tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58807202011-04-22T02:39:56.940+03:00A Chronicle of 2 Years in Jerusalem: September 2003-June 2005.hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comBlogger2331100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1140900821569975332006-02-25T22:53:00.000+02:002006-06-14T16:03:02.410+03:00

If anybody is interested, we have a new photoblog at thehaglers.blogspot.com.

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1119873061901026862005-06-27T14:16:00.000+03:002005-06-27T19:40:08.480+03:00

And we're done.Less than twenty-four hours before our departure from Israel, it is difficult not to wax philosophical and write a giant retrospective which somehow ties together our whole experience into one thematically unified and insightful thought. I probably won't succeed, but that won't stop me from trying--especially since this is the last entry I will write on this blog, in which I take

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1119629902865288062005-06-24T19:05:00.000+03:002005-06-24T19:21:20.813+03:00

Papers? Turned in. Arabic Exam? Completed. Checked out of the libraries, closed our bank account, returned our car, sent off the boxes...apartment is almost packed up, just a few more details to take care of, and then we're off.Yesterday was our third anniversary. I started off the day with my Arabic final and said goodbye to Mount Scopus; then I came home, and we went out to celebrate. We agreed

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1118839237143092872005-06-15T15:30:00.000+03:002005-06-15T15:40:37.146+03:00

I've again neglected. I feel our time coming to a close. Now, with less than two weeks left in our time here, I have been very busy with the following:- Schoolwork. Finished my 102 pager, finished two other papers, now all I have left is a take-home final exam and my Arabic exam, which I will have the good fortune to take on the morning of our third wedding anniversary. I think I will do well

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1117544507513666322005-05-31T15:26:00.000+03:002005-05-31T16:01:47.546+03:00

Does anyone still read this page? If so, I appreciate your loyalty, despite long vacations in posting.I will have some more images of Elana's work up soon. But first: a word.Our time in Israel is now drawing to a close. In less than a month, we will be on our way back to the States and the beginning of the next stage of our educations and our life (collective). Now that we are leaving, Israel

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1116665095480195812005-05-21T11:35:00.000+03:002005-05-21T11:44:55.486+03:00

I know this is a long time in the coming. Here are some images of Elana's recent artwork, including her latest from the Jerusalem Landscape Painting Marathon, which is well underway. The portrait of her grandfather does not depict a final version, as it is currently hanging in a show and we have not had a chance to photograph it:Encounter at SatafGrisha's Ashtray (a better image than the one

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1115636217591575282005-05-09T13:34:00.000+03:002005-05-10T14:36:23.616+03:00

Today is the last studio day at JSS for Elana; it is the last day with a model. Tomorrow is the final critique, and on Sunday begins the Jerusalem Landscape Painting Marathon. This was my last chance to get in there, paint from the model, and understand what Elana does each and every day. She has come to a number of lectures at Hebrew University. I have never, never painted in my life. Finger

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1115538420965905272005-05-08T10:23:00.000+03:002005-05-08T10:49:06.113+03:00

Here are some photos from Ashdod.First, we have Shemesh, the mini-Golden Retriever. Not really, but we don't know exactly what kind of mix he is, so that's the closest we can come up with. Nick called him our "Golden Hot-Dog," and that's the best we've heard yet.And here are some photos from the family reunion picnic which we attended yesterday in Ashdod:There were a number of barbecue gatherings

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1115276832473730542005-05-05T14:17:00.000+03:002005-05-06T08:53:46.773+03:00

The British AUT (Association of University Teachers) has decided to suspend relations with the Universities of Haifa and Bar Ilan, and is considering a similar boycott of the Hebrew University.The objection to Haifa University utterly baffles me. It is perhaps the most left-leaning University in the country, the Israeli answer to circa-1960 Berkeley. I have even heard some of the right-leaning

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1115277128224444562005-05-05T10:05:00.000+03:002005-05-05T10:12:08.230+03:00

At 10 AM today, the sirens wailed all over Israel in remembrance of the victims of the Holocaust.I was alone, doing some work for my class which is at 10:15. There was not a soul around me to be seen.Elana was crossing Derech Hebron, one of Jerusalem's busiest streets. The cars stopped and the drivers stepped out, stood like statues. Life was a frozen image. Elana said that even the cats

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1115184555887864092005-05-04T08:16:00.000+03:002005-05-04T08:29:16.063+03:00

I had hoped not to get lazy with this blog. All I can say in my defense is that I haven't been lazy in general; I have written 94 pages of my thesis, with one (approximately) seven page section and the conclusion to go. Getting that done always just seemed more important, but now I am at a stopping point because I have to wait for the book Mahomet and His Successors by Washington Irving (yes,

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1114260615893330062005-04-23T15:34:00.000+03:002005-04-23T15:50:15.896+03:00

Remember when you were graduating from high school? You had already been accepted to college, nothing but a catastrophic flame-out would disrupt your life, and you lived in a more-or-less consequence free environment. The subpar grade on the Spanish quiz didn't matter so much. Attendance became essentially a non-issue. Everyone looked forward to Senior Ditch Day as a kind of semiofficial sanction

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1113629508211539952005-04-16T08:09:00.000+03:002005-04-16T11:39:41.926+03:00

