Shuk adventures on a Friday - Machane Yehuda

When entering Jerusalem there is an analog clock stuck to the side of a cliff with two electronic clocks, one above and one below. These clocks tell when shabbat starts and when it is finished. Shabbat runs from Friday evening to Saturday evening, making the weekend in Israel Friday-Saturday. Friday is spent preparing for shabbat, and Saturday is spent not doing anything and waiting for the end of shabbat, so people can start doing things again. During Shabbat the entire city of Jerusalem shuts down. No buses run, shops are closed and the only places that remain open are those willing to fork over hefty fine to do so. Today is Friday. In Jerusalem shabbat started at 4:24 pm and will go until 5:44 pm tomorrow.

In preparation for shabbat everyone stocks up on enough groceries that, heaven forbid nothing were to reopen after shabbat, their families would survive for the next month or so. Today Laurel, Miriam, and I along with the rest of Jerusalem's citizens descended upon the shuk for our shabbat necessities. Shuk means outdoor market, and THE shuk refers to Machane Yehuda. We went with a simple list for tonight's dinner:

1 Sweet Challah

1 Bottle of Wine

Dried tomatoes

Pine Nuts

Pesto Sauce

4 Fresh Tomatoes

1 Onion

1 large box Marzipan Rugelach

1 Parve Cake

The total cost for everything was 100NIS, which equals about $25. Because we are young and willing to brave the throngs of people pushing and shoving, this was a good deal. Let me explain a little more about the Shuk. There are rows of venders all selling the same things, yelling at the passing customers. "Barekas Cham! Barekas Cham! Barekas Cham!" This.. means Hot Barekas, repeated until we were out of ear shot. As Laurel and I speak only a little Hebrew, only 1/2 of the words yelled at us were understood. I could catch the names of different vegetables, the prices, but I didn't know what else was being verbally thrown at me. There were also so many people rushing to get their shopping done, that it felt like Laurel was a salmon going upstream against the current! After many near crashes and a few awkward side steps from "Men Who Don't Touch," we got onto the 18 bus and 45 minutes later arrived at home.

A little tif in the Middle East

Hello Everyone,

Laurel has received a few worried emails regarding the situation in Southern Israel with our Neighbor to the East. We in Jerusalem are very safe. I am not sure what the news is saying in America, but Israel is finally retaliating against the attacks from Gaza. A quick update for everyone:

For seven years Israel has endured rockets falling on her from Gaza. Even during the recent ceasefire Hamas pelted Israel with Kasam Rockets, dug tunnels under the boarder, and shot at boarder crossings. Whenever a crossing was hit, Israel would close the boarder temporarily. This was then used against Israel to show the world that Israel was starving the people of Gaza by not allowing food to cross the boarder.

The IDF method of fighting is not one directed at hurting civilians. In fact, it is the complete opposite. Before the attacks, Israel dropped leaflets letting the people of Gaza know that there would be bombs falling on Hamas targets. This has reduced the amount of civilian. The news being broadcast from Gaza may depict otherwise, because the news is filmed by Hamas supporters. When the news shows homes being destroyed it is because Hamas uses civilian shields to hid behind as they shoot at Israel from houses, schools, and are currently hiding in hospitals.

Recently Gordon Johndroe, Deputy Assistant to President Bush said,"We don't want a cease-fire agreement that isn't worth the piece of paper it's written on. We want something that's lasting and, most importantly, respected by Hamas." It is horrible that there is fighting again, yet the fighting may scare Hamas into a real ceasefire agreement. This would mean that children of Sderot wouldn't have to play in their playground made out of bomb shelters.

This is my view on the situation, from living in Israel and taking classes on the Arab Israeli conflict for the past 4 months. to get more information please read Haaretz at www.haaretz.com, and the Jerusalem Post at www.jpost.com.

http://www.youtube.com/user/idfnadesk shows Israel's humanitarian efforts, as well as Israel hitting Hamas launch pads from civilian homes.

As I mentioned, we are very safe. We were told to stay out of the Old City of Jerusalem. The Jewish quarter is fine, but the Christian and Muslim quarters have had some acts of violence against Jews by the Arab citizens. There is a little tension in the air, but life goes on as usual.

