Keep on Rockin' in the Free World

The section in Jerusalem ended. Its rather bitter sweet. I am happy to be finished with classes. A lot less stress, but I am going to miss the learning. I was ready to move out of the apartments. It was fun, but a little too crazy for me at times.

We got "kicked" out of the apartments on Wednesday. We don't have to be back in Jerusalem until this coming wednesday. I love having free time. It gives me a great opportunity to go see more things. Thursday night I went to David's apartment and just hung out. I was good to see everyone again. Congrats on the honors program David!!!
Yesterday morning I took a bus to Kfar Sava to see the family again. Traveling kinda sucked. Its been raining non-stop for a while now. Its good in the sense the Israel needs the water, but bad that it is coming all at once.
I love being in Kfar Sava. Its really too bad I don't get here more often. My family here is awesome. Its kinda a full house here becaue my younger cousins are staying here at Hiam and Rachel's apartment too because their parents are out of town. I didn't mind sleeping on the couch.
Being here also improves my hebrew. Sure they speak english, but I am not embaressed to make mistakes in Hebrew around them. Matter of fact, we laugh about it.

Sunday I am going to Eilat! I am not excited so much about the city, its only so so, but I am excited about the hike we are doing and the people I am going with. More about that after the break.

Wednesday I move into Arad for my last section! I am so excited. There are only eight of us, three boys and five girls, moving down to Arad. A great group of people. I am looking forward to a more intimate and meaningful experience.

I need to write an entry on the future of YJ. There is a lot of buzz and a lot of emails and letters being thrown around. It will be up in the next couple weeks.

I'm gonna go play some dominos with Guy. Peace.

If Only It Could Be Like This Every Weekend

The last couple of weekends have been some of the best I have ever had in my life. I went to new places, learned new things, and had great company. It doesn't get too much better.

The weekend before this last weekend (Feb 6-8) was one to go down in history. It all started with an idea of a males only weekend. It sounds horribly sexist, but we men need to be manly sometimes. We gave in the name "Weekman". It is supposed to sound like "Weekend", but in reality makes us all look like panzies. Anyways, the normal crew of guys I hang out with currently live in Bat Yam/Holon. It made more sense for me to meet them there instead of our final destination which you will hear about in a minute. I showed up to BY on Thursday night and was invited to dinner at Tal's apartment with my friends. Tal is the fixer upper of the apartments owned by YC in Bat Yam and Holon. He is originally from New York. A super nice guy. As a way of improving our hebrew, we all tried to talk as much as possible in Hebrew. A really good tool for impoving conversational skills. Afterwards we watched the movie "The Impossible Spy". It's an old movie, but I highly recommended it.





Friday moring we headed out to our destination: Tiberius. A town located on the eastern side of the Kinneret. Our plan went off without hitch. Well, that's because, the plan was pretty fluid.

We got to Tiberus, it was a beutiful day. We were all hungry and decided to find some place to eat. Things were starting to close because of Shabbat, but we found the place. The perfect place. It was your usual hummus joint run by an old lady. We were the only customers, 8 hungry boys...sorry....men. It was like hiring a mom for two hours. She actually went down the street and picked up fresh groceries because she was out of ingredients. We couldn't have been more satisfied walking out of there.

Afterwards we were looking for a place to make some coffee with my newly purchased equipment (stove, pot, good coffee, and perfect little glasses). We start walking to what looks like some strange metal structure. Upon arrival we realize its non other than Rambam's Tomb. A very cool find.

At this point our friend Dan arrives at the central bus station just a few blocks away. We meet him and then initiate the second part of the plan: find a place to camp. I was "unoffically" told by some people that it is totally feasible to just walk along the beach until we find a place to camp. It worked out perfectly. Our manly group paraded out of Tiberus about half an hour worth of walking and found a little place on the beach to camp. Set up camp, built a nice fire, and ate some dinner. Later we were joined by a group of Israels. Some high school kids. The cops came to check things out. They didn't even talk to us. They didn't even care that we were there. That would never fly in the states.

We woke up the next morning for the most epic day. We hiked back into Tiberus and dropped off our stuff and rented our bikes. The mission: to circumnavigate the Kinnert, a 60 kilometer trip. Mission Sucessful! It was hard, but a lot of fun.

View Larger Map

I hadn't done a ride that hard in a long time. Matter of fact, I haven't been doing much riding at all in Israel for the simple fact of not owning a bike. I really miss it. None the less, the ride was refreshing, sencnic and challenging.

