iShalem

Hello! This is Jessi Klein reporting live from Weitzmann 77, Netanya, Israel.
The Israel Experience section has been going very well so far. I
volunteer at the Therapeutic Riding Center of Israel (TRCI) in Tel
Mond, where I help kids and adults with physical and developmental
problems ride horses. Therapeutic horseback riding (Hippotherapy) is
something I had learned about in the States, but I still learn more
about it at work every day. For instance, horseback riding stimulates
muscle movement in the legs, making it possible to strengthen the
muscles used for walking for people in wheelchairs so that they can
walk. The movement of the horse is also very relaxing, which helps
sooth the patients with severe ADHD so that they'll calm down. I've
also learned about the practical aspects of the stable; I already knew
a lot about horses, but I recently learned how to bandage the horses
legs and how to longe a horse. I've even had two riding lessons!
There are around 20 horses of all breeds and sizes, ranging from tiny
Fiona, whose back reaches my waist, to the huge, former police horse
Black Star, whose back is somewhere above my head (and I'm 5"9....).
Each horse is good for a different thing--the ponies are great for the
kids who need the stretches and "targilim," exercises, of a "regular"
lesson--exercises like sitting backwards, playing ring toss, bowling,
or basketball. There are slow, steady horses like Shiny, Punk, and
Graham, who carry adults and children who need the horse's movement to
move their leg muscles, and there are regular riding horses used for
lessons for people who are more mobile.

I've met some interesting people at work, too. I work with blind kids
and Arab school groups (I've learned to count to 10, say "My name is
Jessi," "right," "left," and "head" in Arabic from these groups). An
11-year-old boy told the instructor and I about his "girlfriend" who
hadn't given him a reply yet, and a dermatologist reprimanded me for
not wearing sunscreen. On Wednesdays I lead a horse for a woman who
has been on a horse 3 times in her life; I've been with her each time,
and she still shrieks each time she climbs on.




Jessi Klein at the Therapeutic Riding Center of Israel.


The people I work with are also interesting. Since I'm familiar with
horses and stables, I've done a lot of work in the stables grooming,
feeding, and tacking up the horses. In the stables I work with people
my age who chose to do "shanat sherut," a year of volunteering before
the army. There are three boys and two girls, plus an assortment of
teenagers from Tel Mond who come to help out a few times a week. The
shanat sherut people live at the stable and have a communal kitchen,
much like our apartment arrangements. A number of the people who help
lead horses and do odd jobs around the stable are convicts. My
supervisor, Ila, told me that many of them are doing community service
for hiring illegal worker (i.e. Palestinians) or for tax fraud. I
also work, however, with Justice Minister Haim Ramon who was given
community service at TRCI. We also have a group of juvenile
delinquents who come to volunteer a few days a week to do community
service. I find it impressive that so far only one person has asked
me what I'm doing time for....

So that's what my workday is like at the Therapeutic Riding Center of
Israel. Have a good Lag B'Omer, and l'hitraot!

-Jessi Klein

Eight months have passed since our arrival to Israel. Eight months have passed since we started forming new relationships with people as well as the land of our people. Eight months have passed since we began adapting to and learning about a new culture. In these eight months we have been thrust into Israeli society with the hope that we can fully understand and appreciate the religious and political miracle of the existence of the State of Israel. This past Monday night and Tuesday marked Yom HaAtzmaut, Israel's 59th year as an independent state. Before this year, Yom HaAtzmaut for me consisted of free periods in school where we would dance, eat blue and white cookies, where blue and white, wave the Israeli flag, and attempt to comprehend what the Jewish people are supposed to feel this day.

There is nothing in the world that can be compared to spending Yom HaAtzmaut in Israel and feeling with the Jewish people the deepest happiness known to man. I started off my Yom HaAtzmaut Monday night with the rest of Tochnit Shalem. We went to Nachlaot in Jerusalem where we davened at Yehoshua Coren's shul. Hallel was the highlight of the Tefillah. It lasted quite a while. There were men, woman, guitars, and drums filling the air with song and dance. We then proceeded to have a seder, prepared by Rav Yehuda, Estee Katkoff and myself. We ate falafel, Israeli salad, and pita, as the Shalem crew filled the night with lots of beautiful singing as well as divrei Torah. After our Shalem seder ended, I and a few others wandered into the center of town unsure of what we would find. The entire area was filled with free concerts and different people singing, dressed up, dancing, and spraying foam on one another. Whether it was a yeshiva boy, mother, father, child, or secular Jew, everyone was filled with happiness and appreciation for the state in which I am living in right at this moment.

~Danielle Kershner






Seudah Chagigit -- Shalem Style








Enjoying Falafel







Casey and Adina






Abby and Naomi in their uniforms from the Naval Academy in Acco.

Jessica Morse volunteers at the Israel Sports Center for the Disabled.  The ISCD does tremendous work for those individuals who were either born with physical or mental disabilities or became injured (for example in terrorist attacks).  Jessica, a sports enthusiast, spends her days doing yoga, playing ping, cycling, and artwork all while making a huge difference in the lives of dozens of Israelis.  For more information about the Israel Sports Center for the Disabled, please click on HERE.

Shalom Everyone !!!

