the email i sent everyone earlier, cut and pasted

Things are really getting busy here in Be'ersheva. It's so shocking that I've already been here almost a month. It definitely FLEW by. At the same time it feels like I've been here forever, but I think that's just because I'm so used to living here. Here goes on my account of the last week:

Monday: Ulpan. Weekly lecture by Rabbi Eli, entitled "Conscious Living." In summary, everyone has a potential in their life; a personal, independent potential. No one can dictate what that potential is other than yourself. The lecture topic led a few of my fellow fellowship-ers to question Eli on their potential as Jews, asking if because they were less religious, were they also less Jewish? Eli did a good job of really emphasizing that it doesn't matter how Jewish you are, as long as you are fulfilling your own personal potential. After Eli's lecture, I went to a school sponsored lecture on the History of Female Rabbinic Ordination by a woman named Elisa Klapheck. The lecture was really more about this woman, Fraulein Rabbiner Jonas, who was the first ordinated Rabbi in the early 20th century. She was a German woman who wrote a thesis on whether it was possible for a woman to be a rabbi, and she used all the sources, such as Talmud/Gemorrah/Bible/etc to prove her case. When the Nazi's came, she was taken to Auschwitz where she continued giving sermons within the camp. *VERY* interesting story, and her biography (by Elisa Klapheck) is available - it's entitled "Fraulein Rabbiner Jonas" If you buy it, save it for me so I can read it too!!!

Tuesday: Ulpan. I met with Shlomo (the head of the Overseas Program here) about the semester/my courses/etc. Decided to sign up for Politics and Public Policy of Israel as my 4th class, and I'm going to look in on the other classes the first week to see if there's a different one I'd like to take, since we have a "shopping period." It also looks like Shlomo might have found me an internship with an art history professor which is SUPER exciting. I haven't been able to meet with him yet because he keeps cancelling on me, but hopefully tomorrow? Ended the day with by far the best movie ever - Casablan. An Israeli musical from the 70's. But seriously, this is a MUST SEE, if you can find it. If you can, my birthday is May 11, but Hanukkah is sooner.

Wednesday: Ulpan. I met with Rose Weinberg, the Israeli representative for Brandeis. She took me out to lunch (and said it was on Brandeis's money - even better!) and we talked about how I'm doing/whether I'm happy or not (I am!). She knows Mom's cousin Yosi Aronson because they lived in the same building - YAY JEWISH GEOGRAPHY! The OSP group went on a tour of Be'ersheva. The city is actually HUGE and some areas are really really REALLY nice. I took lots of pictures. I also found the Negev Art Museum and I'm hoping to go soon! After the tour we walked around, went to a street festival, and got ice cream. It may sound weird, but I got poppy-seed ice cream (it looked like cookies and cream) and it was actually *really* delicious.

Thursday: Ulpan. Bus with my friend Rachel to Jerusalem. The group was going to Jerusalm on Friday but we went a day earlier to visit with her friend in the city and go out. On the way to Jerusalem (actually, right outside of Jerusalem) our bus broke down. We had to jump on another bus headed to the central bus station. On our bus was a group of Americans involved with Otzma. One of the girls just graduated from Brandeis and was headed to Lauren Apfelbaum-Miller's place (for those of you out of the loop, I worked at Phonathon with Lauren). Israel is just super cool. Rachel's friend is renting/house-sitting in the German colony which is really nice. The friend and roommate were super cool and we had fun going out to dinner and the bar.

Friday: Taxi-ed to Yad Vashem to meet up with my group. The museum was re-done a year or 2 ago, and it's much more powerful now. Our tour guide was very good, but unfortunately we didn't have too much personal time to go through the exhibits at our own pace. After the museum we went to Armon Hanaziv (I think that's where Mika had her Bat-Mitzvah?) to eat lunch. Then we went to the Old City where we walked around and saw the basics like the Cardo. After a brief visit at the Kotel, a few of us went to the Armenian Quarter to shop/explore. I bought a really beautiful tapestry for my room for cheap from a guy and his uncle who were SO nice and SO funny. I got my haggle on and got the price down from 400 NIS to 100. Not too shabby. Later in the afternoon we met up with Rabbi Eli who showed us where we were staying - the Heritage House (free, Jewish hostel in the Old City). Really nice for what it was, and of course, the men have their own "House" down the street. We showered, hung around, and then went to the Kotel for Shabbos. Not that great on the women's side so a few of us tried to join in on the men's side (from the other side of the fence). For dinner we were separated into small groups and taken to the homes of Jewish families in the Old City. 2 other OSP kids and I went to the Klein family for dinner. A really nice couple with a cute little boy who was asleep on the couch the whole time. The husband is American and the wife is Swedish and she looked about half his age. They did something I haven't seen yet in the more religious group which is after the husband blessed the son and wife, the wife then blessed the son and the husband! WHOA! And THEN, right before the meal, the husband spontaneously started talking to his wife, having a somewhat personal moment, where he told her, in his very breathy quiet voice, that if it wasn't for her, he wouldn't breathe, and that he is so thankful for her, etc etc. And then she did the same back. Random, but really nice. Ate some really good food, of course. Passed out once I got back to the hostel.

Saturday: Woke up early (the Hostel kicks everyone out to pray at 10:3am) and went back to the Kotel. I was able to spend a little bit more time. Lunch at Eli's place in Jerusalem. Lots of fun. Siesta time back at the hostel where I got to take a nap before a lecture by one of the most famous Rabbi's in the Old City right now, Rabbi Aba Wallens-something? *GREAT* lecture on Tradition vs. Self Realization. He talked about how there are Jews who are Jews because that's what tradition taught them, and there are Jews who find Judaism for themselves, and that, to be a successful Jew, you need to have both. Really fascinating and thought-provoking, and true. It's really not enough to say you celebrate Shabbat or wear Tefillin because that's what your father did, and his father before him. Finished off Shabbos with dinner at Eli's and Havdallah. Hung out in the Old City while we waited for our Sherut (shared taxi) back to Be'ersheva. After this trip, I really feel like I know the Old City like the back of my hand. It's a complete maze, but I know a large portion of it now.

Sunday: Ulpan. Hung around doing nothing since I had spend a good deal of money over the weekend. Rather than go out with the group, a few of us stayed behind. One girl and I made a rice with beans/peppers/other assorted random vegetables that came out tasting really good and CHEAP! haha). After, I exposed a few of the other kids to the wonders of the documentary THE ARISTOCRATS! I gave them the disclaimer that it's really really really REALLY offensive, but for the most part they loved it as much as me. (Only one guy couldn't handle it and left)

I'm not up to date on what's going on politically in Israel, but just to show that you never know what's going to happen in Israel, I have two examples from the weekend. Thursday ( I believe ) the beach I went to in Ashkelon the previous weekend was hit by a rocket from Gaza. Thursday night while I was on Ben Yehuda street, the police had to block off a street so that they could safely blow up a bag that had been left behind the street. The area blocked off was the street right in front of the hostel that I stayed at when I was in Jerusalem 2 weekends ago.

Yallabye