Leaving Israel

June 24, 2008

2 months ago today we found out we weren’t moving to LA, but rather, to NY.
4 weeks ago, on a Tuesday, we set out for London and for our three week trip to Europe.
Today, 4 weeks later, we have set out for NY by a circuitous route that will first take us to Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Jersey before rolling into Brooklyn.
And 4 weeks from today, also on a Tuesday, I start my job at AJWS.

5 large suitcases, 3 carry-on bags, plus one guitar and one Vicious Kitten later and we made it to the crazy Ben-Gurion airport. Flying on an Israeli airline always feels like one giant dysfunctional family reunion all on board the plane.

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Walking through Jerusalem this is what I see and hear: noisy construction at what seems like every major intersection; hordes of tourists who have descended upon the city for the summer season; lots of black, hot hot black coats with religious Jews who don traditional clothing; impatient Israelis who will love you and tell you how it is all in the same breath – a remarkable quality of Israelis that I have come to appreciate for their genuine honesty (even if sometimes it is too honest); the flags that change with whatever head-of-state is currently in country – this time it was the French flag because Sarkozy was in town; the sweet smell of roses near the David Citadel pool as I come up for air and to absorb the sight before my eyes- swimming and looking out on the Old City walls – now that is truly extraordinary; the cacophony of sounds and spices and people at the shuk – it’s amazing that this country works at all and at the shuk is where I feel it the most, with the venders who scream their prices, especially as the day draws to a close and everyting goes on sale, with the exotic mounds of spices, Arab venders, Jewish venders, my sweet spice and flower guy who calls me “moti” (sweetie) and always greets me with a huge smile and a friendly conversation.

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And these are the things I can’t hear or smell or see but can feel: a sense of frustration and anger from all kinds of Israelis, anger that the economy is staggering; angry that the peace process is as elusive as ever; angry that there is talk about a divided Jerusalem; angry that Israel would even consider giving up East Jerusalem – polar opposites and extremes. Israel is a land of extremes and a country that attracts extremists. With extreme heat and extreme coldness at night – it is the desert. With extreme Jews, who pray for the Third Temple and for the secular Israelis who live their Judaism by speaking Hebrew and living in the Holy Land. With Arabs, Christians, Palestinians, Jews, tourists and world leaders alike – who all claim a stake of this tiny sliver of land. Jerusalem is home to 42 different denominations of Christians and many say it is the most diverse Christian city in the world. Extremes of wealth: Israel’s high-tech industry has produced great wealth among the upper echelon of society, yet a staggering number of Jews still live in poverty in Israel in 2008.

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Israel is akin to a patchwork quilt, with all kinds of people and squares and stitching that composes and defines its many colors, its people, its dreams and its legend. Conquered by endless rulers and empires, its stones tell a very powerful story. Walking around the city gives me a sense of wanderlust – who walked on this very street before me, what have these stones borne witness to – which leader or prophet taught and inculcated his followings at various point in time and history. Woven together by a rich diversity and with very complicated borders it is a city that has evoked emotion and wars for over 2,000 years. And peace comes at a very steep price for this very special city. Yet, the feeling of walking around on Shabbat, with peace and quiet in the air, is an elusive feeling that I’d take in my suitcase if only I could. I was happy to have been part of its history, to have walked in the footsteps of the prophets, even if only for a brief moment in time.

Europe by the Numbers

Starting the hike in Riogamario, Italy

Jenny hanging out in Pisa, Italy

How amazing is this- Cinque Terra, on our hike

Our trip by the numbers:

