November 11 2011

Life in israel is constantly inspiring and exciting. There is always something happening around me and so much to learn here. I am always searching for the inspiration. Here are some experiences that I've had that I want to share. 
This past week was not too eventful. We began yeshiva again and went on a tour of the kotel tunnels.  I had done it before, it took a long time, was interesting, but was also very dragged out. After doing it once, the second time was nothing too exciting. Yeshiva is back into regular schedule, which was much needed but also difficult. It is hard to study all day. Thankfully I have organized it so that I am taking classes that I am interested in and I am also doing a lot of volunteering.   Thursday night I felt frustrated with certain things and decided to take a walk. I started to think and discover personal philosophies that I had never thought of. I reflected and meditated on my life, which is so unusual for me. I knew that I needed to get away from base. I got to the kotel and ended up Davening one of the most spiritual arvits I will ever pray in my life. I almost started to cry and just felt the presence of God all around me. I had been thinking about how Israel and Judaism are two things that truly define me and are some of the most important things to me in this world. It made me feel so proud and happy to be here and so confused about what I really want for my future.   Friday night I needed to go back to the kotel for kabbalat shabbat. My friend Ari Brodkey and I joined a group of soldiers who did a beautiful and energetic service. That night Jeremy Pappas (who was my rosh edah in magshimim and in alonim) hosted a meal for all of us that were in Israel. It was nice to hang out with other Canadians/camp people. We had a great time and all enjoyed Jeremy's cozy apartment. That night I went with Jake Levine and Jake Aronson to practice basketball at gan hapa'amon. We all improved and are improving significantly over the course of this program. The three of us then came back and built a fort and brought our beds into it. We felt like little kids again and slept in the fort for the whole night.  The next morning I slept in, but woke up because a bunch of us from yeshiva had organized going somewhere for a meal. We walked over to a woman named Bonnie's apartment. She told us the story of how she made aliyah, what she does at USCJ and encouraged us to make aliyah when we are younger if that is the dream because it becomes more  difficult as you get older. She was a great cook and she was babysitting a bunny that we played with. We then came back to base and relaxed for a bit.  That night we were going to nachla'ot with a friend from yeshiva who is a rabbinical student. She actually studies at this yeshiva called yeshivat simchat shlomo, which is a very carlebach yeshiva. The rosh yeshiva hosts shalosh sheudes meals every week and we were welcomed. We sat at this beautifully set table with great food. We sang zmirot and had a very meaningful time. Havdllah was especially unique and a really great experience. It was very cool. The rabbi is actually going on tour and will be in Toronto. His name is Rabbi Shlomo Katz.  Sunday night we went to a masa event for over three thousand out of the ten thousand masa participants. Our madrich, Simeon was actually featured as a representative of masa. I got to see my friend Brandon Pearl, who I will be seeing again this Thursday. I also bumped into a bunch of CHAT kids. 

I have been going through the star wars movies with Zoe. We have watched four five and six and are halfway through one. We are watching them as they were made. Last night i skyped with Benji and Paige, which i needed to do. I will wait for internet to be better for me to talk to family. Right now I am on my way to see Vered and Ami in Tel Aviv, and then I will make my way with Lishay to the bat mitzvah. I am so happy that I get to represent the Canadian family at the bat mitzvah. 
There are so many times, when I stop and think and realize that it is going to be so difficult to leave this country. In the Zionism class that Nativers take at yeshiva (my favorite class, with Nina Redl, a German doctor/teacher) we are learning Martin Buber’s Zionist philosophies. He explains at there are three different ways to discover and develop Zionism in a person. He explains that the strongest is where a person feels that strong connection to the land and wishes to add and create upon it. I feel that this is the Zionist path I have taken and feel so strongly about Israel. Yet for now I must leave it as a feeling, until I figure my life out, I cannot make a decision on making Aliyah. It is something I want now and will always want and pray that one day it is possible.