Wandering the desert.. for 3 days

When any group goes hiking in Israel they have a guide, and a medic. The medic walks in the back and carries a post WWI gun. The guide does his job, guides. On our latest trip we had two medics, one walked with us and the other stayed up all night and watch the campsite for Bedouins.

 Bedouins are nomadic tribes that wander the desert, and having no governing body often steal from campers or travelers. Our guide told us (after the hike) that the week before, he led a trip and everything was stolen in the middle of the night.

 Three weeks ago we went to the desert. I am not sure what you think of when you hear the word desert, but I always pictured wandering through sand dunes. Unlike the Sahara Desert, the Judean Desert and the Negev are both rocky, steep terrain. Day one we walked through the Negev, for 5 hours. The bus dropped ups off in what looked like the middle of nowhere, and left. Lucky for us the scorching summer heat was something of the past, and we hiked through bearable weather. We were also lucky enough to see a rare specimen outside its natural habitat. Israeli high school students, hiking in tight jeans, leggings, and carrying ipods blocked the path for an hour. We couldn’t go around them, because there was only one small trail or the possibility of falling off the cliff. So we waited. For some reason Israeli teens, no matter where they are hiking, wear tight jeans, leggings, and carry ipods. At the end of the trail our bus picked us up, and drove us to our campsite. It took us longer to get everyone on the bus at the end of the trail then it took for us to get to the campsite. I don’t think we were in the bus for more then 7 minutes. There was nothing there to identify this area of the side of the road from any other area, and nothing to say it was a campsite. The bus drove off, and there we were, in the desert, with the sun setting, and nothing of a campsite anywhere. The man who was supposed to bring the food for us to cook, and the tents for us to sleep in was lost/his car broke down/information chain broke down. I wasn’t sure what happened, but we waited for a few more hours. It grew dark, and still we waited. FINALLY, after 2 hours the campsite man arrived. Laurel helped get ready for dinner, while I sat and watched for fox. I wasn’t sure what I would do when I saw one, but I was nervous that one would run off with me and I didn’t wanted to be caught off guard.

That night we had hotdogs, salad, bread, hummus, and marshmallows. The Marshmallows were for roasting around the campfire after we ate. As I am sure you are worried and sitting at the edge of your seat, I wasn’t taken away by a fox. I did see a fox darting in between the tents, though it never came close enough to get me. When everyone went to bed, except the medic. Laurel slept on a rock. Not just any rock, but a rock that relocated to another annoying spot every time she tried to move. I slept great. Laurel left me close to her bag outside the tent, which was great because I could continue to look for fox until I fell asleep. 

Day two we walked through the Judean Desert. This desert hike did not have as many steep cliffs to climb, but was a lot of slow, steady hills. When looking out at the horizon it looks like small hills, yet the depth perception is so off that small hills are really very tall, mountain like hills. Camels grazing dotted the area as we trudged through the desert. We got to the end of a cliff, and over the edge was the Dead Sea, the lowest point on Earth. A winding trail led to a freshwater pool. Where hundreds of High School students has yet again flocked. After about ½ an hour of splashing in the water we continued to the end of the hike, where our bus was waiting to take us to our campsite on the Dead Sea.

Tired yet content we set up camp on the shore of the Dead Sea. After dinner a group of people went down to the beach, and Laurel went to sleep. She, Jesse, and Sareet all opted to sleep outside under the stars. I chose to sleep in the tent, because I was not going to risk getting rained on. In the middle of the night I was woken not by rain, but by a fighter jet flying directly over the trees. Laurel told me the next day that the jet looked like it was brushing the treetops, and the thundering was directly above her.

The sun rising woke Laurel, who after getting morning coffee, went done to the beach for a morning… float. I was too nervous I would float away to Jordan, so I watched from the shore. If you have never floated in the Dead Sea, Laurel tells me it is an almost unreal experience. You can’t dive into the water, because the intense mineral and salt concentration would burn your eyes. Instead you sit back… and float! 

We love vacations Eilat!

