After finishing my last final on Sunday, June 1st (a few days early, luckily!) I spent the next week and a half enjoying my last little bit of time in Jerusalem and at Hebrew University, with a few day trips around the country.
On Monday morning I woke up bright and early to catch a bus to Tel Aviv. A few of my friends from GW were on Birthright with GW Hillel, and while they had been in Jerusalem the weekend before, finals had prevented me from being able to see them then. But by Monday I was free and clear, and able to see some Tel Aviv sights that I hadn't gotten a chance to see yet while seeing my friends too. I met them in the morning at Independence Hall in Tel Aviv, where the Israeli Declaration of Independence was signed in May 1948. Because they were running late, I had a little bit of time to sit outside and enjoy the beautiful weather at Founders Park which was right in front of the building. When they finally arrived, it was really good to be able to see my friends, and it made me excited to go back to DC and see everyone. It was also really cool to finally get to see Independence Hall, though the speech that was given was definitely geared toward the "Birthright agenda". We listened to the presentation with a bunch of other Birthright groups, and having never been on Birthright myself, it was really interesting observing them for the day and the message that all the staff and other people in contact with them were trying to promote. Basically, the speech at Independence Hall was very much a "love Israel, the Jews needed a place after the Holocaust, this is your homeland" type of message, which I guess is what I expected, but it all seemed a bit forced. Anyway, it was cool seeing Independence Hall though, since I've never gotten a chance to go before because it is closed on weekends and that is the only time I've been there really.
After Independence Hall, we walked over to Nachalat Binyamin (where there is a fabulous art fair on Tuesdays and Fridays, but since this was a Monday it wasn't there), where they let the group go on their own for lunch. I went with Becca Kelner, one of my sorority sisters who happened to be on birthright, and a bunch of other birthright participants with one of their soldiers to this REALLY delicious restaurant...we were in such a rush to get back to meet the group though that I didn't remember to ask what it was called, but it was amazing. Anyway, after we met back up with the group for lunch they were delayed from leaving because two girls had gone off to go to the bathroom and didn't come back for like 45 minutes but weren't answering their phones. It was lucky for me though, because they were supposed to use that time to go to Yaffo, and since I wasn't allowed on the Birthright busses because I wasn't an official participant, I would have had to cab there and it's kind of far. Instead, we ended up walking over to a park for their "daily conversation". They talked about how they felt about themselves and their connection with Israel after having been there already for almost a week, and it was really interesting and kind of amusing to hear some of them say things like that they felt like tourists at first but didn't anymore (after being here for 5 months, I still feel like a tourist!).
After their conversation, we went over to Rabin Square, where former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated. I was really excited because, even though I had been there before, as I mentioned in my last post, I had just finished writing a VERY extensive paper on the aftermath of the assassination, so I was excited to see it. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite like I remembered it, and a lot of it was closed off for construction. I seem to remember there having been a lot more graffiti there, but I guess it's entirely possible that I'm not remembering correctly. Anyway, after that, the Birthright group left for Tiberias, and I said goodbye to my friends and headed back to Jerusalem.
Founders' Park outside of Independence Hall

