First Month Observations

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been in Israel for a month already. The question I’ve been asked a couple times from multiple people is “Do you think you could live in Israel?”. Before I answer this question, I want to state that my answer does not mean that I’m staying past January 25th. With that said, when you take away all of the extra material items that America has, life in America and Israel are not that different. What I mean by that is that the U.S. has a so many Malls, restaurants every 5 feet, Wall Marts in every city, big cars, big houses with lots of land and a million extra curricular activities to choose from. There’s a lot to do in Israel but it’s not so much running from place to place and you don’t have the options in the U.S. The people seem to be a more relaxed and in not so much of a rush all the time. Most people seem fine spending their weekends at the beach or hanging around with their families. The part that makes Israel feel so comfortable for me is the family aspect. Despite the fact that everybody here is Jewish, it’s an incredible diverse country. People come from so many different countries and continents (mainly Eastern Europe, Middle East, Africa) but every family I’ve meet so far reminds me of my family. It seems that if you meet somebody at the beach on a Thursday, they are calling you Friday morning and inviting you over for Shabbat dinner. That’s the part for me that made Israel so easy to adjust to and for me to feel comfortable immediately. There might be other places in the world that are more beautiful or have more to do but I don’t think there is anywhere else where I could have moved to for the last month and felt as immediately comfortable and adjusted so quickly. So the answer would be Yes, I know I could live here. I don’t know if I could live here forever but I don’t feel it’s so different to live here as you might think it is.

Tomorrow evening starts sukkot and schools will be closed for the rest of this week and next week which means I’m off for the next 10 days. The blog will be put on hold while I do some traveling in Israel. The plan is to go to Jerusalem tomorrow morning for the night, and then go from Jerusalem to Haifa. After a few days in Haifa I’m planning on living on a kibbutz for a couple days followed by a few days of hiking and camping in the northern part of Israel. Were going to finish the trip off with another couple days in Jerusalem. I spend a lot of time in Tel Aviv on the weekends and in my free time so it will be nice to go see some new parts of Israel. I won’t have skype while I’m gone so if you need to talk to me, call me on the cell phone. Off to get ready for tonight, spending the night in Rishon, here’s Asi and I, Asi is in charge of my program.

Phone # 011972526042751

Yom Kippur

Last week was Rosh Hashanah and my overall impression was that in Israel it isn’t that different from the way we celebrate it in the U.S. Yom Kippur ended tonight and it was very interesting to see just how different it is from the U.S. First, I heard that all of Israel shuts down during Yom Kippur and that was very true. After a big dinner on Friday night, I went to shul with Tal’s father Moshe and his son Lehav. If you were trying to compare shuls between Israel and the U.S. than this would be considered a reform or conservative shul because none of the members are orthodox. The Synagogue was still separated so women could not be in the same room as the men. It was also a small Synagogue so everybody was crammed in next to each other. Everybody wears white to shul but nobody get’s dressed up. Most people were wearing jeans or khakis and either a white t-shirt or dress shirt half unbuttoned. I’m not sure why American Synagogue’s got so formal and Israel is so casual but I must say I like the dress code better in Israel. The first 45 minutes of the service was the Rabbi auctioning off portions of the Torah for people to pay to read. Where in the U.S. you have to pay a yearly membership fee, in Israel they make money by selling Torah portions. The Kol Nidre service lasted 3 and half hours, all in Hebrew, Moshe tried to explain to me what was going on but I just sat there and turned the page whenever Lehav did. For anybody who thought I was going to come back to the States a new religious man, I can assure you with certainty that’s not happening. Last night’s Synagogue trip was an enjoyable experience but it will hold me over until the next Jewish holiday season.

After services we went to the Mall area, the mall is in the center of Nez Zionna and about 1/3 of the residents (Population 35,000) were hanging out at the mall and all the surrounding streets. It reminded me of a huge outdoor festival, except of course without food, drinks and music. It was an interesting sight to see. Not a single car on the road, streets were packed with kids, families and old people just talking and hanging out. I think the most interesting part about Yom Kippur here is that in the U.S. if you choose to celebrate and fast on Yom Kippur great, but nothing around you changes if you do or don’t. In Israel, it’s the opposite, not only do you almost have too but people here are excited to and it’s just a way of life. There was not a single thing open, even every TV station is blacked out and shows nothing for 25 hours. I went back to Moshe’s to break fast and helped him set up the Sukkah for Sukkot next week.

