Ulpan Experience:

One of the amazing things about Israel is they give new Olim(Immigrants) five months of free Hebrew education which they call Ulpan. Not only do you get to learn the holy language for free, but it's a great place to start out with because you are usually among people who are going through the same thing you are and can be a good support system. It's also a cultural experience because you get to meet people from all over the world. I met people from England, Russia, Australia, Poland, Yemin, and even a Pakistani couple. It was a diverse group of people from all different religious backgrounds so you learn about people's different view points of things and where they come from. They also take you on trips around Israel with the group which is another chance to bond with everyone, as well as experience Israel.

There were some challenges that I faced during Ulpan. One of the challenges was the intensity of it. It is hard for me to sit for four hrs straight learning a language (and a hard one at that). There was a quiz every week, and homework. It's hard balancing having time to study and do homework, while having to raise kids and all the other things that come along with moving to another country. Time is something that I felt I never had enough of and felt like I was always running. I was placed in Aleph which is the beginners class. Beginners class in my eyes is starting from scratch like learning the Aleph Beis and learning to read with vowels along and going from there.  However that's not what they mean by beginners. In Aleph, they already expect you to know how to read Hebrew and write in script. I knew how to read Hebrew (not like a pro though) with vowels, or read without vowels (which is what we did through the whole class) but did not know script, and they tested us on script on our first day. The next day the teacher spoke me and told her I need to retake the test. So I studied hard, and in two weeks I was able to retake the test again, and this time I passed! While it is mentally challenging to the point where at the end of class we all usually let out a simultaneous groan from a hard day of work, the class does motivate you to work harder than you normally would on your own. There is a lot of reading out loud in class and the teacher often will ask you what the answer is to a question on the board, so you need to be paying attention or you won't get it. You also speak to each other in Hebrew and are expected to know how to ask the question and respond back appropriately.  Even if you are someone who is on the lazy side and wouldn't normally do all the homework, your ego will probably get the best of you and make you study because you don't want to sound look like a noob in front of everyone.

It's was my first time being taught by an Israeli, which was a cultural experience also. I didn't know what to expect because Israeli's are described as the people who are like the prickly pear that grows in the dessert. The plant is hard on the outside, but soft and sweet on the inside. My teacher was not even hard on the outside, she was a very kind and patient person and I loved having her as a teacher. I thought she handled herself very well with all the different questions coming at her and all the people from different backgrounds bringing up controversial topics (not always having to do with Hebrew) but she handled everything very gracefully and with a sense of humor. I feel blessed to be able to have had her as my first Israeli teacher. I think teachers here are more chill and open than I'm used to in the States, which is why I think she handled the controversial questions and comments well because in Israel she said they speak about these things with their students. They can speak about things like religion, politics, and other serious topics. If people learn new things that are true then it's great, however if teachers are teaching things that are not true, it's a problem which is why there are good and bad things to being so open in a classroom.

One of my fellow students blew me away with another cultural experience. He joked a lot and did the Asian squinty eyes thing at me at least twice. When I told people I used to be in the Air Force he asked if I was part of the Kamikaze's and another person in the group also did the squinty eye thing and laughed. I was blown away at how insensitive they were, I wasn't offended but more shocked than anything, because I really don't believe they were doing it with malice. I just think they didn't think about how that could be taken in an offensive way. Maybe because they were from different countries their culture isn't sensitive to things like that I don't know but that was another experience.

At the end of Ulpan, you get a written test and an Oral test. I actually passed my oral test, which was a huge surprise because I said not long ago that I doubt I would pass this class. Every time I succeed in doing something that I found to be really hard, I feel like I experienced just a hint of what it must have felt like for Chris Gardner in the movie "Pursuit of Happiness," when he was told that he got the job he had been working so hard to get. I didn't have time to practice more than an hr a day, and some how made it through. I would practice more before quizzes or tests. There was one quiz every week usually. It feels so good to have completed Aleph, but I will miss the people, and feel so grateful to have had this opportunity.  I plan on working with a tutor about twice a week to practice reading and speaking and having her work on pronunciation with me, and I will continue to practice the things I've learned to make sure I retain the foundation of this amazing language and hope to one day G-d willing be fluent!

Getting off the plane - Thank You Nefesh B'Nefesh!