It's been quite a week. Obviously after finding out our big news, we took some time to celebrate and then, more or less, got to work. We now know when we are going to be leaving and where we are going to be going and all of that good stuff, so we can now start planning our move out/return to the Western Hemisphere/move in to Philadelphia. We will have about a month and a half to do it in, but

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1112976912840703062005-04-08T19:00:00.000+03:002005-04-08T19:29:35.996+03:00

At 6:45 PM, Israel time, our future for the next five years was set.I have been accepted to the Ph.D. program in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Pennsylvania. I am ecstatically happy.So, here we are. Elana has officially accepted her position at PAFA. I am going to be at Penn, a mere 2.5 miles to the west. I'm amazed that we've been granted such providence, yet again

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1112777356112307472005-04-06T11:23:00.000+03:002005-04-06T11:55:11.763+03:00

Elana had her opening in Tel Aviv two nights ago. Her drawings were placed in the most prominent position in the room, and in my objective opinion as well as my subjective, were the best things there.I'm going to let the pictures speak for themselves.

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1112124890505967852005-03-29T21:25:00.000+02:002005-03-29T21:34:50.523+02:00

Elana's art news:Five of Elana's drawings have been selected to be exhibited at Beit Daniel at 62 B'nei Dan Street in Tel Aviv. The opening is on Monday, the 4th of April, at 8 PM. All who are in Israel are invited to attend. We're really looking forward to it.As big as this news about the show is, I'm delighted to announce that Elana has been accepted to the MFA program at the Pennsylvania

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1111659863040071152005-03-24T12:02:00.000+02:002005-03-24T12:24:23.043+02:00

On Sunday our friends Carina and Luke, whose wedding we attended back in November, arrived in Israel for a one-week vacation in Israel. I can't believe the pace they've managed to keep.We drove to the airport with Celwyn, Jacob's mom's boyfriend, to drop him off for his flight back to the U.S. and then pick Carina and Luke up. They were considerate enough to arrange it so that we dropped Cel

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1111137793514699232005-03-18T10:59:00.000+02:002005-03-18T11:23:13.526+02:00

Two days ago, my childhood best friend, Jacob, got married.Jacob and I are fortunate enough to have attended each other's weddings now, despite having lost touch over a number of years during college. We saw each other over summers during the four years of University, and reconnected around when Elana and I got married. In fact, I joked to Jacob at the wedding that he was kind enough to travel

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1110302391940026752005-03-09T12:17:00.000+02:002005-03-09T12:16:36.190+02:00

A number of events recently have drawn my attention to a side of Israel which I would rather ignore, but cannot: Israeli racism. Now I want to add an important disclaimer at the outset here: I by no means agree with the propagandists who brazenly slap an "APARTHEID" sticker on the Jewish state, any more than I agree with anyone who uses "Nazi" and "fascist" interchangeably. But more on that in a

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1109838467391528502005-03-03T14:13:00.000+02:002005-03-03T18:19:55.190+02:00

I have been meaning to write this entry for a while. Any regular readers of this page are probably well aware that it's been a long time since my last in-depth political analysis. Be forewarned: this one is very ambitious.What caused me to write it now? Well, a number of factors. I suppose that the immediate cause is an email Elana received which posited the question: to what extent is America

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1109400013621342262005-02-26T08:31:00.000+02:002005-02-26T08:40:13.623+02:00

We went to sleep early-ish last night, and woke up this morning to find out about the suicide bombing at the night club in Tel Aviv. It's something that you just knew would happen the second any Palestinian announces a "cease fire." Honestly, I'm surprised that it took this long.This is what happens when you have schism in national, revolutionary movements. It happened in France in the 18th

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1109075768908324972005-02-22T14:10:00.000+02:002005-02-22T14:36:08.910+02:00

I have been waiting for inspiration to update this thing. While I was on break, there just wasn't much going on about which I felt interested enough to post. So I kind of let the journal slip through the cracks a bit, since "We had chicken for dinner" didn't seem like the kind of thing that was particularly newsworthy.But this week, as school starts, there have been a couple of incidents that

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1108028609506767902005-02-10T11:27:00.000+02:002005-02-10T18:42:08.616+02:00

Yesterday was outstanding. And we owe it all to sponteneity. Allow me to start at the beginning. Two days ago, two really wonderful things happened. First, there was the cease-fire announced between Israel and the PA. I'll write about this soon, probably a couple of entries, first on the chances of the cease-fire to hold and second on what I think will happen to Israeli society should it do so.

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1107849323423217162005-02-08T09:35:00.001+02:002005-02-08T13:10:29.193+02:00

This morning it was raining, so I drove Elana to school, returned home and set myself to work. An hour's endeavor saw the first and most difficult of the three questions on my final exam completed; the last two will be a relative breeze. I emerged from the seclusion of the bedroom five minutes ago to stretch my legs around the apartment. I glanced out the window, and had myself an Arthur Dent

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1107778041528451122005-02-07T13:41:00.000+02:002005-02-07T14:07:21.530+02:00

Aren't you bored yet with all this winning? Don't get me wrong, I'm plenty happy for you. And I was rooting for the Pats when I woke up at 1:30 AM to watch the game, snack on schnitzel and pita and humus and wreck myself for today. All I can say, as a native of Denver of the late 1990's, is: don't get used to it. My German Blog has been progressing very nicely, I think; I still make plenty of

