Goodbye Holon...Hello Jerusalem!

Sunday morning I said goodbye to the city of Holon. It was time to change sections and move to Jerusalem.

This is the room I slept in for the last 3 months.

Here are a couple of panoramics of the old apartment.
I left this for the next group of guys. Hope they like it.

Look at all the extra money I got from the stipend!

Bye Aviel! Hope to see you in Jerusalem, or when I visit Holon. Good luck with the new roommates.

Jared and Daniel <3 style="text-align: left;">I'm gonna miss the city of Holon. In particular I am going to miss my volunteering. The last day I was the I took a few pictures. Also on my last day I spent an extra hour or two cleaning the over hangings in the playground. They were full of dead leafs and branches from the trees above, all of which was rotting and weighing down the over hangings. The people of the community center were very impressed. It felt good to leave something small for them. On Sunday I was talking to Ines, the volunteer coordinator, while waiting for the bus to take us to Jerusalem. She said told me that I had done a great job working at the community center and Kol Ha'kavod (good job) for staying in the same place the whole time because they needed the help. It felt really good to hear that.

After shuffling my stuff out of Holon, I made it to Jerusalem. I am one of the forty or so YCers selected to live in an apartment instead of in the Judaean Youth Hostel. All of the apartments are on a common stairwell, so people are walking in and out of each others apartments a lot. Similar to a college dorm. The location is prime. Check it out!

View Larger Map

I'm not sure if the map is all that great, but if you turn it to satellite view you might be able to see that we are in the center of Jerusalem. My apartment is about a twenty minute walk from downtown. It sits on the border of Talpiot and Bakah, for those of you who know Jerusalem neighborhoods. There are a few downsides to living in the apartments. For one the commute is at least half an hour each direction. I also have to fix myself two meals a day instead of just waiting in line at the hostel. Also, all of the YC events take place at the hostel, so I might have to crash there every now and then. No big deal.

I am excited to discover all that Jerusalem has to offer and all the education I will receive while attending classes here in Jerusalem.

Coolooloosh!

Thursday night. THE night to go out. Last Thursday night living in Holon/Tel Aviv. Options: 1) Go to a YC party at a rented out club with drama and other not so fun things.....or...2) go to a sweet concert at a sweet location.

I took the second choice. With great pleasure. I was joined by Aaron and our friend Noa who staffed camp this last summer with us. The concert was for a band called Coolooloosh. I had heard of these guys from A-ron and had few tracks on my computer that I really like. The concert was AWESOME! I took some picutures with my new camera! They also featured some really cool artist such as, Asaf Avidan, Mira Awad, and some comedian who's name has slipped my mind.

Tel Aviv Siyur

A tour around a city that I have spent a lot of time in, but never got an educational guide.

We started the siyur in the neighborhood the Tel Aviv started in: Nevet Tzedek.
Nevet Tzedek was the first neighborhood in Tel Aviv. I had not realized it until I got there, but I had been there with my cousins over Rosh Hashana. The siyur was very interesting. There is so much history in such a small area. Most of the streets in that neighborhood are named after influential people who started the city of Tel Aviv. People like Aharon Shulsh. The funnest part was the guides were running around dressed up and acting as if they were those famous people. It was a way of educating similar to the wax museum peulot of YJ, but much much funnier.


The neighborhood is still occupied. Matter of fact, its one of the most favorable places to live in Tel Aviv. This area of the city is very artsy, relaxed, and beautiful. It is also the cultural center of Tel Aviv with many art galleries, book stores, museums, and the Israeli Dance Center. A small house in Nevet Tsedek cost at least a million dollars, not shekel.

From the old neighborhood we walked up to Herzl street. To get there we walked on bridge that passes over what used to be the only rail line from Yafo(the main port at the time) to Jerusalem. Once at the beginning of Herzl we stopped inside of the large building called the Shalom Tower. Inside, the whole ground floor has walls cover in mosaic. The mosaic was made by Nahum Gutman. The mosaic visually describes the founding and development of Tel Aviv. Grandpa, you would be in heaven if you saw this.

From the Shalom town we took a good 20-30 minute walk to Rabin Square. We talked a brief bit about who he was and why the location was so important, but that is for the next post. This day was actually the anniversary of Rabin's murder. To see how Israelis think about it, we were given a few questions to go ask people we saw walking on the street. Questions like "Where were you when it happened?" and "Did you agree with his actions?". It was really interesting to talk to people. A few people we talked to were actually right there when the assassination took place. This Saturday is the national memorial service, I plan on attending.

