This is my home too ...

Throughout the last several weeks, we celebrated 4 Israeli holidays - all quite moving and meaningful to us. We also celebrated our birthdays while on a trip up to the Galilee region with Pardes. I just wanted to write a bit about each experience and share with you some of our feelings as we head into our home stretch here in Israel - we have 1 more week of school and then almost one more month after that. We depart around midnight on June 27th - hard to believe!

YOM HASHOAH - Holocaust Remembrance Day - April 16, 2007

We had special programming for this day at Pardes. We heard the stories of an Auschwitz survivor, listened to a lecture from the individual who works at Yad VaShem (Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem) in the department of Righteous Gentiles (individuals who helped Jews during the war), and saw a presentation by the group of students from Pardes who went to Poland this spring. The day was very moving, although I was most impacted by the speaker from Yad VaShem since my Bubbie and Zadie (my mom's parents) survived the war with the help of a Polish farmer. As the focus of holocaust programming is usually very concentration camp heavy, I was pleased to see a presentation regarding the experiences of so many other Jews, who did not go to camps, but rather hid away with the help of non-Jews. It was also interesting to hear from our friends who were in Poland this March - many shared pictures and poems they had written while visiting some of the camps and memorials throughout the country.

At 10am on the morning of Yom HaShoah, throughout the entire country of Israel, a siren is sounded. Everyone stops what they are doing and stands in silence for the duration of the siren. Even cars stop on the streets and people get out and stand outside their doors. It was quite moving and amazing to imagine the entire country participating in this act of memoriam.

YOM HAZIKARON - Memorial Day for all who died while serving in the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) - April 23, 2007

The day before, the dean of Pardes took us to Har Herzl where the IDF (military) cemetery is located. We learned about various groups of people who gave up their lives defending the state of Israel in its almost 60 year history. The cemetery is really nice - beautifully landscaped and on a hillside of Jerusalem. Some of the stories were unbelievable - such young individuals who died in the Old City in 1948 when it was captured and other soldiers who gave their lives protecting the country in the 1967 6-Day War and the 1973 Yom Kippur War. We went the day before Yom HaZikaron in order to avoid the crowds of people who come on the actual day and as a result, we saw members of the IDF lighting memorial candles and placing flowers on every single grave in preparation for the holiday. Just being at the cemetery helped us to have a much better understanding of how united this country is and how even as different as all of the immigrants are who come here, everyone believes so strongly in the existence of the state that it holds the country together.

That evening I attended a memorial "techas" (ceremony) at a neighborhood synagogue with some friends and faculty from Pardes where we heard some singing and experienced the 2nd nation-wide sounding of the siren at 8pm. From there, we headed to the home of Alex Singer, a member of the IDF who was killed in Lebanon in 1987. He was an American who decided to move to Israel and volunteer in the army. His story and family are amazing and helped to provide a more personal perspective to what Yom HaZikaron is all about. Alex's parents actually published a book which compiles his letters and drawings (he was an amazing artist) during his time in college and leading up to and in the Israeli army ... and the sections that I have read are quite inspiring.

On the actual day of Yom HaZikaron we had a day of special programming at Pardes filled with speakers and presentations both about Yom HaZikaron and Yom HaAtzmaut, which was beginning that night. One more siren came in the morning, and Max and I actually went up to the roof of the Pardes building to get a bird's eye view of the scene. Not every single motorist stopped, but for the most part, everyone driving or walking stood silently for the blast. It was fairly surreal - especially when you know Israeli drivers (they are honking and screaming at each other much of the time!).

