When Halloween Comes to Be'er Sheva

Halloween's not really celebrated in much of Israel, expect for maybe Tel-Aviv. The religious interestingly associate the holiday with Christianity, so it's of course disliked all around. It's an amusing connection to make, since I think most Christians would strongly disagree. Either way, way definitely don't talk about the day in the religious schools. The members of my program, however, felt the year would not be complete without having our own Halloween celebration (I know I'm not the only one who adores the holiday). So we threw a party.

Halloween fell on Shabbat this year, so we had the party the day after. This way, everyone was able to attend. We ended up taking over the 3rd floor lobby of our apartment complex, as we tend to do, and we decorated the place to within an inch of its life in Halloween things. I mean orange chains of construction paper (they call is Bristol here), toilet paper streamers hanging from the ceiling tiles, colorful and often-times graphic depictions of zombies, vampires, and severed body parts. Because they were drawings though, they leaned more toward cute than gruesome, if you can imagine such a thing. There was candy, VERY LOUD music, and quite a few celebratory beverages - and we invited just about everyone to come, but they had to follow our one rule: you must wear a costume to attend.

The American attendees (or Israeli Americans, as the case often was) had the best, most thought-out costumes. It was awesome to have so many people go all-out with creative ingenuity (we are in Israel, after all). Two of the Israelis dressed as Terrence and Phillip from South Park (Brian also represented South Park, but as Towelie), we also had Batman, Superman's girlfriend (me), a garden, Big Bird, and even Thor. Our celebration had absolutely nothing to do with Judaism, Israel, or religious observance of any kind, but it had everything to do with community. A few of us decided to go for a beverage and falafel run in costume before the party really started. We thought we'd need to explain ourselves, but as soon as people saw us they shouted, "Purim!" It made us laugh, of course, since Halloween has as much to do with Purim as it does with Christianity - so maybe we made it a "Jewish" thing, after all.

Some of us might've been a bit excessive with our fun (e.g. me), but it the event was just what we needed to feel like we were more at home. Even our Madrichim came in costume: our Madrich came as an angel and our Madricha came as the devil. Actually, those costumes were probably the most perfect. I think they represented semi-religious Israelis quite well.

חג סוכות בבאר שבע, עם גשם

So many residents of Be'er Sheva celebrate Sukkot that it's hard to walk the neighborhood WITHOUT seeing a sukkah. They're made out of just about everything: from tarpaulin and camping material to wood, they're generally fairly eye-catching. Because they follow the Torah's specifications, they all have roofs made from natural materials and they're all placed so they're uncovered by natural or unnatural structures. This means, therefore, that we had quite a few Sukkot blocking our neighborhood's roadways so that it became a one-way street at times.

I spent the first night of Sukkot with my second adoptive family, along with my teaching partner. The host mom (Racheli) is a teacher at my school; her husband is fortunately very good with English (since we still hadn't had Ulpan yet), which he apparently got from living with his parents in Ireland for a few years. We had very good conversations about just about everything, especially when his parents joined the group. Also, the tunes for their prayers and songs were familiar to me (much like at Yom Kippur services) so I had an easy time joining in.

The food was amazing - especially since Racheli took the time to ensure I had vegetarian options to eat. And wow, is she a great cook! We had mushroom soup, mushroom stuffed bread, humus galore, and so much Israeli salad. Have I mentioned yet that I love Israeli food? Because I do! And I'm very much in awe of everything Racheli manages to get done between teaching full-time, being a wife, and being a mother to five children! It exhausts me just thinking about it. Basically, I've decided she's superwoman.

The family's Sukkah was made of tent material, including custom window flaps and a metal frame. The roof was made of thin wooden slats and was decorated with plastic streamers and lights. The walls had Sukkot-themed decorations, which were clearly organized with the help of the children (super cute). They even had an air conditioner, since it can still be pretty warm by that time of year (yet another similarity with Phoenix, AZ)! There was plenty of room for their family of 7, Racheli's in-laws, and my teaching partner and me.

