Sunday and Monday were normal work days, and then Monday night was the start of Yom HaShoah. There was a ceremony for all the people in Yerucham that we went to. There were a few speakers, a few people who sang, and a small play about a Righteous Gentile named Wanda who lives in Yerucham. At the end they presented Wanda with an award for her heroism. After the ceremony we watched a movie about the Holocaust called The Counterfeiter. It was in German with English subtitles, and I think it won an Oscar for best foreign film at some point within the past few years.
Tuesday morning we did a normal Shacharit and then read Megilat HaShoah, a piece written by Rabbis in the Conservative Movement in an effort to unite Jews all over the world on Yom HaShoah. After that we went to another ceremony at the religious elementary school in Yerucham called Kol Ya'akov. At 10 a.m. a nation-wide siren sounded for 2 minutes in commemoration of Yom HaShoah. It was really, really powerful. The rest of the ceremony included some singing and poetry reading. After that we did an activity where we looked at some art and poems written by Jews in concentration camps, and then we had to either draw or own picture or write something. We had a break for lunch, and then visited a small museaum in Yerucham talking about WWII heroes. A few different people who were involved in WWII in some way spoke to us. It was kind of annoying because they spoke in Russian and their translators were not that good at English, but it was still really interesting. After that we got on a bus and met up with the rest of Nativ at Kibbutz Yad Mordechai. The Kibbutz is named after Mordechai Analewitz, and there is a giant statue of him there that we learned about in art history at Hebrew U last semester. The ceremony at Yad Mordechai was extraordinary. They sang a bunch of songs, all powerful and amazing. There was an interprative dance that was so moving. There were a few speakers who spoke in Hebrew which was a little hard to understand, but it was okay. The way it was set up was there was a giant stage in front of a tell, and at the top was the statue. On the tell there were little signs of different countries in Europe where Jews lived, and there were probably 60 Israeli soldiers standing up there. Towards the end, they blew a shofar and then there were these firework/sparkler type things that went off and it was really powerful. Then the Israeli soldiers marched back out all holding Israeli flags and then we all sang Hatikva, which was so moving. Then they lit a candle by the name of each country, and then they lit the words "Lizkor v'Lihakir" which means "Remember and Remind", so you could read the words when they were on fire. It was truly amazing.
Yesterday I took a day off of work (we're allowed to have 3 all semester) and went into Jerusalem with a few friends. It was a really, really fun day.
That's about it!
-Sarah
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Pesach Break!
I just got back from 10 amazing days of Pesach break, so now I'll tell you all about it!
Two Wednesdays ago, the 8th of April, I took a bus with a bunch of other Nativers to Jerusalem. My friends Josh and Lilli's families came to Israel for Pesach and rented an apartment, so they invited a bunch of Nativers including to Seder at their apartment. It was weird to be without my family, and they did some things differently than I'm used to, but Seder really was a lot of fun. And they asked me "who knows 13" and I knew it in Hebrew (I told Josh I'd been practicing). Wednesday night I slept over at Lilli's with a bunch of other girls. Thursday I woke up, went to Kedem for shul, came back and ate lunch at Lilli's, and hung out with friends for the rest of the day. My friend Dani's parents took me out to dinner at a kosher for passover Italian restaurant where I was able to get pizza and pasta! So cool! Thursday night I slept at Josh's apartment. Friday I woke up and Josh's dad made us matzoh brie (yum). Then I went with my friend Becca to a friend of hers for Shabbat which was a lot of fun. They had a bunch of their extended family over which included a really cute little 2 month old baby girl. I am also now reading a Hebrew book that they lent me: James and the Giant Peach/ ג'מס והאפרסק הענקי. So far I have read 6 chapters and I understand it pretty well.
Saturday night I met up with 3 friends, Keren, Liora, and Sara in the bus station in Jerusalem and we took a midnight bus to Eilat! The bus was SO crowded. It was impossible to sleep because it was so, so loud. There were about 10 people laying on the floor of the bus for an almost 5 hour ride! We got to Eilat at 4:30 a.m. and we weren't able to check into our hotel yet- although we did drop our bags off in luggage storage- (Keren's dad got us a really nice hotel room) so we sat on the beach and played Taboo and just hung out. Around 9 we went to the hotel and even though our room wasn't ready, we were able to hang out by the hotel pool. Needless to say, we all fell right to sleep in the hot sun for hours (don't worry, I wore plenty of sunscreen the whole time). Around 3 we were finally able to check into our room, and then we got lunch (cold cuts on matzoh). Then we took a nap and went out to dinner at Burger's Bar! I got chicken on a kosher for passover roll. We were all still really tired, so we went to sleep kind of early. Monday we spent the day laying by the pool and a tiny bit at the beach (there is no sand or seashells, just rocks. But I collected some really pretty rocks). We ate dinner at Cafe Hillel (again, k for p sandwiches) and then went to see an amazing show called WOW! There were all kinds of really cool magic/contortionist/acrobatic/dance acts. It was sooooooooo cool! Then we went to a bar called Three Monkeys. I drank half a liter of apple juice (woo hoo party hard!!). But there was a live salsa band which was really, really fun. Tuesday we spent a few final hours by the pool (I forgot to mention that there was a realllllly fun water slide by the pool!), ate lunch, and then got on a bus back to Jerusalem. Even though the bus makes a rest stop half way, by the time we got to be about an hour outside of Jerusalem I had to go to the bathroom so badly that I contemplated trying to go in a bottle. It was horrible.
