Remembering V

It is funny, I have been sitting here at my computer looking at the keyboard trying to figure out how to say what I want to say today. I hope that it comes out the way I intended.

Earlier this year, our community lost a shining star. Because of the world we live in today, the world of social media allowed all who knew Sy to express their feelings on facebook, in articles written about him, and so much more. There is even a "Sylebration" event that will be held this september in his honour to remember, share, and raise money for charity.

I was actually in Hawaii when this event happened, yet through the wonderful world of the internet, and social media I was connected to 'home' with comments from friends, and people who were writing, commenting and posting photos about the tragedy of the event.

Eight years ago it was a different world. People actually made phone calls to pass on news - good or bad. I remember my mom getting that phone call like it just happened.

Eight years ago a shining star was taken from our friends, family, world. I remember that day - what was going on, what happened in the days to come and how our community coped with the loss of Aviva. 

If you had the chance to have Aviva as your friend, you were lucky. She was amazingly smart, funny, caring and loving. She lit up a room. I had coffee with a high school friend last week and she told me that she was telling her husband that one of the things she remembered about me was my laugh. Well, Aviva had a laugh you wouldn't forget either.

This is not meant to be a eulogy for Aviva, but a reminder about who she was, and the kind of legacy that some people leave in your life. My brother brought Aviva into our lives when he was at York, and I know that we will be forever grateful. I will also always miss her - and what we didn't get to share together.

Take a moment today and remember someone you love - whether they are here with you or in spirit.

Luv you V,

Another brick in the wall

As you have probably realized by now, my recent trip to Israel had a very big effect on me. One of the places that I think had the most effect on me was the Western Wall - the Kotel. 

The first time we saw it was from the rooftop terrace at the Aish World Center.  We walked there from our hotel and were instructed to go right to the top of the building for our group pictures. We were told "do not take your own pictures, there will be time for that". The view is spectacular and it was hard not to start snapping away when you first see the amazing site of the Kotel in front of you below.

After our group photos we had to go back inside for our first class of the day. not before everyone went picture happy taking photos of the Kotel, personal photos with the Kotel behind you, beside you, etc.

Later that morning, we finally got the chance to go to the Kotel. At the ground level of the Aish building, it actually has a walk out right into the Western Wall Plaza.

I had only been in Israel one other time in my life, and it was through work and with a group of travel professionals and it was an 'overview' tour of the country, not an organized Jewish tour. The experience at the Kotel was different from the experience I had this time.

This time I went with 170 other women from my trip. You can't really see from the attached photos, but the women's 'side' of the wall is much smaller than the men's section. For obvious reasons of course, but when you are so many amazing women in such a small place, everyone wants their time to touch, feel, pray and connect with the history of this holy place, it was hard to get to have your moment in the space.

I had a talk with my nieces about writing special messages to Hashem and I would put them in the crevices in the wall. They each drew a picture and signed it, and I made sure that the messages were put there for them.
 
This past weekend we had Tisha B'av, which is a day of mourning the destruction of both temples and many other sad events of the Jewish people that happened on that day.

I was at a class on the weekend and we were talking about the fact that the Kotel is such a sacred place for the world and the Jewish people, and the truth is that is a wall of the courtyard where the temples once stood. It isn't even the wall of the temple, but it is the closest place to the temple that we will ever have a piece of.

That is good enough for me. I found the time I was able to view the wall from the Aish World Center and the time I was able to spend close it, something I will never forget.

Food - Israeli style - take one!

I have had a lot of opportunities to travel to amazing places, and being a "foodie", I always want to try local specialities and new things. In Greece I ate calamari, fresh feta cheese, freshly caught and grilled fish and authentic Greek salad (no lettuce). In New Orleans I tried gumbo, etitoufee, jambalaya and of course beignets and cafe Au lait. In Hawaii....I named it my "Hawaiian seafood fiesta" (you can read about that in my travel blog).

And now...dining in Israel. What can you say about the food in Israel? Once again, full of amazing dining experiences and tastes, flavours and options. Being in Israel, when you have to choose your food options you have to choose milk or meat because the restaurants are separate (we ate a lot of dairy options) and they were GOOD!

On the first day in Tiberias we walked to a very nice dairy restaurant close to the beach. They had a lot of very nice salad options. I chose one that had haloumi cheese. it is very similar to Saginaki in Greek restaurants, but they don't set it on fire with ouzo. It is salty, and tests best when served right from the oven. Here are pictures of the salad with the haloumi.

The opening program of the trip was dinner at Decks Restaurant. It is an open air restaurant overlooking the Galilee (the Kinneret). We sat in long tables by our city. The food is served family style across the table.

The opening was of course falafel balls, hummus and tahini, following up by an amazing fried onion loaf, salad, shoe string potatoes, and then the most amazing salmon you have ever tried. It came out on these 'hot plates' that had bbq'd sweet potato, grilled mushrooms and grilled lemons.

