Chanukah, Part II

The last few days of Chanukah, plus the following two days, have been great.  I’ve lit my chanukiah every night, eaten one fancy sufgania from Roladin (a fantastic bakery!), studied a wide array of topics at the yeshiva, prepared for going to Poland, and planned more of winter break.  Yay!!

Some more details?  I guess I can do that.

Last Shabbat, we had an addition to our usual schedule (light candles, leave for shuls, dinner, tisch, shoko b’sakit (chocolate milk in a bag) and cake breakfast, leave for shuls, lunch, parshat hashavua (discussion on weekly Torah portion), mincha (afternoon prayer service), seudah shlishit (3^rd meal for Shabbat), ma’ariv (evening prayer service), havdallah (service for transitioning from Shabbat to the rest of the week).  This addition was a guided meditation, led by me.  This past summer during Or Tzedek (a Jewish social justice program in which I’ve participated for the past 3 years), we had an activity with someone from the Center for Jewish Mindfulness and meditated.  Then, during Shabbat, one of our madrichot led a guided meditation focused on the 4 letters of G-d’s name and the body.  I took what I remembered from this latter meditation, and wrote a new one.  I taught the meditating techniques to the small group that came, and in the end, everyone had a great experience.

After Shabbat, Julia and I made considerable progress in planning winter break.  I’m getting extremely excited for everything we’re going to do, but there’s still a lot to plan.

Saturday night, it started raining pretty hard, which is great because we haven’t had much rain yet this year.  The rain continued for all of Sunday.  On Sunday, I went to Yad VaShem (the Israeli Holocaust museum).  Walking to the light rail to take me there, I finally saw how important it is for the paths in the streets to be designed as they are: most of the stones are lengthwise going across the width of the path, but in the middle of the path is a line of stones perpendicular to the others, and the path has a slight V-shape, so all of the water flows down the middle row and there is less flooding.  But, there was so much rain, that this couldn’t stop you from getting wet.  I passed a man-hole that was so full of water it was like a whale’s blowhole.

While I tried to find someone to come with me to Yad Vashem (a big group went a week before, and most people had classes or big papers), I am happy to have gone alone.  I was able to speed through the main museum exhibit, walk around to see the all of the monuments, and still have a couple hours in the library.  Two quotes from the museum section stuck out to me.  I feel these two really show how human life should be valued.

“Don’t rush to fight and die…we need to save lives.  It is more important to save Jews than to kill Germans.” ~Tuvia Bielski

“I do not know what a Jew is, we only know what human beings are.” ~Pastor Andre Trocme (August 10, 1942)

In the library, I studied how much Janusz Korczak valued life, as well as his other great values and work.  Anyone can use the archives at Yad Vashem, so I did research on Korczak for my presentation in Poland.  On Monday, I continued to research with Gila (my partner for the presentation) at Hebrew U.  I skimmed through his Ghetto Diary and a parenting book he wrote called Loving Every Child.  He was an amazing person in nearly every way.  As this is already a considerably long post, I’m not going to give the details about his life right now, but please comment if you want to learn more about Korczak in another post.

Sunday night, though I did not think I would, I ended up celebrating Christmas.  With about half of the Kfar track, I went for Chinese food.

Tuesday was an event-filled day.  In the morning, we Nativ yeshiva students went to Yad Lakashish.  Here, elderly individuals (most around age 75-80) have different workshops, including making recycled paper, making things from the paper, painting Jewish items like tallitot and challah covers, metal-works, knitting toys, and ceramics.  We went to visit each workshop and light Chanukah candles for each group and talk a little with the people there.  Then we visited the gift shop to see their final products, and most of us bought gifts to support them.

