First Grades of College

Passed.

Coming Home

Something I have learned being here is that the world does not stop changing around you just because you have some blog posts to catch up on. Unfortunately the old posts are going to have to wait, but honestly—it is not so unfortunate.

Gilad Shalit is an Israel solider who was kidnapped in Gaza over five years ago and has been held captive ever since. This summer, I worked at the Mercer Island JCC camp as the Judaics educator and as part of our Israel week I had the kids write letters to Gilad’s parents. Three weeks ago Julia Snyder and I walked to the Gilad Shalit tent (that sits outside of the prime minister’s house) to drop the letters off and instead of finding a box to leave them in we found his parents accompanied by a group of visitors. We waited outside the tent because we weren’t sure who the visitors were and it looked like they were talking. We waited a bit longer…and then a bit longer. Then I realized, no, they’re not talking. Everyone was just kind of sitting making small talk because, really, what is there to say? All there is left is anticipation: what will tomorrow bring? News of life? News of the unmentionable? There are no right words to offer, but there is something to say for the prayers and hope that come from kids. I entered the tent and explained to them what I had and who they were from. We exchanged awkward smiles and thank yous, then Julia and I headed right back down the street to our building.

But tonight? Tonight celebration has exploded from the tent. Tonight there is singing. Tonight there is dancing. Tonight there is hope. Tonight you can hear the song and feel the smiles of Gilad’s family, friends, and nation. Tonight a deal was signed for the release of Gilad Shalit.

For five years Gilad hasn’t seen his family, hung out with his friends, slept in his own bed, gotten to choose what he eats for dinner, or gotten to listen to his favorite song. In the upcoming days, בעזרת השם, he will.

Walking down any street in Israel on a day-to-day basis you see signs that read “גלעד עדיין חי,” and  you see graffiti on sides of buildings with messages of the like. People all over the world have been hoping and praying for this day that is finally right around the corner.

I cannot even begin to explain to you what it is like out in front of Gilad’s tent tonight, so instead I’ll give you a few pictures/videos so you can see for yourself!!!

This is the chair in Gilad's tent that is left for him to sit on when he comes back!

This sign sits outside of the tent which is outside of the prime minister's home. It reads: "Sarah and Bibi, I have been sitting in my cell alone for 1934 days, and where are you?" The number is changed on a daily basis...

Unfortunately, the terrorists did not just wake up this morning and say “Hmm, I feel like letting Gilad go home…” If only it were that simple. In exchange for Gilad’s return, 1000 terrorists are being released from Israeli prisons. Among them are men of lethal standings. You must realize that this is a victory of Hamas too. You must realize that celebration is happening in the streets of Gaza too.

Tonight, among those celebrating there were also those protesting. I think it was only a girl and what appeared to be her brother, but she was holding these signs:

The first sign says “Today is a day of mourning. The blood of my parents is boiling in their grave.” The second sign reads “I hope that the terrorists from the attack on the Subaru restaurant launch an attack on the Shalit family, or even the prime minister’s.”

It is evident that this girl’s parents were victims of terror and it is understandable how the release of these terrorists affects her. As I was taking these pictures a man came up to her and began arguing with her about how she could stand out here and hold signs like these. An officer then came and got in the middle telling him to back off because this is an emotional subject.

There is no saying that this trade was done lightly. We want Gilad back and we wish we didn’t have to make an exchange of this type. What is the right answer when trying to negotiate with terrorists?

Gaza and the West Bank want independence, Egypt is turned upside-down and the list could go on.With all that is happening in the Arab world right now, this is our best chance.  I truly believe that the Israeli government would not agree to a deal of this magnitude if they did not believe the same—this could be our last chance.

For now all we can do is continue to hope and pray that within the upcoming days an innocent boy will be returned home to his parents.

גלעד עדיין חי, וגלעד חוזר!!!

P.S. the videos would not upload, but they are on their way!

"Fast"Forward: Yom Kippur in Yerusalaim

Okay, we are going to "fast"-forward (hahaha, I'm sorry, I couldn't help it) about two and a half weeks, and then we will rewind again in a few minutes.

