Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Levy thanking everyone for joining us.


















The Rabbi at work

Lets eat!!

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It's friday afternoon right now, and I'm resting for a little before Mike and I head to the Country Club for open gym. This week was really balanced, as everybody prepares for Rosh Hashana monday night ( the jewish year). Tuesday everyone hung out until around 5 when we had a string of meetings. Our last one was a speech from Tal Brody, an American basketball player who came to Israel and captained the Israeli national team to the Euro Cup in 1977 and is widely known as a National hero in Israel. It was remarkable to hear his story and how he played such a pivotal role in Israel becoming a known nation through basketball ( it's true!). He also played for the U.S Army team, a select group that featured Bill Walton ( who he refers to as Billy). He also said that Bob Knight ( who he calls Bobby) is coming to Israel soon and hopefully will put us in contact with him. I can't imagine meeting Bob Knight, I'd probably get down and give him some pushups or something. Wednesday we got up early to go to the beach for a variety of exercises, from cardio to Krav Maga. After that I went to a lunch and learn at our Ulpan building. The lunch consisted of pizza, while the learning was provided by Michael Freeman. Michael Freeman actually lead my orientation in May, so I was one of the few who had already met him. He's a very sarcastic, cynical ( and he doesn't claim otherwise) little british man. He's the leader of the Young Judaea organizition in Europe and now lives in Israel. He's extremely knowlegdable about Israeli current events, and everyone really enjoyed his shpiel. I was happy that they did, and it was nice that for once we were all respectful of the speaker. Generally there's always people talking, which results in the madrachim yelling at us which really throws off the flow, but everyone was quiet and respectful. There's so many events going on in Israel as well as outside developments concerning Israel ( Iran), everyday something new can arise. Anywho, after that I chilled before going to my volunteering. It's been a hard month at volunteering. This is the month of Ramadan, so all of the kids are fasting, and many don't show up. On Wednesday there was 5 of us volunteering and only 3 kids showed up. Hopefully October will be better. Overall I expect October to be a better month because there are so many holidays and we have so much time off. There's also I string of birthdays among our apartment, including my own. Tonight we are having another Shabbat dinner at our place, and this one will be bigger and better. I love that our spot is the place to be. I've been the stickler about cleaning our place ever since we been here, and on Tuesday I finally layed down the law. I came up with a plan so everyone cleans on a certain day, and two groups go shopping on certain days everyweek. I hate being the guy who has to tell people what to do, but so far its worked out great. We have food in our fridge and a clean kitchen, and we're all friends here so I don't think my roommates cared too much. Plus, now I don't have to keep on being a jerk, I can just refer to my policy when necessary ( hehe). Paul McCartney had a concert in Tel Aviv last night!! I wanted to go really badly, but it was very expensive. I talked to my friend Shelly who went, and she said it was amazing ( I could have guessed). I went to club stella, which I had been to before. It's a really cool club and all, but for whatever reason I haven't had fun either times I've gone. Tonight is a big night. A kid from yearcourse rented out the balcony of a really swanky club called the Sky Club. Its for year course kids only and it should be huge. Alrighty its about time for me to be saddlin' up, lata
Jakey G

Laila Tov (Goodnight)