After this, I had my most Chanukah-y meal: a latke (which was not served with apple sauce or sour cream, like in the U.S., but rather with a pickle) and a sufgania.  For weeks, I have seen the sufganiot of Roladin, but always resisted.  They have sufganiot that you squeeze a small amount of whiskey, vodka, or just chocolate into, sufganiot filled with different creams, and the most common strawberry jelly filled sufganiot.  I got a pistachio cream sufgania, and could not have been happier.  Perhaps this was not the healthiest lunch I could eat, but it was something I had to do.

That night was the last night of Chanukah.  For Erev Nativ, Yossi went over the schedule for the next few weeks, including all of the information on packing we will need.  We have our 2-week break, Israel Experience Week/Poland, a 3-day Israel Today seminar, and a 6-day tiyul (staying overnight at a kibbutz) near Eilat (I’m glad I’m not going to Eilat over break because during the tiyul I’ll have the opportunity to do the water sports I want to do), and then we go to our second semester locations.  For packing, we need to pack up everything we won’t need until we’re at the second semester locations to not see until then, and then have different bags for everything we’ll need before then.  After receiving this information, we walked to the Old City to see a light show, which told the history of Jerusalem.  Walking there, we saw a Chasidic man juggling torches on a unicycle!  It was cool, but I was so tired, I really would have preferred to have been watching a movie in my bed; although, some people absolutely loved the show.

On Wednesday, I went to visit my aunt’s friend who moved to Jerusalem from Milwaukee a few years ago.  When I saw Nativers when coming back to base, I was asked what I had been up to, and I told everyone that I was with “the sweetest old lady of all time,” because that is 100% accurate.  It also turns out that I met her during my first Shabbat on Nativ, because she is the greeter Saturday morning for Moreshet Yisrael (the Conservative shul in our complex).

Finally, last night was the greatest.  I went to Shirat Yerushalayim Hall for my cousin’s wife’s sister’s wedding to babysit my 5 and a half-month-old cousin Sima!  This was the first time I met Sima, and I’m excited to say I met her before my mom did.  She is the most adorable baby!  Twice, she fell asleep in my arms.  It was also great to talk to my cousins a little, but they (especially Tamar, the bride’s sister) were busy dancing, socializing, and doing whatever the bride and groom needed.  I met a few girls my age who last year had the bride as their madricha, but spent most of my time talking with the other babysitters (students of the groom’s mom).  Together we had 5 kids, 3 of whom were born on 3 consecutive days (Sima is the oldest of these 3), but there were a lot of other babies around.  At one point, I went into the dancing section with Sima, along with others with babies, holding paper flowers, and with a sign that said, “If dodas [aunts] were flowers, we’d pick you!”  Babies and weddings are a lot of fun.

Trivia: So what were my yeshiva classes from this past week?  Midrashim on Chanukah, keeping kosher in a non-kosher world, Jewish medical ethics (part I, overview), meaning behind Israeli Chanukah songs, "Broken Tablets, Forgotten Torah, Machloket: The Creative Value of Loss," Jewish medical ethics (part II, beginning of life issues), the “stubborn and rebellious son,” and “Ask the Rosh Yeshiva.”

A Free Pizza Lunch Can be Sad

Shabbat was great.  I stayed at base, which meant the tisch, which I love.  Then I played Monopoly (and won!) and hung out with different groups of friends…but longer than I wanted to because we were locked out of our room. 

I went to the Italian synagogue in the morning, which was interesting; they had different tunes, some added words in prayers, and beautiful Torah trope, but I don’t think I’m going to go there again.  For lunch, I went with other yeshiva Nativers to the apartment of some rabbinical students to celebrate the birthdays of 2 other rabbinical students.  It was a fantastic (dairy!) lunch, but the best part was the sense of community.  We knew most of the guests, and talked and joked with everyone.  We played with the 3 children there (all under the age of 3), and we ate sitting on the floor.  I hope to have a community like this in college and afterward- observant Jewish, casual, friendly, welcoming.  It was such a great afternoon.

