My teacher has decided that we can start writing about things in Israeli culture. I absolutely love this because I listen to a good amount of Israeli songs. One of the songs I like to listen to is מדברים על שלום by מוקי. Its title literally translates to Talking About Peace. Basically the song talks about how we are stuck in the world and it isn't going to get better without justice. The chorus says "Everyone talks about peace, but no one talks about justice. To one it's paradise, and to other, hell. How many fingers are on the trigger?" I think it is a very valid opinion about the so called "Peace Talks". I do not think they can actually work until people can put aside their egos and go strictly by justice and not what is everything they want. If people want to actually have peace they need to stop hating the other side. People cannot just say they want peace; they have to mean it and actually give things up for it. That's why I do not believe the Peace talks will help anything. They might work for a little while, but they won't last because both parties won't give up their egos. For example if the Palestinians won't recognize Israel as the Jewish state or having the right to be here, Peace Talks will ultimately fail. I am not saying that I am not a victim to my own accusations though. I believe that Israel should stay Israel and the Palestinians are just Arabs. Palestine was never a country, just a British Territory. Palestinians should also not have the Right of return. Refugees do not usually go back to their home after a war, so why are the "Palestinians" so special? Also their children shouldn't get refugee status. Other refugees' children do not get refugee status and again why are they so special that they get special privileges. That is how I fall victim to my own previous statement. However, I do love that song and I believe that it is very true. The last verse of the song is, "Everyone has the same dream, on a mountain, in a valley. We continue to talk and speak about peace, but peace is impossible without justice". I completely agree with that statement. Hopefully one day there will be justice so we can have peace.
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
בשנה הבאה בירושלים בנויה
This year for פסח I was finally in Israel (Big surprise, since I've been blogging from here for 3 months now ). Anyway, I went to my friend's house. She is a Reform Jew living in Israel, but because of her I actually more Reform traditions. We had a סדר that was gorgeous and amazing and had great food. She and I helped prepare for the סדר so we got the job of making all the salads and vegetables. The food was amazing if I do say so myself. I also learned a lot from it, including some traditions like having an orange in the middle of the סדר plate in order to show women's rights. What I think I liked most about פסח though is that I was able to see Jerusalem from a local perspective. My friend took me all over Jerusalem and I got to see what the city is like to like there and not just the touristy side, like בן יהודה street.
I personally think that when I make Aliyah, I will not live in Jerusalem but I am happy that I got to see it like my friends who live here see it. I am also so grateful that I got to observe the חג in a new way. I still find it so fascinating and interesting that EVERYONE around you here is Jewish. I absolutely love it. I thought it was really cool how just walking around I saw a bunch of mini bon fires, but because I am in Israel I knew they were all just people burning חמץ. I love seeing everyone around me being religious in their own way and I completely respect that. All in all I am so glad I got to observe one of the funnest holidays from a local perspective.
!בשנה הבאה בירושלים בנויה
I personally think that when I make Aliyah, I will not live in Jerusalem but I am happy that I got to see it like my friends who live here see it. I am also so grateful that I got to observe the חג in a new way. I still find it so fascinating and interesting that EVERYONE around you here is Jewish. I absolutely love it. I thought it was really cool how just walking around I saw a bunch of mini bon fires, but because I am in Israel I knew they were all just people burning חמץ. I love seeing everyone around me being religious in their own way and I completely respect that. All in all I am so glad I got to observe one of the funnest holidays from a local perspective.
!בשנה הבאה בירושלים בנויה
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
חיים ומוות
While I was in Poland, my trip had the whole spectrum of חיים and מוות. Two places really stood out to me. The Synagogue in Oswiecim really stood out for me in the hopes of life or חיים and Mydonic was a place that really got to me and symbolized death.