It's midnight here in Bat Yam, and I got nothing to do tomorrow! I got the day off because it's the Tuesday Siyur and I decided against going. It's a trip in Jerusalem that I'll be able to do when i'm living there in the winter, but I've heard great things about it. After the gym on friday we had a shabbat dinner at our place that was delish ( pictures are on the way). A lot of people left for the weekend; the tzofim went home and others went to Jerusalem. Between the leftovers we got from the barbecue (SCORE) and the leftovers from the shabbat dinner (HE SCORES AGAIN), Mike, Jeremy and I ate like kings over the weekend.
I'm sad to report some pretty scary events have transpired in the past couple days though. A kid in my section got beaten up pretty bad by an Israeli, and another kid he was with got knocked out by the same guy. It's left some kids really shaken. Personally, I always travel with a bunch of kids ( fairly robust fellows I might add) so I'm not too worried for my own safety. A little less then an hour ago, a supposed terrorist in a car drove into and injured 15 people in Jerusalem, one of which was critically injured. I haven't really had time to digest this, and frankly we're not sure if it was a terrorist. More will have developed by the morning.
A lot of people have been getting sick as of late, and I to have been getting some stomach pains. I sat out my volunteering today, but cheered on the kids from the sidelines and helped out with some drills. Ulpan is going well; I think I've figured out what I need to do involving my hebrew studies. Basically, I need to take initiative to learn basic phrases outside of Ulpan, because they're not going to teach us that. What they teach us though is absolutely necessary. I definately overlooked a lot of aspects it takes to learn a language, and Hebrew is no easy ride. So ima keep workin hard at it, and hopefully by the time I get to Jerusalem in December I'll have a good platform to work with.
I just talked to Cody P on the phone a little bit ago, really made my night. What a guy. To all my friends reading this: When I call you, it shows up as Unavailable. I know 99% of you never pick up these calls, but for the next 8 months please make an exception ( that means you too Cheeze). Keep On Keepin On. Laila Tov (ל'לה טוב)

Whoops

I thought I posted my last entry, but apparently I just saved it. The Israel vs Bosnia game was awesome! The arena was very small, but it wasn't even close to full. I enjoyed watching some professional basketball, and I love the way the international ball is played ( pick n' roll bball, my favorite thing there is). I miss watching/arguing about sports, I think it's been making me cranky. Israel had a really fun player to watch called Lior Eliyahu. He's a 6'9 small forward who was drafted two years ago in the second round, with some very saucy game. He led all scorers with 23 I think, and Israel played a steady game after being down early and won by a double digit margin, although the game was close the whole way. I'm sure going to miss sports these upcoming months. NFL is underway, the NBA is starting in a month and week ( go blazers) and the World Series is around the corner. I wish I could be in a fantasy football league, argue about what seed the blazers will be (5-10, who in the world knows) and watch playoff baseball with rob while munchin' on some popcorn. I got a facebook invitation from Che about a softball team! URRGGHH!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't imagine how much fun that would be, and talk about an all-star roster. I guess since it's the weekend ( weekends are friday and saturday) I have more time to ponder about the things I miss. I haven't figured out how to use the calling card eve bought for me ( if your reading this eve, please email

(the entire athletic track at the game)

me), and I want to call so

many people. I called scott on his bday which was nice, but I made it quick because I don't know how much it costs me or him. I tried calling Baron when I was at the game, but that was unsuccessful. I just want to know how people are doing. I'm sure not much has changed, I just want the confirmation that everything is smooth sailing and won't change anytime soon. It hasn't been that long here, but things change so much on a day by day basis it feels like it's been forever. There's so many people I want to talk to, and emails just aren't enough. I hear Joe is coming back in three days from his trip! Im so excited for everyone back home, everyone could use a little Joe Show in there lives.

On the topic of my trip, Thursday was rather uneventful. I helped out the Tzofim ( Israel scouts who are my age) set up a barbecue on the beach they planned for our section, and after that I went to Club Stella in Tel-Aviv. I didn't have that much fun, and I know some of my friends didn't get in. Personally, I don't know how I got in ( it was packed), lucky I guess. I've kinda been in a funky mood recently. I've been losing all my stuff, which has frustrated me beyond belief. I've lost my buspass, basketball, money, and last night I left my favorite hat on the bus. The other things were annoying because I knew where they were, and now they're just gone. I think I could use this weekend, I'm going to the country club in a bit and I'll probably stay there most of the day. Tonight, Mike has a friend who's throwing a party at a club on the Tel-Aviv beach, hopefully that'll be a lot of fun. I'm going to the gym now, I miss everyone and would love to hear from y'all.
Lots of Love
Jakey

Glad to be ballin'!