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1107265323245085992005-02-01T15:13:00.000+02:002005-02-01T15:42:03.246+02:00

When I am on break, I tend to freak out a bit. I tend to thrive on being very busy; the busier the better. When I wake up in the morning and there is nothing on my agenda, I have a real hard time starting my day. That is why, for this break, I've instituted some lessons and goals for myself. First of all, finish my assignments from this past semester (one exam and one paper). Back in the US,

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1107181982096585432005-01-31T16:28:00.000+02:002005-01-31T16:33:02.096+02:00

It's been too long. I guess break has made me lazy. My last exam, in Arabic, went fine. Except for mistaking a passive participle for an active one (an understandable mistake, I think, since the newspapers write without voweling, and thus the two forms are identical), I'm pretty sure of my translation. All I have left is a take-home exam, which I haven't really looked at yet. This past

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1106743103797615242005-01-26T14:06:00.000+02:002005-01-26T14:38:23.796+02:00

This morning we took a walk through East Talpiot, also known as Armon Hanatziv. It is an up-and-coming kind of area, with lots of nice apartment buildings and parks being built. We wandered down the other side of Mount Moriah, and we could see the Arab village of Sur Bahr in the distance. The view was glorious. As we were walking back, Elana remarked that she would love to paint from the roofs

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1106572010516872552005-01-24T14:52:00.000+02:002005-01-24T15:06:50.516+02:00

That's two exams down. And I left this one whistling, despite having utterly smashed my left pinky this morning. I was to meet a friend who is in my class to study this morning at 10, two hours before the test was to begin. When I arrived at school, I did something very stupid. I've shut car doors thousands of times in my life. Perhaps the number is in the tens of thousands. This time, for

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1106509840002948742005-01-23T21:37:00.000+02:002005-01-23T21:50:40.003+02:00

I had my first final today, in Professor Sharon's seminar: Selected Topics in Islamic History. Essentially, this meant whatever he wished to talk about. I felt fine about the test (although I did show up early this morning, prepared for it to be at 9 AM; I was startled to discover that it was in fact scheduled for 12:30. I used the extra time to cram in some additional names and dates). The

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1106335992025865142005-01-21T21:03:00.000+02:002005-01-21T21:33:12.026+02:00

In Israel, hitting both coasts in a weekend doesn't involve a plane flight. Yesterday evening we went to Tel Aviv where Michal, one of Elana's classmates, had a show opening. Most of her class was there, as well. Although we enjoyed the show, we didn't stay very long; shortly after arriving, we retired with her teacher Israel and another "student"--I'll explain the quotation marks in a minute-

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1105892159891702712005-01-16T17:35:00.000+02:002005-01-16T19:32:40.846+02:00

The Palestinian Liberation Organization today issued a statement that it "demanded halting all military acts that harm our national interests and provide excuses to Israel, which wishes to obstruct Palestinian stability." This gives the pragmatist in me cause for optimism, but causes the idealist in me to shake our mutual head in disgust. I know I let Abu Mazen off easily for his anti-Israel

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1105819601557844462005-01-15T21:49:00.000+02:002005-01-15T22:06:41.556+02:00

It's been almost a week since I updated. Time flies. On Tuesday night, we went to dinner at our friend Nathalie's house. Nathalie is French, and her brother is visiting Israel; he brought some sort of special cheese, which is then melted over potatoes; it was quite good. As was the company. On Wednesday night, a Professor from London University School of Oriental and African studies gave a

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1105284575644311072005-01-09T17:19:00.000+02:002005-01-09T17:30:57.126+02:00

Here is some of Elana's recent work. A couple of them are from the summer. She just recently finished the skull painting, and the landscape with figures is still in progress. So, without further ado:

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1105126179556517312005-01-07T21:33:00.000+02:002005-01-07T21:29:39.556+02:00

It's a paradox of modern thought about the Arab world. Those who say that the United States had no business in Iraq because there is no tradition of Democracy in the Middle East, that trying to impose it on a culture where it has no tradition is arrogant and wrong, are often thought of as those most sympathetic to the Muslims; conversely, those who realize that there is a tradition of Democracy

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1105107001512756412005-01-07T15:32:00.000+02:002005-01-09T07:22:43.916+02:00

Last night we went to Jacob and Esther Tova's engagement party and an art opening in Tel Aviv. It was a busy night. At eight o'clock we drove to Nahlaot, near downtown Jerusalem, where the party was. There were little refreshments and lots of people milling about, chatting with each other. At one point, one of the young religious guys stood in front of the crowd and gave a speech in Heblish. I

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1104610353902826032005-01-01T20:54:00.000+02:002005-01-03T17:36:43.340+02:00

Despite what the title of this post suggests, we have just had the most amazing time. We decided to celebrate the new car with a trip we've been putting off: that to the Dead Sea. For those of you who don't know the geography, the Dead Sea is a mere half-hour from Jerusalem--but through the West Bank. The other route--the one that goes around the Judean Desert, the southern half of the West

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1103965935391576412004-12-25T11:08:00.000+02:002004-12-25T11:12:15.390+02:00

A direct quote from the Vilnay Guide to Israel, which we were conusulting for activity ideas this Christmas day: "Around the 13th c BC, during the invasion of the Land of Cana'an by the Israelites, Jerusalem was ruled by the Jebusites, known as 'Jebus,' and was related as the 'City of Jebus.'" Merry Christmas from the City of Jebus.

