top 5's from pre-ulpan

During orientation, preulpan was asked to lead a portion of the oneg shabbat. We decided to impart our wisdom from living in Jerusalem for a month on our classmates:

The Top 5 Things We Learned in Pre-Ulpan

1. There is a rule for everything in Hebrew, but it only applies 60% of the time.

2. If you would like to know more about Dr. Ticho’s house, life in Meah Shearim, or the Dead Sea Scrolls, please see a pre-ulpan-ner.

3. It’s easier to just show your watch to someone than to try and tell them the exact time in Hebrew.

4. During your 30 minute break, you CAN make it to Mamilla and back with a new skirt, Tums, lotion, and Aroma ice kafeh.

5. According to your ulpan book, there are only 5 names in all of Israel: Yossi, Ruti, Danny, Dinah, and Rinah.

The Top 5 Guessing Games to Play in Israel

1. Baby screaming or stray cat?

2. Wig or awesome hairdo?

3. Am I allergic to this?

4. Car alarm or traffic jam?

5. Gunshots or fireworks?

Top 5 Things to Remember During Emergency Situations in Israel

1. Drain-O is sold at most supermarkets and corner stores.

2. Empty fridge on Shabbat? Want bacon? Craving cheeseburgers? It’s all on either Hillel or Shammai.

3. Everything will always break at 4pm on Friday. And no, there isn’t anyone available to come out and fix it.

4. When that happens, frantically call Nancy 4 times and then call Keith Eiser.

5. There is no such thing as an emergency to Israelis.

Top 5 Things We Will Miss From the US/Canada

1. Good, non-instant coffee.

2. Having a car.

3. One-stop shopping.

4. Hot water in the morning.

5. Mexican food.

Top 5 Fun Facts About the HUC Jerusalem Campus

1. The fountains only run when important people are on campus (and for the record, they ran for ALL of pre-ulpan).

2. The wineglass in the 101-102 bathroom has been there since June 1.

3. Ben Sira is not only the closest chummus to campus, but also the best.

4. If you don’t have time to take a shower in the morning, the guy in the courtyard with the power washer will be happy to give you a shower for 10 shekels.

5. SOMEONE has a gate key. Please identify yourself.

Top 5 Things The Stranger at Your Apartment Door is Looking For

1. Money. Tzedakah, Vaad Bayit, money.

2. Looking for the people who lived there 15 years ago.

3. To fix something you never realized was broken.

4. Asking you to tone down the rowdy bentsching on Shabbat.

5. Money.

Top 5 Things Only Americans Do in Israel

1.  Say “slicha”

2. Tip the cabbie.

3. Wait in line.

4. Take coffee to go.

5. Wait forever at a restaurant, expecting someone to deliver the check.

Top 5 Things to Know About Israeli Food

1. Idaho is far away from Israel, so potatoes are not brown.

2. Cucumbers are the lettuce of Israel.

3. You can buy your weight in tomatoes for 15 shekels, but in order to buy a single steak, you’ll need to dip into your student loans.

4. Chummus is a sauce, a side dish, a main course, and can also be used as a burn ointment.

5. If you haven’t been to Marzipan bakery, there will be a hold put on your registration until the situation is remedied.

Mexibbat

On Friday, I was able to host 30 of my classmates for Shabbat. Missing America I decided to do what I hope will be the first of many themed Shabbos dinners - Mexican Shabbat. As the main course, I made a Mexican casserole and my classmates brought amazing sides!

For services, I attended the Great Synagogue. The Cantor was phenomenal and the building was gorgeous!

                                               

                                                             The beautiful sanctuary

                                              Fun with friends at my apartment!

HUC Takes Shabbat!

This shabbat, many of us attended Friday night services at Nava Tehila, a renewal musical service. It was my second time attending services here and I enjoyed it a lot! Plus it was so cool to see two of my classmates help lead!

My friend Tamara and I were accidently twinning in blue!

HUC Group infront of Nava Tehila!

Following services we had potluck shabbat and for the occasion I made my first noodle kugel. Proud it turned out so well, but this is not one recipe I will be sharing on my blog! 

Following Saturday morning services, we headed to Zuni where many of us had the delicious challah french toast! 

First week of Summer term!

This week was the first week of classes for summer term. I have hebrew uplan four days a week, biblical history 2 (sometimes three with field trips) days a week and cantillation and education each once a week.

On Thursday we had out first siyul (day trip) for biblical history. We traveled to three lookouts to see the natural geography of the region.

