NY is the new WUJS

Run for your lives, Jews are taking over Manhattan!

It all began on friday night, Shabbat. Russel had just joined a temp agency that morning and was hired that afternoon, the only thing to do was celebrate by thanking God and getting some friends together. We stopped by Sam's apartment on 106th, and had some of his incredible veggie cooking, and then he joined us at Bnei Jeshurun (BJs) down on 86th. Now if on a scale from 1 to Crazy, the Shul of NY was a 8.5 then BJs was a conservative 6. It is a beautiful old synagogue with the seating in a circle. The service is entirely in Hebrew, lead by three women and a male cantor. Though very few of the tunes were familiar, we three followed along pretty well, pointing to the words when the others were lost. In the middle, and this is the 6 part, you could see community members getting antsy and before you knew it a buxom lady took charge and started a conga-mayim-stepping line around the room. Having seen this before I decided to sit tight, but then Russel to my left was sucked in, and when I turned to the right for Sam he had jumped in too. What was I to do but grab the nearest hand and get dragged around the room?

After services Russel had a bachelor party weekend to attend in Brooklyn, so Sam stayed around with me and we met up with Anna for dinner. We went to the Heights, a new favorite dinner and drink place of mine down on 112th. The long wait for food was ok because we were able to catch up and Sam talked to Anna about her redneck she's in love with in Ohio. It seems to me that Ohio is taking over; I hear that state mentioned about 10 times a week and am always running into someone with a connection there. I'm sick of it, Ohio stop trying to suck me back to your hellhole ringed with tempting buckeyes and graeter's ice cream! After dinner Sam went home and Anna joined me at I-House. We had to get my second mattress I'd loaned to Dominick back to my room, and then we joined the fun of Toga Night at The Pub, where no one was wearing togas. Thanks to Anna's bad influence, I had a very good time.

Saturday, Anna and I slowly got ourselves together and headed back to Sam's where we met up with Rachel Buxbaum and newly arrived Raema Quam! Armed with a watermelon, we headed out to Central Park where we met Russel for a picnic. The rest of the story might best be told through pictures:
Raema, Sam, Rachel, Anna lugging a watermelon across Manhattan

Rachel, Raema, Anna, Me
Russel and Sam in Central Park

Rachel, Sam, Raema: the least thuggy thugs in all NY







The melon turned out to look and taste more like a pumpkin, so....

After a few more shennanigans.....................
Including Anna being eaten by a Hungry Hippo



Russel had to leave to get back to his bachelors, Anna had to meet up with a Commie in the Park, and the rest of us took the train back to my place. And currently, this is what they look like (the space between Raema and Sam is mine, but I can't power nap like these professionals):

The Global Effort for Africa: Israel and the Jewish Community Initiatives

Today I attended an incredible conference on Jewish and Israeli development initiatives in Africa. I have to share a little about it because it was just so positive and inspiring. The conference itself was 3 hours long, so I'll keep it to the basics.

The opening address was given by Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, a professor at Columbia who is considered one of the leading economists today. He is the director of the Earth Institute which focuses on combining economic development with environmental sustainablity, named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people twice, wrote "The End of Poverty" and as can be seen from his picture, has a nice head of hair and the eyes of a visionary. He spoke a bit about how people have no right to ignore the terrible tragedies which are happening daily in Africa. That the majority of the starvation and disease could be easily countered. An example is the 2 million children who die every year from malaria which could be countered with 50 cents in the form of a mosquito net or three doses of medicine at $1 each. He spoke about how these were easily attainable goals, that the these areas were not war torn and any excuses about bureaucracy were unfounded. He talked about a village he worked with, and an anonymous donor who gave a million dollars that 10 days later was planted in the form of soil and high-producing maize and that in a year this starving village became one of surplus.

Then Ruth Messinger spoke on behalf of the American Jewish World Service. She talked about school and community projects that give directly to people in Africa and the importance of raising awareness. Next was Will Recant from the Joint Distribution Committee and he discussed his programs Rescue, Relief and Renewal program that had helped bring planes full of Ethiopian Jews to Israel as well as dug wells between Jewish and non-Jewish villages in Africa. He discussed how Israel has given humanitarian aid to Africa even when due to Arab Oil boycotts the African countries couldn't have formal ties to Israel. Then Ambassador Haim Divon, former Israeli Ambassador to Ethiopia, discussed the importance of Human Capacity Building, the idea of fostering leaders within the local communities and having them create plans for development rather than people from outside dictating to Africans their needs. He also gave a great deal of background on Mashav, the organization he founded which spearheads Israelis development projects around the world. He also, very wisely, spoke on the importance of education for awareness of the problems facing Africa in order for youth to understand their own role in how to help with future development. (Pictured: Israeli agriculturalists training in India)