The bus ride back from the Tiberus to Jerusalem was surprisgly short. I got on the bus and immediatly feel a sleep. Woke up two hours later while pulling into Jerusalem. I was back in my apartment by around 11 pm.

The next weekend was not nearly as manly, but very relaxing....and religious.
My friend Tehilla from camp invited Sali, Aaron, and me over for Shabbat. We all worked at camp togther, have seen each other on seperate occasions while in Israel, but have never had the chance to spend quality time together.

I met Sali in the central bus station in Jerusalem and from there we headed to Rehovot. In short, we spent the weekend hanging out, playing board games, and enjoying each other's company. Tehilla and her family are a lot more religous than I am. Being a guest in their house I observed the laws for shabbat with them and went to synagoge as well. I don't normally keep the shabbat, but every now in then I find it very comforting and relaxing, espically with good friends. The food was also a great plus. I love homecooked meals, and Tehilla's Mom is a great cook. I look forward to going back at least once before I leave in June.

Sali and I got back to Jerusalem fairly early. She always mets her friends at the Western Wall after every Shabbat. I walked with her there since I really didn't have any thing to do. It was a nice half hour walk. We had a really good conversation. I'm happy she is coming back to Midwest this summer. Maybe the same Aidah again Sali?

Election Time

Yesterday was National Israeli Elections. To celebrate I went and voted. And by voted, I mean watched my madrich vote. Since I am not a citzen here.

You think politics in the US is crazy? You haven't anything.
The Israeli Government works like the Parliament of England. Anyone can have a political party here. The Knesset (Israel's Parliament) is composed of 120 seats. The more votes a party gets, the more seats it gets. In order to form a government a group of 61 or more seats needs to be formed. Now, obviously, no one party ever gets all the required seats. As a result parties must join together to form a "coalition". At the point of having 61 or more seats, the coalition will then make a government. Here is how the elections went:

For the last couple of months, in particular the last couple weeks, parties have been putting ridiculous propaganda all over the country. Some of it is just ridiculous.


This is a spoff off of ObamaGirl in support of Tzipi Livni.

This is a prime example of how silly politics here can be. Likud, the party opposing Livni's, took her video and put the head of Nasralla on LiviniBoy.

I thought I would take my own spin on the ridiculousness. I went to google and found some pictures of party leaders.

With the Likud party: Bibi Netanyahu

Israel Beitanu: Avigdor Lieberman

Avodah(Labor): Ehud Barak
Kadima: Tzipi Livini

Although he is not the political leader, he is the spiritual leader of the Shas Party: Rabbi Yosef

It's time like these that I wished Celebrity Deathmatch existed in Israel. In all honesty, it doesn't even need to. These guys nag at each other like five year old children. I would just have to be in clay animation.

On a more serious note: where does the country go now? Well, now a coalition has to be formed. Likud looks like it is going to pull more parties in with it. With a mix of parties, and everyone wanted something more, will anything actually get done in the goverment, or will it be just like that last one, and not effectivly do anything? We can only watch. Here are a few articles to check out about the elections:

Kadima wins, but rightist bloc biggest

Netanyahu declares: I will be next PM

HOW THEY VOTED: See Israel election results by city/sector

There are other things going on in Israel as well. They are worth "Checking Out".

Thinking Really Hard

For some reason, today is an exceptionally warm day in Jerusalem. I think it is around the 60’s or something crazy like that. It would be a good opportunity to get outside and do something. Instead I am writing this blog.

I have a lot on my mind.

Monday night and all of Tuesday were mandatory seminars. You had two options: Advocating on Campus, or Aliyah(moving to Israel). I chose the latter. The seminar was good, really long, but good. We spent the day hearing from several different organizations that help people with Aliyah, and individuals that have made moved to Israel or are currently in the process. The organizations we heard from were: Nefesh’ B’Nefesh, AACI, Garin Tzabar, Mahal, WUJS, and Merkez Hamagshimim. We also heard from organizations/universities for studying in Israel: IDC Herzliyah, Hebrew University, Haifa Technion, Bar Ilan, and the Ministry of Education. All of this was a good insight to the process and the opportunities when moving here….which I eventually want to do.

Aliyah has been on my mind for a long time. Being here has got me thinking about it even more. I love this country. I love the people. I love the concept of a Jewish homeland. Yes, Israel is not perfect. No country is, but I would like to be a part of this young country and help it through its growing pains. How I am going to do that? I don’t know yet.

There are several large challenges with making Aliyah. First off, and probably the hardest, is the language. Hebrew is difficult. I am having trouble with it as it is. This can me over come with a good solid time in an Ulpan and getting out of the bubble of a program with English speakers. Much like the program I am on now. My Hebrew has improved 300% so far. I would be closer to fluent if I was hanging out with Israelis and not Americans.