A couple of the day's activities at Pardes were the most meaningful for me. One of them was a break-out session where I was in a classroom with about 10 other students to discuss questions such as the following: What do you enjoy the most/least about Israel? How has your relationship with Israel changed since living here? Would you ever consider making Aliyah (moving here permanently)? etc. All year, I feel like I have been holding up the minority opinion among my friends here. Although I enjoy Israel and feel privileged to have had the opportunity to come live here, my home is in the U.S. I have always planned to live in America and be a leader in the diaspora Jewish communities. And on top of that, I have also (perhaps) been more outspoken than others regarding those things I dislike about Israel. So I started sharing my thoughts with the group - elaborating first on my dislikes -- about how on often occasion, Israelis are abrasive and rude, about how the Rabbinut (religious arm of the government) seems to have their hands in everyone's business and is creating problems for so many secular Israelis and immigrants, about how Israelis leave trash everywhere and how dirty much of the country is, and about how hard it is to get any service here while in a bank, post office, etc. But then I started sharing about the things I have enjoyed this year ... I spoke about how amazing every single holiday celebration has been, about how supportive and loving the community is that I have found here at Pardes, about how remarkable it is that Hebrew, a language outside of Israel that is only known in prayer, texts and the synagogue, has been revitalized here as the official language, and about how much pride people here have for their country. And as I shared these thoughts and listened to so many others explain why they are so connected to this tiny piece of land, I think I finally allowed myself to become more connected to this place. At the end of our session, I still remained one of the individuals in the room who does not anticipate making Aliyah, but I can say that for the first time all year, I feel that although I don't desire to move here any time soon, I can no longer rule out the possibility that in the future, I may feel differently.

We next returned to the Beit Midrash for a panel presentation of Pardes alumni who have all since made Aliyah. They shared their stories and answered our questions. The 4 panelists couldn't have been more different from each other in their journeys in making Aliyah and in their careers and how they feel about Israel today. A highlight was to hear from Linda (leaving her last name out for privacy, but the famous radio foreign correspondent Max and I have listened to for years) who lives here with her family. At the start of the panel, my all-to-familiar feelings of annoyance that Pardes was deep down trying to hint at how wonderful it is to make Aliyah came to the surface. But as I listened to the speakers and realized how remarkable their experiences have been and how they each connect to the country in a different way, I found my initial disgruntled attitude fading away and I started realizing how I am connected to Israel in a more deeply.


YOM HAATZMAUT - Israel Independence Day in 1948 - April 24, 2007

Following the conclusion of our programs at Pardes, we ventured out on the town for a true Israeli celebration. Parties were going on all over the city, including a huge one downtown where several streets were closed off and tons of people listened to live music, ate and drank in the streets. There was also a huge Israeli dancing party located in the large government center in the city - literarily hundreds and hundreds of people dancing in circles for hours at end. It was fun to try to join into the dancing and of course watching Max try to dance! :) The contrast to the observance of the somber and reflective memorial holiday that afternoon to the celebratory and jovial nature of the nighttime parties was stark. It's as if all of the hardship, pain and sacrifice that has gone into the formation and sustainment of this country explodes in a fervor of pure joy, appreciation and pride! We stayed out late - absorbed the atmosphere and had a nice walk back through town to our neighborhood.

The common practice for the day of Yom HaAtzmaut is barbequing in the parks. Everyone has the day off from work/school, so we jumped on the bandwagon and enjoyed a wonderful afternoon of sun, BBQ and friends at a nearby neighborhood park. It was fabulous. One of the many days I have had this year where I have looked around and realized how amazing it is that we are here, experiencing this country and lucky to be surrounded by friends.

YOM YERUSHALAYIM - Jerusalem Day (i.e. commemorating the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967) - May 16, 2007

The celebrations began the night before with huge concerts in a few of the major city parks. We visited Gan Sacher, the largest park and closest to us, to enjoy a public concert full of (cheesy) music about Jerusalem. Then we spent the night wondering around the city - there were tons of people out - enjoying people watching and the music. Although the younger and secular crowds were out celebrating, it seemed that Yom Yerushalayim was much less celebrated that the other holidays. We actually had a discussion in one of my classes about this. This day carries a lot more controversy than the others because many people feel quite uncomfortable celebrating an event that has created a quite difficult situation for the country. Although the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967, thereby providing Jews access to the old city was quite exciting, the situation in the city remains difficult, as I'm sure you are all aware. In many ways, people feel that the city continues to remain fairly divided today, as East Jerusalem is filled with Arab neighborhoods and the Temple Mount is run by Arabs. I think it is a good thing that many Jews are sensitive to this tension and therefore refrain from much celebration. And yet, fireworks fill the skies and parades march the streets for much of this night and day.

