Yashar, Yashar

Dear friends,

I have learned my lesson about complaining when things are a bit dull. Just to spice things up, I had quite the eventful Shabbat.

One of my new friends and I decided to go to Ramat Bet Shemesh, a beautiful area outside of Jerusalem. We left early, with plenty of time to catch the bus from the central bus station. We arrived at the bus station at around 1:30. We joined the incredibly cramped, crowded security line, and we were pushed, shoved, and bumped for about twenty minutes before we finally made it inside. We found where we were supposed to buy bus tickets, but we were informed that we couldn’t buy tickets for this bus. The person behind the desk also told us that she didn’t know where to pick up the bus, so we wandered around the station for a while. We asked a few people, but they didn’t know where to get the bus, so we went back and asked again. Turns out that we were supposed to pick up the bus OUTSIDE. Bleh. The last bus was to leave at 2:30. Plenty of time, right? So we walked speedily outside, following the little map to the bus stop that the lady behind the desk drew for us. Unfortunately, my sense of direction failed me, and we looked at the map…backward. Oops. By 2:50, with the stop nowhere in sight, we realized that there was no way we were making that bus. We ended up having to pay a rather expensive cab fare to Ramat Bet Shemesh.

We arrived, and the family was lovely. I was pretty exhausted, but Shabbat dinner was very good. I happened to mention that I was thinking about coming home soon, nothing definite yet. After a little walk after dinner, I went to bed…and slept for nearly 12 hours. (That part was pretty fantastic).

The next morning, I went with one of the kid to walk an elderly neighbor over for Shabbat lunch. We’ll call her Mrs. Gold. Mrs. Gold is 88 and I really enjoyed walking with her. It was a pleasure to chat with her. In fact, after lunch, Mrs. Gold and I sat talking for quite a long time. She gave me lots of advice about life and told me stories about her life. After a while, the dad of the family walked back in and commented to Mrs. Gold with a wicked grin, “Did she tell you she’s leaving?” Mrs. Gold’s face transformed instantly from a sweet smile to an aghast frown. She then proceeded to yell at me for even considering leaving Eretz Yisrael. (Among her arguments were that since I’m 22, I should be a mother with five kids by now…my roommates and I wondered if that could include multiple births, because I think even someone who got married quite young would have trouble with the goal of five kids by 22.)

Anyway, getting yelled at by the nice old lady was a bit traumatic. I think she felt bad, because later she offered to read my palm. (You can email me and ask me what she said if you’re curious.) One of her first readings was that I am very sensitive, and my feelings can easily be hurt, even by a stranger. Nope, I’m not skeptical at all about her palm-reading abilities.

After Shabbat (and palm-reading sessions) were over, we made our way back to Har Nof. We waited a long time for a bus (or maybe it just seemed like a really long time!) When we got off, my poor sense of direction led us astray again, and we ended up walking pretty far in the opposite direction…in the rain. Whoops. We asked an Israeli couple to help us, and they said “yashar, yashar” (straight, straight). Just so you know, if you ask ANY Israeli for directions, they will always say “yashar, yashar.” Unfortunately, things are rarely actually “yashar, yashar”…hence getting a bit lost again. Fortunately, we eventually made it back safe and sound.

Quite a Shabbat. I’m not a fan of being yelled at. Luckily, it doesn’t happen too often.

In other news, I suppose I should make a formal announcement. Completely unrelated to little old ladies yelling at me, I’ve decided that it’s time for me to come home. I have so loved my experience here in Yerushalayim, but I am ready to come home and process what I’ve learned. I’ll be back in just two weeks. I can’t wait to see all of you, my dear friends at home!

Love,
Rachel

Hello hello,

Sorry I haven't updated in a while! The trouble is that my days look much like this: wake up, breakfast, class, lunch, nothing exciting, dinner, more class, sleep. So I don't have too much new to share. Things are pretty good. These days I have to stick to Yerushalayim (not that I was going anywhere so interesting before), so I spent Shabbat in Mallot dafna, and I'm going to Ramat Bet Shemesh this Shabbat (which is quite exciting, because it's beautiful there!) Mallot dafna was really nice; it was a very relaxing Shabbat with my roommate. We got to play with an adorable 9-month-old baby girl, which of course made me very happy :-) Other than that, though, not too much new. My favorite teacher, Rebbetzin Heller, is in America right now, so my that makes my days a bit less interesting and fun. Sorry I don't have anything more exciting to share! Obviously, I need to go on some fantastically amazing adventures so I'll have more to share here :-)

love,
Rachel

I'm sad to report that one soldier has died. When I say soldier, it sounds like I'm talking about some far away individual. Someone trained for battle. That may be true--he may have undergone training--but this was a 22-year-old man who died. In Israel, you go into the army right after high school, and then you serve for 2-3 years. In America, we go straight into college; in Israel, you go straight into the army. These are kids fighting this war, young men and women starting their lives.

