Israel is MAGIC!

Hi All!

I realize the title of this post could just as easily be "What happened to February?" and so it goes. Despite last night's attacks on the yeshiva in Jerusalem and everything else I have watched happen in this country over the last weeks, I truly do believe though that Israel is magic. It's so different being here as the world turns and tragedy strikes in the holy land. I worry more about violence striking my "little" brother's college campus then about my own safety. Maybe it's always that way. To which I of course feel the need to say- sorry Mom and Dad! Getting a call last night from them just to check in was somehow so wonderful despite not having been in Jerusalem myself. I had planned to be there but cancelled my plans when I got sick earlier in the week. Baruch Hashem for the "good" and "bad" blessings. My heart goes out to all those at the yeshiva, their families, and all who love them and call them "just to check in." My heart goes out to the family of Eve Carson, all the students at UNC, and all who love them. This is a crazy world we are living in.


But in Israel, it is spring. Almost overnight, coats and sweaters have been replaced with lighter summer gear. Maybe it's also due to the rapid influx of tourists just as the weather began to shift. My once near-private beach is quickly filling up with sunbathers and Israelis selling ice cream and rental chairs. How do the customers and the vendors come out of hibernation at exactly the same time??! Maybe the 90 degrees promised for this weekend has something to do with it!

Across the street from our apartment, there is an alley way I use to get to the senior center where I dance with Holocaust survivors every Sunday. It's the kind of shady spot you would expect to smell, shall we say, not so fresh. Yet, every week as I walk through the scent of something sweet hits me. I had confirmed with a friend that she smelled it too, but we were both still perplexed. Last week I finally solved the mystery. There's a lemon tree blooming hidden behind some construction materials. The fact that the fragrant aroma is so unexpected next to a construction site only seems to add to the magic!

I've never thought of myself as someone for big city life, but Tel Aviv is a universe onto itself. Last Thursday, I was walking back from the school in south Tel Aviv where I tutor Russian speaking kids in English and decided to wander into a tiny shoe store. Three older gentlemen were sitting in there clearly enjoying each other's company. Presumably, one of them is the owner. When I walked in, they were in the process of pouring red wine into small plastic cups... at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. I smiled and said "l'chaim" in between looking at heels and boots. This instantly made me their new best friend, and they insisted I join them and have a cup. Now, my parents raised me right being the Russian family that we are. It's just rude to say no to red wine! Nevermind the time and place. I think I was also excited to have this entire exchange take place in Hebrew... and yes, I did try to turn it down at first for propriety's sake. That's probably my American side. In the end, I did not buy any shoes, but I walked down Allenby Street with my plastic cup of wine and laughed the entire way home. Where else could this happen?! It's magic! Like the Chabad men who offered us vodka and sufganyot at Chanukah time. Israel does not have nearly the same fear of alcohol that the US does. It's a part of life and a way to rejoice in life.

Another moment worth capturing- after my "wine walk" home, I got ready and went to Jerusalem for the night last Thursday. There was an Idan Raichel concert for those of us on MASA programs, and then I went to see Holler, a local band I've gotten to know well and try to catch often. Are any of you surprised? :O) It was a very late night, and the next morning my wonderful friend Lisa and I met at the shuk for brunch... and some pre-Shabbos shopping she needed to do. Now, I love our Tel Aviv shuk, but Jerusalem is something else to behold altogether! It's much bigger with stalls upon stalls of fruits, vegetables, spices, dried goods, meat, fish... you name it! Hot challah is coming out of ovens in bakeries tucked into corners, and small shops offer cheeses, wines, olives, and anything your little heart could desire. The smell and bustle of the shuk on a Friday afternoon is intoxicating and entrancing.


Lisa and I wait to be seated at a cafe along one busy walkway, but instead we are seated across from the cafe at a table set up just for us. We are up on a step at what feels like a make believe tea party, and we proceed to wave at passerbys like the beauty queens we are, seated there to serve as greeters for the market. When our food comes, I am convinced I am eating the most delicious sandwich I have ever eaten in my life! Although it's only an omelete on hearty wheat bread with fresh tomato, chives, and some sort of creamy cheese, it is out of this world! Lisa and I are too busy trading stories from the night before, laughing, and checking out our rather attractive waiter to notice the man from the stand next to us noticing our usual ridiculousness whenever we're together. I look up only to see him as he is garnishing my meal with a handful of olives he lets drop directly from his fist onto the plate. The gesture is so fluid and the morning so perfect I am nearly speechless except to turn to Lisa, crack up, and ask "Where else?!" Israel is magic!

These magic moments make up my time here. Certainly I am still rattled by suicide bombers, the closing of the street I live on for unidentified objects to be exploded by robots, by terrorists, and that earthquake a couple weeks ago... but that is not life. That is news. Life is getting up every Saturday morning to go pray at my favorite shul- a place where shoes are not required and the only thing I need to cover myself with is sunscreen. I walk down to the beach where folk dancing takes place each week from 11 to 3 pm, and I watch as people from all walks of life and of every age and ability move round and round in traditional dance. Then I walk down a few feet to the water and people watch until I'm ready to journal. Every Shabbat since we moved to Tel Aviv with very few exceptions, I have spent in awe, wonder, and peace like this. Being prayerful and utterly humble and grateful for life in this universe comes easy here. It feels worlds apart from everything else which has gone on each week. People are content and restful in the sunshine. Terrorists haven't touched this place, and no one would allow the terrorist of fear to entire this holy shrine.

Also, I have just this morning noticed something new in my face- laugh lines around my eyes when I smile that were not there before. I am changing here into someone new. What a wonderful world!