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Elul Day 6 - Search

With a theme of search, for what can I be searching?

The simplistic answers are things like World Peace or inner peace or the perfect beach drink.

The obvious answers are my glasses, my car keys, or sometimes, the piece of mail that I put in a safe place.

In keeping with Elul, however, as I search my behavior during this past year, I am looking for those moments where I truly connected, when I supported my friends, when I made visitors feel welcome, when I taught with integrity. And as I find these moments, not only do I treasure the memories but I will use them to inspire me for this coming year.

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Elul - the month for forgiveness

The theme for the 5th day of Elul is 'Know'. This one is easy, for I know so much. But in the theme of forgiveness, perhaps knowledge can be a club that keeps others from contributing, from participating, from perhaps, adding to my own knowledge.

These thoughts, I must retain these thoughts when I stand in front of a class of students. I must give them the opportunity to share their knowledge, to teach, to teach me.

The Jewish month of Elul, which precedes the High Holy Days, is traditionally a time of renewal and reflection. It offers a chance for spiritual preparation for the Days of Awe. It is traditional to begin one’s preparation for the High Holy Days during this month with the Selichot, the prayers of forgiveness. We look to begin the year with a clean slate, starting anew, refreshed. 

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Elul 4

Day 4 of the month of Elul just began with a spectacular sunset (nope, no photo, didn't have the camera handy) but the sun was shining off the virga (rain that falls but doesn't make it to earth) that was falling in sheets. Just beautiful. I feel so blessed: beauty around me, my lovely home, a good dinner, an evening with Fred. 

The theme for today is Accept. And part of acceptance is to acknowledge and be thankful for the good things in my life. To not gloss over nor to ignore but to accept that I can receive these good things. 

However, "Accept" also prompts my mind to come up with the phrase: "It is what it is". This is an overused phrase that I strongly dislike. Because I want to not accept so many things that are the status quo, things that I have spent a large part of my life trying to change. Like the objectification of women in American society or the acceptance of violence and war in this world. Should we fight against these pieces of the status quo?

But it does make me angry and crazy that for all of my efforts, so little has changed. And maybe I should listen a bit more to the Serenity Prayer: "...to accept what I can't change..." Perhaps this is a worthwhile goal for the coming year.

The Jewish month of Elul, which precedes the High Holy Days, is traditionally a time of renewal and reflection. It offers a chance for spiritual preparation for the Days of Awe. It is traditional to begin one’s preparation for the High Holy Days during this month with the Selichot, the prayers of forgiveness. We look to begin the year with a clean slate, starting anew, refreshed. 

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Back to the Wall

Did a lot today including two visits to the Wall. The first visit was for Rosh Chodesh and the Women of the Wall. Very powerful and not too confrontational. The second visit was the tour of the tunnels alongside the Wall. For those of you who gave me prayers to place in the Wall, they went at the point closest to where the Holy of Holies is presumed to have been. In theory where all prayers ascend. We did this visit at night on the first day of Ramadan. J'lem is a VERY busy place this week! In between we went to the Israel museum, where we had a guided tour. I most like the display of fashion used to keep women modest. And I also liked the archeology/history. We also went to a settlement, Efrat, in Gush Etzion bloc. Not at all what I had expected. My mixed feelings continue. No photos because I can't upload from my camera to my iPad. Incompatible. Maybe once I get home

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Candy, candy and more candy. All the markets have these eye-candy displays!

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Shabbat at the Wall

Our hotel is the Leonardo Jerusalem, located on St. George St. Look it up! This hotel is located on the "Green Line", half a block from the Museum on the Seam, which used to be an fortress, used for shooting at Jordanians. Now, of course, with Jerusalem reunited, there is no boundary here, no border and no shooting. We walked from the hotel to the Damascus Gate as our entrance to the Old City. We joined a river of Hasidim, in their Shabbat finery, walking down to the Wall. And on our way, from the Gate to Wall, as we walked past open Arab shops, we were protected by Israel's finest, groups of 3 to 5 soldiers at each major intersection. Disconcerting or reassuring? Well, maybe a little of each. Their presence was reassuring; the need for their presence is disconcerting. At the Wall was amazing. There was more room for the women; the mechitza nearly divided the plaza in half. There were groups of soldiers on both sides. On the women's side, the soldiers led songs in a circle of women. Some were quite rousing or rowdy, not your usual Shabbat songs. I was able to get close enough to the Wall to touch and pray, hopefully successfully. On the men's side, men prayed in groups; not so much on the women's side. We walked home after stoping for more liquid in the Armenian quarter. It has been very hot and we are always hydrating.

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Finally arrived!

