Queen of Hearts...and Livers...and Kidneys...

My friend Jesse, who is in a Bible class with me at Hebrew U, struck up a conversation with me about Jerusalem Mixed Grill, and was shocked when I said that I like it. A brief conversation led us to make some plans to grab some of the glorious grill together.

I stayed at school doing work and getting stuff done, and then met Jesse for the bus downtown. A quick ride and then walk through the shuk brought us to Sima's. I just read Someone to Run With (amazing) by David Grossman, and the main character ate lunch with one of his family friends at Sima's, and it sounded really tasty. So I was more than willing to go to shuk-land to eat some mixed grill.

What is mixed grill, you may be wondering. Well, let me tell you about my first interaction with mixed grill. It went a little something like this:

[December 2006. Restaurant in downtown Jerusalem. Table is set with pita and little plates of salatim, or Israeli salads, such as tabouleh, beets, tomatoes and cucumbers, hummus, eggplant...waiters come out with trays with skewers of unidentified meat.]

SBB: Hmm, I don't really know what this is. But it tastes good. This piece here is like fat-free steak!
Classmates: This, I think, is liver.
SBB: Mmmm, liver. Pass me some of that!
Professor: This is mixed grill. [pause] That, on your plate, Sara Beth, is heart. That is indeed liver. That's kidney.
Classmates: EWWWWWWWWWW
SBB: Oh, wow, I HAVE to call my dad! I ate heart and he's a cardiologist! Heart! Cardiologist! Get it?!
Classmates: This is gross. Let's play skewer games.
SBB: OK, after I eat a few more pieces of liver.
[end scene]

Talia holds a skewer of hearts, and I hold livers. Get it? (Davidson Trip 06-07)

I stab Davey in the heart. (Davidson Trip 06-07)

At the restaurant last year, the meat is set up on the skewers in a display.
That's, from L to R, kidney, heart and liver. (Davidson Trip 06-07)

To be honest, I was a little scandalized, but really, I am such a fan of liver, and chicken hearts don't have a stitch of fat on them. Sure, you can identify the ventricles and the occasional artery, but hey, I'm a fan of anatomy!

At Sima's, the uncooked meat is in bowls, not on skewers, and they throw it on the grill as soon as you order. It's really crazy to see a big, pyrex-ish bowl of hearts go by your table. Sima's salatim aren't as good as the salatim at the grill place off of crack square, from whence the above pictures came, but they do serve the mixed grill with mejadera. I love mejadera. Also, our waiter was really awesome, and he was very interested in our choice of mejadera, instead of chips, pronounced "cheeps", Hebrew for "fries".

Our plates of chicken parts were huge, and after eating a piece of liver, about 5 hearts, and 2 kidneys ("a whole chicken's worth!") I decided to take the rest home. After Jesse and I went looking for a CD he wanted (Ehud Banai) and a book we need for class on Wednesday (a Haggadah, and I almost bought a $50 one because it was so lovely), I made my way home.

And I took my hearts with me.

So, this one time, at [Jewish] camp...

...I love working for Jewish summer camp. I've worked at a few, I've attended more than one, and Jewish summer camping is where I want my career to be. So I'm always happy when Jewish summer camp comes to me, in the middle of the winter.

Benjie and I went on Poland / Israel Pilgrimage 9 years ago (yes, Benj, NINE). Then we worked together at Camp Ramah Darom for a few years, and we stayed in touch because he and Rafi are closer than most people in long-term romantic relationships. Benjie works for CRD, and he's in Israel hiring staff. I love hanging out with Benjie. Below are pictures from a variety of days in the shuk, a Ramah party, and nights just hanging around. Benjie even joined Rafi, Jeremy and me for a 2-dinner night. Ethiopian for me, boring regular restaurant for them.

Benjie, Rafi and I mug it in the shuk last Friday afternoon.

Pilgrimage may have been 9 years ago, but we're still making crazy faces in the shuk like we're children!

With Baylene and Benjie. Group 7 '99. At Hagigat Ramah.

That is love right there, ladies and gents.

Benjie, Rafi and I act out.

Jeremy shows off our waiter's name at dinner #2.

That's what Jeremy's little sign says. It was on the table at Rimon Cafe, which, by the way, has a long wait for the meat side, but not the dairy side.

I love camp! Not lamp, but camp. And I (we) had a great time with Benjie.