Here is what it looked like: (Pictures do not do the meal justice)

After the meal they started to play music and the party really started. It was the first night, and the coming together of 170 amazing women for the next 9 days of growth, self discovery and touring of our beautiful Eretz Israel. (the land of Israel)

As I was clapping, singing and dancing, the music changed and a song I have heard hundreds of times came on. I was standing there, and tears were streaming down my face. I realized that I was in Israel. We had already been there a full day, but it wasn't until that moment that I had really arrived, and my feet were planted firmly on the ground. A lot of people were emotional.

Here is that song:

My letter in the Torah

 

In one of my Shabbat posts last week I told you about our pre-Shabbat concert by Rabbi Yom Tov Glaser and the song Letter in the Torah and how it had an effect on me at the concert. The words spoke to me, and my reason for being on JWRP, and trying to figure out the who/what/where/when and why of my life. Everyone that goes on JWRP has their own reason for being there, and is on their own personal journey that they are taking. 

 

Yesterday I had the opportunity with my parents to have Shabbat lunch and my Rebbitzen's house. My parents and I attended services at Thornhill Woods Shul for the first time and it was such a nice experience. 

The talk Rebbitzen Rachel was having was about your "purpose" in life. Why are you here, which is your global mission, and your personal mission in life. How to find out what that is, and more. 

She discussed that every letter in the Hebrew alphabet has a numeric value and that if you add up all the numeric values in the Torah, it will come to 600,000. That same 600,000 relates explained that these letters correspond to the 600,000 Jewish souls that exist (and we can all have parts of Jewish souls within us (I hope I am explaining this right).

In any case, the class was very interesting to me specifically because I understood why the song had such an effect on me that night at the concert. The song is all about who you are, where you are going, and how do you get there. Which is exactly what Rebbitzen Rachel was trying to explain. That it is a life long process. 

Yesterday's Shabbat was a great day. I was able to show my parents a small taste of what I experienced in Israel by taking part in a couple of classes about Jewish learning. I know that they enjoyed themselves as well and will attend with me again in the future. We all had the chance to talk to others, listen and be a part of something.

Here are the words to the song, and then after that is a video where you can listen to the song yourself and see what you think. 

My Letter in the Torah
Who am I any way
Where am I going to
How did I get here
And what do I need to know
What am I supposed to do with my life

Can I start living
If I don't know which way to go
I heard somebody say
In the quiet of the night
If you close your eyes
You'll hear the answer

I just wanna find my letter in the Torah
I know it's somewhere out there
If I could only see

I just wanna find my letter in the Torah
The one that's written just for me

So many words
So many pages
I keep finding more
Every time I look

Sometimes I need
To take a little break
Sometimes to connect
I've gotta close the book

I heard somebody say
If you listen to your heart
You were born with all the answers

It's not about the goal, it's all about the soul
You use in every move you make
It's not the biggest name, it's how you play the game
When you're getting it together
Getting it together

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7niCaCEYhWk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>iframe>

 

Shabbat in the Old City

It is going to be hard to put into words what the Shabbat at the Kotel experience was like. It was like nothing I have ever experienced before and until I go back and do it again, never again.

Before we brought in Shabbat (with candle lighting) we were treated to an amazing pre-Shabbat concert from Rabbi Yom Tov Glaser. He is a rockin' Rabbi living in Israel transplanted from the surfing beaches of California. On the outside he looks like any Rabbi - black hat, full beard, pais and black coat - but on the inside a true surfing beach bum at heart.

He started with a song Shabbat Shalom (surprised?) but it was more a song 'in the round' where the left side of the room had one part of the song and the right side another part. Very participatory. A lot of fun. He moved into a few more songs, and introduced a song that was new and available on Itunes (modern times). It is called Letter in the Torah, and it is quite an emotional song about where you may going, what is your purpose - what is YOUR letter in the Torah. I remember the words really hit me, because being on this trip, everyone has a reason to be there.




After the concert was over, we all had the chance to light Shabbat Candles and say prayers for our loved ones, and then it was time....to go to Kotel and really 'bring in Shabbat". It really something you have to see and experience for yourself.

We all went down to the Kotel and as a group tried to move into the centre of the women's section. It was hard because it was wall to wall women, teens on birthright, soliders, and other groups. But there we were - creating our own prayer and song circle, with so many other prayer and song circles. Hundreds of women, singing, dancing, praying and bringing in the Shabbat.

The men on the other side of the separation wall were doing the same thing, praying on Shabbat eve, also chanting, and dancing and connecting all Jewish people around the world welcoming in the Shabbat. I couldn't see them, but I could hear them, and I wanted to see, so I left our area to go out see the men in prayer.

You can see again, hundreds, standing shoulder to shoulder praying for Shabbat - older men, younger men, soliders. It was something to see. Of course it was Shabbat so I have no photos or video, but the memory will be in my memory forever.

I had to take a step back away from the Kotel to take it all in. The Kotel is the last remnant of the Holy Temple, and the holiest site on earth, and there I was, able to share it's glory on Shabbat. If you ever have the chance to experience what I had the chance to experience - you cannot let it pass you by. If you have experienced it in your lifetime, then you know what I mean.

