TUESDAY:
On Tuesday, I woke up around 9:30ish to get ready to meet Moran and her cousin at a bus stop. I got on the bus they were on and then off we went to the mall. Moran’s cousin name is Mor, I just find that funny. She was in uniform and I later found out that she is 19-she is a month and a day older than me! When we got to the mall we checked out this one store, but didn’t find anything. We then went to this other store and at first it seemed like there was nothing similar to the pitcher I had bought the day before. Eventually, I saw something very similar to it, except they were only in solid colors. The price was a little much, but after Moran talking to a guy working there, we decided for me to get the pitcher and a nice matching plate (both are ceramic pieces and orange) and a membership card. The card cost 50 sheks or something, but ended up saving me so much money! They wrapped it up and put flower petals around the plate, with the center piece being the pitcher. I was too scared to hold it, so I made Moran. After walking around with them for a little and talking to Mor, I had to go back to Beit Ar-El where I could meet up with Boaz, so he could drive me the Dan Sacher park, which was where Shevet was meeting up for lunch.

While Mor/an (haha) were searching for clothing for a cousins wedding/clothing for Shavuot, I took out money (for my last time), unsuccessfully looked for a nice gift bag, and eventually, somehow after getting lost in the parking lot, got the bus stop I needed. When bus 4 came I took it. I was anxious that I should have just waited for the 18, because I am more familiar with where it goes. I accidentally banged my new present about three times-nothing happened. Oy. After pushing the button and then thinking the next stop was my stop and the driver saying “mah at rotzah yeldah,” I got off the bus way too early. I asked for directions to Baka and walked for at least an hour. Uphill. It was hot out. When I finally got to Beit Ar-El (I was so proud that I didn’t get lost), I hung out in Miki’s room for a little and then put both of my gifts in Boaz’s office before leaving with him.

We had come right after the bus had come and a lot of Marva people were on the bus!! We had lunch—bagels, and salads. It was a lovely day and really nice to be with everyone again, even though many people were missing.

We then drove to the Yitzhack Rabin Youth Hostel in Ramat something, close to Rehavia. We got our room assignments, and relaxed for a bit, we needed to sleep because we would have a very long night ahead of us. I was exhausted and passed out. The annoying thing, was instead of napping and relaxing, everyone else was catching up. Benji flooded his bathroom with the shower. Rach sewed his buttons and other holes in his uniform. People were laughing and sleeping. I got woken up at least 5 times. I blame Benji for more than one of them. Let’s just say that I was cranky, or as Benji would say, “…in a mood!” Eventually everyone napped. Then it was time for candle lighting, services, and dinner. At services, we were given Artsroll Tanah’s that had Shevet 5770, engraved on them for us to keep!

Dinner was so so soo good. We had a discussion as to why we eat dairy—we were just given the halachot regarding kashrut and not sure of the laws so in order to make sure that they didn’t mess up they only ate dairy, another reason that I guessed (and was right!) was that it doesn’t fill you up and make you feel heavy and tired that way you can stay up and study all night long. After dinner we grabbed some jackets and headed towards Beit Ar El.

When I say we, I really mean, Rachel, Katie, Naomi, Julia, James G, Boaz, Joel, and Joe. Others would either join us later or go to town. We were given a list of different Shiurim throughout Jerusalem in English that we had the option of going to.

After secretly talking to Boaz on the phone for a little, Rabbi Yosela from Shalem spoke to us based on a sheet he handed us with different quotes talking about human character, such as old mindsets, wanting to be challenged-rather than always being right without arguing or fighting, how one handles drinking & using his wallet & dealing with anger, where anger comes from (“emerges from the absence of creativity), and Jerusalem having 9 out of the 10 measure of beauty descended to the world. I kept the sheet of paper with the specific quotes.

After getting lost and finding our own way (as a group), we get to Hartmen Institute, which was on the way to Rechavia. We heard Rabbi Professor David Hartman talk. We came late, but one thing that really stuck in my mind was when he talked about the one thing the God cannot forgive us, even after we repent. The one thing is desecrating God’s name. What does this mean, exactly? A rabbi gave an example, using himself. It is considered to be desecrating God’s name, when he goes to a butchery, and takes meat without paying for it right away. This is because people could see him not paying and assume it is because of his job position. Basically, it is showing us how such small, everyday things are the things that really play a major role in Judaism.

Then we made our way to the Conservative Yeshiva at Agron. It was a little more difficult for me to focus, but one funny thing the Rabbi said was “incest is all relative.” After his schpeel, some of us began to lose it. Rach, Julia, Katie, Naomi, and I walked back to Beit Ar-El. Not sure if you have noticed, but we have done a lot of walking so far! After having snacks and me finding out who Yael is in the Tanah (strong woman who killed an enemy general by sticking a tent pole into the guy’s head), and talking about other people’s Hebrew names, we started to walk towards the Kotel. For some reason, we had to have a guard. I took advantage of that and spoke to him in Hebrew. I tried telling him and Boaz about my camping experience. It was so hard to speak Hebrew. I’ll just pretend that it was hard to tell the story because I was so tired. We finally get to the Kotel and Rach, Katie, and I have to go to the bathroom. I bumped into Katy Scharf, which was nice! We also bumped into a lot of Yeshiva boys we usually always see in town. Haha. We are pushing past people, but once we get to the other side, we found out that those toilets are only for guys, and the bathrooms only for girls was on the other side-by the women’s side. Great. When we turn around and start to head back, we bump into the Rabbi from New Jersey, Ari Kurzmann, and Jonathan Kaufman. In the bathroom, while we are leaving, this one girl looks familiar, no clue how I know her, but say hi. When she said hi, she was just saying hi back to be polite. She had no idea who I was. When we left the bathrooms, it was no longer dark outside. The bummer was that it was cloudy, so there wasn’t such a nice sunrise. After sitting on the group for a bit and thinking, I realize that she was one of the daughters of the house we stayed at in Efrat! I was sitting near Yoni Buckman and Eitan Mendelson, and then the seniors from JAMD came! Said hi to them, acted a little crazy because I was so tired, and then left them to sit back down. I then saw Shoshie Gruber and then Kendall joined us with her friends. So great to see so many people!! When we finally left, after getting a slow start and stopping and going, etc., Joel, Rachel, Katie, and I walk together back to the Hostel. We are all so tired and just want to sleep that it takes us over an hour to walk back. Once we got into our rooms we past out (Cara already was!!)