Israel at Home

Good afternoon everyone!

Earlier this week, my teacher sent us a question to ponder in this week's blog. He wanted us to think about what role Israel will play in our lives when we get home (in 2 weeks). My first response was, "...but I am home"

Thinking about this is beyond scary. One, it means that I won't be in Israel soon, two, it means that I'm going home with no knowledge of when I'm returning, and three, it means that I actually have to put my new knowledge of Jewish History to use in defending Israel.

Before I came here, when I got into debates about the legitimacy of Israel, I was that annoying girl who just screamed that I was right and we deserved Israel...with no facts or support.

Now I have so much information. I know why we left the Land of Israel, where we went, why we went where we did, how we returned, why we returned, where we returned. I gained perspective on the Palestinian side as well. With all of this new knowledge, I can go back and argue with my peers. I can defend this amazing country. I won't stand there, without an answer, yelling back random things.

As well as defending and supporting the Jewish State, I will promote it to other Jews. I plan on participating and leading an Israel connection committee at my Temple. I will be sure to lead a program at the JCC during Yom Haatzmaut next year. Yom Haatmaut for us is amazing. Everyone goes to celebrate and have fun. But I dont think that everyone realizes the true awesomeness of Israel's birthday and I want to help them see that awesomeness.

As well, teaching and continuing to learn about Israel will always help me remember the incredible memories I've made here.

Shabbat Shalom!
Shoshana :)

HAPPY BDAY ISRAEL

Hey guys!

In the middle of last week, Israel celebrated her 66^th birthday. So let me take a moment to say “HAPPY 

BIRTHDAY ISRAEL!!”

To celebrate this AWESOME day, we went to Ben Yehudah Street, which is commonly a very touristy area filled with Americans. However, that night, Israelis took over the streets with inflatable hammers with Israeli flags painted on them (displayed below). They go around bopping people on the head. Which my parents warned me about, as it was a tradition 20 years ago as well. They failed to mention, though, the cans of soapy-foamy bottles that they spray at you. Don’t worry, it didn’t stain J

It was such a great experience. We got there and it was beyond crowded. Worse than Disneyworld on spring break and a Backstreet Boys reunion concert…combined. But like I said, it’s a touristy place. My friends wanted to go around and find presents for their friends and family. Going to just a store one block down took half an hour because it was so crowded.

I really didn’t understand why we were spending so much damn time looking for presents, ignoring the flourishing culture around us, in a place that we were definitely coming back to! (To prove my point, we went again last night)

So after wasting an hour brushing through drunk Israelis and American tourists, I found my way to a concert that was just smack in the middle of Ben Yehudah. Literally there was a fenced concert in the middle of the street, with sweaty teens (and old people) dancing everywhere. It was so cool!!!!

I stayed in the concert and simpy enjoyed myself. I was really able to enjoy and focus on the culture instead of racing and racing to get a Mezuzah for great aunt Sally. Sorry Sally. 

But everyone was able to relax and appreciate the culture enjoyed themselves so much more. It's these kinds of things that make me scream "I'M IN ISRAEL!!" It's just so awesome. I can't explain it farther.

Again, Happy birthday Israel, you’ve made it farther than a lot of people would have thought.

Shoshana J

Women of Israel Kick Butt

Hey Everyone!

I have a pretty cool woman to tell you about today.

Rania Okby is a prime example of a woman standing up to her community and tradition and showing the world who's boss.

Okby, a Bedouin Israeli, was the first Bedouin women to ever earn a medical degree. She did so several years ago, graduating from Ben-Gurion University. She and her mother both took major strides in the Bedouin community. Her mother divorced her father when he tried to marry a second wife. Okby was raised by her single mother and she stood out in her community.

Okby took strides in becoming a world, female leader in her field. I admire her greatly. Being a doctor is no small feat, and she accomplished it when she had no precedent in her community.

For the last ten minutes I've been trying to think of a way to make this blog longer, mainly with a reason as to why I look up to Okby. However, I can't say that I look up to her for any more reasons than I look up to other leading females. She did break the status quo, but so have so many other women in the world. I think it's really awesome that she gets special recognition, and even more awesome that she's a Bedouin. But to be honest, all of these women are awesome!! The world is finally starting to see that women can do everything that men can. So I look up to all of these women, Okby included.

I really hope that I can make a difference in the world too, and maybe someday be on a "Women of the World" list on some NY Times article.

Until next time,
Shoshana :)

Kobi Oz Concert

Shabbat Shalom!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend. With all of the AP’s and SAT business that I’m dealing with here, it’s becoming very stressful. However, EIE gave us a chance to relax with an amazing concert.

The URJ (Union for Reform Judaism) board joined us at the concert, as they were here for the week. I had the privilege of speaking in front of the board, and our group. But I basically just shared many of the revelations and epiphanies that I’ve outlined in previous blogs, so I won’t bore you all with that.

After I, and another peer, made our speeches, the artist was introduced. His name is Kobi Oz. He is a renowned Israeli singer, who was previously the lead singer in a group named Teapacks. The group disbanded in the 2000’s, but he is still touring.

He introduced each song with a unique story. For his second song, he talked about dancing with his father at his Bar Mitzvah. Another song had a Holocaust background. And another dealt with the hierarchy from his hometown. These stories were, alone fascinating, but the fact that they were actual inspirations for songs was just so cool.  Actual, popular songs were based on a religious coming of age ceremony, a tragedy from Jewish history, and his home town. Rather than American popular songs which usually deal with illegal substances or sexual activity.

I think that this really highlights the difference between the two cultures. As well, the songs were awesome!! We were all so into the concert. With the lyrics displayed behind the stage, I had the opportunity to sing along. The songs were fun, upbeat, and relayed good messages.

