Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Livnot Words of Wisdom (Kyle)

Below is the poem Kyle wrote for his WOW, as it really spoke to a lot of us when he presented it. No copyright infringement allowed without permission:


Shake the heavens,
Kyle
As well as the Earth.
Dig out God from deep within me.
Scream out to God, for God surrounds me.
Find my own interpretations.
Be my own interpretations.
They will not ask me,
Why was I not Moses?
But why was I not I?
Be that which is me,
Act as that I feel.
The Earth was created for me,
Yet I am nothing.
Though even within that which
Appears to be utterly inanimate matter,
There lies a soul.
Like the light that shines upon
Earth at night from the moon,
I too shall break the darkness.
With Heaven and Earth as my witness,
By wisdom, by understanding, and by knowledge.
I grasp with an everlasting gratitude,
God’s blessing.
I choose life.
And as I struggle, tangled in the roots of this tree,
I shall laugh.
For my laughter will shake the branches
And the fruit that falls will feed me
Giving me the strength to wrestle,
Furthering my entanglement,
My relationship,
With these roots of creation.

Livnot Words of Wisdom (Josh)

Below is the paper I wrote for my Words of Wisdom presentation on Shabbat at Livnot my second time there:

LIVNOT WORDS OF WISDOM 8/24/2012
Martin Buber, an Austrian-Israeli philosopher, once said, “All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.”  One year ago, I received an email that I had been accepted to the only graduate school program I had applied to. I had no idea that, beginning in October 2011, the next ten months would be a whirlwind of experiences and adventures in Israel that would change my life forever. I can now proudly say that I am a Master of Science in Organizational Behavior with a deeper understanding of the Jewish world around me, and both a knowledge and wisdom that I have connected to and a desire to pass on to many people I meet in the future.
I have done so much while here. I have traveled all over Israel, learning about this country’s unique history and culture, as well as traveling to Jordan and Europe. I have traveled on my own, or with friends, to nearby cities while living in Tel Aviv, the cultural capital of Israel. I have learned to speak Hebrew while engaging with locals, the best way to learn about a new culture. I have made many new friends in other MASA programs, not just from the United States but also from Canada, South America, Europe, and Russia. I have participated in several security and diplomacy programs and seminars, becoming more of a Zionist and paying more attention to world news. I have even worked an internship that has taught me about the human resources field by selling a new service by a start-up company.
As Kohelet (the Book of Ecclesiastes), King Solomon mentions, “For as wisdom grows, vexation grows; To increase learning is to increase heartache” (Ecclesiastes 1:18). In other words, to grow wiser is to get annoyed, therefore, as one becomes more knowledgeable, this person feels more sorrow. I both agree and disagree with this quote. As I have journeyed around Israel and Europe for the past year, I have experienced both pleasures and pains but have learned from others and myself how best to react in situations in which I engage. I have ultimately grown to become a better person, and the person I was meant to be. We may feel pain and experience failure but we really succeed when we overcome that pain and learn something new about ourselves, no matter how big or small. Pain is only the road to success, and in order to reach your goal, you must take chances.
I have learned that real opportunities don’t come by very often, but when they do, one must take advantage. I chose to come to Israel for a year, not just to get a Master’s degree and to get out of the U.S. for a year, but also to strengthen my connection to Israel and to my Judaism. Even though I have missed many celebrations with family and friends back home, I don’t regret coming here. I have missed birthdays, a wedding, weekend adventures with friends, concerts, and an engagement. However, I have gained new friends here and learned so much about myself. Nothing could have prepared me for what I have done in the past year. I took everything day by day, careful not to analyze things too much and just to enjoy myself.
We will always want and need things in life; we are both biologically and psychologically programmed in such a way. King Solomon narrates, “…The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear enough of hearing” (Ecclesiastes 1:8). One will always want and need to learn because we, as human beings, crave wisdom and knowledge. We are constantly looking forward to the destination but the real treat is the journey that accompanies our travels.

LIVNOT Round 2 (More Building)

So as my grad school program ended on August 17th and I moved out of Tsidon, I needed a place to stay for a couple days before coming back to Livnot. I crashed with my friend, Mike, from Livnot. I schlepped all five of my bags from Tsidon to a street off of Arlozorov, getting to his place drenched in sweat. I enjoyed meeting his roommates, Sarah and Yechil, and just chilling. Mike and I also went to the beach and played Ultimate that weekend, where I met a lot of really cool people and might play another game or two before I leave Israel.

Northern Exposure left to right: Aviva,
Kyle, Heather, and me
I took a bus from Tel Aviv to Tzfat (not missing it like last time) and got to Livnot. On the bus, I got a call from my old friend, Sonia, from Livnot, asking me to stay at my place before she flew out to the States. She had apparently never left Livnot; after doing Northern Exposure with me, she did the four week Galilee Fellowship program, then stayed on as a madrichah (leader) for three weeks. I got to there and she had not yet left ; I got a chance to say goodbye before she flew back to the States, where she will be starting a new job at Camp Isabella Freedman in Connecticut.

The amazing new bat sheruts,
Na'ama and Tifferet
I got a chance to meet people in the Galilee Fellowship program and people who technically had done the one-week program multiple times in a row; Dan, Leopold, Isaac, Jayne, Keren, Audrey, Sharon, Samara, Jeremy (Samara's fiancee who had volunteered with Sar-El that week but came back for Shabbat), and Emily. They were all really cool people. Emily unfortunately had to leave after a day and a half because she wanted to visit family before leaving Israel. The new Northern Exposure group this week included Kyle, Aviva, Heather, and me. I had also expected Avital (the fearless bat sherut from last time) to be there, but she had finished her national service a week or two previously. However, I did get a chance to know Na'ama and Tifferet, the two new bat sheruts. Those two girls are awesome! Na'ama (as I told her multiple times during the week) is a small girl with a loud voice and a big heart. Tifferet is a very sweet girl with motherly instincts.

Left to right: Audrey, me, Na'ama, Yonatan, Aviva, and Kyle
On Sunday, the first day of the program, we did orientation an hour late and had to skip the tour around Tzfat. After dinner with everyone, we went out to the Klezmer Music Festival (a big, three-day festival in which people from all over Israel came to celebrate). I hung out at the festival with Emily and Keren, such a fun night! On Monday, we ate breakfast and quickly went to do community service. We first went to the old folks home I had gone to last time. This time, they were having a little celebration and we helped serve food and talk to the residents (and Leopold joined the dancing puppets on a pole). Afterwards, we went to chisel rocks from the side of a walkway near the Citadel to help build up Tzfat. Doron, our coordinator for the week, and I dug up a really big rock which ended up being part of a castle. Later, we had free time then dinner.  We unfortunately had to cancel the forest hike. At night, we went out to the Klezmer Festival again. There were so many great performances there.

