12-28-08 Amazing Community

Wow... so I just got back from a kumzitz... which I've heard means come and sit... so i don't know if its just ridiculous english or yiddish or what... but it was unbelievable.

It was held for Bracha Elisheva Bat Kayla because she has recently become ill.  First of all the entire community has been praying for her.  Second, there were at least 40 people packed into their aparment and this group was made up of many Yeshiva and Seminary students but also almost every Rabbi I know came.  This along with 5 guitars, a violin, a tamberine and tons of food and drinks.  It was beautiful.  It's times like these that I really can't imagine what life would be like without such a community.  I was talking to Jeff about it afterwards and I usually imagine an ill person in the hospital barely getting visitors... and I'm sure that's the average case.  But here it's unbelievable.  I hear stories all the time of random people coming and singing on Shabbat in the hospitals and bringing food... It's a mitzvah so tons of people take advantage and build up their "Heaven" or Shamayim as we say.

And Sisi Wu gets a shout out because she emailed me and that doesn't happen all so often.  And if you did email me and ur reading this and I haven't given you a shout out... then shame on me... but if you're not reading it then you can't do anything about it and sucks for you!  

So I should prolly be going to bed but just to let everyone know I wasn't affected at all with what happened today.  I actually didn't even know it was happening.  I'm sure you've heard about it but if you haven't then don't worry.  The farthest area that can usually be reached by attacks is still 60 miles west of me and I'm staying away from public areas and transport.  As they say I do my best and G-d does the rest... or if that's too religious for you: I deal with what's in my control.

Hope all is well with everyone!

Omri

12-25-08 goodbye untznuicity

If you don't understand the title it's prolly better haha.  

Life is pretty awesome right now.  We're on Chanukah vacation and Kate and I went all over the city the past two days and had a lot of fun seeing Jerusalem.  I feel very at home here now.  It's an amazing feeling to know I know Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and New York city as well if not better than I know Rochester.  AND  I was walking around with Kate and we ran into three groups of people on trips in Israel that we knew!  It was amazing.  The JEC, MEOR and someone else... I can't remember but it was awesome!

I want an electric car!

did you see the new mini?  Yoni just showed me... ima go look... mini e

12-14-08 sorry it's been so long!

Hey homiez,

Sorry I haven't written in forever.  I've been very busy.  Chanukah is coming up so I'm super excited.  I've been selling lots of wine, had an amazing trip to Tzfat, switched up my learning so I'm learning a lot more and have spent a lot of time on Shabbat with some of the most amazing people in the community.  It's amazing how close I am to some really big Rabbis and amazing people, not that I'm special... it's just easier to be close to them here because the community is so close and involved.  

Two stories... In Tzfat we went the the Mikvah of the Ari-Zal (he is basically the source of Kaballah that we have today.)  And Jeff was about to get in when a guy dives in next to him... and if you've never been, there is no room to dive let alone get around someone who is about to go in... and then flails wildly while Jeff is waiting to go in.  It was hilarious.  Then Jeff gets dressed and leaves and he immediately witnesses a man vomiting.  So we get back to the hotel and he asked Rabbi Bernstein if it was some weird sign from G-d HAHAHA. 

Also about learning... I'm now learning with Jeff alone, no prep shiur.  Meaning we have no one feeding us the words in English and basically have to work through it on our own in Aramaic.  Its extremely hard because you can't just look words up in a dictionary without knowing their roots and even finding the roots is hard.  But I'm learning an amazing amount and it has brightened up my days a lot more to have such a big challenge every evening.  

I hope everyone is doing well!  Rabbi Lynn had a baby girl on Friday!  

ttyl

Omri 

11-16-08 Chillin in Yeshiva

What up homiez,

   Life has been pretty normal recently.  I had a really crazy incident with my credit card.  I've alloted myself 200 a month of spending money for travel, food, gifts for shabbat families, personal needs, cell phone etc.  At the beginning of being here I was spending a lot and so I tried to cut down and this month the goal was not to break 200!  So I checked my bill and it was 199.85!  I totally didn't even plan that and it includes some of the wine that I bought and am selling so I've actually done really well this month!  So awesome.

   I just saw my Uncle(Yecheskel or exekiel however you spell that in either language haha) and his mother and My Aunt(Ora) and my grandmother.  They were so nice and trying to just give and give to me.  It was too much haha, they sent me home with all kinds of fruit and goodies.  It was amazing enough that they drove all the way into my town to pick me up and drop me off and take me to lunch!  So awesome.  I have the best family.  

   Kate and I are talking about coming home a little early but we're not sure what's going to end up happening.  We'll probably start figuring thought out in the next month.

I've watched a lot of movies while working out... and I'm in the best shape I've ever been in in my life.  All I needed was some motivation haha.

I gtg to class but hope everyone is doing well!

Omri

Wine shop is open! 11-7-08

Today is the aniversary of the opening of AEPi at NYU in 1913... cool stuff

Life is amazing.  Today I opened the wine shop... aka I bought wine from a winery near Jerusalem... they shipped it in and everything... and now I'm selling it almost at cost for the guys in the Yeshiva.  Already sold a few bottles and now I get my own wine for much less money!  

There's a Jewish idea that a person should be a connoisseur in life.  Wine was always one of the things I think of when I hear that.  The idea is basically that G-d made food taste good for a reason(or nature look pretty, flowers smell good etc.).  We are supposed to appreciate it and not take it for granted.  Thus the idea of controlling what goes in your body(Kashrut)... which isn't the entire reason by any means.  Anyway I'm excited to be dealing in wines and maybe I'll continue back in the states.

Another thing I've been working on which has been awesome is called Hakorus Hatov... or appreciating the good in life.  Me and my friend Matt are each working with one of the second years, Asaf, on certain character traits.  That one is the one I chose to work on and it is awesome.  I haven't learned so much about it but I write in my other blog... which is kinda personal but I guess you can look at it if you feel weird and creepy... about the different things I see and appreciate each day... and how I could appreciate them more or how I appreciated them well.  

Last night I went into town and Howard came down from Tel Aviv, Kate and Schlis were there... it was great.  We went to a kosher bar and had chicken wings, fries, chicken fingers and something else with a parve ranch type sauce and sweet chili sauce dips.  Also got a few Tuborgs and Hoegardens.  It was a great night out.  Gotta have those every once in a while.

Speaking of speaking to friends i haven't been in touch with, it is really nice to hear from people.  So if you read this... email me! or im me or something.  If you just read and don't let me know whats going on with your life... that's all take and no give... not very good for the soul haha

Love you smoking hott peeps,
Omri

10-30-08 What's Holloween?

It's been pretty quiet until yesterday... our first day of classes for the new session.  I have just been hanging out and watching movies like Kung Fu Panda(which was AWESOME), reading and working out.

Yesterday was a little of a shock for me which is weird because it's the same schedule that we've had since the beginning.  

Also last night was Nosson Lord's wedding... yes he may be related to Kate... AND his father is Kenneth Lord... which is Kate's uncle's name.  Anyway his wedding was amazing.  There was a wall between the women and the men and it was STILL AMAZING.  It actually was probably more amazing because of that because the guys had as much fun as they wanted not worrying about how they looked in front of the girls.  The best part were the shticks people did for the bride and groom... it's a mitzvah to make them happy so people do all kinds of performances... it was awesome.

Anyway I have to go read and do some homework.  Life is good here.  Hope all is well!

Omri

So fun it was exhausting 10-22-08

We just finished Simchat Torah/Shmini Etzeret which are probably the most fun holidays in Judaism... actually that's exactly what they are supposed to be.  After all this repenting etc... we celebrate and feel joy... I'm not going to get into the meaning of it... only the facts...

I still have the songs ringing in my ears.  Basically at night and in the morning for the past two days (that's 4 times) we had a holiday service... prayed... and then did Hakafos. Hakafos are about 7 Sentences... so I thought... what's everybody making such a fuss about this probably takes 20 seconds... maybe 5 minutes if you sing it.... o how wrong I was.  We read the first line... and then took two Torahs(that's right... a document so holy if it touches the ground, all witnesses fast for 40 days)... and danced with it singing for at least 20 minutes before we read the next line.  And not jsut normal dancing... kids were thrown in the air (the goal was to touch the ceiling), people were singing on chairs, we were spining in circles holding hands so fast that people were thrown around... it was crazy.   Then before the next line is read we have to bring the stander that the Torah is placed on back in the room.  So every time the person in charge of the service tried to pull it in... he had an army of Yeshiva guys pick him up in the air... walk him back to the dancing and put the stander back outside the room.  I can't explain it even close to what I experienced but it was crazy.

And today Tehila... the cutest baby in the world in case you forgot... came in with her parents and I got to dance with her!  And Yoni and his father and Grandfather were all honored a bunch of times with different mitzvahs during the service which was really nice to see.  

