Molly and Bess on Moshe Hess

Molly and Bess are still on break for Passover, so today Molly, Dave, and Jonah went to the Biblical Zoo! They’re not exactly sure what makes the zoo “biblical” other than the gift shop shaped like Noah’s ark (see photo above) and a few signs around the park with biblical verses. Either way, they had a great day in the sun! 

Here is Molly’s Top 5 of the Biblical Zoo:

1. We were about to go to the “3-D Experience” when Dave pointed out that the entire zoo is a 3-D experience. 

2. Jonah trying to commercialize the mini-giraffe concept.

3. It’s really unfortunate when you’re forced to eat ice cream because it’s the only thing for sale…

4. I love that there is a cockroach exhibit, and that it is setup to look like a refrigerator infested by cockroaches. 

5. No peacock encounters!

Molly and Dave headed back to Minsk for their last day in Belarus! Here is Molly’s Top 5 of the last day:

1. We arrived back at the office in Minsk for….another seder!!! Just one more for good measure, I guess. It was a lot of fun to be reunited with the other groups traveling in Belarus and share stories!

2. Jewish tour of Minsk with Rabbi Grisha and Mischa. We saw a lot of WWII memorials and the buildings that used to be the Minsk Yeshiva and Dance Hall for Girls. They are located right next to each other, and I’m pretty sure their main function was a match-making service. 

3. Since it was April Fools, Rabbi Grisha was trying to make jokes all day, but begrudgingly agreed that it wouldn’t be appropriate to make a Holocaust joke while at the WWII memorial. Good call, Rabbi!

4. Our lovely Passover Picnic at the airport, where we dumped all our leftover Kosher for Passover food on the table and went to town! The most satisfying meal I had in four days. 

5. We shared flights in and out of Tel Aviv with our orthodox equivalents, so it was fun to run into them at the Belarus airport and swap stories about our experiences. It was a nice bonding moment to realize that even though we are so ideologically different, we were all there for the same shared purpose.

Molly and Dave’s first day of no travel! Here is Molly’s Top 5 of the Second Day in Mogilev:

1. Seder at the kindergarten! The kids sang songs for us and told the Exodus story. If nothing else, Belarus certainly has adolescent discipline down, but there’s always one terror in the class and this one’s name was Max (who also happened to be the only boy…coincidence?)!

2. Jewish tour of Mogilev with kids (middle-school age) from the Alef-Bet school. Basically, we saw a lot of buildings that used to be synagogues and are now sports centers or swimming pools. 

3. In the evening we met with Mila and Anatoliy, the leaders of the Reform Jewish community in Mogilev. Anatoliy had some amazing personal stories to share about Passover in his family. Mila is the super-woman of the community - her energy and enthusiasm is remarkable! Anatoliy also gave us some fresh birch tree juice he had just collected, which basically tasted like flavored water and apparently has lots of good minerals.

4. Espresso! My first coffee since Sunday…

5. We played a disturbing amount of Spit to keep ourselves entertained during our down-time. 

Another morning of travel for Molly and Dave! They left Bobruisk and arrived in Mogilev in the afternoon. Here is Molly’s Top 5 of Mogilev:

1. Disco Seder! As you can see from the photos above, our second night seder was held in a disco club. 

2. During the day we met with Sasha and Dasha, twin sisters who run the Netzer program in Mogilev, as well as a few of the Netzer participants. It was interesting to hear about their plans for college and post-college. A lot of them are planning to make aliyah (become citizens of Israel), which probably makes sense for their futures, but is sad for the future of the progressive movement in Belarus.

3. We learned that in Mogilev there are only two synagogues and they are both orthodox. It’s amazing to see how a few incredible individuals have created an active and energetic Reform community without having the most basic services like a synagogue or a rabbi. I’ve been trying to wrap my mind around this idea that these kids are growing up with a Reform Jewish identity that has absolutely no connection to a synagogue.

4. The skit/concert/karaoke session that took place during the meal at our seder. 

5. Alice, one of the Netzer participants who is an art student, made some paper cut art for us as a thank you! 

Molly and Dave arrived in Belarus at 4:30 am, spent a few hours in Minsk and then arrived in Bobruisk by mid-afternoon for our first Passover seder.

Here is Molly’s Top 5 of being in Bobruisk:

1. This well-dressed beaver seems to be the symbol of the city, and we saw statues of him all over. I know one former girl scout leader that would fit right in here!

2. Almost all of the restaurants we ate at were themed, so I started to wonder if maybe I was just lost in Epcot Center. 

3. Our first seder was quite the experience! The highlight was that they served the meal at the beginning of the seder, so people tended to be more focused on their food than on the actual seder. 