The most memorable moment, however, was when it started to rain during dinner: it began as a sprinkle, but as dinner progressed it intensified and the wooden slats unfortunately let the rain through. It was hilarious, especially the kid's reactions. My host parents were pretty shocked to have actually got rain during Sukkot (I understand that's pretty rare here), and we eventually moved ourselves back into their apartment for dessert. Racheli's husband and two boys stayed the night in the Sukkot though, so all the mitzvot were met.

My favorite takeaway from the night was the chocolate cake and shoko (שוקו or chocolate milk) for breakfast. It's a nice tradition that I've happily adopted for my own special occasions and Shabbat mornings. I enjoyed getting to know Racheli's in-laws, who extended an invitation to stay with them some Shabbat. There's apparently a bit of a singles crisis in Jerusalem: the way she explained it, there were a bunch of single, religious men and women in Jerusalem who weren't making matches with one another. She thought it a good idea to bring me around, I guess to shake out a husband form the crowd of single, religious men? I'm still not really sure just what my limits are with religious significant others, but I imagine I'd figure it out when it came up. Now that I've re-settled, I think I should give them a call. If for no other reason, I've begun to appreciate the wonder of Shabbat in Jerusalem.

I've stayed over Racheli and her family several times since Sukkot and I'm looking forward to spending Shabbat with them again soon. Maybe I'll even wake up on Shabbat morning for tfillah services...

חג ראש השנה בבאר שבע

I spent Rosh Hashanah (חג ראש השנה) with the first of my adoptive families here in Be'er Sheva. It was awesome to meet such a warm, welcoming family who didn't seem to mind that I looked NOTHING like them. My family, after all, are Timanim, which means they are Jews from Yemen. I think I was as delighted to meet them as they were to meet me (or at least, I hope that's the case)!

The family was very surprised at how excited I was to meet Jews originating from Yemen. The matriarch of the family and my host father's mother-in-law (the סבתא) was born in Yemen and moved to Israel in her late teens, I believe during Operation Magic Carpet. I was so embarrassed at my lack of Hebrew, yet she pulled me aside to tell me (in Hebrew) that it was ok and that I'd learn - just like she did as a new immigrant to Israel. As a resident of Yemen, her first language was Arabic. It was a very simple thing, but it really meant a lot to me.

She grew her family from very humble roots as an immigrant to Israel. She and her husband acquired a small home, which was gradually added to until they had enough rooms to house all 7 (or was it 9?) of their grown children. She was actually the first member of the family to verbally welcome them to the fold. I was staying with her son-in-law, her daughter, and her grandchildren, yet she was the one to cup my cheek gently to praise me for praying as required of the holiday and to say that I was welcome anytime.

Lucky for me, Havakuk (the son-in-law) spoke English, as did his sister-in-law Karen. The rest of the family had little to no English ability - or at least, that's what they told me. I've since learned that Israelis often downplay their linguistic abilities, most of the time out of humility. I had a great crash-course in Dati (religious) observance of Rosh Hashanah, in Temani style, with only a handful of known Hebrew words. Sink or swim was the situation, and I think I successfully only choked a few times. :)

Ironically, my Madricha advised me that Native Israelis don't know the word "shul", which is Yiddish for synagogue. Few Israelis actually speak Yiddish anymore, even those who came as Yiddishkeit. She advised us instead to use the word "synagogue". When I asked the family about their synagogue, however, they were puzzled. They'd never before heard the word! When I said, "You know, the shul? The place you pray?" they were all, "Oh yeah, shul! We call it Beit Knesset here" (בית כנסת). We all laughed - but I had to wonder why my madricha didn't just teach us the actual word used here. I still don't know why, but I think they actually knew "shul" because Havakuk's sister-in-law is actually Ashkenazim.

We attended the Temanim beit knesset and did tfilla in their home when we overslept services - I've learned that I do that a lot here. It's apparently not that uncommon among the Dati so I don't worry overmuch about it. It was a revelation to me that women come and go throughout services here. If they miss prayer at the beit knesset, they just pray at home. I also enjoyed the way they prayed - their melody style (also known as trope) was literally like a song. And even the youngest boy participants had perfect trope - no hesitation or stumbling over the words. It was beautiful. Also, the women were a lot less shy about peeking into the men's area through the curtain to see the Torah as it was brought out.