The other amazing thing is called bidding.  Some of the mitzvahs are so big that people will pay money or do other things to get them.  Today we had two guys, Ilya Verzub (who actually bid just to give his aliyah to someone else) and Asaf (who is amazing), who promise to memorize 11 chapters of Mishnayot.  They were valueing one chapter at $100 so if they don't do it they owe 1100 dollars... and memorizing ancient hebrew (knowing its meaning and everything) is not easy especially when you already are studying hard all year.  So they did all this to get the Aliyah(the bracha(blessing) before and after the Torah reading) for the last section and first section of the torah.  There's something about getting these honors that gets you married or something... not sure but it was intense to see the bidding war.

So that was really fun and today I sold my bike!  I didn't really use it any more so I'm pretty happy.   And I also got emails from some wine distributors that I may be able to get a supply for the Yeshiva and for the students to give as presents for their hosts.  They told me they'd sell me wine for a discount!  So cool!

And the shekel is now 3.89 to the dollar which is amazing since it was at 3.2ish earlier!  

Time to study and party more... 

Love

Omri

Post Bris

Kate and I were just at the Bris of the son of Malka and Yoni.  Malka is the daughter of Rabbi Greene from the JEC.  It was a beautiful celebration with tons of people.  There were a few things, however, that stood out to me.

First off, Yoni was thanking the special people who have helped him be where he is and have helped Malka and him and have made real differences in their lives.  He thanked Kate!  I had no idea that was coming.  I knew she was helping out but Kate has actually been calling Malka and forcing help on her to make sure that, while she was pregnant, everything went smoothly.  What an angel :)

On top of that Yoni gave a beatiful D'var Torah (speach based on something from the Torah), as his father and a few really amazing Rabbis.  One of the most amazing things was that Yoni's grandfather, father, himself and his newborn son were all in the room.  The last Rabbi to speak, who I can't remember his name, spoke about how the Bris (covenant) that G-d made with Abraham (haha sorry if that sounds super religious) was to make the Jewish people last forever and the Torah last forever... that there would be Egypt and the Holocaust, and the Torah would be banned and burned, but it would never dissapear.  And he said most beautifully, that in the room was proof that after 3700+ years we have 4 generations who are going to live and study because of that covenant... hence the "bris".

Also Yoni's grandmother passed away just recently and had been so excited about the baby being born.  When I heard this it sounded devastating... I can't imagine passing away just before being able to see my great grandchild come into the world.  But what boggled my mind was when Yoni's father was talking about how his mother passed away and how happy she must be right now and how she's prolly even "running the show" from where she is.  I feel like a death in the family can cause so much darkness to flow over even a new baby, but it was so nice to see people who know that there isn't any true "bad" in the world no matter how bad it seems.  haha again I'm getting religious, but I guess that's your problem cuz it's my blog... so stop telling me what to do HAHA

Anyway I also have to tell you about Sukkot.  So usually you build a shack outside and have a meal or two in it... maybe stop by the mitzvah bus that chabad drives around and shake the lulav and etrog.  So what I didn't know is that when the Torah says "you should dwell" in these shacks... it actually means to eat and sleep and do basically as much as possible in them.  So about 25 guys in the Yeshiva packed into our Shack and slept the first night.  There's actually a few other sukkahs now so there's some more room but that first night was wild.  Plus for some reason... probably because there were a lot of l'chaims at dinner... there was some intense pillow fightage... And I thought I was with all these mature finance and artistic types... BUT you can be 30 and still enjoy a pillow fight! haha

I'm having an amazing time.  This is the last of the holidays and it ends with a huge party for 2 days next week.  I'm excited and I'll try and keep you all up to date.  

O and last night we went to a concert in Beit Shemesh... really fun.  They had sukkahs for us to eat in and a huge mechitzah separating the crowd to men and women.  So amazingly hilariously awesome.  Kate and I had a great time although we didn't get to see my cousins who were supposed to meet up with us.  And getting home was interesting because the busses stopped running at 10:30... anyway... 

gots to go read some truth

Love

Omri

Pictures of Tehila swinging

So here's the picture I was talking about.  Theres a couple in the album and a video which is too dark to see anything but she's  basically swinging and every time she gets to me she'd slap me or poke my face... lovingly of course:

http://picasaweb.google.com/Katie.Lord/ElulAndFallZman#5256366066874180066

10-12-08 Tehila...the cutest baby ever... and lots of good times!

Just to catch up... Yom Kippur went well!  Easy fast and really amazing davening.  There's a guy named Chananol(sorry because that must be spelled wrong) Greenwald, brother of Yoni Greenwald in case you did a MEOR trip, who is an amazing singer and lead a bunch of the songs.  Somehow about 7 straight hours of davening were better than 2 or 3 back home.  Maybe I just know more about what's going on or maybe the songs are better... or both but it was really awesome... and now services feel short and easy haha.

Anyway it's the begining of the festival of Sukkot where Jews build little shacks which we lived in in the desert after leaving Egypt.  I hear it's the best holiday to be in Jerusalem for.  There's going to be partying for the entire week.  And we're all going to sleep in these shacks and eat all our major meals in them and drink and be happy.  We've been building them for people all over the city and everywhere you look... porches, balconies, yards, rooftops... there's a sukkah!  

Today Kate and I went to visit her friend Malka, daughter of Rabbi Greene from JEC.  She just had a baby boy! There are many occasions for parties in the Jewish community.  One of them is when a boy is born, the Shabbat of that week there will usually be a party celebrating the boy and all the good deeds he'll do in the world.  Malka and her husband Yoni were so sweet and fun to be around(I hadn't met them at all before the party).  Kate worked with Malka's father and now she volunteers every week to help Malka prepare for meals (since she was pregnant and now that she just had a baby).  

So today we took her other baby girl, Tehila, to the park.  This is most likely the cutest baby I've ever seen.  Her eyes are huge and she was so much fun.  She's at the point where she understands a lot and has a tiny vocabulary like "wee" and "bye bye" and "meow" (when she sees a cat) and "yea" (when she wants to go on the swing more).  Kate got a bunch of pictures of her so I hope she puts them online.  Ugh so cute I just wanted to play with her all day.  

So also, Kate and I have been talking about what we're going to do when we get back.  I just talked to my dad and he told me about this woman in NY that I might be able to work with.  I've heard about her ever since my dad started working with her and she sounds amazing, honest, and since she's observant she'll understand me and what I'm doing with my life!  Not sure if that was excited for anyone else but it sure is for me.  Kates been exploring options between learning to be a teacher and acting.  I'm excited to see what she ends up doing.  She's been volunteering for so many families it's amazing because she's learning how to make all the best foods from each house haha.  Especially how to master Challah... that's a serious task.  And also she's meeting and introducing me to some of the most interesting and amazing people.  You might think Jewish mothers just cook and clean but they are usually more impressive than the husbands because they cook and clean, raise tons of kids and then somehow manage to become accomplished teachers, writers, therapists, social workers, real estate agents, artists etc.

Ok I think its time for Maariv.

Love 

Omri

Want prayers for you or friends?

Hey everyone!  

So here's the deal... just leave a comment or send me a personal message and I'll pray for you for whatever it is you want... hopefully within the realms of livelihood(money or comfort), marriage, health, children, spirituality or peace and harmony.  So just let me know and you'll get an extra boost... if this sounds creepy to you... too bad haha.

love 
Omri

10-8-08 Erev Yom Kippur

So it's almost Yom Kippur!  So much to tell you all... and I guess I've got a lot of time.  I have to dip in the Mikvah(ritual bath... haha don't get freaked out) and go do Kaparos... which is the most interesting thing I've learned... aka it's really weird.  Kaparot (or os for the ashkenaz) is where we transfer our judgement of death to another entity.  Aka we swing a rooster or money around our heads and then schecht(kill for food) it or donate it to get rid of any negative judgements G-d may give us this year.

So there's thousands of roosters lining the streets and it's crazy in town here.  But they do donate the meat for poor families so don't be worried!  And I'm going to do it with money so don't send PETA after me.  

So we had Rosh Hashanah already and this week has been the week of asking for forgiveness!  I learned a lot about it.  One of the stories about the cleansing place before heaven(for Jews Gehenom... sort of like hell but it's only a place to become pure so you can go to heaven) is that all the people you respect (teachers, parents and g-parents, rabbis, etc) will be sitting in front of you and ask you speak there is a movie behind you playing all of the bad things you did.  So that sounds pretty horrible right?  Well this week we have the chance to go back and erase parts of the tape.  Theres a process of regretting, verbally admiting(to the person if its to a person), and resolving to never do it again.  And then it's erased!

Immediately after learning... actually while I was learning, I started jotting down all the times I've done something and I've regretted it and really wouldn't want it to be on the tape.  And later that day I got in touch, however I could, with the people I've wronged.  I have to say it was extremely gratifying.  I don't know if its normal but as much as a person forgives me or I regret something... I always have flashbacks in my head when I think about these types of things and they make me cringe...  Luckily nothing was all that horrible... But I've never felt as rid of them as I do now... I actually feel like I deserve to have them erased from the tapes.  SO THANK YOU to all those who forgave me!  And if I didn't ask and I wronged you I'm sorry!  

So basically I was paid by G-d to advertise repentence... it does a body good.

