The Negev

Last weekend I went on a tiyul(trip) to the Negev Desert. I went alongside my fellow program participants. We went hiking in some of the most beautiful and awe-inspiring terrain the world has to offer. The hiking and camping was amazing. Even though the desert is a vast wasteland seeming to offer refuge for only a few species if any, it might be some of the most meaningful terrain to trek. You really understand that you are just a tiny speck of dust in a very complex and crazy world. Even to understand that the tiny speck that you represent is even smaller if compared to the amount of space we take up in Outer Space. The trip also made me think biblically. To know that it was in a very similar landscape that the Israelites made their way to Eretz Yisrael that I was hiking in struck me. That feeling has permeated my outlook of living here in Israel. I know that I am not the most religious person out there, but the level of spirituality that I have has risen since the trip. I am grateful to be doing what I am doing here. I know that I have made the right decision to be here for 10 months. 

We also made a visit to the resting place of David Ben-Gurion. Ben-Gurion was one of the most influential statesmen in history. The first prime minister of the state of Israel decided to be buried at Sde Boker in the middle of the Negev Desert. He had joined the kibbutz there later in his life. For me it was a special place because I have read extensively on Ben-Gurion even reading his memoir. He is a larger than life figure in Israeli culture and society. It was a very meaningful visit for me. 

This trip on the whole was amazing for me. A lot of things I have been thinking about have to been becoming clearer. The reason why I am here and the reason why people die to protect their right to live here have become clearer. I am having the time of life and I will keep everyone updated more often with more posts to come. Laila Tov l'kulam! (Good Night to Everyone)!

First Days of Volunteering

This past Sunday was my first day of volunteering as a participant in Tikkun Olam in Tel Aviv. I am volunteering at a soup kitchen called Lasova. There I serve the people that come in for a meal. I then clean up after the people. I will be volunteering there every Sunday and Wednesday for 4 hours each day. At first it seemed like something that I did not find interesting until we ran into one of the volunteers at the shouk after our preliminary visit. He told us to think about it and that just stuck with me. You see a lot of the problems that society worldwide faces. Homeless people, drug addicts, and whoever does not have the means to buy food for themselves. It was a crazy experience because I was joined by this group of evangelical Christians from Alabama. They asked my friend Jeremy and I if we were here in Israel on a ministry visit and I had no idea what that meant. They had very thick southern accents and did not have any understanding of Hebrew. It was pretty funny because the Israeli volunteers that knew English had no idea what these people were saying.

Today I volunteered at an afterschool program called Kadima Oz Florentine. It is a afterschool program for children of African asylum seekers, and migrant workers. Hearing a young African girl and a Filipino boy converse in Hebrew was very amazing to witness. Only in this country and under the circumstances that these children are under would they be speaking in Hebrew. I basically played with the children, made sure they were supervised, and made sure that they did their homework. I helped a young Filipino boy named Gerald with his English homework. I know I will be having a great time every Tuesday afternoon. להתראות

Walking through Neve Sha'anan

A few days ago, the program made its way through the Neve Sha'anan neighborhood of Tel Aviv. It is the neighborhood where the program's center, BINA, is located. It is also the neighborhood where the Old Central Bus Station is located. I learned that there is a special narrative that the city likes to say, yet in reality that narrative only tells half the story. Neve Sha'anan does not have the same history as other sections of the city such as Neve Tsedek. It started as a failure with a failed attempt by Jews trying to supply produce to the growing city of Tel Aviv. Then it was a place for Mizrachi Jews who came to live in Israel. It is today still a blue collar neighborhood, but has a lot of very interesting characteristics. Across Levinsky St, is the "New" Central Bus Station which brings in a lot of people to the neighborhood. Many of the people who pass through are African Refugees and foreign migrant workers, mostly from Thailand, and the Philippines. Many of the African Refugees are from Eritrea which used to be part of Ethiopia or Sudan. Many of these Eritrean refugees make their way to Israel through Egypt which complicates their situation. Many of them leave their country due to a dictatorship which forces most of the young men into soldiers. For them to receive refugee status is very difficult because if Israel was the first country they traveled to they would be able to receive it, but many travel through Egypt. They stay in Egypt to earn more money to be able to be smuggled into the country. Once they are in the country they are given a three month visitation permit and need to get it renewed every three months. The first stop besides a transit camp set up by the IDF,is Tel Aviv. Many of the refugees will spend their days and nights in the park. Some of them even sleep in the park.