Monday, the yeshiva provided lunch for us, as it was our last full day of the semester.  Nativers Becca and Zoe gave a speech on behalf of the Nativers, and others leaving after the semester gave little speeches as well.  All talked about how great of an experience it has been studying Torah lishma (for its own sake), becoming friends with people of different backgrounds, and being part of this community.  While we Nativers are excited for our second semester programs, we’re all going to miss the yeshiva a lot.  Even though the free pizza was delicious, we were unhappy about leaving.  I, and many others, want to come back another time and study there more.

Tuesday morning, my final class of the semester (we do have 2 classes a day most days until Nativ break), was Chumash.  During the semester, we’ve been analyzing Rashi’s commentary, so we did a really cool exercise to further understand commentary.  We each wrote a few sentences answering “What does G-d have to say to humanity today?”  We then traded and drashed (explained) what others wrote.  Some did this like Rashi- taking certain words and specifying/explaining what they really mean.  Some did this more like a midrash, with a story that you really have to think about to understand its relation to the first sentences.  We then worked in chavruta to analyze these.  Finally, we discussed them in class.  It was one of the most interesting, engaging classes we’ve had.

In the afternoon we had different shiurim, with a break for sufganiot (doughnuts).  At sundown, it became Chanukah!  Some of us went to a nursing home to light candles and sing Chanukah songs with the elderly, who were in different levels of awareness.  We talked with some of the Hebrew-speaking residents, but couldn’t say much to the Russian or Yiddish-speakers.  While many people showed no reaction to our presence, many still understood why we were there.  We could also see how much our presence meant to a lot of people.  It was a great experience.

Then that night, each track lit candles together with the chanukiot we made the previous week.  Then we met together, where all those participating in Secret Santa exchanged gifts (I got dinosaur mazes and chocolate!).  But the highlight of the evening was a trivia game.  We sat at tables with dreidles, just to play with.  Then we had trivia questions, each for points to compete with the other teams.  There were also some challenges, like using a squirt gun to extinguish a chanukiah (which did not work) and a sufgania eating contest.  It was fun, plus we got sufganiot at the end.

After this, all of Kfar met on our balcony for a surprise Madrichim Appreciation.  We wrote new words to our “Too Far Kfar” song about them, and gave them gifts.  That night we also wrote letters of appreciation on Post-Its to be stuck on their doors Wednesday morning.

Wednesday, we had a shiur about Bat Sheva and then our final Zionism class.  That night, a large group of us went to Hebrew U for opening night of Les Mis!  Three Nativers are in the cast, one of whom is a lead.  I had low expectations, but the show was actually fantastic!  The music is beautiful and the performers were great.  I really want to see the full show, as in, not the abridged student version.

Now, it is Thursday afternoon, and I’ve had far too many active hours.  I woke up at 5:15 to go with three friends to the Kotel for sunrise.  It’s so peaceful in the Old City at this time.  Then I came back to my room and did a lot of planning for break.  I went for a run, then went out for lunch and some errands with Mia, and later, I may go on a chanukiot tour. 

Anyway, 2 days down, 6 more to go.  Chanukah Sameach!!

Trivia: Where can one find the story of Chanukah?  The actual story can be found in the Apocrypha in the book Maccabees (someone remind me, is it Maccabees I, II, or both?).  The story about oil remaining aflame for 8 days is in the Talmud in Masechet Shabbat.

Two of My Favorite Places, Plus General Update

(in reverse order because it seems to me better rhetoric)

For Erev Nativ a week and a half ago, the Kfarmers went to our Madrich Ira’s parents’ home, just outside of Jerusalem, for dinner.  It was great to have a home cooked meal, a yummy vegetarian option with protein, and meet the ones who made Ira the crazy man he is.  We talked about concerns people have making aliyah (moving to Israel).  This is something that I’d guess at least 88 of the 90 Nativers have thought about, at least to some extent.  First Rachel talked about what she has been thinking, because she is strongly considering aliyah.  Then Ira’s dad talked about how he was first in the IDF and then wanted to make aliyah.  This was followed by Ira’s mom talking about how for a long time, living in Israel was difficult, but she came to love it.  We asked questions and got to think about this issue many more dimensions.