Next came Ambassador Obiozor from Nigeria. He served as Nigeria's Ambassador to Israel and Cyprus and is currently Nigeria's Minister of Foreign Affairs. I ask you, have you ever seen a more jolly looking man? Although a bit hard to understand, he made some excellent points. He focused on Israel's ties to Nigeria, and that it was appreciated that Israel performed its services with "no strings attached" whereas other governments came to Nigeria's aid only to leave the country deeper in debt. He called for Africa and countries who would support aid to put their resources towards agriculture, technology, and the reduction and eradication of Africa's debts. He discussed ways in which Israel had already contributed a lot on the firt two points by exporting their drip irrigation system to Africa as well as setting up phone service in a country that previously had less that a quarter of its population wired. He talked about an emotional closeness felt between Jews and Africans and specifically said that both groups understood that "Success is the greatest revenge for injustice."

Last, and with a great deal of bald Israeli security personnel, came the Israeli Minister of Tourism Isaac Herzog. He highlighted the history between Israel and humanitarian aid in Africa; specifically Herzl discussing the potential for Africa when considering Uganda as a Jewish homeland and Ben Gurion's and Golda Meier's support for sending Israeli aid to Africa. Israel, seen by Africa as neither a colonizer or major actor in the Cold War, was welcome as a provider for aid when others were not. It seems that Israel has also exported more than just agriculture and technology to Africa; Africa is now setting up Kibbutzes (socialist communal farms), Israeli entrepreneurial businesses are being welcomed, and youth villages for orphans or impoverished children are being created according to Israel's designs. He also pleaded for the mass media, which focuses so much attention on the conflicts of the Middle East, to focus even a fraction of that attention on the huge atrocities being carried out daily in Africa.

I leave with a Jewish proverb and an African one:

Pray as if all depends on God
Act as though all depends on you

If you want to travel fast, travel alone.

If you want to travel far, travel together.

Bash at Buxbaum's

So for those few people in the world who didn't hear the squeals and laughter coming from Philadelphia last night, Rachel Buxbaum is back in America! You may remember her from my previous blog in which she featured as my roommate for 3 months in Jerusalem and then my buddy over the summer. Also at the party was Emily Siegel, long time friend I met at Ben Gurion University, then followed to WUJS and Seeds of Peace. The special surprise guest was Sam Krentzman, who we snuck in if not gracefully at least creatively. Sam just moved to NY and is working for NYU while working on his music so that I can bring a group of my new friends to listen to him play. For a taste of his music go to http://www.myspace.com/samkrentzman.
(Pictured: Sam surprising Rachel)

It was wonderful. Wonderful to see Rachel's mom again, a dynamite of a lady, and to see her house for the first time. Wonderful to hang out with Emily again, my long lost twin. Wonderful to get to hang out with Sam, trade stories about living with Yohoshua (we both has the incredible pleasure, though Sam had double the time and intimacy in those little Arad apartments) and listen to him play some of our old favorites and a new song. Wonderful also to meet Rachel's friends who adorned our shared walls. I didn't get to see a new side of her, Rachel is just the same, maybe only more so herself. Wonderful. Perhaps you are thinking that Rachel's idea of a party may not be my idea of a party, and this is true, but I had a great time and was very comfortable with everyone. We missed all the people who couldn't be there: Yella obviously must be named.
(Pictured: Sam playing us a few diddys)

The gravy on top is I used public transportation all by myself from NY to Philly and had no problems. This means I could make this trip again (not often) but a few times and this means I could see Jon Feldman from highschool in Israel for the first time in years! I live for the day!

The Shul of New York: a free spirited Rosh Hashana

Remember in Center Stage (No, the one about ballet, you're thinking of the movie with Julia Styles and hip hop) when the blond girl goes from her formal ballet academy to a dance class in the city and everyone is making out and grinding and crazy? My experience with the Shul of NY on the Lower East Side was sort of like that; going from relatively sedate and structured Reform synagogue in suburbia to an extremely liberal, ballroom dancing during the Torah reading, kind of a service.