The morning after Yom Kippur Laurel, her roommates Chelly and Miriam, Laurel’s friend Teri, and I all went to Eilat. The girls had ordered the tickets ahead of time to insure seats, and got to the central bus station 45 minutes early to reinsure seats incase the situation was different (which happens a lot here). After going through security, asking about the tickets, waiting for the bus to arrive, and pushing with the herds of people, the girls finally settled down for a nice little four-hour bus ride. Laurel took Dramamine and knocked herself out for the ride. She was smart, I not so much. A family of the loudest Americans, the kind that give everyone else a reason to hate us, kept me awake. If the ride had been any longer I think someone would have off-ed them.

When we reached Eilat we took a cab to the Guest House. We had no idea what to expect and were pleasantly surprise. The guesthouse was a few steps up from a hostel, and by a few we mean leaps and bounds. The four girls and I had four beds, a shower, two sinks, a bathroom, fridge, and a TV. We felt like we were living in luxury. Laurel, who had mentioned a sore throat stayed in while the Chelly, Teri, and Miriam all went walking on the boardwalk. Being kind of shy, I stayed back and slept.

That night they went to dinner at Patty’s Irish pub, in Israel. I was amused. They traveled all the way to Eilat to go to an Irish pub. Even though it was Shabbat almost everything was open! They got ice cream and walked along the boardwalk. The Eilat boardwalk is lined with shops selling smoothies, ice cream, dresses, henna tattoos, bags, scarves, rings, t-shirts, pizza pockets, corn on the cob, and anything else you might possibly want. Beyond the shop on the left are stores and hotels, and the right is the beach and Red Sea. We could look out and see the Jordanian mountains on one side and Egypt on the other, with the tip of Israel right in the middle. Eilat is like a small resort city, nestled in between two sometimes-unfriendly neighbors. It is hard to fathom a time when the mountains on either side produced falling rockets. The picturesque city glitters at night, lit up by the bars, restaurants and hotels all within walking distance from  the borders of Egypt at one end and Jordan at the other.

The next morning they set out for the beach, and lay around in the sun all afternoon. The water was warm and there was just enough breeze for the heat to be bearable. I even tried to get a little more color. Laurel almost left me because I had snuck out of her bag and was sunning myself in the sand at her feet. I had to jump out and trip her to get her attention! I hope she doesn’t form a habit of forgetting me. That night the girls went to a nice Asian restaurant for dinner, and then off to bed early because Laurel, Miriam, and I were going to go to Petra in the morning! That adventure was a story in itself, one I will have to save for another post.

When we returned Laurel and Miriam napped, and then we went to a bar called The Monkey Bar, which had live music! At midnight the band stopped playing, which was around the same time Chelly and Ter decided they were too tired and had to go back. When the band left the bar put on dance music. Laurel and Miriam stayed and danced until 3am, when the bar made it very clear they were closing. I was very proud of Laurel, who normally is the first one to go to bed! She told me she had never literally danced the night away, and thought there wouldn’t be a better place to do such then looking out over the sea, with the warn night air around her.

Every day the girls were given a complementary breakfast buffet. Many times in the history of hostels, hotels, and what have you this means toast, bagels, doughnuts, and maybe a yogurt or two. This breakfast buffet was the mother of all buffets. A large table of different cheese and salads, a table with cold cereal and cakes, bread, coffee, tea, yogurts, and a hot table with cheese cake, eggs, French toast, and Laurel’s favorite Israeli dish, shakshuka. Shakshuka is a made of tomato, bell pepper, and onions cooked together to with a tomato sauce to make a stew. Then eggs are cracked on top and the pan is covered so the eggs cook. The end result is a wonderful mix of tomato and egg goodness, to be scooped up with thick slices of bread. 

Yom kippur, daylight savings give us a fast fast

The Wednesday following Rosh Hashana was Erev Yom Kippur. Laurel and her friend Annie made pre-fast dinner for a group of nine people, including Brian from Herzl Camp who stayed with Laurel for the Holiday. Israelis are smart, and daylight savings was a few days before so the fast would end earlier, but this also meant it started earlier. The 25 hour fast lasted from 4:35pm until 5:35pm the following day. That night Laurel, Brian, and Suzy all went to Kol Nidra services at Kol Hanishama, the Reform Synagogue in Ba’ka, an area of Jerusalem 15 minutes walking distance from Laurel’s apartment. The entire service was in Hebrew, though Laurel told me it was beautiful singing Kol Hanishama at the end of the service with a whole congregation of people she didn’t know, but who all knew the tune she so dearly loves.