The next big step would be the Army. Everyone in Israel is required to join. Males for three years, girls for two. This all happens before university. If I were to make Aliyah before the age of 25, I would still be required to do anywhere from three years to six months depending on my age when I make the decision. Honestly, this doesn’t freak me out at all. Matter of fact, I want to be in the army here. It is an integral part of society. When you walk down the street knowing that every single person has done some kind of service, it changes things. The country would not survive without the mandatory service. Also, for a new immigrant, the army is the fastest way to learn Hebrew and get adapted to the country.

I want to be in the IDF for a couple of reasons. The biggest reason: I want to help defend this state and the Jewish people. Do my part in something bigger. Yeah, it sounds hokey and cheesy. But, it is truthfully what I feel.

The less important reason: I want the challenge. It would kick my ass. Hardcore. Totally worth it though.

If I were to join the IDF I would be a lone soldier. This status is applied to soldiers who do not have immediate family living in Israel. The country takes care of their lone soldiers. They are given extra money to afford an apartment, a month to go back home every year, and various other perks. There are groups I could join that consist of many loan soldiers. Garin Tzabar is the one I have heard the most about. From my friends that are in it I hear many good things. A great support system.

Other hardships come with Aliyah too. Paperwork, paperwork, and paperwork. Getting an education. Finding a job. These are all things that must be factored in. There are organizations to aid you, like the ones that talked to us, but that doesn’t mean things are easy.

Moving here would mean a lot of sacrifice. Clearly my family would suffer. It is pretty expensive to get back and forth to America. I would miss my friends in the states a lot. On top of all this, America is very comfortable place, numb, but comfortable. Leaving it would mean more excitement, but a little bit rougher living until I get a good footing. Which could take a lifetime.

The state does a lot to help its new immigrants. All Jews are permitted to gain almost automatic citizenship to Israel. This is called “The Right of Return”. When one signs papers to officially declare Aliyah, the state grants them “Aliyah Rights”. The rights include many things to help a person make an easy transition and are in effect for six years after arrival. The first thing is a “gift basket” of 15, 000 shekel; money that comes from the taxpayers. Next is just an assortment of things: no income tax, no tax on purchasing a car, free health insurance, there are a lot more but I am blanking.

I have been talking to as many people as possible about the process, personal opinions, and advice. Everyone has something different to say. A conversation I had the other day really helped put things into prospective.

In the end it all comes down to this:
If I am going to make Aliyah, I need to do it for the right reasons. I might love Israel more than a fat kid loves cake, but when making this decision I have to make sure of one important thing: that the country benefits from my presence. This country is young and needs a lot of help. I could just move here and become your average citizen, but that wouldn’t help the country. Sure, it’s the Jewish homeland and Jews belong here. The fact is that the country loses a lot of money and resources for every new immigrant because of Aliyah Rights. I have to make sure that my moving here would help the country grow and not just take away from her. Army service is a big part of that, although, I could be a volunteer in the IDF and not make Aliyah.

There are a lot of Ifs in this situation. Say I do decide to make Aliyah. The big question is: WHEN?

There are some many options. I have some friends that are doing it right after YC, which is cool, but not right for me. I miss my family and friends, and I am working at camp again this summer. I also don’t really have the funds I feel necessary to do that. I know that making Aliyah is much easier if you are younger. Right now, I know that if I am going to do it I want to be younger than 24. It’s not to say that it couldn’t be done later, but it is considerably harder once you have a profession and trying to find it in Israel. So in my situation I feel like I have boiled it down to two options; in very basic form.

Option 1
I have been thinking about this one for a long time. In this tentative life plan (intense right?), I would finish YC, go home and attend college and get a degree, then move to Israel. Possibly work for a little while in the states to make some cash. Once in Israel I would attend an Ulpan on a kibbutz for a while to get a good about of Hebrew on my belt. Then I would enlist in the IDF. From there it’s all about getting a job and building a life.
Option 2
This is something that has come on my mind in the last few weeks. I don’t know if I am really ready to go back to school. This is what I call in my mind “The Israeli Aliyah Option”. First, I would come home from YC and work for six months to year. Then, I would do like any other Israeli and go to the Army. Following this, I would get an education here in Israel. I would like to think by the end of my service I would be fluent enough in Hebrew to take classes in Hebrew. If not, there are a handful of universities taught in English. Either way, the army pays for all, or a good portion, of one’s education in return for full service. This would certainly save my parents a lot of money, but at the same time would really be difficult on the family.