The Shul of New York calls itself a synagogue for "spiritual Judaism" meaning that everyone and anyone is welcome. Really it was extremely diverse with old white Jews we're all accustomed to seeing, a fair share of single parents with adopted Asian and Black kids, a few gay couples, and a random edgy looking group of thirty-somethings. The Judaism consists of songs and the beginnings and sometimes endings of prayers. The music is provided by a band which contained some Jews but the main musicians are three Catholic Mexican brothers. The songs are old favorites sung very beautifully, though extremely slowly or rearranged with klezmer stylings. While continuously pushing it's openness and diversity, the shul didn't push Judaism much at all. While proud of Jewish education, there wasn't much discussion beyond the surface of the Torah parsha. In fact, for the extremely short sermon the rabbi chose to ignore the Torah in its entirety and instead focused on a story about two brothers fighting, which ends with the building of a bridge over a stream which separated them. Then the rabbi asked that we all focus on building bridges in our own lives, but not to exclude anyone, he said we didn't have to if we didn't want to, and perhaps we should do something else instead.

Add to this the fact that when the Torah was taken down the rabbi handed it off to a woman who did a kick step with it and then spinned like a whirling dervish before passing it off to a girl, picked from the audience not unlike Courtney Cox in Bruce Springsteen's music video "Dancing in the Dark," and like Courtney began to snap-shuffle with the Torah. The sudden joy that people exhibited when the Torah was taken out was incongruous with the little importance it seemed to have in the service and I think it was more an excuse for exhibitionism (especially of the aforementioned dervish who later waltzed with her husband as the Torah was put away).

The really great part of the Shul is the building it rents for its services. The Angel Orensanz Foundation is what used to be one of the oldest synagogues in New York, built in 1849. After being in continuous use until 1974 the building fell into disrepair until it was transformed into a work of art and community center by Angel Orensanz in 1986. I'm not exactly sure what Angel did to repair the building other than stick up some metal totem poles, but I really like it. The paint is peeling, the wood is cracked, the brick walls are exposed. Somehow it tells a really beautiful story about a Jewish community that was once there and the new one which has taken it up.

Now perhaps I've been too harsh. It looks like I'll be going back for Yom Kippur, and perhaps a full day and dancing to Mexican tunes in spiritual genuflection will change my mind. Perhaps I also need more sleep. I didn't star out this year well; this morning I was awoken by my neighbor blasting Sarah McLachlan at 6 am. I pounded on her wall, but I thought I heard her pounding back. Then I went to her door but she refused to answer. It was at this point I realized it was probably her alarm and she wasn't home, and had to call security to have him get in her room and turn it off. Of course, he didn't come for 20 minutes, enough time for me and her neighbor on the other side (who turned out to be knocking on her other wall) to bond.

Happy 5767!

Undergrad vs Grad

Undergrads @ Columbia /Grad Students @ Teachers College

Wear short skirts / Wear suits or sneakers

Have a campus / Have a building

Buy 5 textbooks a semester / Print 100 pages per class a week

Have money / Have loans

Seek out most popular bars / Seek out bars without undergrads

Wear Columbia t-shirts / Wear their national dress

Drool over law students / Drool over Dewey

Ask professors questions / Answer professors questions

Hallmates have loud parties / Hallmates have loud babies

Everyone is impressed they are at Columbia / No one knows what or where TC is

The Weekend

This weekend has been busy. No, I didn't do any reading or preparation for class, busier in a less industrious manner.

FRIDAY I woke up early and ran over to Shira's new apartment with Mike to help them with their move. I pretty much sat around and held Shira's hand. The bonus was watching the Israeli movers doing their job, and of course hanging out with Shira and jumping on her new bed. That evening Anna came in and after a quick dinner we went down to Delancey and Essex to a jazz bar. Anna said we were going to Ponic, but once we got there it turned out to be the much more comprehensible Tonic. We met up with her friend Dan "Biblical name that starts with an E" Kerner who she had hung out with in Israel and Hungary. We listened to some very cool music, had a drink across the street, and then Anna and I headed back for the I House Party. It was pretty crazy watching my neighbors who are all button down grad students incredibly drunk and shaking in a very unprofessional way.

SATURDAY Anna was still over, and we slept all day. Literally. That night I went out with Suzana and we ran into Brittany and we headed over to our favorite cafe, Saurin Parke. They have great guacamole and excellent service in the form of bartender Greg.