This week Kate took me to the wedding of Alexandra and Ronen which blew me away.  First of all the couple was so perfect and happy and funny.  Their wedding was gorgeous... and I can't help mentioning it but they had fireworks... yes the big ones high up in the air... timed perfectly when he stepped on the glass.  It was so awesome and the food was delicious and Kate got to help Alexandra during the wedding (which is a huge mitzvah, good deed, to help a bride on her wedding day).  I had a lot of fun.

One weird thing was the hotel room we stayed in.  Kate and I were in two separate rooms, so don't worry if you're reading this it's not scandelous.  But it's very weird because it was the first time we've had to deal with that type of situation.  There was also fruit in the hotel... actually this all gets complicated but let's just say becoming observant is hilarious!  And don't worry... when I come back to America I'll still hang out with you even if I am wearing a fur hat and caftan haha(I wish but that's not even possible cuz I'm not a chassid)

What a weird blog.  It's a crazy day.  Tonight will be the beginning of a fast which officially starts off the new year with all our judgements and everything.  I'm hoping G-d gave me a dope salary, maybe a macbook pro and a suzy talks a lot.  

By the way, if you're reading this and you're a friend from home who isn't in touch with me outside of my blog... stop it and email me.  

Ok I have to go write in my secret blog... HAHA i bet you wish you could see that... psht

love 
Omz

9-28-08 I got a cool movie/music little toy thingy

I love the world because I just bought this recorder/music/movie player that does a bunch of cool stuff.  I just finished... well I guess not really finished... but I'm putting stuff on it right now.  It's tiny but it's widescreen and perfect looking.  It's perfect to record the shiurim(classes) and to watch movies while I work out.

Which by the way is the most genius thing I've evere invented.  So many of you may not be so aware of what it's like to be in a place where people are studying how to be holy all day... let's just say it's very different from... America.  One this is for sure, no one watches movies... or at least I'm the only one that gets caught watching movies.  So I created an amazing system.  I already don't have so much time to waste watching movies and poking on facebook sooooo... I download movies and I only watch them when I work out.  That way I get to watch movies and it forces me to work out... and also makes me really want to work out... especially when I'm in the middle of a movie(cuz I only bike for about 30 min at a time).

It's been quite some time since I've written anything.  Lots of great stuff!

This past Shabbat my friend Matt Needleman and myself went to one of the Rabbi's houses.  One of the most amazing things about religious Jewish families, at least in my experience, is the behavior of their children.  It's unbelievable.  This Rabbi has 6 children, 2 of which are a little wild... and one of the two has downs syndrome.  However, the amount of love in the house is amazing.  One of the kids was getting a little wild and throwing stuff and the Rabbi sat down with him and talked to him about how he loves his mom and doesn't really want to throw things at her and how his son shouldn't give in to the negative inhibitions that he feels when they tell him to throw things... you have no idea the effect it had.  For the next hour he was really good.

By the way... who is Red?  I know you left a message on here and I appreciate it but I don't really know who you are... haha

So classes have been amazing, I've been getting some dope dope info on life.  It's amazing how I'm in classes most of the day, working harder than college, with homework and I'm still having the best time ever.  I wish you could all meet the people here haha.  You will eventually because they're the best and they're those friends that stick with you.   But it's crazy how cool and talented the people here are... it almost makes no sense why they're here and not using their talents.  There's one guy http://www.myspace.com/facingeastband who is in a band and making music videos and traveling back to the US every 3 months to go on tour!  There's so many cool people!  I'm not being overly enthusiastic like usual... they are actually ridiculously awesome.

Anyway tomorrow is Rosh Hashanah which starts the 10 days of Tshuvah where I get to say sorry to everyone and hopefully get forgiven for all the annoying stuff I've done to all of you.  And we get to have huge feasts... but the week ends with Yom Kippur where we fast for a day and hopefully G-d still loves me at that point so he doesn't make me smoted haha

Ok enough of my rambling for now.  I hope everyones being awesome

ttyl

Omz

9-13-08 Amazing Shabbat and Happiness

These past few days have been really great.  I don't know what it was exactly that sparked it all but I think it has something to do with changing the mindset I've been having.  For a while I'd been trying to prove the Rabbis and Talmud wrong and constantly just trying to argue... you could say only for the sake of being right... not for truth.  

Kate has been incredibly helpful... both knowing and not knowing that she was doing it.  But she really exposed me to the right information either from books, people, her own intuition etc.  And as Yeshiva began I started applying everything I knew... from looking for the good in other people, to seeing that there is potential good in every situation, to seeing that every challenge is an opportunity to overcome it and get closer to a larger purpose and goal.  A lot of that corny stuff you hear constantly... but instead of hearing it, thinking it, or even meditating on it... I actually started to put it into practice.  The results were astounding.  I was warm and respectful to others and it changed the entire atmosphere of any room I was in.  I started thanking the amazing Rabbis that teach us every day because they could be doing a million other things (These are people who have made successes in their lives before they found Judaism... and some who are just plain dope jews) but instead they are investing their time in a small population of Jewish men to make us more amazing human beings.  

I just have been feeling so happy.  There's a lot that has to do with G-d but I'll spare the details to keep you all from getting freaked out and thinking I've been brainwashed.  Haha you know... someone's parents accused this Yeshiva of brainwashing their son (who is here with me) when he decided to stay for the year.  And the Rabbi's reply was 1) Didn't you know I was listed in the phone book under cult leaders and 2) Most peoples brains probably need to be washed.  

The second part is for sure true.  I think the core of the happiness I feel now is knowing that I am doing the exact thing that I am supposed to be doing.  I thought long and hard and then talked to Kate about what exactly I wanted out of life... and what I should do in life.  Still not completely sure... but my plan to be a real estate agent is definitely not my destiny.  

So I hope I freaked you all out a little bit.  

Anyway this Yeshiva is amazing.  The things that these Rabbis have stored in their minds... I can't even comprehend it.  But as my friend Alex says... They're all "Jewels".  Every class we learn something really True about life.  And it's just so so much fun.  Also the people that are here with me are people who gave up all kinds of amazing things for Yeshiva... from pro-baseball, to big jobs on wall street.... Others include professional musicians, people who've dedicated their lives to teaching others, and geniuses of all shapes and sizes.  It's just really amazing to be around them.

Anyway Shabbat was awesome and I'm so excited to be starting off this year.  And I love Kate and you should all tell her how amazing she is.  And I love life... tell it how amazing it is too.  And G-d if you believe in him :)

Love
Omz

9-9-08

In exactly one year it will be 9-9-09... I bet they won't used that for any advertising campaigns...

Sooo, my friend Matt Needleman finally got to Yeshiva... and i am finally able to move in to my permanent room. �Everythings settling down. �Today Alex and I went to Machon Shlomo because their cook, Ricki, is amazing and she made my favorite of her food called Kube (cue-beh).

Yesterday Matt wanted to buy a drum so we went to this dudes house/store/bedowin tent in the middle of the city and he let me play an amazing shofar that I really want to buy and also a bugle, drums etc. �Matt bought a sick drum... and then the dude just let us hang out and they smoked hookah while I had some delicious tea(all free!). �

The other day all of the Rabbis of our school were having a meeting... pretty holy meeting! �

I'm pretty stoked for Yeshiva to start. �I've been reading books and learning about what the prayers we say in hebrew really mean past the definitions given in English in the Sidur(prayerbook). �It's really amazing how off the translations for most things are. �And how much is missed by not reading it in its original Hebrew. �So many mistakes have been made over bad translation its unbelievable.

I kicked butt in fantasy football even though I played all of the Buffalo Bills players... I'm determined to win with them... because 1) I don't plan on winning anyway and therefore 2) if I win with the Bill's players it will be utterly humiliating for the other people in the league... and even 3) that means the Bills are doing well!.... Which will be very sad if I miss watching their games the year they are good... but I'll have to find a tv for the superbowl if they make it...

Btw if you're reading this... Which I have a feeling no one does... except Kate (Thanks :) )... write a comment. �Haha I'm totally going to get 0 comments. �O how sad.

Maybe I'll just stop writing blogs then... you people don't even want to know whats going on in my life... except if you are reading this then I guess you do care. �So thanks for caring! �Why are you such a great friend? �I miss you. �I don't think I appreciated you enough. �Maybe I should come home and give you a hug!

Kosher food rocks

Love

Omri

9-3-08 Anniversary and Tel Aviv

The dinner was absolutely amazing. We went to a Vaqueiro (http://www.eluna.com/Rest/Vaqueiro.asp?mumu=435) which is an all you can eat Kosher Brazilian restaurant. Their specialty is 10 different types of meat which they bring out one at a time. It was so delicious. From the Entrecote to the Pergiot(spring chicken)... everything was so tasty. The staff was also amazing and we wrote them an amazing review at the end of the meal on a laptop that they gave us to use for the review!

Kate got me some really cool stuff for our 2 year. An amazing waterproof Talit bag and Tefillin Cannister with a compass! The set of Chofetz Chaim's lesson a day (he talks about speaking badly about other people and I loved these books back in NY and kept reading them when I visited her at work). As well as a book for both of us to read together which is a letter the Rambam wrote to his son! Really really cool stuff and so useful for this year!