Last Thursday, we took a trip to the Jezreel valley. It’s in the northern part of Israel, where we learned about the early Kibbutzim that were started. We learned how the people worked the lands and how Israel used the Kibbutz as not only an early way to settle the lands but also to expand the Jewish control over the land so when Israel finally became a state they could lay claim to the land and expand Israel’s territory. I find the history of the state of Israel very interesting, so I really enjoyed learning everything. We were supposed to go on a hike in the afternoon but it was so hot that we went to some type of natural pool to go swimming instead, which I must say was a much better idea. Check me out dressed up as an early Zionist pioneer and pretending to work. I would have struggled since everybody who came before the state of Israel and shortly after its existence was both a farmer and a soldier.

The food!

One of my main concerns before coming to Israel was how I would handle the food for 5 months. After 3 weeks I’ve learned that I will be able to survive here and there are a lot of things in Israel that are better than the U.S. but I would definitely give the edge to America on the food. Most of you who know me know that I love to eat, love to cook and usually have the food network on the TV when not watching sports. When I plan a trip the first thing I usually do is a google search for the best restaurants where I’m going. Of course by best restaurant I’m not referring to the most expensive or classy but the hole in the wall with the greasiest most delicious food in that city. So of course I was excited to get to know another country's cuisine.

The number one food item in Israel without a doubt is the Ice Café. I don’t understand why they don’t have it in America but it’s basically ice coffee that is the thickness of a milkshake sold everywhere. It’s the best thing to beat the constant heat in Israel and just unbelievably delicious/refreshing, even if you don’t love coffee. So what am I eating? I certainly am eating healthier than in the U.S. I haven’t weighed myself but there is not doubt I’ve lost a couple pounds. I honestly don’t think I’ve gone a day since I got here without eating humus. I’m eating a lot of fruits and vegetables (mostly cucumbers, grapes, avocado and mangos), pita/cucumber with humus, and of course falafel, schnitzel and shawarma. You can’t walk 10 feet with out running into a falafel/schnitzel/shawarma stand and I’m definitely starting to be able to tell the difference between quality and bad stands. I haven’t eaten at a lot of nice sit down restaurants because their just expensive and not working for 5 months I need to cut cost somewhere. I think what I’m missing the most is the selection of food items in the US, it’s nice to drive 5 minutes and have 50 different choices of food. Oh well, for 5 months I’ll survive, I’m kind of hungry, think I’ll go grab some grapes!

Favorite new snack food – Peanuts that you eat the shell, not sure exactly what it is but it taste like a salted peanut and you eat the whole thing

Falafel, schnitzel or shawarma? – Close call between schnitzel or shawarma but shawarma is going to have to take it

Item I’m craving the most – Fried Chicken

Mcdonalds count – 1 time so far, not bad for just over 3 weeks in Israel

On an unrelated topic I’ve ordered the NFL game pass so I will be able to watch every Ravens game live. I’ve never been so excited to wake up at 2 in the morning as I am for tonight. I’m also planning on being on Skype during the games if anybody is watching the games home and wants to talk during halftime or commercials. The pics are of a late night hotdog from Florentine with about 25 toppings and per Tapper’s request another pic of Daya and her friend Tal.

The Post Rosh Hashanah Post

The holiday started off with my group being invited a banquet on Wednesday for what seemed like all the important people in Nes Zionna. It was at a banquet hall and there were probably over 200 people there. They gave out awards for the past year to teachers, policeman, serviceman… and showed a long video of everything that happened in the past year. The whole thing was in Hebrew so I couldn’t really follow, however I did enjoy the 4 course meal that came with the banquet and finally got some red meat for a change. Apparently the night before Rosh Hashanah in Israel is the like the night before thanksgiving in America. Went out to a dance club, everywhere was packed had a great time even though it was really crowded.

For the first night of Rosh Hashanah went to my friend Daya’s grandparents house for dinner. Her parents and cousins are not religious but her grandparents are and even have a synagogue in their back yard. This was an orthodox synagogue (although I think that’s all they have here) so the men were in the main area and the women had to sit in a separate room. It was a tiny synagogue, no more than 25 men praying. After services they gave me a very quick tour, there is at least 7 Torah’s in this Shul which seems like a ridiculous amount for the size of the Shul. When I first got to the house, my original impression was that it was to religious for me but shortly after I arrived the services were over, everybody left and we had a normal Rosh Hashanah dinner with just the family. Food was good not great, when I got home from dinner and talked to my parents about what they were doing for the holiday, it was the first time since I got here that I kind of wished I was home. I was really craving some brisket, Matzo ball soup and half sour pickles.