SUNDAY was a bit of a let down at first. I had plans to go over to Jewpalooza, but when I got there it was mostly Orthodoxish families listening to Klezmer. I ended up walking through a block party up to my nearest Jamba, 20 blocks away, cause I had a craving. By the time I got back a Yemenite rapper had started his thing and was trying to get 8 and 80 year olds to holler back at him. I left. I got back to I House and got ready for Sunday Supper. It's one of the few formal events IH hosts and it was really great. I got to see my neighbors who I'd last seen grinding dressed up and sipping punch. The night's speaker is the CEO of the Red Cross and she was very interesting and made a special note about the Magen David Adom. Julianna, a very beautiful woman from Brazil who lives at IH played a piece on the piano and another student Shireen sang three songs from different Operas. I truly believe the best part of this living experience is meeting tons of people who are all at the top of their field and passionate about what they do.

MONDAY is not exactly part of the weekend, but since I have no classes I count it. Today Brittany and I headed over to Little Italy for San Gennero. I was expecting something cultural, but besides a few Italian themed food booths, it was just another block party. It was nice to walk around, though, and it was hot so we got ourselves some tans I think.

So, tomorrow classes and reading must begin. I think tonight I'll go out and join Beth for a drink or two.

Pigs, Dogs, and Snakes

Tuesday night I went out with a bunch of friends to the Bourgeois Pig, a tiny little wine bar in the NYU area. It was Beth's idea since it was half price on bottles of wine, which was perfect since it turned out to be Brittany's birthday. Beth brought her boyfriend and one of his friends, and we met up with Mike and Armen. It was pretty wonderful, and might turn into a Monday night (or maybe every other Monday night) hangout. Highly recommended is the dark chocolate fondu and the good company.


(Pictured right: Streett answering questions)
Wednesday was an intense one, full of last minute readings and classes. Brittany and I ended up discussing reading for fundamentals of Peace Education at Hillel. We talked right up until Hillel started an Israeli program that we stayed for. Shanan Streett from Hadag Nahash (Hebrew Site) one of Israel's biggest band. He discussed his politics, living in Israel (specifically Nachlaot, the neighborhood I lived in this past summer), and inspiration for his songs. Probably the band's most famous song the "Sticker Song" was written by David Grossman, an Israeli-author who's very well known. The lyrics are entirely made up of bumper sticker slogans that show the wide range of political and religious feelings in Israel. There's even a curriculum based on the lyrics, that I'm going to have to look into.

Today I ran around and registered for classes. I've got a line up that balances a lot of reading with light loads and courses I'm really interested in and ones I see as more necessary for grounding. They are:

Education and Economic Development
How do developing countries approach education? Does education have an impact of development? How unequal are educational opportunities worldwide? How illiterate does a country have to be?
The Family as Educator
What are the Creative Intelligences that families use? What are your grandparents views on education? Have they impacted your opinions? Do you have any pictures of your Jewish grandmother on a horse?
fundamentals of Peace Education
Development Ed, Ecological Ed, Human Rights Ed, International Ed, Conflict Resolution Ed, Disarmament Ed, Mutlicultural Ed... Holisim, Peace Keeping, Peace Making, Peace Building...
Education Development in the Middle East
Development of education in the region where although there's a shared language, religion, and culture, none of those things are actually shared and there is huge disparity between the nations and tons of conflict

Yeah, is it silly to say I didn't realize Teachers College would push the education aspect do much? Where are the fun filler courses? Brittany has one course with a funny professor who apparently analyzes sarcasm within society, I'm hoping to take him next semester.

9-11

(Picture right: Missing the Towers, taken in SOHO)

This morning I attended a program sponsored by SIPA (Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs) titled "From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe: Creative Responses to Conflict." It began with a few speeches by the people who put the program together, and then we broke into small workshops. Each was headed by one of 25 international guests who spoke about their own experiences with terrorism or conflict and their response to promote peace. Israel and Palestine were represented by two women from the Family Forum and the film Encounter Point. It was a film I saw in Jerusalem a few months ago with Kareem and Yohoshua, and really enjoyed. It is a documentary following the Israelis and Palestinians you don't often see on the news; those who have suffered from the conflict and chose to work actively towards peace. Seeds of Peace was featured in the film via my (Emily's really) boss Sami, who as a teenager was put in an Israeli jail and came out with a deep respect for Ghandi and Mandela and created the SOP Center in Jerusalem where he could teach kids to get along while serving chilled red wine. The Family Forum is another such project in which families, Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs as well as Palestinians, who've lost loved ones due to the Middle East violence get together to dialogue with each other. Since I had already seen their presentation I sat in on a discussion lead by Jesus Abril and his daughter Beatriz, who lost Oscar, their son and brother to the March 11th bombings in Spain. Along with them was Juan Gutierrez, another Spaniard, who studies victims of terror ranging from Dresden to Guernica and also serves as a human database through which people affected by terrorism are able to meet. It was a very interesting, and surprisingly low-intensity, discussion that mostly focused on not turning to hate after losing a loved one and separating the victims from politicians who would use their deaths to promote their own agendas. One thing I found interesting was Juan's description of the two types of Reconciliation: hands joining together in work (ethnic groups coming together to rebuild a community) and joining hands in dialogue (like the Family Forum) and his opinion that one shouldn't focus on reaching out to the actual perpetrators of the crimes, but embracing the more general public.