Leopold
On Tuesday, both groups together went on a day-long hike to Nachal Zevitan (Zevitan wadi). We stopped off at a couple places to go swimming; the first place I did not swim and instead snacked and talked with others. At the other place, we all ate lunch and swam in the small lake with a waterfall. Doron (Livnot's resident daredevil) jumped from a rock some 12 meters (about 36 feet) into the water. It was a very intense experience for him. Also on the hike, a few interesting things happened to me: I got physically knocked around by slipping a rock and skinning my knee and walking right into a tree branch. However, I did talk to this guy, Yonah, who works at Livnot and hooked me up with a friend of his in Seattle who works in HR. Maybe he has a connection or two in Connecticut. Lastly, I got into an intense philosophical discussion with the tour guide, Fivel Yedidyeh, about the Orthodox Jews who kind of do the hora (all positive happy dancing) in any situation, regardless of whether it's getting a speeding ticket or seeing a friend. These are the guys who believe in the famous מאומן נחמן נחמ נח נ(Na nach nachm nachman meuman) concept, in which people should go into every situation positively and think it's a blessing. I mentioned that they're not regular people for thinking that way (yet who really is normal?), and I brought psychological concepts into play. Fivel had an answer for every one of my questions. At night, I went out again for the last night of the Klezmer Festival.

Kyle's back is "death" and
Dan is photobombing
Beautiful face art on Aviva
On Wednesday, we did some more community service, moving rocks and stacking them on the side. We also played around. In the afternoon, everyone split into groups to do a treasure hunt; many teams lost interest, as there were 40 tasks on the list to accomplish. Isaac, Yonatan (a kid from Philadelphia who made Aliyah and works construction for Livnot while hanging out with groups), and I only accomplished 15 things on the list. These included asking a stranger on the street about Rabbi Nachman, squeezing juice, standing like a statue for 60 seconds, putting on tefillin, and eating the famous Tzfat cheese. Later that night, we had a Purim party. I didn't have anything in my bag of tricks (okay, duffle bag), except my Double Dare shirt I'd received from playing at Southapalooza during UConn's Spring Weekend a couple years ago (great game Jen, Alana, and Liz). I went to the girl who sits outside Livnot who just recently got engaged to an employee at the delicious Yemenite food stand across the alley, and she painted my face to make it look like I'd gotten slimed. Great costume! At the party, everyone stood up to explain their costume and we ate, talked, and had a little dance party.

On Thursday, everyone went on another hike to Nachal Amud (part of the famous Sea to Sea hike). It was somewhere I had been before, given the last time I was at Livnot, my group had joined the Galilee Fellowship kids for the first leg of their hike. We jumped into that small, really cold water hole for swimming. Still fun. After the hike, Northern Exposure (me, Aviva, Heather, and Kyle) had a little Shabbat discussion with Alon, another Livnot employee. The four of us were almost falling asleep but I did my best to ask intellectual questions to keep the conversation going. Despite my brain barely working, it was still intellectually stimulating. After that, we had free time. Dinner came around and then we prepared for Shabbat, cooking and cleaning. Along with that, a few people had the opportunity to write WOWs (Words of Wisdom). I was one of five picked, and I originally had trouble coming up with a topic. I considered my speaking of my adventures this past year, my discussion with Fivel, and Tisha B'Av. After speaking with Doron, I decided I wanted to combine the topics of my adventures in the past year and Tisha B'Av, specifically what Yonina had said in her email (refer to "Coming to a Close..." post).

This is how Kyle ALWAYS eats his chicken
Friday came around and we began with Challah braiding after breakfast. I created another poorly made challah and Na'ama helped me create "Super Turtle". Nothing trumps Super Turtle! Afterwards, we took a little field trip to the Rimon Winery and the Butterfly beer factory. Both wine and beer tasted delicious, however the lunch at Butterfly was not to my satisfaction (blegh!). When we got back, we had free time until Shabbat. I wasted about two hours on Facebook before I was motivated to finish writing my WOW. After looking online for some inspirational quotes, I found just the one I was looking for:

"All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware" -- Martin Buber

My paper turned into a discussion about my experiences and adventures in Israel in the past year, and how much I have grown. Please refer to the next blog post to see my WOW (I hope you will be amazed).

I finished my WOW just in time to have enough time to shower and get dressed ready for Shabbat to start at Livnot. We did Kabbalat Shabbat, went to a few synagogues to experience Shabbat around Tzfat, and then had dinner. Again, what a magical dinner. We ate, laughed, played with Yonah's kids and Doron's kids, and presented our WOWs. After dinner, we had an oneg in which we drank some beer and presented l'chaims to each other. My favorite one I did was when I turned to Jeremy and Samara (the engaged couple), and mentioned to them that, given how Samara's eyes sparkle when she talks about Jeremy, I hope to one day find what they have found with each other -- true love. They were so thankful for that compliment.

Doron dancing his heart out
at the Klezmer Festival
On Saturday, Heather and I went to a family's house for Shabbat lunch. The father is from Los Angeles and the mother from London. They have about six children, ranging between the ages of about 6-22. They were a really nice and sweet family, and we got into great conversations with them. After that, we hung around Livnot for the afternoon and celebrated the end of Shabbat at night, singing many songs and dancing the hora (more or less). After that, we did a closing circle, saying what we most enjoyed about the past week. When it was my turn, I made a little joke about wanting to tell a ghost story with a candle up to my face in a dark room, as I announced, "Once upon a time...". Then I got serious; I thanked everyone for being amazing, I reaffirmed my delightfulness of Na'ama and Tifferet being present and said they will flourish the next year doing their national service at Livnot, and that they both have bright futures ahead of them.

On Sunday, Dan, Leopold, Kyle, Isaac, and I joined Dinah (a girl who did Livnot back in February) and her friend from France, Yonatan, to do a little traveling around Israel. However, instead of leaving this day, we decided to take advantage of our free night at Livnot as alumni and take a day to plan a couple days where we wanted to go first. So I ended up meeting the new Northern Exposure group. This included my friend, Ari, who was in my friend Jenn's Israel Teaching Fellows group this past year. He is currently studying a Master's in Judaic Studies at Hebrew Union College, the American seminary for Reform Judaism. All students do their first year of studies in Jerusalem. HUC also has campuses in Cininnati, New York City, and Los Angeles. I also met Ari's friends, Sarah and Elana. Sarah happens to be from Connecticut, so we got to talking a little bit. Elana, who is at HUC studying to be a rabbi, is from just outside Kansas City. I also met some other really cool people, such as Ian, Kate, Tara, and Kailyn. Ian is a kid orginally from California who grew up in Hawaii and seems to have the craziest travel stories. Kailyn is a preschool teacher from New Jersey who's very chill and is hard to read. At night, Elana and I decided to take a walk and get to know each other a little better. In the morning, I left with my friends for a new Israeli adventure (to be covered in an upcoming blog post called "Post-Livnot Adventures").

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Coming to a Close...

