Molly and Bess on Moshe Hess

Thanks to Dave Mintz for making this video!

Visit the Molly and Bess on Moshe Hess Archive for nostalgia, to procrastinate, or to look up how many times we attempted to get Marc Rosenstein on the blog. And yes Marc, we got the significance…

A message from Haim!

A message from Josh!

Here’s a little story about two people: their names are Mac and PC, and they do not get along. The End.

Our four wonderful interns all sent special messages to the YII class, but since Mac and PC don’t agree, they have to go up separately (it almost rhymes).

A message from Emily!

After sneaking their way into the Christian quarter of the Old City by way of Zion Gate, Molly and Jonah were suffocated by hot and sweaty tourists crammed into the narrow streets of the Old City and realized they still had an hour and a half until the holy fire ritual began, so they decided to go back home for a snack and come back an hour later to Jaffa Gate. Here is a brief clip of the fire being passed around just outside of Jaffa Gate.

Instead of attempting to explain the ritual (and most likely misrepresenting it), you can listen to NPR’s story, “Orthodox Christians Celebrate Holy Fire Ritual” to learn more about the ritual.

Update: HUC-JIR’s First Annual Falafel Eating Contest raised almost $1000 to benefit a hunger organization!!

When people ask us, “who is the conductor of this crazy-train you’re on?”, we are usually at a loss for words. How do you describe the wonder that is Yoshi?

While we’re still not capable of describing the Director of our Year-in-Israel program with words, we think this might explain a few things.

Chag Sameach, Happy Purim, from Molly and Bess on Moshe Hess! We hope you enjoy this gem.

At the request of the HUC administration, we have put together a video for the HUC-JIR 2010-2011 Year-In-Israel students!

We hope you enjoy the special guest star at the end of the video…

As mentioned below, Lynn Magid Lazar, President of Women of Reform Judaism (WRJ), and Shelley Lindauer, Executive Director of WRJ, met with our class over a yummy bagels and lox breakfast to talk about the important partnership between WRJ and HUC.

In this video Shelley Lindauer talks about the WRJ’s Top 5 Accomplishments. If only HUC tuition still cost $500!

Again we apologize for the horrible sound quality (this seemed like the perfect time to drag tables across the room).

Lynn Magid Lazar, President of Women of Reform Judaism (WRJ), and Shelley Lindauer, Executive Director of WRJ, met with our class over a yummy bagels and lox breakfast to talk about the important partnership between WRJ and HUC.

Lynn was at Women of the Wall with us on Monday morning, so we asked her to speak about that experience. We apologize for the horrible sound quality (lots of people talking in the background)!

Tel Aviv - Hine Ani (Anachnu) Ba(nu)!

After a strenuous day at the municipality, Molly and Bess decided to get away to Tel Aviv for a night. Without further ado, here is Molly and Bess’s Top 5 of their “weekend” getaway:

1. Staying in a hostel! It’s been far too long since we’ve been surrounded by Canadians (note to a few classmates, you know who you are: speaking in a Canadian accent does not make you Canadian). Added bonus: we shared a room with two girls, one who is in Israel working to end the occupation, and one who just moved to Israel and joined an army program the next day. Crazy!

2. Our main motivation for going to Tel Aviv was really to get our hands on some Mexican or Thai food. When we asked people for restaurant suggestions they almost exclusively recommended falafel or schwarma. We finally settled on the restaurant Mexicana when Molly made the bold statement, “Bad Mexican food is better than no Mexican food.” As it turns out, that’s just not true.

3. Breakfast at Benedict was super yummy. Molly tried eggs benedict for the first and a half time and has concluded that french toast is always a better option.

4. Strolling through Nachalat Binyamin, the outdoor craft market! So many adorable things, so little MASA money.

5. While sitting on the edge of the Mediterranean Sea, Bess got a lovely splash of the ocean, courtesy of Molly’s water bottle.

Rabbi Gregory Kotler, the first Russian-speaking rabbi ordained by HUC’s Israel Rabbinic Program (everyone here has a claim on a “first”), came to speak with the FSU Pesach Project participants about our upcoming trip to the FSU! Rabbi Kotler did a lot of the groundwork in establishing a Reform movement in the FSU, so he is definitely an expert on the subject. This is just a clip of the first 10 minutes of the program before we moved into Q & A.

What’s more hilarious than a dead-pan person making a funny? Some highlights of Rabbi Kotler’s responses to our quesitons:

Q: Are there any books you recommend reading before we go to the FSU?
A: The Passover Hagaddah

Q: What’s your favorite food from that region that you think we absolutely need to try?
A: Don’t experiment there - it’s not safe.

Rabbi David Ellenson talks about Ride4Reform!

Molly will be participating in the 2010 Ride4Reform this March and needs YOUR support!

Visit the official Ride4Reform website and don’t forget to check out the HUC Team website! You can donate on either website.

Thank you for all your help!

Playing the face game with Noah…quality.