Israel's Declaration of Independence

Inside Independence Hall

Becca and I at lunch

Downtown Tel Aviv with Eli and Hannah

Memorial in Rabin Square at the location where Rabin was shot
Graffiti and newspaper clippings, posted in mourning at Rabin Square
Tuesday was a fairly relaxed day - caught up on the sleep I missed from the night before (having gone to sleep late after finishing my last papers and waking up early to go to Tel Aviv) and went to campus to turn in my papers. On Wednesday, my roommate Courtney and I went on a tour of Hebron, a very important city in Judaism but one that is now mostly Arab and has been the center of much conflict. As part of Oslo II, much of Hebron was transferred to the Palestinians, though a small part (where several very holy Jewish sites are) is still under the control of Israel.
The tour started with a stop outside of Hebron but near Jerusalem, where we went to Rachel's tomb (Rachel being the matriarch). While the rest of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs are buried in Me'arat Hamachpelah (the cave of the Patriarchs) in Hebron, Rachel was not buried there because she died from childbirth, which occured while the family was traveling. Jacob buried her along the road between Hebron and Jerusalem, and that was our first stop. We learned a lot about the fight to keep Rachel's tomb open to Jewish access, as it was a very dangerous place for Jews to go during the second intifada. Since then, the efforts of a group of religious women have convinced the Israeli government to build a wall/fence around the tomb area, ensuring that all visitors would be safe and that visitation could occur 24/7. The tomb itself was really cool and very interesting. The one thing that was disappointing was that, because the tomb is a religious site where prayer is held, there is a divider between men and women, so I wasn't able to see the tomb in its entirety. Regardless, though, it was really cool being able to see all the people who came to pray there, and being able to say the special prayers that you say at Rachel's tomb.
The women's side of Rachel's tomb, with a woman praying at it

The prayer that is supposed to be said at Rachel's tomb

Courtney and I at Rachel's tomb

The security around Rachel's tomb
After Rachel's tomb, we continued on to Hebron. We met up with our guide for the city, and he showed us all around the very small Jewish neighborhood of Hebron. He told us all about the different families that live there, what happened to the residents of Hebron during the intifada, and why the families who live in Hebron feel it is important for Israel to continue living in Hebron. We also visited the grave of Ruth and Yishai, two of the characters from the scroll of Ruth, which is read on the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, which would be the next week. We also went to some more modern graves and heard various stories about the people who were buried there. Then our guide took us into a very small building where several families lived, but had originally been told by the government that no renovations were allowed. This meant that through the winter this year, which was very cold, the building had no windows. They also only had one bathroom and one kitchen for several orthodox families, which was a LOT of people. Luckily they have recently been allowed to renovate, and now each family has a make-shift apartment (ie a bathroom and a small stove with which to cook on in addition to their bedrooms). We went into the house, where a woman was cooking schnitzel that smelled SOOO good, and got to talk to her for a little while about her life in Hebron. After that, we broke for lunch at a local pizza place, and then moved on to the main attraction.
The Cave of the Patriarchs, or Me'arat Hamachpelah, was nothing like I had expected it to be. Having heard the stories about how Abraham bought a cave to bury his wife Sarah in, and that he was later buried there along with Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob, and Leah, I had assumed that it would just be a cave and that there would be some vague signs saying that all the Patriarchs and Matriarchs were buried somewhere in the area. I was pleasantly surprised to not only see that it was, more or less, a building, but that there were actual tombs that were labeled with who was specifically buried there. The tombs were covered in tapestries and had artwork on the walls, and were very beautiful, though it was hard to believe that the tombs themselves were several thousands of years old (the decorations came much later). The other thing that was interesting was that there was a lot of Arabic calligraphy around the tombs, since they were also holy to Muslims, and the area had been used as churches and mosques throughout history. Overall, it was really cool being able to see it, and it made me realize why Hebron is so important to the Jews and why it has been such a source of conflict.

A window of a house in Hebron, which was covered in many VERY political bumper stickers throughout the last decade

The border between Jewish and Palestinian Hebron is highly militarized...

The graves of Ruth and Yishai

A coffee container that had deflected several bullets during an attack on Hebron, leaving no casualties (but the coffee pot)

Military outpost
Hebron flag - reads: Hebron, from then and forever

Military tower and mosque tower - says a lot about Hebron

Cave of the Patriarchs
Tomb of Jacob
Me and Courtney and Abraham's tomb

The main hall of the building

Arabic calligraphy in the room with Sarah's tomb

Me at the grave of my namesake, Leah!
After a long and eventful day, we arrived back in Jerusalem, and after a quick nap and stopping by the airport shuttles that were taking the first batch of students leaving to go back home, I went to grab dinner at the Chinese restaurant down the street with my friend Amanda. Just after we ordered our food, the people who she was storing her luggage with while she went to Europe after classes ended got to dorms to pick up her stuff, so we ended up leaving and taking our food to go. Once we got back to the dorms, we saw that there was a huge event in the center of the student village. Basically, that week Hebrew U was having an event for the Hebrew U Board of Directors in honor of the university's 90th anniversary, and that night's event was in the student village. It was a huge event, with lots of free food and drinks, a band playing music, and the whole student village decorated with lights and cushions around all the benches so that they would be like couches. Since finals were done the next day, most people had already finished, and many of my friends were leaving the next night, so it was a really nice way to end of the semester.
The Student Village all decked out