Wednesday, I had my first mishap taking a bus.  I got on the 19 to go to Hebrew U to meet Gila, with whom I’m doing a presentation about Janusz Korczak when in Poland.  The issue was that this bus wasn’t really going there.  After an hour and a half, the bus returned to the general area of Beit Nativ (it was then going to go on the route to HU), but there wasn’t the time we needed to research.  Still, that night I started some basic research, but it probably would have been better if I had gone to the right bus stop and gotten to HU in about 30 min to do better work.

Thursday was Turkey Cookie Day!!!  Every year at Thanksgiving, my family has Turkey Cookies (thanks to my Aunt Trudy).  This delicious concoction is made of an Oreo, candy corn, a Hershey’s kiss, a piece of chocolate, 2 M&Ms, a little piece of Twizzler, and chocolate frosting to glue everything together.  My parents sent me a package with these ingredients, and I made Turkey Cookies in the hall with friends.  (Less exciting, but later that night I went to the Israel Museum, free for Chamshushalayim [Thursday nights in December, a lot of museums and other places in Jerusalem are free], but I really just wanted to see the Qumran scrolls, but this exhibit was closed.)

making Turkey Cookies!!

Friday, I went to Roz’s Minyan in Nachlaot.  The atmosphere here is incredible, and I loved the service, full of many tunes I had never heard. There wasn’t space for everyone in the actual room, but we squeezed as many in as possible.  I loved it, but I think Yakar might be my favorite place for Kab Shab.  After services, I had a delicious vegetarian dinner with Terri, Mia, Deena, and Deena’s parents who are visiting for a couple weeks.

Sunday, in my Talmud class, we took a break from Masechet Brachot to study the very few sources on Chanukah.

This past Tuesday, Rabbi Aaron Alexander, Dean of Admissions from Ziegler, came to speak to use about Chanukah.  This included looking at a text we covered the dai Aaron Alexander, Dean of Admissions from Ziegler, came to speak to use about Chanukah.  This included looking at a text we covered the day before in my Talmud class, and me telling him that his wife is the daughter of my rabbi from home.  It was fun.  Then we Nativers went to make our own chanukiot (menorahs for Chanukah), which I obviously did not enjoy the craft aspect and thus made the simplest menorah possible.  I did, however, enjoy showing off my artsiness in my menorah and looking like a dinosaur in a picture.

I'm blurry and look dinosaur-like

On Thursday, I went to Ramat Eshkol to visit the granddaughters, Shula and Rina, and great-grandchildren, Esther Tova and Akiva, of a couple from my shul at home.  This was a lot of fun.  Even though Esther Tova was really quiet and shy around me for a while, having just awakened from a nap, it wasn’t long before she wanted me to sit next to her when we got pizza.  I love little kids! 

Favorite Places:

1.      Ben Yehuda Street: This famous street is full of falafel restaurants, bakeries, ice cream/froyo places, and Judaica shops.  To me, its main attractions are the stranger, less known things.  For instance, almost every night, there’s a woman playing harp.  Different people will play different instruments, including ultra-Orthodox men playing jazz sax or harmonica.  Once or twice, I a Korean choir was performing.  One night an art group did a fashion show, and a couple times I’ve seen huge bubbles floating around.

2.      Gan Soccer- I don’t know if this is the actual name…I typically call it “the park all the way down Ramban.”  I often come here when I run.  There are fields where you often see people playing football, and occasionally, American football.  There’s a children’s playground, an area of exercise machines where you the resistance is your own body weight, and a lot of open grassy areas where families or school groups will have picnics.  Here I’ve seen people doing different martial arts exercises and poses.  Twice, I’ve seen someone juggling.  If when you reach the park, you take the runners’/bikers’ path to the left, you leave all of this, and enter a beautiful piece of land, full of trees and hills and rocks.  It’s so peaceful.

