Today was our last day of Ulpan for our 2 intensive weeks. Now that we are beginning our volunteering we will have it only Sunday and Thursday afternoons. After class I took the bus to Tel Aviv with Anna and Eric, another person in the program. It took just over an hour and cost maybe 2 dollars. Not a bad deal at all. When we got there Anna and I decided to walk to our hostel so we could get a better sense of the city and where we were staying, I think it was maybe a 45 minute walk.
(Rabin Square at Night)
We put our stuff down at the hostel and took some food to the beach for a quick lunch. We sat down and very shortly after a bird shit on Anna and her lunch, what an exciting beginning to our weekend. After lunch we walked around the Carmel Market, Sheinken Street, Rothschild Street, and Rabin Square. It’s the end of the season so there were a lot of sales going on. They have the cutest boutiques and shops. As it started getting dark we walked to Rabin Square, the place where Prime Minster Yitzchak Rabin was assassinated. It was nice going to Rabin Square without a group of American tourists. It was also interesting experiencing it a night. For those who don’t know the story behind his assassination, the Prime Minister was at a peace rally in November 1995 and on his way out a Jew shot and killed him because he disagreed with Rabin’s new peace agreements. Peace is a tricky thing here in Israel as many of you know.
(Part of the Rabin Memorial - taken by Anna)
We headed to our hostel to meet Sarah and Molly who were joining us in Tel Aviv. We got ready for the night and headed out for dinner. We decided to go to this restaurant in Neve Tzedek, an upscale neighborhood\suburb of Tel Aviv. It is where a lot of musicians and upperclass Israelis live. I split an amazing chicken dish with couscous and grilled vegetables and a great salad with Anna. Definitely a nice restaurant with reasonable prices. After wards we headed to a club that some friends had told us about. There was a mob waiting outside the door and just as we were giving up trying to get in we started talking to this guy who brought us in another door. The club was pretty cool, American, European and Israeli music, lights everywhere. I was walking to the bathroom with Anna and I just stopped and realized, everyone here is Jewish. It sounds so simple yet it was an incredible to realize it. Very fun. Afterwards we went to friends place and snacked on nuts and such. They love eating nuts here. There was a sign please don’t use your hands to try them but we neglected to see this until after we had already tried. It was kind of unusual because they use their hands for everything in this country. On our way home we stopped by a bar by a Irish bar. Sarah was talking to a guy at the bar and pointed out some money that had fell on the floor, he said to her, you really are a Jew aren't you. We were all caught off guard by this somewhat anti-Semitic remark and left the bar. It seems that this is the one place in the world we would not have to deal with that. It was still a great night. Overall Tel Aviv is a great city, love the food, beaches, shopping, clubs but it is definitely more of an international city which to me makes it feel like it has less of the culture that we experience in Ashdod. More like other big cities I guess.
Friday February 12, 2010
I have not been able to sleep in lately and woke up at like 5 or 6 am and waited for everyone else to get up. We packed up our stuff and went to breakfast and a little café on Ben Yehudah street, the food was so fresh and delicious – eggs, salad, cheeses, tuna, nana leaves (kind of like mint leaves) and hot water. Its an interesting drink that I have been trying here. We walked through an artsy part of Ben Yehudah Street and I found this amazing gallery that was closed,
I hope to go back when its open next time. We walked to the arts shuk that is only open 2 days a week in Tel Aviv, I bought a necklace. Afterwards we walked around the shops again, the streets were so crowded with people, it was incredible. After we met up with one of Molly’s Israeli friend from birthright, we grabbed a snack and then he offered to drive us back to Ashdod. In the car it really only took 30 minutes. It was nice to spend time with him in the car, he is very out going and goes on hikes with his friends so we told him we wanted to go with him the next time, its amazing how friendly and open people are, i'd feel completely comfortable going camping with him. He, and many other Israelis that I met in Tel Aviv get this look when I tell them we live and volunteer in Ashdod. The are stereotypes about different areas in the country but when Molly’s friend dropped us off and saw our house and neighborhood he was pleasantly surprised. 