My Master's in Israel program is basically over, 5 days until I move out of Tsidon. Oranim programming is over and school just finished a few days ago. I am waiting for my last 2 grades and I will be graduating with all of NYU at Yankee Stadium in late January. Here's a short breakdown of the highlights in the last few weeks of my program:

Our last enrichment program was to meet Gad Ben-Ari, the head of APCO Worldwide. He spoke to us about his views on Israel. He is a liberal-minded Israeli, straying away from the mainstream views. I wish I could remember his viewpoints, which were interesting to hear about, but which not too much I agreed with. It was still nice to get a whole different viewpoint on today's issues in Israel.

I saw The Dark Knight Rises with my friend, Mike, from Livnot at a local movie theater. As anyone would tell you (if you haven't seen it yet), it was out of this world. It was one of the best movies ever, keeping you on the edge of your seat. I've spoken with numerous friends about which movie was better, the second or third. I think that would be like comparing apples and oranges. The Dark Knight was best known for Heath Ledger's legendary performance, that, unfortunately, killed him. The movie also had a great storyline and superb special effects. I think The Dark Knight Rises was different; the plot was absolutely amazing and the villain of choice was a great idea. There were so many twists and turns that you never would have expected anything like that to happen. I commend Christopher Nolan on his direction on all three Batman movies.

My program certificate
On August 2nd, my group sat down together and reflected back on our year together. Each of us displayed on a graph, with the x axis being outside/inside (how connected you feel toward Israel) and the y axis being low/high (knowledge of Israel), where we were when each of us had begun the program and where we were positioned now. I said that, in the beginning, I felt connected but didn't know too much (I knew history and culture but not current issues and politics). Now, I feel much more connected because I learned a lot about issues and politics, but also more history and culture. We then chose pictures from a pile that connected with our feelings. The first one I chose was of feet covered in mud, signifying how I had no clue what was going to happen in the coming year in Israel. The second picture was of a foot ready to walk with an arrow pointing forward. This signified that my life is taking me somewhere; I don't know where exactly, but I am excited to discover the journey.

The picture on my superlative
















On August 6th, we had our closing ceremony, a potluck dinner filled with memories. As we ate, we watched a 15 minute slideshow (compiled by Alex and Cory) flow on the wall. Ofer, the director of Oranim's long term programs, explained the future of the Master's program. He said that, as of now, it is unlikely to continue. The issue is not with interest in the program (over 50 applied for the Fall semester) but with the partnership with the College of Management. They apparently are not a sufficient partner; they don't give NYU-Poly enough resources and not enough money. NYU and NYU-Poly want to continue the program, possibly somehow in connection with the study abroad program at Tel Aviv University or even with another school in Tel Aviv. The main issue would be negotiating contracts, etc. with schools.


Shirt that Alex designed
After Ofer spoke, we gave Orly, our fearless program coordinator, a gift. It's a beautiful and colorful collage of our faces on a poster as the NYU-Poly Master's in Israel 2011-2012 program. Orly was speechless and delighted to receive such a gift. News also surfaced that she is currently 4 months pregnant with her second child. Sarah, Anna, and Jessica also presented superlatives for everyone. I received "Most likely to: lend an HDMI cable to a friend in need" -- I was notorious to those girls for that. But that's great because that shows I'm there for people when needed, and any of my friends would be happy to confirm that. Lastly, Ofer and Orly presented each of us with our program certificates. It was a special final program event!

Since then, I finished up my final exams for my program. I wrote a very lengthy final exam for Labor Relations, my online class. I also completed my research paper for Organizational Behavior, on how empowerment affects motivation in employees. I also have relaxed by watching movies, hanging with friends, and going to a couple parties. I now have 5 days left on my program. I also return to the U.S. in about 35 days (September 19th) and return to Connecticut in about 53 days (first few days of October).

Picture from the Tisha B'Av Wikipedia page
Lastly, I want to mention that Tisha B'Av (which fell on July 29th this year) is a day to remember. I didn't do too much (and I did not fast), but it is a day to always keep in mind. The 9th day of the month of Av (on the Jewish calendar) was the day that the First Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. It was one of the saddest days of the year for the Jewish people. We also mourn the destruction of the Second Temple on that day, as it was destroyed by the Romans in 73 CE. Yonina, one of the Bat Sheruts (volunteer leader) from the Livnot program I participated in recently, sent all of her participants from the past year an email talking about the holiday. She spoke about how even though Tisha B'Av is a day of mourning for the burning of both Temples, it is also a day of redemption. It's a day that will eventually become a day of celebration and of rebuilding if/when the Third Temple is constructed. To this end, she wrote:

"This day, every day, can be a day of hatred, destruction, of negativity, and of separation. However, it can also be a day of correction, of love, of rebuilding. The potential for both comes from the same place, and what we choose to do with it, well- the choice lies in our hands. So, today, I chose to start rebuilding. Not destroying what was, or what is NOT, but rather, focusing on rebuilding, renewing, lighting candles of hope in my life. I began to rebuild some friendships, places, and aspects of myself... I ask myself, and you- How do I, how do YOU (if you want to) turn this day, and every day of our lives from destruction to rebuilding. From flames of burning and hatred, to flames of passion and love?" (Yonina, 2012).

What is written above inspired me to reconsider certain things I do in my life and to become a better person. Forgive the insignificant, love whomever and whatever matters in your life. Never burn bridges, only build them. You never know whom and what you'll need in your future that's from your past.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

My Letter to NYU-Poly

The Israel Way-Oranim program I currently am a participant on, NYU-Poly Master's in Israel, is in danger of being discontinued after many years of operation. Below is a letter I wrote to the presidents of both NYU and NYU-Poly in the hopes of changing their minds. I sent it out almost two weeks ago and they have responded, saying that my insights are noted but nothing has officially been decided (as far as I know).

Please read and react, either by commenting or even writing a letter to the presidents themselves; whatever we can do to save the program. I have a friend who is looking forward to participating in this program in Fall 2012, and he won't be able to if the program is canceled. Thank you.

John Sexton - President of NYU
john.sexton@nyu.edu

Jerry Hultin - President of NYU-Poly
hultin@poly.edu

_______________


Dear President Sexton and President Hultin,

My name is Joshua Rubock and I am currently a graduate student in the NYU-Poly Master's in Israel program. As you know, I have been living in Israel as a participant on this program since last October and will finish the program within the coming weeks. All participants have been notified by Israel Way-Oranim's Director of Admissions, Ofir Teva, that the university wishes to discontinue the NYU-Poly in Israel program and no one directly associated with the program was notified about it from NYU or NYU-Poly administration. I urge you to reconsider your positions.

Joining this program nine months ago has provided me with a once-in-a-lifetime experience that cannot, and will not, be compared to anything of any sort EVER. First of all, finding this program allowed me the ability to come back to Israel for the first time since going on my Taglit-Birthright Israel trip three years ago, and getting my Master's degree here has allowed me to accomplish my objective earlier than I had thought possible. I discovered the program by Googling "Israel opportunity programs" for an assignment for my Hillel internship two years ago at the University of Connecticut. Now that I look back, it was the best decision of my life. 