Trivia: What am I doing for dinner tonight?  Staying at base so I can go to the tisch.  Can’t remember the last time I did that. 

What a Weekend!

Thursday night, I went with Julia to babysit her aunt’s friends’ kids.  This meant we made sure nothing happened to the 2 sleeping kids, and after about a half hour, the 3 sleeping kids.  We then watched the end of Planet of the Apes and a few episodes of The Amanda Show (possibly one of my favorite shows from 1^st grade, and still legitimately funny). 

Friday, I got ready to go to Modi’in for Shabbat (and then around 2:30, went to Modi’in).  This was a closed Shabbat, but the Yerucham track went to Yerucham, the Karmielevators went to a town near Karmiel, and the Kfarmers went to Modi’in to spend Shabbat with host families from Yossi’s shul.  I was housed with Mia, and we are absolutely sure we won the best family.

Why were they the best family?  1) They told us from the beginning to feel at home and they were easygoing.  2) They soon proved to all be really nice, both parents and the 6 and 9 year old girls.  3) Knowing Mia and I were vegetarians, we had dairy meals.  4) According to the father, the girls are usually really shy, but quickly opened up around Mia and me.  5) Shabbos afternoon, a cheetah started running around. 

We were late for a lot of things because we couldn’t bring ourselves to leave their house.  We were also probably the only Kfarmers to neither nap nor attempt to nap, but this is because we preferred to play with the kids and let the parents sleep.  They were just the best, and we plan on visiting again later in the year.

When we returned to Jerusalem after Shabbat, we hung around waiting for pizza that was supposed to be there for us.  We started a new puzzle and some of us did some spontaneous Israeli dancing.  It was great, chill, Kfar time.

A couple hours later the others returned (they were much father from Jerusalem than us).  A bunch of people were hanging out in my room.  Around 10:30 I left my room to watch a movie with a couple people a floor below, and when I returned to my room, I found that my roommates had covered the wall by my bed with pictures.

Since then, I’ve had one night of about 6 hours of sleep, one night of about 10 hours of sleep, and two more free pizza dinners.  I know, epitome of good health.

Trivia: What are the 5 combat units of the Israeli Defense Forces? Golani, Givati, Tzanchanim, Kfir, Nachal.

Yom Chamishi, Yom Shishi, and so on

Yom Chamishi means "Fifth Day," and this refers to what most of you readers would call Wednesday night and Thursday.   Yom Shishi, "6th Day" follows Yom Chamishi until Shabbat.

Last Yom Chamishi, during the Wednesday night part, I went with Deena to the Science Museum.  It was a bit of a walk, but overall a lot of fun.  Did we learn anything?  For that we would have needed more focus and drive, but we had a good time seeing what there was to see, playing what there was to play, and manipulating what there was to manipulate.

Thursday was a normal day of school.  But afterward we all got dressed up as if it were Shabbos(ish) for the Thanksgiving festivities.  All of the Kfar girls were going in and out of each others rooms, borrowing clothes and just talking.  The thing is, that this started at 5:30, when it was already Yom Shishi.  So whatever.

Leah, Suzanne, and me: the best roommates of all time

 

We met in Moreshet Yisrael, the synagogue that is part of our complex, accompanied by Bogrei Nativ (alumni) who live in Israel, their families, and the families of some current Nativer- over 200 people all together.  Yossi talked about the program, how it has changed over the years.  The Nativ A Capella group performed two songs.  There was a great video, put together by a few Nativers, describing our year. 

We went back to the main building for dinner.  On the way, we noticed tables set up with envelopes, each with a name.  We all received letters from our parents!  This was exciting, especially as this was a time that many Nativers were a little homesick.