September 2, 2011

So here is an entry to catch you up on this week since whenever I have done so last. I will highlight some experience and just stop in to say hi.

1. Jerusalem course.

This week we finished the Jerusalem course. I have never done such a focused touring experience in my life. We delved so deep into Jerusalem and its development through the stages. It is believed that Jerusalem is the heart of the Jewish people and Israel, and like any good doctor would say, you can't fully appreciate the power of the heart unless you study it. (But what would I know, I am no doctor. You get the point though.) I have always loved Jerusalem and it is the place I feel most impassioned about. If I ever joined the army, it would be to protect this land, but more specifically Jerusalem.

In the course we studied Jerusalem through all different religions and time periods and got to see so many new perspectives. I was given the opportunity to see so much of Jerusalem that I had never seen before. These experiences will be what shape my opinions on Israel and society in general. That last day of the course we went to Ramat Rachel near east Talpiyot. We got to appreciate the beauty of combinations in Israeli society. This is the place where the different Israeli cultures meet. You look over east Jerusalem, while standing in a kibbutz and right next to the holy city. The structure of three pillars with trees on the top that stands nearby shows that we three cultures can co-exist, despite having to balance on these thin tensions and gaps in culture. This class was a great informal way to learn about Israel from ancient times till today. JJ, our teacher, is actually originally from Hamilton, and is very knowledgeable and a great tour guide.

2. Shabbat

This past Shabbat I stayed in Jerusalem with around twenty other Nativers. The people who stayed back were all so much fun and we had a great time. Friday night I met up with Keith Flax who was my madrich on Shakespeare in Jerusalem. We helped set up two guys who needed a place to stay at Keith's apartment. Then we headed to the kotel and dovened with a bunch of his old yeshiva buddies. I found a bunch of Nativers there and brought them over to the minyan where I started dovening. We dance and sung and brought in Shabbat with much joy and energy. We then walked back to base and had a Nativ dinner together, then a tisch. I then went to bed at ten thirty and slept until 11 AM. I got twelve and a half hours of sleep. It was sooo nice to just be able to sleep for a nice chunk of time. Around lunch I took Louis and Jake with me to meet up with Keith again. I had organized with him a meal in the Jewish Rova (quarter) of the old city for a bunch of guys he knew and I brought some of my friends. We had a very spiritual lunch and I found out that Keith was getting his Sephardic smicha at a yeshiva, even though he is not sephardic. It is always very cool to hang out with him and I always learn so much from him. We headed back to base and had a great relaxing afternoon.

That night I went out to dinner with a man named Skip Shcrayer. My friend Daniel is family friends with him and he is the chairman of the federation in Chicago. He was a very interesting guy and very generous. He bought us all steak dinners and drinks even though he had never met us before. He was so nice and generous. He seems like a great contact to have for the future.

3. Volunteering

Recently I have taken to doing a lot of volunteering at the Michael Levin Memorial Center for Lone Soldiers. I have been there twice and gotten to do some really cool activities to help them out. They are more than happy to just have another interested and helping around. I helped them out with their blog and helped Tziki, the head guy, write an email in English to a donor. I am really looking forward to doing so much more with them. If you want to check out the blog, I will post the link to their cite and it is under this week at the center. Also the place is a very short walk, which is really nice.

Go to - lonesoldiercenter.com.

4. AIPAC

Jonathan Kessler, the Director of Leadership Development of AIPAC (Canadian equivalent is cijapac) came to speak to us at erev Nativ. He spoke about the goals and pursuits of AIPAC and really tried to get all of us to initiate a conversation to get more involved in lobbying for Israel. It was more addressed to Americans but I still found it interesting the way they approach education and getting people involved. They actually look for help to defend Israel- they don't try to help you. I think that it pushes you more to do something then simple education workshops similar to those that were done at TCK for the grade twelve, which were just not the right layout.

That is all for now. I will keep updating. Miss you.