Ive been slacking on my blog and emails recently. Today has been great and is only going to get better. The sports track morning activity was basketball at the country club. We were told to meet there at 9:30, but we didn't start until 11, so I got a good lift before. I played really well in ball. Nobody except those volunteering with me had got to see me play yet, so it was fun playing competitively with those who I play a variety of sports with. Now we're at our apartment just chillen. I'm about to go to the grocery store because of fridge is bare(as its been the past week). Its so hard to shop for seven guys. If we buy a lot of food, it goes quickly and we waste our stipend money. If we buy too little, we have no food, we need to shop more frequently, and frankly we just eat poorly. It also stinks having no food when guests come over. After I shop im going to take a nap before the Israel vs Bosnia basketball game! Its a qualifying game for the Euro Cup. I also scored tickets to another basketball game on Saturday. I don't have to go to my volunteering today because of the game which is great. After working with the Israeli kids, the Arab kids seem like SUCH a hassle. They're so disrepectful, it's like they don't even want to be there. Mike and I left so discouraged last time, it was a shame to feel like we couldn't make a difference with these kids. Hopefully we'll be able to be with the Israeli kids twice a week and the Arabs once as oppose to twice.

On Monday, I had another Ulpan class followed by a nap, and then volunteering. I feel as if Ulpan is moving slowly, and Im discouraged by my struggle to grasp hebrew, but it's only been two weeks. Nonetheless, I could make a better effort to learn quicker and more efficiently. Volunteering, like I said, was a struggle. I was extremely happy to leave when we did, because an hour later I would be boarding a bus to go on a night hike in the Negev desert. I was happy I had signed up, because I easily could have decided against it and stayed home. Once a week every week Year Course sets up trips like these. Last week I decided not to go, and this week none of my roommates came. I had an amazing time though. Normally the siyurs ( trips) are on tuesdays, but monday was a full moon so they planned it for that night. It was more of a trek then a hike. We walked through canyons which will be flooded in the winter. We got breaks during the trek to take everything in, which really helped me and enhanced the experience. Unfortunately, we had a bunch of annoying Brits in our group that wouldn't stop talking. I wasn't around them as much, but I know some peoples experience got ruined because of them. They were extraodinarily rude to the tour guide ( which, by the way, was amazing. All of our tour guides thusfar have been spectacular), and if I wasn't enjoying myself so much I probably would have yelled at them. We got back at 5 in the morning, but we had most of Tuesday to sleep in. Our first activity was Krav Maga at 2:15. Our instructor was one of the craziest looking dudes Ive ever seen! He's about 5'7, 240 pounds, and is a world renound martial arts master. He used to be Sylvester Stallones stunt double ( its scary how much he used to look like him). After that I went to the gym, and I went to bed fairly early ( like 11:30). There was a huge foam party in Tel-Aviv last night that I decided against, and it turns out it wasn't that fun (YES). Ok I have to go grocery shopping. PAYCE

jAKEY

Relaxing weekend, tiring start to the week

Thursday night in Tel-Aviv was wild; im pretty sure everyone had a good time. A lot of yearcourse people went to a club called Johnny Cays. It was cool setup, but some subpar music and it was oh so hot! It felt like I was groovin in the Negev. I stayed in a hotel with some friends that night, and came back and hung out in Bat Yam all of Friday. Saturday was awesome day for me. I had lunch with some family in ............... Well I don't know the city, but it was amazing to see them. Since it's family in Israel, I see them very very seldomly. They're a unique bunch and I really appreciated their company and the break from year course they provided. Rosh Hashana (Karstens favorite holiday :) ) is in two weeks, so we'll all get together again for it. I truly can't wait. Today we spent the first half of our day at the Israel Tennis Center. They're a fairly big organization in Israel that promotes Tennis to a variety of youth groups for a very small fee ( A shekel a month, the equivalent of about 27 cents). I had only played tennis once, with spencer and paul about 7 years ago. I had a ton of fun though; it's an interesting sport that I could see myself getting into in the future ( and whooping Rich at too). After that I took a killer nap!!!!!! I heard my volunteering had been bumped to 6:30 instead if 4, so I had a one way ticket to my bed when I got home. We went to a different volunteering place today. It's still Peace Players, but this time we worked with Jews and not Arabs. We observed the practice of the younger kids, and then played in the older one which consisted of kids ages 15-17. Mike and I balled again, and it felt good to get the workout we did. I hadn't ran like that since I left Eugene. It was interesting seeing the difference between the two practices, as well as the difference between the Arab and Israeli kids. In the Arab practice, they are taught more fundamentals, where as the Israelis are taught with more teamwork oriented drills. The correlation is funny because the Arab kids always argue amongst themselves, and the Israelis never argue with eachother or the coach. They were extremely respectful and gave great effort. It'l be cool going there every Sunday. It's a nice break in my schedule (going at 6:30 instead of 4) that's sorely needed. Ima go to bed now, got another big day tomorrow
Note: Im also tired because instead of going to bed at a decent hour last night, I stayed up till 3 watching the ESPN Play by play of the Duck Game. GO DUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(and to all my friends reading this, if you see Justin Roper on the streets, invite him for a nice steak dinner at Rock N Rodeo, or 6th street bar and grill, hell even Sizzler; you guys can make a difference)