1 euro for an amazing expresso in Lucca, Itlay
2 euros for an amazing box of chocolates in Brugges, Belgium
3 friends we visited in the UK (Steph and Stephen, Emily and Sarah - ok so it's 4!)
4 euros- the best we spent on our trip when we discovered there were lockers in the Brugges train station ad didn't have to lug our packs all day
5 towns we hiked in Cinque Terra, Italy
6 times we collectively ate gelato in Italy
7 museums we visited in Paris in 2 days (Louvre, Musee D'Orsay, Jewish Museum, Pantheon, Notre Dame crypt, Pompedium and Arc de Triumphe)
8 other people who slept in our dorm room in Brussels
9 euros we spent for brad, cheese and wine where we dined on the famous Pont Neuf Brige in Paris
10 bars in Edinburgh that Jenny showed Evan where she enjoyed partying in during her more wild days
13 nights of free accomodation: 4 in London with Steph and Stephen; 3 in Edinburgh with Sarah; 5 in Italy at Sara and Andrea's apartment in Viareggio, Italy and one in the Luton Airport
14 hours we spent in the Luton Airport because we refused to get a hotel, way too expensive
15 kilometers we rode our bikes in Amsterdam and the Dutch countryside
17 train rides (including transfers) we took in Italy
18 days we saw rain on our trip (big bummer)
21 glorious days in Europe
40 pounds we spent on glorious High Tea at the swanky Soho Hotel, London
65 euro supplement we had to pay on the Brussels-Amsterdam train for not traveling with infants (whoops, Evan bought the ticket in French)
70 euros for our best meal, eating Italian style at long tables with locals in Florence and having endless plates of food
90 minutes before Jenny got antsy in the Louvre
1,000 more places we want to see and experience in the world....

Many more pictures are on the blog - under Europe Pictures (go to www.jennyandevan.blogspot.com)

Evan chilling out in Paris

Less than 48 hours left

Thoughts rushing through my head, emotions choking, spices abound, music, sounds, breezes – cross breezes especially. Pieces float by, moments of so many miracles that abound in our daily existence. How blessed are we truly. To hear, to listen, to walk, to seek, to experience. Memories cascading through stuff, so much stuff, the materialism of it all. Music and familiar rhythms that fill us up – mentally, physically and spiritually. So may loose ends to tie up, and new beginnings awaiting us. Thinking and praying for five-day old Tikvah* and hoping it will be a good world for her and that she will be able to breathe and take in all of the mysteries of the universe. Being in this in-between space and place, all I can think about is, God I will miss this place.

Tikvah is our friend Dave and Gal's baby and they left Israel early to get Gal the best possible care for this rare condition.

Shabbat Musings

It's Saturday morning, almost 10am in Jerusalem. I've never given too much importance to the "last" things in my life. I've always been of the belief that one should make the best of their situation all the time, not just at the "last" opportunity. Today does feel special though - our last Shabbat in Israel. Of course we'll be back. I do realize, however, that it will be a long time before I have a full year of no commitments or obligations on Saturday mornings. So how to spend this day? Many options have run through my head in the last 30 minutes. I could:

1) Go to synagogue
2) Ride my bike through the Jerusalem forest
3) Make a cup of tea and read my book on our patio
4) Play Shabbat music on my guitar
5) Take a moment to capture this moment in writing

So that's what I've chosen to do, option 5. I'm sitting at my computer, listening to the Orthodox Jews below our window greet one another on their way to synagogue. Children are playing, men are singing in the local synagogue, and I'm taking it all in. Jenny and I are part of this Shabbat landscape here in Israel. Today, whatever we choose to do, will be filled with love and a desire to simply fill ourselves one more time with the weekly taste of peace that is Shabbat in Jerusalem.

Paris, Brugge, Brussels, and Amsterdam!

Writing from a small minimart/internet cafe on one of those picturesque side streets in Amsterdam. Our past week has been amazing, running to museums in Paris, sampling beer and chocolate in Brugge, seeing the bizarre national monuments in Brussels, and now enjoying all the beauty of Amsterdam. One of our highlights here has been renting a bike for the day where we rode through the Dutch countryside. Jenny was a champ and now loves biking!! We literally rode through fields and little towns, taking in the Dutch scenery- pigs, cows, horses, and all. Today we took advantage of a free, yes free, tour through the city. We tried to post pictures but have had some trouble reading the instructions in Dutch.

Tomorrow we're off to Tuscany, where we'll spend the last days of our trip. Sorry to make this short, we're off to explore our last night here before our very early morning flight to Milan. We'll definitely write more when internet doesn't cost a fortune- and will post some pictures as well. Crazy to think of where we're going..physically and mentally - to Italy next, then to Israel...then to NY. Whoah. Prego!