If you want to know what I got her you'll have to read her blog which there should be a link to on this page under my blogs... and if she hasn't written about it yet you should make her because she is a much better writer then I.

There was a cute cat that helped us finish what we didn't eat, an amazing atmosphere and great conversations. Altogether it was a fantastic night and I couldn't imagine it better!

I woke up the next day and went to Tel Aviv with Ari Kafka(Really cool guy...2nd year at Yeshiva), Ilya(my roommate-switched over from another Yeshiva for the year), and Alex(my future roommate- also 2nd year here). We had a fun time avoiding scandelous parts of the Beach, traveling around the city, and guess what I had for lunch... MORE MEAT... lol we went to one of the only really kosher places around where we were... It was chinese. However, when we asked what the menu said she offered us either the grill...or Thai food. Since Thai food was almost twice as expensive for some reason we ended up eating meat... The best part is Ilya had chicken wings and french fries, and bread... at a Chinese restaurant! To his credit he ordered fried rice and they gave him the fries by accident.

Anyway, it was quite a hilarious day. Today I slept in way too long and am achy from all the traveling and working out I did the day before so I'm just being a little lazy for the day. I researched a bunch of stuff online and I'm kinda dissapointed in the news... it's super lame. I'm not even going to talk about what it talked about to save you all the hours of lameness that you will be lame for reading all the lame lamities.

Anyway,
Hope you're all having amazing summers(haha I bet I'm talking to like 3 people)
Love
Omri

08-31-08 Day before Kate starts school and before Anniversary!

Today I woke up very late. I did a lot of stuff I needed to do on my computer and did some laundry which was nice to get out of the way.

I love showering in a clean shower. I think nice, clean bathrooms are one of the most important things in a house. When you clean yourself in a bathroom that's not clean it just feels gross. The bathrooms here are awesome and clean and spacious.

I went over to Kate's for a nice lunch that she made. It was pasta with tuna and israeli salad. Delicious. We watched the Simpsons Movie which was pretty funny and then made a little picnic outside with books. We tried to draw eachother for a while which was funny. I want to be able to draw really badly!

Then we read this personality type book that Kate has that is pretty awesome. It is based on the enneagram... which is a 9 type ancient personality system that pegged Kate, myself and her roommate really really well. I usually don't buy into that stuff but it was unnaccanny how accurate it was. Also when it talked about the relationship between the types that Kate and I are it was like reading problems that we have had and things we've bonded over!

Then Kate and I went to the pizza place for a cheap but tasty dinner, went our separate ways and are chatting online now! Pretty relaxing day. Tomorrow she starts school and I have to find some fun hobbies or something. It's also our anniversary and we're going to an amazing dinner! I'm very excited!

Hope all is well
Omz

8-30-08 Shabbat before aniversary!

Shabbat just ended which was wonderful. For Friday night Kate, her roommate Rebecca and I went to a very sweet couple's for dinner. And then for lunch today we went to one of Kate's teachers homes. Both meals were awesome and the company was fantastic. I happened to run into my current roommate's good friend who was hoping to meet up after the meal which worked out amazingly well.

For third meal, Kate had the amazing idea for a picnic. So the three of us had a small meal out in the park with Kate's new roommate Yvette and her new classmate Miriam. It was also really nice and cool because we saw the sun set and stars come out during the meal.

Also I forgot to tell you all about my experience watching a sofer at work. A sofer is someone who writes Torahs, megillahs, mezuzahs or anything that requires proper written Hebrew. Rabbi Norman picked this up as a hobby a while back and is now doing commissioned work. So he brought myself and Isaac over to watch him at work. He had to repair a letter in the Megillah he was writing. There are a lot of rules with writing a holy document and he explained many of them to us. The letter he had to repair required him cutting the piece of parchment that the letter was on without cutting through the piece... but removing the entire letter... lets just say watching it was pretty awesome.

Lastly, for this blog, Monday is Kate and my 2 year anniversary! So we're gonna exchange presents and I'm taking her to a sick restaurant that I can't mention yet but I'll let you know about afterwards!

HOPE ALL IS WELL
Omz

8-28-08 Moving to Machon Yaakov

I moved to the Yeshiva I will be in for the year. It is quite gorgeous. The building is only a few years old and theres a full exercise room and a computer room with a ping-pong table. They also have wireless internet and the building is just overall pretty. We also have a sick view of the Judean hills. check em out here: http://machonyaakov.com/photos/

Theres a lot of pictures of dudes from the yeshiva but a couple cool pics of the scenery. If I hadn't gotten my camera stolen I would post them. Too bad...

Anyway for the past few days I've been bringing Kate groceries and she's made us lunch and we've watched movies. It's really nice. I don't have a kitchen... and she hurt her ankle so it works out! Otherwise we were going to go travel to Tzfat and other places but she's not supposed to walk on it too much.

I gotta go meet up with her to watch the mummy! Hope all is well with everyone!

TTYL HOMIEZ
Omz

8-24-08 STEP IS OVER

STEP, the program I was in for the summer, is officially over. I have from now until the 10th of September to do... nothing! Woohoo. Now what should I do? That's a great question. First I need to write here since I've been a slacker and haven't written in almost 2 weeks.

Something very sad happened the other day. Kate just finished staffing a trip from NYC. And I went to go visit them and got home and realized my backpack wasn't on me anymore. Then Kate retraced my steps for me because she was still around and we realized that when we were talking in the streets of downtown, someone snagged my bag which had my map, camera and a couple books. Very sad but I got over it pretty quick... not sure why but I just feel like there's more important things in life than worrying about what's out of my hands.

I also have some weird stomach thing. It's kinda funny because Kate just realized she might be somewhat lactose intolerant and a doctor told me I also might be... random! I also noticed if I have alcohol I get weird feeling so maybe that's it... who knows.

More hilariously, one of Kate's friends kept calling me Rabbi Omri at dinner... and later in the dinner two people I had been talking to for a while... asked me if I was actually a Rabbi... so funny.

I realized today that I'm really into environmental architecture... like eco-friendly buildings and solar paneling etc. I was talking to Kate and thinking maybe that's what I should start to get into when I'm doing real estate when we get back.

I also really want to do lots of crazy hobbies like helicopters and airplanes and boats and cars... remote control... for now haha. AND I really want a room in our house with tons of instruments and music...but at the same time it's totally soundproof so that people can just jam in there. I feel like if I learn about all of these things I can teach my kids! AND maybe if I ever make tons of money or Kate does, we could create after school programming and stuff with all these hobbies to get kids off the streets... crazy rock and roll listening druggies... seriously though I would love to do that.

And who knows... maybe someday I'll become a Rabbi

8-12-08 AWARDS and Jewish dopeness

Sooo... Tisha B'av is over which was not so much fun. It culminates in a 24 hour fast after 9 days of being limited to washing clothes and yourself. I didn't drink enough and almost blacked out at the Western Wall... luckily Sam Yamshon helped me get some water to make me feel better. Otherwise it was my first time really observing the holiday which was interesting.

I just saw Batman The Dark Knight yesterday with Kate. It was pretty freaking awesome, although dark and sad because I really like Heath Ledger.

I also just received news that I won the Aepi International Phillip Cohen Undergraduate Achievement Key at our convention in Chicago this month! That's still sinking in. Josh Borenstein also won a sick award and the chapter, thanks to an amazing president (Saul Miller) and hard work on everyones behalf, won chapter of the year.

There's definitely a bunch more to write about but I can't think of it all.

I had an amazing Shabbat this past weekend at Rabbi Axelrods (who took us in last minute) and a family we met at Aish's Discovery program for lunch. Also Rabbi Sigler took us in for third meal and had an amazing feast. I love his family. He has 9 kids and they are all so different but all really cute and fun and smart.

Ok... so I'm not so sure what else to write about. My friend just got a bike... I made a group on facebook called Challenge the Rabbi for people to ask me good questions... and that's been moderately successful.

A lot is going on! I'm actually still somewhat excited to get all of this knowledge under my belt and start a life back in the states with Kate though. It's a little frustrating at times.

Anyway hope all is well
Omri

7-30-08 2nd Moshav Trip!

Wow so this past weekend was pretty awesome. I think one thing I haven't written enough about is... Kate! She is what we call in Yeshiva... "The dopest of the dope" or "The Princess of Awesomeness". I am having an amazing time here and it's all thanks to her! If she hadn't pushed the possibility of taking the year in Israel, it would have never happened. And if she hadn't made me be logical about what yeshiva was, I probably would never have given it much thought. It's been really awesome and I'm so excited for the rest of the year.

So this weekend Rob Schlissel, Myself, Yoni Ganger, Ezra and Shira went to Rabbi Stein's home. He is an amazing man and has a beautiful wife and family. (She makes some really delicious food as well). Rabbi Stein was the valedictorian of Wharton, went into film in Hollywood and then got smicha. He has some unbelievable stories. They took us in for all 3 meals of Shabbat! I had an amazing time playing set and definitions... but I should have slept more haha.

