Passover Holiday 2011

Benny Gantz. The new head of the IDF

So passover was absolutely amazing. Probably the most fun I've had in a while. A very long time I should say. It was non stop laughter and just a really great time over all. I met all these new people that I can say are going to be friends for some time.

We met in Binyamina and took a bus to a hotel in Olga. It was absolutely amazing.

It was like Mickve Alon Reunion. Actually that's exactly what it was. 

I should probably tell you guys that this was only for Lone Soldiers on closed bases and combat positions. Im very thankful I got to go. I'm glad I switched to my new job or I never would have been able to go because I am on an open base with the only combat I have to do is make the Paper Shredder Machine Thingy that I forgot the name of work.

We all got separated into rooms and groups. I had the BEST roommate ever. Her name is Karen. She is also from NY. She was so much fun. We actually met up several times after the passover dinner. She is such a great person and Im really glad to know her and call her friend. 

I also had the best group ever. צוות 27/שולחן 13 כבוד!!

We all had to go into this giant room and sit down where Benny Gantz came and talked to us and surprised a Lone Soldier by having his parents stand behind him. Everyone started crying it was so moving. Photos were strictly prohibited during this even, so naturally Karen and I took photos. :P

After that it was free time or see a comedian who was funny. Then we had the passover sedar where they had raffles. Didn't win anything. Then it was free time until the next night at dinner. 

The free time was spent sleeping and hanging out with our group. I think we were the only group to spend out free time together. We had such an awesome "group commander". This was such a great 2 days. Im so going to remember it forever. After those 2 days I returned to base for half days everyday while everyone was on vacation.

Me, Adam(not in our group but a friend of mine, and Karen

Lior and I.

Me and my really awesome light up ball :P

The second passover dinner I went to my friend Shiran's house with her family. It was so much fun. I spent the entire night speaking hebrew. So I was really proud of myself. It was such a great passover over all.

I really need to go now. My bus is in 20 minutes and Im still in PJ's and I live on the 7th floor!!!

Pesach פסח(Passover) Fun fact ;)

So I needed food today. I haven't really been at the dorms so I didnt really need food. I went food shopping naturally and found something rather shocking. To me it was shocking since Im from New York. But now that I think about it, its rather logical for Israel.
In the supermarkets all of the bread/grain products are covered or removed from the shelves. You can not buy any of it. When Passover is over then you can buy bread/grain products. I wish I knew so I could have bought things on Sunday before I left. Its good to know though for future reference.
I was hungry and so I went to the food court and figured Id get pizza thinking fast food doesnt count. ...yup fast food does. Sbarro the pizza place was not selling regular pizza. So I left and decided Burger King. They were like yeah we got burgers. Not real buns.  I shall wait till next week for my beautiful slice of pizza. It was rather shocking at first. "Ahh what happened to the store? Is there a problem?" Nope, just cant eat bread/grain products during Pesach. Ha sill me. I forgot. Ahh wonderful new experiences in foreign countries. Shufersell:

 

Mega:

This is usually just filled with tons of bread and all different kinds. Now its Bamba and potato chips.. and wine.

 They had cool decorated covers for their aisles.

Okay till next time peeps. חג שמח :) (Happy Holidays- Hag Sameach)

Passover Holiday

So March 30th was the first night of Pesach or in English Passover. Its 8 days.
Passover is about the remembrance of the Jews being set free from Egypt.
I spent my passover in Jerusalem.
When I finished birthright I chose to participate in a program called Birthright NEXT. It is where Masa helps you learn about Judaism more in depth and helps you get to Israel. I did a program called Partners In Torah. You can learn hebrew and about other topics.
Okay so I told you this so I can tell you this.
Partners in Torah set me up with a nice woman named Chanala. She helped me with my hebrew, learning the letters and the sounding and some words and sentences.
Chanala invited me over to her house for her first Pesach Sedar at her place. I have to say it was definitely the most educating sedar I have ever been to. I am also honored that I would be able to attend her First Sedar. It was 6 hours! From 8pm to 2am. I learned so much about Passover. I learned alot more detail about the 10 plagues and how they are viewed.
Im not going to go into detail because to be honest there was just too much to write about. I did learn one rather cool tradition though. Everyone pours each other's drinks. We are celebrating freedom so therefore we don't need to pour our own drinks.
Also another neat tradition would be the head of the household sits in a giant comfy chair to resemble being a king. I think I might change that up though. Why should it be just the men who get to have such wonderful and comfortable traditions. Also you are supposed to lean when eating and drinking. No sitting up straight- it represents slavery.
I went to bed around 230 am after talking to my mom and telling her about it. The next day around 11 we had another sedar which was around 2 hours I believe.11am-1pm. 2 hours seems about right. A few hours after the sedar Chanala showed me around Ramot Aleph. It is a fairly new Jewish settlement. And yes, you can see the Palestinian/Israeli border from this neighborhood. In fact it has the fence. It was a very beautiful neighborhood. It had such beautiful views. I must go back and take photos. It smelled lovely, there were so many flowers.
I left when passover was over around 740pm. I took the bus to Jerusalem's Central Station.
I got lost getting there. Its very different between night and day. Also I think there are different bus stops... that's probably why I couldnt really find my way. To get to the Ramot Aleph bus stop you have to cross the street Shazar Blv. In the day its easy to see but at night no way at all.
A nice girl named Yasmin showed me. I was definitely going the right way. I knew where to go I was just worried. It was around 9 at night and I really didnt feel like getting lost in Jerusalem. But Yasmin showed me. Shes my age. Im assuming shes my age. She said she was in her 2nd year of Sherut Leumi. Sherut Leumi is the alternative choice instead of the IDF. Its like community service. You help special need people, children, hospitals, schools, etc...
So finally I made it. Then, got lost in the central station. They dont have english in Jerusalem Central Station. Instead of English, they have Russian. You would think that in Jerusalem it would be English and in Tel Aviv it would be Russian. But hey you know. Im sure Ill learn it all one day. Ha me and directions. There is just no communication between me and directions what so ever. after a few minutes I found it and got on the bus to Tel Aviv. Everything after that was smooth sailing. I got home around 11pm. Then woke up early the next day and left around 11 for Davids house. Im getting my traveling pro XP. :P