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Showing posts from 2007

earth, wind, FIRE, water

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"Things sound like they are really heating up in Israel. Glad no one was hurt in the great inferno of 2007." -- a loyal fan. All my life I've been terrified of disaster. Earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes, fires, storms and floods - if it made national news, I feared it would happen to me. It should be known that I also feared more rational things such as what was inside my closet or under my bed. There was a time as a child that I was even afraid of the shower. (My sorority sisters will tell you that this also occurred during sophomore year of college.) Watching psycho too many times will do that to you or the fact that in our sorority house showers - it was common to have cold water thrown into your shower. (OK, so it is possible I was the one who carried out such shenanigans...) While being terrified of natural disasters may not be a healthiest way to live, it did cause me to lead a cautious life - a safe life. I refrained from using matches because I feared

4 Packs a Day

While picking and brining Olives at Kibbutz Gezer with a group of jailed convicts going through a rehabilitation program - the following exchange occurred: Shalom Yen v'Evan! Immediately, one climbed into a tree to shake down the olives, a few more lounged eating fruit from a nearby tree, we were all hanging out until our supervisor came over and told us to get our asses into gear. "Jane, Evan - want a cigarra?" asks the man in Nike sneakers and a little bit of bling. I respond - לא תודה- No, thanks. So, uh, how many do you smoke a day anyways? "Jean, שנימ בארוכת בוקר. שנימ בארוכת ערב 2 packs for breakfast. 2 for dinner." It seems that Jen is a difficult name to say in Hebrew. 4 Packs a Day. A balanced meal for an Israeli inmate, I suppose. *** Yusef sat back and took a deep breath - נשמה עמוקה. Yusef the master olive picker - "He's the best, you know" - said the others. Yusef, when did you learn to do this? "When I was young boy - six

Driving on Shabbat

As critical as I find myself of Israel, I can understand why people fall in love with this place. There are moments when everything here is just so beautiful. Driving to my community service placement in Kibbutz Gezer, 45 minutes from Jerusalem - the sun was setting over the hills of Jerusalem. In a rental car, I cruised at a speed I wasn't sure of because I don't really understand Kilometers. Golden rays splashed light over the fields, like the orange and yellow rays I used to draw in crayola, stemming out from a sun who smiled and wore sunglasses. I guess his future was so bright...he had to wear shades. One of the best things about today was calling my friends and saying "Be there in a minute!" And pulling up in the rental car 45 seconds later. What is normally a 20 minute walk from my house to theirs - is a two minute drive on Shabbat. It felt liberating and sacrilegious at the same time. Shabbat pedestrians were constantly crossing in my path, but I went a

Not your average homework assignment...

The land of Israel is beautiful, breathtaking, and bountiful – and the first sight beyond the glass doors . Presumably, as we make our exodus like so many that were unable to before us – from death to deliverance – we are to feel relieved as we rejoice in our redemption. In our collective identity and universal memory that we share in this entity we call – Am Yisrael – we are always looking behind us to make sure we’ve left footsteps in which others can follow. We are always looking ahead to see what paths have been laid for us. Sometimes, it seems we forget to make sure the footsteps we’ve left for others to follow are actually worth pursuing. It seems easy for us to declare daily “Remember the Holocaust” and then to deny asylum to others seeking refuge from genocide. We refuse to acknowledge the cries from others seeking autonomy and we condemn their attacks on our people, easily forgetting that only sixty years ago, we also blew ourselves up on the road to independence. We creat

Blisters

"Have you been here before?" He asked. "To where? Israel, the old city, the Arab shuk?" I inquired. "Have you been to the Arab shuk before?" "Why did I do something wrong?" "No," he responded. "You are very nice. But you shouldn't tell people in the shuk where you live." "I don't understand. Did I say something wrong?" "If you tell people where you live, they will like you less because you are Jewish." I looked down at my skirt and modest dress and asked, "Can't you tell by the way I am dressed in the Old City, that I'm Jewish?" "Well yes, but still don't tell people where you live here." "Why?" "Because usually people like you are not very nice to us. So we don't like Americans, because they are usually Jewish. South Africans, too. When I tell them this purse is 150 shekels, they laugh at me and offer me 20 shekels instead. Its not polite.

