We’re going to get right into it today.

Here is our Top 5 of the Day:

1. Triangles, squares, circles - ahhhh, we don’t understand! Today in Israel Seminar we continued our “Dialogue Efforts” theme and had to prioritize the possible identities of Israel. Each shape represented a different identity (a Jewish state, a state of Jews, or a state for all its citizens) and each size represented its importance. Impossible activity.

2. Molly finally got her passport back from our friendly travel agent, Eva Goldberg (no relation), complete with a visa to Belarus. Which means…

3. Molly could finally cash that check she’s been holding on to for weeks. MONEY!

4. River Noodle Bar. It’s like walking into America.

5. Any day with Sasha, an SO (that stands for significant other, in case you forgot) of RRC, is a great day! Let it be noted that Sasha called Bess and still refuses to even take Molly’s phone number. He’ll never let that first impression go…

Spaghettis at Mamilla Mall was all abuzz with FSU Pesach Project supporters!

Here is our Top 5 List of Celebrity Sightings:

1. The entire HUC-JIR Cantorial Class!

2. Dave Mendelsson was spotted there in the early hours, enjoying a bowl of Muesli.

3. A table full of Kol HaNeshama members, including Terry, Terry’s daughter, and Terry’s daughter’s friend.

4. Fantastic Rhea Hirsch Education classmates who ate at Spaghettis not once, but twice!

5. Abraham Joshua Heschel, waiting for Michael Marmur, with a rose tucked in the manuscript of his soon-to-be-published posthumous book, Man in Search of Spaghetti.

Bonus Sightings:
-Bess AND Tess
-Danny Schiff and family were seen walking towards Spaghettis, and we have complete faith that he was, in fact, on his way to support the FSU Pesach Project.

Special shout-out to Marc Rosenstein, who, we are almost positive, was there in spirit.

Thank you to Noa (KH member and manager of Spaghettis) for generously supporting the FSU Pesach Project, and a big thank you to Amanda and Rachel for organizing this event!

It’s been a busy semester, but Molly was finally able to get back to her Jerusalem Synagogue Adventures this Shabbat. For Kabbalat Shabbat services, Molly attended Mevakshei Derech, a community that recently joined the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism.

Here is Molly’s Top 5 of Her Visit to Mevakshei Derech:

1. This wasn’t actually the first time I tried to attend services there. The first time I went, they had just changed their service time to an hour earlier, so I missed services. This time I had confirmed that services would start at 5:30 pm. I arrived at 5:25 pm and the place was completely shut down - no lights, doors locked, no one there. So I walk around the corner just to check things out. When I return no more than 3 minutes later, the synagogue is up and running - lights are on, doors are unlocked with a welcoming committee standing by. An impressively quick turn around.

2. This community chooses not to have a rabbi. Their Executive Director/Cantor Iris Beth Weiner, leads services. She sits in the congregation for Kabbalat Shabbat, and then stands up for Ma’ariv.

3. This was an atypical Reform congregation in that their biggest crowd is for Saturday morning services. Upon arrival, there were about four other people there, and by the end we had a minyan. Cantor Weiner reassured us that Shabbat Shacharit is definitely the service to come to.

4. Our good friend and summer intern, Chaim Shalom was there! Apparently Mevakshei Derech is where Chaim does his student internship.

5. After Kabbalat Shabbat and before Ma’ariv, the Cantor started a friendly discussion of the weekly Torah portion, which soon became a hot debate among the Cantor, Chaim, and the man sitting behind us.

In this week’s Student-Led Tefillah, affectionately renamed “HUC prayer lab”, Molly read Torah! While this is definitely not the first time Molly has read Torah, let it be noted that it was the first time she read Torah without any help from her mom. Aren’t you proud?!

We have a sneaking suspicion that something much more exciting will be happening at next week’s service…

For Israel Seminar this week we met with three people to hear their perspective on some of the contemporary issues concerning the Arab-Israel conflict.

Here is Molly’s Top 5 of the day:

1. Aryeh King (Yes, his name is ‘Lion King’) is a soft-spoken guy (at least by Israeli standards) and we met with him outside in a courtyard of the City of David, so it was difficult to hear a lot of what he was saying. That being said, it was hard to miss his comment that he thinks there should be an end to democracy, a return to kingship and a rebuilding of the Temple.