Ride for Fighters

I was joined by thousands of people in an event called Ride for Fighters. The event was sponsored by the JNF and took place in the Golan. The program's purpose was to ride bicycles along the area of Israel's soldiers have fought for for so long and to ride in memory of them. Read more about it.

The first stop we made was at an old battle post. The bunkers were still intact and everything. It was a very controversial place, its too bad I can't remember the name. From there we were bussed to nature reserve/hiking area. There waiting for us was a stage and several speakers. These included: the chairman of the JNF and Gilad Schalit's father. At the end of this opening ceremony each participant released a balloon. Just about every Year Courser and Masa participant was there. It was great to see people I haven't gotten a chance to see yet. I saw my friend Sara who I met at Sde Boker in 2006.

From the opening ceremony we got on bikes and rode the designated course. It was about 5 kilometers on a rough dirt road. Not long enough at all.

At the closing ceremony there were a "carnival" of many of the different units in the IDF. It was really cool to see things close up and to see so many soldiers in one place.

The closing ceremony was great. It was very patriotic and brought everyone to their feet. This ceremony included a live demonstration of the tank unit. We are talking live ammo! It was so loud and you could feel the percussions.

The whole experience was a great insight into the IDF and showed some of the nation's pride.

Tiyul to the North with the Tzofim

The weekend to the north was great! There was about 70 of us that went. A very large group.

I packed all of my stuff and brought it with me to Ulpan. Following class we loaded the bus and headed out, which took much longer than expected, but we got there anyways. By there, I mean some kind of camping ground outside of an Arab village in the North. After setting up camp and hanging out for a while, we began to cook what is called "Poiykah". Basically, poiykah is a stew consisting of: chicken, lentils, rice, beans, cola, water, spices, and whatever else sounds good. All of which is cooked inside of a cast iron dutch oven. It taste much better than it sounds. I ate more than enough. After hanging out for a few more ours Aviel and I decided to make use of the extra meet by cooking some kabobs over the fire.

Friday morning we woke up and did a hike called Nahal Yagor. It follows a dried river bed until it hits Kibbutz Yagor. The hike was a little more intense than most of the YC hikes I have been on. It was refreshing to be a little challenged. Once we reached the kibbutz a druze lady meet us there and cooked fresh pita with all of the fixings. More great food!

From the kibbutz we were bused to one of the Tzofim tribes in Haifa. I took a nap on the floor while we waited for the other bus to get there. A few of us went to shul that night, but made it just in time for Yigdal, of course. Back at the tribe we had some amazing cholent cooked by Hila's dad. More amazing food!

Later that night we took a walk to the top of Haifa to get an over view of the city. It looked something like this:

Saturday morning we packed up and started out on a hike that literally starts in the middle of the city. Before we hit the trail we stopped by the Bahai Gardens. The Bahai religion is really interesting, feel free to read up on it, because I'm too lazy to type it all out.

The hike ended at the beach where we hung and out and ate ( I opened about twenty cans) for a while and played an great game of Lap Tag. From there we walked to the bus, did Havdallah and headed on a way back to Holon. A great weekend in a great location with some great food.

I'm a huge slacker...

"UPDATE YOUR BLOG YOU SLACKER!!!! Seriously, people are asking." -Lisa Siegel, My Lovely Mother.

Seriously, she's right. I can explain the absence, really, I can. The simple fact is that by the time I am done with my daily activities I am so tired that I hardly want to write. I attempted to a couple times, but feel asleep in the process. So here goes another post that will drag on for far too long. Enjoy!

From the 13th to the 22nd I was on break for another group of holidays. This included: Sukkot, Simchats Torah, and Shmini Atzeret. I am going to try to remember most things and reiterate them to you, with some pictures, as accurately as possible.

Monday and Tuesday: 13-14
This was the first night of Sukkot and when the actually celebration takes place. I was invited by Aviel to join him at his home in Giviat Zev, a town out side of Jerusalem. I accepted with great pleasure! We got a bus with Shelley and Ayelet to Jerusaelm. Ayelet is another one of the Tzofim living in Holon with the other YC. She also lives in Giviat Zev and brought Shelley with her for the holiday. The bus to Jerusalem was crowded, so we had to sit on the floor. That would never fly in America. I was sitting next to a soldier who is in the Givati unit. He had the new Tavor gun. An amazing Israeli development.
When we finally arrived in Giviat Zev. I meet Aviel's family. Wonderful people. Aviel is the oldest of six kids. So the house was all busseling with noise, which is not a bad as it might seem.

