Adventures in Shuking

One of my most favorite parts about living in Jerusalem is my weekly trip to Machaneh Yehudah, Jerusalem's outdoor market, also known as "the shuk." The Shuk is the best place to get all kinds of food, including the most amazing produce, fresh breads, a dozen kinds of nuts and dried fruits, israeli salads and spreads and CHEESE! As a former lactose-free girl I'm re-learning how amazing cheese is, and getting to eat some of the best Israeli cheese around. These photos are from my last trip to the shuk with Lauren and Neil- it's a peek into an important part of Israeli culture (and my life!)

The first thing to know about the shuk is that most people go every week. This allows you to buy everything you need in a small quantity- just enough to get you through Shabbat and the week. The shuk gets *crazy* on Thursday afternoons and Fridays, so the best time to go is on Wednesday or early Thursday.

The next thing to know is that to have a "real" shuk experience, you need a shuk cart. A shuk cart is what you sometimes see older people taking their groceries home in the states, but here, everyone uses them! They are essentially a canvas bag on wheels- molst people have plaid bags in different colors- below you can see Neil and Lauren modeling their shuk carts as well as Neil and I posing with ours (Lauren said we looked like a little shuk-going couple!)


I've developed a little shuk routine here. First I get my vegetables: a few tomatoes, an avacado or two, some cucs, peppers, onions and some lettuce if it looks good.

Then its on to fruit- kid you not, fruit here is amaing, fresh and CHEAP! I usually get grapes, cherries, melon of some kind, peaches, nectarines and mangos if I can find them. All in all, it usually only costs me about 40-50 NIS ($12-$15) I'm already feeling spoiled by the produce here and know that I will really experience some culture shock when I get back to the states and pay $6 for a container of strawberries!












After fruit comes salads and cheese. The above picture is from "the cheese guy." I don't know his name, but he'll let you sample any cheese you want before you buy it. He'll also reccomend what he thinks you might like. The same store sells over 20 kinds of salads incluing hummus, techina, babaganough (eggplant), roasted garlic cloves (yummm), purple cabbage with mayonaise (I'm not personally a fan, but Israelis love it), cous cous salad, all kinds of veges in oil and oilves. This guy also will let you taste anything you want including his killer grape leaves.

Finally, no trip to the shuk is complete without running into someone you know. Can you believe I've been here long enough to be able to do that? I lived in New Jersey for 11 months and never saw anyone at the grocery store! Anyway, Lauren, Neil and I ran into our good friends Rena and Michael who live down the street from us! We ended up shopping with them for the remainder of our trip and stopping for falafel before leaving the shuk. This place (just called "falafel") is the absolute best falafel I've found and its the perfect meal or snack after a couple hours of running around the shuk. Also, you only need one hand to eat it, since you also need to pull your car home.

Shopping at the shuk is one of the best parts of the week for me, and something I look forward to- I'm sitting in front of my computer at this very moment munching on grapes and pumpkin seeds that I bought at the shuk this past week. Sometimes it's easy to only see the not-so-great things here (political strife, terrible drivers, stray cats, 100 degree weather) and other times all it takes is an hour in the shuk to remind me how much I love living here and what an amazing, unique, once-in-a-lifetime experience I'm having.

Thats all for now. Week #3 of ulpan starts tomorrow and I need to start my homework. I miss you all- feel free to email and tell me all about your lives mailto:krperolman@gmail.com Love to all who are reading! Shavuah Tov- Have a wonderful week!

Check back tomorrow

to see...

-pictures and stories from the shuk (outdoor market)

-pictures from the Shlomo Artzi concert

-a general update.

Shabbat Shalom!

Happy 3 Week Anniversary to Me!

