My Unforgettable Yom Kipur

So a little forewarning... this is not gonna be a short post. I have found that the best blog posts are short annecdotes and stories – but so much happened over Yom Kipur that it might get a bit long.

For Yom Kipur, I went with Rachel and Itay (sister and brother in law) to a service called Nafka Mina, which was about 25 minutes away by foot. As we were walking, it was stark and strange to see not a single car on the street. Traffic lights are turned off – they all just blink yellow. The only cars on the streets were police officers. I observed that walking on the streets felt like I was in a movie where everyone is off'd by some terrible virus – my sister agreed – said it looked like a dream in a movie – we were walking in middle of the busiest streets with no cars in sight. There were a lot of people on bikes, but no cars.

The service Nafka Mina was really sweet – the robust mix of Israelis, American, British and Australians made for a nice friendly atmosphere and the tunes were very familiar. The room was not overly large and was very full, making the service feel very complete as all the men and women sang melodiously together. When I got home, I set out to learn the Mishna – the oral law on which the talmud is based – tractate of Yoma (the laws of Yom Kipur) with Itay. It has been my tradition to study the 8 chapters on Yom Kipur for the past several years. I studied with Itay. The laws outline in detail the Yom Kipur service that was run by the head priest in the Temple of Jerusalem amlost 2,000 years ago.

The morning services starts at 7:30 am, and Itay and I arrived early to learn 2 more chapters of the Mishna before the services began. We prayed straight from 7:30 till 1:30 pm! It was a great service and the time flew by. At the break between the morning and afternoon services, we set out to the Old City of Jerusalem, having been advised that the services were not to be missed. The advice was true.

On the night before Yom Kipur, the three of us and my friend Lisa tried to visit the Kotel (Western Wall). We knew it would be a popular destination on the night before the Day of Judgment, so we waited till late – 1 am – to head to the Old City. When we got there, the place was swarming and hopping. The police had closed the Yafo Gate to the City, which is the most convenient, and we were directed to the Zion Gate. As we made our way to the Zion Gate, which is a 10 minute walk from the Western Wall, the crowd continued to thicken. We soon began to realize that there was no way were were going to get to the Old City, let alone the Kotel. At 1:30, we gave up and walked home. We were fearful that we would encounter similar circumstances, but were pleasantly surprised.

When we arrived in the Old City, we quickly stopped in to the Hurva Synagogue, a synagogue that had been destroyed in 1948 by the Arab Legion. The synagogue was just rebuild and completed last spring. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurva_Synagogue

Afterwards, we went to Yeshivat HaKotel, a large Israeli Yeshiva in the Old City that overlooks the Temple Mount with unparalleled views. I saw my Rabbi from YU – Rabbi Goldwicht there – it is the second time I have run into Rav Goldwicht in the Old City even though he lives in New York and until a month ago, I did too. After the afternoon service, we went down to the Western Wall to pray the Neila – final service of Yom Kipur.

As Itay and I approached a group that appeared to be about to start Neila, I ran into a YU classmate, neighbor and friend of mine, Michal Sherman, from Boston. The service was amazing – there I was praying at the wall of our ancient temple, where the service that I had studied with Itay last night was performed for hundreds of years. It was amazing to sing “Next year may we be in a rebuilt Yerushalayim” at the site of our Temple that lays in ruin. I was brought to tears several times in the very moving service. After all of the prayers, Michael, my siblings and I broke our fast on some water and pastries that were being distributed. Michael then took us to a building run by Jeff Seidel, a man who runs an organization that helps students get in touch with Judaism. He was having a breakfast as well and invited us to help ourselves to fruit, pastries, drinks and of course bagels. Afterwards, Rachel, Itay and I headed to our family friend's the Elmans, who have an apartment in the Old City. They lent us some money to grab a cab home, and I am now at Rachels and Itay's apartment drinking coffee and eating Tim Tams... of course.

What a Yom Kipur. I hope everyone else had a nice holiday as well and that everyone has a blessed, healthy and successful year.