The meal that Aviel's mother and grandmother's prepared was excellent. It was a lot of tradtional sephardic dishes. Something that I never grew up having. I ate myself past the point of fullness.

Later that night things turned a little sour. I didn't feel so well because I ate so much, but it turns out it was something way worse. I spent pretty much all night hunched over a toliet. Wonderful I know. In the morning Aviel had to drive me to a hospital in Modi'in because it was the only open due to the holiday. I ended up getting an IV to rehydrate and an anti-vomiting agent. It worked and I felt much better after eating a little and sleeping all day at Aviel's.

That night we drove to the Judaean Youth Hostel in Jerusalem and hung out for a couple of hours before we caught a bus back to Holon. I saw Hiesler there and we talked for a while. It was good to see people from another section that I haven't seen yet.

Wednesday 10/15

Bright and early I woke up to meet a group for a mandatory hike in the North. I know I'm crazy for even getting out of bed that day after being in the hospital on the previous morning, but what can I say? I like to hike! It turns our the "hike" was more of a three hour bus ride each way and an hour walk. It was beautiful though. We walked a small trail on Mt. Meron. From this vantage point you can see Lebanon and only some of Tsfat because of the clouds. Adina, one of the counselors from Bat Yam, explained to us that one of the outlook points we were standing on was dedicated to a soldier killed in Lebanon. From where we were looking you could actually see the bunker where he was killed during the Second Lebanon War. A very powerful moment.

Thursday Morning 10/16

In the morning was another part of mandatory attendance during the Chofesh (break). Our group was required to meet at the community center around the corner from my apartment and paint the bleachers around the back side. I was all for it and getting my hands dirty, but some other people weren't. It took much longer than it should of because of people messing around and just straight up complaining. Eventually it did get done though.

After volunteering I went to my friend Fluffy's apartment. He owns a pair of hair clippers. Guess who go a mowhawk?!

Thursday Night-Saturday Night: BERESHEET MUSIC FESTIVAL!

I mentioned a couple of post back that I would be going to the Beresheet Music Festival on the Kneret. I went, and It was an amazing time. There were tons of Year Coursers, so it was kind of a YC weekend, but it was great to see people from different section, as always. The camping equipement that I borrowed from Lior worked out very well. I split food with with Daniella and Jon. It ended up being much cheaper and much tastier than the food at available for purchase at the festival.

The music at the festival great. Some of the bands were only ok. I saw this crazy metal band that had a song where they screamed the ten plagues and the shema. It was intense. I managed to miss a great concert by Abaraham Tal, the ex-lead singer of Shotei Ha'Nevua. I will forever kick myself for that. I did, however, see one of my favorite bands: Hatikva 6. They threw an amazing show. Besides just the bands, there was tons of other music. There was constant trance and dance music at one stage. We are talking 24/7 thumping bass. I somehow manged to sleep through it. There was a constant drum circle. I hopped in a couple times. There were also really cool workshops. I learned to play didgeridoo!

There were lots of fun things to do at the festival, especially since it was on a beach. Here are some pictures of the weekend.

Only in Israel do a large group of religious Jews show up to a hippy music festival.

A couple sunsets of the on the Kneret. Can't wait to go back.

There was a mud pit at the festival. It was tempting....

Good music, good company, and good coffee. These things make a great weekend

Sunday-Monday 19-20

CHILLED! I needed to catch up on sleep and hang around on my butt for a couple of days.

Tuesday 21st

This was the end of Sukkot, celebrated by the holiday of Simchats Torah. The original plan was to go to Tsfat via a Sherut with a few guys. After that was tossed out the door, the next plan was to go to Jerusalem....which also didn't happen. It really just ended up being a fun Tel Aviv night.


Thursday 23rd
Volunteering in the went really well that day. I know the kids really well now and I feel like I am a valuable member of the staff there.

Here is me with a couple of the girls in the gan. Hila on the left and Keshet on the right.

