Staying Busy in the Homeland

When I left you after my last blog I had just finished detailing my Wednesday Afternoon in Tel Aviv. So my group returned to Jerusalem and Ruben and I went out with our dear friends Karen (a fellow Rabbi) and her husband Scott who are also in Jerusalem for the conference. Karen, who is a rabbi in Dayton, and I have been friends since the first day I started Rabbinical School! The four of us first set out to Yad Lakashish-Lifeline for the Old. It's a fantastic store that sells all kinds of artwork produced by older Israelis. By shopping there, I truly feel like I'm doing a "mitzvah," as it's an opportunity for me to honor the older generation! You can check out Yad Lakashish at http://www.lifeline.org.il/


After our shopping (which someone called "economic Zionism" ) the four of us set out for dinner at a cute little place called "Little Italy." I have eaten there many times before and have always enjoyed their Onion Soup. Ruben- the tough critic- even said it was the best he ever had!

I had a delicious Eggplant parmesan for my main course which was also great! And for dessert we all shared "Ugot chocolat cham"- hot chocolate cake with ice cream! I also had a hot chocolate which isn't like anything you get in the states. It is warm milk with chunks of chocolate...AMAZING! Yummy!



From dinner, I headed off to the "Cinematheque" which is the premier movie house in Jerusalem. It is just outside the old city and a very "cool" place to be. They show all kinds of movie from classics to interesting film festivals to the hits of today. Our convention of rabbis was invited there for a screening of the movie "Zrubavel." This powerful movie, which showed at film festivals in America, deals with the inter-family relations within the Ethiopian-Israeli community. It was a fascinating movie on a subject about which I'm very passionate- the better integration of the Ethiopian Israelis into the general Israeli society. Following the movie we had a question and answer session with Shmuel Bero, the 33-year old writer and director of the film. He is an actor himself and quite the comedian! I wanted to hear more about his own personal life and journey from Ethiopia to Sudan and then on to Israel.

Me and Shmuel Bero...He's bound to become even more famous...just wait and see!

I know I'm a few days behind in my blogging but I'll do the best I can to catch up tomorrow. Just to update you quickly, Thursday we spent in Tel Aviv and I had one of the most POWERFUL and UNIQUE theater experiences EVER! I'll tell you more about it later. I also had a chance to tour the spice market, the Shuk and hear from the mayor of Tel Aviv.

Thursday night I spent with my friends Moss and Claudio. When I lived in Israel in 2001, Moss (who moved to Israel from Canada) was my downstairs neighbor. However, he was more like a big brother. He would drop me off at school since it was on his way to work and he would invite me for Shabbat meals and he even listened to me as I prepared my first sermon! It was great to catch up with him and we ate at a wonderful vegetarian Indian place and then went out for coffee!

I'll tell you more about the AMAZING theater and fill you in on my Shabbat experiences soon!

It's late here in Jerusalem and I have an early morning program...so Lila Tov-Good night!

Keep commenting and L'hitraot,

Rabbi Emily

Me at the Wailing Wall

More images from the buffet...