There are some many possibilities within each of these potential plans. Even if I choose one of these paths, it will change dramatically. I also have to be willing to accept that things might not work out and that I end up coming back to America. In the Aliyah community this is sometimes seen in a negative light, kind of a failure Aliyah. The truth is that it happens all the time. I have to think of Aliyah as a less permanent idea; more of “trying it out” rather than a definite choice and if things end up working out, then I will end up living here.

There is also the possibility of moving here at a later age. But once again, the younger you are the easier it is to adjust. No set career, no family, no huge responsibilities.

I am about to have a conversation about this with my parents in couple days. Luckily they get to study up with this post before we talk. As for Bubbie (my grandmother), well, at this moment she’s probably reading this and angrily squeezing a stress ball or writing me a livid email. Especially after that comment :)

Keepin' Up

The internet in the apartments is still weak sauce. I am at the hostel right now waiting for our bus (and lunch) to take us to our siyur destination. I thought I would take the opportunity to write a little.

Lately the topic of the discussion for everyone is "What are you doing for Israeli Experience?" The way our program is broken down we are almost two thirds done. The last section, called Israeli Experience is where the group splits into smaller groups and live around the country doing different volunteering. The options are incredible. Anything from ambulance work to working at a theater.

Being the nature loving freak that I am. I am requesting to live in the small city of Arad, located about half an hour south east of Be'er Sheva. Its a small town, a feel like I am ready for. I have spent a good amount of time in Israel in big cities. I am ready for something different. While in Arad, I could be working at a number of places. These include Masada, Ein Gedi, or a Beudoin Ranch. Very outdoors stuff. Right up my ally.

The only have a couple of concerns. The biggest one being roommates. I have had some issues so far, and I really want to finish off my year with a solid group of roommates. The other issue is weather. I didn't really think it through too much, but its gonna be damn hot. I will be living in a desert town from March until June. Mmmmmm crispy.

Ok, so I didn't have time to post this before the Siyur. As a result, I am finishing this now (Sunday Feb 1.)

The siyur we went on was to Moshav Yishi. Right outside of Jerusalem. First off, I should explain what a Moshav is. A Moshav is a community of families living in a group of homes and share common farming ground. That's it in a very basic sense. Anyways, Moshav Yishi is a moshav consisting of Yemenite families. The Yemenite Jews came to Israel in Operation Magic Carpet in 1950. The Jews of Yemen had been living in an isolated society for thousands of years. Because of this, there culture is much different from most Jews. Through modernazation and becoming part of Israeli society, they have lost some of their culture. At the same time, they work very hard to maintain a lot of it.
At the Moshav our first stop was to a friend of our teacher. This family is the only non-Yemenite family on the Moshav. The father is originally from NY and the mother from that hat of a country above the US. They have a huge house, the biggest one on the Moshav, that they built. They talked to us a little about living here there. Someone raised the obvious question "Why do you want to live in this Moshav?" The man answered simply that they wanted space. He also added that he is hoping more of his friends from out of Israel move there and make the area more"Anglo". As soon as he said that, all 35 of us got the same thought: "WhAt?!" You move to a country to make a new life and you expect your friends to come too? On top of that, you move into a neighborhood of a different ethnicity then your own and then hope to make it more "Anglo". I think that family choose the wrong neighborhood and I can understand why his neighbors are not exactly friendly to him.

The next part of the Siyur we walked up the street to the home of the Besharis. They had a lovely covered porch and provided amazing Yemen hospitality. This consited of several different drinks, hot and cold, and more sweets and fruit than the group could consume. After schmoozing a little, we were invited inside. We all at down and received a private performance from Gila Beshari. Gila is a world renowned singer and is known for bring traditional Yemen sound to modern music. Her voice was amazing. It filled the room with great depth. I also found it interesting because it is not in a key that I am used to hearing. After she sang a few song solo, she invited a few people up to dance with her. From there it just turned to one big party of all of us up dancing. A good time was had by all.

The rest of the week went by pretty routinely. I will share some quotes from my beloved Zionism teacher, Dr. Rabbi Avi Berkowitz. They make much more sense if you know him.

Candace: "I didn't know you were lefty."
Berkowitz: "No, you're a lefty. I am left handed."

"Get ready, I am going to start talking nicely about Socialism."