Shabbat Pretty

I was excited to celebrate Shabbat in Jerusalem. There seemed to be a buzz in the air in the old city. We had two classes in the morning and then we had free time until we had to be back in the old city for bringing in the Shabbat.

Our morning classes were all about Mitzvahs for women - "Light up your life - the Mitzvah of Candle Lighting" and "A Mitzvah of Body and Soul: Challah baking"

Mitzvah definition:
mitzvah [ˈmɪtsvə (Hebrew) mitsˈvɑ]

n pl -vahs, -voth (Hebrew) [-ˈvɔt] Judaism

1. (Non-Christian Religions / Judaism) a commandment or precept, esp one found in the Bible

2. (Non-Christian Religions / Judaism) a good deed

There are 613 Mitzvot and only three of them are for women:

1. Candle Lighting

2. Separating Challah

3. Going to the Mikvah

Shabbat is a very special time. It is a time to stop creating and recognize your creator. That the world keeps turning without us. 

Lori explained that Judaism is like a tree - it has blossoms, fruits and roots. 

On Shabbat you need to remember the blossoms of the tree - your children, challah, songs. The roots of the tree are connecting to G-D. If you don't connect your roots to G-D, your tree will die. 

We discussed that the hotel would have a Shabbos elevator (one that stops on every floor automatically so you don't have to touch any of the buttons) and if you didn't plan on turning on and off the lights in your room, you had to decide before you left the room what you were going to do. 

Since the hotel had free wifi, I had been on line every night keeping in touch with family and friends at home. I decided that for Shabbat I wouldn't use the Ipod or blackberry. It wasn't that hard and I was happy that I said I wouldn't do it, and I didn't. 

We learned from Rebbitzen Raizy Guttman about the mitzvah of Challah making, the significance of breaking off a small piece to say the prayer, and how that piece is supposed to be burned. She explained that the flour symbolizes the earth and the water symbolizes the sky and how the physicality and spirituality combine. 

We learned how to braid the dough, and make flowers with the dough to create beautiful loaves of challah that we would enjoy at dinner. It was fun, and everyone participated making their own loaf design to be baked off.

 After the two sessions in the morning we had free time until we had to be back in the old city for a pre shabbat concert and Shabbat at the Kotel. By the early afternoon the shop keepers were closing early, going to the shuk - where there are 250 vendor selling fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses, nuts, flowers and more. Everyone is getting ready for Shabbat and you can feel the excitment.

We had time for lunch, shopping, buying wine for dinner that night, and then getting ready for Shabbat. The dress code for that night was "Shabbat pretty". It was nice to see everyone getting a little more "spruced up" for our special night at the Kotel.

"Shabbat is the sign of the Jewish People" 

Journey

Where do I begin?

The Oxford dictionary defines "Journey" as:
noun (plural journeys)

• an act of travelling from one place to another:

• A long and often difficult process of personal change and development:

I would agree with both.

Last summer a group of friends that I know were going to Israel. They were going with a women's group on a "Transformation and Grow" mission with and organization called JWRP (Jewish Women's Renaissance Project). I wasn't really involved with them when they applied and never thought about going, until they were all there and posting pictures on facebook, that I was envious and thinking I should figure out a way to get on one of these trips.

It was while they were there that another friend of ours messaged me that a trip was open for October 2011 and that she was going to apply. I applied as well. There is a process where you apply, you go for an interview with the city leader from your group, and then you wait to see if you are accepted for the trip. There are qualifications and specifications to being approved for the trip.

I don't want to work backwards in my life's journey, but what I know now, that I wasn't able to really appreciate then, was that I was not "meant" to go on the trip in October. I was going to get my chance and I just had to wait for it to happen for me. When you are disappointed about something in your life, who thinks like that? I didn't at first, but I know that now.

Back in February this year, through another friend (completed unrelated to the women who already attended the trip) I found out she was going to be going on the SAME trip this June. She told me her trip was not full and I should apply. I was hesitant to do so, knowing what I had already gone through previously, but thought, what the heck....this trip seems to keep coming up in my life, I should listen to the signs, and I applied.

I was very lucky to meet my city leader for the interview. She is a kind, compassionate women who saw something in me that allowed me to go on this journey. She accepted me right away at my interview, and within 24 hours, I had booked my ticket and paid my deposit for the trip.

Just have to jump ahead for a moment.

Lori Palatnik is the co-founder of the JWRP and our host for the mission. On our very first day in our very first class with her she told us that the Talmud says it takes merit to come to Eretz Israel (the land of Israel) and whatever we did last Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur has allowed us to come on this trip at this time.

And here I am. I have gone to Eretz Israel and have now returned. I have posted pictures on facebook, but really haven't talked much about the trip yet (I have been sick since I got home).

I hope you will read along with me as I share with you what I learned from my "Transform and Grow" mission to Israel with JWRP. They say that just going to Israel you come back a changed person. I think that is true, on so many levels. Stay tuned folks, lots more to come!!!