Ok its official. I am back in the US and my year at Hebrew U has been completed. The last couple days in Israel were a whirlwind of activity, full of finals and packing and saying goodbyes. When the Sheirut came to pick me up I had a veritable parade of people sending me off. In a way I’m glad I got to be one of the first to go, so that I could say ( Read more... )

amazing Shabbat amazing city amazing friends. Back where it all began in a place entirely new. Music and kavanah. Fancy dinner and hotel breakfast and picnic in the park and snacks on the roof. Giggles and cuddles and hugs and kisses and massages. Hands on the Wall on the grass on heads on backs on siddurim ( Read more... )

My to-do list is coming along nicely. Hebrew is finished (exams and all) and my Halacha and Foreign Policy papers are ready to be printed out and handed in. All thats left is 2 exams, my Jewish Ed paper, and of course, packing. This week has so far been an excellent combination of hard work, procrastination, and late nights.

Tuesday, after hitting ( Read more... )

In a moment overflowing with procrastination, I am reminded that I never fulfilled my promise to share stories from our pre-Pesach trip to Egypt. To actually do so at this point would ensure that I never come close to seeing the end of my papers, so I'm employing a bit of a shortcut by pointing you in the direction of Daniel's blog, where he gives ( Read more... )

I don't understand how this happens ( Read more... )

Foreign Policy -- Sigh. I don't really know how this paper is going to work. I've read the Charter of Villars and I'm slowly making my way through the Geneva Accords. Why does peace have to be so technical?

Jewish Ed -- Before I tell you my current thoughts, lets play a game. Say you had 3 days with high school students who were Jewish, but their ( Read more... )

Halacha paper - check (its not due for a week and a half, so proofreaders are still welcome, wink wink)

Hebrew project - check (thats two long hours Shira and I will never get back)

So now I've just 2 papers and 3 exams to go...

and only 13 days left in this amazing country. I don't understand.

I really hope I have time to see people who are ( Read more... )

I spent most of Yom HaZikaron working on my Halacha paper (much needed especially because I decided in the morning to ignore the hours I’d already spen t on research and pick an entirely new topic). By the evening I was more than ready to get out and celebrate Israel. A whole group of us went into town around 8:00, which it turns out was a bit ( Read more... )

My day yesterday started with Hatikvah. I walked into Yad Vashem and looked directly into the faces of young children in pre-Nazi Europe singing about the hope of the Jewish people to return to the land of Israel. It was, for them, simply a hope, for the state of Israel had yet to be created ( Read more... )

Wow. A bunch of us had the opportunity to attend the dress rehearsal of the ceremony that moves the country from Yom HaZikaron to Yom HaAtzmaut, from a day of mourning to a day of ecstasy. And it was fabulous. And thought-provoking. And moving ( Read more... )