Then we had dinner.  As a vegetarian, I wasn't very bothered by Israelis not knowing how to cook turkeys, but many other people were when raw pieces of meat were put on their plates.  But other than this issue, dinner was great!  Vegetarians got spungy tofu and really great stuffing.  The sweet potatoes were better than usual (yet still in a weird sauce).  The cranberries were fantastic except for the fact that they ran out so all I got was a little bit of the mush.  We had pumpkin and apple pies for dessert.  There is so much I'm forgetting to tell, but this was a lot of fun.


After dinner we Nativers met up again.  We went to the auditorium for another video, this one just for us, and I must say, hilarious!  It was full of pictures, many of which I recognized as my own.  Then we went to "cupcake decorate," which meant we had muffins (cupcakes practically don't exist in Israel :( ), chocolate spread (frosting would be ridiculous), twizzler pieces, cookies, and sprinkles.  Many people made their muffins look like turkeys...I was not one of those people.


After this, some of us went to watch Thanksgiving episodes of The Simpsons and How I Met Your Mother, two of our favorite shows, but many of us agree we should have had Friends episodes.  And with this, the night was over.


On Friday, I went for a run, went to the shuk, and got ready for Shabbat.  That night I went to Yakar and was hosted for dinner with Pam by some strangers.  We had a great meal with 4 generations of a very nice family.  They were Americans who had moved to Israel, so the apartment smelled like an American Shabbos.  I ate fresh challah, a yummy squash soup, and roasted vegetables (honestly one of my favorite foods!), which was a nice change from the Israeli-style that I've eaten for the past 3 months.  Although, most of the time, I played with the little kids.


Saturday, I went with Julia and Mia to Mayanot to meet Marne (who hosted us for the first day of Rosh Hashana) for lunch.  At shul, I saw a girl Noa who I went to Ramah with, and during the kiddush I talked to her (for the first time in nearly 4.5 years) for a little.  Also, this was a small shul, but there were 6 or 7 other people wearing the tallis I had...a little strange for me.  Lunch was delicious and fun.  With walking, davening, and eating, we were gone from base for a total of 8 straight hours.  It was fantastic.


Last night, Erev Nativ was amazing!  I was very reminded of BBYO, which was nice.  We split up by sex.  We girls first went into a small room and reflected (in 2 meanings of the word) with Rachel.  We laughed when Suzanne gave an activity away by yelling out "Hey, this is Jill's!" (referring to my mirror, as we reflected over our reflections), but were mostly serious, and overall had a nice bonding experience.


Then we went for an activity with Ira.  We had to do different exercises (squats, pushups, crunches, and suicides).  For this, we talked a lot more with each other (instead of to the group) and laughed pretty much the whole time.  Ira explained to us how physical activity is a great way to bond because you have to encourage your friends to keep going. 


We went back to Rachel and discussed if we think either activity was better bonding, whether guys and girls bond differently, whether it would have been different if we did these activities with the guys, and what we can do to bond as a whole group more.  Rachel and Ira decided that we would have as stereotypical "girl" and "boy" activities as possible, so we concluded with chocolate fondue while the guys concluded with non-alcoholic beer and salami.  This was a fantastic program.


Trivia: What is one of my new favorite things to do when I have some free time?  Look at pictures of food.

So Much Bread

Sorry for going 2 weeks without a post.  I’ve simply been living life and not keeping track of what I’m doing.  Yesterday, I looked back upon the last 2 weeks, so here are some interesting things, not in chronological order.

I’ve had meetings to prepare for going to Poland in January. We’re learning events during the Holocaust and past life in Poland. Three of my grandparents had one parent who came to the U.S. from Poland, and I’ve asked them where my family used to live and for any other information they may have.

I donated blood.  I had been meaning to for a while.  It was different from donating in the U.S.- there are many fewer questions and they make you drink water or juice while donating.

