Yerusalem If I Forget You

I recently returned from a family trip to Israel where we spent almost three weeks traveling the country, visiting with family and my personal favorite, hanging out at the beach. Though I have been to Israel many times and have studied in Tel Aviv for six months I always end up having an experience that alters something inside of me. And this time was no different.

Midway through our trip we visited Jerusalem for a full day. When visiting this city of many millennia it is easy to see how it has captured the awe and imagination of centuries of Jewish, Christian and Muslim pilgrims. They come from afar to worship at their respective holy sites cramped right next to each other. Though the holiest place in Judaism, the Kotel (Western Wall), is situated only meters away from the second holiest place in Christianity, the Church of the Holy Seplucar, and the third holiest in Islam, al-Aqsa, they are separated by a gulf that spans miles.

Not only does this gap exist from religion to religion but within all three faiths, though not to the same degree. Each religion is divided into various subgroups that have the same fundamental tenets but differ in their traditions and observances. Why they become fractured varies across all three but Christianity and Islam have a long history of sectarian violence (wiki ‘sectarian violence’ for more detail) between their subgroups while Judaism has not had the same conflicts erupt between its denominations. This could be due to the fact that Conservative and Reform Judaism have only been around for a relatively short period of time or that discussion and arguments are encouraged, whereas in the other two religions, central authorities have the final say on religious dogma.

This all relates to my trip to Jerusalem for when I went to the Kotel I was approached by a man offering to assist me with leining tefilin. I politely declined wanting to experience the Kotel in my own way and not feeling the connection between prayer and commitment to my Judaism. He questioned me on why I would not partake in this ritual and we had a respectful discussion on religion, prayer, and intention during prayer. This was all well until an older orthodox rabbi from a Philadelphian suburb came over into the discussion. I respectfully listened to the points he was making (though unconvinced) and waited for my turn to respond. However, he did not give me a chance to voice my opinion and began cutting me off only after a few words. It is this stuck in the mud opinions that make it harder for compromise, unity and put off non-highly observant Jews from the religion.

But to make it worse he told my father that it was his sin for raising a son who would not put on tefilin. This bothered me the most for questioning and reasoning rather than blind obedience have been the traits that I have taken from my parents, religion and education.

My Return

Its 4:12 in the morning and I'm lying on the pullout couch in my parents new house in Sarasota, Fl unable to sleep from the uncomfortable mattress and metal bars protruding through it and partially from the rumbling of my stomach, the consequence of eating a McDonald's strawberry sundae six hours earlier. I've combed iTunes for any free shows or media that would help me fall asleep. I tried iTunes U as I was able to fall asleep sometimes while being present at a boring lecture in college, which on the other hand feels like a distant memory even though it has been less than a year since I graduated. I consider my self an adventurous person when it comes to trying new things and traveling. However, I want to be more spontaneous and actually go through with things. I remember saying to my BBYO adviser after I was elected to a board position that talk is bull shit and actions are the true measure of success (in a less eloquent manner using some additional expletives). This has always been my problem, I think I am more motivated than I really am. I come up with ideas but rarely see them through. I tell myself that I want to do this or that but end up doing neither and feel regret for wasting time, the most precious resource (physicist will tell you that time is not linear but ask them for an minute or an hour back, its more bullshit). So I am going to post here the things I want to get done within the next week and I will write back next week about my progress.
1) Swim laps - an exercise that I love to do and enjoy more after I'm done, good for body and soul
2) write a handwritten letter to an old friend - I'm think to one of my first friends Maria Claudia , haven't really communicated with her in the last 5 years and would really like to catch up. And/Or Mordy, another childhood friend who made aliyah to Israel and haven't seen in years, though talked to in winter of 2008, still way too long ago.
3) plant cilantro, mint, basil and maybe chives, my three favorite herbs which I hope will lead to me cooking more
4) make a new friend - after college its a little more difficult to make friends as people, myself included, get tied up in their old group of friends and don't branch out much
5) rock climbing - 1/2 fridays with ethan, been saying we would go for months and haven't

So I give myself a full seven days and will write back next week with a progress report.

My Guitar

In the past two and a half weeks since I have graduated from college I have been trying to keep myself busy by working at the library, hanging out with friends, riding my bike and playing guitar. My friend Stock aka Steezle(s) always wanted to learn to play guitar and so he decided to buy one and take some lessons. As a former beginner guitarist, seeing him melt face on the guitar reignited my desire to rock. So if you are a family member of mine who would like to shower me with presents and gifts, I would like an acoustic electric guitar, hard case, capo and tuner (just a suggestion).
Some of you might be saying what happened to your old guitar. The answer, is that my brother Yoni commandeered my instrument and now rocks out to it.