JAKEY

THE WEEKEND IS HERE

Wednesday was an exhausting day. We got a late wakeup at 8....... let the shock settle in. We went paintballing in the morning, my first time doing so. I'm not a big fan of guns and shooting stuff, but man oh man did I have fun. It was such a rush, especially during the free for-all. My team won the first capture the flag game thanks in part to a rush attack from me, Mike and Feldman. Afterwards we went to a gorgeous beach in Hertizleeyah ( thats definately spelled wrong) and got home around 2. I took a brain nap and then went off to my volunteering at Peace Players. It wasn't as much this time because Mike wasn't feeling good and didn't come, and I don't really get along with the others I'm doing it with. The kids absolutely love me though! They all fight over who gets to be on my team, I love it. It was so tired by the days end, but that was also a product of a tiring week. Today was fairly lax in comparison. We had hebrew class today, which I actually enjoy, even if it is really long (two and a half hours). Afterwards we had a long break that I used to eat and sleep, two of my favorite activities that I haven't found time for. I'm making more of an effort to do them both and do them well. Others have been struggling with food and sleep as well and got sick, so Im trying to avoid getting anything. I went to the gym again today, played ball and lifted. I'm starting to get insync with my schedule. There's going to be a HUGE party tonight in Tel-Aviv. So many yearcourse kids will be there it's going to be unreal. My roommates and I just had a filling dinner, and we're getting ready to go out in hour. I may stay the night in Tel-Aviv because I know some friends who rented a hotel room, and we could hang tomorrow during the day. It should be wild, Ill let ya know how it goes
JaKeY

Insight and Reflection

Most of my posts thusfar have been summaries of my days. I haven't really shared my thoughts, primarily because I haven't had time to ponder over them. Its almost ten now, and Ive got a few moments on my hands, although this post is going to be fairly scattered. The first insight to Israel I've had is the quality and way of life. In a word, its simple. They don't live lavishly, and they use their weekends for partying and being with loved ones. Most people take the buses, because you can pretty much get around to what seems like the whole country on them. There aren't many rich people here, and if the ones that are live in Jerusalem and are from other places around the world. There's much more equality you could say; whether you're rich or poor, you're still going to serve your time in the army. My biggest realization is that a lot of Israelis don't like Americans. And I mean A LOT. I'm so shocked by this. America helps out Israel a tremendous amount! They wouldn't exist without America, although I'm not quite sure how aware they are of that. Others are really interested in us; how we live, how we talk, all this stuff amazes some. People will just stare at us sometimes walking down the street, it's really rude actually. I went to the gym again today to lift and every move I made I was being watched by people. I really started to get mad at them, and I'm still a little perturbed as I type this. I wanted to just yell at them and ask them what they wanted! I think there's a strong feeling of jealousy. Most people have never been to America and would never be able to afford living there, even if they live comfortably here. Another observation: There are no overweight people here. There's literally none. This is outrageous because food here is pretty cheap. Maybe it's because people walk everywhere. Also there's less of a pop culture influence. It's hard to say how that affects the average weight here. Are you more likely to eat healthily without much outside influence? It definately raises some interesting questions. There's scales planted all around the streets of Bat Yam which is kind of funny, although I don't think it makes a difference in my argument. One more interesting fact: Israelis arent religious. Sure there are a few really jewish israelis, others keep kosher, but most of them don't practice judaism. Ok thats enough scattered thoughts

May the force be with you

Jakey