 

When they left Synagogue, Brian and Laurel walked up and down Emek Rifiem, one of the normally busy streets in the German Colony. The eerie silence of  no cars on the streets was another reminder of the significance of the holiday in Israel. The streets were full of people walking around, and children on bikes and rollerblades. They walked the whole way home in the middle of the street, meeting up with other people from the WUJS program as they were leaving their respective services. I sat on Laurel’s balcony and just watched the normally bustling city in its cocoon of silence. The only disruption to the quiet would be the occasional ripple of laugher from children still playing in the streets, way into the wee hours of the night.

 

At 3:00am Laurel, Brian and a small band of people on the WUJS program woke up to go to the Kotel, or Western Wall. I was not to be disturbed, knowing the long day of fasting I had ahead of me. The group set out on a 45minute walk in the cool early morning stillness to the Old City. When they reached the Kotel there were already groups of people assembling at the wall to pray. Laurel and Brian met up with their friends Scott from Jerusalem, and Evan from Tel Aviv. The boys went off to the men’s side of the wall, while Laurel stayed with her friend Lisa and walked around taking everything in. There were people camped out in sleeping bags around the courtyard, and religious families standing shoulder to shoulder from tallest to shortest with the father on the left, the oldest son, and so on to the youngest son on the right. At around 5am the sun began to rise, and Laurel, Brian, Scott, and Evan all went to a balcony atop the Old City to look down over the Kotel and watch the sun rise above it. As Laurel, Brian, and Evan walked back through the streets still void of cars, they passed people just getting up and walking to Synagogue or to the Old City. It was a really moving experience, seeing everyone walking to services as they were just on their way home.

 

The rest of the day was spend in Laurel’s apartment with the theory that if they had woken up at 3am to walk to the Kotel, they were for sure in good standing and could rest for the majority of the day. By evening Laurel was weak with hunger, and helped set up long tables for the break fast. Everything was ready yet she didn’t want to break fast until she new it was really over. Laurel and a boy Ben went up to the roof of the apartment building and looked for three stars in the night sky, which meant the end of the fast. They counted one star, then slowly a second was seen, and finally a third star was found in the sky. They stood for a moment, and realized that for them it wasn’t just the three stars, but they were waiting to hear a shofar being blown, signifying the end of fast. Next door to the apartment building is a Yashiva. The boys at the Yashiva had been singing, dancing, and praying all day long. As dusk began to settle groups of people gathered across the street from the Yashiva, just like Laurel and Ben standing on the apartment roof. It was as if everyone around had come out into the streets to wait for the mournful sound of the shofar ending the fast. From within the Yashiva they heard the sound of Avinu Malkanu, and knew that any moment the fast would be done and with the blast of the shofar the fast was over. Laurel, Ben, and 25 other people from the WUJS program all sat down together to break fast over bagels, salad, tuna, salmon, and pasta. 

Rosh Hashana, have a Happy New Year!

Let me step back a little and catch you up on the holiday season. Most people think of the holiday season as December, when in reality the lalapolooza of all holiday seasons would be the beginning months of the Jewish calendar. Starting off with Rosh Hashana, the new year followed closely by Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. Five days later is Sukkot, which last for 7 days, wrapping up the holiday season is Shmini Atzeret and Simhat Torah. For nearly a month there is no school, shops are closed, no one goes to work, and my friends, I found it glorious. Laurel got bored a lot, but she doesn’t appreciate sleeping in and doing nothing as much as I. My kind of a As we are fast approaching the end, I will recap some of the highlights.