Besides being home to a large refugee and migrant community, the area is filled with drug addicts and prostitution, things that some Tel Avivians would rather not talk about. The Old Central Bus Station for instance lays vacant and a lot of vice happens around there. Seeing this part of the city makes me realize that Tel Aviv is not just an Israeli city, its an international city. You will hear Hebrew, English, Russian, Tigrinya(language of Eritrea), Filipino, and Arabic all on the same street. You will also see Filipinos and Thais who come to work here speak Hebrew. Tel Aviv I am coming to learn is a cultural melting pot. Many cultures make Tel Aviv one city. It gives the city a unique feel of being African, Mediterranean, European, and Middle Eastern. Tel Aviv is a wonderful city soo far and I cannot wait to unlock more of its treasures. More to come as I start to volunteer tomorrow. !להתראות

Sukkot in Israel

This time of the year is the holiday season. In a matter of weeks there is Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Simchat Torah. Sukkot is a 7 day holiday with the first day being like Shabbat when work is forbidden. In Biblical times, Sukkot was one of the 3 pilgrimage holidays in which Jews would make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem. The word Sukkot means booths or tabernacles. One of the mitzvot of the holiday is to build a Sukkah which is a type of structure that many families make in their yards,balconies, or roofs. The roof of the Sukkah is usually covered with palm leaves. Another part of the holiday is to say a blessing over the Four Species. The Four Species are the etrog(a type of citrus), and the Lulav which is made up of palm fronds, leaves of the myrtle, and leaves of the willow. It is a mitzvah to wave the etrog and the Lulav on everyday of the holiday.One of the mitzvot of the holiday besides building the Sukkah is to eat and sleep in the Sukkah. Many restaurants will have Sukkahs on the street so that they may cater to some of their clientele who might be religious. On the roof of our apartment, there is a Sukkah type structure so a few friends and I had a meal under it for the first night of the holiday. It was interesting in that the weather was fairly cloudy and there was a slight drizzle and there was thunder and lighting. This was the first time I have been in Israel and experienced a cloudy day and thunder and lightning. I have been on vacation for the holiday so I have been exploring Tel Aviv, going to the beach, hanging out with friends, and studying Hebrew. I have been making a lot of progress with my Hebrew which is good. I hung out with a childhood friend Becca which was fun. I also went with some of the program members to an American Bar called  Mike's Place for Taco Tuesdays which was very fun. I then went to neighboring Bat Yam for a street festival. The festival had many different acts such as short plays in the street, to dance routines, to a Klezmer Band playing in the street. I went out in Jaffa and checked out the Old City, the photography exhibit at the Jaffa Port, and the Flea Market. I found many stores selling hookahs so I know for a fact I will be back to buy one for cheap hopefully. I then went to Jerusalem for a day to visit a cousin of mine. We went out to lunch at a very good seafood restaurant called Dolphin Yam. I then went to the Old City and the Kotel(Western Wall). This trip to the Old City was not what I was looking for. The overload of tourists made the experience very strange. Seeing all of the tour buses and tourists made me feel as if I was just a part of their vacation. I knew that for the tourists it is interesting to experience the Kotel and the Old City, but for me being at the Kotel is more than just part of some vacation to Jerusalem and Israel. It is a holy place for me and the rest of the Jewish population. I guess that the special feeling I usually have when I was at the Kotel was not present. Today was a great day for me because I finally have my volunteering schedule set in stone. I am volunteering at 4 places. I am volunteering at a soup kitchen called Lasova, and three after school programs. Talking about them will have to wait for another post. I have seen that back home in Boston the weather is turning more and more like Fall, here though its beautiful and 80 degrees almost everyday. Sorry for bragging but it does not feel like October here. More to come from Tel Aviv for sure. Lehitraot!

