The GREEN Line

This Shabbat was one that I don’t think I will forget anytime soon. I decided to go with josh to his family friends the Guts who live in Efrat. We spent the morning downtown at machne buying the entire market up. I am pretty sure we had more food than we knew what to do with. Then we made our way across the green line(my first time in gush etzion) which was tantamount to crossing into Jordan(jk). We got a nice tour from eric who took us around the surrounding communities to see what life is like there. We arrive with plenty of time to spare before Shabbat, and were able to make ourselves presentable (it is kind of hard these days with a 4 week omer beard). We then headed to 1 of 9 synagogues in Efrat. There was a very spiritual and wonderful tefillah. The man leading kabbalat Shabbat put his soul into davening and made it connect with me. Right after I finish praying and I am leaving the building, of course who do I run into of all people: Yehuda Marcus. He was an israeli staff for wheels in 2008. He had been in the states for the past couple months traveling in Denver and working in New York. He just returned to Israel this past week and had the honor of seeing him on his first Shabbat back. We talked and caught up on the long 2 year absence that has been since I last saw him. Then it was off to dinner with the group. We went to a good friend of Eric’s by the name of Saul. He is a doctor that travels every 2 weeks back to NY to work and then 2 weeks to live here in israel. He is a brilliant man who has extensive knowledge in all aspects of life. We began a conversation in the beginning of dinner and i was so entrenched that the next thing I knew we had been talking for 2 hours. Often I had trouble keeping up with him but somehow he still complimented me on how smart I was and gave me great compliments. Besides the great conversation, the food was incredible. For some reason every single family I go to worries that I will not eat enough because I am a vegetarian but they all fail to realize that I make up for it by eating every single thing that I can instead of others that pass on food. The entire evening was amazing in so many facets. It was so different for me being a stimulating night that does not usually happen here with my college friends. The rest of shabbat was very relaxing. It consisted of a lot of reading, a lot of eating, some davened, spending quality time with josh and his family, and really realizing the holiness of the day that is something not to be taken lightly. The view from the settlements is beautiful and makes you realize that all of Israel is special and the territories that were given up are more than just pieces of game for peace. The weekend made me realize that the issues of settlements are a little more complex than we realize and the vigor that people express may need to be calmed.

Getting back from Efrat may be the easiest thing to do when it comes to transportation. Normally the bus arrives, goes through the entire town, comes back to tachanah mercazit all within an hour and a half. However, most of these American settlers in Efrat have business or relatives in Jerusalem and travel to see them after Shabbat. I walked out of Eric and Karen’s and the first couple I ran into I asked where they were going and the said Jerusalem so I asked for a ride for Joshy and myself and they were happy to oblige. They took us to Emek Rafaim where we hopped on the bus back to the cfar. I then had to rush myself out of the door to meet some people downtown. While waiting for them outside of a bar I thought I saw someone I knew having a drink and then after a double take I did in fact know her. It was Ayelet Firstenberg a girl from LA that has gone to school with my brother josh, and the sister of Gali who was in my grade. I chatted with her for a little since I had not seen her in like 10 years. She is here hanging, interning, and living life. It was really great to see her, a kind of blast from the past.

Yom Hazikaron & Yom Ha'atzmaut

Luckily, I did not have to go back to school after the weekend since I had an extended break due to Yom hazikaron and Yom ha’atzmaut being on Monday and Tuesday. However the days were not vacations where I could relax since they were jam packed with stuff that I was doing. On erev Yom hazikaron I had dinner with shoshie which was great since she was leaving 2 days later and I was worried I would not get to see her before she left. We then went to the MASA remembrance event where we sat with Benji and Arya. We took part in a somber tekes that remembered the lives of 7 fallen lone soldiers (one of them being Michael Levin z’’l). It was a very powerful night that had the entire country commemorating together. Then in the morning my spring in Jerusalem program had our own event. We traveled around Jerusalem to sights of important battles during the Independence war. We learned about the people that fell in order to keep the state alive. We saw a military tekes in Givat Ananim which not many people go to but is powerful. There was a 7 gun salute at the end along with wreaths placed as memorials. It was a very moving day that drained me both physically and emotionally but when the evening came I had to 180 how I felt since it was then yom ha’atzmaut right away. The whole city light up in moments as the celebration of Israel’s 62^nd year of existence was marked. The parties were ubiquitous. I went downtown with all my friends and ran into everyone I know that is in Jerusalem. Sari Roy, Brett and Aderet, Yael, Joel, Joey Heyman, Nativ kids, Shoshana, and more. It was the time to celebrate and have fun with the rest of the country. I went from live music on ben yehuda, to the shuk which was transformed into a student party, to kikar safra where Israeli dancing was going on until 3 in the morning. Everywhere you went; kids were playing with sill string and shaving cream, adults were singing and dancing, teenagers were drinking, and everyone was having fun. Fireworks went off numerous amounts of time throughout the evening and they were spectacular. I met up with David Helfand and we walked around and caught up on life. He loves Nativ and ready to go home for a little before having to start his first summer as staff on USY on Wheels. Most likely he will then be in LA at the AJU studying his little tush off. The night lasted way to long and I did not get back to the cfar until the wee hours of the night. I did get to sleep in a little since my friend’s BBQ was not until 1. It happened to be at Gan Ha’atzmaut where the Nativ BBQ is also held. I made sure to stop by and say hi to Yossi and Elkana, I even ran into Katja for a split second and we said hello. I then ate with my friends and played a little baseball. As exhausted as I was I went back to the cfar and called it a day.

The tail end of the week was just as eventful since it was the time of family. First one up was Michal Kogen’s mother and brother were here and I was dying to meet them. We all went out to dinner and had the best time ever. I can see why that family is so close and all love each other to death. The next on the list was Sharon Grob was back in Jerusalem and wanted to take us out for dinner as well. This was also so much fun since we went to a meat place and she freaked out that I would not have enough to eat and there ended up being too much food on the table. It was so much fun to be with them and it made me miss the good old days of high school when every Shabbat, me and the gang would go over to the grobs for sports and lunch. That night did not end there since I got to hang out with Tamar Rohatiner for the whole evening talking about our lives and our futures. It was one of those talks that really makes you put your life into perspective and see how many blessings you truly have. I can tell you that in my life there are countless blessings and I don’t take a single one of you for granted.