כל ההתחלות קשות

Hello friends.

We had more eventful activities last week.  On Friday, Sheryl and Zoe went to the Kotel to watch Max Kresch’s official swearing-in ceremony as a Golani recruit.

(Some will be surprised -- or even disappointed -- but this was their first visit to the Old City since we arrived).  They felt fortunate and honored to join Eddie, Susie, and Talya for this special day.  

On Sunday, the three of us (Hannah's still in Thailand) went with the four older Kresch's (David and Atara didn't make this trip) to Sushi Rehavia for a celebratory dinner.   I was sitting at one end of the table and didn’t get to speak with Talya that much, but Max sounds like he’s doing great.  He is doing medic training for a few months at his base in the Negev.  (For those of you who don’t know, the IDF is in the midst of moving a huge part of its operations to an area around Beersheva, which promises to have a huge impact on that city, on Tel Aviv, and the country as whole. If you are interested, here's an old news story on the move: idf marches south)  We hope to see more of Max and Talya (and lots of other Detroit expats!) when they want a little break from their normal lives.

I wasn’t at Max’s tekes because I was at a Shabbaton.  (Sheryl joined me for Shabbes, while Zoe went to the Kashuk’s).  This was a Pardes Shabbaton, at Kibbutz Almog near Jericho and the Dead Sea.  

When's the last time you faced due west to daven?

I love the dessert (Sheryl not so much) and had a couple of great hikes with the group Thursday night/Fri morning.  

Lifetime supply of s'mores to the first person to find me in both of these last 2 photos!

Pretty easy hikes, but any day hike in weather like that is tiring, so I was glad the guest houses had nice a/c.  Certainly not something I remember from my early Israel tiyyulim.

Since Pardes is a big part of the reason I’m here this year, and where I’m spending most of my time, it seems that I should finally spend some blog time talking about my experiences there.

Pardes, for those who don’t know much about it, is something like a traditional bet midrash, but with some major and obvious differences.   It was really the first co-ed institution (1972) where post-college students could sit and together learn Jewish texts. From its beginning Pardes has been non-denominational, although almost all the teachers are Orthodox.  (That’s a bit of an issue for Pardes in my opinion, but more on that perhaps some other time).

For its first fifteen years or so Pardes was funded by the Jewish Agency but has been an independent organization for about thirty years.  (Thank goodness for its active board and fundraisers, otherwise I wouldn’t be writing this right now!) Originally, Pardes only had a one-year program for recent college grads.  Now, there are a plethora of programs: Elul learning, summer programs, one year, two years, training for day school educators (thank you Avi Chai Foundation!), training for informal Jewish educators (youth groups, camps, etc.), executive learning, adults. Sheryl is already signed up for a couple of classes after the Chagim.

At this point I’ve had something like a hundred ice-breakers at Pardes. They’re really into that :)    One thing I can tell you other than the fact that most of them are young (I am definitely old enough to be a parent for most of them) is that this is a pretty diverse group of people.  Geographically, we are few Europeans, Australians, Canadians, Israelis, but mostly U.S.  A range of prior learning, too: it seems as if most of the students have little formal learning, but there are also people with day school education, some post-college yeshiva/seminary learning, or college learning of Jewish studies.  Personal practice is as diverses as educational background.  There are people who identify as Orthodox, non-observant, and everything in between.   At it’s best, it should make for some lively conversations.  I’ll have to keep you posted.  I’m not sure that my age and being here with a family might not keep me somewhat on the periphery of things, but you definitely get the sense that everyone here is committed to personal and communal Jewish growth.  

I am technically part of the day school educators program (PEP). Technically, meaning that I am officially grouped with them, but I don’t have any of their obligations for teacher training and pedagogy classes. The one major exception is that they’ve asked me to participate in the peer teaching exercises, which I am happily doing.  That’s another topic I hope to blog about someday.

Right now my schedule consists of a Talmud class, a Torah class, a Mishnah class class, a Biblical grammar class, and a Hasidut class.  I also have a couple of non-academic classes.  Again, motl.  (More on that later).  So far I’m really impressed with my teachers and fellow students. The learning has been great, always challenging and often difficult.  But as we say,  כל ההתחלות קשות: all beginnings are hard. I definitely leave a lot of my classes with the feeling that if they had gone on one more minute my brain would have exploded.