That night was a foam party in Jerusalem. A ton of YCers went, and I didn't. It ended up being a great choice. I heard from a lot of people that the party wasn't that fun. Aaron, Allon, and I instead went to Kibbutz Ha'polim where our friend Noa lives. All of us staffed camp together. We went to the kibbutz to see Noa preform her first concert! It was really cool and the atmosphere was very kibbutz. I liked it. I need to spend more time in on a kibbutz.

Friday and Saturday 24-25
Caught a bus straight from Holon to Jerusalem! From the central bus station I walked to the Shuk and met up with the Choikhit twins and their mom. We walked around for a bit and ate some food. From there we walked to Ben Yehuda street and meet up with some more KC people. This included: Hiesler, Feldman, Tali, Joey, and Molly. After chatting a bit I left with Hiesler, Feldman, and Tali.
We spent the rest of the weekend hanging out in Hiesler's apartment. It was really relaxing and fun. The five of us boys cleaned up Hiesler's messy apartment. I know! What would inspire five 18 year old boys to clean a whole apartment? Well I am telling you, it was that gross. Following our cleaning fiasco, the five of us sat down and had a wonderful, testotarone filled, shabbous meal. The rest of shabbat we slept, made some amazing brownies, and hung out with other YCers.
Hiesler lives in the set of apartments owned by YC instead of living in the hostel like the rest of their section does. Its a really cool deal. All of the 12 apartments are on the same staircase. Everyone leaves their doors unlocked when they are home and people just hop between apartments. As an added bonus, all the YC that live in the apartments get a bus pass for all of Jerusalem. Something you wouldn't get living in the youth hostel. I am really hoping I get to live in the apartments when I move there.

Sunday-Today 26-31
The Chagim (Holidays) are over and I can finally get back into a routine! Volunteering this week has been great! We have a new director at the gan because the old one is going into labor any minute now (Mazel Tov Avital). The new directors name is Maggie. Nice lady, but a much different style then the last one.
I had my first Ulpan exam. I passed with flying colors!.....but it was only oral. I am worried about the one tomorrow. It's all written.
Tuesday we had a siyur to the towns of Sderot and Nitzan. There will be a separate post on this becasue it is such a large and important subject.
I haven't gone into Tel Aviv at all this week. It's kinda weird. Every night there has been a YC activity or I have been to tired to go out. Last night was the Section 2 basketball. I was on a team that knew we were loosing coming into it, but we still had fun.
Tonight we watched the movie Beufort. Its an amazing story about a group of soldiers who were stationed on a mountain inside of Lebanon. A very intense and impressive story. The film is based on a book, I will read it soon. Both are defiantly worth checking out.

This Weekend
I am attending a trip planned by the scouts to the North. We are going to be in the Haifa area. The trip is costing me 200 shekel, about $50, but this includes transportation and food. A pretty good deal. We will be doing some hiking and sightseeing. I am pretty excited.

I know I say this every time, but next post will not be put off so long.

CrAzY WeEkEnD!

AHHH SO MUCH MORE TO SAY! I will keep it short.

This weekend was crazy. Friday I got back from Kfar Saba my friend Julie came to our apartment. We were dead out of food so we ran to the store before it closed. Aviel and I cooked a delicious shabbous meal of pasta with chicken meat sauce for our apartment and a couple of guest. Then we went to all of our neighbors in our building said, "shabbat shalom" and offered them some cake, I think it will help settle some issues they have had in the past with the people living in our current apartment. Following this we left to make coffee in the park. For there we hung out with my friend Jesse at his place. I told Jesse about my friend Itamar's finishing of the army party. I told him he could tag along, and my other friend Or came as well. At 10 Itamar came and picked up all of us to go to his party. The party was in Ben Shemen forest. It went all night. I finally went to sleep back at my apartment (sorry mom) at 6 A.M. Saturday morning. Oh, wait, I'm not done. At 1 P.M. Aviel and I, along with some other YC, went to a birthday party of one of the other Tsofim living in Holon with us, her name is Ziv. Her party was a ton of fun and we meet so many people. THEN, we got home and sat for literally less then 20 minutes and left to go see the Holon Tsofim's opening event. The caravan was there! And lots of really cool firesigns. We were actually impressed. While we were there we ran into the scout that lived in our very apartment last year. So she came back to our apartment with us for 10 minutes while we got ready for salsa night! Which turned to be good, but I suck at dancing. I came home from salsa night and COLLAPSED! PHEEEEEEEEEEEEEW! That was a weekend. And it just keeps coming. I love it.