While studying for my MS in Organizational Behavior, I have done so much that no NYU-Poly student in Brooklyn can say they have done by gaining an international experience in graduate school. We are taught by Israeli professors, providing a different view of the world than the traditional American view; they educate us on how American companies run and how Israeli companies run, too. I have traveled all over Israel and outside of Israel; Oranim has taken us on trips to Eilat, the Golan Heights, Jerusalem, the Negev desert, Safed, and every place in between while learning about Israel's unique history and culture. I have traveled on my own (or with friends) to nearby cities while living in Tel Aviv, the cultural capital of Israel. I have learned to speak Hebrew while engaging with locals, the best way to learn about a new culture. I have made many new friends in other MASA programs, not just from the United States but also from Canada, South America, Europe, and Russia. I have traveled to Jordan and Europe with friends, learning more about other cultures around the world. I have participated in several security and diplomacy programs and seminars, becoming more Zionist than I had ever been before and paying more attention to world news than previously. I have even worked an internship that has taught me about the human resources field by selling a new service by a start-up company. 

I am not the same person I was nine months ago. When I return to the US in ten weeks, I will have become more knowledgeable about many cultures, about human resource management, about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and have grown so much thanks to every opportunity I have taken advantage of. If I had done the same program in Brooklyn, all that would have changed was learning about human resources and getting my degree. However, now I have friends from all over the world and knowledge from many different sources. 

A friend of mine from high school applied to join this past Spring semester, however, since NYU-Poly decided to postpone the incoming class because a minimum number of people had not applied, he was not able to come here. He applied because he saw what I have been writing on my blog (http://gradschoolinisrael.blogspot.co.il/), and wanted to experience something powerful like what I have while studying for a Master's in Management. He was devastated when he heard that he wouldn't be coming in March but in October instead. Now that you might cancel the program, you would be canceling his and over 50 other prospective students' dreams of studying in Israel.

The program has not had very much success admitting students because it is not marketed enough, and Oranim cannot do it alone. I have searched all over the Internet and all over the NYU and NYU-Poly sites, and NOTHING mentions the NYU-Poly Master's in Israel program as an option to study. It is only mentioned on Oranim's website and MASA's website and their social media pages, and they often have trouble getting the word out because the only other type of people they have to spread the word about the program is alumni. This program needs all the help it can get to market it. Without such information the program is sure to crumble, however, with your help it can thrive again. Undergraduates at NYU get the chance to experience something similar to what NYU-Poly offers and it's all right here: http://www.nyu.edu/global/global-academic-centers/telaviv.html. Keeping my program can continue to provide NYU-Poly with a significant competitive advantage over other graduate programs at other universities and colleges. If anything you should expand my program.

When I first applied, I was blown away to find such an amazing program already available. Why take it away from others in the future, like the 50 current prospective applicants planning to start in Fall 2012? They can learn so much from living for a year in a country that is the only free democracy in the Middle East and is a global leader in culture and innovation today with its technological start-ups. NYU and NYU-Poly fit well with Israeli culture and society, focusing on i2e, innovation and entrepreneurship are in both the blood of NYU-Poly and Israeli culture. Please reconsider your thoughts and actions of discontinuing the NYU-Poly Master's in Israel program and give future students the ability to learn in an environment in which few can.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,



Joshua Rubock

Why doesn’t the Muslim world recognize Israel? (Jerusalem Post article)


By MOHAMMED MOSTAFA KAMAL
07/21/2012 22:21

If Hamas, Hizbullah and Iran do not accept peace, the rest of the Muslim world must boycott them. This will be justice.
























Photo: Reuters
Yudhoyono shaking hands with Jose Ramos-Horta
No Muslim country boycotted East Timor or banned its citizens from traveling there after it became independent from mainly Muslim Indonesia. Christian-majority South Sudan became independent from mainly Muslim United Sudan in 2011. As with East Timor, we did not see any Muslim boycotts.
However, when Israel became independent in 1948, Muslim countries acted with unrelenting hostility. Why? One of the basic tenets of Islam is that Muslim-majority countries’ first allegiance should be to Islam, in the form of a single Islamic Caliphate, and not to secular conceptions of the state, whether Arab, Persian or Turkish.

However, prior to the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Sharif Hussein Bin Ali of Mecca, together with many other Arab leaders, enticed by the prospect of power, abandoned the concept of an Islamic Caliphate and sought to form new countries, which they would rule. They called their ambition Arab Nationalism. To accomplish their objective, they sought British aid in overthrowing the Ottoman Empire.

With British assistance, the Arab leaders succeeded in toppling the Ottoman Empire – but it was Britain that assumed control, not the Arabs. It was a repeat of the tragic defeat of the last independent Arab ruler, Mîrzâ Muhammad Sirâj-ud-Daulah, the last independent Nawab of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, by Britian in the Battle of Plassey.

Britain had in fact never intended to liberate the Arabs, but rather to gain control of the Middle East oil fields. As far as Britain was concerned, the plan was simply to divide and conquer. Blinded by ambition, the Arab leaders of 1916 not only didn’t achieve power for themselves, they unwittingly set the stage for the fragmentation of the Middle East and the creation of the State of Israel.

Several new countries were created in the Middle East, with borders chosen not to further Arab unity, but to defeat it. As part of the disposition of the region, the idea was advanced at the United Nations of dividing Palestine into two countries, one for Jews and one for Arabs. The Nazi Holocaust, Jewish appeals for the creation of such a state and greater European ambitions for the region were all contributing factors behind this idea.

The British Mandate in Palestine was duly divided on May 14, 1948, and the modern State of Israel was formally recognized, and began its journey. At the time, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin clarified that his support for partition was motivated by a desire to reduce British influence in the area.

It is unfortunately true that many Palestinian Arabs were evicted from their homes. However, not in 1948 due to Israel’s independence, but from 1930 onward. Arab Muslims leaders have been hiding this crucial fact from the entire Muslim world ever since.

From1948 onward, the Arab states have tried repeatedly to annihilate Israel. Every time, their efforts met with resounding failure, but this only served to fuel Muslim anger against Israel and Jewish people. Except for Turkey, no Muslim country had diplomatic relations with Israel, allowed its citizens to visit Israel or the import of Israeli goods. Israel and its people were beyond the pale.

In 1967, to maintain its existence Israel had to occupy all of the Palestine and the Syrian Golan Heights. In 1979, Egypt recognized Israel following the Camp David Accords of 1978 between Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin.

Interestingly, the Soviet Union and its allied were now backing the Arabs against Israel, a state of affairs which persisted until 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed.

Realizing the implications, the PLO and its leader Yasser Arafat gradually headed toward the Oslo Peace Accords.

Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin signed the Oslo agreement on September 13, 1993, at the White House.

That which had once seemed impossible and unthinkable had now become quite real. As a result, Israeli military forces were withdrawn from most of Palestine. A new Palestinian government was formed. But Hamas, the Islamic Jihad and other splinter groups were against the treaty and vowed to carry on the war. Fatah’s proposed two-state solutions was meaningless to Hamas, which together with the Islamic Jihad continued to perpetrate terrorist attacks against Israel. These groups were backed and sheltered by Hezbollah, Syria and Iran.