YOM.KIPPUR.IN.JERUSALEM.

Should I say it again? “Yom Kippur in Jerusalem.” If you haven’t done it before I would highly recommend it.

Starting Thursday night the city begins to change. Coming back from town with my friends we encountered a mass stream of cars kotel-bound on every city street. The traffic was barely moving and there were people walking all over the place looking for parking—keep in mind it is 12:30/1:00ish AM. I went back to base and gathered few stragglers to walk to the Kotel with me—I figured, why not; all of the cool kids are doing it. This night was the last night for slichot and it genuinely seemed like EVERYONE got the memo and wanted in. Walking towards the old city it felt like we were making a pilgrimage to the site of the Beit Hamikdash. The walk over was chaotic. There were people collecting tzedakah money left and right, as well as chickens running all over the place. Wait. Rewind…chickens? Yes. I’m not sure I can sufficiently explain to you what kaparot are, but in short: you buy a chicken and rotate it around your head, then shecht it and it is supposed to symbolize the removing of your sins or something to that extent (*p.s.* the edible chicken is then donated to the poor).

ANYWAY.

We were literally smushed into a crowd of people walking towards the Kotel, and it did not help that there were equal numbers of people going the opposite way. If you have ever been in the old city, you have experienced the tiny alleyways and close quarters (no pun intended), so I think you can sympathize with the experience. Finally we made it to the Kotel square, and…WOW. There were tons of people everywhere. At this point it was suppppper late and veryyyyyy overwhelming, so my friends and I took a few minutes to soak up the atmosphere and then headed back to base! (Don’t worry, we took the longer—but less crowded—route homeJ).

Finally Friday morning is here and after a nice chance to sleep in we were ready to go.

11:30am- Lunch

12:15pm-Mincha

12:30pm- Stores close

3:00pm- Dinner

4:20pm- Leave for Kol Nidrei

I could not decide where to go for services so I ended up going with my madricha to a service where the congregants really get into their davening—it was very cool. People are swaying left and right, singing their hearts out, and really making the most of the experience. I can only speak from my own experiences, but I have never seen that at home, and it was quite an experience.

After services we witnessed the city literally “off”. No cars (apart from emergency vehicles) were on the streets, and all shops and traffic lights were shutdown. People roamed the streets with their families, dressed in white, and machzorim in hand.

As we approached our building we joined a huge group of Nativers sitting in the middle of one of the largest and most busy intersections in town singing zmirot and enjoying the peace of the night. We attracted a large group of people, some of which joined in and others who just stood and watched. Sitting in the middle of an intersection that normally takes 10 minutes to cross, singing songs with all of my friends felt surprisingly normal from what one would expect it to feel—only now, looking back on it, when the streets are busy again and the city has reopened do I realize what we did…

Next thing I know I am waking up at 4:40am. GAHHH.

 You’re probably thinking I went back to sleep, in which case you are mistaken. It actually was no accident. A group of us woke up to walk to an early minyan so that we could have a break between davening during the day. Am I crazy? Yes. Was it worth it? I think I can say it was. Look, it was no OMGOSHTHATWASTHEMOSTAMAZINGSERVICEOFMYLIFELETSGOBACK, but it was definitely and experience that I am glad I had. I have made a decision to grasp experiences of the sort while I can, because before I know it I am going to be back in Washington and it is going to seem like I dreamt the whole thing. And, come on, you only live once!

The service was nice and ended fairly early, so who is complaining? Oh wait. Did I forget to mention the synagogue was a good 35minutes away? Yeah... that was a tough walk home—uphill. And an extra plus was that we got to see the sunrise on the walk there!

But we just kept going. Finally we made it back and rested for a few hours before “Kotel, here we come!” Another group of us went to the Kotel for Mincha and Neilah. Now that? That was cool. We walked all the way there in the middle of some of the busiest streets in Jerusalem, and the silence of the city was unimaginable. It was awesome, awesome, awesome…we talked about it the whole way there.  Once we got there it was not nearly as crowded as Thursday night, but got progressively so as the sun set. We found a minyan by the mechitzah and joined in. We davened Mincha and Neilah, and as Neilah came to a close you could hear all the shofar blasts begin to sound all over the square from all of the different Minyanim. As far as my most memorable Jewish experiences go, that was definitely one of them! We also had great timing, we made it back to base just in time for cake!!!! Mmmm, yummy.

