The last post of the year... (at least for 5769)

Labor Day has passed that means the summer is officially over and it also means that you can't wear white anymore until memorial day... which I foresee being a huge problem in Jerusalem because many traditional Jews wear all white on Yom Kippur (I'll let you know what happens).

So as the Jerusalem air becomes a bit more crisp, as the sound of the shofar wakes me from my slumber every morning and as the Jerusalem cats begin to hibernate for the winter (I wish), I thought it would be a good time to share some highlights from my summer in the holy land.

FESTIVALS
Beer, Wine, International Arts & Crafts, Woodstock, random street festivals... It couldn't get much better! Lots of free music, lots of free drinks, I hopped from one festival to another during the summer. I got to see "famous" Israel artists like Hadag Nahash and Aiv Gefen perform in some pretty cool Israeli settings including the Israel Museum, Independence Park, and the ancient Sultans Pool. I'm sad that the festival season is over... but the good news is that the Israel basketball season is starting and I heard those games are off the hook.

Arts&Crafts Festival outside the Old City Walls... You have never been to an Arts&Crafts festival like this before!

HEBREW
You read it write... Hebrew has been a highlight of my time so far in Israel, now that sounds crazy. But I'm feeling good about my hebrew. I'm an expert at ordering falafel and shwarma rak (only) in Hebrew. and I'm even good at giving directions (at least I think I am, even though I'm not sure if the people I give directions to arrive at their final destination). Classes have started and about half of them are in Hebrew, and I would say that I'm understanding 86.74 percent of the material.... not too shabby, for a guy who barely passed his senior year of high school spanish (Senora Benko... would be so impressed with my language skills).

GETTING OUT OF JERUSALEM
I've taken some awesome trips the past couple of weeks... I just got back from a tiyul with my classmate up North. We traveled to the Israeli borders of Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan and discussed the establishment of the State of Israel and also current political issues. We also went to some awesome natural springs, spent sometime in some pretty cool archeological sites, and hung out on the shores of the Sea of Galliee. The tiyul was a great way to start the academic calendar at HUC.

I also had a awesome 10-day vacation with Arielle (check out her review of Kotel6 below). Highlights for me included, exploring the Arab/Christian quarter of the Old City, attending a world cup qualifier soccer match between Israel and Latvia, some excellent meals in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, relaxing at the beaches of the "gold coast", and of course just spending time with Arielle in Israel (I'll be getting some major points for writing that on my blog.... YES!).

KOTEL6 GUESTS
I have also had the honor of some wonderful visitors at KOTEL6 including Becky and Mike Oliver, Benjamin Gittleson, and Arielle Traub (she enjoyed her trip so much she decided that she will come back and become a permanent resident of Kotel6 starting in November!) So book your tickets and come visit and you too could get a shout-out on this blog, what more could you ask for?

As we are in the waning hours of the year 5769... I wanted to wish all my dedicated readers a wonderful and sweet new year. And my hope is that one of your many new year's resolutions will be to comment on this blog.

For Now I wish you all a Shanah Tovah...

ERBP

PS: I thought this was cool and it would only happen in Israel.

Shabbat Candles on display in IKEA