So this was just a beginning.  Other than those things already alluded to above, there is plenty to share with you about Pardes.   But these will have to wait a while. 'tl then, Shabbat Shalom!

What happens in Israel…

Seth

With Challenges Come Opportunities

I am so flattered that people actually noticed we were late with the blog this week.  So sorry for the delay.  Life is getting pretty busy here in Jerusalem -- it is no longer just fun and games!  My work is in full swing.  Seth’s program at Pardes is full time now and Zoe has started school.  And so much is going on.

And then there is Hannah.  Hannah finished her job at Nefesh B”nefesh last week.  We really wanted to see her work before she retired so the Korelitz clan made our way to Givat Shaul.  She had a real office as you see.  

It has been an amazing experience for her over these past two years, being given so much responsibility from day one.  But Tel Aviv University calls.  She was properly feted in her last days and then she tried to catch up on sleep. And last Wednesday night, Hannah did what all real Israelis do before they start university: She left Israel. Right now she is Thailand with Elana Greenbaum and Yael Engelhart.  To say I am living vicariously through her is an understatement.  The first picture is pre-leaving and trying out the new selfie stick.  The next is of their arrival

and the final is just one of many of them looking happy in a spectacular place.  

May we all just take a moment and thank Chabad for being there and everywhere.  They are amazing.

So Zoe started school and it has gone really well.  The first day Zoe came back and said that she  understood almost everything.  Which is huge.  She says that the girls there comment on how good her Hebrew is.  May we all just take a moment and thank Akiva Hebrew Day School for her Hebrew education.

And while I am at it. I would like to take a moment to give a shout out to spinning in Israel.  It requires limited vocabulary and I think I have most of down.  מעולה!  Excellent! Amazing! לנשום! לנשום!  Breathe! The universal language of sweating on a bike.

A highlight of the week was a spontaneous grown up night in Beit Zayit with Allison and Benjamin Pollock at a magical restaurant called Derech Ha’Gefen which translates to “Through the Grapevine” which should give you a sense of the setting.

Beit Zayit is where the Pollock’s lived before they came to the States so it was nice to see their old haunts.  Could never have gotten there without a car to maneuver the very windy hilly roads right outside of the city.  Seth loved the landscape and it is how the true terrain of Israel appears in his imagination.

So now the crazy story about the electricity which is another one of those only in Israel stories.  Last week Seth was working at home and I left for the gym.  I come back and went into our bedroom to discover none of the lights are working.  I then discover that there is no electricity in half of the apartment.  But Seth hadn’t left the couch so we could not figure out what could have happened. I will try to make this adventure as short as possible.  We tried the fuse box.  We called the family friend who manages the apartment for the owners.  Seth remembered that he heard workmen in the hallway in the morning.  A call to an electrician suggested we go in search of the workmen.  I knock on doors and discover a world of workmen but not the ones who were working on the electrical next door in the morning.  I go upstairs to the Castros who are in charge of the Vaad HaBayit (sort of the like the condo association.)  I have had to talk to the Castros before which is always a challenge because they are French and speak no English. At least my Hebrew is better than my high school French.  I invite them down to the apartment because they want to see the layout.  They are planning on doing שפוצים  (She – Poo – Tzeem) or renovations.  (I love this word for some reason and I actually remember it because I think it is fun to say.)  So at one point we have the Castros flicking fuses, talking שפוצים in French, the apartment manager on the phone and me losing my mind thinking that it will take the rest of the year to figure out what is wrong and get it fixed.  But guess what?  I had to leave and the landlord sent the electrician who discovered the cause of the problem.  The electricians working at the next door apartment stole the circuit breaker supplied by the electric company that goes to our apartment; it was in a shared fuse box in the hallway.  Our electrician called the electric company and they said they would be out to replace it in three hours.  Well, now we are really annoyed.  Who steals the neighbors’ circuit breaker?  And the electric company in three hours?  Right.  But guess what?  A couple of hours later the electric company guy shows up and we meet him in the hallway and I tell him in really bad Hebrew what happened and he is annoyed for me.  While this is happening, the neighbor from that apartment comes out.  He had just moved in a week or two before.  He was so upset by the whole thing and called his electrician and asks him why he did such a bad thing and gives the phone to the electric company guy who also gives this moral-less electrician an earful.  And our neighbor introduces himself and offers to pay and we find out about each other.  And then the neighbor looks very thoughtful and says, “You see, from challenges come opportunities.”  And I stop and think that that is one of the greatest things anyone has ever said.  And he hesitated because he was not sure of the English and I am just thinking we should put that on a t-shirt.  And really, what else could there be to say?

