Familiar Faces, Familiar Places

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Recently, I have been blessed to have a slew of visitors. Familiar faces have come to me so very far away, taken me for a meal, given me a hug, relayed news from home, been tehre for me and so much more. It is very hard to be away from home, from the comforts of everything I know and to be in a society that is so complex, changing every day. Just a week ago I reached the 3 months in Israel mark, and I have mixed feelings. While I have done well, survived the changes, adjusted to the new life here, I have also begun to miss home. Normally, I’d be going home in the next few weeks from school and spending time with family, but this is not hte case this year. Instead, I am getting ready to pack a bag, get on a jet place and explore yet another unfamiliar place, Greece.
And so this all has me thinking about familiarity. I know that while the faces might be familiar, they will soon be different. Being away for so long, i know people iwll change, relationships change. Old relationships that seemed familiar become unfamiliar, and new faces become the familiar ones. So, what makes something or someone familiar? I dont’ know. I do know that I miss the familiar things in my life today. I miss the familiar faces, the comforts of home and the familiarity of Los Angeles and Detroit. But at the same time, Israel is becoming familia,r and one day, the lines will blur…
I’m tired, time for bed! LOVE!

The Times, They are a Changin’

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I woke up this morning in a very differnt world than I am going to sleep in, and yet, it is still very much the same. You see, today, a decision was made that will have a great impact on my life, I am just not sure yet. Today a decision or, many decisions were made that will need to be digested by me, by my movement, and the larger implications of this are not entirely known. What I do know is that I am proud to be a part of a movement that upholds the Halachic process, that values human dignity, inclusion and moral imperatives. I also recognize the fact that there is much work to be done in order to continue this growth. But hey, one foot in front of the other seems to work for me. I am interested to see what happens in the coming days, weeks, months and years, but proud to be where I am, proud to be studying to become a Rabbi. Tradition and Change are valued, held with the utmost respect, and guide my life.
I think I have a lot more thinking to do on this, but I got to sleep tonight knowing that while the world may be changing, and the next few weeks/months might be trying, I am happy with where I am, and that’s what matters in the end!

I am Alive

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Don’t worry, although I may not have been updating as regularly as I would have liked, I am very much alive and well! I am just extremely busy with midterms and projets and presentations, and school and life and my GREECE trip in a week. There is much to write about, but I seem to have writers block, so, just know I am alive, and we’ll talk soon!!

Achen Yesh Adonai B’Makom HaZeh V’Anochi Lo Dadati?!?!

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Surely God is in this place and I, I did not know it!! What a powerful verse. This verse is in our parshat HaShavua, and it is one of my favorites. It is written on the Aron at my shul in the States, and hs always stood out in my mind. After all, when I was a child I was taught that God is everywhere, so how could I not already know that God is there?!?! For me, the verse is talking about God MOments. Those moments in time where we realize that God is around us, surrounding us, suppoting us. God is everywhere, it is up to us, the individual, me to find God.

I was sitting in services this morning and it just struck me, God is in this place, and I knew it, I know it. I just choose sometimes not to see it, or sometimes, I have trouble seeing it. I think since I have been in Israel I have had more God moments, moments of awe, of love, of presence than ever before. I think it is my responsibility to recognize God in my life. So, Yes, GOD IS IN THIS PLACE, But I DO KNOW IT, I just need to take the time to recognize it a little bit more often!!

