Here are a couple of links to articles that have come out in the last 24 hours that express better than I could how I feel about the situation here:
Jpost
Wall Street Journal
Happy Independence Day!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Memorial Day 2010
Last year I had a very intense and emotional Memorial Day. I spent the day driving all over to be at as many places as possible in an attempt to try and experience what veteran Israelis go through on Memorial Day. This year, my friend and I, probably unconsciously, took a totally different approach.
Instead of being in the southern plains and jerusalem area, we went straight to Tel Aviv. We had both really wanted to experience Memorial Day in the big city. In the end, it turned into a walking memorial to our past heroes than a day spent crying over our current losses.
We started in Yaffo. We walked around the old port area just to walk. It used to be the gates to Israel. All new immigrants and pretty much all of the maritime trade passed through the port. Until the Arabs, in 1920 decided that they'd had enough of the Jews and shut down the port. Thanks to them Tel Aviv and Haifa ports were built/flourished, and the flow of Jews to Israel wasn't too badly affected.
From Yaffo we took a walk along the beach to the Etzel Musuem. The Etzel was a national milita that broke from the more mainstream Hagana. They were the ones to capture Yaffo during the War of Independence and the museum stands in the remains of an old arab house that they used as their base during the assault. It was a fierce battle, but also one of the most successful during the War.
From there we headed by bus to the old Trumpeldor Cemetery. We were sitting on the bus about to pull out of the terminal when the siren went off. We almost couldn't hear it because of all of the engines. As always the siren pierced my heart and it took a few minutes after the world started moving again to calm down.
The Trumpelor Cemetery was opened in 1902 when a wave of cholera spread through Yaffo. In an attempt to stop the plague, it was ordered that bodies were not allowed to be buried inside the city. A plot of land in the middle of sand dunes was chosen for the Jewish cemetery. It stood alone until Tel Aviv was founded over 20 years later. During the Arab riots of 1920/1921 the Jews killed were buried in this cemetery.
The cemetery currently holds 5,000 graves and is maxed out. It is the final resting place for many of Israel's famous leaders, including: President Moshe Sharet, Eliyahu Golumb- founder of the Hagana, Dov Hoz- head of the Histadrut, H.N Bialyk- the author and poet, Chaim Arlozorov, Zeev Jabotinsky, the Chissin Family- founders of most of the early settlements in the holy land, most of the founders of Tel Aviv, and many many others. It is a fascinating cemetery that only in the past few years has undergone renovation and restoration.
When we got there, we walked in to a tiny ceremony with no more than 20 people. It was organized by the Organization of Former Hagana Members and there was a small presence from the army and the police. They explained the history of the cemetery and of many of the people buried there, especially the victims of the arab riots. The most striking thing was that as everyone was leaving, we heard the older people grumbling that within a few years there would be no ceremony there because there would be no one left to do it. The common thread between this year and last year's Memorial Day was that then we had also been to a ceremony in danger of "extinction". My friend and I decided that we believe it's more important to make an effort to be at these ceremonies: to learn from what these people have to say and to show them our support in their mourning and that we care about our past and the sacrifices made so long ago. Everyone goes to the main military ceremonies, but do people even know that these smaller ones take place? I learned so much during that half an hour, it would be a shame to miss out on similar opportunities.
From there we went to Independence Hall and the Hagana Museum. Surprisingly, I had never been to either and we felt it was apropos to the day to head there of all places (it was the real date of Independence Day, but because of Shabbat everything was pushed over by one day). The entire day highlighted for me how amazing of an accomplishment creating the state was, and how all of the sacrifices were worth it despite the pain. Without our brave soldiers and civilians, we could never even have come close to building what we have today. With that said, we also must strive to live up to the example of our forefathers and let nothing get in the way of building and maintaining our home. May G-d give us the strength and foresight to do so.
Instead of being in the southern plains and jerusalem area, we went straight to Tel Aviv. We had both really wanted to experience Memorial Day in the big city. In the end, it turned into a walking memorial to our past heroes than a day spent crying over our current losses.
