Come join me on my journey in Jerusalem!

I've come here for the year to study at the Conservative Yeshiva, and life is very exciting, especially since this is my first year in the "real world" (whatever that actually means). It's my first time renting an apartment, my first time having to buy groceries for myself, my first kosher kitchen, my first time finding the closest post office, the cheapest pharmacy, the best place to buy tupperware...and half of the time, I'm figuring these things out in Hebrew! I've made plenty of mistakes so far, but I'm managing, and feeling more and more settled every day.

This year is an exciting journey for other, less day-to-day reasons as well. I'm here studying at the Conservative Yeshiva, which means that for the first time in my life I am completely immersed in the study of Jewish texts, and surrounded by an active, passionate, observant Conservative community. I feel like this is my first serious step to becoming a rabbi, a far greater step than any I have taken so far. I feel at home in this community in ways I've never felt before. I never thought I would be making Talmud jokes over lunch and having discussions about halakha (Jewish law) in between classes. I am also learning an incredible amount, and I'm thinking about things I never really thought about before. But for each thing I learn, I come up with two more questions, and every time I feel a little more at home hear, I wonder how I will adjust to going back to your average Conservative Jewish community in the U.S.

In addition to all the Jewish learning I am doing, I have found my mind running wild with thoughts of how to create communities of coexistence, where people of different faiths make a genuine effort to understand each other. I have placed myself in a country and in a city where issues of interfaith understanding are incredibly prevalent, and incredibly problematic. Although the focus of my studies has little to do with interfaith dynamics, simply living here, hearing what people say, and seeing different parts of Jerusalem, has made me think about ways to build interfaith communities and the incredible amount of work ahead of me.

So come join me through my successes and failures of life on my own, without the ease of living in a residence hall; my adventures in Talmud, Jewish thought, halakhah, and all the other fascinating things I will be studying; and my realizations about the realities of living in a multi-faith world. Let the journey begin!


Monday, August 24, 2009

Working Girl

Although I came to Jerusalem to study at the Conservative Yeshiva, sadly, the Yeshiva is currently in the middle of its 3 1/2 week vacation. So, instead of being a student, I have become a working girl with two jobs, one of them full time!

My first job is one that I have had for over a month now, and will continue to have throughout the year. One day at the Yeshiva, a woman who had been in my Ulpan (Hebrew) class came up to me and asked if I had a few minutes to talk. She explained that she and her family live in France, but her grandmother, we'll call her Flora, lives here in Israel. Flora is getting old and has fallen a few times, but refuses to have a live-in aid. Would I be interested in visiting her a few times a week?

Would I?! Of course! I had been looking for work, and beginning to doubt if I could find anything other than house cleaning (which I will do, but do not enjoy). This seemed like a gift from heaven that fell right into my lap. I began to visit Flora three times a week, and quickly learned that this job is even better than I thought it would be. Flora is a delightful 86 year old woman who moved to Israel from Washington, DC in the 1960s, before the 6 Day War. We have dozens of commonalities. We sit, talk, and eat dinner, and the two hours that I am there fly by every time. I love hearing stories about her family, and about what Israel was like 40 or 50 years ago. Plus, she is so happy to see me every time I come, it makes me feel great.

Thinking that things were going great and that I had used up any good luck I might have in finding work, a week after the Yeshiva vacation began, I got a phone call from someone who was looking for people to make calls to potential Birthright applicants. (For those of you who don't know, Taglit-Birthright Israel is a free 10 day trip to Israel for Jews between the ages of 18 and 26 who have never been to Israel before.) This would be full-time work, but only for a few weeks, which was perfect for my schedule. I said yes to the job, but I was a little apprehensive at first. I had one job making phone calls before, and I HATED it. It is actually to this day the only job I ever quit. I was making fund raising calls, and I just couldn't handle all the angry people hanging up on me or, even worse, keeping me on the phone for 20 minutes complaining about why they shouldn't be asked to give money to this organization. I was worried this might be the same, but it definitely is not. I absolutely love this job! We only call people who signed up for our mailing list, or who registered for a trip last year but for whatever reasons didn't go. Almost everyone who I call is so happy to hear from us, and I feel great because I'm helping people come to Israel! Plus, the other people in the office are so much fun, and we really have a great time. The only difficult part of the job is that we work US business hours from Jerusalem, so I work from 5 pm to 1 am every day! It's a little crazy, but completely worth it.
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2 comments:

  1. Maya ResnikoffAugust 25, 2009 at 5:25 AM

    Wow- what a work life! I'm envious- I could really use some sort of job next year, but of course on a student visa, it isn't really legit. Any tips on how you've found your various employments?

    In other news- I get to Israel during Chol HaMoed, and look forward to seeing you!

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  2. RachelAugust 25, 2009 at 12:41 PM

    Just tell people you're looking for work. That's how I got both of these jobs - one of the rabbis at the Yeshiva knew I was looking for work, heard about these jobs, and gave me the information. I also had a brief housecleaning job over the summer, cleaning the apartment of some other Yeshiva students who knew I needed work. I hear Janglo.com is a good place to look too, but I haven't used it myself. Just get the word out there, and keep your eyes and ears open!

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