Rosh Hashana was spent at the Sareet’s family’s house. For Laurel the High Holy Days are synonyms for sending a day in synagogue. Rosh Hashana for many Israelis is a time for family to come together, a day off of work, and a time to relax. Much like a family would come together for Thanksgiving in America, so is Rosh Hashana celebrated in Israel. At 6am on September 29, (Laurel’s 23^rd birthday) we took a bus to Hod Hasharon a suburb of Tel Aviv, where Sareet and her cousin Tom picked us up at the bus stop. That evening there was a huge dinner for 25 of Sareet’s relatives, and Laurel. I was too shy, and stayed upstairs. The next two days were spent lounging around, reading books, and watching TV. The TV was a big deal, because we do not have a TV in Laurel’s apartment, and it had been about a month since I last saw reruns of Gilmore Girls, which oddly enough is an Israeli favorite.

Going back to Jerusalem was a truly Israeli experience. The autobuses, or coach buses in Israel do not have a maximum capacity limit. If you want to get to another town, the autobus is the best way to go. You better push and shove to get a seat because when they are all taken the only spots left are standing room only in the aisles, which is exactly where Sareet, Laurel, myself and Sareet’s new fish Mishuggy ended up. For the first ½ hour Laurel stood in the aisles, and the rest of the trip she sat on the floor in a puddle of fish water that had sloshed from Mishuggy’s traveling case. I was safe and sound in Laurel’s overnight bag.

- Mo the Shalom Gnome

the best chicken dinner and Sederot

Here I am again, thanks to Laurel bringing me to school with her so I could use the internet, which never seems to stay connected at her apartment long enough to write a sentence let alone a whole entry. While she is taking a Hebrew test, I am sitting in the Library feverishly typing away to share with you, my faithful readers, our most

recent adventures.

Monday night Laurel and her friend Annie were invited to dinner. The Meal was at 8pm, in the backyard of a small art store owned by an Arab who lives in the Old City. He cooked (what Laurel claims was) the most delicious chicken she has ever tasted. After one very large chicken leg she was full, though he insisted she eat 3 more! Not only that, but she didn't even think to bring any back for me. In the middle of dinner she heard sirens, saw a firetruck, police cars and an ambulance speed by the shop. Turning to the host, Annie asked him what was going on. he replied, "it is probably just another attack."

Here is a strange phenomenon. For those of you living in America, the idea of an attack of any sorts is shaking. Here in Israel attacks happen, and life goes on. A very worried Laurel and Annie left dinner at 12 midnight, to see people sitting at cafes and continuing with daily life. The attack was near the Old City where a Palestinian resident of east Jerusalem hit a group of Israeli soldiers with his car, wounding a total of 15 soldiers and four civilians. Even though it was scary, life goes on.

The next day Laurel went on a field trip to Sederot, about a mile outside Gaza. I, wanted no part of it. She invited me along, though I appreciated the gesture, I was content to sit at home. Thank you very much. Sederot is a town that has had Qassam rockets falling on it for 7 years. Though there is a cease fire with Gaza, extremist groups from just within Gaza continue to fire missiles into Israeli populated areas. The people of Sederot have to live with the ever present fear that any moment there could be an alarm signaling an attack. When an alarm goes off the citizens have 15 seconds to get to a bomb shelter. A women who spoke to the WUJS group told a story of a girl who heard an alarm go off when she was in class. The whole class got up and ran to a bomb shelter. When she returned to class there was a Qassam missile in her seat. Another story was about the children who have to grow up knowing nothing but the fear of falling

missiles. It is not as though the missiles came one day while they were growing up, it is the

only life these young children have known. Every playground has been bombed, so they have build the only playground in the word made out of bomb shelters.Laurel told me after that she had butterflies in her stomach the whole time. The feeling she had for 7 hours was the only feeling the people of Sederot have known for 7 years. After the group left Sederot they drove up to the top of a hill that overlooked Gaza. The view was magnificent. There was a wind chime memorial for a fallen soldier providing soft background music, while the group stood in silence and looked out over the strip of land where so

much violence has stemmed. From the hill Laurel could see the Mediterranean, and her professor told them that Egypt was directly left of the area. If she turned her head to the right she saw Israel, and straight in front Gaza. Such a small area to fight over.
-Mo the Shalom Gnome