well it's been a long, been a long, been a along, been a long day

i forgive myself in advance for how long it has been since i last blogged. you see, i've been planning to write about all of the wonderful people who have come to visit and all of the fascinating things i've been observing here in the holy land. i even take pictures specifically to post on the blog. but then, i do things like socialize and sleep and watch tv on the internet instead. so, it's 2010 and this will be the year of the blog.

the jury (a.k.a. me, myself, and i) is still out on whether i will backtrack and write in detail about all the things that you (the people of the internet) missed, or whether i'll just start from here. for now, i'll just post some highlights and photos and maybe fill in later.

here's what has happened since the phillies lost the world series:

hey, chicago, whaddya say?

neither of my chicago teams made it to the world series, therefore my allegiance now lies with the philadelphia phillies. this is partially because i "live" in philadelphia and partially because i just don't like the yankees. it is also lots of fun to cheer them on with my roomie, who is a big huge phillies fan.
it takes a great degree of dedication to watch the world series in israel since last week's games began at 2am and this week, thanks to daylight savings time, it's 3am. i have managed to fall asleep before games i was intending to stay up to watch, and to fall asleep during games i was actually watching, but have not yet successfully watched a whole game. this might be better for me, since the phillies are struggling in this series.
i, the eternal optimist, have high hopes regardless of the fact that the yankees are up 3 games to 1.
i leave you with a few photos from the gathering we had the night of the first game. i made a cake :) 
let's go phils!

give me your hand, let’s go

last sunday night, MASA put on an idan raichel concert. masa is a program of the jewish agency that gives young people (ages 18-30) money to come to israel, emphasizing long term programs. i am technically masa eligible, but not taking any money from them this year, because i’m not studying at any one institution for enough time to qualify. most of my friends here are indeed taking advantage of the generosity of the jewish agency.

so, masa put on this concert the other night, offering tickets to all of their beneficiaries in jerusalem. this included not only my rabbinical student colleagues but also (and it seemed, mostly) younger folks, probably on gap year programs.

the evening started with speeches. 

now, i understand that there is a lot of money flowing from the dudes making the speeches to the rowdy youngsters in the audience, and this is their chance to acknowledge that fact. but, getting 3000 people together, telling them it’s going to be a concert, and then talking at them for half an hour is not, in my opinion, the best plan.

also, it was full out propaganda. there were russian dancers.

there were smiling, dancing israeli teenagers in the colors of benetton.

there were pyrotechnics.

there was natan sharansky telling everyone they should make aliyah.

there was a video highlighting three different recipients and their stories of how much they love Israel and how happy their parents are to send them here.

oh yeah, and eventually there was the idan raichel project, you know, the advertised event. after i shook off the ickies of the pre-show presentation, i could settle in to appreciating an exceptionally diverse collection of folks who make excellent music together. they put on a great show – dynamic, engaging, full of highs and lows in all the right places. mixing languages, colors, moods, and melodies with skill, grace, and ease. 

but their music seems much more suited to an intimate setting with tables and wine, rather than a big auditorium with stage-rushing and flag-waving. maybe next time i'll skip the sponsored events and go right to the small scale music scene.

the concert did inspire me to head out to my favorite music store to discover new artists and i've been happily listening to my acquisitions: Michael Greilsammer and the new Mayim Shketim (sorry, can't find a link for them!).

you gotta have friends

arriving in Israel could have been a culture shocky experience, and/or a jet-laggy experience. but mostly, it has just been great. i was picked up at the airport by my awesome cousin, who whisked me immediately to eat some hummus in abu gosh.

i unpacked quickly in order to head out to dinner with the RRC gang. being with such a dynamic and fun group of students is going to make this year in Jerusalem really special. it feels like home already with so many folks here i know. so the challenge might be to really embrace and appreciate and seek out ways to make it distinct, to not hang only with these wonderful folks but also to find new friends, new places to be and see. i'm sure that when classes start and i am here for more than a day that will just naturally happen. i'll let you know.

also had my first ice cafe today. so now i'm really here.