I gotta hand it to Nefesh B'Nefesh(NBN). The organization was founded in 2002 with the mission to help people make aliyah as easy as possible, and that is what they did for us. They actually pay for people's flights who are making aliyah, along with so many other helpful things which you can check out on their website: http://www.nbn.org.il/nefesh-bnefesh-history-milestones/ A neat thing about flying on a NBN flight, everyone on the plane is making aliyah along with you so there is a huge sense of camaraderie and comfort in being with people who are all going through something similar. As the plane was landing the pilot made an announcement saying after we land we will be entering Israel as Israeli citizens for the first time.

When we finally got off the long 10-11 hr flight from New York, we started our walk down the stairs from the plane. We saw the NBN crew and reporters filming everyone and taking pictures. It's probably the closest thing we will ever experience of what it must feel like to be a celebrity. After everyone got off the plan we all had to get on a bus to go to another location which is where they hold a big welcoming ceremony for new Olim. It is such an amazing thing to experience. Once you get off the bus, there are loads of people singing and cheering for everyone who made aliyah and holding up signs. There is a band playing music, people dancing, and usually The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu makes a speech but that day there was a warning for how hot it was so they didn't have the usual speeches. I  I was actually relieved because I heard that the speeches were long and all I wanted to do after not sleeping for 24 hrs and being on a plane, was go to our place we were renting and collapse! Words cannot do the experience justice. Check out the video to see for yourself:



When the ceremony ended we were taken to the airport and the process of paperwork began. I was dreading it because there were so many people who had to get processed and most had kids so we had to figure out how we were going to entertain them for who knows how long and we were all tired and hungry. Fortunately NBN was awesome and had a little play area for the kids and had another room set up where they could watch a movie. They also gave the kids this big welcome bag full of toys and candy. They had a food and drink spread of sandwiches, chips, cookies, coffee and water. This made the whole process so much easier to get through, and we didn't even have to wait that long. After about an hr there we got through the paperwork part which was all organized and ready for us, and we were finally taken to our transportation (which was also set up by NBN), we saw all our bags, as well as our cats all ready for us (the kids were so happy to see the cats). Now it was time to head to our final destination, Beit Shemesh here we come!

Why be an observant Jew when you don't have to - Yisro Parsha Lessons:

(Originally written by us for Kol Habirah newspaper)

There are so many lessons to take from Parsha Yisro, it’s overwhelming, It is said that this is possibly the most important Parsha. The word Parsha means a portion of the Torah. I find this claim to be interesting since this week's Parsha happens to be named after Yisro (Jethro), who is a very important, yet not a very well known character in the Torah.  He was Moshe’s father in law, and a Midianite priest. He had seven daughters, one of whom became Moshe’s wife (Tzipporah). He gave Moshe some great leadership advice and is used as an example to this day. Yisro was also one of Pharaoh’s advisers during the time when they were trying to figure out what to do with the Jews.  One of the advisers suggested the final solution, the second said nothing, and Yisro advised them to live in peace with them. We all know which adviser Pharaoh listened to. That is when Yisro fled to Midian. Lastly, despite the fact that Yisro was originally an idol worshiper, he eventually became the first Jewish convert.

 We have a special place our hearts for Yisro, being converts ourselves. That, and the fact that Yisro knew how to celebrate.  When Moshe told him what Hashem did, saving the Jews from Egypt, he made a feast and invited people to eat with him.

 Coming from a Christian background, we can relate to have taken part in idol worship, and more fatteringly, being a truth seeker, and rejecting falsehood once we discovered what the truth was. Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe sums it up nicely, "This Parsha is named Yisro to teach us that the way to acquire Torah is to follow the ways of Yisro. Search for truth and be critical. Reject falsehood. And when you discover truth, be ready to sacrifice everything for it!"

 People might not be so thrilled at this kind of adventure. One reason, might be that our priorities are of order, or just wrong. Yisro taught the value of making choices based on truth, and also the value of taking care of ourselves by getting help when we need it. Knowing our limitations and taking care of ourselves is a priority that is easily forgotten. So often, we forget to put ourselves on our list, despite it being so important.