Palestine / Israel Pilgrimage Seminar 2008...Day 3

Bush left on Friday, and I didn't leave my neighborhood. I did not really have anywhere to go, and that was fine, because, apparently half of Jerusalem and all of the roads to Tel Aviv were locked down. I think maybe Bush should consider traveling incognito, so that he (A) doesn't disrupt entire an country's operations by visiting and (B) has a more authentic experience as a tourist.

I seriously doubt his trip to Israel was any fun, for Bush, except for his positive approval rating, or for anybody else. And, while I'm on the subject, I think if you're in Israel for three days (barely) and you go to see the sites, does Yad Vashem really make that list? Especially when one considers that Bush's house at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is just a hop, skip and a jump away from a fabulously done Holocaust Museum. When Bush comes back for Yom Ha'Atzmaut, maybe someone will take him to hike Masada or to swim in the Dead Sea. His trips have too much of the conflict reality, and none of the natural beauty that one should experience on an Israel trip.

After I wrote that, I came across an article, telling me that good old Bush did do some touristy stuff. Here is an excerpt from a NYTimes article on Bush's Trip:

Asked how he felt to walk where Jesus had gone, Mr. Bush said: “Amazing experience.” Archbishop Elias Shakur, a Greek Catholic, showed Mr. Bush around the site and asked him, “Did you come as a politician, as a leader of state, or as a pilgrim?”
Mr. Bush answered, “I came as a pilgrim,” the archbishop said.

I think it's interesting that he admitted he came as a Pilgrim, since he is supposedly promoting peace and being all political. It seems to me that Bush saying he came as a pilgrim is like when certain friends of mine told their parents they were traveling to New York to "search for jobs" and "check out law schools" when they were visiting New York to "drink" and "hook up with old high school crushes" and "take crazy pictures at the Met."
New York Pilgrimage 2007, at the Met. Where Tourist trumps Business. AES - I L Y M!

Secondly, it's no secret that Bush wants there to be a two-state solution with Peace in the Middle East. Is it possible to stimulate the peace process while fitting in something touristy, like following the footsteps of Jesus? Actually, not that Jesus is my God, but he has some good ideas about love and brotherhood. Maybe a Christian Zionist pilgrim can make some positive changes. I suppose only time will tell...and I'm always hoping for positive changes!

Anyway, just some thoughts about Bush in Israel. Can't wait to (not) see him again in May!

Palestine / Israel Pilgrimage Seminar 2008...Day 1

You Too Can Be Part of an Israel-Trip Entourage...:
Actually, Davidson Trip 06-07

Good old President Bush (and by good I mean he likes Israel and that's about I have got that's nice to say, and my parents told me not to say something nice if I...oh, you get the idea...) arrived in Israel today, and it got me thinking about how his trip is very much like a teen summer tour of Israel, so please...Welcome to Palestine / Israel Pilgrimage Seminar 2008, Group Air Force One! Today was Yom Bush, Day 1.

1. Board a plane that seems to be only filled with your group. Everybody else just blends into the seats as you sit back and enjoy the most delicious offerings of a transatlantic flight. The option to sing and dance in the aisles is possible, but not encouraged. Decorum must be maintained, as you are representing your entire country.

2. Land at Ben Gurion. The airport seems overrun with your group members. Other planes are delayed because your group is so rowdy and unwieldy.
Welcome To Israel, President Bush!

3. The inevitable press conference (AKA, the letter sent to parents or camp director back at home).

4. Traffic seems to stop whenever your massive entourage is around.

Taken today, 9 Jan 2008. Here's King David street completely shut to car, bus AND pedestrian traffic.

5. Every Pilgrimage Seminar gets a helicopter ride!

6. Pedestrian and driven traffic avoids your large, loud, self-centered group. Normal bus service turns into snow day bus service. Good luck making it to ulpan!
"I wish I didn't have to find alternate routes to school for three days." Jan 2007, At the Valley of the Shadow of Death.

7. When you get to the hotel, it seems to be overrun with only people from your group. Many local hotels seem to contain only people from your group (King David, Dan Panorama...booked and bursting with security and press.)

8. Don't know where you're going? Don't worry, your trusty tour bus/limo driver will take you right where you need to go.

9. Meals are prepared in the hotel, and you do not go to restaurants, as that would disturb the other patrons.
Israeli Delicacy (Actually, at Max Brenner Jan '07)
Israeli Delicacy (Actually, skewered, grilled hearts, Jerusalem Grill Bar, Dec '06

10. Israelis, like any people who live in a tourist trap (like New Yorkers and Floridians), see you as a nuisance, but realize that your presence will stimulate the economy.