4. We gave postcards of Israel to the kids at the seder, which led to an impromptu autograph session when they all asked us to sign the postcards. 

5. Help. Go. Caterpillar. - the three English words the kids knew. They’ll be set if they are ever in a situation where a caterpillar has an emergency and they need to send someone for help. 

Photos from Bobruisk, Belarus

Romantic Getaway for Five - Day 2

It’s true, we almost went hiking in Mitspe Ramon (again). But guess what? It started raining (again).

Therefore, here is our Top 5 List of Things We ALMOST Did on Saturday:

1. We almost went to the Alpaca Farm and the Sculpture Garden in Mitspe Ramon.

2. We almost visited the Israeli Air Force Museum in Be’er Sheva.

3. We almost saw a movie at the nicest movie theatre in Israel.

4. We almost got a tour of the Ben & Jerry’s Factory, but had to settle for McFlurry’s at McDonalds.

5. Jeremy almost bought a fax machine at Office Depot.

Special Offer: We anticipate that many of our readers will be dying to recreate this romantic getaway with their significant others! Now you can purchase an official laminated copy of this highly desired two-day itinerary for the low cost of 50 agurot. Buy today and we’ll throw in six hours of music to keep you entertained while you circle the roundabouts of Be’er Sheva!

Romantic Getaway for Five!

Molly, Bess, Jeremy, Sarah, and Jonah decided to get out of Jerusalem for the weekend. The plan was to do some hiking and mainly play the weekend by ear. We ALMOST went hiking in Mitspe Ramon…and then it rained! We are going to blame the unexpected rain for the events that did or did not take place over the course of the weekend.

Here is our Top 5 List of Things We ALMOST Did on Friday:

1. Jonah almost mastered driving a manual car.

2. We almost went to David Ben-Gurion’s home in Sde Boker.

3. We tasted almost good wine at the Sde Boker Winery.

4. We almost understood the informational video at the Mitspe Ramon Visitor’s Center.

5. We almost figured out what the corn casserole was made from…

*What we actually did - enjoyed a lovely Shabbat at Kibbutz Lotan

Ladies and Gentlemen, allow us to introduce the contestants of HUC-JIR’s First Annual Falafel Eating Contest hosted by Va’ad Tzedakah. The winner of the contest gets to choose which hunger organization the money raised will be donated to. 

Competition Rules (the abridged version):
- No techina may be used in competition
- If a competitor has balls in his (or her) mouth when time expires, those balls count so long as the competitor is able to swallow them.
- Rules concerning vomiting:

•  If a participant vomits within 5 minutes of time expiring, he or she is disqualified
• If a participant vomits during the course of the competition, that participant will be disqualified unless he or she (re)eats that which has been upchucked
• All vomitters must clean up their own barf

Sponsor Agreement: 

I, the undersigned, hereby accept all fiscal responsibility for any short-term or long-term health effects that may result from participation in the HUC Falafel Eating Contest.  I understand that these effects may include extreme over-satiation, flatulence strong enough to register on the Richter Scale, temporary or permanent obesity, and heart disease.  I understand that the HUC Va’ad Tzedakah is also not liable for any non-health related effects, including the loss of significant others, serious damage to one’s toilet following the competition, change in pant size, and an inability to ever eat falafel again.

By signing here, I agree to all of the rules and conditions of the HUC Falafel Eating Contest.  I agree to abide by all rules of the IFOCE (International Federation of Competitive Eating), the AICE (Association of Independent Competitive Eaters) and the ILEGJ (Israeli League of Extremely Gluttenous Jews).  My signature also confirms that I believe that all members of HUC Va’ad Tzedukah are extremely cool, and that the little thing you put under a pot to prevent the table from getting burned is, in fact, called a trivet.

Top 5 Photos of Molly from the Ride4Reform. It should be known that most of these are reactions to Jon Fisch. 

Riding4Reform - Day 5
Total Distance: 48 km
Route: Kibbutz Dalia-Gachar Stream-Hashofet Stream-Ein Rechaniya-Amikam-Chorshan Mountain-Zichron Yaakov

Top 5 of Day 5 of Riding4Reform:

1. Last day of the ride and I made it with only a few minor injuries!!

2. The random herd of sheep that took over our path (see photos above)

3. We had beautiful weather all week, and then the moment we started riding into Zichron Yaakov, the hail began pouring. 

4. The Reform congregation in Zichron Yaakov greeted us as and hosted a closing ceremony for us. 

5. On the drive back to Jerusalem we saw a full, clear rainbow!