One place that I went in Poland that really represented death for me was Mydonic Concentration Camp. It was the first concentration camp I have ever been to. When I got there we started out on a huge hill overlooking the whole thing. It was huge. I have no other words to describe it, but huge. It seemed to stretch on forever and when my teacher said that we were going all the way to the other side I didn't think we would be able to make it in time. Seeing a concentration camp for the first time kind of takes your breath away. It also did not help that the whole camp is in great shape and the whole thing is STILL standing. As we walked up the hill to start class, I thought my heart was going to beat right out of my chest it was beating so hard and fast. I went through the barracks and the whole camp. I believe that the thing that got to me the most was when I went into the gas chambers. This part was the hardest to sink in and I think it is the place that really showed me death the most. As soon as I came to the realization that I was standing in the same place, living, where so many people were gassed to death, I broke down. I am so happy I had such good friends with me, that I know care about me. One of my friends in particular helped me through the rest of the camp. I am not a "touchy feely" person and he understood that. Through the rest of the camp he just held my hand and that is all that I needed. We got to the end of the camp where there was a huge monument. This too also is another huge reason why I chose to write about Mydonic as a place that really stood out to me that represented death. I walked up the stair of the monument not knowing what to expect to see in the saucer shaped monument, and when I did it hit me like a ton of bricks. I looked inside and there were the ashes of the people who died there. While looking in I could still see the little tip of a bone that hadn't completely turned to ash in the crematorium. It was hard to look at, but it is one of those things that you can't stop looking at. It was huge and filled. It was such a visual representation of all of the death that had happened only at that camp, it turned the numbers very real for me and a lot of my class mates. So you have it; the place that in my mind represented death very clearly in my trip to Poland.
A place in the trip that really stood out to me for life was the Oswiecim Synagogue. Going to the synagogue in Oswiecim was very special for me. I had a very hard time at Auschwitz-Birkenau. After going through the place and seeing everything, I just felt like I needed a sign of hope. All of EIE davening מנחה together, with my teacher leading the service and us all FINALLY using traditional tunes that I knew really helped. The synagogue in Oswiecim was not big or fancy, but my generation(and friends) were able to put prayer back meaning back into it. It was hard to think that there were Jews living in the same town that Auschwitz is in and how fast they were probably sent there. I refuse to have that synagogue mean death to me though. Davening for me is so important especially after you have seen so much evil. I am so proud of my peers that we were able to daven and really put רוח back into a synagogue that probably had some of the first Jews that went to Auschwitz as members. It showed life in so many ways. Praying in it, singing ניגונים, singing Jewish songs in it like עם ישראל חי restored my happiness. It reminded me that, yes bad things happened there, but it is important to remember that we survived.
One place that I went in Poland that really represented death for me was Mydonic Concentration Camp. It was the first concentration camp I have ever been to. When I got there we started out on a huge hill overlooking the whole thing. It was huge. I have no other words to describe it, but huge. It seemed to stretch on forever and when my teacher said that we were going all the way to the other side I didn't think we would be able to make it in time. Seeing a concentration camp for the first time kind of takes your breath away. It also did not help that the whole camp is in great shape and the whole thing is STILL standing. As we walked up the hill to start class, I thought my heart was going to beat right out of my chest it was beating so hard and fast. I went through the barracks and the whole camp. I believe that the thing that got to me the most was when I went into the gas chambers. This part was the hardest to sink in and I think it is the place that really showed me death the most. As soon as I came to the realization that I was standing in the same place, living, where so many people were gassed to death, I broke down. I am so happy I had such good friends with me, that I know care about me. One of my friends in particular helped me through the rest of the camp. I am not a "touchy feely" person and he understood that. Through the rest of the camp he just held my hand and that is all that I needed. We got to the end of the camp where there was a huge monument. This too also is another huge reason why I chose to write about Mydonic as a place that really stood out to me that represented death. I walked up the stair of the monument not knowing what to expect to see in the saucer shaped monument, and when I did it hit me like a ton of bricks. I looked inside and there were the ashes of the people who died there. While looking in I could still see the little tip of a bone that hadn't completely turned to ash in the crematorium. It was hard to look at, but it is one of those things that you can't stop looking at. It was huge and filled. It was such a visual representation of all of the death that had happened only at that camp, it turned the numbers very real for me and a lot of my class mates. So you have it; the place that in my mind represented death very clearly in my trip to Poland.
A place in the trip that really stood out to me for life was the Oswiecim Synagogue. Going to the synagogue in Oswiecim was very special for me. I had a very hard time at Auschwitz-Birkenau. After going through the place and seeing everything, I just felt like I needed a sign of hope. All of EIE davening מנחה together, with my teacher leading the service and us all FINALLY using traditional tunes that I knew really helped. The synagogue in Oswiecim was not big or fancy, but my generation(and friends) were able to put prayer back meaning back into it. It was hard to think that there were Jews living in the same town that Auschwitz is in and how fast they were probably sent there. I refuse to have that synagogue mean death to me though. Davening for me is so important especially after you have seen so much evil. I am so proud of my peers that we were able to daven and really put רוח back into a synagogue that probably had some of the first Jews that went to Auschwitz as members. It showed life in so many ways. Praying in it, singing ניגונים, singing Jewish songs in it like עם ישראל חי restored my happiness. It reminded me that, yes bad things happened there, but it is important to remember that we survived.
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
The 614th Mitzvah?