We got home and all started to get ready for Shabbat with our host families. I headed over to Zahavah’s at 6:30 and this week her sister, Jackie, was joining us. She lives near Ashkelon which is about 20 minutes South of here. I have been told she joins them a lot on the weekend. She speaks pretty good English and she is very informed when it comes to Judaism. Dinner was delicious as usual, the first course of Zahavah’s Moroccan fish and the little salads, then chicken, potatoes, vegetables, couscous and these mini egg omelet things that Jackie made. They spoke a lot in Hebrew to each other and I just tried to follow along as best as I could. A lot of random yelling and singing, very interesting dynamic. Dinner had barely ended and she handed me containers of leftovers, I thanked her so much and she said of course you are like my daughter. Its really nice spending time at their house. After dinner their neighbor Miriam came over and played cards Jackie, Amram and I. They play Rummie on Fridays a lot. It took me a few rounds to understand their rules but once I did I won a few rounds and they weren’t too happy! They invited me to come with them on Sunday to a torah dedication from their family to a Temple in Lod but I could not go with them because of a meeting I have. Jackie invited me to come to services the next morning so I figured I’d go with her. Should be interesting.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
This morning I woke up early to go to services with Zahavah’s sister, Jackie. I met her at their apartment at 8:30 and we walked over to the synagogue. Amram, my host father, was already there; I guess he goes at like 7:30 in the morning. It happens to be a pretty large synagogue across the street from the school I will be teaching at. In the beginning it was really hard for me to follow but as they went through the service I began to recognize some of the prayers. It amazing how the prayers themselves are the same around the world but the customs, tunes and timing differ so much. This was also a Sephardic synagogue, unlike the majority in the states. There were some beautiful parts of the service, like when the children were singing and leading the prayers and the sense of community that came from the room. There was one part where all the men covered their heads with their talit, many of them used there talit to cover the heads of their neighbors as well, I had never seen this before and I did not recognize the prayer so I have no idea what it was for. As I was watching a women sitting near Jackie to tell me to stop looking. I am not sure what was going on but it definitely frustrates me the separation between the men and women. I have learned the reasons for the separation but I do not enjoy the feeling of looking from the above balcony, which is blocked by decorated glass or even curtains. To me it seems like we are being excluded from the service. The conservative and reform movements do not exist in Israel (they were formed in America in the 19th and 20th centuries so the only communities that exist here were people who have made aliya and they mostly exist in the bigger cities). It is considered an orthodox temple but not in the way we have them in America. Some people are dressed up nicely while other are wearing plain shirts. Jackie says that she does not like to wear skirts so she has two pairs of flowy pants that she wears only for service. She is a very knowledgeable, religious woman in many ways but its very interesting how they can pick and choose which aspect of the religion are important to them.
The service was over by about 10:30 and then everyone leaves to go home for lunch. It was a nice feeling walking out of the temple surrounded by so many Jews on their way home for Shabbat lunch. Jackie pointed out how quiet the streets were and how you can sense the feeling of Shabbat and rest in the air. She was right. On the way home she told me her feelings on why we keep Shabbat and the importance of God. She compared God to a judge or ruler. When we go to court and we ask for forgiveness we spend a lot of time and money to hire a lawyer just to face another human being. When we face god we should be much more nervous and really think about the importance of everything we do and why we honor Shabbat. She said that God does not need us to keep Shabbat, he will be fine without it, it is the Jews who need to keep Shabbat and honor god. It was an interesting way of looking at things.
They invited me to come over for lunch after services. They say all the prayers again and the food began all over again. Challah, all of the salads, the Moroccan fish that she serves on Friday night, and then we ate chullant and rice. Chullant is a stew a lot of Jews eat for Shabbat lunch because they let it slow cook over night on low so it is still a warm meal for them but they can still keep Shabbat without using electricity and fire. It was delicious as well. After we ate Jackie took out her book and began to tell me this weeks story from the bible. I was so full and tired that I began to fall asleep; I think she felt the same way so she said she would finish the story next time. Zahavah gave me the extra chullant for my roommates so I brought it home and they loved it.
It is so relaxing to be in a place where everyone celebrates Shabbat. You do not feel like you are in the minority trying to have a relaxing day with the distractions of secular life. Everyone here is celebrating and resting in their own way. Its wonderful to be a part of such an environment.
