It Was Fun While it Lasted

The testimonial to 14 years of my life ended in a few short breaths Saturday afternoon. However with every ending there is a new beginning, so lets get to work.

R.I.P Augustus [a.k.a. Auggie]

A Light In the Darkest of Chambers

The view from my window at night...

Wishing everyone a happy and kosher Passover

20 Seconds of Joy

In the span of 20 seconds you can:

take a picture

write a lyric to a song

cross a street

pick a flower

eat a piece of chocolate

straighten your bangs

smile at a friend

tell a joke

tie your shoes

sketch a drawing

turn on your t.v. and surf through some channels

take a deep breath

The people in Sderot however, only have 20 seconds to run for cover before missiles hit the ground.

My heart is with Israel. 

Goin' Back Home

Miracles come our way when least expected.

I'm going home for Passover so there might not be any posts for a while...

The Perspective

Who I am is how I see the world...

Stand aside and absorb the moments of life.

Will you be spent away in a rush? Is there any time left to just be?

Be it walking through unlit streets at night to sitting on a swing in the rain

 - stop moving and just feel.

Values

Where do you spend your time and money? What do we focus our energy on?

I believe that sometimes people get side tracked in their daily activities.
We forget that there should be more to life then that perfect cup of coffee in the morning to the newest style of shoes.
Some won't even consider that there could be possibly more to life.

These ideas popped into my mind from random experiences of the past week.

Because I discovered that even though Tsfat is a mostly religious town, there are those that will spend time, money and energy over events they consider holy and everlasting...














And there are those who those who spend their time, money and energy into something else.







These examples are a little extreme, but I feel that my point still remains clear.

Yep, The Olive Tree Forest

There's not much to write about the Olive Tree Forest. Pictures tell the whole story, don't they? - Well maybe thats not exactly true, but these pictures do.

"Rabbi Yehoshuah Ben Levi said: Why is Israel compared to an olive tree? Because just as the leaves of an olive tree do not fall off either in summer or winter. So, too, the Jewish people shall not be cast off, neither in this world nor in the World to Come."

              - Tractate Menachot 51b

The Jewish people are like olive oil - always rising atop. 

Sorry folks, us Jews are gonna be sticking around a long while!

Finally: The Almond Tree Forest

I apologize for how long it's taken me to put this post up. In all truth, it was the attack in the Merkaz Harav Yeshivah that threw me off. I wanted to write inspiring words full of hope, about how everything will work out for the best. Including the idea that G-d is everywhere - in everything, even in this. But I can't seem to come up with straight thoughts and ideas that really express how I feel.

So we're just going to go back to the original plan. 

Enjoy the pictures.

The Almond Tree Forest.

Tzfat [Tsfat, Zefat, Safed], Israel

Hope you enjoyed!
Here's a sneak peak to my next post - The Olive Tree Forest

Appreciate What You Have...

  Going down to the "almond forest" today with a few friends. I'm not even sure if the place has an official name. We discovered the blossoming almond trees other day on our ritual walk to Shefa Shuk and decided it would be fun to go down there and take pictures. 

So we're going on an adventure.

In the mean time, here are more pictures from my trip to Jerusalem. 

Israel Experience #314

I just got back from my weekend off in Jerusalem. After spending the past month in Tsfat, I forgot how normal Israel can actually be.

Ok that was just a side note, here's what I really wanted to write about...

Incase you didn't know, Israeli's push. When standing in line at the grocery story, that split second you space out and forget where you are, someone will cut in front of you.
Getting onto buses is a whole other story..I'm teaching myself how to push back, I mean.. It's basic survival instincts here. If you don't push, you don't get anywhere.

Sunday morning I was in the Western Wall Tunnel. I wandered through the tunnels alone and at one point encountered a group of American tourists. The group was big and the tunnel is narrow so I had to move slowly with them... When suddenly a man notices me trying to pass and he shouts to the rest of the group "MAKE WAY FOR THE YOUNG LADY TO PASS! MOVE TO THE SIDE! LET HER PASS"...I honestly did not expect that.. Its definitely not an Israeli thing to do, I would of had to either push or wait... But with Americans?

Completely different society.

Sleepy Time in Tsfat

Shake N' Bake

This past week we experienced two earthquakes in Tsfat ranging on the richter scale from 4.5 - 5.0.



I grew up in California where it happens all the time, so its not something new to me. Yet every time I do experience one, it freaks me out. It's the unexpectedness that gets to me the most.. Not knowing when it will happen again.... That really drives me nuts.


So, we had this earthquake on friday, 12:30 in the afternoon. I was standing in my room talking to a few other girls there when the ground moves beneath, I trip and manage to fall onto my bed immediately grabbing our floppy bookshelf so it wouldn't fall over. I understand that not everybody grew up with the idea of "earthquake safety" like I have and the whole "drop under a table and take cover" idea isn't their second nature.... But everyone should have a sense of logic, something you would NOT do...

For example, you should definitely not start jumping up and down excitedly and then run to the window to see the cars swaying all while the earth is shaking.

3 Simple Rules

Israeli Bash

I visited two weddings this week.

The first one, in Haifa, we [Machon Altie girls] were invited to...



The second, in Tsfat, I casually walked in to. [We were only there for maybe 30 minutes though..no biggy]