News from the Homeland

By Meira Soloff
Yeshiva Track, Nativ 22

Ahhh! Finally I am able to sit back and write after such a long week. Things were going on all the time so I must do a week in review:

Sunday night:

After a frustrating day at yeshiva – the gemara seemed bent on being particularly elusive, and even our friend "blue" a.k.a. the Artscroll gemara wasn't able to untangle things for us – we headed off to the Jerusalem Theater for a little fun. David Broza was playing and we weren't about to pass up second row seats! When we arrived at the door we were promptly invited to join the "kabbalat panim," (reception) and we were a little surprised and wary that maybe we were not at the right place at all although this did not stop us from checking it out.

We finally got to the main hall after cautiously avoiding the two women in gray garbage bag dresses who were opening up clear umbrellas in front of people as they walked by – Israeli performance art! It was a relief to see that we were not the only grungy looking Americans there because we saw at least two others. The "kabbalat panim" turned out to be nothing more than one's average free pre-concert wine and cheese party or rather beer and cheese party. This was not surprising at all since everyone knows that before concerts David Broza traditionally invites all his fans to eat expensive cheese balls and veggies with dip. As for the concert itself, it was unbelievable. David sang octaves higher than I thought any man could go while making cool gurgling noises in his throat. To top it all off he sang some of the oldies but goodies like "Mitachat La'shamaim" and "Yihiyeh Tov". My friends and I were either in a stupefied state of awe or singing along with the crowd.

Monday:

I walked to yeshiva in the morning. The gemara has seemed to have changed it's attitude. We barely used "blue" at all.

Tuesday:

I walked to yeshiva in the morning. Along the way I saw a woman carrying a basket of fruit on her head advertising her delicious figs in a loud thickly accented voice. "How quaint" I thought. I had images of the marketplace of ancient Jerusalem running through my head. Suddenly excited, I called out to her "Five figs please!" although I did say it in Hebrew. She started to shovel figs into a bag. It suddenly occurred to me that perhaps she thought I had said 5 kilos.

To give standard math system users an idea of what 5 kilos are, think of a an 11 pound baby. I started to explain to her what I had meant. But, because this is Israel, people don't discuss, they bargain – so she responded by lowering the price. Apparently it was not very clear to her that even for such an excellent deal I still did not want to buy enough figs to start a small fruit stand of my own. By the end I finally caved in and at a "bargain price" went for a bag of figs roughly the size of a soccer ball. Note to self, work on being a more aggressive explainer!

Wednesday:

My friends and I argued with the cab driver about what it means to be holy.

Thursday:

It is time for Israeli dancing at the community center! My friends and I went to check out Israelis getting in touch with their roots. Little did we know what we were getting into... The teacher was a short, smiley Israeli in tight pants and a bright shirt with the energy of a large generator. The participants all seemed to be born with inherent grace and dancing knowledge though supposedly this was an activity open to the general public. My friends and I spent most of the evening bumbling around and desperately trying to keep from knocking into the fifty Israelis who continued to fly around the room in almost perfect step with each other.

Friday:

Doesn't count. Shabbat started at 4 pm.

Shabbat:

Sweet night's sleep! Shul was nice of course. There is nothing like hearing Hebrew prayers lead in real Hebrew accents. In the afternoon I went for a walk in downtown Jerusalem. All the shops were closed and the streets were nearly empty. It was eerie while at the same time it emphasized the peacefulness of the day for me. As I walked back to my base I heard Shabbat z'mirot floating out of apartments I passed along the way.

[Posted 1/2/03]