After Shabbat a friend of mine from GW, Emily Schwartz, came by for the night. She's her in the middle of a 10 month program similar to mine. It was nice to see a familiar face. We decided to go out with some of my roommates and a few Israelis we've met. The night scene does not get big here on Saturday until midnight but everyone also works the next day. Not sure how that works but we left before anything got crazy. Tomorrow is the first day in the schools.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
First day at Mekif Yud. I headed over at 8:30 to meet Jordan, my partner in my school. We arrived to a locked gate with some students sitting outside waiting and others jumping the fence. After about 5 minutes the principal and security guard came over to let everyone in. I guess the students will be in trouble for missing prayers and people can only enter when the security guard is there so if he happens to be walking around the grounds then you just have to wait. When we got in we met up with Sania who is our coordinator and she went over our schedule with us.
(Mekif Dati Yud, Religious School in Neighborhood Yud)The first 2 periods were block scheduling it seemed for the 10th grade girls. They came in pretty late because the prayer went longer for Rosh Chodesh, the celebration of new month, but they were decently well behaved. Jordan and I introduced ourselves and then she sent each of us out to do a worksheet with 3 students. We went to the teachers lounge which does not really seem to be only for the teachers because there are always students hanging out or working in their. It’s a very informal work environment. I sat with them doing the work for over an hour and when they finished we just talked. Their English is pretty good and the girls were really sweet. I tried to make them speak only in English because I was told to never speak in Hebrew to them. One of the girls was Moroccan, one Ethiopian and one was of Iraqi decent I believe. They seemed very interested in what I had to say and enjoyed asking me questions. They realized I was Ashkenazi (Jews from Eastern Europe and such) and it almost seemed as though they looked down on me, many Jews in Israel are Sephardic, especially in Ashdod, while in America most Jews are Ashkenazi. It was interesting to me that it even mattered to them.
Another class I was supposed to work with was not ready for me so I had a large break in the middle of the day. Thankfully I live so close so I walked home for lunch and some free time. I headed back at 1 and worked with an 11th grade boys class. To say the least, they were out of control, rude yet entertaining. It took Sania over 5 minutes to get them just to all sit in their seat and to have minimal talking. Jordan and I introduced ourselves and then she sent us each out with 3 students to talk. No other assignment but to talk with them for 45 minutes in English. The schools remind me of California schools, it just gated in but then there is a courtyard surrounded by buildings with classrooms. We found a bench and just talked. One of the students was quiet and the other 2 were pretty outgoing. We talked about music, America, schools, the army, pretty much everything. One of the boys was very inquisitive about drugs and America. We were not given to many boundaries so it was kind of awkward but I just worked around the situation. I asked them what they did over the weekends. One boy said that he was religious so he celebrates Shabbat and sleeps, another one works a local park and it seemed as though the religious boy pretty much looked down on him for working on Shabbat. Another boy strolled by towards the end of class (there were many distractions from students passing by) and the religious student pointed to him and said, he plays soccer on the weekend for a team in Tel Aviv but at least he also prays! One of the boys asked if he could tell me a joke so I said okay. It ended up being a holocaust joke which I did not think was that funny but they informed me that in Israel Holocaust jokes like that are not uncommon, very different from American Jewish humor. I mentioned to them how their behavior in the classroom would never be tolerated in the States and that did not seem to phase them at all. I asked them about plans for the Army or university and they really did not have much to say. On one hand, I think they are too far away from applying to school to realize that they should care about their grades, on the other hand the army does an amazing job of maturing them. It was an interesting, frustrating, eye opening and fun day all at once. I cannot even imagine what is in store the next few months.
(View of my school from outside the fense)
On my way home I called Zahavah to let her know that I could not make it to the Torah dedication today. When we finished talking she wish me a good week and a good month, because Shabbat had just ended and a new month began. Its so interesting to me how they think about and value these specific days here, in America we would never think to wish that to someone.
This afternoon we had a group meeting where we signed up for our afternoon volunteering activities. I chose to work Monday afternoons at Beit Canada, the absorbtion center, Tuesday afternoons at the Beit Avot, Elderly living center and Wednesday evenings at Efshar Acharet, the Ethiopian youth center. I hope things work out well. Afterwards we had our Sunday Ulpan class. I had some Shabbat leftovers for dinner, studied some Hebrew with Chaya and went to bed early.
What a day.
No comments:
Post a Comment