Yom HaShoah is the Israeli national Holocaust remembrance day. Like all Jewish holidays, it begins at sundown on the night before. On the day of, there is a siren that goes off at 10 a.m. to remember all the lives lost during the Holocaust. The siren lasts for 2 minutes and throughout the day, there is a somber atmosphere. Radio stations play only sad songs, documentaries and ceremonies are the only things found on television, and there is virtually no laughter heard all day.
One thing that I really find fascinating is the fact that when the siren goes off, no matter where you are, everyone stops and stands. Even cars stop in the middle of the highway and stand. I have always wanted to witness being on a highway during the siren. Today, we were able to see it from far away on Highway 1, but it wasn't the same as what it would have been if I were standing on the Ayalon Highway, the fastest highway in Israel.
I found it very interesting that many of the cars didn't even bother to stop. I only saw two cars that stopped within the small area that we could see. It was a little disappointing to see that even though the siren went off and Yom HaShoah is a national holiday, people didn't care to pay their respects to the millions of Jews that lost their lives during the Holocaust.
Today we also learned about some of the general views of Palestinians and Arabs about the Holocaust and its effects. According to our teacher, many Arabs refuse to acknowledge that the Holocaust even happened. I assumed that the drivers that didn't stop were Palestinians that just didn't recognize the significance of the Holocaust, but it still bothered me a little that they couldn't even stop for a moment to even think if they knew anyone who had any relationship with someone who lived during the Holocaust.
Monday, April 28, 2014
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Yom Ha'atzmaut
Yom Ha'atzmaut is Israel's independence day. Israel became an independent state on May 14, 1948 and has been thriving ever since. As Yom Ha'atzmaut nears, Israeli culture is at its peak. Songs about Israel are released, decorations are hung, children in schools prepare for ceremonies with songs and dancing, and Rikudei Am or Cultural Dances are seen all over the cities.
I personally love to listen to the radio on Yom Ha'atzmaut because not only are the songs all about Israel, but they are all happy and praising. Although some of them have a slow beat, the message is positive. One song that I really like that makes me think of Israel's culture is Zikukim by Moshe Perez. This song talks about a girl who has had troubles in the past but wants something to make her happy in the present even though there is possibly a risk.
The lyrics can be directly related to Israel. She has had some troubles in the past, but in the future she just wants to be happy and thrive despite the dangers. It is very interesting to me how Israel is personified. It makes the culture and personality of the people of Israel be more emphasized. Songs are a great way to express not only the history of the land of Israel, but also Israeli culture.
I personally love to listen to the radio on Yom Ha'atzmaut because not only are the songs all about Israel, but they are all happy and praising. Although some of them have a slow beat, the message is positive. One song that I really like that makes me think of Israel's culture is Zikukim by Moshe Perez. This song talks about a girl who has had troubles in the past but wants something to make her happy in the present even though there is possibly a risk.
The lyrics can be directly related to Israel. She has had some troubles in the past, but in the future she just wants to be happy and thrive despite the dangers. It is very interesting to me how Israel is personified. It makes the culture and personality of the people of Israel be more emphasized. Songs are a great way to express not only the history of the land of Israel, but also Israeli culture.
Yam 'L Yam
This past week, during Pesach, I participated in a 5 day hike from the Sea of Galilee to the Mediterranean. We woke up at the crack of dawn to begin each day with the start of that day's hike. We would stop to have breakfast along the trail and around noon we would stop to cook ourselves some lunch. Lunch was so much fun to cook. We got to experiment with what they gave us and we were able to make some delicious dishes. Then we would hike some more and the guide would give us a map so we could navigate ourselves through the trails to a checkpoint. Despite getting lost a couple times, we were eventually able to find the checkpoints. We would continue hiking and eventually reach our campsite for the night where we would pitch our tent, have dinner, go on a small night hike, and sleep.
Before Yam 'L Yam, I was excited, but I was also a little worried. I had never been backpacking or anything close to it where I was hiking for 5 days straight and I had also never been camping. I was worried that I would have a hard time walking up huge hills and adjusting to whatever nature had to throw at me.
After Yam 'L Yam, I was very proud of myself. It made me realize that no matter what task I am set up to face, I am able to make it through. It was difficult, but not as bad as I thought because I was always having fun. There was always something to look at, whether it was the view or a lizard crossing the path.
Yam 'L Yam is an experience that each person who wants to get to know the land of Israel should do. Throughout the week we walked through water, forests, plains, fields of goats, and rocky terrain. Thinking back to how Israel looked prior to 1948 (swamps) and how Israel looks now (agriculturally rich) is mind blowing. The early pioneers must have had to work from dawn until dusk and possibly more to change the landscape to make it suitable for living and farming. It is a really amazing thing to think about.
Before Yam 'L Yam, I was excited, but I was also a little worried. I had never been backpacking or anything close to it where I was hiking for 5 days straight and I had also never been camping. I was worried that I would have a hard time walking up huge hills and adjusting to whatever nature had to throw at me.
After Yam 'L Yam, I was very proud of myself. It made me realize that no matter what task I am set up to face, I am able to make it through. It was difficult, but not as bad as I thought because I was always having fun. There was always something to look at, whether it was the view or a lizard crossing the path.