2. Our second speaker, Orly Nir, works for Ir-Amim and took us to Sheikh Jarrah to talk about Jewish settlement activity in East Jerusalem.

3. Yossi Klein Halevi was our third speaker and he was amazing. Probably one of our best speakers of the year. He represented the “far-center” which he believes is the majority position in Israel. You can check out Yossi’s articles at: http://labs.daylife.com/journalist/yossi_klein_halevi

4. When asked about Diaspora-Israel relations, Yossi articulated exactly what I’ve been feeling and haven’t been able to express, which is that American Jewry is missing the maturation that has already happened in Israeli society, which is a multi-dimensional relationship with Israel and the conflict. Challenge accepted.

5. Yossi Klein Halevi’s personal HUC tour given by yours truly. It was probably about as informative as Jon’s guided tour during the summer.

Hello Friends,

Having a quarter-life crisis? Unhappy with your current academic credentials or social standing? Looking for a way to support the Jews of the Former Soviet Union? Do Molly and Bess have an exciting opportunity to help YOU have the life YOU deserve! Unlike other online diploma mills who give degrees and titles based on “life experience,” we believe tzedakah lies at the heart of any degree.

Here’s how it works:

Step 1: Donate to the FSU Pesach Project to help us celebrate Passover with the Jews of Simferopol, Ukraine. Start the process at www.pesachproject.com

Step 2: Select the title or honorific YOU want from the drop down list on the donation page.

Step 3: Wait for your official computer-generated HUC donation acknowledgement to be delivered by mail. Frame and display prominently in your home or office.

Step 4: Start your new life by beginning to practice medicine, command a merchant vessel, oversee a church parish, represent your state in the US Senate, pretend you are German, or dozens of other exciting opportunities.

Here are just some of the possibilities, along with the suggested donation for each.

Preferred—$9.95

• Chaplain
• Commissioner
• Councilman
• Frau
• Friar
• Madam
• Professor

Elite—$17.95

• Colonel
• Congressman
• Doctor
• Esquire
• General
• Judge
• Mayor

Platinum—$35.95

• Ambassador
• Bishop
• Chancellor
• Count
• Senator
• His Eminence
• President

For the full list, visit the donation page. The next chapter of your life starts with a single click!

Signed,

Chancellor Bess Wohlner & Count Molly Plotnik

*Written by Jeremy Simons, approved by Bess.

Who knew Molly had family living in Israel that she’d never met!? Okay fine, we all did. But the big news is that Molly finally got around to meeting them. Molly traveled up to Netanya to spend Shabbat with her cousins, the Bilders.

Here is Molly’s Top 5 List of Newly Discovered Cousins:

1. Hana - Hana’s mother’s name was Molly (named after the same shared relative I was named after) so we obviously got along well. We spent most of the day sharing stories about my grandma, Aunt Shirley, Uncle Sid, and Sugar Ray Robinson.

2. Itzak - Itzak is Hana’s husband and works for Ford/Mazda (same company here in Israel). He’s a quiet guy, but very sweet, and he liked me because I played soccer. We basically spent the weekend watching Israeli soccer games together.

3. Aviram & Noi - Aviram is Hana & Itzak’s son and lives with his girlfriend, Noi. They took me out to Max Brenner with some friends for a yummy Shabbos chocolate snack.

4. Hanit & Shimon - Hanit is Hana & Itzak’s daughter and is married to Shimon. They live right outside of Tel Aviv in a little neighborhood with lots of animals. To be honest, I don’t really understand how the place works. All I know is I saw more than 10 peacocks walking around like they own the place. Basically my worst nightmare.

5. Leah - As it turns out, Leah and I have a lot in common. We both like candy, singing, arts & crafts, and watching Dora on channel 77. So what if she’s 4 years old? I am many things, but I am no ageist.

Bam! Molly was the magbiah today in our student-led tefillah. Which means she did the job of Hagbah. Which means she used her super-human strength to lift the Torah at the end of the Torah service. Learn more about Hagbah & Gelilah.