We started in Yaffo. We walked around the old port area just to walk. It used to be the gates to Israel. All new immigrants and pretty much all of the maritime trade passed through the port. Until the Arabs, in 1920 decided that they'd had enough of the Jews and shut down the port. Thanks to them Tel Aviv and Haifa ports were built/flourished, and the flow of Jews to Israel wasn't too badly affected.
From Yaffo we took a walk along the beach to the Etzel Musuem. The Etzel was a national milita that broke from the more mainstream Hagana. They were the ones to capture Yaffo during the War of Independence and the museum stands in the remains of an old arab house that they used as their base during the assault. It was a fierce battle, but also one of the most successful during the War.
From there we headed by bus to the old Trumpeldor Cemetery. We were sitting on the bus about to pull out of the terminal when the siren went off. We almost couldn't hear it because of all of the engines. As always the siren pierced my heart and it took a few minutes after the world started moving again to calm down.
The Trumpelor Cemetery was opened in 1902 when a wave of cholera spread through Yaffo. In an attempt to stop the plague, it was ordered that bodies were not allowed to be buried inside the city. A plot of land in the middle of sand dunes was chosen for the Jewish cemetery. It stood alone until Tel Aviv was founded over 20 years later. During the Arab riots of 1920/1921 the Jews killed were buried in this cemetery.
The cemetery currently holds 5,000 graves and is maxed out. It is the final resting place for many of Israel's famous leaders, including: President Moshe Sharet, Eliyahu Golumb- founder of the Hagana, Dov Hoz- head of the Histadrut, H.N Bialyk- the author and poet, Chaim Arlozorov, Zeev Jabotinsky, the Chissin Family- founders of most of the early settlements in the holy land, most of the founders of Tel Aviv, and many many others. It is a fascinating cemetery that only in the past few years has undergone renovation and restoration.
When we got there, we walked in to a tiny ceremony with no more than 20 people. It was organized by the Organization of Former Hagana Members and there was a small presence from the army and the police. They explained the history of the cemetery and of many of the people buried there, especially the victims of the arab riots. The most striking thing was that as everyone was leaving, we heard the older people grumbling that within a few years there would be no ceremony there because there would be no one left to do it. The common thread between this year and last year's Memorial Day was that then we had also been to a ceremony in danger of "extinction". My friend and I decided that we believe it's more important to make an effort to be at these ceremonies: to learn from what these people have to say and to show them our support in their mourning and that we care about our past and the sacrifices made so long ago. Everyone goes to the main military ceremonies, but do people even know that these smaller ones take place? I learned so much during that half an hour, it would be a shame to miss out on similar opportunities.
From there we went to Independence Hall and the Hagana Museum. Surprisingly, I had never been to either and we felt it was apropos to the day to head there of all places (it was the real date of Independence Day, but because of Shabbat everything was pushed over by one day). The entire day highlighted for me how amazing of an accomplishment creating the state was, and how all of the sacrifices were worth it despite the pain. Without our brave soldiers and civilians, we could never even have come close to building what we have today. With that said, we also must strive to live up to the example of our forefathers and let nothing get in the way of building and maintaining our home. May G-d give us the strength and foresight to do so.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
The Real Heroes
On Erev Memorial Day:
I wrote about this family in my Memorial Day post last year. Their grandmother and uncle are from houston and the kids used to hang out with us during the summers. They are Israel's Real Heroes:
read the Jpost article: here
I wrote about this family in my Memorial Day post last year. Their grandmother and uncle are from houston and the kids used to hang out with us during the summers. They are Israel's Real Heroes:
read the Jpost article: here
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Wedding Season
I thought I'd post some pictures from the weddings we've been to lately... I don't have from each one because I forgot my camera a few times :)
Where Can I Get Some?
This past Friday, two soldiers were killed during an operation in Gaza. One of them, Eliraz Peretz, was a father of four. While it is always hard to hear about a father being killed or dying for any reason and leaving behind him four young children, this situation is even harder to understand. Eliraz had already lost an older brother in battle as well as his father a few years later. His family had been kicked out from Sinai as part of the peace agreement with Egypt and then later his family was kicked out of Gush Katif for reasons that still don't make any sense to me. He adopted the family of his friend Roi Klein who was killed 4 years ago during the Second Lebanon War. His house in Eli (West Bank) {Where David studied before enlisting in the army} is currently under demolition orders.