We actually had classes on Yom Yerushalyim so we didn't attend many of the city's daytime events, but we did have a inspiring lunch period. One of our teachers shared his personal experiences when he left his university and came to Israel about a week before the 1967 war broke out. He basically felt that he believed that the state of Israel was not going to survive the conflicts that were arising and felt that he wanted to be here to die with those defending the country. He shared stories about how he helped out driving trucks around the country and within the Old City and about the variety of people he met during that intense time. He also remarked that these experiences greatly impacted his life and continue to do so today. It was quite moving to hear of his connection to this country - his parting quote was "Your big decisions stay with you." - quite poignant for us as we are trying to decide our next steps.

Around the time of Yom Yerushalyim, we experienced two other events related to this 40th anniversary that are worth noting. The first was that Michael Oren, author of "6 Days of War", came to speak at Pardes. He was incredibly dynamic and spoke about the similarities and differences (both personally and for Israel) between the 1967 6-Day war and last summer's 2nd Lebanese War. He had also just been in DC advising our government (or as he put it, "all of the people we dislike in Washington") about the situation in the Middle East. He had quite interesting things to say about the Iraq War as well as the current and future situation here. Need less to say, I hope to find time to read his book - he was quite brilliant.

Second, Max and I attended a student event for MASA, an organization that provides scholarship money for individuals studying in Israel on long-term programs. (The trip we took last fall to the north to clean up bomb shelters in Kirat Shemona was also through MASA and we have attended various events run by the organization throughout the year). This event basically commemorated the 40th anniversary and also boasted a few speakers, including current Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. As many of you probably know, Olmert is not that popular right now and many want him to step-down. He even received a few boos at this student event. In any case, it was interesting to see him and hear him speak (he spoke in English) - he kept his words light and focused on the celebration of Jerusalem and the future of the Jewish people. The best part of the event though was probably the fireworks, which were set-off directly above the walls of the old city - they were magnificent and well awaited, after sitting in light rain during the entire program.

BIRTHDAYS

Max and I celebrated our birthdays while on the final Pardes tiyul of the year. We were up in the western part of the Galilee region, hiking not far from the Mediterranean coast. This picture is from the second day's hike - overlooking an old crusader castle I think. The trip continued into Shabbat - we stayed up in Peku'in, a Druze village, and had the opportunity to meet and hear about the Druze religion and their relationship with Israel. On Friday night, Pardes had a large Tish (Shabbat celebration with singing, eating and drinking), which they also turned into a large birthday party for us and for another friend of ours who was also celebrating his birthday. They had cake and lots of treats, and some of our friends even sang the song "Ob La Di", changing the words to talk about the 3 of us. We also had the opportunity to share a few words with our school - it was nice to be able to briefly speak to the whole community about how we were feeling as the year is beginning to wind down. That Saturday on my birthday, I read Torah at services, which is something I had been wanting to do all year, and it was remarkable how much my improved Hebrew and my familiarity with the text influenced my ability to be able to lein from the Torah! All in all, we had great birthdays, the only damper being that I got my first ever bee sting on our first hike, and my left hand remained painful and swollen for several days :(

That Saturday night was Lag B'Omer (the 33rd day of the Omer counting period which goes from Passover to Shavuot), which has become synonymous in Israel with bon fires. While up in Peku'in, we had the chance to visit the cave of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, traditionally thought to be the author of the Zohar (the book of radiance), who was believed to have died on this day. Anyway, we were exhausted from the weekend and so opted to return to Jerusalem after Shabbat ended instead of attending a bond fire on the way home. We arrived in a city filled with smoke and ashes - we even had the chance to drive by Gan Sacher (the big city park) and see the celebrations in action - it was quite crazy how many fires were going ... the poor poor Israeli environment!


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Whew ... that's our update for now. We just finished celebrating the holiday of Shavuot, which we hope to write about soon. Otherwise, we will soak up our last week of school before we head to Greece with a couple of friends at the beginning of June!