Spiritual Check Up

1:30pm The streets of Jerusalem are now quiet. The shops and grocery stores have closed. Traffic is coming to a complete stop. To the vegetable stand clerk I inquire, "I thought there would be more people here, gathering final ingredients." "No. Now is the time of Cheshbon Nefesh - a spiritual check up. Everyone is checking their souls right now!" Right now? I paid and hurried home. No one told me that at 1pm today was when the entire country would be checking up on their spirits! I needed to catch up. ****************** 4pm And now, our apartment - Jerusalem of Mold - is as clean as it will ever be. I've showered and cleansed myself of any impurity from the Jerusalem streets. My clothing is completely white and I'm even wearing flip flops to services - my Dad would surely be appalled, but they are the only shoes I own that are not made with any leather. I think about my attempt this past week to read up and refl

Quick Update and Pictures

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I just got back from Turkey and started classes again on Sunday. Turkey was beautiful, scalding hot, and a generally interesting vacation. Our hotel was...well, lets just say the best part about it was checking out. But the beach was relaxing and their local alcohol, Raki, nauseating. Things are pretty busy but a friend brought me a bag of starbucks coffee, so life is looking up. Wishing you a great day off for Labor Day, Happy New Year, Happy Columbus Day, and Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day. For your viewing pleasure... Life Before HUC Israel Part I Israel and Turkey

Bonjour, Czech Please. Todah.

These days, I can't speak any language I may have once known. My English vocabulary is rapidly diminishing as my Hebrew vocabulary slowly grows. I remember the days of the week and a few songs in Spanish from elementary school and maybe a few Czech words on occasion. The only language that seems to come out with any coherence, is oddly enough, high school French. Although as I sit here writing, looking for a funny French phrase to tell you - I can only think in Hebrew. C'est la vie. When I lived in Prague in 2004, I faced daily challenges with the language and culture of the city. In the Slavic language family, Czech was unlike any language I had ever studied before - the grammar so unique, that my own name had to be conjugated in certain tenses. Instead of Jen, I was Jene. My friends David and Nina became Davide and Nino. We slowly shivered our way through the Czech winter, building new identities with the additional letter at the end of our names. Another significan

Jen Gubitz: College Expert...or maybe just College Graduate...

Although only 25% of what I actually wrote was published and this piece doesn't reflect my writing style in anyway - they paid me by the word, so I'm already over it. Campus Life 014: Jewish Adventures for All Seasons / Jennifer Gubitz In other news, Leslie Gubitz heads to Indiana University next week. (A long overdue post will occur in the next day...)

A Day of Love - in Jerusalem and Jersey...

Tonight was the first time I genuinely missed my Home. Not Fort Wayne, Indiana, a place I once called home. Not Knoxville, Tennessee, the place my parents most recently began to call home after a 20 year exile... And not Bloomington or Washington, DC, either. Beginning at sundown tonight is Tu B'Av - essentially like Valentines Day - a Day of Love. This day falls after a period of time in the Jewish calendar specifically set aside to commemorate various moments of destruction in Jewish history - such as the fall of the Temple in Jerusalem and in modern times, the Holocaust. On this day, Tisha B'Av , and in the preceding days, weddings do not generally happen in Jewish communities. Tonight I was walking to a birthday party Beer-Luck (we're working on the wikipedia entry at press) and passed the courtyard to Jerusalem's " Great Synagogue. " You'll be shocked to know that "The Greatest Synagogue," the "OK Synagogue" or "Not as G

I Guess We're Not in Starbucks Anymore...