I have been sitting on the couch reading news story after news story detailing the eulogies delivered at his funeral that was this morning (and sobbing uncontrollably) and about his family. The thing that strikes me the most: their strength. The message his mother, a widow who already had to burry one son , wanted the world to hear was one of strength and continuation and bravery and love of life. I am sitting here and I can't stop thinking to myself: Where can I get some? some of that strength? some of that deep sense of belief if our purpose and mission here? some of the courage to allow her other children to be in combat units even after losing her first? some of that power that allows her to put the Jewish People above herself no matter the cost?
David pointed out to me that I have already made a huge sacrifice for the sake of the Land of Israel and the Jewish People- I moved here. I left my family and a cushie American life and moved here to be where I felt I belonged. Well, thats all well and good and everything, but I can't help feeling like I haven't done anything. I am afraid that were I to be put to the test, I wouldn't have the strength and courage and fortitude that the Peretz family has. I can't help feeling that I was prepared to go only half-way. I get scared whenever there is unrest. I worry whenever there are serious terrorist threats. Will I be able to continue life normally if a Third Intefada does break out? I guess the only answer is that time will tell and that I will continue to pray that I never have to be tested the way this family has been tested.
It hurts so badly to see what these people have to go through and to glimpse their unbreakable strength at a time when so much of the outside world as well as large portions of Israeli society hate them.
May we all be blessed with a safe and peaceful Passover. May we continue to come ever closer to the days when neighbor will not lift up sword against neighbor, nor will they learn war anymore. May we merit in our days to see a united Jewish People not ripped apart by internal hatred so that we can stand a chance against our enemies who wish to destroy us.
I have been sitting on the couch reading news story after news story detailing the eulogies delivered at his funeral that was this morning (and sobbing uncontrollably) and about his family. The thing that strikes me the most: their strength. The message his mother, a widow who already had to burry one son , wanted the world to hear was one of strength and continuation and bravery and love of life. I am sitting here and I can't stop thinking to myself: Where can I get some? some of that strength? some of that deep sense of belief if our purpose and mission here? some of the courage to allow her other children to be in combat units even after losing her first? some of that power that allows her to put the Jewish People above herself no matter the cost?
David pointed out to me that I have already made a huge sacrifice for the sake of the Land of Israel and the Jewish People- I moved here. I left my family and a cushie American life and moved here to be where I felt I belonged. Well, thats all well and good and everything, but I can't help feeling like I haven't done anything. I am afraid that were I to be put to the test, I wouldn't have the strength and courage and fortitude that the Peretz family has. I can't help feeling that I was prepared to go only half-way. I get scared whenever there is unrest. I worry whenever there are serious terrorist threats. Will I be able to continue life normally if a Third Intefada does break out? I guess the only answer is that time will tell and that I will continue to pray that I never have to be tested the way this family has been tested.
It hurts so badly to see what these people have to go through and to glimpse their unbreakable strength at a time when so much of the outside world as well as large portions of Israeli society hate them.
May we all be blessed with a safe and peaceful Passover. May we continue to come ever closer to the days when neighbor will not lift up sword against neighbor, nor will they learn war anymore. May we merit in our days to see a united Jewish People not ripped apart by internal hatred so that we can stand a chance against our enemies who wish to destroy us.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
I Lived Through My Presentation
Yesterday I had to give a presentation to my seminar class on Second Temple Period burial practices. It was an hour and a half and included a power point presentation that I had to write in Hebrew. The longest I had ever had to speak in front of people in Hebrew before this was 7 minutes in my ulpan class when I first made Aliyah.
Not only did I survive, but everyone said it was really interesting and that my Hebrew was really good. I only lost my train of thought once (and subsequently couldn't get it back EVEN in English...). I haven't slept well for 2 weeks because I was freaking out...but at the end of the day I survived it.
