Last Monday was a fairly normal day except that it was Yitzhak Rabin’s Memorial Day according to the Hebrew calendar. Therefore, we spoke a lot about him in our classes and had a special service remembering him as well. That night we had our typical Rabbinic Forum but this time the first years met with the Israeli rabbinic students. In addition to a program devoted to the first years (and this year the fourth years) within the rabbinical, cantorial, and educational schools, there is a rabbinic school for Israeli citizens. It is a very different situation because Reform Judaism is not widely accepted in Israel. (In fact, they do not even call it Reform Judaism but Progressive Judaism). So, we had the chance to ask them questions and to hear about their experiences in school. We then had a wonderful Italian dinner (with homemade pasta) with Lindy and Matt to celebrate both of our service leading being over.

Tuesday: I feel that I always should journal on my community service, because it is by far the best part of my week. Elana, my partner for the Ethiopian project, and I decided to spend some of our own money on projects and games for our family. We were initially given a bag of supplies that we still use but the markers have already run out and some of our kids are too young for some of the other activities. We found a 250 piece puzzle, a Bingo game (we know the family can say their numbers in Hebrew, Amharik, and English) and some art supplies. We were excited to try the puzzle with the family. When we got off the bus and approached our family’s house, the twin seven year old girls came running out of their house to hug Elana and me. It was so sweet. The whole family was waiting for us that night and Elana and I were so happy to be there. We noticed that the art project we completed the week before was hanging on their front kitchen wall, it was very touching that they care so much about it. We got out the puzzle and not one of them (the seven kids, uncle, and parents) knew what a puzzle was. We tried to teach them through body language but none of them understood how to put matching pieces together. In the end all the pieces were smashed together and we could not believe that after we were raised on puzzles, that they had never seen one before. We were happy because we were served hot kettle popcorn and it was a great snack instead of a meal. After arriving home that night I went out for dinner with some of the Mevasseret (where I volunteer) people and then did homework.

Wednesday: Israel Seminar Day, Finally this Wednesday we went out of the classrooms and out of HUC and visited the Menachem Begin Center. It was a museum dedicated to this man. He was the Prime Minister of Israel in the 70’s and was passionate about social justice and the integrity of Israel. It was an incredible place and I learned a lot about him as a person and a Prime Minister. That afternoon Rose and I went to the Yad Vashem (Holocaust Memorial Museum) library to do research on our history papers. I have decided to write my research paper on the heroism of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. It was a very cool library and we ended up with a lot of research.

Thursday: The day was a regular school day. That afternoon I was asked to speak to a bunch of Israeli high school students about life as a Reform Jew in the US. It was fun getting to know them and seeing how excited they were to go to LA to study for two weeks in December. That night was date night and we went out for a friend’s birthday afterwards.

Friday: Jordana, David, and I studied all afternoon in the Coffee Bean. We were invited to dinner at two fourth years-Deb and Edie. For dessert, Karen, six other HUCers, and five EIErs (A NFTY program that spends a semester in Israel) came over to Edie and Deb’s for dessert. David and Karen played guitar and it was a nice and relaxing evening.

Saturday: David and I went to hear our friend Jen’s sermon and then were invited to lunch at her place afterwards. She had a decorate your own cupcake party so it was fun and we felt like kids all over again.

Sunday: Tonight we are going to our BCI friend’s wedding, Osnat, who we have not seen in three years but she invited us to it. I will catch you up after the event!