With all that on my mind I joined Brittany and Melissa (also Peace Ed) for lunch at Amir's Lebanese Cafe and then headed off to TC where I printed papers I need to read. The amount can only be described as monumental. HUGE. GINORMOUS. I just don't think I'm starting off this grad school thing on the right foot.

I then got together with Anna for a short dinner at AROMA. Anna is a great friend from this past year in Israel. She's a Hungarian and Israeli citizen who now is enjoying her visa in America to work in a Kosher butchers in Brooklyn and date a goy in Ohio. She's also a Kommunist, so we forgive

her all faults. It is really

wonderful to have her nearby and hopefully she'll be staying with me for the weekend and we can explore NY together!

Orienting

This past week or so has been a lot of orienting. To International House (my grad dorm), to TC, to new friends, and to NY in general. (Pictured below: Teachers College)

The introduction to TC was a bit... less than thrilling. It began with an incredibly long and boring welcome talk, the same speakers and speeches we heard at the Admitted Students Weekend back in June. But then there were breakout sessions and a TC Block Party. I hung out with Brittany and Armen (who I met back in June) as well as new friends Suzana and Beth. There's nothing like food to bring people together and we worked the falafel and crepe stands and even tried a Transylvanian treat called Chimney Cake. So what if I still have no idea how to register or even navigate the TC campus?

There's been competing programming going on between TC and I-House. I find myself trying to decide if I should do a local grocery store tour with one or a writing workshop with the other. I'm finding really interesting people at both. Since I-House is, by definition, International and they keep the US population down to 30% people here are diverse not only into heir backgrounds but also their interests. People I'm enjoying getting to know include (but are not limited to): Nicole (Columbia film student who used me as a hand prop on her latest film), Mitch and Mara (two musicians who will join me on Jewish outings), Melissa (2nd year peace ed), Prithvi (Indian engineer), Imre (Hungarian physicist), Honza (Czech), Frederick (Vietnamese Frenchman), and Theofilus (Nigerian UN worker). At TC, since I'm focusing on International Ed, there's also a great deal of diversity including Woo (Chinese), Abby Katz (Jewish American, but we're a minority!), Guybe (Filipino-Belgian, and perhaps the cutest of the guys who make up 25% of TC), Brittany (she's from Ohio, which isn't exactly exotic, but she reminds me of all the good parts of OSU and we'll be hanging out a lot), Suzana (friend who will be mentioned often. Born to Indian parents and has lived in Brazil, India, and Canada for about 7 years each), and Tamara (Georgian with a group of beautiful friends who all salsa like they're trying out for Dirty Dancing 3: Johnny Castle visits the USSR).

Part of the programming, both formal and personal, has been to explore NY. Early on, TC put on their own Amazing Race. It was a scavenger hunt through Harlem and Mid-town to introduce us to each other as well as NY landmarks. My group didn't win the race (we finished the 2 hour program in 4 hours!) but we did win best name (TC: Tough Cookies) and are going to have a fun celebration hopefully this weekend to spend our $50 at Kitchenette and moan about our first weeks of classes.

Over the past few days I've done my own tours with Prithvi, Imre, and Suzana. Exploring Greenwich Village, SOHO, and the Israeli restaurants in between. I'm feeling a bit more comfortable running around different areas and using the subway. Last night I was sure we should take the 1 back and Prithvi convinced Suzana and I to take the 2, which landed us neatly in the middle of Harlem at midnight. (Pictured below: Suzana, Imre, Prithvi)



Next posting will hopefully focus on the classes I've decided to take (I'm still shopping around) and how I think this whole grad school thing will work out.