Good news

After being offered the excellent job as Chief Vicious Kitten Officer, I have declined her offer - and have taken a new professional job beginning mid-July. Actually I had two excellent offers (in addition to Vicious Kitten's offer!) to work for 2 phenomenal organizations - and it was a really hard decision...and the past few weeks have been filled with a lot of emails, phone calls, and big decisions...but a few days ago, from the streets of London, I accepted a job with the American Jewish World Service (AJWS) as the Senior Development Officer working to build a young leadership program. AJWS is an organization dear to my heart, it's the organization I worked with while I was in grad school and led service programs to Latin America. Check them out on the web: www.ajws.org

I think it will be a really good fit, full of lots of challenges and excitement. This is wonderful because it means we can truly enjoy our trip and last few weeks abroad, knowing that I am coming home to a job that I'm excited about - just wanted to share the good news. More from the continent (i.e. mainlaind Europe where I really hope the sun is shining since we haven't seen it in a week!)

Greetings from the UK!

Our past week in the UK has been about connecting with old friends, exploring new areas, and taking in the beauty of London and Edinburgh. I forgot how pricey it can be to enjoy the beauty of the UK, but it has been worth it. We've eaten several rounds of fish and chips, enjoyed many pints of beer, and yesterday I tried jacket potatoes for the first time, an Edinburgh specialty. It has been a special treat for me to visit Edinburgh, where Jenny studied abroad 8 years ago.
A few highlights of each country:

England: We stayed with our friends Stephanie and Stephen in their flat in Finchley. Finchley is a cute little town in North London, complete with great Indian food, a beautiful little park, and the local Catcher in the Rye pub. We spent a lot of time walking through the city, ducking into alleyways, strolling along the water, and even wandering into the Museum of Natural History in South Kensington (my sister's old neighborhood!). What a wonderful thing to just walk through a city with no particular place to be. Its the best (and cheapest) way to explore a new city. We also met up with Jenny's friend Emily from "uni" for pizza and a pint, took a rainy walking tour through Westminster, and shopped in the famous Covent Garden. London was a great start to our European journey!

Scotland: Here we stayed with Jenny's friend Sarah, Jenny's flatmate in "uni" that year. My first time in Edinburgh was great! It's been a bit rainy here, but we've put on our raincoats and braved the rain. Edinburgh Castle provided great insight into Scotlands history and beautiful views of the city. Walking through Mary Kings Close was like going back in time, exploring the alleyways and haunts of Edinburgh's past. Our trip closed with a hike up "the crags" for amazing views of the city. Today we have a few more hours in Edinburgh and then we're off to Paris!

A few pictures:

A view from Edinburgh Castle

Climbing the Edinburgh Crags

The streets of Edinburgh!

Edinburgh with the Old City in the background

Deacon Brodies pub - Inspiration for Jeckyll and Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson who grew up in Edinburgh

Jenny and Sarah in local dress

Crossing the bridge near Big Ben with Stephanie

A rainy day in Westminster

Highlights of an incredible past month

What a whirlwind of the past month! Here are a few highlights:

* Evan successfully finished his first year of rabbincal school! He rocked and did really well.

* We partied like rock stars, until 3 am, dancing in the streets for Yom Haatzmaut - celebrating Israel's 60th year of independence. It's been a really intense month with all the Jewish holidays but so amazing to be here and feel the spirit in the air.

* Evan was awarded an Excellence in Community Service award last week at the final HUC Shabbat. It was great recognition for my rockstar husband who had not one, but 2 community service gigs this year

* We found out from HUC that they transferred us to the NYC campus! SO it's been a whirlwind trying to arrange for subletters, jobs, etc etc. Thankfully things are coming together very nicely!

* We had a great visit with Grandma Shirley who was here for 2 weeks in May

* Jenny saw her cousin Elaine who was on Birthright and wonderful to meet up in Tel Aviv

*Evan got his High Holiday pulpit and will be traveling to Arkansas to lead Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur services- he's really excited about it

*Jenny is in the final stages of job negotiations and hopefully will be starting a great new job in August in NY

* And we're taking a vacation - one last hurrah before returning to NY in late June..We are going to Europe for the next 3 weeks where we will visit friends in London and Scotland, then fly to Paris and train to Brussels and Brugge and Amsterdam and then end our trip with 6 days in Tuscany staying in our friend's empty apartment. We really lucked out with so many free lodgings :)

More from the road ..we'll send some updates from Europe.
We return from Europe to one last week in Israel before coming home...
The past week has been filled with packing, goodbyes and Jenny finishing her job...It's a very bittersweet feeling, leaving such an amazing place- but also being excited by Europe and all the exciting things that lay ahead of us...