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1103959212720317822004-12-25T08:53:00.000+02:002004-12-25T09:25:56.676+02:00

It's Christmas in the Holy Land, so a hearty Merry Christmas to all those to whom that applies. Although we live only five miles from Bethlehem, we weren't tempted to go except in the abstract sense. Instead, we went to Ashdod. Our cousin Liat was out in Jerusalem visiting us (we saw Ocean's Twelve, which I can't decide whether or not I liked), and so we took her home and visited there for a

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1103739584217551632004-12-22T20:13:00.000+02:002004-12-22T20:20:23.276+02:00

Life continues, although at a faster pace and fewer fumes, thanks to the little Renault that, thanks to its small stature and greenish color, has earned the name "Marvin." Yesterday evening we went to a new friend's home for a celebration of the Winter Solstice. She is a Norwegian Jew (one of only 1,500; two of the others were there last night, as well), but celebrates the shortest day of the

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1103199571016186532004-12-16T13:43:00.000+02:002004-12-16T18:34:59.676+02:00

It didn't take long to figure out who it was in my Arabic class. You know, that student who always pipes up with the irrelevant question, or challenges the teacher on some inane point, each and every day. You can usually tell who it is when people start leafing through their notes or staring out the window when that person talks. Today, the disturbances reached a boiling point. This student,

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1103053952742988692004-12-14T20:29:00.000+02:002004-12-14T21:52:32.743+02:00

I write this with a mix of wistfulness, guilt and joy. We have finally given up on the Shtinker. It was important to me to keep this blog from becoming "Adventures in Israeli Car Maintenance," so I haven't been writing updates about the Shtinker. But I will say now that far from any sort of one-and-done trip to the garage, our '91 Subaru had me on a first name basis with Gabbai, the head

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1102596669048096272004-12-09T13:46:00.000+02:002004-12-09T14:51:09.046+02:00

This blog, which I used to update every few days, seems to have evolved into a once-a-week activity. That's okay, though. There's plenty going on here; preparing applications for next year, both of us at our respective schools almost every day, life in general. Grisha's birthday was last week, and Liat's is this week (we're going to Ashdod tomorrow to celebrate with them). It's Hanukah, of

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1101889100024659892004-12-01T08:53:00.000+02:002004-12-06T08:45:15.143+02:00

So you may be able to take your home with you in some sense. But there are some things, when you live abroad, which you certainly gain a greater appreciation for: people, places, conveniences that you have left behind. We have been preparing applications for next year, and our recent trip back to the States, combined with our discussions about next year have directed our eyes and minds westward.

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1101481629979195352004-11-26T16:28:00.000+02:002004-11-26T23:49:16.386+02:00

And after yesterday's dinner, so was I. We've been completely busy this week, so much so that we've barely had a free moment. Besides working on applications (the deadline for one of them less than a week away) and getting back into the swing of our educations, we've had some adventures with the apartment. Jerusalem got 70 mm of rain at the beginning of the week, some of which snuck down from

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1101100555584528702004-11-22T06:47:00.000+02:002004-11-22T11:30:41.883+02:00

I look back at the itinerary we planned, and only now, after somehow managing to pull it off, and sitting back in our apartment in Jerusalem, do I realize just how ambitious it was. We're both exhausted. Both of the weddings were fantastic, both in very different ways. One was small (less than 100 people), the other large (more than 600) but both shared a warmth and joyousness that made them

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1100053610663258372004-11-10T03:54:00.000+02:002004-11-10T04:26:50.663+02:00

We're back in LA. I find it disturbing that I'm getting used to this whole Transatlantic and Transcontinental thing. All is well; we're back on the West Coast for a week for two weddings, one of my cousin in San Francisco and one of our good friends Carina and Luke in LA. The two couples were considerate enough to arrange their weddings perfectly with our schedule in mind, so that we could

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1099752749813704792004-11-06T15:55:00.000+02:002004-11-07T07:32:33.086+02:00

Right now most people we know in the United States are wondering what went wrong, how 59 million people could be so dumb. The blue states, when you look at the map, seem to be clinging onto Canada for dear life. The elections are now in the post-mortem stage, on CNN, FoxNews, and tons of blogs. Here in Israel we're waiting for another post-mortem; a definitive and confirmed report that Yasser

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1099474742984672352004-11-03T11:30:00.000+02:002004-11-03T11:39:02.986+02:00

I'm not going to break down the election, I'm too weary. We woke up early this morning to watch it, and I think we should have saved ourselves the trouble. I have no classes, so I'll stay in and do homework today; maybe we'll catch a movie or something. Life goes on. But I was really hoping to look my classmates in the eye again, proud to be able to assert that things like integrity and

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1099303200766504322004-11-01T11:55:00.000+02:002004-11-01T12:07:31.196+02:00

It's only been about an hour since I last posted. There was a blast at the Carmel Market in Tel Aviv today; currently the count is four dead, dozens wounded. Police have confirmed that it was a suicide attack; it only happened about half an hour ago, and other details are still sketchy. Elana and I are both fine. I'll bet anybody a quarter that whoever claims responsibility says that this attack

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1099299092190353032004-11-01T10:32:00.000+02:002004-11-01T10:52:08.050+02:00

I'm a big fan of not updating unless I have something to say; that's why my congratulations to Beantown has been up for almost a week now. Wouldn't you know it, I jinxed the Patriots. Boston, even when you win, you just can't win (not that I truly hear any of you complaining; at least, not yet). Things here have been moving along; school has been good for both of us. Last weekend we went on a

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1098940041574624342004-10-28T07:00:00.000+02:002004-10-28T16:16:20.173+02:00

Red Sox win World Series. Patriots on a ridiculous record winning streak and looking primed to repeat. With no hockey this year, all it will take is an overachieving Celtics team to complete the trifecta. Congratulations, Boston.