Now I am showered and dinnered and sitting here writing this to all you at home who are still amidst your Yom Kippur. I hope you all had an easy fast and wish you all a SHANAH TOVA!!

Week 2.5

I never thought I could be one of those people who could write a blog, but I gave it a shot (as per request of the folks at home), and guess what!!!  I’m not.  So I guess if you are reading this… have fun!

I arrived here in The Holy Land, the Land of Milk and Honey, the Land of Our Forefathers,  Eretz Kodsheinu, (and the list could go on –but I’ll spare you the rambling for a few minutesJ), two and a half weeks ago. We got here, ninety-one eager and strong…and tired…and hungry… Nativ-ers.

After 21 hours of travel, the excitement was tremendous, but the anticipation of the journey ahead was the most overwhelming feeling I have ever felt (and for those of you who have ever seen me 15 minutes before a test—that’s saying something). At that point, it was 7:30 in the evening and after a short detour to look out over the magnificent land that surrounds us, we finally went “home.”

[[[[Okay, Mommy, breathe. I know you’re about to call me up and say “HOME?! THAT IS NOT YOUR HOME. HERE! BELLEVUE, WA! THAT IS YOUR HOME. YOUR ONE AND ONLY.” But, don’t worry. In this context “home” is just another word for house, I only have one home in that city with the big needle thing... the one that I have a picture of on my wall [here] with “don’t forget where you came from” written on the back. I am pretty sure it is Jodi Schwartz’s handwriting too… [Could that be, Jo?]]]]]

Anyway… we got to Beit Nativ and we ate...no, we really ATE, and then, without skipping a beat, they swept us away so they could talktalktalktalktalk to us.  Do you think any of us remember a thing they said? No? Well, you’re wrong because I clearly remember them saying “you probably won’t remember any of this..” But that was about all I remember. Funny how selective memory works like that…

Eventually after we all got to our rooms, called our parents (only to find out that they won’t pick up the phone because, did you hear? The crying at the airport is only a façade, they don’t really miss us…cough cough), and many failed attempts of ninety teenagers trying to connect to one teeny-tiny internet server at the same time, sleep was the only thing left to do.  

Fast forward through days of orientations and approaching the same people over and over again saying “Hi, I don’t think we’ve met,” (only to figure out you met them an hour earlier but now they’ re wearing  different color shirt), and school begins!

College. Who signed me up for this? Oh wait… I vaguely remember doing that...Huh? Well, it’s a beautiful phenomenon to only have two classes a day, but maybe even more of a phenomenon that with only two classes a day, I feel like I am spending more time doing my work then I did when I had nine classes a day…

But the beauty of college is that that you choose your classes! Well, okay, fine. I lied. Right now us Nativers are amidst our “Minimester” which is a series of intensive courses fit into a three week period so that we can get an optimal learning experience by beginning classes before the chagim. Didn’t I make that sound nice? Well it is, in certain respects. All of the kids that tested out of level alef and bet ulpan classes have mandatory Zionism and Jerusalem courses, and then have the option to take either a Jewish text course or a course that studies Jewish history through film.  I started the film class only to realize that although I could manage staying awake through the movies (regardless of the dark room and the shades being closed after getting little to no sleep), it did not mean (no matter how much sleep I got) that I could stay awake through the lectures of a teacher that could care less about showing any sort of excitement, passion, or interest at all in what she taught—or in anything for that matter—except for that one day she got really excited about a stoned bar mitzvah boy in a movie she saw…but I digress. It turns out I made a great decision! The Jewish text class is intriguing and really makes me think. It also makes me appreciate the classes I took at NYHS, especially classes like Navi, Gemara, and Jewish History.