Last images for the week.

The Jerusalem Wine Festival was held at the Israel Museum for three nights.  A group of us all met up there:  Jeff and Aviva Kashuk, Allison and I, and Brad Cohen and Aviva Bernstein.  This event is spectacular.  Dozens of vineyards are there selling their wares. You get a wine glass with the price of admission that you take from booth to booth to get sample sips.  Those sips do add up over the night.

This a must go to event for anyone who is in town for it.  

I had a moment of standing on this hill in Jerusalem and just being supremely happy. To be standing in the Billy Rose Sculpture Garden, one of the great sculpture gardens in the world, surrounded by this world class cultural institution, illuminated for the occasion, was a knock out privilege.  What this country has accomplished in less than 70 years cannot fail but impress.  And it was also just so fun.  There was a band playing American covers and great food to buy including Sushi Rechavia and huge bread and cheese plates (Israelis do not worry about carbs; they eat!) And as the only true Detroiter, I looked at these friends (Kashuks, Bernstein-Cohens, Pollocks) who were just passing through Detroit on their journey all united here in Jerusalem and thought about this great adventure we are on and where it will lead.  The band played LaBamba and the dancing got crazy and the crowd got younger and better looking and some of us decided to call it a night.

But as we walked out the gate of the museum I spotted someone up ahead.  And the night was complete.

This is Joy in Jerusalem.  L’Chaim!

Dave Tanzman ז''ל

David Tanzman died last week at the age of 97. It was almost instantaneous, and apparently without any pain or suffering.  As his son in law said, like the midrash of God's kiss for Moshe.

I've never watched a funeral online before today, but I felt I had to for Dave.  It was the smallest of tributes I could pay from Jerusalem for a great man.

I think many of you shared with me the honor of knowing Dave.  Dave knew he was smart (and boy was he!), and he could spot a phony or self-important person a mile a way, but he was still somehow humble.  More than that, Dave had a huge capacity for hakarat hatov, for gratitude/recognizing the good.  Not only in what God granted him, but in acknowledging those around him.  He made everyone feel special.  

Dave's biography was as exceptional as his personality.  (A personal favorite anecdote: when asked the strangest place he ever put on tefillin, Dave answered without missing a beat: "Belgium, December, 1944. Battle of the Bulge.")  And he was blessed with the most amazing memory I have ever encountered, which allowed him to share his stories in great detail.  

Dave was a pillar of Detroit's Modern Orthodox community, and it is no exaggeration to say that Akiva (now Farber-Yeshivat Akiva) may not have been founded and certainly might not exist today if it were not for the often herculean efforts of Dave over many years.  During my presidency of Akiva's board I often turned to Dave for history, guidance, advice, or just a shoulder to kvetch on.  I never walked away without having benefited from time spent with him.

Dave's wonderful wife Lottie died a couple of months ago, just short of their 75th anniversary.  A couple of people during the service mentioned how Dave did not die, as common wisdom would have it, from a broken heart.  He was still looking forward to new experiences, including a visit to children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren during Sukkot, and an impending move back to new New York after more than a half a century living in Detroit.  And that was Dave, a man who continued to work into his 90s, continued to learn, and try to grow up to his final days.

Thank you for indulging me in this outpouring.  Other than Dave's commitment to Zionism and the State of Israel, this post doesn't really fit the purported theme of our blog, but I do feel the need to honor Dave's memory in as many ways as possible.  I hope you will join me in sending good thoughts and prayers to Dave's family at this time.  His memory is truly a blessing for all who knew him.