11. Your trip includes trips to places that people around the world wish they were able to visit.

12. The Old City seems to be lit up, just for you! (Really, the lights will stay on until 2AM, instead of midnight, so Bush can enjoy the walls of the old city like he did when he was governor of Texas.)
Oh, the Old City. She really is such a beauty.

13. Money is not an issue, so make sure you get Mom and Dad's money's worth while spending, like, $25,000.00 an hour. ($25,000.00 per hour on security. Seriously. This from a country that refuses to pay their teachers and professors livable wages.)
It's OK, it's just pretend money!

14. The Jewish Agency requires you to have armed guards at all times, so don't worry, we'll call some up from miluim (reserves), and they will be Israel's HOTTEST.
Or, Israel's Tired-est! (JK, This Soldier Was On His Day Off.

15. Don't forget to see the real Israel. Nothing says three days in the Holy Land like a day in Ramallah, a morning at Yad Vashem, completely vacant streets, and not a single stop at a falafel stand, the Dead Sea, or, even the Western Wall. At least Bush gets to dialogue in the West Bank, which probably hasn't been done with teenagers since I was on Pilgrimage in 1999.

16. Inevitable Group T-shirt:

FRONT: Israel Spent $25,000.00 an Hour on Security for My Visit, And All I Got Was This Lousy T-shirt.

BACK: Palestine / Israel Pilgrimage Seminar 2008, Group Air Force One!
Rosh: George W. Bush
Staff: Ehud Olmert, Mahmoud Abbas, Shimon Peres
Campers: [Insert Press Core Names Here], [Insert Security Detail Names Here]
Driver: [First Name Only.]

[Insert Inside Jokes Here, such as "Peace in the Middle East?" or "My President Loves a Jewish Carpenter." Inside jokes to be collected over the course of PIPS2008]

A Sweatshirt / Tshirt Design Template

חנוכה, הוא חג טוב / Hanukkah, Hoo Chag Tov

חנוכה, הוא חג טוב / Hanukkah, Hoo Chag Tov
"Hanukkah, Good Holiday"

This is the second year I am spending Hanukkah in Israel, but the first where I'm really spending it here. Last year, I lit Hanukkah candles all over - in Greenwich, in NYC, at Heathrow, at Kibbutz Keturah in the southern tip Israel. I ate gelt in the airports and purchased presents on three continents. This year, though, Hanukkah is an isolated holiday, contained in the highly political boundaries of the State of Israel.

A Brief History of SBB's post-college Candle-lighting (speaking of college, go TEBOW!):
Lincoln Center Xmas Tree and me, pre-LOL. The real Hanukkah miracle in this picture, which lasted for over 2 years, is that I lived in an apartment with a view like THIS from my BED. (2004)

The good 'ol 18M roommies light the candles in a window that showed them to Broadway and Lincoln Center! (2005)

Lighting at Kibbutz Keturah with the Davidson Trip. (2006)


Leading up to Hanukkah this year, I experienced something new. For the first time, Hanukkah was just Hanukkah. It was not Hanukkah vs. Christmas. I've been standing on this platform for years: Hanukkah is not as big of a deal as Christmas. It's a celebration of victory, of maintaining Jewish life, culture and identity. Hanukkah is another triumph of the Jews against the bad guys: in this case, the Greeks. Christmas and Easter are THE Christian holidays, while Hanukkah is not even mentioned in the Torah!

I'm all about Hanukkah. Clearly, I enjoy the candle lighting. Clearly, I like the donuts (shocker). Clearly, I like singing and, of course, I like presents. This year, however, I like it more. Thanksgiving came and went (with 4 pies), and there was no instant transformation into THE HOLIDAY SEASON. THE HOLIDAY SEASON was in September and October, when Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot took place. THE (Hanukkah) HOLIDAY SEASON started out being indicated gently in local bakeries, where one could find sufganiyot (jelly donuts) on every corner, for a month leading up to the holiday.

Nowhere was a sufganiyah display competing with a tray of candy canes or Santa cookies, or whatever else you may find in a bakery in the states (fruitcake?). Nowhere were the colors green and red screaming at me, with the obligatory blue and white poking out from around the corner, crying, "Don't forget about the Jews, or we'll say you're being anti-Semitic!" There are no marketing geniuses (like the person behind this amazing display in Manhattan) in Israel who are responsible for selling sufganiyot AND making sure that the poor, minority kids that celebrate Christmas have equal displays of candy and presents and ways to make minorities feel less minor.