This weekenend I was pretty good. I really needed to get out of the frat party I call my apartment. It started thursday night at a party that the Tzofim had at a random club in Netanyah. The party was only so so. I did manage to get the bus back with my friends to Bat Yam instead of Jerusalem. I spent the weekend there hanging out mostly at my friend Dan's apartment (Dan, update your blog. Its been more than 3 months). The usual group of us did our usual thing. Lots of inovative cooking, lots of sitting around and telling stupid jokes/stories, and just all together lots of good company. I enjoyed it. It was a nice break from all the stupidity in the apartments. I also got to spend time with some friends I haven't seen a lot. I walked to the beach with my friends Marcie, Stephanie, and Shir. While we were there I ran into my friend Sara from Habonim Dror. Its always good to see her because its never planned.

News:
Carter says Hamas must be included
There are a few things in this article that frustrate me.
1."Hamas has got to be involved before peace can be concluded." I am sorry President Carter. You are dead wrong. That is the opposite of true. Hamas doesn't want peace with Israel. They want to eliminate Israel.
2. "Carter also said Hamas had mainly kept to its truce agreement not to attack Israel."
Either you keep a truce or you don't. There is no "mainly" keeping a truce.
3. I know this is an article from Al Jazeera, but is missing large facts and presents an overly one-sided argument. I only read Al Jazeera to see what the poplular Muslim World reads. Honestly, its scary how miscontrude the facts get.

PM to cabinet: We'll respond 'disproportionately' to rocket fire
Please read this whole article. Its interesting how each politician is trying to use the current situation to get there foot in for the elections next week. I agree that we need to take some kind of response to the violation to the cease fire. I think that Livni might be coming on a little strong.

Report: Hamas agrees to year-long Gaza truce starting Thursday
Really, I would like to think that this will happen. At the same time, honestly, how much can we trust Hamas? I know six year olds that are better liars about stealing candy. I dont think Hamas can ever be trusted and it is silly to maintain any kind of hope in them. I think it is about time the Palestinian people realize this too.

I found out my friend Rebecca has a blog too. It's pretty funny. Especially if you know the metioned people.

I went to get my camera fixed this weekend, and realized .....I left my receipt in Jerusalem. STUPID STUPID. I have to go back to Tel Aviv this week anyways.

My camp director, Noah, is in town. I have a meeting with him later (that is why I have to go to Tel Aviv). He wants to talk to me about something to do with bicycles at camp :) :) Camp=awesome. Bikes=one of my favorite things. Camp + Bikes= Hopefully one of the best summers of my life.

Trying Something New

In an attempt to keep up with this more I'm taking a new direction. Instead of procrastinating and procrastinating and finally just slurring out a big entry that takes probably a weekend to read. I will now be posting(hopefully) at least once every other day. With these smaller and more "busy-life" friendly posts.
Along with this concept, I will be concluding every post with the news articles I have read that day and my personal feed back on them. I have started reading a lot more news while I have been leaving here. I hope this habit stays with me for my life.

So......
Classes are good as always. Midterms sucked.....as always.

Last weekend I first went to Kfar Saba. There I saw my cousins again. It is always good to see them and leave with a full belly. The same night I went and hung out with my Tzofim friend Shir and my other friend Marcie. We went and watched the Maccabi Tel Aviv game at Shir's friend's apartment. The game was bad, but meeting new people and hanging out with friends is always good.
After Kfar Saba I hopped on a bus to Haifa to meet some friends. We spent Friday and Saturday there. We went and saw the Bahai Gardens (a whole tour), which was awesome. We also went did a hike from the top of the city to the beach. It runs along a dried, more like damp, river bed. Its really lush and beautiful, right in the middle of the city.

(sorry for no pictures, my camera broke! I have to go back and get it fixed in Tel Aviv)

This weekend I got really sick. It was horrible. Some awful stomach virus. I'm happy its pretty much over. I spent most of the two and half days in bed :(

Here goes the new idea:
Gaza children back to school amid cease-fire
Found this article on the front page of Yahoo. I think its a little whack...
"The onslaught killed ......" I was not aware of an "onslaught", were you? I'll admit the situation was not ideal, and in some ways, things were not handled the best. But the use of that word was not correct.
"Many children were still afraid of going to school on Saturday, fearing renewed shelling." HELLO?! The article failed to mention that the same thing has been going on for eight years in Sderot and other cities in the Western Negev. Children in Sderot have been given traquilizers to calm there nerves.
Barak wants legal support, aid for IDF
It's a war. Things happen. I don't like it. No one does. It is still war.

That's it for now....

WHAT?!

As of today my time on Year Course is officially half over :(

But....

I still have another half to make my year even better. Next section is Israeli Experience. I am leaning at living in Arad and working at Massadah or Ein Gedi. Should be epic.

Ok time to go study more for my hebrew midterm.