I finally arrived in Israel at 7 am local time on Thursday. And it is true. When the El Al plane landed at Ben Gurion Airport, the passengers on the plane applauded! Kosher food on the flight and lots of religious Jews on the plane. The temps are warm and it is sunny with a light breeze so not too uncomfortable. Lots of road construction on the road to Jerusalem and lots of building construction, too. Tall cranes and earth moving equipment everywhere. No photos yet because I have too much to manage with my luggage. I promise...the next post will have pics. L'hitraot Diana

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Getting ready

First step: getting all the right applications on this iPad. I keep thinking of ones I might need and then I have to find them and set them up. Second step: pack. Still working my way through this step. Will probably finish when I depart for SFO!

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A few more nerves

The Gazans fired rockets over their border; one landed in a field, another was intercepted by Iron Dome. Israel retaliated, of course. What else should they do?

I'm still going. What else should I do?!?

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I’ve been gifted with a trip to Israel by the Federation of the Greater East Bay and led by Ilan from Jewish Learning Works. Well, not completely a gift; I have to pay the transportation to get me there and back. The gift is for almost every expense in Israel! Which is a VERY generous gift.

I’ll...

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Traveling to Israel

I've been gifted with a trip to Israel by the Federation of the Greater East Bay and led by Ilan from Jewish Learning Works. Well, not completely a gift; I have to pay the transportation to get me there and back. The gift is for almost every expense in Israel! Which is a VERY generous gift.

I'll post bits of the itinerary as we go along, but the most important thing is that I will land at Ben Gurion Airport at 7 am on June 26 and will get myself to Jerusalem that morning. Our seminar begins at 4 pm later that day.

And like all adult learning, there is a reading list, some which I will include here with my comments.

Amos Oz - "In the Land of Israel" - currently reading and have no comments yet

Amos Oz - "A Tale of Love and Darkness" - read some time ago and a good companion piece to "Panther in the Basement". Panther is the same story as Tale; the first told through the eyes of a young boy and the second, looking back as an adult and a much more accomplished writer. In brief, this is Jerusalem during the British Mandate.

David Grossman - " The Yellow Wind" - the author spends 6 weeks in the West Bank in 1988, talking with (and then writing about) the lives of ordinary citizens. 18 chapters, each of which could stand alone as a long magazine piece. Disconcerting, especially in light of the current kidnapping of the 3 Israeli teens. We plan to visit one of the towns that he wrote about, Barta'a which was split by the Green Line and reunited after 1967.

David Grossman - "To the End of the Land" - not read yet

David Grossman - "Sleeping on a Wire: Conversations with Palestinians in Israel" - not read yet

Ari Shavit - "My Promised Land The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel" - highly acclaimed (in certain circles) - published last year. I read it then; providing a more impartial view of Israeli history

Meir Shalev - "A Pigeon and a Boy" - read a few years ago and discussed at the JCHS book club. Very well written, story of the impact of war.

There are others on the list to which I haven't gotten yet. Additionally, I've also read Ambivalence by Jonathan Garfinkel, an American who tried to write a play about a house that a Palestinian managed to reclaim after abandoning it in 1948. The subtitle is "Adventures in Israel and Palestine". And I'm part way through The Israelis by Donna Rosenthal, which is described in Goodreads (where I post my reviews) as: "Interweaving hundreds of personal stories with historical facts and intriguing new research, "The Israelis" is lively, irreverent, intimate, and always fascinating. It is one of the most original books about Israel in decades."

Needless to say, I'm obsessing on the news about the kidnapping of the 3 teens and Israel's military response. And I'm seeing it through the lens provided by this reading. 

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The name tag probably means that the shirt went to summer camp, and possibly a Jewish summer camp.

Friends, we need your help.

Last week, Gregory Warner and David Kestenbaum reported on the afterlife of American clothes. Lots of t-shirts from used clothes bin in the U.S. eventually make their way to sub-Saharan Africa.

Including the one above. From Jennifer’s bat-mitzvah from November 20, 1993. We want to find Jennifer.

What we Know: Jennifer’s bat mitzvah was on November 20, 1993. The theme may have been cartoons. And there’s a nametag in the shirt labeled Rachel Williams.

That’s all we know. Which is where you come in.

Do you know Rachel? Do you know Jennifer? Help us solve the mystery. Please email us at planetmoney@npr.org, and put “that’s my shirt” in the subject line. And please share this as much as you can. It would be really awesome to find Jennifer and talk to her about her bat mitzvah t-shirt’s journey.

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Wildness

Wildness threatens my home.

I set, maintain, reinforce boundaries: the roof, the walls, the windows, fences. 

      But the squirrels nested under the roof tiles.

     The ants slide under the baseboard.

     The birds bang into the windows.

      I startled a deer on my minuscule front lawn. 

The fences deteriorate. The walls crack. The roof leaks.

The wilderness has moved in.

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The view from Tzuba. I’m in love with this place.

Israel in winter.