I hope that everyone had an amazing Chofesh! I know I did, even though I missed my family a whole lot and hate the sign "leochle kitniyot" on every single prooduct at the grocerie store! I still had fun, I spent my Seder in a Yishuv with my French family I never met before and got to meet 16 cousins! It was a great !!

Anyways I wanted to share with you a little bit about my israeli experience placement.
I am the only volunteer working at Tirat Hayeled (a religious orphanage in Natanya) this semester. And I couldn't be happier than I am!

I'm having an amazing experience! I never realized how much a kid can teach you, I'm learning a lot of hebrew, practicing my math by helping them with their homework... You're probably thinking "an orphenage, it must be so horrible seeing kids like those everyday" But you're having the wrong thoughts... This place is a happy place, not only it's a very pretty place, clean, with grass and trees and playgrounds... but also kids are so happy to be there! They come in everyday jumping, hugging and kissing us, their madrichim. Once in a while one of them comes in crying and not talking to anyone, but all we need to do is take them in our arms, talk to them and try to make them laugh, and the next thing you know they completely forget about their problems and get ready for a fun day with their friends!

This is my normal day schedule:

+ Get there at 12h30, Staff meeting until 1pm

+ 1h15 - 2h00 the kids arrive ( I am working with 2 shirut leumi girls and we have 13 girls between 5 and 9 )

+ Brush their hair, they usually want the same hair style depending on the day :-)

+ Take them to a great "Basary" lunch with many varieties.

+ Help them with their homework

+ 4pm snack

+ little peula / homework

+ 5pm: Daily lesson (choir, drama, dance, art, sport, visit the pet zoo ...) / Special activity (today we made pizzas! or the Jambory, or the beach.....)

+ 6pm: Dinner

+ 6:30: Time to brush their teeth!

+ Sikum: Shema with a few songs in the dark

+ Story telling or Freeze

+ Price for the 2 best girls of the day !

+ 7pm Time to go home !



This place is amazing! The kids are so happy there, everyone is so nice and cheerful. The kids raelly forget about all their problems that they have back home and just enjoy their day, like normal kids. They love to play, sing, run around, draw, talk ... They're just kids and there is nothing more important for a kid than to find a place where they can feel at home and that's what we try to do at Tirat Hayeled.

I love it there! The staff is very nice and funny, it's like a small, big family ! I love it so much there that it happens that I stay there for extra hours once until 12am even.. Yes I know it's late but when you like something you can't get enough of it !

There is nothing like putting a smile on a kid's face ! It's the best feeling in the world !

:-D

I <3 Tirat Hayeled !!!

Deborah Kukurudz

ps; I also <3 Natanya / Weizman 77 !   I couldn't ask for better roommates ! Thank you SHALEM!

A short Pesach message from Rav Yehuda (2 min)


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Please click HERE for Mpeg 4 (ipod)

Well it has definitely been TOO LONG!

About a month, in fact, since Israel Experience has begun.

I was placed in the Fire Department of Petach Tikwa, a place once foreign which I now lovingly call HOME. I live on Rechov Nachalat Tzvi, in building 16, apartment two, with 5 of my favorite Shalemers: Jessica Morse, Kayla Zalcgendler, Liat Tretin, Avi Katzman and Danielle Kershner.
 
We started out our experience here with an apartment Shabbat. The first Shabbat, the Shabbat before Purim, we all decided to stay in and be together! So together with the boys apartment, with Dan Benichou, Casey Anis, Cary Weiss, and Ronen Samuels (Jon Kalish was away that weekend), we put together a crazy good time. Ayelet, Deena, Katie, Maya, Amanda, and Esther traveled from their respective new "homes" to spend the weekend with us also. Right after Shabbat we went to the shul around the corner for kriat megillah, and experienced the Israeli form of "ra'ash." Whenever the guy reading the megillah said Haman's name, a kid in the men's section (downstairs from us), would set off a popper bomb thingy, proceeding to scare all of us innocent Americans the first three or four times. We soon caught on though, and after Shabbat, many joined in the Purim festivities at various celebrations. I however had a new Purim experience of my own!
 
From the end of megillah reading, at around 8:30 PM, until the wee hours of the morning, Liat, Kayla and I prepared Seudat Purim for all of Shalem: A meal for 40 people! I had done Shabbat for 15, and I had contributed to mass meals before, but this was definitely an experience. With some cheesy pop music pumping in the background, we slaved over the (electric) stove, and cooked 3 kinds of rice, made salads, and fried lots and lots of shawarma (ironically, Liat the vegetarian took charge..) until around 4 AM when we all fell exhaustedly into our beds, to wake up 5 hours later and try and buy 60 pitot and 20 bottles of soda. (thanks to Jon Kalish for his assistance with manual labor...) We also bought delicious hamentashen/aznai haman from English Cake. yummyyy.
 
The seuda was a big success, and everyone enjoyed being reunited after a whole three days of separation!!  Rav Yehuda, Rav Alan and all past madrichim were severely missed. We heard megillah from a guy in Petach that Boaz hired for us, noshed, and sipped wine (thanks to Yehoshua for bringing extra!) At 5, everyone slowly filed out, and the Nachalat Tzvi girls [finally] had the apartment to themselves... and some quiet time too!
 