I got a brand new bike from this woman online and Kate helped me bring it home. And tomorrow we're waking up very early to go to the Moshav again and eat fruit off trees and hike and swim etc. etc. I'm so excited. Rabbi Siglers entire family of 11 are coming... yes eleven! And they are all a lot of fun! And some of the older guys from the Yeshiva are coming.

Speaking of the older guys, a second guy got engaged. His name is Itai(I have no idea how to spell it) but he is sephardi and really cool. And Jews have something really cool called a Vort (meaning word or speech) where the groom to be speaks and other people speak about the couple. They are awesome and deliciously festive.

Todays my moms bday! She sends me the cutest emails that I would share if that wasn't really weird to do. But I got to talk to my mom and dad on skype which is much more fun than a phone.

Anyway I gtg to bed so I can wake up and do some traveling. Hope all is well with my readers.

C YAZ
Omri

7-24-08 2nd session of STEP begins

This week wasn't too out of the ordinary. I have had a few small adventures in trying to make myself more comfortable in Israel. One of them is in trying to acquire, for myself, a bike. Haha I should just write entire blogs in Talmud language... which is very similar to Yoda coincidentally... anyway I want to get a bike because it would make going out much less of a day trip than it currently is. I took a bus today, for example, to the Kotel(Western Wall). I had heard it was a long trip and I made jokes about it zig zagging accross Jerusalem... not knowing how right I was. This bus literally drove North (while the Wall is south east of me) and proceeded to zigzag through almost every major neighborhood between here and the Wall. There was literally a point (I was following on my map) where we were traveling north east and then south west... not only zigzagging but literally going backwards!

Anyway, I've kind of given up on the bike because they're all really expensive new and Israels craigslist and other similar sites are barely used. So now I'm searching for inexpensive ways to buy the books I need for Yeshiva come September. I almost bought a set of the Torah with commentary for $165... luckily, with all the time I have, I searched for other places and ways to get it. I eventually contacted the publisher who gave me the personal number of the distributor in my area. They then sent me to their shop which is really hidden in a building in a religious neighborhood's shopping center. Although she lied to me on the phone and said it was only around $110, it actually is around $125! Saved a bunch... and the dollar is getting stronger!!! So I'm gonna wait and hopefully buy it when the dollar gets even stronger!

I guess none of that is too exciting but today was pretty awesome. I went with my cousins to this crazy "time elevator" thingy that goes through the history of Jerusalem. There was a whole part about Jesus that was really dramatic and I was turned off by it at first. But then I realized how they were trying to make it work for Jews, Christians and Muslims and I was actually impressed by how well they presented all the material. It was definitely for the younger crowd but it did leave me with a greater sense of appreciation that I have the ability to live here this year and come back as much as I want. I love Israel... so holy... so good

Anyway, we walked around a bunch. I love my cousins. I want us all to live together in California. I have a plan with Karen and Brent to move to CA and then make the rest of the cousins follow.

I felt weird today because I keep finding myself babbling on about the Talmud and Judaism etc. It's tough when you get asked a question and you've been talking about the information in serious depth every day haha. I hope I'm not coming off as a crazy religious person. In this blog I don't care cuz your choosing to read it so you can complain all you want but it'd be easier to just stop reading. But in person, feel free to gently slap me cross the face.

Speaking of that, I made a facebook group called Challenge a Rabbi. I want people to send me the hardest questions they possibly can to try and stump the Rabbis because that's what I do in class all day anyways haha. It actually helps me learn because I keep finding intricacies in the text and opening up discussions about them. Talmud is the only place this is allowed. Anywhere else people will just get angry at you when you ask such seemingly minuscule and detailed questions.

So today is the second session of STEP. I lost my chevruta(study partner) from last session because we have less people and he was added on for me last session. It's sad but he was nice and gave me his info to host me for Shabbat some time. However, I have Rabbi Silber now. And he is amazing. He actually taught one of our classes and was working with Akiva (who went home today but is much more advanced than most of us) and so I'm very lucky to have him as a partner because he understands everything really well. On top of that he's hilarious and fun.

We also got 2 new guys so far. One guy names Solo(like solomon i think) and I believe he's from Chile. He speaks Hebrew, English and Spanish and we tried to teach him pig-latin so he could have a 4th language. There's also a guy that just arrived from Ethiopia. Now you might assume he was black. Nope, he's actually a red-head from CA. He just travelled randomly with his dad to Ethiopia to be awesome and help people. He also did USY and goes to Columbia so we knew a bunch of the same people. Pretty cool stuff!

Anyway I hopefully will get to take my laundry out soon and go to sleep cuz its super late. BTW Marzipan is the best rugelach in all of Israel.

I'm out,
OMz

7-20-08 Fast day in Har Nof

Wow so I'm sorry I've been so bad about updating this thing. Today is a fast day so I have lots of time to write. First of all I just uploaded a bunch of pictures of the place we stayed up north and the hike we went on so check that out here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/Levin.Omri/Israel71008

I'm going to try and sum up everything else that's gone on since the last time I wrote but no chance it'll be in order.

So Kate and I spent some time with Rabbi Abramov for a second Fri night in a row and it was amazing once again. I read the male part of his and his wife's book "Two Halves of a Whole" which was an extremely great and concise lesson on how to be a good Jewish husband(or any husband really...) He has two daughters right now that are both pregnant and waiting to give birth! They were both at the second Shabbat with us. He also has another daughter who helps him and his wife with everything as well as a really cool son who is studying currently. It was truly inspiring to be in their home and see how healthy they all are. It was the experiences I've had like this that made me start asking questions about Jewish ethics... because when followed correctly they create the healthiest family environments I've every seen. And the most surprising thing is that, contrary to common belief, all of the laws that seem to control women are really liberating for them within their communities. It is something you can't believe until you see it. Men respect their wives in a way you don't see in every day life.

Anyway enough preaching I'm sure some of you aren't so interested in Jewish married life. So anyway I spent this whole week really working on Talmud study and I was so happy because at the end of the week I sat down with what we've learned and I can read the Aramaic and translate it to english without a dictionary! So much work but its paying off faster than I imagined.

Also I went to an insanely amazing wine tasting with Isaac the other night, thanks to Jen Keys, and saw probably every Jew I know thats in Israel. Literally, we ran into someone almost every 10 minutes. The list includes(sorry if I don't put you down) Jen Keys, Rob Schlissel and his friend Alex who went to Discovery with Kate and I, Rachel FS, Naomi from Israel Amplified, Dave Stollman(a speaker for Greek life across the country), girls from USY i didn't remember the names of, and even Michelle (the singer from that 10 ways to use matzah video or whatever). There were a bunch more but I can't remember so well cuz it was a wine tasting which gets to my next point. For under $20, 36 wine companies and other assorted cheese/olive/cracker/etc vendors were at the Israel museum. It was outdoors with music and unlimited wine tasting. AND almost every wine was kosher. SOOOO AMAZING.

I also went to Tel Aviv this weekend and got to see my Safta, Ophir and his sister Karen and her husband Brent. As well as a bunch of other family. They took me out to an amazing kebab dinner with so much delicious food. I had steak and spring chicken kabab... DELICIOUS. We also went out to an ELAL party... yes all the flight attendants were partying it up at one of the fanciest things I've ever seen. But really the best time was just hanging out talking with my cousins and Brent. They're so awesome! And they read this so now they know it!

Oh on Friday the Yeshiva went on a 15 mile bike ride... on and off-road. Pretty awesome until the 13th mile or so. We were all dieing. But at least they are keeping us in shape.

So today is the fast day that I always heard about but never actually practiced because... well no one else did. It's not so bad though because the fast starting at 5 am so I could eat last night. And it finishes very soon... that's why I'm writing... cuz you can use computers on this holiday and I need to not think about the awesome food that Ricky cooked for us that is waiting downstairs right now.

I got to spend some time with Kate and her friends on her JEC trip which seems like it's a lot of fun. Rabbi Sigler has been amazing to Kate and I btw. He's my Rabbi for this program and he invited us over for Shabbat lunch the other weekend even though he barely ever has girls over. He also has sat down with me to help me with any difficulties I've had with the program before I even have a chance to complain. Let's just say he is an awesome dude.

I'm getting to spend a lot of time with Kate too, just walking around and talking and spending some quality time together. She's so awesome. If any of you ever talk to her you have to tell her how awesome she is. It's really ridiculous.

Anyways I ought to go pray and eat. WOOHOO Judaism is fun. LOOK AT MY PICTURES

7/10/08 Har Nof, Jerusalem, Israel

Ok so I'm gonna keep it chronological... haha that could be some new slang thingy... keep it chronological. Or not... maybe I'm just super lame. Anyway, after that, I'm going to go out of order anyway.

So I ended last blog right before Shabbat on July 4th. So before we talk about Friday night I have to talk about the rest of the week... because Fri led up to some awesome dopeness that I bet you can't wait to hear about!