My Life is a Comedy of Erros (when I’m sick) and Thanksgiving is an American Holiday

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Alright, so, I seem to have come down with the Jerusalem bug. That means I feel like I look like a chipmunk because my sinuses are so huge, my throat is scratchy, my tummy hurts, and I’m always cold (that could just be from the lack of heat and constant hot water in this country). Anyways, I am pretty miserable, but very thankful that there is no school today so I could spend most of the day in bed. That is, until I found myself without my tylenol sinus and no more kleenex, so off to the Kiosk I went. Israel is great, they have about a million corner store type places within a 5-10 minute walk of my apartment. I went off to my favorite one… No Kleenex, hit up the next one, No Kleenex, and this happened 3 more times. Finally, when my nose was really running, my head spinning and my tummy aching i decided to tough it up and head to the grocery store, a 15 minute walk. And so I went. I get in there, and it seems as though every place I tried to go, someone would walk right in front of me. I go to the aisle that should have my kleenex, no, not there. Now I’m a little tanky (tired and cranky!), but my good friend from school is in front of me and finally points out the kleenex to me. And so I go over, grab my 10pack of pocket packages and 2 more huge boxes and begin to check out.

Checkout could of course never go easily. I find my line, only one person in front of me, and all of her stuff is baged up, yes i think, this will be quick. WRONG. she is taking ehr time talking to the cashier, I stand there for 5 minutes while they chat, wanting nothing more than take my stuff and run home to the bathtub. But, I control myself, listen to their conversation, and wait patiently. Finally, my turn. The cashier rings up my stuff and then, in typical Israeli fashion tries to offer me everything at the end of her lane, what a deal, kleenex in a different shaped box, cashews, persimons… finally out of frustration and realizing that being nice is not working, I snap at her in Hebrew that I just want what I brought to the register and want to leave. She rings me up and I leave. Looking forward to my bed at the end of the walk.

I head out for home, and as I’m halfway there, my finger starts hurting, i look and my shopping bag is wrapped a hundered times around my favorite turquoise/silver ring. I stop, try and undo it, and now my ring is bent way our of shape… such a sad day. I keep walking, I’m almost there, and a bicyclist cuts me off out of nowhere. I ignore it, focusing on my bed, but when I arrive at the stairs that bring me out to my street, there she is stopped there, on her cell phone (neatly held in place by her helmet) chatting away blocking the stairs. I politely say excuse me, but she cant’ hear me, she’s on the phone, so after about a minute of patients, I push my way through and my building is in sight. I reach the door, pull out my keys… they’re not there. My trusty Umich lanyard seems to only have my student ID on it and my locker key for my locker at the UJ… now, I want to cry. I dig around in my purse, and luckily, i find the keys, open the door, run to the elevator (wanting nothing more than to be in my bed) and it doesnt’ work…. up 5 flights of stairs i trudge, open my door, and finally, i am home…

UGH! What a trip, I miss America, my car, and the grocery store that has everything. As for more tylenol sinus… i’ll save the drugstore search when I have regained some of my strength! At least I can easily get Kosher Chicken soup here!!

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Hello from Israel, where Thanksgiving is not a national holiday, and I will not suddenly be hearing Christmas music on the radio all the time. In Israel, today is just an ordinary Thursday, and I am o.k. with that! Instead, I live in a country where all the Americans around me at least, are trying to hold onto their American heritage and celebrate thanksgiving. Now, I love turkey, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie as much as the next American, but, is it the end of the world to be without it? No. I think it is much harder to be without my family, than to be without a turkey. Sure, we can sing thanksgiving songs or American songs, fight over turkey in the supermarket with some old woman who just wants to eat a nice shabbat dinner, search high and low for pie crusts that are not chocolate flavored. Or, we can celebrate the fact that I am thankful to be in Israel and have the friends that I do around me. Perhaps if I had planed better, I could have had people over, and had a great Israeli food feast, celebrating what I am thankful for, but oh well, maybe next year!!

I’m thinking about thanksgivings I have had throughout my life, and what I miss the most is not the food, but the friends and fmaily. I remember sleepovers with my best friend in elementary school, decorating the tablecloth, naming the turkey, waking up to the smell of my mom’s turkey, eating Auntie’s mashed potatoes, Nana’s lemonade jello mold, Belle’s pies, my Grammy eating the carcas, Tanta’s art projects, Putting on the play with my cousins, watching the parade together, and just being together… I’m thankful for all those memories this year and the Smile they put on my face!