Over the next couple of weeks, Liat Avi Ronen and I settled in at the fire department.  My goal for Israel Experience was to step outside of my comfort zone, and experience something new and different.  I knew when i signed up for the Fire Department that I would be living out my little brother's dream, memorizing the contents of various trucks and assisting heroes in their saving of lives. It was definitely rough at first, but we've become quite fond of the caba'im (firemen) and the tzofim (scouts) that we have come into contact with. Thus far we have been training, learning about all of the different trucks and what is inside of them, and how to work the weird machines that the firemen use. We learned how to throw and roll hoses and also went through a few slideshows of precautions and warnings, and participated in a few mock "situations." All of this ivrit b'ivrit!!!
 
The mock eruah (situation) was one of the coolest things I've experienced this year! Basically, there are four different jobs: The splitter, the right squirter and the left squirter, and the faucet man. The splitter grabs a device that has two 2" hose connections on one side and one 3" hose connection on the other side. The faucet man is in charge of connecting the 3" hose to the truck/hydrant, and throwing the hose to the splitter. The splitter also recieves the hoses from the squirters and connects all three hoses to their respective connection places. When in need of water, the splitter calls to the faucet man "tiftach/i et ha mayim la miflag!" "open the water to the splitter!", and the faucet man screams "mayim ba derech la miflag!!" "water is on the way to the splitter!" Then, the left/right squirters respectively ask the splitter to turn the faucet and allow them water. When it is over, they ask the splitter to turn off the water, and the splitter yells to the faucet man "tisgor et ha mayim la miflag!" and the faucet man, after turning off the water answers "ha mayim sagur la miflag." Then, the hoses are rolled, and stored on the trucks and its back to the station!
 
Another cool thing was that when Rav Yehuda came to visit us, he asked the caba'im where we were, and said "I'm looking for my chevra." The cabai that he asked answered him, "Oh, but they're our chevra too!" We're really starting to feel at home not only in Petach, but also with the guys at the station. I can't wait until we're allowed to go on calls!
 
The other goal that I aimed to accomplish in Israel Experience was to wander the country and experience as much as I could; milk it for all it's worth if you will. So far, with my roommate Liat, I have seen the Shuk Ha'Carmel and Nachalat Binyamin in Tel Aviv, spent many a day on the beach, done a walking tour of Old Yafo, went back to Yerushalayim to hang out for the day, and explored the shuk, midrachov and mall in Petach Tikvah. My pesach break is also filled to the brim with opportunity and the unknown... and I am so excited!! After break we'll continue exploring and experiencing... This is what a year in Israel is all about.
 
Anyway, I have a day of travelling tomorrow, (I am going to Keren's cousins in Baka with her for seder) so I must end here. But don't worry, you'll be hearing from Petach Tikwa's mitnadvim real soon now.
 
Chag Kasher v'Sameach,
 
Ellie

In this episode:  THE SIYUR.

Join Shalem as we visit:

The Kotel
Sataf National Park
Tekoa and Gush Etzion
Deliver gifts to soldiers / Kever Rachel





Please click HERE or on the picture above to view the podcast in Windows Media

Please click HERE to view the podcast in Mpeg 4 (ipod).

Over here in Ashkelon we have been the ultimate dugmah of Tikun Olam. This
happy family family of 3 has been volunteering for Magen David Adom for the
last week. Not only are we saving lives, but we are helping the drivers and
paramedics as well. Ayelets' first call was a successful CPR to an older
man; while Deena and Katie were called to a car crash between Ashdod and
Ashkelon.

Everyday brings a new experience. We are presented with new challenges each
day whether its practicing our Hebrew or figuring out the ins' and outs' of
the ambulance. When we are not running to calls we are relaxing in the
lovely Chadar Mitnadvim, Volunteer Room. In this room we chat and watch
quality english T.V. Whether its watching Friends or holding the hand of a
patient there is nothing we would rather be doing during our Israel
experience.

At the end of each day when its time to go home we reside in the beautiful
Merkaz klitah Kalanit. It is an opportunity to meet new olim from around the
world. Although we get made fun of for our accents and witness the
occational stare. We stand strong with our American roots.

There is more to come with the lateset news from Ashkelon..B'Hazlacha

The Girls From Ashkelon,
  Ayelet/Katie/Deena

i really don't have much to say, but i dont want jess to have the last blog of jerusalem studies. and i want to address one thing that i think she misconstrued....her victory in Killer. THE GAME WAS DEFECTIVE AND THEREFORE DID NOT COUNT! but im not even going to go into it. just know.
 
anyway, i got my first choice for israel experience too - the Israeli Sea Turtle Rescue Center. I'm gonna be living in Netanya with Maya, Deborah, Jessi, Hannah, and Keren. we're all doing different things, so our dinner table discussions will be very interesting. Maya and Hannah are doing Magen David Adom, Deborah is working at an orphanage, Keren is working in the children's department at a hospital, and Jessi is doing some therapeutic thingie with horses. will blog about sea turtles, all the time - dont you fret.