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1098877136872501632004-10-27T13:48:00.000+02:002004-10-27T20:19:19.473+02:00

By the Hebrew calendar, today is the ninth anniversary of the assassination of Yitzchak Rabin. I was here nine years ago. I remember the confusion on the radio and the general feeling of disbelief that such a thing had happened in Israel. One radio reporter asked, in an anguished burst of shock just moments after reports confirmed that Rabin was dead, and that his killer was an Israeli Jew, "Eich

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1098644246286029712004-10-24T20:16:00.000+02:002004-10-26T18:43:57.870+02:00

My Aunt Vilma has been visiting in Israel, travelling around and doing tourist-y stuff, and spending time with us when all of our schedules permit. She's only in the country for a week, but we managed to have a dinner with her and to take a tiyul with her to the Galilee region, which she wanted to see but had not yet had a chance . We drove North--the drive took about three hours--to the Yardenit

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1098334383853088462004-10-21T06:22:00.000+02:002004-10-21T15:09:44.296+02:00

Three outs away from a sweep, they choked. For the first time in baseball history and only the third time in sports history, a team came back from an 0-3 deficit to win, twice in extra innings. They were this close to the World Series, and somehow fate reached out and made sure that it wouldn't happen. The Boston Red Sox are used to this kind of history. Time and again, they have brought

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1098048398374953862004-10-17T21:55:00.000+02:002004-10-17T23:26:38.376+02:00

I apologize if what I am about to write comes out disorganized and disjointed, but I have a lot of thoughts scrambling about in my head, and even though it's late at night, I want to get them out in some form. Part of the impetus for this is to respond to an email I received tonight. Part of it is in response to events in our life, which seem to be dramatically illustrating the same point, on a

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1098019131690997652004-10-17T14:55:00.000+02:002004-10-17T15:21:55.916+02:00

I started school today; so far I've had one class. I'll write more about school tomorrow. Yesterday Elana and I went with our friend Nathalie to the Beit Guvrin nature reserve, south of Beit Shemesh and not too far from Ashqelon. We figured it was good to get into our "tiyuling" right away, and Beit Guvrin was something we had been meaning to do for a large chunk of last year. It was almost as

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1097758694982526842004-10-14T14:45:00.000+02:002004-10-14T15:01:16.523+02:00

Coming back to anywhere after a break or vacation is bound to be busy. There's so much to take care of. The apartment was in great shape, of course, although we did have to arrange for a cable technician to replace a part in order to get back on the internet. A few minor troubles with the TV were easily solved, as well. Insurance renewal took five minutes. So on we go. Elana started school on

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1097401051542126282004-10-10T10:39:00.000+02:002004-10-10T11:37:31.543+02:00

We are back! We've been in Israel almost twenty-four hours now...still less time than the entire trip took. For you see, because of our different trips to Italy (Elana's two weeks before mine) our tickets were booked differently, and so we did not have seats together (we did manage to switch, sort of), and our itinerary took us from LAX through Newark and Rome. Our day started at a quarter to

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1097176724684181942004-10-07T21:00:00.000+02:002004-10-07T23:11:40.830+02:00

Well, we're packed (almost) and, in a couple of hours, heading down to Los Angeles. We are flying through Newark and Rome, so, given our recent travel history, I am taking bets on just how far off-course our luggage goes. I'm betting at least one bag ends up in St. Petersburg, Russia. Let's see how oracular I truly am. I would address Dov Weisglass' recent comments, which caused me to have a bit

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1096914432470734862004-10-04T20:14:00.000+02:002004-10-04T20:27:12.470+02:00

We're down to less than one week here before we go back to Israel. In the meantime, we've been having fun visiting with friends and family. About half of the days, we've been down in Los Angeles. On Saturday night, we went to the premiere of a play called Garbo's Cuban Lover, which was our friend Molly's Los Angeles theatrical debut. Molly did theatre with me at Brandeis. She was very good (

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1096562023947883172004-09-30T18:21:00.000+02:002004-09-30T18:33:43.946+02:00

There is a wealth of information to communicate about what we've been doing the last week, and I have not the patience to go into all of it; this is what happens when I get lazy about updating, the stories pile up on my desk. That's okay, though; there's really no need to talk about my adventures in California with the blog being the entity that it is. Last weekend, more or less on a

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1095875794611573082004-09-22T19:21:00.000+02:002004-09-23T07:40:00.220+02:00

There was a suicide bombing in Jerusalem today, in the French Hill neighborhood. It's about a mile from the University. This still qualifies as a period of relative quiet...the last suicide bombing was almost a month ago, in Be'er Sheva, and before that it had been since March. This is not for lack of attempts, certainly; there were reports in Haaretz that a planned attack against Israeli