Due to their acts of aggression, Israel had no choice but to counter-attack. Yitzhak Rabin, who had signed the Oslo agreement with Arafat, was assassinated by an extremist Jew in 1995 for not reacting strongly enough, with many on the extreme Israeli Right feeling desparate that the terrorist attacks were increasing even as Israel withdrew from territory.

There then followed a series of confrontations between Hamas and Israel. In between these incidents Israel showed respect for a UN resolution which required it to withdraw its forces from south Lebanon in the year 2000.

It was deadly mistake. After the 2000 withdrawal, the Lebanese Hezbollah become more powerful and organized.

They were getting arms, training and other military materiel from Syria and Iran.

Before the spread of Internet accessibility in the Muslim world, and even after, in 2000, news coverage on the nature of the terrorist attacks against Israel did not properly reach many Muslims. That Hamas and other extremists were using innocent Palestinians as human shields when they launched rockets was not widely enough known in the Muslim world. So when Israel responded, it was always the guilty party, committing inhuman, incomprehensible acts.

Even in 2005, when then-prime minister Ariel Sharon withdrew all Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip, controversially- elected Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad threatened to wipe Israel off the map, and terrorist attacks from Gaza intensified. As a result, further withdrawals were halted and there was a breakdown in Israel’s ruling Likud party.

Sharon and liberal-minded leaders broke away to form the Kadima party, which with the support of the Labor party came to power and kept the peace process going, in the face of unrelenting Hamas opposition.

Hamas won the Palestinian elections in 2006, and refused to recognize Israel’s existence. Not satisfied with this, Hamas and Hizbullah attacked Israel, killing and abducting Israeli soldiers, leading to a month-long war. For all these developments, majority-Muslim countries blamed Israel. There was no criticism of Hamas, Hezbollah and Ahmadinejad. On the contrary, they were idolized.

Hamas and Hezbollah’s aggression and terrorism have pushed Gaza and its inhabitants into enormous misery, but these facts are presented in the Muslim world in a fragmented and distorted way.

When we compare Israel’s actions since 1948 with those of East Timor or South Sudan, the only conclusion to be drawn is that the Muslim world’s attitude toward Israel is totally illogical, unfair and unjust. Israel was established in the exact same manner as were Australia and America. History will not rewind. Anti-Israel activities have not brought the Muslim world anything but tension, conflict and economic ruin, keeping them relegated to third-world status.

That Israel is itself colonial or expansionist, that it seeks additional Arab lands, is simply a lie. The best proof of this lies in the fact that Israel has ceded territory since its formation, and that following the peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan, Israel has committed no acts of aggression against them.

Israel and the Jewish people are unnecessarily stigmatized in the Muslim world. With a world population of 7 billion and growing, resources are getting scarcer, not more abundant. To keep up this unnecessary conflict with Israel based on lies and ignorance can bring no good, and could potentially cause a regional war, with terrible consequences.

We have seen the gruesomeness of large-scale modern warfare. Muslim countries must acknowledge history and recognize Israel prior to the 1967 armistice lines. Only the combined efforts of Muslim countries can deflect the aggressive, anti-peace path of Hamas, Hizbullah and Iran toward true peace.

If they do not accept peace, the rest of the Muslim world must boycott them. This will be justice. To do otherwise based on the fragmented, distorted and false history of a country and a religion would be a desecration of Islam and bring guilt on all Muslims. The whole Muslim world must come forward and prove that Islam believes in justice and peace, and it must persevere. As soon as this matter begins, it will bring good to the world.

The writer is a freelance journalist based in the UK. He is from Bangladesh.


THIS ARTICLE SPEAKS VOLUMES! ALL TRUTH!

Thursday, July 19, 2012

35 Hours of Petra

Here is a long overdue post... my visit to Petra.


Yes, I went to Petra a couple weeks ago with my Livnot friends Matt, Mike, and Tim. What an amazing trip! You can check out all of my pictures from that trip on my Facebook photo album "35 Hours of Petra" or click here. So here's how everything went down:

Al-Khazna, or the Treasury
We left Tel Aviv on a Tuesday evening and took a direct bus to Eilat then slept over that night at some Christian hostel (the owners were really nice and offered us free New Testaments). The next morning, we got up at 7am and finally crossed the border at 10am. While doing that, we met a few Israelis who were on their way to Petra, too. We talked while each one of the eight of us was getting our passports checked. Matt, Mike, Tim, and I then took a cab up to Petra (two hour drive) for 50 Jordanian Dinars. Our driver was this really cool Palestinian-Jordanian who was a bad driver and got lost on the way because he missed the sign for Petra. Eventually, we saw a cab for the Saba'a Hotel, the one we were planning on staying at, so we just followed that car all the way to the hotel (what a lucky break!). We dropped off our bags and went straight to the park (for anyone who doesn't know, Petra is an archaeological park and currently one of the 7 Wonders of the World). We bought two day passes which cost 55 Dinars ($75-80). If you ever go, make sure you're staying at a hotel at least one night because otherwise, you will get charged 90 Dinars instead (it's much cheaper to stay at a hotel or hostel for at least one night).

The four of us walked around for a bit, often getting asked if we would like to ride a horse or donkey for a few dinars, always turning down the offer. We first walked through Bab el-Siq, the path that follows the course of the Wadi Musa (in Arabic, "Valley of Moses"), a riverbed that once flowed into Petra. Once we walked through there, we came upon Al-Khazna, or The Treasury (right), and it was a beautiful sight. Can you imagine how the Nabataeans of 2000 years ago carved this thing out of just rock. Such amazing skill! Al-Khazna is supposed to be the mausoleum of King Aretas IV. After taking a few pictures, we went along the main path in the park, visiting the Siq, the Street of Facades (which contains mainly neatly-cut rock tombs), and a small stadium. On our walk, we went in to have tea at 4pm (no joke, just for Tim because he's British) and we met this really cool Bedouin, Athman (pronouced Aht-MON, and no he is not a Pokemon). He invited us to join him for dinner later in the neighboring town of Little Petra, where a friend of his lives. We told him we'd think about it.

Left to right: Athman, Matt, me, Mike, and Tim at dinner
After walking around a bit more, we decided to take Athman up on his offer, despite our worries. Instead we went to have dinner behind a cave just outside the city of Petra, a closer and quieter area. Athman put up the chicken on a fire with two bags of coal. It took about an hour to cook, but by adding some vegetables to the dinner and a few spices, it ended up tasting absolutely wonderful and was worth the wait. The five of us enjoyed dinner with Athman's friend, Muhammad, and some great conversation. We hitchhiked back into town and parted ways. Matt, Mike, Tim, and I decided to end the night by going to a narghile place and relaxing.