An ahistorical picture of me with a sea-turtle
 
SOMETHING REALLY EXCITING! Jess, Esther, Ayelet, and I are going to the Dead Sea for Pesach...and going to a communal seder led by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, chief Rabbi of Britain!!!! we are so thrilled, we're already picking out our outfits. fine, only Ayelet is. but it's crazy -- i had a class on Rabbi Sacks' Faith Lectures! My British teachers teach us his opinions all the time! I'm going to meet him!!! AHHH! will blog about that too when it happens.
 
so, we're leaving tomorrow :-(. no more jerusalem studies for shalem. i really dont understand why this program does this to us. i really dont. the minute we start calling a place a home, we're shepherded away and moved somewhere else. this time without all our friends. but it's good that we keep moving from place to place, because it makes you think. you compare where you were at the beginning of the section and where you are now, and decide if you are happy with that. if you aren't - you have a new section, a new beginning. if you are - you have the opportunity to continue and develop further in another section. but if you didn't have that ending, you may have gotten too comfortable where you were and stopped progressing.
  
this is our last night at the hostel. we are separating starting tomorrow. beware. next time i blog, i may have no friends. we'll see.

Estee

Hypes of the Past Few Weeks:

A) I was victorious in killing everyone…in a friendly game of Assassins that is.
“What kind of funny business is this Shalem program pulling with us? We paid thousands of dollars to have my child play silly, childish war games?!” one might ask oneself.
How wrong you would be. You see, Assassins is a very complex game that teaches many life lessons, including:
1) Im eyn ani li, mi lee? If I’m not for myself who will be for me?
2) Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer
3) Don’t be the creepy stalker who everyone wants to get out of the game, or else everyone will gang up on you and make Shira or Esther Shatz kill you
4) Make alliances, the world will seem like a better place (and the hallways safer)

 
Basically, every Shalemer was assigned a person to “kill” (isolate the victim in a room and say “bang, bang, you’re dead”). You then go on to kill the now dead person’s target. The last man standing wins. I won. Yay. I can officially be selfish, sneaky, and surreptitious all at the same time for a good reason.

B) We found out our Israel Experience selections!!!! I ended up getting my #1 choice (Ilan Spibak Sports Center for the Disabled), which of course I’m ecstatic about. Yes, Mom, I did just end a sentence with a preposition. I also have an amazing apartment in Petach Tivah (Avi, Danielle, Ellie, Liat, Kayla), which is a huge part of Israel Experience- friends! Well, friends is a central part of the year to be honest. And for the most part, almost everyone got their 1st and 2nd choices, and are pretty happy with the chanichim in their cities. But everyone is a bus ride away from each other anyways. Thanks mucho to our sweet madrichim who all helped in a communal effort to get us our top choices for next semester. We all appreciate your help! Thank you.

C) DODGEBALL!!!!!!!! We had dodge ball night where we watched the hilarious Ben Stiller/ Vince Vaughn duo battle it till the end. Deena Walloch and I dressed up at Fran (google dodgeball + fran if you don’t know who she is…if you can even call it a she). Our personal costumes included a full fledged unibrow, facial mole, Welsh accent, and bright red lipstick on our snaggle tooth. We played many a hard core game of dodgeball, Brits vs Americans, as well as Bat Yam vs Holon. The night ended in too many arm cramps and too much body odor. All in all- a success!!

D) Skiing at Mount Hermon! (pronounced…CHHH-air-MOAN, not her-MUN)
I went with 9 other friends to the only mountain in Israel with snow, and for the first time in my southern bell life saw more than a half inch of snow. I didn’t do a class or pay for an instructor, as I told my mom I would, but it was okay, because I only fell down about 5 times my first ride down. The second time down the slope I fell at the end, or else I would have plowed into a group of 10 year old girls (who were, I’m shamed to say, much much much much better than me at skiing). We stayed at a cute Bed and Breakfast lodge, and had a picnic on the grass on Shabbat. Great time!!

That’s about it for now.

I can’t wait for Israel Experience to begin, though I am depressed that Jerusalem Studies is coming to an end. But I’m ready to break out of my cabin fever attitude, and start my voyage of the most challenging part of Shalem as an individual. Now is the time that we have the least guidance, and it is up to us to make the most of our time. I can’t wait to see what little (or big) surprises Israel has in store for me and my fellow Shalemers!

The Southerner,
Jess

PS. Shout out to Rabbi Alan who thinks that all people from Atlanta chew tobacco, as he mentioned in class. To clear the record…LIE! That’s all.

PPS. Kudos to Estee for an amazing blog…especially her adept ability to depict our teachers and Rabbis in their best light. Daniel Rose will cry when his new students walk in and they are so dull compared to us. Not because they are, rather because we were a WEIRD class. And forever will be.

Peace out Shalem 06-07 Jerusalem Studies.

SHALEM VIDEO PODCAST EPISODE 5



In this episode:

Visit to Chadar Ochel

Focus on Staff:
HaRav Alan Goldman

Impromptu Interviews



Click HERE for the vodcast in Windows Media.

Click HERE for the vodcast in Quicktime 7.

Click HERE for the vodcast on YouTube.

chello, dear readers. my, how time flies! it seems like we were volunteering in bat yam just yesterday -- and now we are nearing the end of our learning experience in Jerusalem! let me tell you, most of us are not looking forward to the end. when we left bat yam, i had a tantrum on the floor and refused to let our madricha Vicky evict us from our apartment (Levorno 11, holla!). bat yam had become my home, my madrichim my friend-parents, and i did not want to leave. but now the Judean Youth Hostel is my home and i anticipate a huge emotional breakdown. not only are we leaving Jerusalem though, along with our madrichim, teachers, awesome showers, comfortable beds and Hannahs, and excellent food (some chanichim might say otherwise. dont believe them) but we are leaving our comrades as well. the next section is israeli experience, where shalem will be scattered around the country, the first time this year that i will not see each of my friends every day.

but, besides for separating from the people we love, we are also concluding our amazing classes. i realize that people have written about special tiyulim, speakers, siyurim that we have had during these three months...but no one really described our every day life in the JYH.