Call in the Lefty

On Tuesday afternoon, Josh, one of my bosses at GSE asked me if I could get him some marketing slides explaining what my group, Portfolio Valuation, uses on pitches to market clients. I contacted some colleagues at D&P and got the slides sent over. Josh explained that he had two meetings on Wednesday with venture capital funds and he wanted to use the slides to explain what D&P does and how we can work together to serve VC clients in Israel.

Unfortunately, the email did not get through to Josh and when I saw him on the train in the morning right before morning services, he informed me that the meetings were at 10 and 11 am and that he needed the slides ASAP. We both broke out our laptops and began going through the material to prepare for his meetings and select what information was to be showed to the potential clients. He mentioned in passing that maybe I could come with him and the rest of the team to present to the VCs. I have wanted to attend pitches for a while and had arranged to go on one my last week in the New York office. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the pitch due to a client engagement.

Five minutes after we got to the office, Josh came by and told me I would join the team on the pitches. We drove from Ramat Gan to Herzlia – a coastal city just north of Tel Aviv. In addition to beautiful beaches, Herzlia is home to many large, multi-national businesses. We passed a Microsoft office, McKinsey and other US companies.

The pitches were really interesting, though unfortunately, they were fully in Hebrew, with the exception of the portions I presented and when I spoke the funds’ CFOs. I was able to understand large parts of the meeting, but was not at a point where I felt comfortable speaking Hebrew. I was excited to have the opportunity to see more of Israel’s financial industry world nad to get to participate in several pitches. When we returned to the office, Josh informed me that after the Sukkot holiday, he had several more pitches lined up and I was invited and encouraged to come along. It looks like I am going to get to become a pitch master… they are calling in the Lefty.

It Pays to Not Be Israeli in Israel

About a month before I got to Israel, my sister enthusiastically told me that she met a British guy who lived in Israel at a mutual friend's wedding and that I should get in touch with him to meet up when I arrived. I friended him on Facebook and we messaged a bit. He was really nice and invited me to come to a meal at his apartment on Rosh Hashana. Unfortunately, I was not in Yerushalayim and couldn't make it. On Monday I was ridding the train to work and guess who sat down right across from me on the train... my new British Facebook friend. It was totally random and nice to meet him and chat. He even told me that he read this very blog that he got to through a facebook status!

To return the compliment and because I think this article was awesome and had to be shared, I am sharing with you, my readers (up to 4 followers), this article that I saw through his facebook status.Enjoy.

Polite Israelis Earn More

Take that 120 #5A

When I was packing up my apartment in New York (120 w. 9Xth #5A), as I prepared to leave, my roommates frequently liked to taunt me that I was going to get fat in Israel and would eat multiple shawarmas (like a meat gyro of amazingness) a day. In order to prove them dead wrong, I have abstained from eating shawarma since my arrival. I decided to save my first shawarma experience for when my family is in town over the Sukkor holiday in about 2 weeks. Needless to say, I am excited for their arrival.

In order to go all out and put it to Bubbles and the Shine (roommates), I also did not have a falafel for nearly my first month in Israel… that ended today. The day after Rosh Hashana is a fast day called Tzom Gedalia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_of_Gedalia) which in short is a day or mourning commemorating the murder of Gedalia, who was the ruler of the Jews in Israel under Babylonian rule after the destruction of the first temple – after his assassination, the most of the Jews fled Israel and the land was nearly uninhabited by Jews for ~65 years. After 65 years, the Jews returned and eventually built the 2^nd temple, but enough with the history lesson for now.

I left work at 5:30 not having had anything to eat all day. The fast ended at sundown, about 6:15. My bus arrived in Jerusalem at about 6:45, but I did not bother to stop to grab something to eat at the bus stop. Rather, I went straight to a really good falafel and shawarma place near home to have my first bites of deep fried Middle Eastern deliciousness. The restaurant I went to was called “Hashamen,” which means – and I can’t even make this up – “The Fat.” It’s as if McDonalds would call itself Grease Bucket or Kilo-Calories. At least Hashamen was honest about it. The food was great though, I had a half-falafel lafa (gyro wrap) with all the sauces and fixings. It was really yummy, now I am all the more excited to have my first shawarma… pictures will follow.