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1095308512033054802004-09-16T06:10:00.000+03:002004-09-16T07:28:25.520+03:00

So as of a few hours ago, it's a new year, which we are celebrating in California with Elana's grandparents and a few other relatives. And, it is only a few days short of a one year anniversary for this weblog, hurrah. Happy Birthday, AIJ. But that's neither here nor there, really. Rosh Hashanah is a time for introspection. As years go, this one has been much more eventful than most. A simple

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1095015523148239042004-09-12T21:36:00.000+03:002004-09-13T00:35:54.566+03:00

What we have here is a failure to communicate. On my part. This will be my last post from Denver (hah! Most of you didn't even know we'd arrived, if you follow my life through this blog alone!); tomorrow we are heading out for LA. At the end of these thoughts, I have posted my last entry from Italy, which I wrote almost two weeks ago and only just now got around to uploading. The time in Denver

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1093638782820703552004-08-27T23:25:00.000+03:002004-08-28T14:39:57.233+03:00

Monday, August 23, 2004 More fun: Naples and Pompeii I have been terrible about keeping this journal. Since I last posted, I have not written a word. Elana and the other students had their final critique last week. It went very well for Elana; she got a healthy combination of praise and constructive criticism. This past weekend we drove to the south of Italy to visit Pompeii. The idea of a

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-109255936347208702004-08-15T11:31:00.000+03:002004-08-18T18:18:20.410+03:00

So I finally got a chance to get this up here. It's three long entries from my first week in Italy. Enjoy. I have. ***** Friday, August 06, 2004 Buon Giorno! I’m in Italy! I left Jerusalem for Ashdod after packing up the apartment (which took longer than one would expect!) and spent the night there. I went with Tova and a few of her friends to a huge concert on the beach, where there was a

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1091533910753042472004-08-03T14:51:00.000+03:002004-08-03T14:51:50.753+03:00

And that is that. I finished my second Arabic final today. I don't know how it went exactly, but I have a pretty good feeling. When the test is translating an article, and the English version you come up with makes sense, you have to know that it's at least passable. Which means, of course, that for the first time in almost a year, I am not in an Arabic class right now. I am not in any class

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1091333139537156362004-08-01T06:44:00.000+03:002004-08-01T07:08:47.380+03:00

Friday night was Alla's birthday. I packed a weekend bag and headed to Ashdod to celebrate. The party was at a Russian restaurant called "U.S.S.R," which struck me as an odd marketing decision in a town populated with Russian Jewish immigrants.  But it was a good restaurant and a great time. I hung out with Tova and Liat (originally I was supposed to have three dates, but I guess Eden decided I

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1091120878252623352004-07-29T19:42:00.000+03:002004-07-29T20:11:56.953+03:00

Today was the two year anniversary (by the Hebrew Calendar) of the bombing at the Frank Sinatra cafeteria at Hebrew University, on Mount Scopus.  To put this in perspective for you, and to share with you how this event personalizes terrorism for me, this is the cafeteria I eat at when I have lunch at school.  Four of the nine killed that day were students; three of them were students at the

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1091008980200021062004-07-28T12:33:00.000+03:002004-07-28T13:09:01.056+03:00

Yesterday I studied for about eight hours (a full twelve if you include the breaks) for the Arabic final I had today.  This final covered half of the course material--all the grammar and the classical Arabic texts.  I had not done so well on average on the quizzes in this class; we got a lot of information very quickly, and it was very easy to get confused.  Well, yesterday's study session paid

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1090902746120738002004-07-27T07:23:00.000+03:002004-07-27T07:32:26.120+03:00

I actually doubt that the way I've lived the past couple of days is really the "bachelor lifestyle," unless that means going to class, doing lots of schoolwork, keeping the apartment neat, watching a (very) little TV, and actually making an effort to cook myself food.  I heard from Elana by email, and she said she's having a great time in Italy...stories forthcoming, as there was a line for the

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1090742361778121772004-07-25T10:43:00.000+03:002004-07-25T11:00:15.583+03:00

In about five hours, Elana leaves for Italy.  I stay here. We said goodbye this morning in Ashdod, from where Alla will be taking her to Ben Gurion to meet some of her classmates, with whom she will travel to the land of La Dolce Vita to study at an art school in a small town in Umbria.  I'd be going today too, except I have to finish this Arabic course (I can't believe it's almost over...just

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1090383506225653162004-07-21T06:39:00.000+03:002004-07-21T19:52:16.993+03:00

Since I last wrote, Yasir has removed his cousin from his new post and Ahmed Qureia's resignation has not taken effect; the fighting goes on.  Arafat has shown himself to be susceptible to public opinion, and at this point Qureia has resigned and come back so many times that one of my favorite columnists has taken to mocking his nomme de guerre, "Abu Ala," by calling him "Abu Merang." Meanwhile

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1090128670339550152004-07-18T08:30:00.000+03:002004-07-18T18:20:17.703+03:00

The Palestinian Authority is facing the worst leadership crisis it has ever seen. It is really hard to get information about what is actually going on. Here's what I know: A few days ago in Gaza, Ghazi Jabali, the head of the Palestinian security apparatus, was abducted by militants. These militants, ironically, were demanding what Israel has been demanding all along: reform. Specifically, they