Davening is at 7:15. breakfast at 8. first class from 8:30 to 10:20. second class from 10:30 to 12:30. lunch 12:30 to 2, and a third class from 2 to 4. that is many days, but it really depends on the day because we often have siyurim and speakers.

I LOVE MY CLASSES -- technically, we dont have to do any work if we arent taking our classes for credit, and i dont care about credit, but i am doing all the work anyway because i want to gain as much from my time in Jerusalem as humanly possible.

Hebrew -- we have it every day. i am in level 5, where we are taught by Mel Reisfield, a.... ok, actually maybe there aren't any words for Mel. let's just say that he is a 79 year-old man with a personality. we really do sing a lot and watch movies in hebrew and have a lot of fun and are learning a lot of vocabulary words, but i personally become very frustrated answering spitback questions when we read stories in our book and being asked if we know the word Ta'arich (date), a word we all learned in kindergarten. i know that many of my friends value Mel's tales about his experience as an important figure in the Young Judean movement, and he has twice spoken to all of our section as a guest speaker. ps. we went to his house for a very delicious scrum-diddly-umptious breakfast a few weeks ago

Zionism -- we have a class once a week and a siyur once a week. i am in the advanced history of zionism class for those who are a little more familiar with the subject than others. taught by Daniel Rose -- who i happen to have for three classes, it is a pretty serious class with lots of note-taking and lots of essays. our siyurs and speakers are very interesting even though they are a little time-consuming. it's a lot of work, but ive definitely gained a better understanding of Zionism from it.

Philosophy in Aggadah -- this is an only Shalem class ( i dont have so many year course kids in my other classes anyway). twice a week. we have very interesting discussions about such things as the nature of evil, the role of women, anti-Zionism, pluralism, the difference between truth and fact, eschatology, and other nice topics too. for some reason, the quirkiness in each of us manifests itself in this class and we manage to entertain ourselves, teacher Daniel Rose, and occasional visitors like Rav Alan and Rav Yehuda.

Breishit -- this is also a Shalem class. we have it three times a week, and i want to say that it's a lot of work...but that may just be because we have an 8 page final due next week. 1.5 spaced, that's right. eek. in this class we spend a lot of time in chavruta examining the text with question sheets for guidance. my awesome chavruta is with Adina. my favorite part of class, though, is our discussions because it is through them that everyone shares their fascinating ideas. this class really makes me think, look at Biblical stories that i've known since childhood through different perspectives. my teacher for this class is Rav Yehuda, the head of shalem. i'm not sure, but he may think that mayonnaise is an instrument.

Informal Education -- this is my elective, taught by Daniel Rose. we basically learn how to be good madrichim, but its great for leadership skills in general. we learn kind of...informally. right now, we are doing our finals -- organizing peulot for the class. Danielle and I did ours today, and we basically rocked the class's socks off. the goal we sought to accomplish through the peulah was to give our class a better understanding of the complexity of the issue of abortion. we started off by asking the class to draw a picture of their lives as they know it...and then asking them to draw a picture of what their lives would look like if they had given birth to a child their senior years of high school. this opened up our discussion about abortion. we next split the class into two teams, gave out information, and held a mock trial with lawyers and witnesses. danielle and i were judges, daniel the bailiff, and my box of soup the gavel. after a discussion about the trial, we had a case study where the class ranked how ok it was to have an abortion in different situations. we wrapped it up by asking the class's opinions if abortion should be legal and then a 14 second sikum. i have never organized an activity like that before in my life, and it was a great learning experience.

I also have two non-for-credit classes that are only an hour, once a week -- chasidism (taught by Rav Alan, a teacher everyone loves. i went to his house for shabbos when we were in bat yam) and Rabbi Sacks' Faith Lectures (taught by Rav Yehuda, a teacher everyone loves...to make strange faces at) they are very interesting as well.

i want to single out two teachers. but since they may\definitely will read this...and since i just am not a very open person with that gushy stuff...and since miktzat shivcho shel adam omrim befanav u'koolo she'lo befanav... meaning some of someones praise is said before them and all of it when he is not present...i'm not going to say all the good stuff.

Daniel Rose - i have him for three classes. he is an amazing teacher and builds personal relationships with his students. i've already been to his house for shabbos with Danielle, Ayelet, and Jessica M. and befriended his two little girls.   my aggadah class is going to his house next week for dinner. actually, now that i think about it...i can't really think of a reason why i like Daniel Rose so much. maybe it's because he did the beaver dance. or because he appreciates weirdness. this is annoying...i really cant place what i like about him. ill think on it and maybe ill write it in my next blog. oh wait, Hannah just reminded me that he has a sense of humor. but that's not it. oh, i've got it. i think that Daniel is the most likely out of any teacher i've ever had to roll down a hill with a pineapple.