After Yisro heard all of all the miracles that Hashem performed for the Jews, he went to look for Moshe. He found Moshe speaking with a long line of Jews answering questions that they had. When he saw this he said, “Why do you sit alone with all the people standing by you from morning to evening. You will surely become worn out… as well as this people that is with you.” ~ Exodus 18:14-17. He essentially advised Moshe to delegate. He had other knowledgeable people be the ones to answer smaller issues, while Moshe would be the ones to discuss only the more complicated big issues. This method of delegation is used in most big organizations such as the military in order to run efficiently. I remember when I was in the military, we were taught this system.  We were always supposed to try and solve cases at the lowest level possible first, before any cases went to the higher-ups. Moshe listened to Yitro (which I think shows Yisro’s importance when you see the greatest prophet who ever lived listened to his father-in-law’s advice (he also asked his permission to go back to Egypt to free the Jewish people). I think we live in a rat race culture of always running running running. A car, if it’s not maintained and taken care of, will eventually break down and run out of gas. The same things goes for people.  You can’t give what you don’t have.

The next priority lesson Yisro taught is living up to the truth, which is the foundation priority of which one should base all of their life decisions on. The big question we most frequently get as  converts is, “Why did you want to convert? It's so hard!” One reason the question is the most interesting to people I think, aside from the obvious difficulties that converting to Judaism brings, is it’s not a requirement to be a righteous person. Judaism teaches there are 7 Noahide laws that Hashem gave to the Gentiles to follow. If non-Jews follows those, they are considered righteous people who have a share in the world to come. Also, why sign up to a group where there is so much hatred toward them that it has its own word?  I think  “why” is a fair question to get from people. We have had people tell us that they don’t think they would convert given the option. I think an important question for people to ask themselves is, if they had the choice, would they still choose to be a Jew?

This goes back to Yisro and priorities. What do we really care about in life? Rabbi Akiva Tatz says that if you want to know who someone is, ask them what they want in life. When we stop and think, what do we really want?  Ease and comfort, or meaning and purpose?  If we think of what we want to see in our lives when we look back on our lives after 120 years, what do we want to have accomplished? What do we want people to say about us? Who do we want to have been?  Selfish, arrogant, honor seeking, entitled, lazy gluttons, or the kind of hero with character that people want to teach their kids about? The people in the Torah are probably the most famous people in the world, and have had the most impact on the world, and yet none of their lives I would say would be labeled easy and comfortable.

The Jewish people have spent the last 3,300 years teaching ourselves and the world that no matter who you are, man is subject to a Higher Power who demands morality and character from every individual.  Could there be a bigger purpose?  The all-powerful, all-knowing, loving Creator of existence cares about every second of your life and created eternity to spend it with you.  Could there be a bigger meaning? I think what is unique to being a Jew, rather than a Noahide, that makes us feel like we would be missing something is, the opportunity to be as close to the Almighty as possible, and the amazing community that Orthodox Judaism creates.  We are required to consciously choose good in every action we take, from being grateful and feeding our animals before we eat ourselves, to wasting time at work, improving ourselves continuously, sacrificing parts of ourselves and our desires that we once held dear in order to be truly good human being. Could there be a greater heroism? Hashem made the Jews his chosen people to be a light unto the nations. How could we miss out on that?

References:

http://www.aish.com/tp/b/lp/48942676.html
https://www.torchweb.org/torah_detail.php?id=141

Our First Shabbos As Israeli Citizens:

7/8/2017, Motzie Shabbos:

Our first eruv Shabbos started off sweet. We received several invitations to go to people's houses for Shabbos meals which was so nice. However, we decided we wanted to stay home our first Shabbos in Israel, since we were still getting adjusted and tired from jet leg. A bunch of  families came by and dropped all kinds of goodies for us to enjoy for Shabbos. Everything from home made Challah, to salt, and cookies made out of Israeli flags that a mother and her kids made for us along with some adorable "welcome to Israel" pictures for us.

One of my favorite things about getting to celebrate Shabbos is Israel is candle lighting time. In Israel, sirens go off around the Jerusalem area to alert people that it's almost candle lighting time. When it goes off the kids running in from outside the house with looks of excitement yelling "it's time for candle lighting" and makes the experience of lighting candles and much more epic sort of experience.