We finally got to Jerusalem and I went to the bathroom in an alley right next to where the bus dropped us off. Then we took a cab to Agron. Nativ got us free rooms and meals at Agron for chag. Wednesday I went to shul at Kedem again and then ate lunch at Agron and then just napped and hung out with friends for the rest of the day. Wednesday night after chag ended I broke Passover on an ice cream cone (with chocolate and cheesecake ice cream in it) and then went back to Yerucham just for the night. Thursday Jake and I went to Ashkelon to visit my friend Felix from camp. It was a lot of fun! He is a tugboat operator, so he took us down to the marina where he works and showed us the boats and everything, and also took us out for a really nice Italian dinner. Friday Jake and I baked white and dark chocolate chip cookies to bring with us to Arik and Yael's for Shabbat. Misha also came. It was a lot of fun! Today they took us on a 3 hour hike in their backyard (their backyard IS the desert- so cool!). Then Arik brought us back to Yerucham, and that's about it!
Everyone gets back from break tonight and we all go back to work tomorrow.
Shavua tov!
-Sarah
Two Wednesdays ago, the 8th of April, I took a bus with a bunch of other Nativers to Jerusalem. My friends Josh and Lilli's families came to Israel for Pesach and rented an apartment, so they invited a bunch of Nativers including to Seder at their apartment. It was weird to be without my family, and they did some things differently than I'm used to, but Seder really was a lot of fun. And they asked me "who knows 13" and I knew it in Hebrew (I told Josh I'd been practicing). Wednesday night I slept over at Lilli's with a bunch of other girls. Thursday I woke up, went to Kedem for shul, came back and ate lunch at Lilli's, and hung out with friends for the rest of the day. My friend Dani's parents took me out to dinner at a kosher for passover Italian restaurant where I was able to get pizza and pasta! So cool! Thursday night I slept at Josh's apartment. Friday I woke up and Josh's dad made us matzoh brie (yum). Then I went with my friend Becca to a friend of hers for Shabbat which was a lot of fun. They had a bunch of their extended family over which included a really cute little 2 month old baby girl. I am also now reading a Hebrew book that they lent me: James and the Giant Peach/ ג'מס והאפרסק הענקי. So far I have read 6 chapters and I understand it pretty well.
Saturday night I met up with 3 friends, Keren, Liora, and Sara in the bus station in Jerusalem and we took a midnight bus to Eilat! The bus was SO crowded. It was impossible to sleep because it was so, so loud. There were about 10 people laying on the floor of the bus for an almost 5 hour ride! We got to Eilat at 4:30 a.m. and we weren't able to check into our hotel yet- although we did drop our bags off in luggage storage- (Keren's dad got us a really nice hotel room) so we sat on the beach and played Taboo and just hung out. Around 9 we went to the hotel and even though our room wasn't ready, we were able to hang out by the hotel pool. Needless to say, we all fell right to sleep in the hot sun for hours (don't worry, I wore plenty of sunscreen the whole time). Around 3 we were finally able to check into our room, and then we got lunch (cold cuts on matzoh). Then we took a nap and went out to dinner at Burger's Bar! I got chicken on a kosher for passover roll. We were all still really tired, so we went to sleep kind of early. Monday we spent the day laying by the pool and a tiny bit at the beach (there is no sand or seashells, just rocks. But I collected some really pretty rocks). We ate dinner at Cafe Hillel (again, k for p sandwiches) and then went to see an amazing show called WOW! There were all kinds of really cool magic/contortionist/acrobatic/dance acts. It was sooooooooo cool! Then we went to a bar called Three Monkeys. I drank half a liter of apple juice (woo hoo party hard!!). But there was a live salsa band which was really, really fun. Tuesday we spent a few final hours by the pool (I forgot to mention that there was a realllllly fun water slide by the pool!), ate lunch, and then got on a bus back to Jerusalem. Even though the bus makes a rest stop half way, by the time we got to be about an hour outside of Jerusalem I had to go to the bathroom so badly that I contemplated trying to go in a bottle. It was horrible.
