Anachnu Can (I stole it from a shirt)

MIRPESET B'NACHLAOT —— Welcome to my summer in Israel blog. Before we get down to my travels and first couple days in Jerusalem, I would like to explain the name and title of this blog.
If any of you have ever talked Israeli movies with me before, you know that my favorite Israeli film is Sallah Shabati. This title comes from the protest scene where Sallah tells the housing authority that he does not want to live in a house. Instead, he wants an internment camp.

A.D. Gordon was an early Zionist who moved to Israel to experience a spiritual connection through working the land. Through my work with SPNI, maybe I could experience a similar connection.

During this past school year, I decided that I needed to get away from home for a little bit and travel. This marks the first time that I am traveling on my own. I will spend this summer in Jerusalem, hopefully doing some volunteer work for SPNI and interning at the Jerusalem Post. At the end of June, I might start the Yavneh Olami Summer Internship Program but that is a long way away.

Now on with my journey. . .

Here I am leaving for Israel.

I took a British Airways flight to Israel, with a layover in London. Overall, it was one of the best overseas flights that I have ever been on (I have now been on five in my life). They treated me very well, the personal TV monitor was a plus (more on this later), and the food was (surprisingly) edible.

Now a few observations:

How does British Airways expect people to adjust to time changes when they give every person a personal TV screen with 18 channels. It is impossible to resist the opportunity to watch Torino Olympic replays, month-and-a-half old American sitcoms, giant gorilla movies, ensemble superhero films, or track the airplane's location.

On the way to London, I watched Goldeneye. This raises the question of why British Airways would screen a decade-old James Bond movie when it could show films that have not been released on video yet (I watched the new Woody Allen movie Match Point on the flight to Israel) or any of the three British Film Institute's Top 100 List.

When I think of England, the first thing that comes to mind is a soccer hooligan. But the second this that comes to mind would be tea and crumpets. However, in my time at London Heathrow Airport, albeit brief, I did not find a crumpetry. There might be specific time in the day set aside for tea and crumpets (tea time), but I would still expect to see a sign pointing me to a tea time lounge.

Note to self, whenever deciding which airplane meal to order, go vegetarian (at least on British Airways). I would use similar logic that I use on braised (read: bruised) beef Shabbat at Hillel.

I had heard from various sources to expect long delays at customs and baggage claim at Ben Gurion Airport. This was not the case yesterday afternoon. From the time we left the plane, I was through customs, baggage claim, and into the Nesher van in 10 minutes.

The van dropped me off at Bezalel and Shiloh in the Nachlaot neighborhood. It was little difficult to explain to the Nesher driver where to drop me off on Bezalel Street but we managed. My landlord’s wife met me at the intersection and took me up to my (charming?) apartment.

Marge as a realtor: The first house I have to show you is, ummm, a handyman's dream!
[pause] Because it's so dilapidated. Hmmmmm.

After settling into my apartment, I went to see my friend Carment who is finishing shana gimel (his third year) at Yeshivat Netiv Aryeh. He is leaving for home on Monday, so I hope to hang out with him a few more times before he leaves. You might remember him from such classics as The Last Gate and Shteigmaster 6000.


His yeshiva is located directly next to the Kotel and is about a 30 minute walk from my apartment.
It took me a few wrong turns (or going straight where I was supposed to be turnings) before I found my way to the Old City. We met in the Rovah parking lot and went to his dorm. Since he is leaving in a few days, I witnessed the annual Yeshiva tradition of pillaging through departing student’s belongings. It sounded like an auction, except there was less order. I saw someone take one sandal and a bottle of mouthwash from Carmen’s room.
Next we went to the Beit Midrash, which is located at the entrance to the Kotel to study with Carmen’s night chevruta (Carmen said that on Sukkot, he sleeps on the Yeshiva’s mirpeset, which overlooks the Kotel). After taking down 1.5 liters of strawberry banana Prigat and half a bag of sweets, we studied the laws of ancient fast days. In the times of the Talmud, the rabbis instituted fast days in the year to pray for rain.

When I decided to study with Carmen, little did I know that I would be in the presence of some of the great rabbis of out time.
I received blessings from the chief rabbi of the Old City and the grandson of Rabbi Aryeh Levin (A Tzadik in Our Time).
I actually held an extended conversation with Rabbi Levin.

After an hour of studying, Carmen went with me down the street to get some dinner. We went to a falafel place on the way back to the Rovah (if youÂ’re keeping score at home, this was my first meal in Jerusalem and my first falafel of the summer).


This morning, I decided to learn my way around my neighborhood (I was lost after two turns). After I got my bearings set, I decided that it was time to experience Shuk Makhane Yehuda, the open air market where you can by anything from leggings to freshly slaughtered lamb (on a tangent, when I was with Carment, he showed me an area next to his dorm where you can watch people shekhting [ritually slaughtering] lambs). This morning, I did not need leggings or freshly killed lambs. Instead, I had a craving for some fruit. With 20 sheks in my pocket, I bought a crate of nectarines and one of strawberries. You can see the fruits (pun intended) of my journey.