Our first stop was Nabi Samuel National Park; it has been a mosque, church, synagogue and was a lookout point for the Crusaders

       

From this view the Crusaders first saw Jerusalem. Nebi Samuel recently begun excavations and stables were found. 

my friend Jenn and I at Nebi Samuel 

Our second site was the Ramlat Rachel archeology gardens. Researchers are not sure whose settlement this was but we know they had cisterns for water and had a view of Bethlehem. 

Cool structure with olive trees on top. Naturally, we had to climb it!

Our last stop was haas promenade, which as you can see, as a gorgeous view of Jerusalem and the old city. Fun fact: hadn't been here since I was on birthright! 

       

      

freedom ride

Last night, I had the wonderful opportunity to volunteer with the Israel Religious Action Center. One of their programs is called Freedom Rides. IRAC volunteers ride segregtaed bus lines, that travel through religious neighborhoods to ensure that even though it is illeagal, the bus lines are not segregated by gender. The most powerful part is that it gives women the courage to sit in the front, because other women are already sitting there.

     

our ride on the 56 bus line began in Beit Shemesh, a very religious neighborhood in Jerusalem

at the bus stop we noticed this sign for separate beaches. While these are legal because they are owned by private companies, it was crazy to see a reminder of the problem we are combatting, segregation in the public sphere. 

When the ride began, we were the only ones on the bus. The women in our group sat in the front, but we left room next to us for the seat to be filled by another woman. As we moved through the neighborhoods, more riders got one. Here are some of my observations about this empowering experience:

- An old woman sat down in the front because she was slipping and sliding and it seemed out of necessity that she take a seat. At the next stop however, she quickly moved toward the back.

- At two different occasions, pregnant women got on the bus, looked at the empty seats in the front and kept walking. I cannot imagine being pregnant and not taking the first seat available, out of desire to be comfortable and rest. 

- An extremely religious woman (the clothes are a give away), who was burdened with more grocery bags than she could carry sat across from us. If we had not been there, I am almost positive that she would have moved to the back, which would have been hard given the amount of stuff that she had. Because of our presence she was able to sit and rest. The same goes for an old woman, around 70, for whom it would've been hard to keep walking on the bus. 

- The part that I thought was perhaps the most interesting was that the ultra-orthodox men who boarded the bus congregated in the middle. They would not sit even across from the women, but they also refused to sit in the back. I am guessing that it is because they did not want to sit in the "female section". Instead of sitting, many chose to stand very crowded. 

- The same was true even for an old man. Just as with being pregnant, I find it hard to imagine having trouble walking but choosing instead to stand, even when seats are available. The seats were across from women, meaning no contact would be necessary. 

I want to close this blog post with an excerpt from the materials presented to us by the Israel Religious Action Center. It is a telephone call they received anonymously:

"I am a young ultra-orthodox woman and I would like to thank the Israel Religious Action Center for its battle against segregation. I thank Hashem everyday for Reform Jews. There are many ulta-orthodox women who oppose segregation but we are not able to express our opposition...Even as a group we cannot sit at the front of the bus under any circumstances. Only when there's a secular woman sitting at the front does it give us the courage to sit there as well..."

West Bank wandering

On Friday, many of my classmates and I joined a trip to Bethlehem that was being offered by Jstreet, an organization working to promote a two state solution. The trip challenged many of my assumptions about the west bank, its residents and Israel's role. The thing that was clear however, is that everyone wants peace.

Our first stop was the Aida camp. The camp is run by the United Nations relief and works agency which provides education and health services to West Bank residents. We visisted one of the camp's two schools.

While the UN and its employees attempt to maintain neutrality, by control of the curriculum and staff politics, they do not have control of politics outside of the school. This powerful graffiti is one of many examples I saw on my trip. 

Our next stop was speaking with this man. When Israel has completed the barrier, his house will be on the Israel side while his village on another. Although Israel has offered him anything he could want, he is choosing instead to make a political statement. 

Our last stop of the day was the Tent of Nations. Daoud, a Christian Palestine resident uses his family's property to promote a mission of peace. They have ecofarming, compost and run summer camps for children in the west bank. 

both of these pictures are artwork done by campers: 

   

     

An American girl in Israel

The fourth of July was our last day of pre-ulpan! After our final, we hung out and celebrated at school with our teacher and friends!

preulpan + our awesome teacher, Rivke!

To celebrate America's birthday, we had a barbecue in Abu Tor (Jerusalem neighborhood) at a beautiful park overlooking the old city, with all the members of our class who were here so far!

   
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amazing view at Sunset