they're the people that you meet when you're walking down the street

the gilad shalit vigil is no longer alone. 
since bibi declared a 10-month settlement freeze. we've had a big protest: 

and now a tent has been set up with folks there all day and sometimes at night (but not on shabbos!):

it's hard to see two issues to which i have such very different emotional reactions side by side. i walk past the gilad shalit table and feel sadness for his family and hope for his return.
i walk past the settlers and feel mostly anger and frustration. there they are with their posters that say "we will continue to build in the west bank!" and my blood just boils.
like any political decision in Israel, the settlement freeze seems to have made lots of people unhappy. the very right wing is upset that there is any kind of halt to building in land they want to claim as jewish. the very left wing isn't satisfied unless the freeze is permanent, settlements are dismantled, and east jerusalem is included in the discussion.
here in this land that has been contested for millennia, emotions run high, opinions are many, and solutions are few.

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!).

i've got something to say about it. and it goes something like this...

people here are very passionate about their beliefs. surprise surprise! i just happen to live in the same neighborhood as the Prime Minister, a block away, in fact, so in addition to the frequent traffic issues this causes, our little pocket of Jerusalem is also a popular site for protesters to set up camp. 


this summer, while walking around looking at apartments, i noticed the Gilad Shalit vigil. a white tent with a sign counting how many days he had been held in captivity, a table with informational flyers. a banner proclaiming הצילו (rescue him). since that visit, we passed the 3 year anniversary of his capture, and the release of a video of him in captivity. the protest has ramped up significantly.

across the street, protestors have images and signs against "freeing terrorists." this likely refers to prisoner exchange, which is one of the ways israel has previously secured the return of captive soldiers. 

we are also host to protests about the occupation. these seniors gather every friday:

i don't feel the same palpable tension in the air as i did when i was here in 1996, when Rabin had just been assassinated and buses were being bombed frequently. 

and i don't feel the easy hopefulness i felt when i was here in 1999, when the peace process seemed to be clicking along. 

i feel some wounded hesitation, and i see many more visual representations of the frustration israelis are feeling at the political situation.

more tomorrow...