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1090039068892716432004-07-17T07:07:00.000+03:002004-07-17T07:43:02.216+03:00

I know, I disappeared for a few days. Life is filled with with schoolwork and preparation. Lots to do. Yesterday evening, finally, we had a chance to breathe. It being a Friday night in Jerusalem, that meant, in stark contrast to the rest of the week, there was nothing to do. Well, almost nothing, anyway. We discovered, somewhat to our surprise, that the movie theatres were still open,

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1089607129032531452004-07-12T07:38:00.000+03:002004-07-12T07:55:32.126+03:00

Last night Elana and I made our way to the Jerusalem Theatre, the largest theatre complex in town, where they are screening Fahrenheit 9/11 all week. The theatre, which was small (about nine rows of fifteen seats) was two levels underground, which felt somehow appropriate. What to say about the movie? Well, nobody is ever going to accuse Michael Moore of having a balanced view of things. For

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1089532754312755712004-07-11T10:46:00.000+03:002004-07-11T13:02:42.580+03:00

A day after I mentioned, cautiously, that it had been quiet for the last few months, there was a terrorist attack this morning at about 7 AM in Tel Aviv. Here's the report from Haaretz, Israel's best newspaper. The Palestinian Authority has yet to make a statement, but if they do it will be here. The latest reports are that one was killed and twenty wounded by a bomb placed next to the bus

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1089439574418083882004-07-10T09:06:00.000+03:002004-07-11T07:41:57.506+03:00

The ruling of the International Court of Justice in the Hague is beyond ridiculous, if certainly expected. The court ruled that Israel's separation barrier is illegal. Well, sort of. It notes in the introduction, squeezed into the decision almost as an afterthought, that it is concerned with the "departure from the Armistice Line of 1949," which is, of course, the Green Line--thus implying,

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1089385485028232972004-07-09T17:08:00.000+03:002004-07-09T18:04:45.026+03:00

When you live in Jerusalem, it's pretty hard to stay away from Tel Aviv. Where Jerusalem is the worldwide capital of Judaism, the national symbol of Israel, and the country's biggest city--and this is not even to mention its position in Islam and Christianity--it is also seriously lacking in some things that every city needs. Like, for instance, modern culture. Sure, there are clubs and bars

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1089211415932812262004-07-07T17:43:00.000+03:002004-07-07T17:43:35.933+03:00

It was a relaxing earthquake we felt just now. Tiny, gentle and rolling, although there was one somewhat strong jolt. The question now becomes where the epicenter was. If it was at the Dead Sea, like last time, I doubt it did much damage. If it was in Iran or Turkey, well...bad news. I'm off to check CNN.

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1089100729769811432004-07-06T10:41:00.000+03:002004-07-06T13:30:33.483+03:00

Dear Hebrew language instruction department of Hebrew University, Just because I have stated my intentions to discontinue our relationship as of my successful completion of the fourth level ("daled") of Hebrew, that being the highest level required by the masters degree program in which I am currently enrolled, I see no reason why you should have suddenly become so bitter and vengeful that you

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1088664048953933142004-07-01T09:27:00.000+03:002004-07-01T09:40:48.953+03:00

The ulpan phenomenon is one which I am sure many of you are aware of. For those of you who aren’t, an ulpan is an intensive (5-6 hours a day, five days a week) language course, usually Hebrew, designed to help new olim—new immigrants to Israel—learn the language they will need in order to assimilate into and function within Israeli society. In recent years, although still required by law, the

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1088366780360659432004-06-27T22:50:00.000+03:002004-06-28T06:44:36.456+03:00

Underscoring what I said already about the Gaza Strip, a bomb blast just destroyed a checkpoint, killing (according to some reports) at least five soldiers and wounding many others. Then, Palestinian gunmen opened fire on the rescue workers. This attack is in "response" to the killing of top terrorists in Nablus, including the city's Al-Aqsa Martyr's Brigades chief and Hamas chief. "At least"

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1088269833904181322004-06-26T19:23:00.000+03:002004-06-27T08:01:01.853+03:00

Tomorrow morning my parents head out. It's been a very nice visit with them. Yesterday, I had my final Hebrew exam. I finished after an hour. I'm sure I passed, and I'm glad to be done with Hebrew classes, at least for my time in Israel; I have completed the necessary level for my Masters degree, and would rather devote those eight hours a week to going to the gym or doing other work, and

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1088077047446280932004-06-24T14:07:00.000+03:002004-06-24T17:14:17.716+03:00

Life has been very busy the last couple of days. Two days ago my summer course in intermediate literary Arabic started (despite the fact that the semester still had not, and has not yet, ended; I was going to write a gripe about this and the scheduling difficulties it created, but, then again, what's the point?) and I've had finals and papers due. I've also been dealing with trying to cancel

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1087987074736262912004-06-23T13:37:00.000+03:002004-06-23T13:37:54.736+03:00

It's our anniversary! Yay!

