Israel is Amazing

So, what has happened since my last post?  I'll go day by day because there is a ton!

Thursday: First day at yeshiva- kinda.  There are only 10 of us from Nativ on this track, so we have a nice little group.  We began the day with a discussion led by Rabbi Gail Diamond, who is a Reconstructionist rabbi teaching at the Conservative Yeshiva and belongs to an Orthodox synagogue- awesome, right?  We discussed trends in the Jewish community relating to observance, intermarriage, social acceptance and much more; at no point did we get to our intended study topic of Psalms.  Then we had another class with Shaiya Rothberg in which we studied a piece of Zohar comparing the days from Rosh Hashanah to Shmini Artzeret to the progression of a relationship- very deep and very interesting. 

Done for the day around 12:15, we ate lunch with Ulpan students.  I then went out with Mia to the shuk.  On the way we passed other stores, including a used book store with English books and other shops we want to revisit.  At the shuk, we bought hangers (exciting!) and some delicious pastries.  The rest of the afternoon was pretty uneventful.

Friday: We got to sleep relatively late today.  After tefillot, we left for a hike.  Having been told this wasn't going to be a big hike, I did not wear my hiking boots when I definitely should have.  I needed more traction, but at least I didn't slip as amusingly as some of my friends near me.  It turned out to be a pretty long hike, but it was absolutely beautiful.  We started at the JFK memorial and ended somewhere near the middle of nowhere (at least to my understanding).  We then went to a mall for lunch and had a little time to browse around.  We got back to Nativ with plenty of time to get ready for Shabbat.

Shabbat: We split up into our groups for Friday night services.  The kibbutz group went to a hill overlooking the old city.  It was absolutely beautiful and made me and many others hate our hometowns quite a bit.  Services were lovely, and we had the entertainment of a girl around 14 months old toddling around.  We returned to Beit Nativ and ate dinner in the room in which we daven, and there was a lot of good food, most definitely excluding the vegetarian shnitzl. 

After eating, most of us went to the office for the tisch, the table around which we sat and sang.  Unlike other tisches, we went around in a circle and we participants got to choose and lead which song to sing next.  Another beautiful experience I'm glad I can experience every week here.  After the tisch, we had some nice Shabbat opportunity time during which I played Bananagrams and Jewish Apples to Apples and sat and talked with a group of friends.  So far, Shabbos has been excellent.

At some point (I think around the time I awakened this morning) I started to feel sick.  But I did not want this to prevent me from having the Jerusalem Shabbos experience!  We could go to any nearby synagogue for morning services, and staffers were leading groups to a few Nativ favorites.  Having been recommended by many, I was eager to attend Shira Chadasha.  I walked  about halfway there with the large group going there and the next door shul, Kedem, then turned around finally realizing I had to be closer to Beit Nativ.  (At least I have several more weeks when I can go there, as well as any other shul.) I went to Moreshet Yisrael, the Conservative shul between the Old and New Buildings of Beit Nativ, but left a few minutes later to spend the next 5 hours or so in my bed.  I missed lunch and my group's trial of "Who pooped in the stairway?" (We are nearly sure it was a cat.)  But this was still a great Shabbat. 

There is something so special of everyone resting.  At home, I am the only one to keep Shabbat.  In BBYO, activities with iPods and writing are still common.  Even during my summer at Camp Ramah, my cabinmates "secretly" made mac & cheese.  Here, some people went for walks, some went to a park and played football and ultimate frisbee, and it seems that everyone slept, including 3 girls that moved mattresses out to the kitchen area next to our hallway.

We later did mincha, ate dinner (I was pretty hungry by then, having been unable to eat lunch), did maariv and havdalah all together.  I have most definitely already over-used this word, but it was a beautiful Shabbos.

And Mom, I know you will be so worried that I got sick and did not have anyone to mother me.  Worry not, for (1) I really was fine, and (2) my roommates, people going to Kedem and Shira Chadasha who saw me walk back, Nativers at Moreshet Yisrael, and my madricha Rachel were consistently asking me how I felt.

Saturday night: Right after we did Havdalah, nearly everyone changed from our Shabbos clothes and went right outside to join the protest for social justice.  In the status quo, the costs of food, daycare, houses and apartments are very high, due to hinderances to competition.  We marched among thousands of others in Jerusalem and then many of us returned to Beit Nativ to watch the rally from a balcony, though some stayed in the crowds.  We cheered "Ha'am Doresh Tzedek Chavrati!" and saw signs saying such things as "Tzedek tzedek tirdof"(justice, justice you shall pursue, a line from the Bible) and "Rotzim Tzedek. Lo Rotzim Tzedaka" (We want justice. We don't want charity). We stood on chairs, averaging 3 feet on each, taking pictures, cheering, and listening to the music (it was almost like a concert!).  We like to think that we, Nativ 31, are helping make history.  Near the end of the protest, we all sang Hatikvah; it was a very powerful moment.

Such an amazing night, but I just heard how footage of this protest is being used as anti-Israel propoganda, suggesting that Israel's government is so bad that they do not even care for their own citizens. This is ridiculous.  I agree that there are many problems with the Israeli government, but any permitted move towards improvent shows that the government is to at least some degree willing to change.  Israel is becoming a better place to live.

Sorry for such a long post!  I'll post pictures of the hike and protest soon.

Trivia: What term is used in Israel for the strictest of kashrut? (Hint: it's not "Glatt")
Badatz