Like I said, I love Hanukkah. I plan on going to the shuk before tomorrow night to pick up a few dreidels that indicate that the great miracle happened HERE, not THERE. I have eaten more latkes (which is actually Yiddush. Levivot is the Hebrew word. Mind-blowing, I know!) and donuts than I would like to admit, although, as Shakira points out, "hips don't lie." But I love Hanukkah SO much more when it's not the Jewish answer to Christmas, which is an impossibility in the States. I love when candles are lit in restaurants during meals, as all of the patrons pause their conversations to participate in the lighting. I love that my Hebrew teacher handed out chocolate gelt in class, which was tasty and also helped me learn the word for candy. I also love that when travelling through Mea Shearim (super-religious neighborhood) OR Emek Refaim (both religious and secular / my neighborhood) after dark, you can see almost every window glowing with a 9-branch candelabra.

I learned last week in one of my Education classes at Hebrew U that Hanukkah may have occurred around the time of Sukkot (which is the real holiday season, let's not forget!). Can you imagine the marketing implications of a Hanukkah celebrated in October? How pure. How beautiful. How simply Israeli and lovely Hanukkah could be in the States!

Seventh night and the guys still look surprised!

I would like to admit that I also prefer Chanukah when it's earlier in the month. When Hanukkah coincided with my birthday as a kid (OK, and as an adult), it sometimes meant fewer presents. But this year, that is not a problem! Wooo!

Turn Your Head And Cough...

I have a post here that’s been a few weeks in the making. I promised the main character of this post that s/he would not be identified, so I will preface this by saying that this post, about my friend “Jamie,” is totally OK. By much better, I mean s/he is doing well, is back to school, etc. Please don’t ask who Jamie is. And don’t post some comment if you know who Jamie is. I will delete it.

So, as I mentioned in my Shprockets post, I wanted to try to get out of the first session so that I could be with a friend in trouble. Jamie was pretty sick, and ended up going to Hadassah Ein Karem. Jamie was accompanied by an Israeli friend who speaks fluent English, and Jamie was admitted for a couple of days. This is the chronicle of lessons from a stay by proxy at HAK in Jerusalem, in October 2007.

I can divide my lessons learned into categories:

The People – There is a great cross-section of Israelis at the hospital. Jamie’s roommate was a Russian, and on the floor were religious, secular, and Conservative Jews. Some Arabs and a guy that I think was a Druze priest all wandered the floor. Russian Roommate’s wife was a caricature of herself – complete with too-tiny miniskirts, a terribly dyed mane of crunchy hair, an aversion to ceiling fans and a cell phone that rang incessantly with “Listen to your heart, when he’s calling for you…”

The Doctors – There is a pecking order like in any hospital in the states, from med student up to Professor. What is so amazing about the doctors is their ability to answer questions and give advice in a wide variety of languages. It’s impressive, it’s spectacular. Doctors come from South Africa, from England, from Haifa, from the States.

The Nurses – Ah, the nurses. Arabs nurses, Russian nurses, Jewish nurses. The Russian ones are brisk and quick, and they can get an IV working in 2 seconds. The Jewish nurses are nice and friendly. And the Arab nurses…some are cute, some are hot. Every Arab nurse was great…and we all developed a group-wide crush on the main Arab nurse. We adore her.

The Care – The care at HAK is different than in the states. I came prepared with ammunition / excuses to stay the whole night, to be there for Jamie, but nobody questioned me. In Israel, in the hospitals, they consider it sad and wrong if you don’t have somebody staying with you. The reclining chair wasn’t so fabulous, but it was fine. The reason they expect people to stay there is because the guests do work. Nurses don’t help patients to the bathroom, guests do. Guests are meant to find nurses to change IVs, to clean up after meals, to change sheets (sometimes), and to generally make sure that the patient is safe and secure.

The Meals – The meals are very Israeli. Each meal came with a plate of sliced cucumber and a tomato, some bread and then the main course. Only lunch is meat, as it is Israeli style to have a big lunch and a light breakfast and dinner. On Shabbat, though, even in the hospital, there are the three big meals, which means that Friday night dinner is meat.