I had heard before I came here that secular Israeli’s don’t feel the need to go to Shul because what can you do that is more Jewish than live in Israel. For whatever reason, I have the same feeling being here. If I was home and didn’t go to Shul yesterday I would have felt really guilty about it. However, being in Israel I didn’t feel the need to go to Shul yesterday so I decided to go to the beach with some friends since there was really nothing else to do. To my surprise the TLV beach was packed once again, with families, friends, couples just like on a normal Shabbat. I know Yom Kippur will be different but my overall impression was that Israel treats Rosh Hashanah as a day of celebration where in the U.S. we treat it much more as a religious holiday.

Looking forward to the weekend, going out in TLV tonight to an area called Florentin that is supposed to have a lot of artsy bars and clubs so it should be fun. On my way to the bar Wednesday came across the New Years celebration, I thought my new years was fun last year, not like this (check out the video). The pic is of my Argentina friends and roommates Emi, Cecila and I at the Nes Zionna Banquet.

Shana Tova…almost

Happy “almost” new year everybody, I just came back from Ulpan class and am sitting outside on this gorgeous Israeli Sunday. The new year starts Wednesday and I’m very excited to see the differences between how Israeli’s and Jewish Americans celebrate the holidays. I’ve already started to see that a lot of the traditions and customs that I thought were universally Jewish are really just American Jewish, but more on that later. My friend Daya’s family volunteered to be my host family so I will be spending the holidays with her family. Just because I’m in Israel, I don’t think that means I should change the way I celebrate holidays. So I’m planning on doing my normal custom of doing nothing to help out, show up when dinner is ready and eat until I can’t fit anything else in my mouth.

Had a very nice Shabbat weekend, my friend Dan and I rode bikes to the beach on Friday afternoon before dinner. It’s been a long time since I got on a bike but it was a good time until his bike got a flat tire about an hour away from the house. We walked to the closest gas station but couldn’t get the tire fixed so he had to take a taxi home and I rode back by myself. For Shabbat dinner, Daya’s friend Tal’s parents invited us to dinner. With out a doubt the best meal I’ve had in Israel so far. Four different types of chicken, humus, rice, potatoes, tons of deserts and a lot more that I’m missing. Had a really nice time meeting and hanging out with their family. I’m definitely going to hold them up on their offer that I can come over any time for dinner.

As for some of the differences between American Jews and Israelis, on the way to dinner I saw ton’s of men walking back from shul. All the men were wearing flip flops, jeans and a polo/tshirt. I was told that services on Friday night last for about an hour and most men go, even though they consider themselves secular Jews. I also saw pictures of Tal’s brother bar mitzvah in which he was wearing black shoes, jeans and a dress shirt untucked. Just a little different than the tux I had on for my Bar Mitzvah. Went back to Tel Aviv yesterday and hung out at the beach. Tried to stay up for the first college football weekend but the sun really wore me out yesterday. I’m pretty sure this is the tannest I’ve ever been. I had such a good time on the bikes on Friday I’m going for another ride now, I think to Rehovot to do a little shopping and buy some souvenirs. Check out me in front of the cinema park dinosaurs before the flat tire and Tal’s mom and I after dinner. She’s very nice but I certainly wouldn’t trade!

Shalom from Israel

Just finished the first week of ulpan and so far I’ve learned a lot but like most things I learned in school, I forget very quickly. I think it’s going to be a while until I start to feel somewhat comfortable with Hebrew. The weather has cooled down a little bit and I actually felt a drop of rain today on the walk over to ulpan. However, when I got out it was back to 95 and sunny.

Had a somewhat relaxed second week in Israel, spent Tuesday night at an Israeli friends house that we met, went to a dance bar last night in Rehovot and spent the other evenings doing normal living errands and trying to study some Hebrew. The highlight of the week was probably the pickup soccer game yesterday against 13 year olds. I thought I was in decent shape, but I could barely breathe after the first 10 minutes. We played for about an hour, the Israeli’s crushed us but I had a good time and will probably be back there soon for a rematch. I’m making this a short post because I don’t have to much time to write. I’m meeting my host family for Shabbat dinner tomorrow and will also spend the holidays next week with them. Check out me and my ulpan teacher.