Pray Pray and Pray Some More

My holiday in Efrat was very nice and relaxing. It was primarily comprised of sleeping, praying and eating split up with walks, playing with my cousins and starring into the amazing picturesque hills and mountains that surround the city.

Over the holiday, I prayed in five different synagogues. My cousin is a rabbi at a boys high school. We prayed there for the first morning of the holiday. The service was long and full of singing and dancing. It was an amazing prayer. We started at 7 am and prayed till 10:30, then had a break for Kiddush (essentially cake and coffee) then resumes services from 11 till 1:30 pm. The +250 students were so into the service, which made it very spiritual and uplifting. The students danced and enjoyed the prayer immensely.

Later that day, I prayed Mincha (afternoon service) at a Yemenite synagogue. The Yemenite traditions are different than the Ashkenazi customs I am used to. It was cool to see the different traditions. They Yemenite service prayed slower than Ashkenazim and the service was very interactive between the leader and the congregation, more so than I am used to. Also, responsive prayers were very drawn out and deliberate.

The following morning I prayed with my cousin at the Sephardic synagogue which he usually attends when he does not need to pray at the synagogue with his students. The Sephardic prayer style was different to that of the Ashkenazim. The prayers that the Yemenites, Sphardim and Ashkenazim say are all pretty similar, but the way in which the service is run and the leader-congregation interaction differs.

On Shabbat, I attended a bar mitzvah of my cousins neighbor at the “Happy Minyan,” a congregation that prays in the Ashkenazi format with a focus on the prayers and tunes of Rabbi Shlomo Karlbach. Rabbi Karlbach was a prolific composer of Jewish songs and tunes to prayers. Many of his tunes are popular far beyond the congregations that follow his teachings and music. The service was beautiful and full of singing both songs I knew and did not know.

The fifth synagogue I prayed at did not have any special stories – it was the same synagogue I prayed at the previous week, just down the street from my other cousins home. The services there were fun, because I sat next to my 10 year old cousin Noam… we played together a bit during the services .

Rosh Hashana in Efrat afforded me a rich and eclectic holiday with new experiences and learning opportunities. I hope the year to come continues to bring more of the same.

This is How I Roll

This week I commuted to work all three days. It was a trip... it took about two to two and a half hours each way. Each morning I caught the 7:43 train which was scheduled to arrive about 9:15. Without traffic the bus would take about an hour to work. From what I've heard, there is lots of traffic in the morning, so I went the train rout.

In America, when we built train tracks and had mountains in the way, they were either blow up or tunneled through. In Israel, they go around them. The train crawls through the hills and mountains that surround the Yerushalayim. The upside of the train it is very comfortable and that there are morning services on the train. About half way to Tel Aviv, we stop at a city called Beit Shemesh where the train quickly fills up and men immediately begin donning talit and tefillin (prayer shawls and phylacteries). When I lived in New York, I attended services at 7:30 each morning which went till about 8:15. I then went home for a quick breakfast and got to the office at about 9:15 after a 25 minute commute. Now I leave my apt at about 7, get on the train at 7:43 and get to Tel Aviv around 9:15 and my office at 9:30 – all things considering, it isn't that bad. The trip back gives me time to work on blog posts and read. While I'm glad I'm not doing it 5 times a week, the commute is livable for now.

Reading the Torah on the Train

I just got to Efrat and Rosh Hashana is starting soon. I hope everyone has a shana tova (nice new year) filled with health, happiness, joy and success.

Bonus Season Comes Early

Today Nava, the HR manager in the office, came into my office and handed me an envelop and said “hiney matanah – shana tova”, or something like that, which translates to “here is a gift – happy new year.” (Rosh Hashanah – the Jewish new year is this week). I looked at her and thought she was kidding, I looked at Ori and he confirmed that it was infact a gift from GSE – my company gave me a new year’s present – mall gift certificates… That’s right folks in New York, Bonus Season comes early here. I am not going to disclose how much I got, but I will tell you three data points: (1) According to the Erroca (a sunglass store in every mall here) website, I can’t afford to replace my sun glasses with a pair of Oakleys with the certificates. It should be mentioned that brand name goods, or really goods in general are more expensive here. (2) It is more than I have received at certain “bonus” seasons in the past. (3) It was not a mythical creature or a box in a Super Bowl Pool (sort of an inside joke).