My Sesh

Now at the end of my formal schooling I reflect back at the teachers and schools of my past. I had teachers that I have loved and teachers that I have equally hated. Some got the most out of me and other just got what comes out of me (shit). I have been challenged and pushed to my mental limits by some topics and courses and have passively went through others (note to readers: I just took a break to play freecell and rocked it). In the spirit of graduation and yearbooks, the rest of this entry will be a list of superlatives, both funny and serious, of the teachers that I have had.
Teacher that I would like to buy a beer for: 3-way tie Pete Frengel (12th grade English) - plays the guitar and was probably a great wingman in his day before the loss of hair; Brendan Goff (frehman year history class, American Empire) - speaks his mind and would stay out till the bars closed, could convince the waitress to quit and join the peace corps; Dwight Forester (High School principal)- Mr. Forester played professional basketball overseas and was over 6'5 and 400 pounds, he could probably take down an entire bottle of tequila without feeling anything..also smoked blunts on the reg.
(another freecell another victory)
Most Boring: N. Konforti (Tel Aviv University - Isreali Companies Prof) lets just say that falling asleep, cellphone snake and sudoku took up most of my times
Most of my college professors could fit this category. Mostly because lecturing infront of a group of students is not that stimulating, and the topics were of little to no interest to me.
Most likely to quit teaching: Elana Charles - Mrs. Charles is what we call mentally unstable. She is always saying she is going to quit but never mans up.
Most Down to Earth: Never knew what this means in high school yearbooks and still am a little fuzzy. Ralph Williams - Professor Williams (said in a slight British accent, ye ne) is a teacher who is interested and deeply involved with his students. Anyone who has had the privalege to take any of his courses knows his unique teaching style but is also moved to try harder and actually do all the readings, so to be a part of the conversation with Williams.
Most Likely a Teacher by day stripper by night (Varsity Blues Award): Kelly Schall, don't know her married name, but this guidance counsler was the source of many a wet dream for Susquehanna Township males in grades 9-12. She had a slamming body and a look that is a hybrid of catholic girl and all business.
Most Likely CHCHChillin: Mr. Locust and Coach Cook - these two gym teachers were strait chillin on the L during school and had a sweet jump shot.

My City of Angeles

My blog originated as a way for me to keep my audience up on what I was doing abroad in Israel. Once I came back to the States I periodically wrote entries on a variety of things, mostly just as a way for me to keep on writing and getting my thoughts down. Now that I am coming back from a vacation in Los Angles I feel a little obligated to blog about what I did. And this will be my attempt to do that.

I left Ann Arbor on Thursday December 18th, for a 12 day vacation in LA. It was not all vacation for I was going there for a JESNA (Jewish Educational Services of North America) conference who were paying for my flight and three days of stay at Hess Kramer camp in Malibu. I got involved with JESNA while I was studying abroad at Tel Aviv University, I took a class that analytically looked at Jewish Education in North America. The course was two parts: the first the formal classroom at TAU and second an internship once back in the states. I really didn’t do an internship, I was supposed to help with birthright retainment but it never worked out. Nonetheless, JESNA paid for my trip out to LA and brought individuals working in Jewish education and service to come talk to our group about how to be effective and opportunities in the field. They also took us to kosher Chinese food for dinner one night, for what is Jewish Christmas without Chinese food, and to Universal CitiWalk where a bunch of us rode a mechanical bull.

My Time

I hate being cliche, however, I start this post off with the cliche phrase/adage that time is the most valuable thing because you can not get back lost time no matter how hard you try. With this said, look back and analyze what you have spent your time and energy on in the past hour, day, month, semester, year etc. Are those things important to you, or have you been so jaded by something that you seem to forget yourself and get lost. There are a lot of questions but few answers (again cliche and I begin to hate this post), but the answers we do have we need to use to help us in the future.
Make sure the juice is worth the squeeze.

My Thoughts

I am sitting in my apartment at my kitchen table just finished a paper on erev Rosh Hashana and felt that I had something on my mind to get down on digital (instead of paper). I want to become a musician, more than that I want to create something that gives people the feeling that I get when I hear a great song or see an amazing movie. Everyone does things there own way but those who stand out are the ones who do it originally.