Family Pictures b'aretz (in the land)

Some pictures from our family members who have recently visited these past few months: Jeremy and Jenny near the Lebanese border; Linda and Evan on the Tel Aviv beach; Jenny, Carol and Ken in Petra, Jordan; Grandma Shirley (or Shulamit as she prefers to be called by her Hebrew name here in the Holy Land!) and Jenny overlooking Jerusalem.

From Russia with Love

What a whirlwind past 10 days it's been! Russia was amazing. Tiring, as we traveled to 3 cities in 7 days and took 4 planes, one 14-hour overnight train and traveled at all hours of the day and night. But what an experience! We traveled with 2 other HUC students: Eli (who coincidentally went to Brandeis with us) and Carole (a second-career student who coincidentally is from Park Slope), and the 4 of us had a great time together. We learned a lot about different communities and were fascinated to learn more about life during the Communist period, referred to as "Soviet times." Every time we saw a hammer and sickle we would get really excited and fascinated to see the many leftover relics of Communism. Please see our pictures for many more (on the left-hand side of the blog) where it says Russia pictures.

Here are some highlights of our trip:

Our First City: Chelyabinsk, Russia in the Ural Mountains (a 2 hour plane ride from Moscow)
We loved the Chelyabinsk Jewish community - we met many of the madrichim (counselors/youth group leaders, many of whom were in university). They were an incredible bunch and ran both the Friday night Shabbat service and the seder. They were creative, musical, talented and very dedicated. We learned that in Russia it's often the older generation (grandparents) and the younger generation (people in their late teens, early 20s) who are most involved. This is a leftover from Soviet times, when religion was prohibited - and thus, many young adults are teaching their parents about Judaism and are most active in their communities. We had the best translator, Masha, who helped us immensely during our week in Russia- we didnt realize the importance of the translator, but as most people didn't speak English (except for some of the younger people), Masha was literaly our lifeline. It was definitely a different experience for Evan and I - as much traveling as we've done, we've never had a translator, which was wonderful in decoding menus and helping us commnicate but it's a completely different way of traveling and seeing the world, when everthing is filtered through another person. We also spent a lot of time with Vovo (his nickname), who was the rabbinic figure in Chelyabinsk. We visited the synagogue and saw Chabad - another interesting story about how pervasive Chabad is in the Former Soviet Union. The community center - home to the Progressive Movement (i.e. Reform Judaism) was an impressive building, built by mostly American support and by the Joint- the JDC (the organization we worked for in Turkey). I never cease to be impressed by the amazing work the JDC does all around the world.

Chelyabinsk is a city of 2-3 milion people and its symbol is the camel because it was directly on the ancient silk road and many caravans used to pass through the town. Another thing Chelyabinsk is famous for- although not very well-known outside of Russia was a huge nuclear explosion bigger than Chernobyl. Although most of the outside world didnt know about it because it was deep inside Russia and not picked up on like Chernobyl was by the Swedes. Despite this, it was a lovely city and we walked around the arbat (a pedestrian street), enjoyed live music and had a great seder that was very creative with the community. (This is a picture of Evan rockin' out at the seder!)

Tyumen, Siberia
How many people can claim they've been to the Cultural Capital of Western Siberia? We can now, after visiting Tyumen! We took at 14 hour overnight train to Tyumen which was actually a lot of fun, despite being in the smallest little room with 4 beds. The adventure began when Masha (our amazing translator) made a mistake with our train tickets- and after running out of the seder and saying many quick goodbyes to our new friends in Chelyabinsk, we arrived at the train station with just a few minutes to spare - until she realized that she read our tickets wrong. Even though it said 10:08 (pm) departure, it was on Moscow time, which was 2 hours earlier. All the trains in Russia run on Moscow time! It was the strangest thing- the fact that trains all run on Moscow time, despite there being 11 time zones in Russia! That's like leaving taking a plane from CA to Texas but the plane leaving not on CA or TX time but on Washington DC time. Crazy. So we had 2 hours at the train station to wait - before our long train ride. The train station was a riot. Most of the travellers were all men and when Masha and I went to go use the toilet (err..not real toilet, one of those in the ground) which we had to pay to use, the lady working at the toliet told us it was a smoking break and the toliet was closed! Only in Russia! Smoking breaks were a frequent occurrence, even in the middle of one of our seders!

