about time i got around to doing this...Update #1

* I will post pictures as soon as I can! (if you know an easy way to import pictures, let me know)

Dear friends and family, Before I start telling you what I've been up to over the past month, I want to describe where I am, so you can join me on this journey.

I'm sitting on my bed in my double room on the top floor of Building A at the Fuchsberg Center for Conservative Judaism, located in Rechavia, a central neighborhood of Jerusalem. A few feet away, a skylight lets in a beam of light from the bright afternoon sky outside. Although I cannot see it from this angle, usually I can hear a cacophony of noises, meshing together in what I have come to know as the soundtrack to my life here. A driver breaks a traffic law, blocking other cars- honks abound, but a second later, those same honking drivers are committing a traffic violation of their own. Police sirens sound as the prime minster makes his way from his residence two blocks away in a motorcade that I hear and see multiple times a day. Protestors scream from a sidewalk, protesting meat-eaters (I would have joined them if I had time), or carrying candles in honor of those fallen in Lebanon this past summer. Friday afternoon, I can hear the siren that announces the start of Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath). However, Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar starts in just a few hours, and the streets are noticeably quieter. Soon, there will be no cars in the streets, all trafffic lights will be turned off, and those who attempt to listen to the radio or watch TV will only encounter silence and blank screens.

I live at the intersection of five different streets, any of which I can follow and be somewhere different in just a few minutes. Independence Park is just 20 seconds away. Ben Yehuda, a main street of downtown, filled with restauraunts and stores, is just 5 minutes away. Yemin Moshe, a picturesque village with an amazing view of the Old City is about 7 minutes away. Emek HaRefaim, another popular street is 10 minutes away. The Old City of Jerusalem is 15 minutes away. In short, I live in one of the best locations there is in Jerusalem.



For those of you who don't quite understand what I'm doing here, let me explain. I'm one of 85 participants on a program called Nativ, a year-long program in Israel sponsored by USY, the youth group I was involved with during high school. For the first half of the year, the entire group lives together in Jerusalem and studies either at Hebrew University, or the Conservative Yeshiva (a yeshiva is a school for the study of Jewish texts). For the second half the year, we're split into 3 groups. Two groups will be doing volunteer work in the south, and the third group will be living and working on a kibbutz (a sort of socialized farm community).

I am doing the Hebrew University and Kibbutz tracks. Currently, at Hebrew U, we just finished our "minimester," where 3 normal college courses are fit in over 3 weeks worth of classes. I took a class about Israeli society, culture, and politics, a class about Jewish texts and historical contexts, and a class called Jerusalem Through the Ages. The latter is a lecture/field trip class in which we learned about various aspects of Jerusalem for an hour, then go see them for the next 3 hours. We went to such locations as the Southern Wall Excavations, the Western Wall, Hezekiah's Tunnel, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the Temple Mount.

I've had two experiences with these field trips that I want to share. First, Hezekiah's Tunnel. The tunnel was built thousands of years ago to channel water from a spring outside the city walls into the city during times of siege. The tunnel itself is architecturally amazing for many reasons, I suggest you google it to learn more, it's pretty interesting. Anyways, today you can walk through the tunnel, which is a really cool experience. First off, there is still water in the tunnel, ranging from a few inches high to a few feet deep. Because the tunnel is built through a rock mountain, it is solid rock all around you and the floor is uneven. There is no light (although we had a few flashlights), so it's hard to see where you're going and where you're stepping. The ceiling at points is only about 5 feet tall. It doesn't sound like a fun experience, but trust me, it's really cool to walk through a water tunnel from so long ago.

The second experience I want to share is one that occurred at the Western Wall, also known as the Kotel. The Western Wall is a remaining part of a wall that surrounded the Holy Temple more than two thousand years ago. It is often believed to be the holiest place in Jewish tradition, although I've personally never felt that connection. To me, the Holy Temple is the only holy place, and praying to a wall that once surrounded it sort of feels like a substitute for the original. Of course, I realize that the Temple was destroyed millenia ago, and the Kotel is pretty much the closest thing we have to it (in additon to the Southern Wall which was recently excavated). So when I visited, I didn't expect to encounter anything particularly extradionary. However, the day we visited happened to be one on which hundreds of new soldiers were getting inducted into the army. Each soldier was given his or her first rifle, in addition to a copy of the Bible. I expected to see these soldiers tearing up at this profound moment, but at the end of the ceremony each pulled a cell phone, started smoking some cigarettes, or trying to get their hands on falafel.

