JNF, Joel Roth, Jewish Texts and Junk

There have been lots of small things going on around 8 Agron St. lately (the "junk" in the title). But I'll go chronologically. Yesterday was my last day of minimester classes at Hebrew U before Sukkot vacation and the real semester begins. I led Shacharit and the we had breakfast and headed off to school. We went through our two morning classes and came back to base early. When we got back to base I started a project that will take quite some time. Josh has seasons 1-3 of the TV show LOST on his computer and my friend Rachel and I plan on working our way through them. We only watched one episode though. This meant that when I got a call from Alon Badihi, Executive Director of JNF's Israel office, telling me that he couldn't meet with me on Wednesday as planned, but since it's so close, would I mind walking over right then. Gotta love Israelis. I of course said yes and headed over. JNF's Jlem office is in the big building next to the Great Synagogue called Heichal Shlomo. When I got there, I was expecting something of an interview, but apparently the email that he got from his boss at my request was enough of a recommendation that an interview was unnecessary (Russell Robinson [CEO of JNF] and I are friends [on Facebook {he friended me} and, to some degree, real life] and I asked him to write to the Jlem office and let them know I was interested). I also have a sneaking suspicion that they are understaffed and need all the help that they can get. I love JNF and what it stands for, so I'm glad to help out as much as I can and it sounds like I'll be working on some pretty cool stuff. When I got there, all Alon wanted to do was show off the computers that he has in his conference room. Israelis. I'm excited to get a chance to work there, they seem very nice, and it's work that I care about.

That night was Erev Nativ and we got the chance to hear from Joel Roth about his take on Conservative Judaism. The movement is so misunderstood and it kills me. I'm not sure he really answered questions for people (many people felt that he came on too strong and so tuned out what he had to say, but I loved him), but he certainly raised the discussion among the Nativers. I hope that the other speakers we'll hear from on the topic get the chance to further clarify the main points of Conservative Judaism, rather than harping on pet issues (something that Rabbi Roth stayed away from until the very end).

After Erev Nativ we had a study session for my Mendelsson (Israeli Society, Culture and Politics) exam and then it was bedtime. In the morning we headed off to Heb U and took the exam. I think it went fairly well but time will tell. One interesting question on the test was for one of the essays, we had the option of writing a dialogue between a Peace Now activist and a West Bank settler. I had fun writing that one, and I hope David has fun grading it (by which I mean, gives me a good grade). Afterward, we had time to kill before lunch (the food at the Heb U Frank Sinatra cafeteria is so good!) and the busride home, but we just hung around and wasted time.

Once back at base, I started my Isaacs essay and then headed to the courtyard to help build the Nativ sukkah. Once there, Cori grabbed me and told me that I have a doctor's appointment at that moment and gave me directions. The directions weren't right and I had to call Navah (who in turn got help from cousin Greta) to figure out where I was going. I arrived over an hour late and the receptionist essentially laughed in my face when I told her my appointment time. I'm going to go back tomorrow. PS, the walk back from the Dr's took approximately 10 minutes. I'm not mad about anything, or at anyone, but the whole saga was a massive collapse of communication and really frustrated me because of time wasted. Tonight, I finished my Isaacs essay, studied for my Isaacs exam (incredible study session) and did laundry, so I was able to salvage a measure of productivity out of the day. Time to get to bed so I'm well rested for my Isaacs exam tomorrow.

Talk to you soon,
Seffi