Today is my second to last day of my first year of rabbinical school. The last few months have just flown by, and I can't really believe that my year in Israel is almost over. Purim was such an amazing holiday to celebrate in Jerusalem. Besides doing our own Purimspiel, we also went to Shuk Machane Yehudah to celebrate with all different kinds of people. The weeks that then led up to Passover were a total blur. They included a flurry of tests and cleaning before Passover and also a trip to Vilna, Lithuania.
Our time in Vilna was perhaps one of the most meaningful times of my life. I was freezing my butt off (supposedly it was spring)-- I will never forget how cold my toes were...ever...I felt that I was in a place both of extreme loss and of rising possibilities. Vilna was the Jerusalem of Eastern European Jewry, but after the Holocaust only a small remnant remain to tell it's story. In spite of its dark history, Vilna's Jewish community is beginning to rebuild in post-soviet Lithuania. One of the most inspiring encounters we had was with Amit, the vibrant leader of the Vilna Jewish Student Organization. She serves as the leader of a group of 20 and 30 somethings in and around Vilna, and she is trying her hardest to build Jewish community on her own. Besides being absolutely admirable, her work is truly exciting because she actually is getting participation from young Jews whom the Chabad and Orthodox rabbis cannot reach. Not only that, but she and the leader of the Vilna Jewish Community, are working together to bring pluralistic Judaism to Vilna. After meeting with Amit, our classmates could not leave her without a rabbinical student to help her with her seder, and so Rae and Hilly stayed behind after we left to lead a seder in the TV Tower of Vilna and to continue to experience Jewish life in Vilna.
Passover was relaxing and wonderful. I had seder at Nancy Lewitt's which was divided into two sections: Anglo Olim and then their Israeli children. It was not only a funny way to see generational differences but also to see the way in which Israeli identity differs from secular parents to Israeli children. The rest of Passover break was spent in a myriad of places including Tiberias and Caesaria as well as a shabbaton in Modiin with friends. It was a lovely way to relax and explore Israel before the insanity of final exams and packing.
Now, I sit in my cubicle in the Jerusalem campus library working on Liturgy finals, an itinerary for a 20's and 30s trip to Israel, while also studying for my rabbinic texts, Hebrew, and Biblical grammar finals. It's a lot. I'm also intentionally avoiding packing and wrestling with what it will mean to be going home after such a full year of experiences and learning.
I guess that's what camp is for, right? Not really. In the midst of all of this studying and packing, I'm also working on a curriculum guide for camp, meeting with senior staff, and outlining services for the summer for Camp Daisy Stein where I will be the Judaics Director this summer. As much as I will miss Israel, my friends, and my experiences here, I'm more than ready to move onto the next step of my career; working at a Jewish summer camp! I'm also ready to start working on High Holyday sermons and services and to prepare to go "home" to Cincinnati, to return my life in the United States and to begin my journey stateside towards my rabbinate.
As the year ends, and I think about what I will pack, what I will bring home, I think about all of my favorite memories from Pre-ulpan, Shabbat dinners, coffee shops, and spending time with friends. Although I can't take Jewish time with me back to the states, I will try my best to retain it in my daily life--to make Fridays a time to prepare for Shabbat and to truly rest on Shabbat. I will also take with me all of the knowledge and skills I have gained this year; most of which I'm not sure are even things I can articulate. As per usual though, the things I will miss the most about my year in Israel will be the people in my life who live in Israel and also those who will be on different campuses next year. I'm not sure what I will do without Sonia, my coffeeshop owner, or Eli at the front gate with his cats, or Shoddy--the shy yet flirty Arab-Israeli barista at Beit Shmuel--or the guys at my corner store who ask me where I've been when I don't come by. I will miss Salim and his twin sons who ALWAYS throw me off and then laugh at me for getting confused. I will miss my Hebrew teachers Tali and Tami, Dave and Jeremy for their kindness and their antics, Nancy for her generosity, and Naamah for her wisdom and grace. Most of all, I will miss "my team," my closest friends in my program without whom I would not have survived this year.
While I will miss my friends and the important people and places in my life here, now it is time to pack up, and to make space for the next generation of HUC Year in Israel students so that they can fall in love with this place, learn from this place, and find themselves.