Courtney and I at the party

Flaming baton twirling mimes?

Another shot of the student village
Thursday was my first post-finals relaxation day. It was really sad, though, because between Thursday night and Friday morning, almost all of my friends who were still left in Jerusalem were leaving (though a few did stay on for a few more days). After another round of goodbyes at the airport shuttles, Amanda (who, as I said before, was going to Europe, not home, so her flight was different than everyone else's and wasn't leaving until Friday morning) and I went out for one last Jerusalem dinner to Luigi's, our favorite Italian restaurant. Then there was another goodbye, though Amanda and I met up the next week in Tel Aviv for another 2 nights when she came back, so it wasn't as bad as the other goodbyes.
Friday morning I headed downtown with a few of my remaining friends, Becca, Ashley, and Dana. After walking around the shops on Ben Yehuda and looking at some posters in a really cool poster store, Dana and I split off and went for one last time to the shuk on Machane Yehuda. There's something so indescribable about the shuk, and I am definitely going to miss all the hustle and bustle and the amazing fresh, delicious, and SUPER cheap produce and baked goods. It was also crazy busy because it was right before Shabbos, and while that does get somewhat frustrating, I think it adds to the character and the atmosphere.

Challahs at Marzipan Bakery off of Machaneh Yehudah, home of the best chocolate rugelach ever!


Produce at the shuk
After going home and resting/getting ready for shabbos, I went to services with my friend Dana and her boyfriend at a Sephardic synagogue down the street from the dorms. The synagogue was really pretty, but it was somewhat hard to follow the services since they were fairly different. The major difference was probably the order of the prayers, though, so I would hear a prayer, recognize it as something I knew, but not know where in the siddur we were, so I wouldn't be able to find the words to follow along. It was an interesting experience, though, and I'm glad I got to see it at least. After services, Dana, her boyfriend, and I went to Dana's friend Laura's dorm for shabbat dinner. Laura was also in my program, but I had never met her before, but I was glad I finally did get to meet her. The dinner was the three of us, Laura, Laura's cousin who was American but moved to Israel, Laura's cousin's boyfriend, and Laura's best friend from seminary who had since moved to Israel and was in the pre-university program at Hebrew University. I had a lot of fun with them, and ended up staying there until around 11, just talking and debating and joking around. The food was also very yummy. When I left, Laura invited me to come for lunch or dinner the next day, but I ended up sleeping through lunch (as I had told her I probably would), and my friend Becca ended up coming over Saturday evening, so I didn't want to ditch her so I could go to dinner with them.
So that was basically Saturday day - got a LOT of sleep catch up, and then hung out with Becca. We had also decided to go see the Sex and the City movie with the person Becca had been staying with since the dorms closed (I had paid to stay an extra week since it was cheaper than a hostel and more convenient), so we hung out for a bit, then went to the cheap falafel place down the street from the dorms for dinner, and then headed off to the movie theater. The movie was really good, and I was glad I saw it in Israel partially because I'm pretty sure everyone at home has already seen it if they had any interest in seeing it, and I wouldn't have had anyone to see it with at home. BUT I'm also glad I went because I got to see what an Israeli movie theater experience was like. First, when we went to buy our tickets, Becca went and bought hers and then I went and bought mine. When I went up to buy mine, they seemed very confused and asked if Becca and I wanted to sit together. I said that of course we did, so they asked why we didn't buy our tickets together. Apparently in Israeli movie theaters, tickets are given with assigned seats, which was just crazy! Luckily we were able to trade in our tickets for seats together though, but then we found out that Becca's friend was bringing a friend. Well, at that point, there were no longer 4 seats together, or even 2 and 2, but Becca's friend was willing to sit in this little nook between the last seat and the wall, so it ended up working out ok. The second thing I learned about Israeli movies is that they include a cigarette break. Exactly halfway through the movie, no matter how long the movie is or if it falls in the middle of a scene or something, the movie stops, the curtains go down (oh ya, they also had a curtain in front of the screen) and the lights turn on. A bunch of people go tup, and I was really confused because it was clearly not over (Carrie was in the middle of a sentence when it stopped!) and I at first thought that something had happened to the movie, but Becca's friend told us that it was just an intermission. Anyway, while it was apparently meant for a cigarette break, it served as a nice bathroom break, so I kind of liked the concept and think that the US might want to adopt it. It worked out perfectly, and just as I got out of the bathroom, the lights in the lobby were turned on and off (like at a play or opera!) and we went back into the theater for the second half of the movie.
Me at the Sex and the City movie

