Good Morning, US & A

Hi. It's 1pm Bat Ayin Time, so it's time to wake up over there on the East Coast, and get some yoga and coffee brewing.

I fly tomorrow night, which is in about 34 hours. I am excited. Besides being excited about repulsing all the Catholic girls with my payis (a JOKE), I am, strangely, excited about keeping kosher in the States, something which I have never ever ever done. In fact, before my last trip to the US, back in March 2006, I decided that I was specifically NOT eating kosher; I wanted to do the rounds of all my favorite delights, especially Pho.

Of course, Pho is not the biggest loss of Kashrut-- carnitas and raw oysters are. If I get my act together, I can boil up a phat pho here, kosher and all.

I just felt like it had been long enough without a post, so wanted to pop in here, before going to Mincha (afternoon prayer). The great payos debate rages on-- feel free to contribute thoughts on the merits/dangers of religious identification, outward physical signs of allegiance to a particular group/sect/race, when such things become racism, elitism, snobbism, etc.

Fond memories of Michelle Cascio are welcome as well, since she started all of this.

Sidelocks and surreality

I feel wacky these days. Good, but wacky. Like something is changing, like something is giving, opening, shifting.... The past few nights, sleep has been very patchy. In bed before midnite, I am usually awake a few hours later (or less, and always at 4am), realizing that it's futile to lie in the darkness and fight. So I jump up, eat a snack, write an email, call Mom--- eventually I go back to sleep, but it hasn't been the whole night through. Not the past few nights.

And yet I am not tired throughout the day. Just feeling a little wacky. Different. Out of it, and yet in it. Today I got a haircut. More on that later. During the haircut, I drank some Arak from last summer (a Sefardi Jewish version of Sambouca or Ouzo). Later, in class with Rav Daniel, I asked a question on this deep, complex discussion we've been having for months about blessings, wisdom, questions, knowing and not knowing, relating to God, etc... As I asked the question, and he looked at me and smiled, I started cracking up. Not stupid laughing, but a sort of elated, profound laughing that was connected to the questions, which itself was profound, and yet needed no answer. (does this make sense? told you i was feeling wacky). He laughed. Then other people in the class laughed, then I told him that I didn't need an answer, that it was enjoyable enough just to ask.

Uh-huh.

I am excited about my trip. For many reasons. One of them is because I want to see my STUFF. Sweaters and socks and books and comics and- well, mainly sweaters and socks and books and comics. And I am excited, actually, to eat kosher food with Esta. And to eat kosher Indian in Manhattan. And I am excited to see you. And you. And especially YOU (ahem).
HAIRCUT
So I cut my hair today. Actually, Aaron Braun (bottom of this post) cut my hair. The point is-- I now have PAYOS. Payis. Peyos. Payot. Sidelocks. Sidecurls. Whatever-- those funny horns that religious (frum) Jews wear. CLICK THIS. Mine are little right now, and silly-looking (thus no picture yet). But I got 'em. Payos and earrings. Rock n' Roll. It's a great way for a balding guy to have long hair. But a certain person said it's not cool for guys to play with their hair, which could be an issue. I was debating for a while IF I would cut them into my hair, and WHEN to do it-- before the trip to America or after? At first I thought to do it after, so I didn't look too weird, or freak out people I was meeting for the first time, like at Jay and Sarah's wedding. Then I realized, since the last time I left Israel to go home for a wedding, I ended up moving to California with a Catholic waitress I'd met in a Taco joint, maybe it would be better, for me, at least, to be a little funny looking, to remember the deal, and where I'm at, and what I'm up to. Just like I keep the earrings on to not lose the other side of me while I'm here, now I got the 'locks, so I can remain an honest orthodox heretic.

Or something like that.

Okay-- it's Fish n' Chips night upstairs, so I'm gonna run. Below are a selection of photos I came across when trying to Google "payis." (payot sidelocks payos, etc...)

And THIS I discovered in the process. Haven't explored it yet, but it looks odd enough.

employ me!!

It seems so far away, but late January is typically the time to start looking for summer employment. Most summer camps try to do their hiring by February. So it's on the table. Here's what I need--

• a job at a place that provides housing (like a camp or retreat center)

OR

• a job in Atlanta or South Florida or in the Jerusalem area (or in your town, if you have a couch for me-- i do dishes!)

• a job that either pays handsomely enough for me to afford travel costs
  

OR

• a job that provides an airline ticket (if it's in the States)

I am open to opportunities in America OR Israel-- or elsewhere, for that matter, like a goat-herding job in the hills of France (that would be amazing). BUT, the crucial thing is that, while I am looking for a good experience, the main need this summer is to make a decent amount of money to get me through the next year, which means that extraordinary unpaid adventures are (sadly) not on the right page.

My skills are generally in the teaching department, especially Jewish teaching stuff. I am also quite a customer service gent, but not so much of a salesman. If not teaching, I would prefer to do something manual, like construction or farming (rather than work at Blockbuster or in an office).

If you have any ideas, please let me know.

Thanks!!

Blown

Right now, the village of Bat Ayin is in the middle of a thick, foggy, whirling cloud. The wind is totally intense. After washing some dishes, I stepped outside of the Dining Hall to find that all the recycling cans had blown up against the door, flying 15 feet through the air to get there. Unrecycled plastic was scattered everywhere. I ran up the hill to take out the garbage, wind howling around me. Part of the wooden picket fence outside of the yeshiva was flapping in the wind. Visibility limited. There's a guy in Bat Ayin who runs a Paintball place in the city (Jerusalem). He has a trailer that he tows behind his truck, with a 6-foot tall sign advertising the place. He parks it in a little lot near the Yeshiva.

It's tipped over.