Far to near: Tim, Matt, and Mike
looking out from the High Place
The next day, we got up at 7am and went straight to the park after a quick breakfast. We wanted to get a whole day of hiking and exploring in so we could see as much as possible (Petra is way too big to see, probably even in three days). We saw some pretend soldiers do a really cool routine while Mike pretended to not know it was going on and walked right in front of us for part of the time. We again stopped by Al-Khazna to take a few more pictures. Then we took a hike up to the High Place of Sacrifice, which is one of the better-known high places for the Nabataeans worshiped their gods. From here, you can see all of Petra, Wadi Musa, and Aaron's Tomb (Aaron, the High Priest and brother of Moses). What a breathtaking view! After seeing the High Place, we climbed down and made our way to the Garden Hall. This monument is thought to have had a beautiful garden planted in front of it a long time ago. We also stopped by to see the Colored Triclinium, the Soldier Tomb, and the Lion Triclinium (a cool looking lion is carved into the rock but I unfortunately lost that picture).


Bedouins climbing and playing
Ad-Dayr, or the Monastery
Lastly, we took a journey up 950 steps. On the way, we ran into a group of Duke University students with whom Matt and I got into deep conversation, making the trek up the stairs much less painful and very interesting. For much of the time, Matt was engaging with a girl from West Virginia who happened to know a couple of his good friends from his home in Chicago. I talked with this girl, Esther, who was really cool. The Duke kids told us they were in Petra just for the day, but had been in Jordan for the past two months teaching English to kids in the capital city of Amman. They were really enjoying their time and learning a lot of Arabic. We finally got up to the top of the steps and saw a beautiful wonder before us. Ad-Dayr, or the Monastery, was the amazing gigantic sculpture we had our eyes fixed on. Back in the time of the Nabataeans, it was supposedly used a biclinium for the meetings of religious associations and certain rituals. It also may have been built in memory of King Obodas II. While Matt and I were hanging out, catching our breath and getting to know our Duke friends better, a few Bedouins decided to climb up the side of a giant rock and jump onto the top of the Monastery. They then jumped, climbed, and played around on the top for a while. It was amazing to see such acrobatics, something I'd be too scared and not flexible enough to do (white men still can't jump!).

Me and Matt with our Duke friends
Afterwards, we all went down the steps and walked out the park. We said goodbye to our new friends before we went back to our hotel to grab our stuff and go. We got a cab and went straight to the border, but not before we'd have a very interesting journey on the way back into Israel. First, the driver who brought us back got into the cab and immediately gave us some free sodas, a very unexpected and welcomed gesture. Then we decided we wanted to sleep in Eilat that night instead of in Aqaba, so we asked the driver to pick up speed, at about 100km per hour, to get us back to the border by the time the border closed by 8pm. I made the difficult decision to use my phone while roaming and call the border to ask them to stay open an extra 15 minutes for us. I called the Israeli side and they said they wouldn't mind, but it wasn't their decision. I then called the Jordanian side. I said, "Hi, we are three Americans and one Israeli and we are about ten minutes from Aqaba and would like to cross the border tonight. Could you please keep the border open an extra 15 minutes?"

To our surprise, they said, "We'll keep it open until eight and a half."

"Really? 8:30? Thank you so much. We'll be there very soon!" I declared.

As soon as I got off the phone, the four of us cheered and rushed the rest of the way to the border. We got there at 8:10pm and got escorted through very quickly in a span of about 15 minutes. While we were walking through, I asked a woman if they ever keep the border open for anyone. She gave me a quick no. The four of us realized we were a special case, and we felt REALLY good about that!

We finished crossing the border and walked our way to a gas station, where we called a cab to take us back to Eilat. We stayed over that night at a hostel and got a good night's sleep. The next morning, while Matt and Mike slept in, Tim and I walked down to the mall and got breakfast. Then Matt and Tim took a bus straight to Jerusalem while Mike and I stayed a couple extra hours to go snorkeling. It was very fun. At 3pm, Mike and I took a bus back to Tel Aviv, getting there an hour early. What a nice way to end the trip!

If you ever have a chance to go to Jordan, take a trip to Petra. It will be worth it to see one of the most beautiful groups of rocks and a wonder of the world. Any questions, please feel free to ask me.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Livnot U'Lehibanot (To Build and To Be Built)

The beautiful poster my group made,
captained by Jenn
So I took a break from Oranim during the last week of June and participated in Livnot U'Lehibanot's one week Northern Exposure program, at the behest of my friend Jenn (the one from Rishon LeZion ITF). She just finished her program and moved out of her apartment last Sunday and went straight up to Tzfat for Livnot. She was one of the last people to get there, even after me. Tzfat was my destination and I missed the direct one at 10:30am, so I took a bus to Rosh Pinna then a quick cab to Tzfat. When I got to the Livnot campus, I dropped my bags and immediately started saying hi to new people. I first met a girl named Carleigh, who was way too tired to talk after just finishing her Birthright trip that morning, but she pushed herself to be social. I met Matt, a kid from Chicago who has been traveling for the past month since he finished Birthright. In fact, everyone among the 14 of us in the group had finished Birthright in the past few weeks except me, Jenn, a guy named Mike, and a girl named Kylie (who just happens to also be from West Hartford and went to Hall High! What a coincidence!). There were also people from New York, Miami, Los Angeles, and Arizona.

After everyone met, we did a short tour of the Old City of Tzfat, which mainly included the alleyways that Livnot is located around and Jerusalem Street, the main street in the city. To finish off the tour, we walked to the highest point in Tzfat, the Cistern. Inside, we echoed our voices a billion times and sang the first Livnot song we learned ("Koom koom lay lay lay lay lay koom koom lay lay..." -- I'll have this song in my head for a while). Afterwards, we ate dinner back at Livnot. We also got our room assignments, in which all six guys in the group roomed together in one dorm. We then just relaxed for the night.

On Monday, we got up for breakfast and the IBA Israel News at 6:30am. We went to hike Nachal Amud, the first leg of the famous Sea to Sea ("Yam L'Yam") hike in Israel where you hike from the Sea of Galilee to the Mediterranean. The four week Galilee Fellowship group joined us, or actually we joined them, because they were doing Sea to Sea. We stopped every once in a while for a water or snack break and listened to the tour guide and did chevrutas (group discussions). The hike took about nine hours and it was very intensive -- JUST how I like it! I also got the opportunity to make more friends, in which some of us played a game of Contact (Matt called it something else). We also took a break to go swimming in a deep end of a stream; we jumped off a rock into a small pool that had really cold water. After the hike, we took a break. We had an open dinner, in which most of us went to an Italian restaurant to get pizza. Jenn surprised both me and everyone with her Hebrew skills she has developed in the past 10 months; she's better than I thought she was but that's because she underestimated herself. I had been ready to order for everyone in Hebrew myself before she took over. Then we had a "class" discussion with a guy named Alon, who works for Livnot. It was an intimacy discussion, but it unfortunately didn't get as personal as I'd hoped but it was interesting. We had a free night in which we all just chilled at Livnot. I had been talking about my being on a MASA program and how awesome it is -- and people like Sivan and Erica became interested immediately. They didn't know that Israel opportunity programs existed outside of Livnot and Birthright. I showed them the MASA website and how you can do just about anything from school to volunteering to internships.