Movie poster for "Sex V'HaEer HaGedolah" - Sex and the Big City
Sunday I went back downtown for some last minute shopping and to pick up my El Al ticket to go home the next month from the El Al office. After that I went home and took a nap to prepare myself for staying up all night for Shavuot! Shavuot is the Jewish holiday that commemorates the receiving of the Torah by the Jewish people from Mt. Sinai. It is also one of the three pilgrimage holidays, when, during the time of the Temple, Jews would make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem to make a special sacrifice (in the case of Shavuot, which was supposed to represent the beginning of the blooming, Jews were supposed to sacrifice their first fruits of the season). In order to "prepare" themselves for the receiving of the Torah, Jews today spend the whole night of Shavuot studying rather than sleeping, so that i the morning they will be fully prepared to receive the Torah. Shavuot in Israel was Sunday night through Monday night (outside of Israel, Shavuot is celebrated for two days just in case the message about the new moon didn't get to the rest of the world fast enough), so Sunday night was the night to spend studying. Becca and I started the night with a bunch of other Hebrew U students who were still in Israel at the Fuchsberg Conservative Center, which was having a Shavuot dinner for overseas students. After dinner, we stayed there for the first lecture, which was about the dilemma of the conservative movement, and then moved on to Pardes, a non-denominational learning center where Becca had been taking classes this semester. When we got there, I saw a few people I knew from home, some of whom I expected to see and others who I didn't. We stayed there for two lectures, one on the "grey" areas of some of the ten commandments (when things like jealousy and disrespecting your parents are acceptable) and another on Torah revelation, which had a lot of partner study mixed with the lecture. Those two sessions I found much more interesting than the first one I went to at the Conservative Yeshiva. After those sessions were over, we walked back to Fuchsberg so we could walk with them to the Old City to go to the Kotel (Western Wall) for morning services before bed. Since Shavuot is a pilgrimage holiday, a LOT of people still go to the kotel, since it is the only remainder from the Temple. We walked along one of the main roads that leads to the old city, and it was really cool as we got closer to the gates seeing people from all directions all going to the same place.
When we finally got to the Kotel, we didn't go to the main part, which was very crowded and separated by a divider between men and women (it was so crowded, in fact, that the divider/mechitzah was extended all the way back through the courtyard by the Kotel), and I therefore would have had trouble hearing any of the services. Instead, we went into the Davidson center, which is basically an archaeological park of recently uncovered parts of the wall that the Kotel was a part of. The part that we went to was basically an extension of the Kotel, in which a stone with Hebrew engraving was found in addition to part of the arch from the bridge that the priests had used to enter the Temple. Apparently, there, every year, there is a conservative service for Shavuot, so I went there for services. Even though the service lasted much longer than the Orthodox services at the Kotel, which was kind of annoying because I was exhausted, it was a really cool experience to actually be able to hear and participate in a service at a place that, in my opinion, is basically just an extension of the Kotel. When women pray at the Kotel and sing, they are often given dirty looks by women who think that women shouldn't sing in public/where men can hear them. But in this service, I was able to sing and say the prayers as part of the community, and it was incredibly moving. There was just something so different about being able to sing prayers about the glory and rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Temple from the remains of what once was the glory of Israel. After services were over, I went back to the dorms and slept.
On Tuesday, I met up with my Aunt Michelle and cousin Joseph at the Central Bus Station. They were both in town to visit my cousin Sarah, and we were going together to see some cousins in Chadera that I had never met. After a bus to Tel Aviv and a train to Chadera, we were met by my cousin at the train station. We went over to her apartment, and after a snack, took a walk around the town to see it. It was really cool to see an average town in Israel - while I had seen major cities and random kibbutzim and moshavim, I had not really seen any of the smaller cities/towns, so it was cool. After our walk around, our other cousin (the first cousin's sister), came over, and we had a really good dinner...I had forgotten how long it had been since I had a home cooked meal! After dinner, we went to see the other cousin's apartment, and then I headed back to Jerusalem. It was a really nice day, partially because, as I said before I got to see a smaller city, but also because I got to meet relatives I hadn't met before and got to practice my Hebrew a lot!