The Jews – Unlike Coral Springs Medical Center, HAK is rife with Jews. Jews that are patients, Jews that are visitors and guests, Jews that are doctors (so far, this really does sound like CSMC), and Jews that are visiting for the sole purpose of visiting the sick.

Visiting the sick at HAK takes on all forms. People give out sandwiches and snacks to patients and guests, dedicated to the wedding of this and that person, as it’s important to do mitzvahs before / in honor of your wedding. There is the haredi (ulta-Orthodox) man who pokes his head into every room, saying simply “refuah shleima” (get well soon). Jamie thinks that this man was doing a good deed so that he could get in good with God, maybe so he can have a son. There is the Orthodox man from the states, circulating the floor, asking patients if they would like to put on tefillin (these are hard to explain to the non-Jews…they’re leather boxes that strap onto a person’s head and arm, and they’re worn during morning prayers). This guy was really special, helping patients place the tefillin correctly on the arm, and wrap it AROUND the IV port. His mitzvah is to help patients put on tefillin once a week, and he expressed his hopes to “never see you again.” On Friday afternoon, two men from Chabad stopped by, talked about the weekend’s Torah portion with the patients and gave challah for the blessing over the bread for Friday night dinner. They even offered patients special dinner of “real, haymishe food” (meaning super-Kosher) for that evening.

Friday night, I went in search of the real, haymishe food. I rolled down my leggings, put on a longer skirt, and threw on a really fabulous green Ramah Darom sweatshirt. With my hair in a messy orb on top of my head, I wandered to the first floor in search of services and dinner. After a little accident in following a haredi guy down the stairs (Reefs without traction + marble staircases + moving too fast = sore tushy + sore heel), I found another haredi guy to follow all the way to the shul in the -1 floor. The shul, as it turns out, has Chagall windows! I did not really blend in, but I still went into services and then waited for dinner with the whole haymishe crowd. I walked into the meal, looking for take-out, but they were gung-ho about shuffling me into the womens’ side of the meal (Really, separate seating at meals! I had no idea!), and I went back to the ladies responsible for take-out. (Jamie was tethered to an IV and it was too much effort to leave the room.) They gave me a great meal, including a little take-out container (like for soup) with grape juice for the blessing over the wine. The food was traditional Ashkenazic (Poland), complete with a terribly grey and gross-looking kugel (I’ll tell you a secret, those gross-looking kugels are always the tastiest…I love Ashkenazic food.)! It was a great dinner, and thankfully, it was a great end to a too-long stay in a hospital.

The Lessons - I learned a lot while visiting Jamie. Something that you learn very quickly in the hospital in Jerusalem is that everybody can work together. Arabs, Israelis, Palestinians, it doesn't matter. What matters is your health. Israeli hospitals can demonstrate to people (if they will just look) that everybody can work toward a common goal of health and peace. HAK is a lab for tolerance and change for the better. Maybe everybody who's going to Annapolis can spend a day or so in the hospital here first? They'd get a whole new perspective?

HAK has their own scrubs and sheets (see pictures). There are many wonderful people who mean well, visiting sick people they don’t even know. The hospital is connected to a mall, which is brilliant, if you have to bring food or a present to the person you are visiting. I learned pretty high-level Hebrew words like “irui” (IV). And, best of all, Jamie is better. Much better.

The Pictures -
The insignia on the sheets

And, just in case you could forget that you were stuck in the hospital, here is "Hadassah Ein Karem" spelled out, nice and big, so you can see it right next to you on the bed at all times.

The Real Israel With A Real Israeli

Yesterday, I had a chance to get out of the house and hang out with a real, live Israeli! Eliav is a friend of Rafi's, and he and I made a playdate so we could become friend independently of Raf.

Eliav was raised in a house speaking English with his parents, but was born and raised in Jerusalem. He served in the army and had plenty to show me around town, and is all about the experiential education. First, he took me to Pinati ("my corner"), which serves some serious hummus im basar (hummus with ground meat on top), amazing! He made me order, in Hebrew, and when we paid the bill, the guy at the register told me only to talk in Hebrew. He said he'd read my nameplate necklace (Hebrew first name: שרה/Sarah, contained in a little heart). I have to start matching my decorations to my talents. How about a hat that says "Snarky, Highly Literate English Speaker"? I'm still working out the details...