Left to right: Michael, Sivan, Erica, Kylie, and Jenn
On Tuesday, we had breakfast and news again. The great thing about breakfast is that it's all home cooked -- so home cooked that all participants and the bnot sherut (program coordinators who are 19 year old girls doing their national service instead of serving in the IDF). Each morning, breakfast was delicious. After this, we started some community service in which we helped excavate 16th century Tzfat property right around the corner from the Livnot campus. I helped do some digging and finding artifacts. I was digging in a small hole with Kylie and Erica, and each time we found something that looked like an "artifact" and not stone, we sang a little song -- "Nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah... ancient artifact!" Then the group forgot about the three of us for about 40 minutes while they were having a meeting. We had lunch after excavating. In the afternoon, we had another discussion. At night, we went out near the Old City and had a bonfire with smores (a bonfire is NEVER complete without smores!). We sang songs, put the marshmallows under the fire, had a 20 minute personal reflection time, and just enjoyed each other's company. During the reflection, I just went out and laid down on the ground and looked up at the sky. Not a thought entered my head except to focus on hearing the sounds around me: crickets chirping, cars going by on the highway over the hill, and quiet. It was so peaceful and just what I needed.

Charlie's Angels: Carleigh, Jenn, Adina as the Angels
 and me as Charlie
On Wednesday, Eve and I woke up early to cook breakfast with Temima, one of the bat sheruts. We made vegetables and oatmeal which was delicious. We hiked a mountain in Arbel and went swimming in the Sea of Galilee ("Kinneret" in Hebrew). Arbel was amazing; we hiked down, often down rocks and on narrow walkways. We stopped a couple times and this hike was less intense than Monday's but this one had an amazing view. The most breathtaking view I'd seen on Monday was of a cow we'd gotten pretty close to. Swimming in the Galilee was really cool, too. It is the largest freshwater source in the Middle East, and the main source of water for the vast majority of Israel's population. We hung out there, ate lunch, swam for a bit, then tanned at the edge of the water while skipping pebbles. It was bliss. Once we got back to Livnot, we had the rest of the day and evening free; we wanted to go out as a group to a local bar but we didn't want to pay too much so we went back to the Cistern with a few beers and just chilled and sang Livnot songs. It really was a great group bonding experience.

Doing a trick at an ancient
synagogue. Top to bottom:
Ryan, Matt, Jenn, and Sonia
After breakfast on Thursday, we went to a local nursing home to play Bingo and sing Livnot songs to the elderly. I helped a couple old guys play and had really nice conversations with them in Hebrew and English. One was named Fredy and the other was Artur. Jenn and Sivan also sat the table with me and they helped the elderly play Bingo, too. Singing songs brought smiles to many faces -- both young and old -- and if they had the ability to get out of their chairs to dance, I'm sure they would have. Michael, the kid from Los Angeles, also sang a lullaby in Russian to some of the Russian-speaking residents. After we got back to Livnot, we had an open lunch, where we went to the local square and got falafel and schwarma. After lunch, we had another "class" about Shabbat, which turned into a discussion about personal beliefs and rules to follow on Shabbat and what to observe. I asked a series of questions regarding homosexuals being allowed to have sex, when the Torah specifically says that it is forbidden for a man to lie with another man. Michael had brought up the issue because he wanted to know how he could deal with his homosexuality and being Jewish at the same time. Leading the discussion, Alon pointed out to us that it may be a sin according to the Torah, but one of the most important things in Judaism is to be comfortable with yourself and know that no one is perfect but to try your best to live with the commandments. We learned that there are three commandments of the 613 that say would be better to die than to commit: murder, idolatry, and sexual misconduct (such as adultery and incest). In essence, it's better to sacrifice yourself than to commit these sins. It was my favorite discussion of the week. After this, we prepped for Shabbat, cooking and cleaning. I ordered bookshelves and did dishes.

Left to right: me, Jenn, and Carleigh
After breakfast on Friday, we braided challahs to later be baked for Shabbat. I created a sad excuse for a braided challah and a fish (I wish I had pictures for it). Jenn made a Mickey Mouse silhouette and Matt made a challah pizza. We then went to visit a couple artists: Sheva Chaya, the glassblower, and David Friedman, a painter/drawer who uses geometry in his art for drawing the Hebrew letters and connecting it to Kabbalistic Judaism. We then prepared more for Shabbat. We then had the rest of the afternoon free to do whatever, so we had lunch and I went to a local jewelry shop to buy a couple necklaces (not for me... shhhhh!). Kabbalat Shabbat came upon us and we celebrated by singing more Livnot songs and lighting candles. We walked around to a couple synagogues to experience what Shabbat is like in Tzfat. It's really crazy; all Ultra-Orthodox Jews at about 70 different shuls in the city welcoming in the Shabbos bride. It's beautiful how excited they always are every week to have 25 hours of blissful rest. We then came back to Livnot and had dinner. We said Kiddish, had a delicious dinner, and then went out to the balcony to sing more songs and enjoy company. It was the most amazing feeling of community and family I've felt in a while. Everyone was up singing and dancing and smiling. We then did an Oneg in which we gave L'chaims to friends and others in the program. I gave l'chaims (giving cheers to someone) to Jenn, who got me to go on the trip with her, to our coordinator, Avital, who fearlessly led us the whole week and gave me motivation for the week when she was frustrated with me for taking too long the first morning before the hike, and other friends.

Avital, our fearsome bat sherut
On Saturday, everyone was split into groups to go to local families' houses for Shabbat lunch. Sivan, Mike, and I went to the home of a family whose husband is the rabbi of one of the more spiritual synagogues in the city. Temima walked us there and we ended up waiting about 45 minutes for the family to come home, but we were greeted by one of the sons when we got there. He was a nice but shy kid of I wish I remembered their names because they were such nice people. Anyway, we had a very delicious lunch of chicken, rice, challah, and the works. We all discussed Kaballah, thoughts about Judaism, backgrounds, and more. We also met a few of the family's friends, a cool guy from South Africa and a Russian family. After the three of us got back from lunch, we had free time until dinner and Havdallah (the ceremony that ends Shabbat). The whole group got a chance to have a big snack while hanging out. During Havdallah, we said goodbye to Shabbat and sang more songs. We cleaned up then effectively ended our program by having a closing circle. In the circle, each member of the group reflected back on the past week, mentioning what we enjoyed most, what we thought could be improved, and how we can affect our Jewish communities in the future. I mentioned that I was thankful to Jenn for convincing me to come on the program with her, thankful to Avital for pumping me up at the beginning of the week, and how I think I could affect my Jewish community back in Connecticut.