Rav Yehuda - is so cool. i have liked Rav Yehuda from the very beginning - Shalem Orientation, when i was in his discussion group. he is a really good teacher who really cares about the welfare of all his students. he goes to extraordinary lengths to make us happy. he is constantly creating programming for us, setting spiritual growth meetings (mine was very spiritual), and encouraging us to correct social injustices. he also has a fabulous sense of humor, and makes Hannah laugh all the time. basically, he is our friend and we love him. (p.s. there is also more about him that i'm not thinking of. you guys are going to have to go check him out yourselves. really, you're welcome to his open house party -- march 12. bring vegetables.)

basically, i am having the time of my life on shalem. i am volunteering, i am learning, i am forming relationships with my peers and mentors, i am experiencing israel, i am growing as a person. i'm almost at the point where i don't store dozens of dirty tissues in my bed. but on a serious note, i am discovering and rediscovering myself...which is really what this year is about, right? i can honestly say that i am not the same person i was in the summer, or even in Bat Yam. and it frightens me a little to think that i cannot fathom what i will be like when the program ends in May.

Estee

Shalom Yall,

So this week was pretty stressful, as far as being in Israel with hundreds of friends and living in a multimillion dollar building goes. Thursday we were presented with all the different third semester (Israel Experience) volunteer choices. Chaos erupted when they told us we had to not only choose our top TEN options, but that we had to turn in the sheet by Sunday night! We only had a few days to figure out where we wanted to be, what we wanted to do, and who we wanted to be with. My top three choices ended up as follows:

1)      Israeli Sports Center for the Disabled in Petach Tikvah

2)      Magen David Adom ambulance service (few different cities)

3)      Petting Zoo for Kids with Cancer

It was so incredibly difficult to choose my top 3, much less my top 10!  We were offered some of the most incredible opportunities and no one really knew what to do until the last few minutes. It's a good thing they only gave us a few days to worry about our choices, because we were all just balls of pressure waiting to explode for 4 days. So finals are over and our Israeli Experience choices are in...GOOD!  Now what?

Well tonight we are going to Pardes to learn, tomorrow morning at 7 am we're getting on a bus and heading to the Kotel, and Thursday we have mishmar again. This Shabbat is Shabbat b'yachad as well, so there is plenty of Shalem bonding this week- no complaints! And what do we do during our downtime? This semester is really about the social aspect of Israel in addition to the learning. So we're usually just mingling around the hostel, jogging up to Givat Massuah to the store, taking a walk to the mall with friends, or visiting the zoo (all 5-15 minute walks from the hostel). Every Tuesday night there is free jazz in Talpiyot, which is funky, and the other day I went to a modern dance performance for 30 shekels (about $7.50). There's lots to do around here, but not if you don't make the effort to find fun places to go on your own. The internet, newspapers, and magazines help out with that issue most of the time.

That's about all for now...

Jess Morse

Click on the pic for a short mp3 of President Joel speaking.



Pictured:  Richard Joel and Rav Dr. Yehuda Jayson

Hello to all!

Life's been busy, getting used to the atmosphere at the JYH, which is very different from living in Bat Yam. We have classes every day from 8:30 in the morning (davening starts at 7:15, and breakfast is at 8,) until 4:30 in the afternoon, at the earliest. (sometimes we have learning until 6.) I'm taking 8 classes, 5 for credit and 3 lishma--I love all of them! Especially the siyyurim that we take with our Zionism classes and our Israel Elective classes.

In Bat Yam, I was in level 5 ulpan, but when we moved to Jerusalem I was switched to level 6, the highest level. I was very intimidated at first, and was even considering switching back to level 5, but after a lot of effort (and embarrassment,) my Hebrew has only been improving.

It was because of my recent switch to level 6 that I was able to participate in one of the most meaningful experiences of my time on Shalem so far, Teddy Kolick's funeral.

For those of you who are not familiar, Teddy Kolick was the mayor of Jerusalem, and a very great man. It was during his time in office that the Western and Eastern sides of Jerusalem were united. I sat in the audience, and listened to speech after speech (in Hebrew obviously), given by his family members, and many various politicians (including Ehud Olmert, Rosh Hamemshalah). I understood the Hebrew, and was struck by the impact that this man had on so many important people's lives. However, what truly struck me was the diversity of the audience.

One by one, not only from Chareidi to Chiloni, but also from Jew, to Christian, to Atheist, slowly took a seat on the cold plastic chairs on Har Herzl, to pay tribute to this great man. I was truly in awe, when I saw in the same moment, three Greek Orthodox men in full garb take a seat next to a few yeshiva bochurs in black hats and jackets. It was obvious, through the number and variety of people who were there to honor his memory, that this man was uniquely able to unify the city of Jerusalem, both physically and socially. He merited to live until the age of 95.


I hope everyone has a wonderful Shabbat, and Happy Midterms (yuck!!)

Ellie Zuckerberg

Hello, again! It's Jessi Klein, writing from the Judaean Youth Hostel in Jerusalem to tell you about our 3-day Tiyul in the Negev.