Saturday didn't sound like it was going to be fun at first. Kate and I woke up very early, well at least we were supposed to, to walk all the way to Rechaviya(the opposite corner of Jerusalem... very very far). So I woke up and got ready and when it came time for Kate to meet me she wasn't there. So I thought, o I'll suprise her... and walk toward her to meet her! I start walking... get halfway to the supermarket which is near her... pass the supermarket... head down the stairs and through the park(At this point I am pretty worried that I passed her and may be wasting time by going the wrong way... and by the way Kate didn't have her phone yet and it was Shabbat anyway so it wouldn't have mattered). So I get to Kate's building, walk up to her apartment and knock on the door... No answer... I knock again really loud... and out peaks Kate's sleepy face confused about what's going on... cute enough to make me forget how annoyed I was.

So she got ready and we headed over to the Great Synagogue. It was gorgeous. We attended the main minyan where there was a full out choir basically performing the service. It was like a concert... really cool! It was nice to go there too because the walk to Rechaviya was a long long walk... at least 2 hours if we had done it straight. And you have to remember that we were walking around noon in the summer in Israel.

So we head towards my uncle in law's mother's place and it's not the straightest path. So we are getting a little lost and a really nice guy comes up to us to offer advice but is speaking Hebrew... so I get out my "Lo Medaber Ivrit" which means I don't speak Hebrew in Hebrew...(haha that got me in trouble with someone once because he thought I was making fun of him... I guess that means my accent is getting better!) The guy then laughed and started speaking in French, English and something else I think to see what we did speak. Then he showed us how to get to where we were going and also invited us in for Kiddish. Now I would usually worry about a guy that was this nice but that's the great thing about being Jewish... he was actually being genuine! So we go in to his house and meet his daughter who speaks French and Hebrew but can't speak English very well so he forces her to speak to us in English. Then he tells us about how he used to fly planes, went to business school, did all kinds of cool things, just passed the bar... and so on. He was a pretty amazing dude and he fed us and sent us on our way.

We got to my G-ma-in law or whatever you call that relationship. Her place was on a hill that overlooked the Western Wall and the city of David. It was awesome. We had an amazing Shabbat lunch with some of her really cool friends, one of which knew Kate's Aunt who is a famous Yiddish singer (crazy connection). And we spent some quality time with Mark(the Uncle in law) and his mother. I can't wait to do that again because it was really nice. I also miss my cousins, his kids, so hopefully I'll see them all soon!

So Sunday we went to the Discovery seminar at Aish Hatorah... It tries to proof that man could not have written the Torah... Honestly one of the most amazing things I've gone to and I was definitely convinced much more than before... even though I really didn't think that was possible. Basically they are either insanely smart and really fooled me or it's true... I just don't see why there would be such a crazy conspiracy when they really have nothing to gain from it, unless they believe it themselves because then they get points with the holy dude himself. O and shout out to Rob Schlissel and his friend for coming out with me and Kate.

Monday and Tuesday were amazing. We had our Yeshiva hiking trip. First of all we did so much hiking... I like hiking... I was so exhausted by the end of it! We stayed at this guy's house that was surrounded by just about every fruit you could imagine. I mean from fig to pomegranate... he even had grapes growing on vines lining a gazebo. Now this usually would just be visually appealing... however, it is the Shmita year in Israel. This happens once every 7 years and for an entire year a farmer cannot touch his/her land. They can't eat or sell the fruit. On top of this, anyone can come by and take fruit as long as they eat it themselves! So we had a lot of fun. He also had a mini basketball court, ping pong, an awesome yard and garden, fooseball and an awesome place for us to stay. I wish I knew his name cuz he deserves some serious recognition so hopefully I can post it all over this blog sometime soon.

Tuesday next day we went on a seriously illegal hike... I have pictures of the Rabbi holding up a barbed wire fence for us to crawl underneath... yes they will be up online asap. We also went to the Kineret which was so much fun to swim in and attack the waves. Izaac and myself spent the entire time trying to ride waves and also reverse their flow... in honor of Hancock(new Will Smith movie... watch the trailer if you felt left out by that joke...or maybe it just wasn't funny in which case maybe you are too good for this blog).

One thing I did notice for sure is that Rabbis don't sleep. I don't know if I can become too observant cuz I like to sleep. Like right now its almost 1 and I gotta be up round 6:30. I'll make due...

SOOOOOO Friday night Kate and I went to a Rabbi's house. His name is Rabbi Abramov. This man is behind the biggest Kiruv(outreach) program Judaism has ever seen. His wife is also a published writer of women's books on different topics... I believe about observance and being dope. Rabbi Abramov, who Kate and I just met again tonight, has invited us to head up some changes across the world(25,000 students are in these programs currently). We mentioned some of our ideas and he liked them so much he is basically giving us the ability to make a plan that would enhance programs like Maimonides and G2G across the world! I won't say much more but it is really really huge. Hopefully we'll be making a big difference.

Anyway it's late... hope all is well homiez!

Love,
Omri

The 4th of July... except in Israel that means nothing

So I barely realized that it was the Fourth of July today. More importantly, here in Israel, it is Rosh Chodesh and Shabbat (The new lunar month and the Sabbath day for Jews). It's pretty weird that I won't see fireworks but I did see them at Yom Yerushalayim a lil while back. Plus the sounds of explosions always scare the crap out of me here.

So big news... Kate and I moved into seminary and yeshiva early. We were getting a little bored in Tel Aviv except for the nights and also it wasn't the most comfortable place to be because we didn't get to really settle in... or for Kate "nest". I was worried about starting early but I am actually having a lot of fun here.

Before we moved in we went to see The Bank Job and The Zohan. I thought The Bank Job was pretty good although Kate hated the acting which was a legit claim. I just thought it was so stupid that they put sex and love in the movie... it was based on a true story and nothing in that story warranted the love story they added... and if they were going to add something they should have made it somewhat interesting. Anyway The Zohan was hilarious... for the first half hour. Granted it was late and I fell asleep for a little, it was a different type of humor that was good but not the best of Adam Sandler.

We also got to hang out with my uncle in law who invited Kate and I over for Shabbat day tomorrow at his moms which I am very excited for.

In terms of Fantasy Baseball, I am finally able to keep up with the team (although I barely know anything about baseball), and this week I am destroying David Sokolow... LET IT BE REMEMBERED... 7-1 currently.

On a more serious note, there was a terror attack while Kate and I were in Jerusalem the other day. Some really really ridiculously stupid idiot decided that he should drive a tractor through the busy streets of Jerusalem trying to kill and injure as many people as possible. I found out later that bills were being passed that day to destroy the homes of, deport the families of, take the social security away from the families of and do more to the terrorists. I was so happy to hear this because it is the only way to retaliate... Immediately after the terror attack, the mother of the terrorist was singing in joy on her porch about the incident with a crowd of supporters. I have plenty more to say about this but it is time to get ready for Shabbat.

I want to wish the people that are currently being healed from the incident a speedy recovery. And I also hope everyone reading this is having an amazing, healthy and happy summer and that nothing like this should ever happen to you or touch the people around you.

Love
Omz

June 29th 2008, Tel Aviv with Kate!

I picked up Kate at the airport that night and ate a huge McDonald's KOSHER burger which is delicious. If you don't believe the use of the word huge I believe there is a picture in my facebook of a time I got this burger and it's about the size of my face. I guess you could say it's tradition for me to get a burger there now... delicious, healthy tradition.

We went to sleep soon after but woke up early to head off to the dead sea. Just as we were leaving, my cousin, Ophir, walks through the door. Awkwardly having to say goodbye immediately as he arrived we headed off to a beautiful day of sulfur and mud baths, sunbathing, floating in the dead sea, ice cream and more. It was an unbelievably long ride home. It took about 2 hours to get there in the morning... We left the dead sea somewhere around 2:30 and got home after 7. I'm not really sure what happened but we literally had to stand on the bus ride for at least an hour at one point because of how crowded the bus got. In Israel there's no such thing as not having seats left... they will just let you on the bus regardless.

The next day we had Shabbat and visited my cousins at work which was awesome. After Shabbat started it was kind of a quiet time again. Just relaxed. Shabbat morning we woke up around 6:30am to go to a Sephardic service. It was pretty awesome and reminiscent of my bar mitzvah in Israel. They threw so much candy at this kid and continued to throw it throughout the service at random people. It was wild but hilarious.

The rest of the day was just sleeping and playing cards. That night, however, we went out to the bars with Ophir. Tried to get into a bar that was super packed but then just hung out at an extremely loud bar and a brewery. The brewery served us barley like they serve nuts or pretzels. They tasted like goldfish.

Today Kate and I met Rob Schlissel in Tel Aviv and hung out on the beach for a really long time, walked around, ate good food, saw The Bank Job and came home. It was a pretty awesome day and I had a great time. There's a game on right now between Spain and Germany... soccer... Spain was winning by 1 last time I checked... just thought it might be important... like documenting history in my blog.

The plan for the next few days is to see The Zohan, go to Jerusalem and talk to everyone to figure out our plans for the next 2 months and chill on the beach!

TTYL
Omz

Israel and Ted

So everything has gotten much better and any confusions that happened here have been cleared up for the most part. So life is good.

I hung out with Ted for the past few days. Today he is in Ein Gedi, an oasis on the dead sea filled with plant and wildlife. I have to pick up Kate tonight at 7 so I'm just hanging out until then.

