Dear Readers,
This blog post is very old, and I've been meaning to post it, but I guess it's a good excuse to say that I've been enjoying life and living in the present, rather than being stuck on my computer? I don't want to forget a lot of what I have done here, but at the same time, life here is very fast paced (at least our schedule is, so as you can see, the difference between this blog and the last are 3 months apart!).
Enjoy:)
I thought I would start off this post by sharing a video of an Israeli Defense Force (IDF) soldier playing a song on the violin called "Shalom Aleichem," which means "peace be upon you." This is a beautiful song we often sing on the Sabbath. It's about welcoming the angels that guide a person home on the eve of the Sabbath. Although there is one bad angel and one good angel, we obviously we remember the good one, so that our Sabbath can be peaceful. I love this song because the Sabbath is a time when your mind, body, and soul are one, are at peace, within yourself; Shabbat is also a time to bring us together with family and friends.
Because public transportation is shut down here on the Sabbath (except taxis), and none of us have cars, we are forced to either spend time alone in our apartments with our roommates, or go outside for a walk, or start our travels earlier in the day to get to your destination before transportation stops around 3-4. During the week, no matter if you're Jewish or not, we are all torn into a million directions: the worker, the student, the parent, the sibling, the child, the athlete, the artist, the after-school-activities-that-seem-to-last-forever person, the cook, the cleaner, the dog-walker....you get the picture. During the week we don't seem to have time for ourselves, or we never have true personal time with family and friends. Whether that is by default, on purpose, or a lack of organization is still up for debate. But that's what's so great about the Sabbath, especially here in Israel, where this country takes being a part of the community very seriously. You don't want to be with people? Fine, they're still going to prevent you from taking the bus anywhere so I hope you like driving on these crazy roads. Don't have a car? Too bad, then go play with your kids (or your dog, if you don't have kids. Or if your a cat person, I guess play with your cat. Please don't get scratched though. The emergency rooms on Shabbos are insane here). Perhaps go for a run; you know the holidays are coming up so it's best to get that exercise in now before you become morbidly obese for the next 4 months. DO SOMETHING. And for the love of hummus and pita, put down your phone. Unless you're playing Candy Crush. Then chuck that thing across the Negev Desert and all the way to Mt. Sinai because you need serious help. You know who you are.
While living here, I've come to realize that there are lessons I am learning each week that connect my religious life to my secular life. I know my Rabbis back home always do this when giving their sermons, but it took moving to the Holy Land to experience and learn from these lessons on my own. I think the lesson I just talked about is a pretty relevant one in this day in age, no matter from what country you're reading this from, what device you're reading this on, or what religion you practice. If you're reading this on the Sabbath, I'll make an exception, because let's be real, unless you are completely strict and keep Shomer Shabbas, my blog is too good not to have as reading material while you relax on this lovely Shabbat.
Here's a look at what I did on two great weekends in a row:
Friday October 18th
Rugby BBQ at BGU Sports Center
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The Moroccan-Argentinian families, teammates, and friends!
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My English coordinator at the school I teach at often invites me to Saturday Shabbat lunches. On this lovely Friday, her husband's rugby team was having a pick up game and a BBQ at the BGU sports center. More like at the oasis of the Negev. This place was absolutely gorgeous, and it helped that it was the perfect day weather-wise of the year so far. There is a large pool, tennis courts, and huge areas of grass for lounging or playing rugby in our case. I literally did not have to get up from the lawn chair I was sitting in. All I did was sun tan, chat with Eleanor, my coordinator, and some of her friends, and get fed...a lot of food. Good food. Argentinean and Moroccan food that is. SO good! It was a perfect way to start off the Shabbath.
Saturday October 19th
Today I went to Eleanor's house for Shabbat lunch. I walked to her house with my co-teacher, John. It's about a 30 minute walk but it's beautiful when the weather is nice.
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| The view from my apartment |
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| The walk back from Eleanor's house |
Later that night I went to the first Language Exchange potluck of the year which was held at the club's president's friend's apartment. I went with two people I already know, one being a teacher fellow (Blake is wearing glasses) and the other friend, Tomer, is sitting next to me. He is an Israeli, studying engineering at BGU. The guy sitting across from me is my new friend, Ofer, who is also Israeli, and is a German studies grad student at BGU. He has also lived in Montréal and Germany for a time, so we were able to speak a little French to each other and he can teach me some German! The woman sitting next to Ofer (forgive me I have forgotten her name) is now living in Israel, although has not yet made Aliyah. She's also studying at the University, and loves Israel! The other people at the end of the table are all Israeli, but I did not really get the chance to speak with them, although everyone was very lovely, and I hope there will be another dinner down the road!
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| Meeting new Israeli and German friends at the first Language Exchange potluck of the year. |
Friday October 25th
On this particular Shabbat, I went with some of my fellows to the monthly Shabbat dinner hosted by the youth center from BGU. The dinner is at an off-campus location, hosted by two different couples. The dinner is a great way to meet new people, listen to that week's Torah portion message, and of course eat free food! I also met a new friend, Cory, who made Aliyah a year and a half ago from Tennessee, and is now training in the army. This is also the same organization that has weekly free Monday night dinners and a discussion, usually having to do with a topic on the Torah or something Jewish related.
Saturday October 26th
On this Saturday, I spent the Sabbath cooking lunch for my new friends Cory and Ofer. We had a nice pasta lunch, then headed to the park, the one I mentioned all the teacher fellows and I went to way back when we first moved here. It was such a lovely day out. I brought some things to work on, but I ended up going down the gigantic slide at the park, while Ofer lounged out in the sun on a blanket. Eventually, my teacher fellows joined us and some of us read in the sun, while the rest of us tossed around a football.
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| Me coming down the slide! |
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| Cory and I watching as Kari is about to do some gymnastic tricks |
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| My friend Ofer enjoying the Sun |
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| Four leaf clover:) |
It's Shabbats like these that I feel truly blessed to have the limited transportation available to me, so I am forced to just slow down and take in the beauty of life.
Shabbat Shalom.