Accomplishments since I wrote last:
-Taught two of my friends how to set up blogs
-Took my first Hebrew bochan (test) since I was in college. Not so bad, unless you count the fill-in-the-blank section where there were two words left and I didn't know either. Oops.
-Talked to my mom and dad for more than 7 minutes thanks to the genius of Vonage- special shout-out to Michael (and Rena) for indulging me.
-Had my first voice lesson with Jay Shir (ironic since "shir" in Hebrew means "song"- I think he did it for publicity) He asked me to sing the first song I thought of, which was "Amazing Grace." Yes, I'm studying to be a Rabbi. Confusing, I know. I'll be taking lessons with him weekly.
-Went to Shabbat services at two amazing synagogues, Shira Chadasha and Kol HaNishamah- both I would highly recommend. Saturday morning I got to attend a Bat Mitzvah of a little girl at Kol HaNishamah- it was very moving. Too bad I could only understand about 20% of her sermon!
-Wrote a song (only my second ever original!) about my life here for our class Beit Cafe (Talent Show) next week. It's silly, but was fun to write.
- Have clean clothes thanks to the laundrymat literally 2 minutes from my apartment. For 60 NIS a load ($13) these nice men will wash, dry and fold your clothes. And, its ready the same day! (I don't have a washer in my apartment, I'm not THAT lazy.)

I feel terrible that I've never formally introduced my roommate Lauren to everyone who is reading. So, Lauren, everyone. Everyone, Lauren. (Read the previous post to see a picture of us from the wine tasting) Lauren is sweet, funny and has a wicked Israeli accent. She loves salty cheese, watermelon, the Washington Nationals and the great state of Virginia. We both have brothers who are seniors in college. She'll also be in New York with me for the remaining years of the program. And, she also has a very cool blog which you're welcome to read. As long as you promise to read mine more. Or at least first. http://laurenbpack.blogspot.com

In honor of surviving our first test, kitah gimmel and friends will be celebrating tonight (you may have notices that we do a lot of celebrating here...) at a great cafe off of Emek Refaim. But we can't party too hard because we have Shacharit (morning services) at 8am and a full day of ulpan after that. I know I've said this a million times, but we should be getting our US phone number ("Vonage") this week- if you want to whine about not being able to call, leave a message. Better yet, leave a message on Lauren's blog.

Happy Monday morning to all who are reading in the states and just to whet your blog-reading appetites: the next post will have pictures of my apartment! Love to all!

The Last Few Days

First of all, I must apologize for my dissapearance over the last few days. It seems that two weeks worth of orientation, almost-daily social events, Hebrew classes and Jerusalem seminars have caught up with me. Thus I went to bed at 11pm last night instead of updating.

The first week of ulpan is over. Crazy. We have our first bochan (test) next week which I will need to study hard for. We're learning between 35-50 new vocabulary words every day which somehow need to get into my brain so I can start using them. I love my class and after a little bit of moving around, we're back down to 13 students which is a great number, not to mention that I love them all.

Yesterday (Thursday) was our first non-ulpan day of school- for the 6 weeks of ulpan, each Thursday (and some Wednesday evenings) will be an immersion day devoted to Jewish history and ritual. These days are interactive- a combination of classroom learning and site visits which will help us begin to understand the conenctions between geography, history and texts. Can you tell I'm pumped? No seriously, this stuff is right up my alley. Yesterday's classes were all at HUC and were three mini-sessions on the Jewish Calendar, Jewish History and the Jewish bookshelf taught by three amazing professors: Rabbi Kelman, Rabbi Marmur and Rabbi Wilfond aka "Gingi."

After class, my friend David and I met with Rabbi Wilfond about starting a chevruta. A chevruta comes from the same root as "friend" but means a "study friend and partner." Chevrutas learn together and study Jewish texts in a traditional one-on-one style. This style of learning has been passed down through the generations and is one of the best ways to learn something new, especially if you don't feel 100% comfortable with the material. In a chevruta there is no "teacher" and no "student." Instead, both people are partners who help the other learn and understand the text. The relationship between chevrutas is a sacred one since both people have to trust each other and work well together.

David and I are going to be learning Pirkei Avot, a section of an important Jewish text called the Mishna. The Mishna is almost exclusively laws and explanations of those laws, but Pirkei Avot is a shorter section that includes short lessons for life and popular sayings. We'll be using a Hebrew and English book, but will be trying to do as much as possible in the original language. Rabbi Wilfond says that reading a text in the vernacular is like kissing a bride through the veil- you just aren't getting the real thing. We'll see how that goes.