We were told before the hike that there were three levels of hiking; Ragil (regular), Etgar (challenge), and Etgar Plus, (challenge plus). There were also Hebrew, Ivrit, options for Etgar and Etgar Plus. Being a fan of hiking, I chose Etgar Plus, and just for the added Israel feel, I chose the Ivrit option as well. Guess my surprise when I learned that I was the only Shalemer on Etgar Plus Ivrit! For a while I thought I'd be hiking up a mountain on my own...

We started out on Sunday after packing all of our suitcases into a truck headed for Jerusalem. We killed some time in the Youth Hostel, storing our suitcases in the luggage room and grabbing a bite to eat from the Cafe in the 4th floor lounge, then we drove out to the Negev for our first night of camping.

On Sunday night we all stayed in the same campsite where we ate a pasta, soup, hot dog, and salad dinner before sitting down to meet our new madrichim, advisors, Yoni and Natalie Koenig. Though we were sad to leave Ben and Vicki to the Section 3 kids, we love Yoni and Natalie as well.

Bedtime was early, but I stayed awake for a while looking at the stars and thinking, “Wow, we're actually leaving Bat Yam.” I miss being able to cook whatever I want, but, come on, the Hostel has water pressure.

Either way, I wasn't in Bat Yam OR Jerusalem, I was in the middle of the Negev, as I realized in the morning when I woke up, still a bit chilly, with rocks digging into my back and my head resting on my hiking bag.

We had a quick Shacharit followed by hot tea and a cereal-and-sandwiches breakfast before we made our lunches and split into our groups. I packed my bags onto the Etgar Plus bus (there weren't enough people for an Etgar Plus Ivrit bus....), said goodbye to my friends, and drove out even farther into the desert for our first day of hiking.

The first morning of hiking was probably the hardest; I wasn't used to carrying so much, I didn't know anyone, and...well, it was a tough hike. I was one the last people up the first hill, huffing and wheezing as I chugged water at the top. By this time, at least, I had become friends with the girls with the heaviest backpacks, and the adrenaline and endorfins from hiking were kicking in. During the afternoon, I stayed at the front of the pack, chatting with new friends from other sections and Asaf, our guide.

After reaching the campsite and putting down our bags, we grabbed water and cameras and went on a special, short hike to a little bowl-shaped hollow where we sat and listened to a story in Hebrew, “Lishbor et HaChazir”—“To Break the Pig.” By the time we made it back to camp, the sun was setting and “dinner” had arrived.

Unlike the other two groups, Etgar Plus cooked their own food. Each night two cars arrived; one was a small truck with water tanks, the other brought bags of pasta, pots and dishes, vegetables, bread, gas burners, and canned fruits. Our goal: a dinner of pasta, vegetable soup, salad, and canned mish-mish, apricot, for dessert.

Maya Sallmander and I cut veggies for salad (Etgar Plus and Etgar Plus Ivrit shared a campsite) as the rest of our group, including more fellow Shalemers, Jessica Morse and Abby Sosin, cooked the pasta. As we waited for the pasta and soup to cook, we passed around the can of mish-mish and the small container of chocolate spread, eating the two together for a pre-dinner dessert. Luckily, our group didn't liquefy the pasta (unlike one of the all-boys cooking groups...), so our dinner was quite good. After washing the dishes, we put on extra layers of clothing and settled down to sleep/stargaze.

(Just an aside, the amount of stars you see in the desert is incredible.)

We awoke the next morning to Mark, our madrich, hoarsely shouting “boker tov! Boker tov! Bo-bo-bo-boker tov!” as he jumped up and down, trying to keep warm. Needless to say, we ignored him (or just stayed in our sleeping bags because they were warm) and only listened a half-hour later when the sun started making its appearance as rays of light on the hills in the west, and when our stomachs started growling for breakfast.

Breakfast, the most important meal of the day. We had cereal and milk, sandwiches, and veggies. We used leftover bread to make lunch with the deli meat (or in my case, humus) and veggies that they provided for us.

The hike that day was difficult. We waited atop a mountain for over an hour as our guide, Asaf, and Bar, one of the Holon madrichim, guided hikers one by one down the steep rock face, talking them down from the heights and telling them where to put their feet.



Luckily, that was the hardest part of our hike that day. Unfortunately, the delay meant that we were behind schedule and had to hike in the dark for 2 hours to reach camp. When we arrived, the others had already split up into cooking groups. I joined one of these groups for rice, canned peaches, salad, and soup. Dessert that night was amazing: Asaf brought out packs of marshmallows and we got a couple of campfires going. The desert gets very very cold at night, so we huddled around the fire toasting marshmallows and trading tiyul stories and jokes. Even with the light of the campfire, the stars were bright and vivid in the cloudless sky. We turned in early, around 10, and went to sleep and forget about hiking until the morning.

The next morning definitely refreshed our memories of hiking. After duct-taping our blisters and refilling our jerry-cans, we began our trek with an hour-long hike up a mountain, then the long hike down. We carried our lunch supplies on our backs and made sandwiches at the bottom of the mountain. From there we hiked on relatively flat terrain until we reached the final campsite. The other sections had one more night of camping, but Shalem and Section 2 (Bat Yam and Holon Year Course) boarded buses and headed to the Youth Hostel in Jerusalem. As much as I love camping, it was nice to be able to sleep in a real bed.

Now we've been living in the Hostel for a few weeks and I've almost forgotten what it feels like to sleep on rocky ground or to hike in the heat of the day, but I haven't forgotten how much fun I had on tiyul.