Livnot was such an amazing experience. I am strongly considering going back when my program ends in about a month for another round of Northern Exposure. Livnot was founded by Aharon Botzer 33 years ago and he still runs it today. He likes to get to know the participants personally, as he did with me a little bit on the Nachal Amud hike. Many alumni come back to do a program again or just to visit for a Shabbat or a day. It is such a warm atmosphere and I would recommend anyone to do any of their programs, however, they are more geared toward people who don't mind not "partying" and are comfortable in close-knit family-like atmospheres. You can visit them at www.livnot.org.

Saturday, June 23, 2012

A Short June Vacation



So since I wrote my last post, the summer semester has officially started -- but not really. I've basically been on a lengthened vacation for the past three (soon to be four) weeks. One of my best friends came to Israel to visit me, I rented a car, I have watched too many movies, and I'm going on a non-Oranim program next week.

A very close friend from home, Mike, came to Israel for me -- okay not just for me, but for a family wedding, too. He's traveling all around Europe as a graduation present to himself. Mike, congratulations on graduating college! You have a very bright future ahead of you. Mike and I went ALL OVER Israel. On June 7th, he got to Tel Aviv and we walked all around the city: Neve Tzedek, Florentin, and Ibn Gabirol Street. We checked out the buildings, grabbed a bite to eat, and marveled at the busyness of Ibn Gabirol (and wondered, why in Israel, do cars not care to let ambulances in a hurry go by). The next day, I met him in Binyamina, a city about 15 minutes south of Haifa. We took a bus to the Tishbi Winery ("יקב" or "Yekev" means "winery"), one of the best-known wineries in Israel. We did a tasting and had lunch there. Tishbi has absolutely delicious food. Then we walked around Zichron Yaakov for a bit and took in the beautiful scenery. I took a bus back to Tel Aviv and then stopped by the Gay Pride parade, the signature event of Gay Pride Week here in Tel Aviv. They had already gotten to Gordon Beach and the party was ON! There were bands, acts, and people dancing, partying, and getting drunk. I walked around, took pictures, and met a few different people.

On Saturday, the Partners Program ran an unofficial event -- a beer pong tournament on the beach. I partnered with my friend, Hila, and unfortunately we lost our only match. I subsequently lost two other matches with Israeli friends, but it was still fun. Another team of Israelis (Amir and Gali) won the tournament, having never played beer pong before. On Sunday, I went to Rishon LeZion to hang with my ITF friends who live(d) there (and are moving out today). I got some falafel with Jenn then watched Space Jam with her and Ariel. I then had to rush back home because I needed to get onto my computer in time for 11pm Israel time/4pm EST to see my very good friends, Stacie and Ilan, get married. I got home 1 minute before it was scheduled to start. Then I waited 25 minutes for it to actually start, meanwhile having technological difficulties with my WiFi and picture on the live web feed. I eventually got it working on my iPod with decent picture. I saw the whole ceremony, and had a big smile on my face as I saw them happily walking down the aisle together, waving hi to the camera (in the bottom right-hand corner of the picture to your right).

On Monday, Mike came to stay with me for his last three days in Israel. We didn't have too much time to hang out before I had my own plans. I went to go volunteer at NVCC and then he came with me to stop by Beit Leni (an apartment building with Career Israel participants) to see some of my friends from Netanya, Rishon, and Career Israel. Then we went to a Partners meeting. It was unfortunately the last meeting, so we went out with a bang. Pregame at Amir's apartment and then go to a club for a few hours to dance our hearts out. So fun.

Best buds Josh and Mike
On Tuesday, Mike and I rented a car, a Hyundai Getz to be exact. We took the car down to Ein Gedi, the Dead Sea, and Jerusalem on June 12th. At Ein Gedi, we hiked the same trail I did with Oranim in January, seeing the David waterfalls and swimming in a couple springs. Unfortunately, Mike forgot he had his phone in his pocket and went in with it. It'll be a miracle if he can recover all the photos he took on the first two legs of his trip to France and Spain. Despite the technological disaster, we thought we may as well make good out of the day and continue with the trip since we were kind of far from main civilization. We swam in the Dead Sea, both having forgotten our flip flops, so it took a while to walk around the beach.

In the evening, we stopped by in Jerusalem to check out the Old City, the Western Wall, and to meet up with a couple friends of mine for a late dinner at Aroma. My friend Jenn stopped by to hang out, and an old friend from middle school ate with us, too. I hadn't seen Emily in ten years -- 10 YEARS! -- since we graduated and she looked great, exactly the same as the last time I saw her. Her family moved from Connecticut to Vermont, then she went to Israel to study and subsequently made Aliyah. She is now happily engaged to an Israeli and works for a cool nonprofit organization. The four of us enjoyed a great dinner with great conversation (Emily and I caught up and reminisced about our middle school days), and I look forward to seeing Emily a few more times before I go back to the States. On the way back, we picked up my friend, Arielle, in Ramla and we headed back to Tel Aviv to Dizzyfrishdon, a fun bar that seems to specialize in wine. However, we didn't get back before getting lost in Ramat Gan and Bene Brak. There are A LOT of Ultra-Orthodox Jews in Bene Brak! We finally got into Tel Aviv and hung with a new friend Robby for a couple hours (and then going to Benedict's, with its delicious breakfast menu).

Left to right: Mike, Emily, and Michael
On Wednesday, Mike and I were having a little trouble leaving Tel Aviv for the Golan Heights to go to a couple wineries. My phone wasn't working properly and we would have gotten lost and not have made it in time to get a proper tour and tasting (and we had to get a GPS). So we abandoned the idea and picked up my friend Michael in Petach Tikvah and another friend Emily in Netanya. We drove up to Caesarea (which both Mike and I have been to multiple times, but Michael and Emily hadn't) and walked the beach, went to a nice restaurant for dinner, and hung around some of the ruins for a couple hours. It was very fun. Once we got back to Tel Aviv, we Skyped with our friend, Sarah, from our Hillel/City Year trip to L.A. last year. Shortly afterwards, I drove Mike to the airport in which we said goodbye -- for him to go on the next leg of his trip to Ireland and for me to go back to life in Tel Aviv. On Thursday, I had the car for an extra day so Adam and I spent the afternoon chilling at the beach and driving the sand dunes in Ashdod. It was a new and very interesting experience.

Since then, I haven't done too much. I've downloaded and watched too many movies (most of them good), done some Zao work, gone to the Neve Tzedek Community Center end of the school year party, gone out to a club with some new friends from a couple new internship programs, and applied and got accepted to a non-Oranim program. Next week, I'm going on Livnot's one week Northern Exposure program. Jenn from Rishon LeZion wanted me to sign up with her, so I did. She has heard great things about it, and other friends like Michael from Petach Tikvah and Adam concur. I am looking forward to this new experience. I'll be based in Tzfat for the week while meeting new people, hiking, volunteering, and taking part in spiritual discussions.

Mike aggressively attacking his falafel

You can check out all of my pictures from Mike's visit to Israel in my Facebook album entitled, "Geveeeeerrr!!! ;)" ("גבר" or "Gever" in Hebrew means "guy" -- he and I had a running joke of it for the week) or click here. I will write next weekend about Livnot! Bye.