They ended Rosh Hashanah with a toast to me - after first giving me a hard time for gifting them with better wine than what they used for Kiddush. In my family, being given a hard time is the greatest sign of being a part of the clan. It was such a great feeling to be so welcome. Havakuk let me know repeatedly that I was always welcome to spend any time with his family, be it for Shabbat or a weekend. It was a lovely gesture and I can't wait to spend more time with them. Especially since my Hebrew is MUCH better. Not perfect by any means, but I'm proud of my progress after only four-and-a-half months.

and then there were seven: last shabbat of 5772

I have begun the habit of inviting everyone over to kindle the candles each Shabbat and I've been surprised to get a few takers. Hardly anyone is observant in this group, so it's nice to share a little piece of Shabbat beauty with others. This Friday, I'd decided to add in an offer for a Shabbat meal since most of our group had chosen to visit Tel Aviv for the weekend. I should've realized a simple truth that my roommate Sarah so eloquently pointed out to me, "if you offer food, they will come" (I love how relevant A Field of Dreams is even now).

There ended up being seven of us left behind for the weekend, and I know this because all seven of us showed up for the Shabbat meal. It ended up being a pot luck of sorts, with me bringing stove top macaroni and cheese, others bringing salad, sliced watermelon, apples and honey, lemonade, potatoes, etc. It was quite the meal! We actually had so many people there that we couldn't possibly all gather in my humble apartment, so we set up our meal in the lobby of our floor - right in front of the elevators. We've been told on several occasions that Israelis are an innovative people, so I think we're doing our part to fit in.

We started the night with kindling the candles, saying kiddish, washing our hands, and saying the motzi, then we dug into our respective dishes with the enthusiasm one would expect from this group. Shabbat is my favorite part of the week, but I even surprised myself with my excitement over preparations - I can't explain how much it mean to me to gather together for the meal. We even swept up the lobby for the full presentation. In short, it was Shabbat as it was meant to be.

As a side note, the stove top macaroni and cheese was quite delicious - especially after we added all the good stuff like garlic, cumin, Moroccan paprika, and spicy (it has a name, but I can never remember it). Perhaps I'll start posting recipes here as well, as it's been pretty fun to experiment with our meals and what products are available to us here. So far, no meal has been boring. I even used the left over challah this morning to make challah french toast. It was surprisingly tasty substituting honey for the vanilla extract and the syrup.

'sup on the way to ulpan

On Wednesday (12/9/12), we took the Metrodan bus line to our first day of Ulpan at Altchul. We've had a fair amount of time to get used to the bus system that is utilized pretty heavily in a surprisingly compact city. This time around, I was able to avoid the "standing room only" area of the bus by taking a seat at the back of the bus.

I was seated between two boys, who were riveted to the conversations I had with my fellow ITF members - I'm assuming it's because native English speakers are a bit of a novelty here. A cool moment happened when my friend Josh boarded the bus. By way of greeting, I said, "'sup, Josh?" Immediately following my greeting, I overheard the boy next to me (who had to be between 11 and 13) say under his breath, "'sup"- I knew we had unwittingly taught this kid how to greet his friends with the very informal version of "what's up?"

I've decided to be proud of the accomplishment, since it means students like him will be more eager to learn English in the classroom. Maybe. I'm most proud of myself, however, for curbing my desire to explain to the boy why I used such an abbreviated slang form of greeting. In the end, it really doesn't matter where the word comes from, just that he and his friends are probably using 'sup as we speak. Not sure if that's the instrument of change we really wanted to be, but there it is.

The Ulpan itself ended up being more of an assessment day, which is to be expected. I was placed in the beginner class, though they added a note that I know most of the alphabet. I've been working on my Hebrew study books and I hope to surprise my Ulpan instructors with my increased knowledge. As much as I'm familiar with block, I knew little of script at the time of the assessment - at the moment I now know double what I did then. I really want to take that course by storm! We also did some basic learning about Rosh Hashanah greetings (which I already knew).

Perhaps next time, I'll tell the story of how we got our רב-קו (rav-kav or bus passes). It was a bit on the amusing side :)