Israel is a funny place - most easily compared to the only coffee beverage I can successfully order. Cafe Ha-fuch - translated simply as "Coffee Flipped/Upside Down" - is neither latte nor coffee, nor espresso by its lonesome. What is it? Tasty. Caffeinated and cheap if purchased from the HUC lounge. Really, I'm not even sure what it is - but I do know how to order it. I'm a huge fan of iced coffee - the beverage of choice that I injected into my veins via syringe in order to stay awake throughout my various post-college jobs - a true Starbucks rat, if you will. Alas, my desire for iced-coffee faces two extreme challenges in Israel. First, there's simply no ice in Israel. If you ask for a cup of ice water, you get a cup of water. That's it. It's so hot here that even if ice cubes did exist, they'd melt immediately in order to cool themselves down. (I'm envisioning a new pixar film.) The second glitch frustrating my coffee habits: freshly grou

Officially a Rabbinical student...Holy Cow!

Today I finally reached my lifelong goal - or dream - if you will. I officially became a Rabbinical student - a true-blue card carrying member of the Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion. It should be noted that an HUC ID card has little value in Israeli society, will hardly hold court at a student travel agency and could be easily mass produced by merely drawing a smiley face on an index card (best wishes if you are looking to start a business to assist Rabbinical student imposters...) It's wild to see myself joining in the long line of Rabbinic tradition of the Jewish people. At the end of morning services, we sang Shechiyanu to commemorate the beginning of the five year journey at HUC. I was surprisingly touched. Who am I to stand in this line of tradition? I'm 24 years old. I still call my mom every morning before school in order to eliminate the pit in my stomach. I occasionally fight with my brother and sister and really hate unloading the dishwasher.

Targeesh Tov - Feel Better: the Hadassah Hospital Pediatric Oncology Ward

At Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital , Arabs, Jews, and Christians are united towards one common goal - becoming healthy again. This morning, I visited the Children's Oncology wing with a group of NFTY in Israel participants who have spent the past week doing Mitzvah projects throughout the Jerusalem area. We spent a morning with residents at Keren Or, a home for blind and severely disabled youth; visited with the elderly workers at Yad L'kashish - Lifeline to the Old - who spend their mornings creating beautiful and intricately painted Judiaca; and did craft projects with residents at a nursing home. The NFTY participants learned how to twist balloon animals and I joined them each day to help them sing with each community they visited. Lacking a common language, singing, smiling, and laughing served as our only means to communicate. Spending time in the Children's Cancer Ward was particularly special. Most of the Israeli children who spend extended time in the ward were away

Jerusalem of...

I wonder if platinum existed when they coined the phrase “Jerusalem of Gold?” Throughout this past week, life in Jerusalem has taken on various hues. My apartment is what we will call “Jerusalem of Mold.” Despite the need for an intense elbow grease cleaning, it’s a wonderful place – with great balconies, fully furnished, and a beautiful cross-breeze. The past month has been a flurry of goodbyes and hellos – a meaningful conclusion to an intense year as a Hillel International Fellow ; a final late-night outing with my closest friends from the RAC ; a wild going away party in my apartment in DC; spending the weekend with my family and friends at URJ-GUCI – where I found myself songleading, life guarding, and sitting Shmira, as though I’d never left; a tearful goodbye with my mom at the airport – such that the security let me pass through and then return to hug her some more… For the week prior to my arrival in Israel, I traveled with a NFTY trip to Prague and Poland. It was

Shalom from Jerusalem!

Shalom from Jerusalem, I hope this email finds you well! On July 10th, I will begin my first year as a Rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion ( www.huc.edu ). The first year of HUC is spent living in Israel, with a primary focus on Hebrew language and a few other important topics, namely the Torah. After arriving in Israel last Tuesday, the past week has been full of meeting new friends, visits to the shuk, a sunrise concert on Masada, and a restful Shabbat. Until classes begin, one major agenda item is to spend time volunteering with NFTY's ( www.nfty.org ) Tikkun Olam program as they make visits to various group homes and the Hadassah Hospital Cancer ward. Throughout the year, I will be posting to a blog which can be viewed at www.jengubitz.com . You can sign up for email alerts on the website. I will try to keep the posts short and readable, as well as accompany them with pictures. My contact information is: Jennifer Gubitz Rules 13 King Da
Hi dad.