We all had a great time on the train though, singing "Back in the USSR" and "Midnight train to Georgia, which we replaced with the words, Midnight train to Tyumen"...So we arrived in Siberia, set for freezing cold temperatures, only to find out that it was quite warm (in the 40s and 50s) but the buildings are all heated so much that we were practically sweating everywhere we went!

We met a very different Jewish community in Tyumen- about 700 Jews, compared with 10,000 in Chelyabinsk and there was no Chabad. The synagogue was beautiful and we quickly learned that most of the Jews in Tyumen had been "resettled" from Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. Some of them told us how they had seen their families shot in WWII, others said it was just part of the war to be moved; and Siberia was actually a good place for them! I dont think we were near the Gulag, and the infamous work camps, but rather, Tyumen, we learned was a city where a lot of people had been sent - Jews, Poles and others and it was a peaceful place where many groups co-existed. The Jewish community here was older although we led a youth seder (meaning young adults) which was fun, attended the Sunday School, led a Beit Midrash for young adults and visited the art studio, where elderly women gather weekly to do art projects.

We went out a bunch in Tyumen, including to a most bizarre nightclub with some people from the community. We also ate a lot of sushi - sushi is really big in Russia these days! and had our best meal of the trip - which was Georgian food (as in Georgia, the country). It was some of most delicious chicken I've ever had and Carole and I went to town on it (even though we were normally the pickier eaters). Let's just say those Russians sure do love their potatoes and mayonnaise and weird smoked meats in everything. Food wasn't my favorite part of the trip!

In both communities, we helped with seders and Shabbat and other things- but in neither place -did we fully lead anything. I know some students were disappointed, but Evan and I were really happy to see self-sustatining communities with strong leadership. Rather, we felt like guests which was a wonderful feeling, albeit a little strange because the para-rabbi in Tyumen (he worked as a rabbi and was an educator but not ordained as a rabbi) sent us mixed signals about our visit. Our visits were coordinated in Moscow and it was uncelar to us if he really wanted us..which was slightly uncomfortable although we still had a great visit.

We said goodbye to Masha in Tyumen and were really sad to leave her - she was such an important part of our Russian experience!

Moscow

We arrived in Moscow, exhausted after only sleeping 3 hours but were all rock stars and did it up that day walking around the city and meeting up with our friends Brian and Elana, who had been in other cities in Russia and with Michael and Hannah who had also arrived in Moscow that day. We went to Red Square, where we saw Lenin's mauseoulm, and St. Basel's Cathedral, which is amazing and looks straight out of "It's a Small World" from Disneyworld. We explored the Moscow Metro, which is very big and also beautiful- the stations are so majestic, complete with chandeliers and statues. It was strange to be in bustling metropolis after being in quaint Tyumen and walking everywhere. In Moscow we took taxis, subways and shared taxis and walked a lot. We went to the famous arbat (pedestrian street) and had a delicious dinner of not-so-kosher for Passover pancakes! It was really hard to resist and given all the meat options I was quite limited... this picture is from St. Basel's Cathedral in Red Square

Our day in Moscow ended with Evan and the gang throwing a surprise party for me in our hotel room for my 29th birthday! It was a lot of fun and our Russian friends taught us a Russian tradition - which they made me do..vodka shots..with a chaser of salmon (lox!). It was um, kinda nasty but fun. It was a great way to celebrate a wonderful trip!

Our last day in Moscow we saw an amazing cathedral and a synagogue which was quite impressive and had fun in a Russian supermarket. We also had an extremely long day of traveling which included: 2 long taxi rides, many subway rides, a 4 hour flight and 3 sherut rides (shared taxis) in Moscow and in Israel. Whew!

A few things about Russia that stood out: the bureacracy! So many ridiculous things we had to do with paperwork, felt like a leftover from Soviet times, the zillions of women who wear high heels and are very fashionable and the men who were never as good-looking as the women.
This picture is from the majestic Moscow Metro (subway)

On another note, walking through Russia in the footsteps of so much history, I also felt the presence of my friend Hannah Engle, of blessed memory. Hannah led the FSU trip back when she was a student at UCLA in 2002 with my friend Shauna. I knew it was something she was really passionate about - and she also led seders and got many students involved in the project. I thought of Hannah often - and felt she was with me during the trip. I think she would have been impressed to see Jewish life growing and flourishing in Russia - and to have seen strong Jewish communities all around the world. I even had some dreams with her in them and felt so grateful to have had her in my life - and to have had this unbelievable experience in Russia...