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