One Friday night, I went to Kol Rina with a few friends, and we got hosted for dinner by a woman, Simcha, who brings many people to her home every Shabbat.  They spoke mostly Hebrew, so we didn’t talk much except to each other.  More people kept on coming as dinner went on.  Different people gave divrei Torah.  And there was a ton of bread!  First, there was some bread for motzi.  Then more bread.  Then more bread.  It was passed around the table, left on plates, and one challah was cut.  There were homemade breads, grainy breads, burnt-ish breads, white breads.  So much bread!!!

Another Friday night I went to a Sephardi synagogue for what turned out to be one of the shortest services ever!  It was interesting how instead of everyone singing most things, one person would read for everyone.

I went to Roz’s minyan for the past two Shabbat mornings (one because I quickly discovered I did not want to stay in Yeshurun).  The atmosphere there is incredible!  You can tell that everyone truly wants to be there.

I’ve spent a lot of time hanging out with friends in my building, watching funny videos and playing with bouncy balls.  It’s a lot of fun.

I got sweatpants of 25 shekels! 

One Erev Nativ we Kfarmers had individuality-unity programming.  For part of it we ran around in the park putting paint handprints on each other.  It was fun, but a very underdeveloped program (we did not learn anything about individuality or unity from this, but our madrichim liked to say we did).  After this, Barry, Deena, and I went for a run covered in paint.

This past Erev Nativ we watched “Trembling Before G-D” with the Karmielevators.  This is a documentary about the struggles of Orthodox Jewish homosexuals in halacha (law) and life in their communities in general.  It was very interesting.

I found out that my Aunt Trudy is friends with my friend Sarah’s parents.  I love Jewish Geography and can’t wait for how great I will be able to play this game after Nativ.

Trivia: SO MUCH BREAD

Pterodactyl-Off

I am the ultimate pterodactyl!!  Many of you are aware of the wide array of noises I make, such as "the guinea pig" and other squeaks, "awkward dinosaur" (imagine garbage disposal + fish), and several unnamed clicks and growls.  If you are aware of these, you are also probably aware that the most beloved sound is "the pterodactyl."  It has awed and confused many a listener, and I have yet to meet another individual who can both make this noise and is willing to do so in public.  Last night, while surprising Nativers with an assortment of these noises, assistant director Maya tells me she can be a pterodactyl.  Obviously, we decide to have a pterodactyl-off.

Maya goes first, exhaling and vocalizing a Jurassic sound while moving her hands in a pterodactic style.  I find this quite a cute display and prepare to show her how I am more prehistoric than she.  My hindrance (often the case when people expect me to produce this sound) is laughter, but after a minute I pull myself together.  I take one deep, relaxing breath and exhale.  Then as I inhale again I produce my [in]famous screech.  Immediately, Maya says, "You win."  I am the ultimate pterodactyl.  I am full of pride for the remainder of the evening.  [Maya and I also decided to join forces for future competitions.]

To further update you readers...

I am continuing to learn about Israel's political situation, the history of Zionism, what time to say the Shema (and tangential discussions in Masechet Brachot [a book of Talmud]), Heschel's ideas about rationality and spirituality, what is written in ketubot (marriage documents), selections from Deuteronomy, and conversational Hebrew.  (Mia, if you are still checking, I know this paragraph is not grammatically correct, but it was so much easier to write it this way.)

The past few days have wonderfully been full of free meals, including tonight when I went to a learn-with-rabbinical students class.  Julia, other Conservative Yeshiva students, and another woman met at Hebrew U for a fun session, led by a couple Ziegler students.  We had an activity to demonstrate the development and topicality of rabbinic texts over several generations and studied a daf (page) of Talmud concerning the strengths of pieces of nature, man, emotions and actions, and tzedaka (justice/charity).  Julia and I plan on getting more Nativers to come for the following Wednesdays.

I think I have officially decided to stay in Israel during break and see more of the country that I do not have time to see on open weekends.  I will hopefully travel Europe for a few weeks some summer between years of college.

Trivia: The pterodactyl-off may be my greatest accomplishment to date.