Luckily it's not raining too hard, and my caravan (ie- luxurious trailer home) is not too leaky. And I have a heater without mildew in it, so I can stay warm and healthy. The garlic seems to have worked.

Yeah, that's it. Just a little blurb on the wind. More poetic stylings next time... maybe.

I leave for America in 12 days. First stop: Boston.

Shavuah Tov (have a great week!)

vampires and snot

My healer, Alice, has me on a 6-cloves-in-6-hours garlic remedy to blast this snotty cold out of my system. It's stupid to catch a cold 2 weeks before leaving the country. When a flu wiped out half of the Yeshiva 2 weeks ago, somehow I stayed pristine. But one of my heaters is moldy, and it was on all through Shabbes, so that might be somewhat to blame. Needless to say, I stink. Not that I can smell it, so I'm pretty content about the whole thing.

Sometimes people's comments are opaque to me. Not that I don't enjoy them, I just have no idea what to do with them.

Beyond that, it's chilly here, skies have been blue this week, and this blog is kinda dragging.... what to do?

Snow Day

As promised, Dr. Tucker, some daytime shots of Bat Ayin in the snow. All this accumulation was pretty much gone by the end of this same day.

Standing at the Yeshiva, this is the hill across the little valley, where the Arab village is. In between the two hills is the Emek HaElah, where Valley of the Oak (oak?), where David slew Goliath. The view opens all the way to the sea.


At the top of this shot is my humble (and somewhat leaky) home.

This is the other side of the hill where the Yeshiva is. Our side faces a hill with an Arab village on it. [It's funny, I never thought of Arabs in the snow before. But there they are.] This side faces another hill, which has a forest and a few natural spring mikvehs (ritual baths) and a lovely restaurant/cafe on the other side. What's amazing is to look down in that valley and see the line where the snow just stops, and everything is nice and brown. It's a little hard to tell in this shot, but the snow line is actually visible on the hill that holds Bat Ayin.

Your faithful host.

The one and only Avraham Eliezer, who lives down there in that valley, where there ain't no snow. I wonder if he's got rain right now...

We sure as heck do. Last night was a howlin' wind and rain and lightning and thunder storm. I sat in my trailer alone and made Kiddush for Shabbes (the Sanctification of the Holy Sabbath), and watched the whole trailer shake. Squeakers was a bit freaked out as well. At one point, I thought that lightning had struck inside the trailer: there was a sudden flash of white right in front of my eyes. But the thunder was a second or two later, so it wasn't even that close. Must have been the angle of the light in the window. In any event, the rain has barely stopped since yesterday afternoon. Luckily I had a ton of heaters on, so I had a nice little Shabbat meal by myself. A tiny bit of bread and some amazing soup I made. I'm still on the juice fast, but had bread to honor Shabbat.

My chevruta (study partner) Ari came by and brought some delicious natural juices (and a sinful Almond-Ghat Leaf chocolate drink) from Uzi Eli, the Yemenite medicine man in Jerusalem who makes all sorts of wild concoctions. Today I went to the home of my friends Eliyahu and Rivka Adina Dror, and spent all all all day there, from 11am until 6pm,, then walked home in the fog and rain. It was a good Shabbes.

Hope you have a great week.

P.S. By way of complaint- when this nice little Yeshiva boy mentions a strip club and bacon in the same post, I expect some comments, fer cryin' out loud.

Clean

Today is the fourth day of my juice fast. The last real meal I had was on Shabbes, lunch with the Bialer Rebbe-- a huge salmon and some great chulent (Shabbat stew), among other things. I ate some M&Ms Saturday night, but not a lick of solid food since then. My excellent pal Lazer Zinn has been with me on the fast. He started last week, and is going off of it tomorrow.

Today's lunch juice was cucumber-beet-tomato-orange-lettuce-cayenne pepper. Sounds freakish, but was actually quite bold and refreshing. Breakfast was apple-pear-kiwi-ginger.

As well, I am drinking clay and psyllium husks and lots of tea, and sneaking occasional swigs of natural maple syrup (a gift from Dr. Tucker) for my mo.

If any of you saw the movie Crumb, you remember the brother who swallowed the 50-foot ribbon in order to cleanse his intestines. I am doing that, but my ribbon is a long piece of parchment with the name of God written on it. Not really. Not at all. Actually, I am engaged in other cleansing activities as well, but i won't detail them here, for the sake of the public.

I am spending Shabbat in Bat Ayin, preceded (please God) by a nice Friday morning massage. On Shabbat I will eat a little bread (a bissele brot), make some nice hearty Shabbes veggie broth, and lay around a lot under warm blankets, enjoying my Holy Solitude.

I am not sure when I will come off the fast. I guess when it feels right. So far, so good.

You know, I did a week-long juice fast by myself years ago in Florida. On the last day of the fast, a few of the gang (i believe Nic and Mike Walsh) were in town, and it was a special occasion, so a bunch of us went out to the Solid Gold Club on Federal Highway. That night, after a week of nothing but pure fruit and veggie juice, I drank several gin and cranberries, smoked a bunch of cigarettes and then, around 1am at Denny's, had a grilled cheese with bacon and tomato, fries and ketchup and an Oreo milkshake.

God-willing, I shall be easing off of this fast in a more contained manner.

a new post

someone asked for a new post.
ach-- forgive my slacking... i left you all in the snow,
AND promised daytime snow pictures to at least one of you, and have yet to pay up... tomorrow night I will skip going to a friend's wedding, just so i can blog for YOU.

All of you.

In the meantime, today is the third day of my juice fast. Breakfast this morning-- apple/kiwi/pear/carrot with homemade almond milk.

Today we being the intestinal cleaning as well. Fun!