It was overall an amazing, and surprisingly, educational experience. I’ll definitely be downloading some Kobi Oz music.

Have a great rest of the weekend!

Shoshana J

The Awesomeness that is Israel

Hey everyone!

So I haven't talked about my actual Jewish history class in awhile. I figured that since we are at my favorite part of Israel's history, I would share my thoughts with you all.

Today we began learning about the 6 Day War. Before I get to what I really want to talk about, can we please pause for a moment and think about that. Israel, as a young, still under resourced State, won a war against multiple Arab countries in less than a week. Just so much "wow". That's just really damn amazing!! I can't express how cool and inspiring that is!

All of Israel's history is fascinating. Every little decision that was made affected the existence of Israel. From the Zionist conferences to the UN's voting on the Jewish State to the Independence War to the Declaration of the State of Israel to the 6 Day War. Every outcome was a result of a leader's decision, every outcome was a miracle.

One thing that I learned this past summer was not to simply focus on my Jewish history, but to relate it to me and my life now. This sounds sort of obvious, but once you focus on this, everything becomes so much more real and significant. 

Saying that, my parents met in Israel. It's where the met, fell in love, got embarrassed by the fellow Kibutzniks, scarred their hands picking fruit, and decided to move back to the States to get married and have children...like me. 

If Ben Gurion hadn't declared the State of Israel when he did, or if Yitzhak Rabin led the army into battle with alternate strategies, I wouldn't be here, in classroom 4, writing this blog. Naturally, life is full of "if's" and I could say many more less significant "if" statements that would change the course of my life. However, these miracles that made Israel a State are the truly important ones. 

And I'm not the only one. In my 8th grade graduating class alone, around six of us had parents who met in Israel. Israel has become so relevant to Jewish life around the world. 

I wish that Yitzhak Rabin, David Ben-Gurion, Moshe Dayan, and so many more great Israeli leaders could see that importance that they had on the growth of the global Jewish community. They were amazing. Their decisions were amazing. Israel is damn amazing.

So I'm going to try my hardest to enjoy my last month in this amazing country.

Have a great week!

Shoshana :)

The Beauty of Israeli Culture

Shabbat Shalom!

This week, for my blog, I've been asked to write about some aspect of Israeli culture. Our fabulous teacher, Aaron, has requested that we choose an Israeli song, show, movie, or author for us to write about.

I had a problem with this. While art and literature are clear signs of a thriving culture, when I think of Israeli culture I think of yelling, rudeness, community, falafel, and chutzpa (sort of like courageous stubbornness). I'm sure that I will touch on those aspects of Israeli culture, which I think truly depict Israeli life, in the future. For now, I'm going to explain the history of my favorite song.

This past summer, as many of you know, I partook in a program called Diller. Twenty of my friends from Pittsburgh became close to twenty teens from Israel. We had the opportunity to live with them and experience parts of their daily life. This often included playing music during free time. One of the songs that we sang every single time was "Ahava" (Love) by Daniel Solomon.

It's a song which talks about love coming suddenly and erupting. It has a nice melody and, to me, beautiful lyrics. When I ask Israelis now if they know the song the simply shrug and say yes. However, to my Pittsburgh friends and Israeli friends, that song is just amazing.

When it gets to the second chorus, we would all get really quiet then suddenly burst and shoot our hands out, screaming, "Ahava....PEATOM HI MIT'PARETZET" (love...suddenly, she came).

It was the one thing in the program that completely united us. We would argue on political and religious matters, we might not have liked every person in our cohort, but when we heard the smooth, Israeli melody of Ahava, we threw our arms around each other and truly became one cohort of Americans and Israelis together.

This is why, when I'm asked what my favorite song is, "Ahava" is always my answer.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!
Shoshana :)

Spring break or a 5 day hike from Sea to Sea?

Hi everyone!

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile, we were off on an amazing adventure for two weeks.

During this break, I went up north (again) for Passover Seder. I had an absolutely amazing weekend with my host and her family. They welcomed me in with open arms. I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend my first Seder in Israel. After this, the group got back together and embarked on a 5 day hike from the Kineret to the Mediterranean Sea.

I learned so much in those 2 weeks. To start, the Seder was Sephardi, which as a very white Jew with family from Poland and surrounding countries, I had never experienced. This entailed lettuce instead of parsley, which was dipped into lemon water instead of salt water. There was a sweet sauce in place of either the bitter herbs or the charosset, which for my family is usually composed of apples, cinnamon, wine, and sometimes nuts. Needless to say that their Seder plate was very different than my family's.

Being at their Seder, in such a different environment I grew to appreciate the global unity of Judaism so much more. Even though the Seder plate was different and they served rice without thinking twice, we were sitting down for the same reason that my family was in America. The same reason as Jews in England, France, Canada, and anywhere else where Jews are situated. It was also just a really fun night.

Afterwards, the group reconvened to begin our 5 day long journey. For the trip, we were split into smaller groups of 12. Throughout the hike, we had fairly intelligent discussions. We all agreed that this trip, these 4 months, are not what we expected them to be. We didn't make best friends for a life time, but we did make tens of good friends. We didn't have any religious epiphanies or suddenly change our viewpoints, but we have delved into opinions more thoroughly.

One conclusion that I came to, is that this trip has already been life changing. Whether or not you've enjoyed it (which I have), there's no denying that you've learned about yourself here. I've had the privilege to explore my Jewish identity, my relationship to Israel, and discovered many personal things about myself.

I can't wait to share these discoveries with you all!
Have a great week!
Shoshana :)