After lunch, we wandered to Ammunition Hill, a vital battleground from the 6-day war in 1967. This is the war where Israeli forces finally reclaimed the Western Wall, and united Eastern parts of Jerusalem with the rest of the city. It was amazing to be there with Eliav, who knows so much Jerusalem/Israel/Army history. He pointed out things in pictures that I would never have seen, and then we roamed the dug out trenches of the hill, until...

Ammunition Hill! I'm hiding in one of the trenches.

Eliav and I block the cool background of weaving, maze-like trenches.

SURPRISE! There was an army tekes (ceremony) going on at Ammunition Hill. Since this landmark is especially important for the paratroopers, this is where the paratrooper trainees, after 8 months of training, get their red paratrooper berets in a public ceremony at AH. This tekes didn't have a live band, but a DISC TEKESIM (CD for Tekes Ceremonies. Really.), and I started to understand the (Hebrew) song they played on repeat during the beret ceremony! Eliav and I stayed to check out the ceremony, and were delighted to run into his family, there to see his cousin get his red beret. A lovely coincidence, and I took some pictures of the set up.


Tekes Banner.

More Tekes Signage.

Soldiers, waiting to get their red, paratrooper berets. The song said, "Paratropper, you're always ready to go, to save the world." Or something like that.

I continue to be amazed at how young these soldiers look. I remember that the majority of the counselors I worked with this past summer, and summers past, are the same age as these kids, who wearing army greens, little red berets, and an automatic machine gun, slung over the shoulder.

On the way home, Eliav and I made a quick stop in Geula, which is the super-religious main drag just off of downtown Jerusalem. I was wearing a tank top and jeans. It was an experience where I was the ONLY person not only not in a skirt, but with not just my elbows, my shoulders uncovered as well. I like to refer to it as "tossing my goodies in Geula."

Group Separation Anxiety

Remember that time we graduated? (UF, 2004)

Each time I graduated, I left whatever school or group knowing that I would never see some percent of the people I was leaving. But it wasn't until USY that I really thought about what the groups I left behind would be like when I was gone. Would Margate USY be OK? Would there be leaders in my sub-region when I was out of college? The answers to both of these questions ended up being "Yes." I even went on to staff USY events and a summer program through my college graduation in 2004 to ensure my legacy.

When I graduated from UF (GO GATORS), I wasn't so concerned about leaving behind the sports teams (I just KNEW they'd be fabulous), or even the girls in the sorority. (Yeah, I know, I was in a sorority. Please don't stop reading. I did it for the food, the glitter, and a select group of people with whom I consumed the food and the glitter.) Years later, I still get informed (ahem, GGGGGGGGlittles) of who the new little ones are, and I will always have an unresolved urge to purchase stuffed giraffe regalia wherever I see it. But I know that the traditions and tachlis (practical details, work that has to get done) live on, just like I know somebody is distributing payroll perfectly well at Penguin, and just like I know that the newest FJC interns will think up some cool stuff for Cornerstone 2008.

Orange and Blue, Let's Go Gators!

GK 2002 + proof that this blog is 50% an excuse for me to post pictures of me dressed up like it's the 80s (or, if you look at the leggings and the miniskirt, like it's 2007).

But, when I left to come to Israel this year, I knew that I was leaving possibly the coolest class that JTS has ever seen. There was no completion ceremony, as I didn't graduate, and won't until 2009...godwillingly. I know that the school is fine without me for sure, but I still sit here, nostalgic for the cheese and bagels of Wednesday-morning mifgash (meeting).

So, last night, and over the past couple of weeks, when I was watching, oh, 6 episodes of WEEDS (amazing show), I received a variety of messages, mainly Facebook-style, from my classmates. I can't believe they're in midterms (and I can't believe I'm NOT). I can't believe that the Davidson Chevre goes on without me...not because I'm the greatest person ever, but because this group is one of best with which I've been lucky enough to associate.

I got to thinking about my classmates, and I'm thinking that I wouldn't be where I am today if it weren't for them. I hope that this year is a success, and that I can go back and provide a framework for future Davidson students to study in Israel for the year. Jewish Educators should be spending a semester or a year here, anyway, in preparation for their jobs in educating the Diaspora, post-masters.

I miss my classmates. But I know I'm doing something important here. So, I'll just say l'hitraot (see you later).

Shout out to my classmates! I miss you! This is from our visit last year to Robinson's Arch, sponsored by Uncle Bill.