A few days ago we went to a memorial service sponsored by AACI (Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel) for those who have died in terrorist attacks or in the army in the past year who are American or Canadian. It was particularly poignant because one of the names being inscribed on the memorial wall was that of Michael Levin, an alum of Nativ from four years ago. Mike was killed this past summer in Lebanon after cutting short a trip home to Philadelphia in order to come back to fight. Although I never met him, I have a few friends who were very close with him, so I have heard many inspiring stories about him. His parents spoke to us a couple weeks ago, and it was a very emotional morning for all of us.

One phrase I've heard over and over again since arriving here is "life goes on." For these soldiers, 18 years old, exactly my age, the army is a natural progression in their lives, which is hard to fathom for us Americans. Life goes on, even if you've just been given an M-16 rifle and the duty to protect the State of Israel. Life goes on when there are terrorist attacks. Life goes on when the Knesset (Israeli government) has failed to reach a suitable decision in a controversial case. Life in Israel just keeps on going, and going.

This attitude threw me at first when I arrived here. Israeli attitudes are so incredibly different from American attitudes. When an Israeli says something, they mean it. There's no trying to smooth over words to try and avoid offending anyone. There's no extraneous junk thrown into a statement, an Israeli says what needs to be said, and no more. At first, I thought this was plain rudeness, but I've come to see the Israeli point of view behind it. They believe that Americans are too sensitive, hesitating, and uncertain. They also believe that Americans are gullible and can't do math to figure out the exchange rate...thus leading to some very jacked up prices. At the same time, anything new and innovative is referred to as being "American," even if it is not from the US. In America, my religion always seemed to define me to others, here, where the majority of people are Jewish, you are defined more by where you come from than your religion. (Although you are often defined by your involvement in Judaism...keep reading.)

Israel is defined by its status as a religious country just as much as it isn't. Let me explain. A very, very general statement that I've heard time and time again is that you are either secular, or religious in Israel. This is not true at all. Secular Jews in Israel understand Judaism, which is often not the case in America. For some, their understanding of the laws and decision not to follow them often creates a superiority complex in which they consider themselves 'higher' than those who do follow them; they feel like they've 'seen the light' and others haven't. Within the Religious community, there are many divisons. There are Ashnenazi (eastern European) and Sephardi (basically everything else, but mostly around the Iberian Peninsula), Lubavitch, Hasids, and so much more. One big issue is Zionism-there are many within the Religious community who do not believe the State of Israel should exist until the Messiah comes, and the most fundamental of these people often align themselves with Palestinians who are against Israel. On the opposite side of the spectrum are the Religious Zionists, who have isolated themselves in the "settlements" of the West Bank, as well as in Judea and Samaria. (There are so many issues surrounding this group of people, that I can't even begin to explain, if you'd like more information, google the issue, or email me back and I can send you a paper I wrote about the subject for a class.)

I am neither secular, nor religious. If I were secular, I would probably have no qualms about eating a bacon cheeseburger on Shabbat. If I were religious, I would most likely be married already, with a baby on the way. I am Masorti, the Israeli arm of the American Conservative movement. However, Masorti is different than Conservative in the US because it is more traditional in terms of following Jewish law. It's an interesting thing to experience. So far, I've been to about a half-dozen different synagogues, and it's been interesting to see the different traditions, tunes, buildings, and of course the food afterwards ;). At this point in time, I feel most connected to Shira Chadasha, a synagogue that is Modern Orthodox but egalitarian. They allow women to lead most parts of the service, and there is a mechitza (a seperation between the men's side and the women's side), but it is a mostly see-through gauzy sheet, which is moved during the sermon and announcements.

And final jump in subject because I know this email is getting pretty long: I've picked my classes for the semester, and I'm pretty excited. I'll be taking History of the Modern Palestinians, Hebrew, Freshman Writing, The Role of International Law in Formulating Public Policy (an advanced course!), and Architecture of Jerusalem. The last course may be swapped for a Jewish Education class and internship...that is, if I get accepted to it. In conclusion, I hope each of you is having a wonderful time at home/on your college campus/wherever else you may be. And for those of you who are Jewish, shana tova, and I hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive me for anything I may have done this past year.

If you have questions, comments, are unfamiliar with any of the vocabulary, PLEASE email me back, I'd love to hear.

And lastly, feel free to forward this to anyone else you think would like to see this. They can then email me and ask to be put on the list. On the opposite note, if this is too annoying/clogging up your email inbox, let me know.

Until next month!
-Nehama

Address until Feb:
Nehama Rogozen
Nativ College Leadership Program
8 Agron Street
POB 7456
Jerusalem, ISRAEL

Phone #:
From Israel: 052-421-1209
From US/Canada: 011-972-524-311-209

Skype name: nehama.rogozen
AIM screename: ramahkid