L'hitraot,

Jessi Klein

20:45
Maariv

  
21:00-21:45 (THREE CHOICES)

SHIUR 1
Who cares? A Jewish response to evil in the world- Rabbi Alan

SHIUR 2
Who is important to us?- Natalie

SHIUR 3
“Living the Moment”- Rav Yehuda


 
21:50-22:35 (THREE CHOICES)

SHIUR 1
Torah Perspectives on Pre-marital sex   Rabbi Alan

SHIUR 2
 “Can a Tzaddik be a donkey?”-Parshat HaShavua with Rav Yehuda

SHIUR 3 
The Forbidden Language- Using Lashon Hara in our lives- Yoni


 
22:40-23:00
Break with food, Dvar Torah- Denise
 


23:00-23:30
 “Changing perspectives” with Rabbi Alan
 

Last Tuesday night, Shalem had an esteemed speaker, Dr. Gerald Schroeder, come in and talk to us about the conflicts and questions that can arise between God and Science. I personally always questioned how God's creation of man and the world was in sync with the theories of evolution of man. Not only did he answer my question but he explained everything so clearly and vividly and left me with many satisfied answers. He clearly explained how the creation of the world 5767 years ago in six days actually makes sense with the scientific theory of the world being 15 billion years old. He explained everything in terms of mathematics with concrete answers. I, as well as many others, was blown away by all he had to say. He has written many books which I'm sure many people will start to read to help answer any more questions they have. This was a great lecture and I can't wait for the next one!

Danielle Kershner

Current Mood: ecstatic

Today was a special day, I could say that it was a day like most of my days, but sometimes one little thing or one event, or just one person can completely change your day and sometimes your way of looking at things, looking at life.

I was standing on Yaffo street in Jerusalem waiting for a  bus to go back to the hostel, when this older lady comes up to me asking for money to take the bus home because she had been walking all day looking, and asking for food for shabbat to people. Unluckily I had no money on me either I had to borrow from a friend, all I had was 10 shek. We get on the bus and I help her carry her heavy bags full of stuff that she had collected earlier that day. I pay for my ticket, we get sits, put her bags down, then she reaches out of her pocket a few sheks, which was all she had... I wanted to help her but I couldn't, and it was the worst feeling in the world.

She gave me the money she had and I went up to the bus driver and paid the rest for a ticket. I sat back next to her, the whole ride she was talking to me, asking me where i was from, where i was going... when i told her i was going to the Judea youth hostel she said "woaw you're lucky, the rooms there are so nice, i wish i could live like that it's like living like a queen, you're very lucky" She started telling me where she was from, she was born in Tiberia, made her living by going around places (seminaries, yeshivas, stores...) to collect money and food for her family.
Then she became silent... The bus was still moving and I was having so many thoughts rushing through my head... I was thinking of how lucky I was to be where I am, to live in the conditions I live in... So lucky...

I turned my head towards her and saw tears rushing down her sheeks, she wiped them away with her old and weak hand. Looked at me and said: " I'm waiting for Mashiach you know what Mashiach is right? I'm waiting for Him, I'm waiting for a miracle, Life is very hard sometimes... *Silence* - Tears came again - I didn't even have time to pray today, because i was walking everywhere, I'm tired, It's so hard for a women like me, I didn't even have time to pray..." She looked so sad, she was in pain and I could feel her pain too.

Before her stop, she asked me with tears in her eyes if I could help her, if i could find money for her, ask my friends and help her. She gave me her phone number and made me promise that i would call her next Thursday. I told her I would. I Thought to myself: I have to. I need to, because I know that she will be waiting for my call and if I don't I would have lied and hurt someone who doesn't deserve to be hurt more than they already are.

At that moment I saw a smile on her face, a smile of despair. She added: "I bless you to find your perfect man, I bless you!" She made a new friend and so did I.

Whoever read this, if You could please help me get money for this women even a few shek will change her life... We're so lucky to have what we have and sometimes we tend to forget that not everyone in the world has the chance to live the lives we live.

Please Help her, Help Esther...

Thank You

Truly,

Deborah Kukurudz

Check out  WWW.TheTrugmans.Com

On Monday 11th December, we all went out to experience Yom Hadassah, a day lead by the Hadassah Women around Jerusalem not only to gain an understanding into the history of Hadassah, but also to experience the work of Hadassah in the present by visiting the hospitals in Jerusalem. We started with a bit of nostalgia, traveling to Mount Scopus where one of the Hadassah Hospitals is situated. The journey continued to Sheikh Jarach, and a memorial site where seventy-two people were killed in a convoy carrying doctors, nurses and the injured through an Arab village during Israel's fight for the declaration of the State.




After a short stop at the Mount of Olives, to see the grave of the Hadassah's founder, Henrietta Szold, we went to the new Hadassah Hotel for lunch. The remainder of our afternoon was spent engaging in activism, painting the symbol of the Young Judaea Lions and Jerusalem lion on boards which were placed around the outskirts of the Ein Kerem Hospital and visiting the cancer wards to beautify the area as well as distributing teddy bears to the children in Hadassah's mother and child center. At the end of the day we were addressed by a survivor of a bus bombing, whose life was saved by the work of Hadassah.