Chanukah is almost here. Unbelievable!

Hello! 

Shmatan here again, writing from the holy land! 

I cannot believe that Chanukah has almost arrived! That means that all us Pardesniks have now been here for 3 months! It blows my mind how fast time goes by.

Before, we get started, I must provide an update to our ongoing measure of the Jerusalem feline population, the Shmatan Cat Count:

Our new total, as of Monday, December 3, is:

68

Disclaimer: This may, on rare occasions, include the counting of cats more than once, although efforts have been made to avoid such a source of bias. 

Unfortunately, as I am writing this, I am sitting in bed with my first cold since being here, but it has given me some good time to reflect on what my experience has been like so far.

I love Israel, especially all of the Israel’isms that you would never experience anywhere else in the world. Being literally bowled over in the shuk at 4 pm on Friday by a senior citizen rushing to get the last container of chocolate rugelach. The shopping carts piled literally feet above the top metal rim. The transliterations that exactly mimic the English (English = Broccoli, Hebrew = Broccoli). The drivers that take the rules of the road merely as a subtle suggestion. There are other things that I could do without. The fear of war looming from outside Israel’s borders, the conflict that I observe both outside within the communities around me, and the conflict that I find inside myself, when I debate what if anything that we can do to make this part of the world a better place.

If there is anything that I have learned from the time that I have spent here in Israel, it is that the situation that presents itself here in Israel is very, very complicated. Before coming to Israel, I felt that my inability to get my head around how to achieve peace in the middle east was solely due to a lack of knowledge. Now, having been in Israel, and having met members from many of the communities that have a stake in the peace process, I understand that it is not a matter of having enough information. I definitely now have plenty of that. There are so many groups with so many opinions, so many axes to grind, so much  fear, so much hope, and a genuine desire for peace, but no way to get past history. Like I said, really really complex.

I feel now more able to discuss the issues that underlie the fight for peace in the middle east, but by no means do I feel any closer to a solution. I hope that through further discussion with progressive individuals who truly, genuinely care about achieving peace, maybe someday such a goal could be achieved. There are so many hurdles to get over, but hey, call me an optimist.

The way that I feel, as long as people are still talking to people, we are on the right track. 

Shmatan signing off. 

PS If anyone is interested, here is the email address of Issa, the first Palestinian speaker from the Hevron trip. From him, I felt an honest desire for peace. 

issaamro@gmail.com

 

Hello!Shmatan h…

Hello!

Shmatan here again. I want to start a new tradition that I actually started on my first day in Jerusalem… Drumroll please…

The cat count!

There are thousands and thousands of cats in Jerusalem! Why you might ask? Well, at some point in the history of Jerusalem, there were thousands and thousands of rats in Jerusalem. Introduce cats and bingo, your rat problem disappears. And thus brings us to a time where there are cats everywhere!

So today is our first cat count = 48

I have a feeling this number will be much much higher by the time Annie and I leave Israel!

So I am writing this post in the midst of the Jewish Holiday of Sukkot, but this is the culmination of weeks of incredible experiences. There really isn’t anything like celebrating the holidays in Jerusalem!

Over Rosh Hashana we had invites to so many people’s places, that we ran out of lunches and nights! One of the people who invited us over what a person that I had known for literally 30 seconds before receiving the invitation. Only in Jerusalem! 

But the most amazing experience was on Yom Kippur. In Jerusalem on Yom Kippur, all car traffic, I mean all, is shut down. Hey, why stop at car traffic! TV stations, radio, stores, museums, everything is closed! It is so surreal! Not only does car traffic stop, with the newly open streets, everybody piles out into the street to hang out. I mean, there is nothing else to do but hang out! After Kol Nidre services on Erev Yom Kippur, Annie and I went out to Emek Refaim, and it was completely packed with people! For all those Toronto people reading this blog, think Nuit Blanche packed! It was so weird but amazing at the same time! 

It’s hard to believe that it is already Sukkot! Time is flying by so quickly. The best news of all is that Annie is finally, really back on her feet! After 3 rounds of antibiotics, skin creams, and lots of TLC, Annie and I went on our first real walking tour of Jerusalem. After a hairraisiing bus trip down to the shuk (I think our driver was moonlighting at the Indy), and a sprint through the Old City, we made it, just in time, for our tour of the tunnels that run alongside the Western Wall. This experience, was, well, mindblowing… That doesn’t even do it justice really! As a part of this tour, we got to see the entire height of the Western Wall, which must run an additional 20 m BELOW what is currently visible above ground, plus we got to stand at a point that is 97 m from the actual holy of holies that is currently off limits to most people. This is the place in theory where the 10 commandments once were (now they are hidden somewhere!). If anyone is coming here, this is an absolute must! This experience was so incredible, very well worth a brief encounter with razor wire that I had on the way home! Jerusalem is a dangerous place LOL 🙂

OK, time for our next adventure, our first mainstream feature film in Jerusalem! Have a wonderful rest of Sukkot everybody!

Love,
Shmatan

A month of firsts!

Hello world!

This is the first post of my first ever blog on my first studymoon with the first person in my life, Annie. This first month has gone by so incredibly fast, and so much has happened, I hope I can capture at least some of it here. 

Jerusalem is a city different from any other city that I have ever lived in. While I have been woken up by sirens, car horns, shouting, or general riffraff, here, on my first morning in the holy city I was woken up by the Islamic call to prayer, broadcast over a megaphone from the tops of mosques across the city. I have eaten more Falafel in the past four weeks than I have eaten in the rest of my entire life, even though I am allergic to Sesame seeds (no Tahina or Hummus, thank you very much!). But most of all, I have felt a warmth from the people around me here that I have never experienced before. It is hard to believe that there is so much strife in this city, when the energy and excitement are so palpable. 

It has taken Annie and I a while to really get settled here with an apartment, cellphones, access to money, learning a bit of Hebrew, and on, and on! It is really funny the things that you take for granted until they are not there. But finally, Jerusalem is really starting to feel like home. It will take more than colds, a bout of cellulitis, an eaten bank card to slow us down! 

There’s no way that we would have made it through if it wasn’t for the incredible people that we have met at Pardes! I have felt like part of communities before, but this feels somehow different. We have only known each other for a month but it almost feels like we are already family. 

Well, looks like I have run out of time for today, but more to come! 

Love from Jerusalem. 

Shmatan

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