So today, David and I went to Pomerantz, a popular bookstore in Jerusalem that gives great discounts and advice to HUC students. The owner, Michael Pomerantz has lived in Israel for 14 years and loves HUC students. And although he didn't have the book that we were looking for, we both bought a few other things (including a more complete dictionary, traditional Israeli prayerbook and a couple other "essential" things- M&D- don't be mad!!)

Shabbat is almost upon us again (where did the week go) and I need to make my class-famous
mock-amole" (its the traditional guac with an israeli twist) for tomorrow's class potluck lunch in the park. All in all, I'm doing great- making great friends, eating great food, learning so much every day and, if i'm dreaming, I'm trying not to wake up, because this is one amazing dream come true. [insert eye-roll here.] But its true. Love to all who are reading!

Feeling like a grownup

Last night was one of the nights of the Israel Wine Festival taking place at the Israel Museum. For 45 NIS (less than $10) we got a wine glass and as much wine as we could taste PLUS access to the museum's beautiful sculpture garden and and galleries. My roommate Lauren and I headed over around 8 and met up with a bunch of our friends including those in the pictures: Lauren and Me, Elana and
Me and Mel and Rena.

The funny thing about the night is that the vendors really wanted people to taste and then BUY the wine, but for most of us, we're not in a position to be dropping $100 or $250 on a bottle of wine, no matter how good it is! But I did feel like a grownup as I tried to discuss the particular "nuttiness" of a certain Pino Noir with one of the vendors (in Hebrew!) I think I'm better off just drinking it and letting the experts discuss it.

And now Lauren and I have 4 new, nice wine glasses- free wine, new glasses, time with friends and the last day of ulpan for the week? Life is pretty sweet, or semi-dry, however you like it.

Pictures and mini-update

Here are some pictures from my weeks in Israel so far:

First off, from our trip to Tel Aviv last week: on the left, future Rabbis Rose Kowel and Karen Perolman. On the right, myself and future Rabbi Jen Gertman.




From last Shabbat's "wine and cheese and shmooze with alumni" event
On the left are future Rabbis Miriam Terlinchamp, Joseph Skloot and Neil Hirsch. On the right, future Rabbis Joe Skloot, Rachel Shafran, Matt Soffer and Rose Kowel




No, not all my friends are Rabbis. Some of them are going to be Cantors and Educators too. I wanted to post more, however, the internet is being slow and not wanting to post my pictures. For now, enjoy those and I'll work on getting some more up soon.

I'm off to use the swanky gym at the David Citadel hotel (HUC students get a discount) and then off to the Israel Museum for a 45 NIS ($10) wine-tasting. Day three of ulpan was great and I'm working on finding a chevruta (learning partner) to start doing some out-of-the-classroom Jewish learning. Thought for the day (from Rabbi Na'amah Kelman): Trust the process. You can't learn everything today. Word of the day: duvdivanim- cherries! Israel has great cherries and they are dirt-cheap compared to what I remember paying at the Whole Foods in New Jersey. Song of the hour: Sara Bareilles, "Gravity." Movie I'm wishing I could watch right now: Kissing Jessica Stein. Thanks for all the emails and comments- keep 'em coming!

Old meets New where East meets West

As the sun sets here in the Holy land, I realize that it has been many days since I updated the blog. Thanks for all the comments and emails, they make me feel not as far away as I know I am.

Shabbat in Jerusalem is amazing. From the moment you wake up on Friday, the time feels different. Everyone is rushing all day, the streets are packed with people and as noon turns to afternoon to late afternoon, the city quiets down. 40 minutes before sundown a siren alerts the city that Shabbat is approaching. The sun starts to set and against the background of Jerusalem turns the stones from white to peach then to pink and finally to gold.

This past Shabbat was the first with the entire class. Before services we met with Rabbi Kelman to talk about Shabbat- how we've celebrated or observed it in the past and how we think we'd like to celebrate or observe it while we're here.

On the subject of Shababt, I'm taking a little hiatus from my computer and phone on Saturdays while I'm here. This won't affect most of you since the time change makes it difficult to talk on the phone anyway. So if you email me on Friday, you may not get a response until Sunday (and every other day of the week you should get a response sooner!)