Some of the highlights for our first Shabbos in Israel was my husband, Stephan discovering how much he loved the dovening at Shul Friday night. He said that if we would have gone to that shul last year during our pilot trip he would have demanded that we go to beit shemesh because of how much he loved the dovening. We both love music and at shul there was a lot more singing then he's seen in any shul. Someone was keeping the beat on the bimmah, the acoustics were nice, and they were picking a lot of  his favorite tunes. The weather was hot but comfortable. One of the ladies who was making a meal told me they have Tehillim at the park for kids at 10:15am Shabbos morning so we went to that. It was cute, at the end they give the kids popsicles and other treats so of course the kids like it then. We went to Shul afterwards for the kiddush which was nice. There were a lot of people coming up to us and introducing themselves. We feel we really lucked out on being in Beit Shemesh since we are really comfortable here already in the community because of the people. Later that Shabbos Cyrus had two boys show up and ask him if he wanted to play easing my fears of him making friends.  It was a great first Shabbos as Israeli citizens in Israel for everyone.

You don't have to be Jewish

In Judaism, one thing I learned which I liked was that you don't have to be Jewish in order for G-d to love you or be considered a righteous good person. He gave mankind 7 laws to follow because of how essential they are for humanity to live in peace. These laws are called "Noahide" laws because all of mankind are derived from ancestors of Noah, and so the laws.

The laws are as follows:

 1.) Do not worship false gods
 2.) Do not murder
3.) Do not steal
 4.) Set up courts and bring offenders to justice
5.) Do not curse G-d
6.) Do not be sexually immoral
7.) Do not eat a limb removed from a live animal

 Anyone (Jew or Non-Jew) who live up to these laws has a proper place in heaven (Maimonides). The Torah includes many more laws that Jews are commanded to uphold, but most of them are also noble and beneficial (but not obligatory) for the rest of humanity. Some Noahides choose to adopt some of these, such as keeping kosher, honoring parents, and daily prayer.

 There are many active groups of non-Jews today who observe the Seven Noahide Laws faithfully called "B'nai Noach” (children of Noah).
http://noahide.org/
http://www.en.noahideworldcenter.org/
http://www.noachide.org.uk/

Mt. Carmel National Park and Kosher McDonald's:

6/7/2016:

• Today the big thing on our agenda was to go to Mt Carmel National Park and a Kosher McDonald's for lunch and my Rosh Chodesh gift of not having to cook (a tradition in our house).

Favorable adventure: 

• The Carmel Forest National Park was was beautiful. We saw an amazing view of mountains and the sea at the same time. A cute chubby beagle/corgy looking dog came up to us. He  was super friendly. Chana is crazy about dog and wants to pet and take home every dog she sees so she was beside herself. Both kids were extra excited when he decided to follow us the whole way. This is the part of "adventure" I actually like. The nice kind of surprises. The kids and I wanted to take him home with us, but we knew we couldn't and also he had a collar so he probably belonged to someone. We also saw some beautiful purple wild flowers that were neat because they were as tall as the kids(and I have tall little ones).

Unfavorable adventure:

• It was not easy to find the Forest part the National Park.

• Next we headed off to the University of Haifa because there is a kosher McDonald's in it, but by the time we got there the security wouldn't let us in because we were not students. Apparently you have to be a student to be able to park or eat at McDonald's. So...on to plan B.

• Plan B was to find another McDonald's or another burger pace. We couldn't find parking for another McDonald's that we knew was kosher for sure. Thank G-d for our phones, google maps, and the internet. We found another kosher burger place, but it wasn't open until 11:45. (It was 10:30 at the time, not sure what we were thinking). We were about to give up and go home, until I came across another Kosher McDonald's in the Rambam hospital and was 17 minutes away. So with a hope and a prayer we headed that way.

• Parking at the Rambam hospital was a nightmare.  First in the parking garage there was no parking, and it took us forever to even find where you go up and down. By this time we had almost been driving around for 2 hrs with 2 little kids in the back seat who were bickering at each other. We just left the parking garage and I was about to give up, but we found a place to park on the opposite side of the hospital and eventually got in.

Favorable Adventure:

Happy Meals = Happy Kids!