Sunday we went out do dinner with Ted's friend, Danielle, and her brother. We had kebabs and basically unlimited salads of all types... and i mean all types. We sat down and they must have brought 25 or so small plates with different salads, dips etc... israeli salad, potato salad, picked things, babaganush(sp?), humus and so much more. It was delicious although pricey. I think I may have written about this already... anyway...

Monday Ted and I walked all over Tel Aviv. I took him to Shuk Ha-Carmel (the market), Sheinkin st, the Dizengoff Mall, The central bus station, the beach and some other little places. It was a lot of fun.

Tuesday we went to Jerusalem which was awesome. I took him to Machane Yehuda(the market) and had Marzipan's Rugula(the best ever... it's a pastry where they paste chocolate onto the dough and roll it into rugula and we ate it right off the baking sheet. Then we had lunch at one of the best Kubeh places in Jerusalem...(not as good as my Safta's though). We went through Mea' Sharim and went to the old city. We saw the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (where Jesus was crucified and buried and came up from i think...) where there was a huge picture of him being wrapped in a cloth (which Jews are before they are buried) before he was buried which I found really interesting. We then walked on the street, De la rosa or something, that Jesus walked on with the cross. Then I took him to the Western wall. Somehow we got into a tour of the Western wall tunnels and into the Davidson center of Archeology which are the two awesome things to see when you are by the wall. We walked all the way down to the ancient street level of the second temple, saw ruins from Roman conquest etc. I tried to find a way to let him go up to the Dome of the Rock and the Temple mount but I didn't know there were such limited allowed times for this... so I couldn't get him up there. We finished the day with some delicious Magnum ice cream and headed back to Tel Aviv.

There are a bunch of pictures that he and I took at the following address:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Levin.Omri/


I was surprised but he loves Tel Aviv and keeps saying he wishes he had more time in Israel.

Anyway tonight I pick up Kate! And then tomorrow we'll go to the dead sea in the morning and then hang out with my cousins and maybe see Don't Mess with the Zohan... which in America I think is just called The Zohan haha.

TTYL
Omz

Israeli Craziness

Let's start out with Shabbat... I woke up on Friday and went out to get my Safta some flowers. I went to a bunch of different places to find good ones and I realized it's Shabbat and the color of Shabbat is usually white! So I got a dozen or so white flowers. I didn't want to spend too much because I know I'll want to do this again soon. So I brought them home and gave them to her and she said thanks but I was a little dissapointed in her reaction because I've been trying all week to be helpful and do nice things but it seems like nothing makes her happy. It is epitomized in the following example:

Safta cooks for me each day which I am extremely grateful for because it saves me a lot of money on food. So she is preparing food, probably the second day I am here, and I have offered in the past to help but she would just blow it off and continue to do it herself. So I think this time maybe I'm being too timid and I need to be more aggressive in trying to help... like it may be a cultural difference I'm not used to. So I get up and try to say in Hebrew and English... I want to help, what can I do. And when she got the message she stopped cutting food and said, "You want to cook? No? Then I do it."

And thus is my life in Tel Aviv haha. It's sad because I am really thankful that I have a place to stay and food to eat but I feel like the fact that we cannot communicate well is causing a lot of miscommunication which is putting negative feelings in the air. I spoke to my mom about it today and basically now I am going to do as much as possible to be overly nice through actions because I really have no other way of showing that I am thankful. I just reorganized my room to make it as clean as I can with the resources I have.

Anyway. I didn't realize that Sephardi services were at 6:30am so when I woke up later that morning to my Safta sleeping I just assumed we weren't going to temple. Later I am questioned about why I slept through services... how was I supposed to know?

The rest of the day I read my book... I actually read 2 books... and then waited on the porch patiently for the sun to set so that I could use my computer again. Then, I find that I have internet in the apartment as long as I have my computer outside! The problem is that it basically has to be at chest hight to get a good signal for some reason. So I've figured out, in my room, I can get a good signal if I put the computer in the windowsill... At first this worried me but I had used my computer lock to tie the computer down to the bed so it won't fall out the window... hahaha how crazy is this?

So that night I got to talk to Kate extensively about Judaism and a little about each other haha. And today Kate's friend Ted got to Israel! So I have someone to hang out with again. I'm gonna be his tour guide for the week which will give me something to do. I had dinner with him and his friend and his friend's brother. She took us to an awesome restaurant where you basically got all you can eat bread and salads and then some kababs of amazing meat. I had the young chicken which was so good... a little expensive but I've been saving a lot by not eating out at all basically... thanks to Safta! Although she confuses me she is pretty awesome!

Anyway tomorrow I'm going to wake up and take Ted around Tel Aviv and plan the rest of the week so he can see Israel in 4 days... crazy!

TTYL homiez
Omz

6/19/08 – 8:50pm Tel Aviv, Israel

So I am officially the last Meor-guy in Tel Aviv. Today Sam left to study at Yeshiva in Jerusalem and Josh, Saul and Jeremy probably are just boarding their plane now or just took off. Doing laundry… I just ate dinner back home and it was delicious.

Today I woke up and battled myself with whether or not I should run. I ran! It was awesome because I felt great and I got to see a bunch more of the neighborhood. After lunch I went to Ha-Carmel market and checked out that area as well and then walked up to the hotel where the guys were checking out. I saw a lot more of Tel-Aviv to familiarize myself with.

After that we walked to the mall and went to the beach and all parted ways slowly. We ended up at Mikes Place and had some drinks. Then I came home and the sheerut guy wouldn’t give me change for 6 shekels (supposed to cost 5.20) and then he also took 9.50 from another girl… the whole ride he was playing with the coins in the front of the bus… so sad… so obsessed with moneys… I hope I’m never like that.

I’m really happy that I’m getting to know the area because I can show Kate’s friend, Ted, around as well as Kate!

Tomorrow is Shabbat and I’m going to get my grandmother flowers because she does so much for me here. I don’t know what her favorite color is but Sam guessed red so I’m gonna try that. I was thinking about going out for internet tonight but I think I’ll just jump on tomorrow. (That’s funny because if you read this it’ll have been on the internet already, so it’ll seem like I wrote it online… tricky!)

Blogging is fun.

Love,

Omz

6/17/08 – 11:30pm Tel Aviv, Israel

Today I woke up to a call with the opportunity to go to the beach with some friends in Tel Aviv. Since I just went yesterday I thought I might as well hang out in Ramat Gan today and see what’s going on.

I watched TV for a little and then the phone started ringing in Carmel’s apartment… now usually when I’m in someone else’s house I don’t pick up the phone… so I didn’t. Then it rang again. I ingeniously thought… “maybe it’s Safta!” (my G-ma) and called her on my cell. It was and she still yelled at me for not answering Carmel’s phone haha.

So now I’m moved into Safta’s apartment. I went to town with her and bought some groceries and also went back to use the internet while she slept because she just got back from America… Jetlag. Chilling in the middle of a hallway in the mall I typed away and found out that my package with my Hebrew-English translator is going to have to be sent back to the company and re-sent to Kate, hopefully in time to get it to Israel.

Not such an exciting day. I came home to eat some dinner and watch TV. I talked to my mom about traveling to Jordan to get to India which she wasn’t so excited about. It’s funny because I gave her my blog so she read that we wanted to go in this blog and now is probably reading about her not wanting me to go hahaha.

Anyway I miss Kate a lot and can’t wait for her and my cousins to get here. Also on the 21^st Kate’s friend, Ted, is coming in so I get to be a tour guide for a little which should be fun!

Time to write in my not public blog… oooo I bet you all wanna read that huh? Mua hahaha no way!

Omz

6/16/08

It is my second day in Tel Aviv and I spent all of last night trying to learn as much Hebrew as possible. As promised I am going to explain last night and as a bonus you get to hear about tonight too!

The adventures began last night after I found a taxi to my grandmother’s sister’s(Carmel) house. It was lucky that I chose to taxi it because the Ha-Geffen street that she lives on was different from that on my map and if I hadn’t taken a taxi I would never have known. I arrived and again luckily know my numbers in Hebrew because all I could get out on the phone with Carmel was “esreem v’ shty-eem” and “l’malla shalosh”. Which means “twenty two” and “up three” so I knew to look for building 22 and the 3^rd floor. It’s almost as if I’m being given some help here because I am barely getting by but this is just the beginning of the story…

So that night continued with Carmel and I sitting in her living room and asking me if I was hungry… asking many things I didn’t understand, feeding me, asking more that I could somewhat understand… telling me I need to learn Hebrew and that she will teach me in under 30 days… and then I mentioned the internet. So she called her friend who spoke English and he told her to take me to McDonalds for internet. At this point she was determined to find me the internet at 10pm and it was extremely sweet. So we leave the apartment and walk and all the way she is making sure I am remembering all of the streets so I know my way around and making sure I understand all of the Hebrew that she is using in explaining the directions as well. Finally we get to McDonalds and I open the computer and I get a connection! So I try to communicate this… but she doesn’t understand and keeps saying basically “It’s closed… we have to look somewhere else”. So I give up on trying to explain and humor her and go on a search for internet. We walk inside and as she asks people walking by I find someone who is speaking English to explain to her that I found internet so we can go home… he thought it was hilarious that I couldn’t tell her myself and that we had probably been asking people for internet unnecessarily.