I'm 22. I've come to Israel to learn and grow. Men and women younger than me are fighting to keep me safe while I'm here. Thank you to them. I will be davening for their safety and success.

Dear friends and family,
Happy New Year! I can’t believe we’ve started 2009. There was no evidence of the new year here. People know the secular calendar, but because we have our own Jewish calendar, the new secular year isn’t such a big deal here. So for my New Year’s Eve, I read and fell asleep well before midnight (hey, don’t make fun—I have 8:30 class everyday!)

The change in the political climate hasn’t been so much fun. Last Shabbat, I was sitting at the Shabbos table and the windows kept shaking. The family explained that the windows shake like that when planes fly by—which kept happening—because the planes were heading over to Gaza to bomb there. Creepy. I promise that I do feel safe here, but even so—the war here is scary and sad.

I don’t have so much exciting news to report. This Shabbat was really lovely. I spent it with three of my friends and we ate our meals at the homes of really wonderful families. The only slightly sad thing is that it’s gotten colder here in Yerushayim. It gets down even to the 30s at night, and between the forties and fifties during the day! Yikes! Ok, I know you all want to make fun of me now, but in my defense, we only have heat in our dorms for two hours a day. That leaves 22 hours of one very cold room! Hopefully, when I return home, I’ll just appreciate all the luxuries that much more.

Lots of love,
Rachel

2009--Happy New Year!!

No need to worry

Dear friends and family,

By this point, most of you are probably aware that there has been a bit of chaos here in Israel. I understand that Israel has been making the front cover of the newspaper for the past few days. Well, I just want you all to know that even though the newspapers make it sound scary, we are JUST FINE here in Israel. I am not near Gaza, where the actual bombing is happening. The rockets that the Palestinians have been shooting have only a 40 km range, and since Yerushalayim is far out of that range, I am in no danger from those rockets. I won't be going anywhere near where the rockets can reach, I promise. I admit that the danger of Palestinian retaliation in the form of suicide bombing is always there, but there is always danger wherever you live, and I'm going to be careful about avoiding crowded places until this stuff dies down. So, my dears, please don't feel like you need to worry AT ALL. All is well. :-)

Dear friends and family,

Merry Christmas! Though there are no signs of Christmas here in Yerushalayim, I am aware that it is the 25th and I hope that those of you who celebrate this day have a wonderful holiday filled with love, happiness, and family.

Last night, I went to the wedding of one of my (former) apartment-mates. The wedding was truly breathtaking. It took place at this huge and spectacular synagogue in Jerusalem. Unlike the last wedding that I went to, I could actually see everything that was happening--there weren't tons of men in black hats surrounding the chuppah blocking me from seeing! The bride looked beyond beautiful and incredibly joyful. My friends and I stayed there dancing until the band finally stopped playing sometime close to midnight. One of the really cool things about religious weddings is that unlike typical weddings where the bride and groom are supposed to mingle and entertain the guests, the guests are supposed to bring joy to the bridge and groom! It is a great mitzvah to bring simcha (joy) to the bride and groom. The bride and groom are literally sat down and have people dancing and doing generally goofy stuff in front of them to make them laugh. I peered over to the men's side and watched one of my most reserved rabbis dancing and spinning around in front of the groom to make him laugh. It certainly worked for me! At one point, I saw a woman running over to the bride dressed in a kimono-type outfit with one of those Asian pointy-hat thingies on her head. She saw me and beckoned me over and gave me a pink kimono-thing and a pointy hat and we went and danced in front of the bride! It was such a blast. I really had an amazing time.

I'm also enjoying having a couple of days off for Chanukah. I've slept in two days in a row, which is pretty exciting, and today I get to baby-sit for a super cute little baby girl. Then I'm going to get to meet up with my brother and his fiancee again to spend some more time with them, which is so nice. :-)

Lots of love!