been killed. Although it seems unjust and immoral, granting freedom to 1000 terrorists seems like the lesser of two evils in this scenario. 

The joy that I witnessed on the face of Gilad's brother, and the many supporters at the tent on Tuesday night, is all the proof I need that the right thing was done. 

I pray that the security fence stands up to any attacks these terrorists may try to carry out and for the safety of the soldiers in the IDF - may we not have another kidnapped soldier in our lifetime. 

The Sound of Silence

For as long as I can remember, I have been told that there is nothing like Yom Kippur in Jerusalem. I am fairly certain this statement is true. It is hard to explain the sound of the silence that takes over the city or the site of all the traffic lights flashing yellow and next to no cars driving on the road. It is hard to explain how kids on their bikes take over the street and sidewalks become obsolete. However, this is what it is like and you'll simply have to imagine it or take my words for it. 

For services, I was expected to attend the ones held in Blaustein Hall at HUC. This hall has floor to ceiling glass windows that face the old city that serve as the background to the bimah (stage where services are lead from) - it is a spectacular site coming from traditional synagogues where you face a wall. I spent more time in synagogue this year than I recall ever doing before - Kol Nidre, Shacharit, Musaf, Mincha, and Neillah. I even attended a study session in the afternoon. I saw that sunset, rise, and set again from the same seat (approx), and when I realized I was seeing the sunset for the second time, it struck me how cool it was to be experiencing it. 

Some interesting thoughts were raised in my mind with regards to the style and effectiveness of the services, but I think I will post those in my thoughts blog when I get a chance to write. On a whole, it was a new and special experience, and I'm really happy about it. 

On Erev Yom Kippur, I took a walk to the Kotel with some friends and sat there speaking for a little while. I'll reiterate that there is definitely something magical about the Kotel at night...though I should probably try to get there during the day sometime soon. On the way home, and throughout the entire 25 hours of Yom Kippur, I made sure to take every opportunity possible to walk in the middle of the street - it was really cool. 

It is appropriate to wish each other a Gmar Chatimah Tova (may your name be sealed in the book of life) all the way through the end of Sukkot. Therefore, that is what I will leave you and this blog post with. 

I'm So Liminal, I Don't Know Where I Am!

Definition of LIMINAL

1

: of or relating to a sensory threshold

2

: barely perceptible

3

: of, relating to, or being an intermediate state, phase, or condition : in-between, transitional <in the liminal state between life and death — Deborah Jowitt>

In this blog, I am mostly referring to definition #3. Liminal is a bit of a key word at HUC - it keeps coming up, it's used to refer to every stage of the program. From day one, we have been told that we are in a liminal state. After a bit of a break, the word resurfaced at Erev Rosh HaShana services - where we were informed that being in the time between Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur was being in a liminal state. This is when it clicked that I am SO liminal! I was in the time period described, I am in the liminal state between Jewish Community Member and Jewish Educator, AND I am in a liminal state between Torontonian and who-knows-what-ian. Building on my previous note about the realization that I don't live in Toronto....now I've realized that I'm liminal in regards to it too. 

I can't decide if I love this word or hate this word. Yes, it is completely legitimate to have feelings about/towards words. All I know for sure is that it describes me really well right now. 

For Rosh HaShana I had 6 meals with friends over 4 days, went to the shuk on Wednesday before chag - not as exciting as I thought, made a salt and pepper kugel and an apple cake, attended more service than I have in the past 10 years or so, participated in a Rosh HaShana seder (minus the ram's head), and had a really lovely time.

I hope your chag (holiday), if you has one, was enjoyable too! Shana Tova!

The Fall Line Up

Moving along in this game of catch up....

I now present the line up of classes I am taking this fall and other details of the sort, so that when I reference them later, they're not coming from nowhere.

WARNING: Grad School is not like Undergrad - in the Year in Israel Program, at least - we go to school from 8:30 - 3:40/4:30/5:20...it's a bit crazy.

So this year I have:
Hebrew
Bible
Biblical Grammar
Liturgy
Education Seminar
Israel Seminar

This semester I also have:
History of the 2nd Temple Period
Modern Zionist History
Advanced Hebrew Texts

We also gather for Mincha (The Afternoon Service) on Saundays and Shacharit (The morning Service) on Tuesday and Thursday.

I will probably discuss these more at length as I get into them, but in the meantime if you ask a question I will respond. :)

This year I also have to chant Torah twice, give a 5 minute D'var Torah, and lead a service. I will chanting on November 26th as it is Parshat Toldot and will be the 13th anniversary of my Bat Mitzvah. Everything else will be happening in second semester.

Classes are going quite well so far, I have really great Professors and I'm enjoying the content.

HUC presents The Truman - errr - Trumah Project!

As part of our year in Israel, every student must have a Trumah project. Trumah means donation, these are volunteer projects to which, we are donating ourselves.

The title of this blog includes Truman because that is what Apple auto-corrects for Trumah. This of course happened in our first email about the projects and we've joked about it since.

After a bit of a drawn out process for interviewing, because the project I wanted had a lot of interest and we needed to be "weeded out," I was assigned my first choice project!

This year, I am volunteering with the Avi Chai Foundation. The Avi Chai Foundation recruits and trains many of the Israelis who go on Shlichut (messenger) to camps in North America. They also offer a program, called B'Yachad, to North Americans in Israel for a year who are returning to camps, in order to help them best communicate their experience and make it a tool in their toolbox of useful knowledge. My role is evolving and offers a lot of opportunity for accommodating my interested, but the main purpose is to help in developing their leadership training program as part of the B'Yachad program.

I am really excited to get to work with this foundation this year. Not only do I think it will be a lot of fun; I expect it will be a great experience for the future and I'm all about multi-tasking in this way!