Yam 'L Yam is an experience that each person who wants to get to know the land of Israel should do. Throughout the week we walked through water, forests, plains, fields of goats, and rocky terrain. Thinking back to how Israel looked prior to 1948 (swamps) and how Israel looks now (agriculturally rich) is mind blowing. The early pioneers must have had to work from dawn until dusk and possibly more to change the landscape to make it suitable for living and farming. It is a really amazing thing to think about.
Pesach Presents
Pesach is the Jewish holiday when we remember being slaves in Egypt and celebrating how Moses led us out of slavery to freedom. It is a custom to give and receive gifts on Pesach. Growing up in an Israeli family, I had always received gifts on Pesach. In class, each person talked about how their Seder went and many of the students were surprised that they received gifts. It took me a while to understand that it is not a usual thing to receive gifts on Pesach in America.
After hearing this it made me really realize how American Judaism and Israeli Judaism is different. American Reform Judaism is very influenced by outside religions and cultures. For example, receiving presents on Hanukkah in Israel is not a thing. It started in America as a way to "compete" with Christmas. In fact, in Israel Hanukkah is a fairly insignificant holiday and was only glorified by the American Reform Jewish community.
Anyway, it really made me realize how Judaism has developed in many places all around the world. There are different traditions for everything no matter where you are in the world. It its not only a comparison between America and Israel. I am sure this happens everywhere else that there are Jews in the world. No matter what the traditions are, the most important thing is to remember what the holiday stands for and what is meant to be done.
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Pesach Prep
Pesach, or Passover, is a major Jewish holiday. The beginning of the Jewish calendar was originally on Pesach. When this holiday comes around, people empty their houses of all the bread and exchange it with Matza, unleavened bread. The Matza represents how little time the Jews had to leave Egypt. They had so little time that they couldn't even afford to let their bread rise before they baked it.
Growing up in America, many of the Jews I know are very liberal. Many of them don't even take all the bread out and just buy Matza. In Israel however, I was amazed to see how big of a deal Pesach is. I know it is a high holiday, but I had never experienced a spring cleaning quite like this one. Before Pesach comes, not only do people burn their bread and replace it with Matza, but they also have to clean every single dish that had ever touched bread. Some families have completely separate dishes and silverware just for Pesach along with the milk and meat ones they have for any other day of the year. Each house is intensely cleaned and not a spec of dirt is left anywhere. I had never experienced anything like this before in my life. In my house, we clean and get rid of all the bread, but it is not even close to being at the same level as people in Israel because it is only my family that does it. In America it is not a community type thing so nobody really cares. It was a very different experience for me that I will never forget.
Growing up in America, many of the Jews I know are very liberal. Many of them don't even take all the bread out and just buy Matza. In Israel however, I was amazed to see how big of a deal Pesach is. I know it is a high holiday, but I had never experienced a spring cleaning quite like this one. Before Pesach comes, not only do people burn their bread and replace it with Matza, but they also have to clean every single dish that had ever touched bread. Some families have completely separate dishes and silverware just for Pesach along with the milk and meat ones they have for any other day of the year. Each house is intensely cleaned and not a spec of dirt is left anywhere. I had never experienced anything like this before in my life. In my house, we clean and get rid of all the bread, but it is not even close to being at the same level as people in Israel because it is only my family that does it. In America it is not a community type thing so nobody really cares. It was a very different experience for me that I will never forget.
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Poland In A Nutshell
The journey to Poland is a very important and emotional one. Even for someone who doesn't have any connection to anyone who was personally affected by World War II, it is still a very hard and emotional experience.
For someone like me who's family was in the Middle East at the time of the Holocaust, I thought it would just be a trip to remember. It would be nothing more than an educational experience because I don't have family (or friends that have family) who died in the Holocaust. In preparation for Poland, we watched many movies on the Holocaust, learned about how the war progressed, and talked about what we think we will experience when we get to Poland. We also went to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem, a couple days before we left. I felt very prepared until we watched The Pianist. I felt my legs shaking throughout the whole movie and I couldn't keep myself together. I was worried that if I felt like this during a movie, then how would I react to seeing the things in real life.
When we got to Poland we immediately started with all the death and depressing stuff. I was surprised to know that I wasn't really emotionally effected by all of it. I felt perfectly fine. I understood that all the things that happened during the Holocaust were terrible for the Jewish people, but there is no reason crying about things that are in the past. We need to focus on the present and how we prevent these things from happening in the future. While also grieving for the people who died, we should take the Holocaust as a learning experience to prevent anything like this from happening again.
For someone like me who's family was in the Middle East at the time of the Holocaust, I thought it would just be a trip to remember. It would be nothing more than an educational experience because I don't have family (or friends that have family) who died in the Holocaust. In preparation for Poland, we watched many movies on the Holocaust, learned about how the war progressed, and talked about what we think we will experience when we get to Poland. We also went to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem, a couple days before we left. I felt very prepared until we watched The Pianist. I felt my legs shaking throughout the whole movie and I couldn't keep myself together. I was worried that if I felt like this during a movie, then how would I react to seeing the things in real life.
When we got to Poland we immediately started with all the death and depressing stuff. I was surprised to know that I wasn't really emotionally effected by all of it. I felt perfectly fine. I understood that all the things that happened during the Holocaust were terrible for the Jewish people, but there is no reason crying about things that are in the past. We need to focus on the present and how we prevent these things from happening in the future. While also grieving for the people who died, we should take the Holocaust as a learning experience to prevent anything like this from happening again.
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