The Blind Museum

May 27, 2008

Today I went to the Blind Museum in Holon. It was SOO cool. It simulated what life would be like if I was blind. My friends and I had to make a special reservation because we needed a tour in English.
On the tour, we went “on a boat ride,” “to the shuk(market),” “crossed the street,” and listened to music all in pitch pitch black, so even if I opened my eyes, I couldn’t see anything. It was cool – I had to use my imagination the whole time to visualize where I was and what I was doing. Later, I realized that my blind tour guide, Mayeir, would not even be able to imagine what the boat looks like because he has never seen a real boat.-

The most interesting part was at the end when we had time to just ask our tour guide questions. He has been blind since he was born because he was born prematurely and some type of oxygen imbalance messed up his sight. We asked about colors, like what do they mean to him. He told us that when someone says “red” he thinks of strawberries, wine, and tomatoes, but he doesn’t really know what red means. Isn’t that crazy? New technology has made it possible for Mayeir to have a device that tests the color of a shirt or pants to help him pick his outfit out in the morning.
Another cool thing is that he has dreams at night, but they include sounds and smells, but no images! He doesn’t know what anything looks like, so how can his dreams have images in them? I never thought about that before.
It was an "eye-opening" experience.

The Kotel

May 24, 2008

Yesterday was my last time at the Kotel (western wall). I had to go to the old city to order a special ring. The ring I ordered has a quote engraved on the inside, “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.” This quote by Dr. Seuss sums up exactly what my mindset has to be for the next month or so. As much as going home will be absolutely amazing, it will be hard to let go of this year, or even harder, to find a way to bring this year back to America with me. I can continue doing community service, I can continue to tell my friends stories, but there is no way I can actually continue what I had this year back in America.

After I ordered my ring I decided to make a quick trip to the Kotel because I was right around the corner. Even though I don’t feel a huge Jewish connection to The Wall itself, I feel a connection to the extensive history of my culture that this wall represents. I also feel a connection to all the Jews who travel miles and miles just to see this sole remaining outer wall of the second temple. So many people in the world think of the Kotel as a holy spot. For the past nine months I have had the privilege of being able to visit it whenever I want and I have taken that for granted. It’s weird to me that in a week I will not be able to go to the Old City.




As I walked backwards away from the wall, not turning my back to it, my eyes filled with tears. What will it be like being Jewish back home again? I cant even remember. Although obviously I have done it before, it is going to be challenging living as a Jew in a non-Jewish country. America doesn’t shut down on Shabbat, so back home I will really have to force myself to be different and recognize Shabbat in some way. I want Shabbat dinner and I want minimal electronic usage. I want to be able to tell the grocery store clerk “Shabbat shalom” on Friday morning. I want it to be easy, but I know it wont be. I have to remember:

“All things change; nothing perishes.” – Ovid, the roman poet

Log B'Omer

May 23, 2008

This morning I woke up to the smell of burnt out bon-fires all around Jerusalem. Last night was Log B’omer and it is customary to have a bon fire. Log B’omer signifies the end of the Omer, which is a time of grieving for all of Rabbi Akiva’s students. Rabbi Akiva had 24,000 students. He taught them about Torah and how to be a good Jew. There was a plague outbreak because none of the students were practicing mitzvot. Students died everyday for 33 days. No one died on the 33rd day because the students started practicing miztvot. Men don’t cut their hair from the start of the Omer (Passover) until the end of the Omer because they are remembering all who died during the plague (in Jewish tradition, you don’t cut your hair when grieving for a lost one).

Yom HaShoa

May 5, 2008

Yom HaShoa
Today is Holocaust remembrance day – a totally different day when celebrated here than in America. All young people wear blue bottoms and white tops (blue and white are Israel’s colors). I had the day off of work so my friends and I went to the freeway near us at 10am and this is what I saw:
At 10am a siren goes off and everyone stops what they are doing and observes a national moment of silence. As I looked out at the highway I saw cars slowly pulling over at 9:58 and by 10:00 the freeway was dead. Everyone physically got out of their cars and stood up while the sound of the siren filled our ears. I looked to my left and to my right and saw that pedestrians had stopped mid stride. I saw a little old man slowly getting out of his golf-cart car. It took him a while to get up and stand up, but he did it. He got on to his weak feet to honor all of our ancestors who died in the Holocaust. It was an absolutely fabulous sight. Tears filled my eyes as I looked around and realized that the whole entire country of Israel was stopped right at that moment. No car was accelerating, no movement occurring. A whole entire country at rest for one minute. I loved it.