So we walk back to the apartment and we meet Carmel’s grandson Yoni and his girlfriend who speak English! And as determined as I am to speak Hebrew I needed a break after a few hours of it. So Carmel makes us an awesome platter of fruits and we sit on the patio and talk about New York, some stuff in Hebrew I completely didn’t understand… and how Yoni smokes too much when he is doing army service in the jail. Yoni is a guard in jail and his girlfriend, Zohar, is a legal assistant. It was interesting to meet people in these sectors of military service because they aren’t the ones that get to travel to America and work at camps so Americans don’t usually meet them.

So that was last night and this morning Yoni and Zohar drove me to Tel Aviv! However, this meant I hadn’t ridden the bus or sheerut(“shay-root” meaning: shared taxi)… foreshadowing.

I met with Sam who was speaking with some people at the Kibbutz Program Center that he is planning to go on. The woman said the most amazing thing to him. He was wearing a kippah(yamakah/yarmulkah/skullcap) and she asked if he was religious and told him that there were no religious kibbutzim in their program. After that she said “In Israel we don’t necessarily like kippahs so you shouldn’t be so proud of it”. Needless to say he was a little worried and is looking for potential alternatives to their placement program haha. I really don’t understand how that can happen here of all places… non-Jews are more accepting!

(This next paragraph may potentially insult you. Since reading is an action, I accept your act of continuing to read as an acceptance of the terms and conditions of my blog which are that you don’t take anything personal and if you are offended you tell me so we can discuss it over cheesecake and goodies)

This kind of opened my mind to see the difference that many people see between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. It is somewhat sad but everyone in Tel Aviv questions why I want to go to Yeshiva and proceeds to tell me how it’s a waste of time. Even the guy at the counter of a bookstore said that Jerusalem was a waste of time… The Holy City! I don’t get it… it’s the Jewish state and all of our ancestors were learned Jews. We protect this land so that we can safely learn and live our lives as Jews… not just as people with Jewish backgrounds. And all I want to do is have the ability to choose observance of Jewish law… if I don’t know Jewish law how can I choose to follow it or not follow it? If you think Yeshiva is dumb… do you still celebrate Passover? Get married under a chupah? And at the same time people from Jerusalem say that I should stay away from Tel Aviv… probably because everyone will tell me not to go to Yeshiva but also because the beach is freaking awesome.

So Sam and I went to the beach after Josh let us use his computer to check out some sweet info on flying from Amman, Jordan to Delhi, India (which Kate, Sam and I want to do in August if all goes well). And I also found out I might not get my Hebrew translator that I ordered and sent to Kate because… this is interesting… so I didn’t have Kate’s uncle’s, Kenneth’s, address but I know where they live. So I looked on google maps with street view and saw 425 on the 38^th street entrance. What I didn’t know was that it was 425 5^th ave and not 38^th street. So now we have to find a way to get it changed before it arrives on the 23^rd. Anyway… the beach was beautiful… I dug myself a chair in the sand which was so comfortable that I fell asleep (no worries… it was ater 3pm and I had sunblock on). Then my friend, Noam, called and we saw where she works. She works as a seamstress for a famous Israeli designer “Yosef”. They were pretty cool and trendy clothes. Then we walked all over and saw Ha-Carmel Market which I want to go to again and possibly get some really cheap shirts and a coin wallet for all the shkalim(shekels)… exciting right?

So then the next experience began… Noam took us to a really cool place where a guy sews materials into objects like toasters and phones etc. and to a Kubeh place. Kubeh is THE Iraqi food(my heritage food). It’s a ball of meat covered in a breading all in soup. It was delicious. Then I tried to get home… I saw many busses; however, neither bus nor sheerut had “sheeshim v shaysh” or 66 on it… so I walked with Sam and Josh until they had to go the opposite direction. I walked pretty far and it had been about 20 minutes that I was walking towards Ramat Gan when I saw people waving at me in a car. I had called Yoni, Carmel’s grandson, an hour before and told Zohar that I would take a bus. They thought I had taken it an hour ago and when I called they didn’t capture my number. So they went on a search for me! And they found me walking home! So I got made fun of and told that it was too far to walk… but I could have done it. And it was safe enough too… Anyway I got to Carmel’s and she started questioning me in Hebrew which I only understood… “Why by foot?” and “Yoni doesn’t have your number” and “Did you eat?”. And my favorite part is, after practicing some today and studying last night, I actually told her what happened… that I didn’t know he didn’t have my number and that I ate Kubeh; however she thinks I ate at someone’s house which I left alone because she probably doesn’t want me spending money on food. I even continued to explain to her that I was writing in my journal on my computer and told her when Kate/Kayla was coming to Israel! And I told her about Kate finding her Judaism and working for “rich people who help and send Jews to Israel”… that was the best I could do haha. (Sorry Kate! I wanted to see if I could make her understand!)

Anyways that brings us to the present… this has been an amazing Journal! I’m getting good… now I need to bring my camera and add pictures… SWEET… ok peace out homiez!

Love,

Omri

End of Meor, Beginning of my year

The day after Shavuot we volunteered at a distribution center of food for the hungry. We filled boxes in half the time that their volunteers usually do. We got there late and left early...hilarious. It was amazing to see what people received but also sad to see that a family may have to live on so little for a whole month. Either way the organization was doing amazing things giving out so much food to thousands and thousands of people living in Israel.

The next day we had one of the most fun activities so far. We went hiking and rappelling through the canyons by the Dead Sea. What I didn't know was that we literally were going to rappel into pools of water and again swim, full body under, to get to different parts of the hike. Therefore, the dry clothes and camera I brought were in danger. Luckily they had a dry bag that I put them in. Unluckily I didn't see that my ipod was in my bag and it's toast. However, I found myself surprisingly not that mad and only slightly sad because the experience was amazing, I won the ipod in the first place and I haven't been using it because I haven't wanted to add music to anything yet... the natural beauty of Israel. The hike was insane and we literally rappelled down one face that was 150 ft.

I don't have much time before the battery on Jobo's computer dies so I'll write quickly... We had Shabbat with the meor giants in Har nof and parted ways to end the trip. Now many of us are in tel aviv, some in Petra, Jordan today. I am at my family's in Ramat Gan (near tel aviv) and am hanging out and meeting random cousins... and trying desperately to learn hebrew. Staying with my grandmother's sister was insane last night because we could barely communicate. I'll have to write about that next time....

Bye Bye

Post Shavuot

So we just finished Shavuot... the holiday of receiving the Torah. It was amazing and I wish I could have taken pictures to show what we experienced. If you see pictures of Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day) where people are packed in by the wall... this was 3-4 times more people. We were literally at the wall. I turned my head to see every square foot filled with people. I mean even the rooftops of buildings around the wall... it was unbelievable.

Speaking of rooftops for a second... we spent some time with Rabbi Stein, the 1st in his class at Wharton business school... basically the best business student in the country. The house was literally overlooking the wall... higher than any other building that overlooks the wall. There are few people in the history of the world who have seen the view that we saw. If was something I will never forget and on such a day it was even more amazing. Watching from above, as if we were in a helicopter, as people filed in and packed the place.

When we were at the wall we got some awesome prayerage in. It was pretty cool to know that we were among the largest group of Jews together at that moment in the world.

Well this trip has less than a week left and them I'm on my own until Yeshiva. It's sad and exciting at the same time. One things for sure... I have to learn Hebrew asap... haha

I'm gonna go put more pictures on facebook so everyone can see whats been going on... although you can't see the holidays here.

I can put pictures in my blog!

So I learned how to put pictures in my blog so this one can be super dopeness...

Here's the beautiful view at the ranch where we went horseback riding, some pictures of the guys and pictures from the beach we were at:















And here are more pictures:










So that was totally out of order and also it made the text a link for some reason... I got some practice to do. Anyway I have more pictures to put up but thats a glimpse of a few of the early days of the trip.

We have had amazingly beautiful weather. We had a concert by this guy Chaim Dovid... Israeli music is so amazing (Jewish music too) because you don't need to know the words or be able to dance at all but some how you can sing and dance like crazy and have the most amazing time. Ari Sirner has some pictures and a video of dancing so hopefully that'll be online at some point.

We went on a cool hike where you couldn't bring anything that would get wet because we literally had to swim in water to get past a certain part of the hike. We hiked down into a canyon, swam across the water, and hiked back up the other side. It was beautiful and was reminiscent of a combination of the canyon in The Lion King as well as scenes from Jurassic Park.

We've been rafting, mountain biking, atving, and much more and I feel so lucky to have done all this! In the mornings we've also been learning and we've gone over some amazing subjects that, even though I learned many of them when I went on this same trip in the Winter, I am finding new ways to use the knowledge. It just goes to show how deep and true some of these concepts are.

Internet may be hard to find for a while and although I want to write much more I don't have the time.

btw... does anyone understand how amazing Kate Lord is? You should all create fan pages because you will want to be able to say you were on the bandwagon before anyone else.... she's so amazing :)

Love,
Omri