• There was also a Kosher Schwarma place which looked more up my alley since while I think it's great there is a Kosher McDonald's, I was in the mood for some real food with more veggies. So I went to the  Schwarma place  since I had been craving one, while Stephan and the kids went to McDonald's. I figured I could at least have a bite of some of Stephan's to see how Kosher McDonald's measures up to the real thing. Turns out, it tastes the same (minus the cheese).  By the way, why don't other places adopt similar "happy meals?" They are genius and must be one of the main reasons why McDonald's is still in business. Affordable kids meal that comes in a cute take home box and a toy. What kid wouldn't love that? Oh and the Schwarma was delicious.






• Lastly, packing our things for Yerushalayim tomorrow! :)

Rationality and Religion

Why does it matter whether or not there's any logical evidence for my religious beliefs?  Isn't limited human logic unworthy of being used for our thoughts about the infinite and the divine?  Why should I care if there's a heap of rational proofs against them?

The idea that religious views aren't subject to rationality is a very comforting one.  It absolves a person from the fear of their religious critics, the feeling of doubt and irresponsibility, and the guilt of morally questionable parts of their religion, and the effort that it would take to read and think.  It's a very handy tool for the layman's comfort and the leader's ability to manipulate - but is it true?

Truth is something that we can't escape from.  You hear the sound of shattering glass from the other side of your house.  Either someone is breaking into your house, or it was something else.  Whether your close your eyes, hide in the closet, call the police, go investigate, yell out your window at the neighbor kids for playing baseball, or go on eating your sandwich, there either is or isn't someone breaking into your house.   If there is, then all the disbelief and apathy in the world won't make him disappear.  If there isn't, then all of the belief and fear in the world won't make him appear.  Why does this matter?  It matters because you have a practical choice of action ahead of you, and you will choose your action based on what you believe.  If your belief is aligned with truth, then you can choose wisely.  If your belief is not aligned with truth, then your choice can end in tragedy.

With religious beliefs, we have practical choices, too.  There either is or there isn't a G-d.  If He does exist, He either does or doesn't want you eat pig.  There either is or isn't a harem of virgins waiting for us if we blow up that school bus.  There either is or there isn't a lake of fire waiting for us if we reject Jesus.  What greater tragedy can there be than to spend your life with mistaken beliefs about G-d and your purpose, only to realize at the end of your life that you wasted it by ignoring your entire purpose for existing, that you missed out on eternal bliss, that you committed heinous crimes which you thought were the will of G-d, or that you will burn forever in an eternal lake of fire?  Certainly then, it's extremely important to have our religious beliefs aligned with reality.  The only problem left is: how do we do that?   We use logic, because it's our only useful tool for separating truth from fiction.

But hey!  Isn't limited human logic incapable and unworthy of being used for our thoughts about the infinite and the divine?  I agree that no amount of thinking can ever give a person the full understanding of the nature of G-d, or what it would be like to experience eternity.  There are truly some things that our mind can't understand, but what are our other options?

· You could base your religious views on what you grew up with, but to do is is to let a roll of the dice determine your destiny, and the odds are not in your favor.  Would you drive on the left side of the road in America because that's how you learned to drive growing up?

· You could base your religious views on the first compelling argument you find...  If you were a judge, would only hear the first side of a case to give their arguments and then make a decision?

· You could base your religious views on whatever makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside...  Would you ever eat dish soap because looking at it makes you feel happier inside than the cereal box?

· You could base your religious views on whatever makes you most socially accepted among your friends or peers... Would you become a Nazi because your buddies are all Nazis or because Nazis are well respected in your profession?

You know better than that.  If you would use your brain for finding the truth about what is best to eat for breakfast, or which side of the road to drive on, how much more important is it to use logic to find the truth about your purpose in life and your eternal fate?

The first, and most difficult step to using your mind is to open it to the possibility that you might be wrong about some of your religious beliefs (maybe even all of them), and even more so about the beliefs of other religions.  After admitting that possibility, and realizing the need for logical research, it's also necessary to equip yourself with the compass of understanding how logic works before setting out to explore the sea of religious views.  It's full of every imaginable kind of illogical fluff (I may do a post for this).

With these skills in hand, you'll be ready to look objectively and logically at what evidence there is for and against your current religious beliefs, the different views within your current religion, and the beliefs of other religions.  Of all the people I've talked to, only a handful are willing to open their mind more than a tiny crack before getting scared and closing it.  May you have the strength to overcome your fear of the unknown and climb to a place where you can see more truthfully.