"Jews are forbidden to hand Hitler posthumous victories, they are commanded to survive as Jews, lest the Jewish People perish." This is the so called "614th mitzvah" that is written by Rabbi Emil Fackenheim. I believe that he is saying that, after being through the Holocaust, we the Jewish people beat Hitler because we survived and we cannot hand him any victories after he is dead. We are still here and Hitler is not. This "new mitzvah" is here for us to remember that we survived and now we need to thrive.
The first way that we should remember to not only survive but thrive is, we need to remember who we are, where we came from, and what our people went through by sharing stories. Every year I go to services for יום השואה. After services I believe we truly follow this 614th mitzvah. There are many Holocaust survivors that come and after services they tell all of the kids, and the parents who want to hear, their stories. I know that I will also tell my stories from being in Poland and seeing places first hand. We say never forget and by having services for יום השואה, telling stories that you experienced, and hearing survivors stories so we can pass them on first hand is how we strive to fulfill the 614th mitzvah.
I believe that another part of fulfilling this mitzvah is By educating and teaching the future generations. We do this is by sending kids to Hebrew/Sunday School. Personally, I went to Sunday School starting in Kindergarden through first grade. They teach us the basics of the תנ''ך, Israel History, holidays, and Hebrew. Then, starting in second grade it becomes Hebrew School. I started to go three times a week and everything was taught more in depth. I went up until seventh grade. Then eighth grade I started Hebrew High and being a teachers assistant. Teaching the new generations about everything Jewish is a very prevalent part of this "614th mitzvah".
The third and final part of this mitzvah is, I believe all of the Jewish people need to go to both Poland and Israel (and maybe even make aliyah). Jews need to go to Poland, even if they had no family in the שואה. They need to know how important it is to stay Jewish and survive as a Jew. Poland is a tool to educate the Jewish people on why we need to stay Jewish. People have had so much hate for us and we cannot afford to loose anyone. I also believe it is SO important to go to Israel. Israel, I believe, is one of the biggest (excuse my French) "fuck you"s to Hitler the Jewish people could do. The whole fact that we have a Jewish state is amazing. Hitler wanted to completely wipe out all of the Jews and have little museums commemorating the race he wiped out. Instead he is dead and the Jewish people decided not to only survive, but thrive. We created a WHOLE COUNTRY for Jewish people. That is what I call thriving. I believe that every Jew needs to go to Israel at least once in their lifetime. It supports a Jewish economy and I also think it is important to see where our ancestors came from. Also, I believe the Jewish people need to make aliyah. It is important to live in the Jewish country. It supports everything that Hitler was fighting to destroy. Making these special trips to important places in our history is imperative for executing the 614th mitzvah
The first way that we should remember to not only survive but thrive is, we need to remember who we are, where we came from, and what our people went through by sharing stories. Every year I go to services for יום השואה. After services I believe we truly follow this 614th mitzvah. There are many Holocaust survivors that come and after services they tell all of the kids, and the parents who want to hear, their stories. I know that I will also tell my stories from being in Poland and seeing places first hand. We say never forget and by having services for יום השואה, telling stories that you experienced, and hearing survivors stories so we can pass them on first hand is how we strive to fulfill the 614th mitzvah.
I believe that another part of fulfilling this mitzvah is By educating and teaching the future generations. We do this is by sending kids to Hebrew/Sunday School. Personally, I went to Sunday School starting in Kindergarden through first grade. They teach us the basics of the תנ''ך, Israel History, holidays, and Hebrew. Then, starting in second grade it becomes Hebrew School. I started to go three times a week and everything was taught more in depth. I went up until seventh grade. Then eighth grade I started Hebrew High and being a teachers assistant. Teaching the new generations about everything Jewish is a very prevalent part of this "614th mitzvah".
