At the End of the Tunnel

Today was one of those days where no matter how tired you are or no matter how overwhelmed you feel, you seem to still wake up on the right side of the bed and see light at the end of the tunnel. I’ve had a hectic three weeks, trying to adjust to a routine schedule that brings me home late a night with a never ending supply of homework to do. Yet, as busy and overwhelmed I can be, I still have been able to find time for myself. I’m learning so much about the sociology of Israel; being a student at HUC is difficult, let alone Jerusalem being an intense place to live in general. There is a strikingly apparent shift in the feel of Jerusalem come Wednesday, as people are starting to prepare themselves for the weekend. Sometimes you just want to be able to press “pause” on your “life remote” so you can take a breath. Fortunately, Wednesdays are the beginning of that breath. Unlike the rest of my week, I have the opportunity to explore Israel and understand the country from a very different lens. My Wednesday Israel Seminars allow me to encounter contemporary Israel, an opportunity that unfortunately would be very difficult to have due to my constant schedule.

Today was perhaps one of the most rewarding days for me in Israel. There have been moments where I have been so frustrated with all the “balagan,” or problems of Israel. Even the littlest things have contributed to my frustration. Yet, today, I finally saw something that was very much Israeli even if it was in the confines of the HUC bubble. Being the Remembrance Day for Yitzhak Rabin, former Prime Minister of Israel who was assassinated in 1995, it seemed fitting that the theme of our Israel Seminar, whether intentional or not, was the bond humankind has with each other.

Rabin placed great emphasis on establishing peace, and for the first time this entire year I truly felt part of a community. We began our day with a short memorial service commemorating Rabin, each of us, while different in our backgrounds and relationship to Judaism, seemed to truly mold as a group. We have been told numerous times that our group has appeared to be the most cohesive in a long time. The establishment of a Jewish State at some level was based (and continues to be based by many) on the idea that the Jewish people – from all over the world – deserves to have a place to call home. As a group, the HUC community is slowly becoming comfortable with one another; teachers and students have a relationship inside and outside the classroom. The fact that each of us are learning in Israel for similar reasons clearly brings us together.

After our memorial service, we traveled to Yad V’Shem, the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem. I don’t know why, but my interest in the Holocaust always continues to grow. I constantly am intrigued by the stories of survivors, and their struggle to live. Now that I have been to Aushwitz, my understanding of this tragic event has truly changed. The imagery of the camp haunted me as I walked into the museum. The elaborate structure of the building reminded me of the entrance to Birkenau. You walked into the museum and felt completely narrowed in, as the walls literally were leaning towards you. Each room had its own story, and each account presented was a story within itself. Unique to this museum was the fact that they didn’t just focus on individuals who died in the concentration camps. They paid tribute to those who had very different stories as well. A wired “fence” blocking parts of the exhibit immediately reminded me of the fences within Aushwitz. There was this constant stress that Jews simply did not fit in anywhere they went, ultimately leading to the establishment of Israel. In many respects, the survivors of the Holocaust came in to and out of the depths, and their relationship to the world truly changed. Yitzhak Nissenbaum, Rabbi at the Warsaw Ghetto said it best:

“This is a time for sanctifying life, not for sanctifying God’s name through death. In the past, our enemies demanded our soul, and the Jew sacrificed his body to sanctify God’s name. Now, the enemy is demanding the Jew’s body and the Jew is obligated to defend it – to protect his life.”

Following our trip to Yad V’Shem, we explored Mount Herzl, a cemetery for both major political leaders and those who gave their lives for Israel and their Jewish identity. Because of the scheduled memorial ceremony for Yitzhak Rabin, we weren’t able to see the political cemetery. However, we took a little adventure and practically snuck into the military section of Mount Herzl. We went through the various graves of the many who sacrificed their lives. The impacting thing about our exploration of the military cemetery was not just about exploring the memorials, but also about being a group. Many of the military heroes of Israel created a separate family outside their own. I am realizing more and more how much friendships are important in this journey ahead of me. There are only 53 other people who can even remotely relate to the experience I am going through, but even then their path towards becoming a rabbi, cantor, or educator is different.

As each day passes, there are times where I truly miss home. Being so far away from something you have been so close to for years is a difficult experience. Yet, I also have this great chance to grow as individual. I’m having a second Bar Mitzvah per-say – this is my year of growth and transition into true adulthood. This journey has only begun, and I’m once again excited to see what is going to happen next.

A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That

There is a phrase that I have grown to know and love over the past three months in Israel, “Acharei HaChagim,” or “After the Holidays.” Summer vacation finally is over in Israel; and that means that I won’t have another break until January. The past month has been a test run for the rest of the school year, as I now will have a full schedule with classes from 8:30-6:00 the majority of the week. The real question is how I am going to balance all my schoolwork without any breaks I have had due to the holidays. It’s going to be a busy schedule, I’ve known that since I arrived here, but the fact is that I haven’t really been able to get into the motions of being a graduate school student until now. This is it!

Fortunately, my schoolwork is doable. After all, students before me have completed the year successfully, right? I won’t be bored, that’s for sure, as I have a combination of reading, comprehension, and translation in all of my classes. I just got to keep telling myself that I will be okay.

Let’s back track about a week ago, when I was in, well, paradise. About ten of my classmates and I traveled to Egypt to stay at a Marriott Beach Resort to relax. Don’t worry, I really wasn’t in the depths of Egypt – I was only 30 minutes from the Israel-Egypt border! Nevertheless, I have a passport stamp to prove my travels. I stayed in Taba, one of the “regions” of Egypt (Sinai and Egypt proper are the other two). I was about 2 hours from Mount Sinai and 4 hours from Cairo. While I do eventually want to go back and see the pyramids, there have been warnings in that area and Taba was as close to the pyramids I felt comfortable going to. Nevertheless, I stayed at a 5-star hotel at a relatively inexpensive price. For those of you who know me, I’m not much of a sit by the beach or pool all day type of guy. While I only could last 3 hours outside at a time, and spent the rest relaxing in my hotel room or walking around, it was nice to do as close to nothing as possible.

As promised, below is the link to pictures from the Galilee/Golan. Most of them are scenic pictures from various points that I went to. Don’t be fooled, they actually are different places! Some of them were taken at Mount Ben Tal, which provides a great view of Israel, Syria, and Lebanon. General rule of thumb: Anything with greenery is Israel; most of the mountains are Syria or Lebanon. There is a picture I took near a barbed wired gate – passed the gate is Lebanon. Yes, I was that close! Other pictures include: a synagogue in Rosh Pina, one of the first settlements outside Jerusalem, and Tel Dan, a well researched archeological site led by an HUC team that shows worship to God outside the Temple in Jerusalem! I need to figure out how to put captions on these pictures so you have a better idea what I am talking about!

Okay, off to do homework…

PJ

http://community.webshots.com/user/pjschwartz (Click on Galilee/Golan Album)