Yom Kippur in Tel Aviv

Yom Kippur is the holiest day in Jewish faith. Most Jews and Israelis will spend their Yom Kippur in Synagogue. The strange thing is the whole entire country shuts down for the day. No one drives their car. Everyone walks to synagogue or rides their bicycle. The streets are completely bare. You can walk down the Ayalon Highway which runs north and south through Tel Aviv and you would not see a car driving. Walking back from Erev Yom Kippur services, you could see the entire neighborhood of Kiryat Shalom hanging out in the street, kids riding their toy cars and bikes, and grandmothers gossiping. I normally would go to services if I were home in Massachusetts, but this time in Israel I decided to contemplate and have a bit of introspection by walking around the dead city that is regularly full of life at all times of the day. For instance seeing Shouk HaCarmel totally dead was something very interesting to see. I am extremely thankful to be spending my year here in this city and in this country. Everyday I find something new that makes me smile and thankful to be here. Looking back on my experience of Yom Kippur, I could not go back to America and celebrate it the same way. Yom Kippur here is special. It is the way the people celebrate it that makes it special.

Tour Day in Jerusalem

 The day before Yom Kippur, we went to Jerusalem for the day to understand the inter-communal conflicts within the city of Jerusalem and in Israel. Driving from Tel Aviv you will see on the side of the road relics of the War of Independence. Hollowed out trucks that did not make it to Jerusalem, which was under siege. Most of these convoys were ambushed by local Arab militias from the hills. It serves as a reminder of how much blood was spilled to keep the city. Having been to Jerusalem many times before, the city seems to always be changing. Now the city has a light rail tram in the street for instance that was not there in 2007, which was the last time I was in the city. Some of the highlights include seeing the house of Eliezer Ben Yehuda, the father of the modern Hebrew language. Seeing where Rabbi Kook lived. Having Meorav Yerushalmi on Ben Yehuda St. Meeting with a city planner t understand the balagan(mess) that Jerusalem can be with its distinctive secular, Arab, and Ultra Orthodox neighborhoods. Then we had a visit with Anat Hoffman who leads a group called Women of the Wall. After that we met with a Haredi(Ultra Orthodox) Rabbi to listen to his perspective of Judaism. We unfortunately did not make it to the Kotel(Western Wall), but Jerusalem is only a 45 minute bus ride so I will be back. Like Tel Aviv, you need to stop looking at how beautiful the city is and start to study the people who live in it. Once you understand the local populous, you will finally understand the city itself. Lehitraot from Tel Aviv.

Day to day life in Tel Aviv-Yafo

Into my third week living here in Israel and I am starting to realize how truly amazing this place really is. It is the little things like the hello from the guy who recognizes you in the market. The freshly made falafel when you order it, they make it from scratch. Seeing a guy on a motorcycle use the sidewalk as if it were the road. Seeing a bunch of guys trying to catch a live chicken from underneath a car that got away from the butcher shop. Making the beach a mandatory Shabbat activity. Being able to go to the shouk and buy everything you would ever need. Listening to the mix of music on the street. The aroma wafting from a local restaurant. Getting amazingly fresh and cheap food on the street. The amazing graffiti on the street. These are things that make living in Tel Aviv-Yafo worth everything in the world. Once you stop and look around and realize what the people are doing you finally begin to understand the place that you are living.  If you head to Abu Hassan in Yafo you will have some very good hummus and for relatively cheap. Its walking up to the shwarma shop and waiting for your meal instead of getting it right away. It is seeing something brand new every day and being thankful to be in this wonderful place. Having a group activity on the roof of the hostel we have ulpan at in Yafo and being able to see Hapoel Tel Aviv play Atletico Madrid at the Blumfield Stadium.To see Filipino migrant workers speaking in Hebrew might sound strange but here in Tel Aviv it is all good and normal. Here the unexpected is expected. Anything can and will happen. Last Saturday for instance, my friend Jeremy and I went to one of the only shwarma places open during the day and had one the best food experiences in the world. Once the cook has the time to make his craft, he takes it. He makes sure that everything is perfect and delicious. He makes sure to advertise his lemonade with mint which is ubiquitous in this country. He makes sure to grill the meat fresh, fry fresh potatoes for French Fries, and makes sure to offer as many fillings as possible. He then made sure that we were enjoying our shwarma in baguette. Even though it looked like every other shwarma stand, it was that delicious because of how we came across it. It is any other place to eat in Yafo, but it was still amazing.

I guess when you live here, you being to realize why people from all over the world would kill to be in this land. To see why people would fight for it. It is a beautiful place and I am glad I made the right decision to come to Tel Aviv. I can do anything here. Tel Aviv is my oyster. Definitely more to come from my experience here in Tel Aviv. Lehitraot!!