PS -- Another sorority picture. I can't resist. Yeah, that is a crimped hairdo. This is just for you to enjoy. (GK 2003, minus Linds)

SB Plans and God Laughs

To quote the good old mothertongue, Yiddush:

א מענטש טראכט און גאט לאכט / A mentsh trakht un got lakht / People (men) plan and God laughs.*

*Translation courtesy of a Newton Center Rav.

So I worked out all of the kinks, and got to Israel, excited to start ulpan and go to Hebrew U and find a grammar tutor (ok, I wasn't so excited about that.). I couldn't wait to do all of the other fun things that a year in the Holy Land could bring me.

Then I had to petition my part-time status at Hebrew U. During the process I realized a few things:

1. Hebrew U (and by Hebrew U, I mean a variety of offices and officers, but most specifically, the NY recruiter who handled my case) never realized / communicated / completed the process necessary to make me part-time.
2. Hebrew U DOES have ulpan-style classes through the school year. (NY recruiter told me to go to an outside ulpan.)
3. Hebrew U MAY be able to tutor me in "Academic Hebrew Grammar and Rabbinical Text Analysis." (That was the best working title we could come up with after looking at my handouts from JTS. The best I could come up with on my own was "Ick.")
4. Israelis, including the finest academics in the country of Israel, home of the native Hebrew speaker and the Hebrew academics, thinks that JTS's Hebrew program is (wait for it...it's a shocker...) a little ridiculous, difficult and not useful at all. (There's a song called Vindicated. That is what I am.)

So, long story short: I was vindicated by a professional who deals in actual Hebrew language instruction, signed up for Ramah Aleph graduate Hebrew classes, and changed my enrollment to Full-Time. That's right, SBB is a full-time student at Hebrew U! I'm going to drop my ulpan enrollment and spend more time at Hebrew U up on yofi-tofi (pretty-mitty) Mount Scopus. Yes, I'm pissed that I was pretty much misguided up the wazoo about my time at Hebrew U, but it's ok, because I'm a Rothberg girl now!

Also, today, I ran into Jordana, one of my closest friends from USY on Wheels Bus D 1997. We may have lost touch after Wheels, but running into her not once, not twice, but three times today in Jerusalem, the city she now permanently calls home, was awesome! I also saw "Roach," one of Rafi's campers from Darom, Baylene, and old friend of mine from USY and Pilgrimage Group 7 '99, and hung out with my friend / Rafi's roommate-to-be Robbie.

Things are slowly and falling into place, although it's not how I thought it would be. Rafi will get here soon. This is good because now that I have a cell phone, I have been spending harbeh dolarim (many dollars) calling his NY number. We're also almost set with planning a trip to Egypt and Jordan, and I am researching where else I will wander from my starting post in the Middle East.

Yom Kippur is rapidly approaching...tomorrow I hope I get to the shuk to see kapara (a different way of getting rid of your sins.) and the girls and I are hoping we get to the Biblical Zoo, too. Jerusalem is FUN!

Off to Israel!

As promised, I've decided to open a bee-log (blogs are too common) for my time in Israel. For now, it's simple and I'll probably develop an addiction to make my bee-log a happening place.

For the time being, this is what you get:

1. The Name: Sara Beth was taken. Therefore, I got SaraBethB.blogspot.com. I would like to remind some of my critics that this is because I am known by my full name, even if I won't be posting my last name on the bee-log.

2. The Title: I decided to title my bee-log "Ehh, How Do You Say...Sara Bet?" because in Hebrew, my name is confusing. There is no "th" sound in the Hebrew alphabet, and most Israelis, when they say my name, pause ("Ehh") and then ask how to pronounce Beth.
a. There is a grammatical operator known as the ChipChuk (please don't check my spelling on this one) that you put after the t-sounding letter to make a "th" sound. It fails miserably. Trust me, I've tried.
b. In addition, the Hebrew alphabet can be used for counting. Aleph is the 1st letter of the alphabet, and Bet is the 2nd. The second most common comment about my name is, "You are Sara Bet? The who is Sara Aleph?" Hahahaha, that's like asking me if my refrigerator is running. Never gets old.

3. Me: After my summer at camp, I am off to spend about 9 months in Israel. In America, JTS is teaching my Davidson classmates in person, a group of new kids are trying to be funny in Foundations, and New York City will survive without me. I want to be the best Jewish Educator I can be. So here I am...in Israel for 2007-2008.

My flight is at 7:55PM tomorrow from JFK. If I don't get bumped, I will be arriving at Ben-Gurion at 1:15PM.