We finally got to Jerusalem and I went to the bathroom in an alley right next to where the bus dropped us off. Then we took a cab to Agron. Nativ got us free rooms and meals at Agron for chag. Wednesday I went to shul at Kedem again and then ate lunch at Agron and then just napped and hung out with friends for the rest of the day. Wednesday night after chag ended I broke Passover on an ice cream cone (with chocolate and cheesecake ice cream in it) and then went back to Yerucham just for the night. Thursday Jake and I went to Ashkelon to visit my friend Felix from camp. It was a lot of fun! He is a tugboat operator, so he took us down to the marina where he works and showed us the boats and everything, and also took us out for a really nice Italian dinner. Friday Jake and I baked white and dark chocolate chip cookies to bring with us to Arik and Yael's for Shabbat. Misha also came. It was a lot of fun! Today they took us on a 3 hour hike in their backyard (their backyard IS the desert- so cool!). Then Arik brought us back to Yerucham, and that's about it!
Everyone gets back from break tonight and we all go back to work tomorrow.
Shavua tov!
-Sarah
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Chag Sameach (almost!)
Sorry I haven't written in a while. There isn't SO much going on now that I need to write every day, so I just let a bunch of time go by and then write it all at once. I'll start with last week:
Monday 3/30:
Regular Gan- last day of Gan before Pesach vacation
Tuesday 3/31:
Yom Nativ: Yom Water
We started off the day davening and having some discussions about water in Israel (or the lack thereof) down by the Yerucham lake. Then we got on a bus, drove past a water processing plant in Dimona, ate lunch on the bus, and went to the beach in Ashkelon. It was a beautiful and really fun day!!
Wednesday 4/1: APRIL FOOL'S DAY
My apartment pranked one of the boys apartments and it was silly. We took all of their shoelaces out of their shoes, tied forks and spoons to the ends and hung them from the curtain rod. We put all of their pillows and blankets on one bed and switched some of their drawers around. The other boys apartment also put a dead rat in their freezer. They were very mad, and I had to re-lace all of their shoes. I also had to volunteer this day. It was kind of like JRA. We packaged fruits and vegetables and then delivered them to needy people all over Yerucham. It was fun.
Thursday 4/2:
I don't even remember. Sorry.
Friday/Saturday 4/3-4:
Went to Be'er Sheva for Shabbat to visit some other Nativers. It was really, really nice. We ate and slept and watched movies and did yoga. It was relaxing and fun.
Sunday 4/5:
Spent the day around Yerucham doing nothing, then at 5:30 I helped clean Afikim, the synagogue near our apartments. It was fun but I got really wet because we had to clean the windows and floors.
Monday 4/6:
Volunteered. They told us we were gardening. It was actually manual labor: weed whacking. It was fun though because I was with a bunch of friends.
TODAY!:
Yom Nativ. We finished cleaning and making our apartments Kosher for Passover. Then we did an activity where each apartment had to make their own creative seder plate and write a song about Passover. They were funny. Then I went and hung out in Be'er Sheva for a few hours, and now I'm back!!
Chag Sameach tomorrow!!
-Sarah
Monday 3/30:
Regular Gan- last day of Gan before Pesach vacation
Tuesday 3/31:
Yom Nativ: Yom Water
We started off the day davening and having some discussions about water in Israel (or the lack thereof) down by the Yerucham lake. Then we got on a bus, drove past a water processing plant in Dimona, ate lunch on the bus, and went to the beach in Ashkelon. It was a beautiful and really fun day!!
Wednesday 4/1: APRIL FOOL'S DAY
My apartment pranked one of the boys apartments and it was silly. We took all of their shoelaces out of their shoes, tied forks and spoons to the ends and hung them from the curtain rod. We put all of their pillows and blankets on one bed and switched some of their drawers around. The other boys apartment also put a dead rat in their freezer. They were very mad, and I had to re-lace all of their shoes. I also had to volunteer this day. It was kind of like JRA. We packaged fruits and vegetables and then delivered them to needy people all over Yerucham. It was fun.
Thursday 4/2:
I don't even remember. Sorry.
Friday/Saturday 4/3-4:
Went to Be'er Sheva for Shabbat to visit some other Nativers. It was really, really nice. We ate and slept and watched movies and did yoga. It was relaxing and fun.
Sunday 4/5:
Spent the day around Yerucham doing nothing, then at 5:30 I helped clean Afikim, the synagogue near our apartments. It was fun but I got really wet because we had to clean the windows and floors.
Monday 4/6:
Volunteered. They told us we were gardening. It was actually manual labor: weed whacking. It was fun though because I was with a bunch of friends.
TODAY!:
Yom Nativ. We finished cleaning and making our apartments Kosher for Passover. Then we did an activity where each apartment had to make their own creative seder plate and write a song about Passover. They were funny. Then I went and hung out in Be'er Sheva for a few hours, and now I'm back!!
Chag Sameach tomorrow!!
-Sarah
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