I feel like I have crossed a huge threshold in my "absorption" to Israeli society. I can now even give presentations in Hebrew. Wow. Now I just have to start working on the one that is due in June :)
Not only did I survive, but everyone said it was really interesting and that my Hebrew was really good. I only lost my train of thought once (and subsequently couldn't get it back EVEN in English...). I haven't slept well for 2 weeks because I was freaking out...but at the end of the day I survived it.
I feel like I have crossed a huge threshold in my "absorption" to Israeli society. I can now even give presentations in Hebrew. Wow. Now I just have to start working on the one that is due in June :)
Friday, February 26, 2010
I'm Famous!!
I just realized that there are actually people out there who do (or at least did) read my blog! I am so excited about it, and I'm not even sure why...
How did I find this out?
So... I was watching Band of Brothers with David, which is an amazing series that HBO put out about American troops in WWII, and it made me think about my grandfathers, both of whom served in the war. After watching the last episode, in which the real troops that the characters represented were interviewed, I wanted to find out more about where my grandfathers served. Unfortunately, unlike my generation who live our entire lives on the internet, it is not so easy to find out about their army services through google (and if it is, it just means I'm not very internet adept.) From there I started googling myself using my various name combinations, and lo and behold, someone else quoted me on their blog and even posted a link!! The best part about it was that it made me want to go back to my blog and read what I had written almost 2 years ago (no, I can't believe that time has flown by so quickly!)
It was pretty apropos that the post that was quoted I had written on a fast day, and today was a fast day. In my old post, I had a lot to say and a lot of emotions having just moved to Israel and all. Now I feel that a lot of that is missing. I have settled down to a "normal" life routine and things don't seem to excite me and amaze me so much anymore like they used to. I wonder if in all of my attempts to create a normal life for myself I have let some of the power of making aliyah disappear. Re-reading my post also made me realize how wonderful of an outlet this blog has been, and now hopefully I'll really start writing again at least semi-regularly.
For now, Purim is this weekend and today was Taanit Esther. It was pretty uneventful... I went to the library and rushed to finish a project that I had ignored until the very last minute. The amazing thing though is that I am right now in the most intense wedding season of my life. I have already been to 4 weddings since the start of the year and I have 3 more coming up in rapid succession, and David just found out that another of his friends just got engaged. While it is a bit overwhelming, exhausting, and frankly quite expensive to have so many friends get married in such a short span of time it really is a truly wonderful thing. I would rather be exhausted from happy occasions than from sad ones! May we all be blessed to join together only for Smachot!
Happy Purim!
How did I find this out?
So... I was watching Band of Brothers with David, which is an amazing series that HBO put out about American troops in WWII, and it made me think about my grandfathers, both of whom served in the war. After watching the last episode, in which the real troops that the characters represented were interviewed, I wanted to find out more about where my grandfathers served. Unfortunately, unlike my generation who live our entire lives on the internet, it is not so easy to find out about their army services through google (and if it is, it just means I'm not very internet adept.) From there I started googling myself using my various name combinations, and lo and behold, someone else quoted me on their blog and even posted a link!! The best part about it was that it made me want to go back to my blog and read what I had written almost 2 years ago (no, I can't believe that time has flown by so quickly!)
It was pretty apropos that the post that was quoted I had written on a fast day, and today was a fast day. In my old post, I had a lot to say and a lot of emotions having just moved to Israel and all. Now I feel that a lot of that is missing. I have settled down to a "normal" life routine and things don't seem to excite me and amaze me so much anymore like they used to. I wonder if in all of my attempts to create a normal life for myself I have let some of the power of making aliyah disappear. Re-reading my post also made me realize how wonderful of an outlet this blog has been, and now hopefully I'll really start writing again at least semi-regularly.
For now, Purim is this weekend and today was Taanit Esther. It was pretty uneventful... I went to the library and rushed to finish a project that I had ignored until the very last minute. The amazing thing though is that I am right now in the most intense wedding season of my life. I have already been to 4 weddings since the start of the year and I have 3 more coming up in rapid succession, and David just found out that another of his friends just got engaged. While it is a bit overwhelming, exhausting, and frankly quite expensive to have so many friends get married in such a short span of time it really is a truly wonderful thing. I would rather be exhausted from happy occasions than from sad ones! May we all be blessed to join together only for Smachot!
Happy Purim!
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