This week I signed up for my classes that I am going to take during the actual semester that begins in a few weeks! I had to petition to be admitted to a Holocaust course, because it is no longer a freshman level course, and I am hoping that my day-school background will help me! Otherwise, I am taking Hebrew, a class in Israeli society, and a class that follows Christianity from “Jewish Jesus” to the religion’s formation. I have yet to find out whether I have been admitted to the Holocaust course, but if I don’t get in, I am hoping to switch up my schedule a bit to take an anti-Semitism course and an Israeli politics course (both of which I cannot take if I get into the Holocaust class).

Living in Israel is almost a surreal experience. We are living in history. In my Jerusalem course we go out and visit historical sites to learn the history of the city, and then we walk down the street to go home afterwards. It’s crazy!

Nativ’s base also happens to be conveniently located in the center of Jerusalem. We can walk basically everywhere we want to go. Last week my friends and I walked down to the Ben Yehuda Street area on Thursday night and I saw six of my friends from school as well as my best friend from California! [Let’s be honest, every American teenager hangs out there on Thursday night, but that in no way detracts from how cool it is that we run into each other!] Rena and Sarah Varon came over the other night to spend some time with me, I ran into Julz coming home from the train after being in Be’er Sheva, and I saw Sarah Rossen crossing the street when I was on the bus! (I hadn’t even realized she was in Israel yet!)

I was not kidding when I said that we live in the center of Jerusalem. The prime minister’s house is a one-and-a-half-minute-step-outside-the-front-door, the Kotel is a 15 minute walk, and the shuk is about 7 minutes walking also. This being the case, I have already experienced probably one of the coolest things I will encounter in these next months. Motzei Shabbat of our first Shabbat here, a protest was held throughout Israel. The organizers were attempting to get one million Israelis out on the streets in protest of social justice issues taking place in Israel right now. This all started with the remarkably high costs of living in Tel Aviv that caused a woman who was evicted from where she lived to pitch a tent on public grounds in protest of the high rent costs. The action she took caused an uproar around the country resulting in the protest that took place right outside of Beit Nativ, literally.  My friends and I took to the street (and when I say took to the street I mean, stepped outside the gate of our building) to be a part of the experience. The protest had yet to start so we ventured out to grab a quick bite of shwarma—yum!—and then headed back to base/the protest. We returned to a sea of people covering the streets surrounding our base. It was estimated that there were between thirty and fifty thousand people in Jerusalem, and hundreds of thousands in Tel Aviv, but not quite a million showed. In any case, there was no way we could have made it back to where the stage was set up (because now the streets were COVERED), so we made our way up to the roof of our building which was just as good as having front row seats. Now, I did not understand much of what was said (because Israelis just have to speak so darn fast), but I was able to pick out a few things. One woman spoke about how Israel was founded by kibbutzim that were centered around social-justice and goodwill, yet, sixty years later, thousands of the country’s citizens have taken to the streets chanting and screaming “ה-עם. דו-רש. צ-דק ח-ב-ר-ת-י“ (“The nation demands social justice”). What she said after that was beyond me, but [without taking the risk of forming an ill-informed opinion on the issue] I think it is an interesting thing to think about. Seeing Israeli society from this angle made everything so real. The people. The problems. The experience. We even got to experience “Shlomo Artzi Live Behind Beit Nativ.” Now who else can say they’ve done that before?!

…well, the tens of thousands of other people who were there…but….

Anyway…

It has been two weeks and I just feel so fortunate for this experience. The freedom we get is great, but that doesn’t come close to the fact that I am here to begin with. I am surrounded by nice staff members who are [usually] helpful, a wonderful group of kids, and a beautiful country. I don’t think I could ever thank my parents enough for giving me this once in a lifetime experience, but I guess I’ll begin attempting now: Thank you! You know I think you are the bestest parents in the universe [insert hug here], I love you and miss you!!!

(There are also those kids who I call my siblings, I LOVE YOU GUYS AND MISS YOU LIKE CRAZIES)

<3 JamieLeeSchwartz

Hanging out with my Seattle girlies at Beit Nativ!

Chillin’ in the airport in Tel-Aviv waiting for the other plane!

September 3, 2011: Looking out over the March of the Million in Jerusalem through my friend’s window.