My Weekend Thoughts

The Beach


On Friday, I returned to the beach, this time with my friend Lisa. We had great weather and an awesome time. The water was wild and I lost my sunglasses trying to ride a wave… slick. I also played matcot – paddle ball – on the beach with a man named Emanuel who was originally from Italy but had been in Israel from before the States independence in 1948. He was pretty good, but that can be expected of a man who has lived near the beach for so many years. Lisa and I also flew my kite but got in trouble with a guy in an orange shirt for flying the kite in a place where people were sitting – that put an end to our kiting session… and of course, we had Tim Tams and coffee… yum.

Efrat

I left the beach Friday afternoon and took a bus back to Jerusalem where I met Rachel and Itay. We boarded a second bus, this one with bullet proof windows, and headed to our cousins in Efrat. Efrat is technically classified as a settlement since it is in the area that was captured in 1967 during the 6 Day War. The “settlement” has almost 10,000 people, and our cousins have been living there for over 15 years.

A view from Efrat

Efrat is situated on top of a mountain (everywhere around Jerusalem is mountainous), and the views from just about everywhere are very picturesque. Although it was only founded 30 years ago, the community has grown rapidly. My time in Efrat was very real – when we got to my cousins home, I saw my cousin Gilad who was on leave for the weekend from the army. Gilad is 18 and is a soldier in the army’s tank division. While I know in Israel that all males are drafted into the army at 18, it still has a strong impression on me when I speak to an 18 year old who is in the service. I recall when I was studying abroad in Israel, my cousin Nadav, Gilad’s older brother was in an infantry unit, learning to be a field medic.

When we go to synagogue on Friday evening for services, I had one of my first “whoa I’m in Israel” moments. I looked out the window overlooking the rolling mountains in the distance, closed my eyes and took it all in. it was a really special moment.

I don’t want to make this blog post too long, but I want to briefly elaborate further on how my time in Efrat was very real. My cousins neighbors have what is arguably the cutest dog alive. My sister, brother in law and I went over to play with it, and as we were petting it over the fence, their owners came home. We got to talking to the mom of the household. It turns out that her son was one of the students murdered 2 years ago in the attack on Mercaz HaRav, a yeshiva school. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercaz_HaRav_massacre Her son was 16 years old at the time. My cousin Rachel also told us that she had helped prepare food for the widow of one of the four Jews murdered in last week’s roadside shooting attack that I mentioned in my last post. It was stark to see how small and connected everyone here is – everyone is affected by the tragedies that happen here.

Boys Town Jerusalem

On Wednesday morning I had a meeting at Boys Town Jerusalem to coordinate my volunteer efforts and timing. After the Sukkot holiday, I will be volunteering at BTJ twice a week, helping teach kids English. I expect to be presented with a reciprocal learning opportunity in Hebrew, as I will be working with kids that don’t speak English well and will therefore have to communicate with them largely in Hebrew. I’m psyched, and hope they don’t think I am unintelligent based on my Hebrew level.



A little bit about the school – BTJ is a middle school and high school for more than 800 boys in Jerusalem that come from all over the country. Most of the kids come from underprivileged backgrounds and are on financial aid or scholarships. The school has a wide variety of programs that include integration programs for immigrant students from the Former Soviet Union, Morocco, Ethiopia and other countries. The school is an amazing melting pot of students from all types of varying backgrounds. I was impressed with the school’s strong focus on technology. Students are taught programming, robotics and other computer based skills by highly qualified engineers. The school also has a two year post-high school program that trains students in advanced computer skills, which the students then apply in their army service, many of them in the air force. One stark aspect of my tour of the facility was when we walked past a hallway end that had pictures on the wall of all of the students since the schools founding in the 40’s that had fallen in their service and defense of Israel. There were quite a few pictures, and it was moving to see the tradition and community BTJ has created.



I greatly look forward to spending more time there and will share good stories as they come.