Park in Chadera
Memorial to the citizens of Chadera who died in the various wars of Israel
Wednesday I spent packing, and Thursday was last minute packing up, moving out, and saying goodbye before leaving for Tel Aviv to meet up with my sorority sisters, Liz and Melissa, who were coming in for the dig at Megiddo.
Megiddo updates to come soon. I actually just got home to Michigan yesterday, so I'm still a bit behind on these updates, but only by a few weeks, so hopefully I'll be up to date soon.
Missing Israel and Jerusalem,
Leah
7 comments:
Hey, just came across your blog. I'm thinking of studying abroad in Hebrew U for a semester and I was wondering if you did so through a school group or if you arranged it on your own. If you did it on your own, was it a hassle transfering the units back to your home school?
I did it on my own, but other people from my school have done it before so I knew I wouldn't have too much trouble transferring credits. I'd recommend talking to your study abroad office at your school.
People should read this.
Hey,
I love the chevron pictures and account of your visit.. I have lived in chevron for 2 and a half years now.
Up until 2100 years ago it was in fact a cave, the cave is still there intact inside the herodian structure.
The machpela complex is very identical to the kotel and many historians say that by looking at the machpel building you can get a clear idea of how herod's beit hamikdash looked.
Well chevron is complex but very holy, special, spiritual etc etc..
You can email me directly if you have any questions givatchabad at gmail dot com
Shalom,
Friend I am Abret,yours YISRAEL tour pictures specially of HEBRON fill my heart with the unique and great memories of our Yisralytes Ancestors,its awsome and unique.
be happy always.
abretunited@gmail.com
Hi do you live in israel now? i need your help please write me wilrodri@gmail.com Thks!
HalleluYAH,
It is really a unique and asewsome blog,specially the unique and beautiful pics of the Holy Land reflects its scriptural foundation.
REJOICE IN YAHWEH ALWAYS: AGAIN I WILL SAY, REJOICE. LET YOUR FORBEARANCE BE KNOWN UNTO ALL MEN. THE MASTER IS AT HAND. IN NOTHING BE ANXIOUS; BUT IN EVERYTHING BY PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION WITH THANKSGIVING LET YOUR REQUESTS BE MADE KNOWN UNTO ALMIGHTY YAHWEH.AND THE PEACE OF ALMIGHTY YAHWEH, WHICH PASSETH ALL UNDERSTANDING, SHALL GUARD YOUR HEART AND YOUR THOUGHTS IN MESSIAH YAHSHUA. PHILIPPIANS 4:4-7
http://www.yrcinhcm.org/ [Flash website best view in google chrome]
http://redeemedcommunity.blogspot.com/
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