The third and final part of this mitzvah is, I believe all of the Jewish people need to go to both Poland and Israel (and maybe even make aliyah). Jews need to go to Poland, even if they had no family in the שואה. They need to know how important it is to stay Jewish and survive as a Jew. Poland is a tool to educate the Jewish people on why we need to stay Jewish. People have had so much hate for us and we cannot afford to loose anyone. I also believe it is SO important to go to Israel. Israel, I believe, is one of the biggest (excuse my French) "fuck you"s to Hitler the Jewish people could do. The whole fact that we have a Jewish state is amazing. Hitler wanted to completely wipe out all of the Jews and have little museums commemorating the race he wiped out. Instead he is dead and the Jewish people decided not to only survive, but thrive. We created a WHOLE COUNTRY for Jewish people. That is what I call thriving. I believe that every Jew needs to go to Israel at least once in their lifetime. It supports a Jewish economy and I also think it is important to see where our ancestors came from. Also, I believe the Jewish people need to make aliyah. It is important to live in the Jewish country. It supports everything that Hitler was fighting to destroy. Making these special trips to important places in our history is imperative for executing the 614th mitzvah
Tznius in Furs: What Judaism Has to Say About My Mink Coat
Tznius in Furs: What Judaism Has to Say About by Marjorie Ignall for tabletmagazine.com http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-life-and-religion/164717/fur-coats/2
This week for class I was assigned to read a few blogs, one of them is Tznius in Furs: What Judaism Has to Say About by Marjorie Ignall for tabletmagazine.com. It is the authors perspective on Jewish women wearing fur coats. She believes that it is okay that she wears a fur coat, because it was handed down to her by a family member. She also talks about how fur coats used to be the "Ferraris" for women. She goes on to talk about how wearing fur coats goes against הלכה in many ways and she does not believe that Orthodox Jewish women should be wearing any kind of furs.
I agree with the author, that it does go against הלכה. It goes against צינות (modesty) because furs are a symbol of status. Most women while wearing furs are basically flaunting how much money they have. They also go against the laws of tza'ar baalei chaim (animal suffering). You are supposed to feed your animals first and when you do kill them for food you kill them in the most humane way possible. I think that killing animals for their skin and fur is selfish and definitely does not respect the animals like we are taught to do.
This week for class I was assigned to read a few blogs, one of them is Tznius in Furs: What Judaism Has to Say About by Marjorie Ignall for tabletmagazine.com. It is the authors perspective on Jewish women wearing fur coats. She believes that it is okay that she wears a fur coat, because it was handed down to her by a family member. She also talks about how fur coats used to be the "Ferraris" for women. She goes on to talk about how wearing fur coats goes against הלכה in many ways and she does not believe that Orthodox Jewish women should be wearing any kind of furs.
I agree with the author, that it does go against הלכה. It goes against צינות (modesty) because furs are a symbol of status. Most women while wearing furs are basically flaunting how much money they have. They also go against the laws of tza'ar baalei chaim (animal suffering). You are supposed to feed your animals first and when you do kill them for food you kill them in the most humane way possible. I think that killing animals for their skin and fur is selfish and definitely does not respect the animals like we are taught to do.
Queen Esther: Patron Saint of Crypto-Jews
"Queen Esther: Patron Saint of Crypto-Jews" by Ronit Treatman for timesofisrael.com
http://www.timesofisrael.com/queen-esther-patron-saint-of-crypto-jews/
http://www.timesofisrael.com/queen-esther-patron-saint-of-crypto-jews/
For class this week I had to read a few articles. This one was written by Ronit Treatman from timesofisrael.com; it's called Queen Esther: Patron Saint of Crypto-Jews. It is about how during the Inquisition conversos (Jews who outwardly converted to Catholicism, but inwardly and in their homes still practiced Judaism) turned Esther and the story of Purim into a Saint and a "Catholic" holiday so they could still celebrate it and not be persecuted.
I think it is a really cool idea that people disguised a Jewish holiday into a Christian one so they could stay Jewish. However, I do not like how after the Inquisition and when people had religious freedom that the conversos (closet Jews) did not go back to Judaism. I think that the conversos went through so much to keep as much Judaism as possible, they should have gone back to Judaism as soon as it was safe. It is interesting to hear that there are still some today, but it is almost a little disappointing that people didn't go back to Judaism.
Women of the Wall
Last week I went on a טיול to the Kotel. It was ראש חודש and we went to daven שחרת with Women of the Wall. I understand that they want women's equality at the Kotel and I believe that if women want to or feel the need to wear כיפות, טליתות, ותפילין they should be able to. If it is at the Kotel it is still okay and I do not think people should be arrested or have dirty diapers thrown at them for doing that. Everyone has the right to do what they need to do in order to feel closer to 'ה. Although, I do not believe that the "women's side" on the Kotel should be any bigger and I also do not think that women and men should pray together there. I think the טיול was interesting to watch because the Women of the Wall conducted a full service very loudly and they even read תורה there. I did not like being there and being forced to stay in that group though. I am not comfortable with being in that service. I know what the Women of the Wall are doing is very important to people, but I just wish I was able to go off on my own and watch what was going on. I did not appreciate being called a prostitute or hearing that I was disgracing my family when I did not personally want to participate. Usually when I go to the Kotel I stand next to the מחיצה and listen to the men's services and follow along with them silently. It was sad that this past time I was not able to do that.
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