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1087740253153042292004-06-20T16:38:00.000+03:002004-06-22T19:47:59.740+03:00

When my parents were in Denver, they met a man named Shaul who is the City Manager (perhaps a misnomer) for the Ramat-Negev region in southern Israel. I can comfortably say that it is a misnomer because he offered to take us on a jeep tour of this region of the northern Negev desert, south of the city of Be'er-Sheva. It was a phenomenal experience. We pulled out of Jerusalem on Friday morning

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1087501510855580162004-06-17T22:45:00.000+03:002004-06-17T23:21:23.393+03:00

On Tuesday, Professor Sharon took us to the Baha'i Gardens in Haifa, in the North. Haifa is, of course, where I lived with my family for a year in first grade, and is also the center of the Baha'i faith, which emerged out of a Messianic Iranian group of Twelver Shi'i Muslims, but which is not Islam itself. The Baha'i believe, essentially, that the world is one country and all mankind its

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1087186561421984022004-06-14T06:43:00.000+03:002004-06-14T14:40:15.490+03:00

It's been busy, what with my parents here and all. But it's also been a lot of fun. They arrived, and were immediately greeted by a stress Elana and I know all too well: their luggage was nowhere to be found. Oh, well...at least they had a ride. In Ben Gurion airport, there is one room where you wait for everyone to come out after clearing customs. It has two long fountains that all the

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1086850491478797712004-06-10T09:53:00.000+03:002004-06-10T09:54:51.476+03:00

It's been a while since I updated, mostly because I liked having the family pictures as the most recent post and didn't want to replace them here in the top slot with something inane. But, the good news of the day is that my parents are arriving in about nine hours! They're currently over the world's second-largest water-hole speeding closer at about 800 feet-per-second. Yesterday I had a

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1086467823425693702004-06-05T22:58:00.000+03:002004-06-05T23:37:03.426+03:00

We are back in Jerusalem, after the long flight (which didn't seem quite as long as the flight out to LA) and a weekend attempting to recuperate in Ashdod. Tomorrow we get back to "normal" life, as much as possible. While we were in LA, we did something I'm very proud to have done. We bought a scanner/printer for Elana's grandfather and digitized onto my computer about 450 photos, dating back

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1086138657221968422004-06-02T03:51:00.000+03:002004-06-02T04:10:57.220+03:00

Thanks to all who emailed, called, commented here or otherwise made contact with us during this difficult period. Return emails are on the way within the week. Special thanks to those who made the hour-and-a-half drive to see us (some, three or four times) in this little mountain town north of Los Angeles. It is times like these when you learn who your real friends and family are--and, sadly,

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1085107312106985272004-05-21T05:30:00.000+03:002004-05-21T07:02:24.890+03:00

This is unquestioningly the hardest thing I've ever had to write. Elana's mother, my mother-in-law, Emelya, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly last weekend. She had been young, healthy, and active. After both we two and Elana's grandparents returned from Israel (it took us eighteen hours to get out of the country and nineteen-and-a-half to reach Los Angeles via Toronto; Elana's grandparents

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1084606728743819602004-05-15T10:38:00.000+03:002004-05-15T14:23:23.353+03:00

Yesterday I addressed the issue of responsibility for future deaths in Gaza, albeit not very in-depth. The settlers, for a relatively reasonable demand not to be uprooted from their homes, nonetheless bear a partial responsibility for forcing the country into a tenuous security position--or at the very least, forcing the country to maintain a tenuous security position when it could be much

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1084513261222749422004-05-14T08:41:00.000+03:002004-06-05T20:33:43.543+03:00

I've been trying to keep this blog upbeat, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the mood in Israel right now can best be described as devastated. For those of you who don't know, 11 soldiers total were killed in two separate but almost identical attacks in the Gaza strip; they had been on a mission to destroy weapons smuggling tunnels. Imagine a country whose population is smaller

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1084385874329080502004-05-12T21:08:00.000+03:002004-05-12T21:17:54.330+03:00

We had really strange weather today. It always looked like it was going to storm, but it didn't; it was cold all day, in stark contrast to the unbearable heat of two days ago. That was what is called, in both Hebrew and Arabic, a Hamsin: hot, dry and muggy weather caused by winds from the Maghreb (so when I mentioned the Sahara I was more right than I knew). The sunset was extremely dramatic.

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1084337773316878832004-05-12T07:40:00.000+03:002004-05-12T07:56:13.353+03:00

Last night there was a power outage in Jerusalem. Around 11, when we were making our final preparations for bed and I was doing my last-minute surfing, my laptop's screen suddenly dimmed. The lights shut off. My first thought was that they had disconnected our electricity. But that didn't make sense, since we have been religious about paying our bills on time. I looked outside and all the

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1084274781071062572004-05-11T14:06:00.000+03:002004-05-11T14:26:21.070+03:00

Welcome to the new, more aerodynamic incarnation of "Adventures in Jerusalem!" (Notice how now there is less wind resistance!). The impetus to add some zip to the blog came from me, but the design came from (who else) Elana. It has been a good morning already. I finished my homework early on and spent much of the early part of the day working a bit ahead. I then helped Micha by taking some

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880720.post-1084189921308310812004-05-10T14:52:00.000+03:002004-05-10T17:33:49.200+03:00

Last Saturday was my birthday. Elana took care of all the celebration-type stuff, first arranging a dinner with our friends on Thursday night at Yoja, and then on Saturday afternoon a lunch with the Ashdod clan. I had a very happy birthday thanks to all that, of course. Here is one of Elana's latest paintings. Other news? Not too much. I had my Hebrew midterm, which went fine; I have

hebrewlionhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06884185918139519838noreply@blogger.com