After the Shabbat program we had services led by our fantastic student interns, Dara, Adam, Ross and Talia. Adam played mandalin, Ross played guitar, the singing was just fabulous and we watched the sunset from the windows of the HUC sanctuary. We then ate dinner with 50 HUC alumni who were visiting from the states for an alumni event that was also taking place at HUC.

After dinner I, along with five of my Rabbinic and Cantorial classmates led the class and alumni in a song session- I finally got to play my guitar (which cost me $135 to fly over here!) and it was such a sureal experience getting to songlead in the HUC courtyard where only seven years before I ate dinner with my NFTY in Israel trip. Time flies, they say...

Saturday morning we again went to services (required since our President, Rabbi David Ellenson was speaking). After services Lauren and I hosted 17 of our classmates and their friends for lunch. And even though the apartment isn't very big, somehow everyone fit. And ate. And had a great time. And has been bragging about it ever since (the last part is not exactly true...) But just ask them about the mock-amole!

Saturday evening, HUC hosted a reception for the students and alumni who were visiting in the gardens behind the school. They had food, wine and free Hagen Daaz ice cream!! Old met new as the Rabbinic and Cantorial classes of 2010 and the Education class of 2008 got to meet and network with Rabbis, Cantors and Educators that have helped shape HUC and the Reform movement overall. Personally, it was exciting to run into two Rabbis from Camp Harlam, Jamie Gibson and Arnie Gluck, as well as Ali Hurwitz, my freshman-year JCSC fellow.

Shabbat ended as it begun, a slow descent into a new day, the sun setting against the Jerusalem stone and a group of people singing. With the "csst" sound of the candle being extinguished, Shabbat was suddenly over. 25 perfect hours spent with friends who, day-by-day, are begining to feel a lot like family.

That's Shabbat for you in a nutshell. It's pretty amazing and I can't wait to have my parents and brother experience it for themselves (do you want to visit too?) I'm off to dinner with the above mentioned friends and will be back later for a more general update (with pictures!)

The First Day of School

I haven't had a "first day of school" in a long time that wasn't either at Centennial High School or the University of Maryland. Nonetheless, I think it went ok. Today was actually the first of a four-day orientation designed to help us get acclamated to the campus, schedule and staff. Today consisted of:

8:30 Services
10 Intro to the Program and Ulpan
11:30 Security briefing
12:30 Lunch
1:30 Small group discussions

Rabbi Naamah Kelman who is the director of the Year-In-Israel Program (and who is awesome, by the way) outlined the goals of this year:
1. Learn Hebrew
2. Live a Year in Israel
3. Build a foundation of Jewish texts and rituals
4. Begin to form our "Professional" selves
5. Build a community of Rabbis, Cantors and Educators

How do I feel about the goals? Well, I'm practically fluent in Hebrew so thats no big deal. I've spent about 5 years in Israel already. I'm a master of Jewish texts and rituals. I'm super professional. We have a super community already. (I'm totally and completely kidding, by the way...)

Seriously, it was a lot to hear at 9:30 in the morning, and it is a lot to take on. But for now, I don't need to worry about 95% of it- On Sunday morning we start Ulpan (which is a series of intensive Hebrew language classes. We take 6 weeks of Ulpan- 4 days a week, 5 hours a day) I'm very excited and a tad nervous- we shall see what happens.

After 8 days of being off-line, I'm finally back. Yes readers near and far, this means that I will have an opportunity to update my blog more often and share the funny and interesting details of my year in Israel. I promise to write a long post about my apartment, life, friends and school, once it starts. Until then, it's 11:25pm and I should get some sleep...tomorrow is the second day of school.

There's no place like habayata

After 11 hours in the air on two different airplanes and in three different airports, I am happy to report that I am safe and sound in Jerusalem! Unfortunately I don't have internet in my apartment yet, but as soon as I do I'll be updating more often.

Important things to know: Swiss air assumes you want wine with your meal (red or white madam?), cell phones in Israel are expensive (about 100 USD for a phone that would be free in the US) and living in Jerusalem is already amazing! Tonight I'm going to dinner with some classmates and then off to hear HUC President Dr. & Rabbi David Ellenson speak at Pardes. Lauren gets here tomorrow and then the real unpacking fun can begin! By the way, my apartment is super-cute and I can't wait to post pictures once it's set up. Love to all who are reading...