Ken and Lauren's Blog

Switching over to a new site, mostly because I want to educate myself.

New Link --- www.kenandlauren.com/blog

Ok, so it is the old site, but new format that I will be working on, where I still probably won't post much.

Rally To Save Darfur or Rally To Stop Genocide?

They definitely chose the right name. Good mass appeal.

Either way, I hope you will join me in DC on Sunday April 30th.

www.savedarfur.org

Four jobs I’ve had…

1. Amusement Park Ride Operator
2. Youth and Family Program Director at a Synagogue
3. Hillel Director
4. Page at a library

Four movies I can watch over and over…
1. Rocky 3/4 (come on they are one movie)
2. Demolition Man
3. Generic Sports movie/ ala Necessary Roughness, Varsity Blues
4. A Few Good Men

Four places I’ve lived…
1. Blacksburg, VA
2. Baltimore, MD
3. Philadelphia, PA
4. Cincinnati, OH

Four TV shows I love…1. Lost
2. Gilligan's Island
3. MASH
4. 24

Four places I’ve vacationed…
1. Generic Caribbean Cruise
2. Wisconsin
3. San Francisco
4. Greece

Four of my favorite dishes…
1. Steak
2. Pizza
3. Fried Chicken
4. Mushrooms with anything

Four sites I visit daily…
1. Haaretz
2. Hotmail
3. My other email
4. foxnews/cnn/slate

Four places I would rather be right now…
1. Israel
2. A warm beach somewhere
3. Asleep
4. With you

It has been so long since my last post, that all comments have been erased! How cool is that? Welcome to the cyber graveyeard. Let's see who the first person to realize that there is a post here is. My vote is Nina.

We bought our house!!!

We have arrived!

Yesterday afternoon we arrived back from Israel. Was that yesterday or today? After a 12 hour flight, where they close the windows on you, serve you dinner after the 10:40am take off, and serve you breakfast before the 3:30pm arrive, you lose track of what day it is.

What an amazing experience Israel was. I am tired, I am sick, and from the time I am writing this, apparently I am jetlagged, and I love it.

Israel is one of the rare places I have been that you can not provide an accurate label for it. It is a leader of First World Technology, but it has water problems, lack of energy resources, and many populations that live in villages. Although I suppose, even the villages are fairly advanced compared to many countries.

It is beautiful, with changing topographies and climates, and a variety of people, most uniting under the banner of the Jewish state. There are definitely problems, depending on which wave of immigration, how much money your people moved with, there are definitely different classes of people. But as they stay there longer (read as they start going into the army) , people are equalizing as well.

The army is a strange phenomenon. I have reached the point where I laugh at the sight of a security person drinking with an m-16 rifle, or whichever one it was, swinging from their back. That is a scary though.

But now I am back, and time to reenter the real world. The world where all my food was kosher, and many get off for Shabbat was a lovely dream one for a while.

I am loving being in Israel. The weather is now beautiful, it is great being in the culture, and the landscape and architecture put you in a great frame of mind. It has been a whirlwind few days. stayed in a bedoin tent, conducted two Bar Mitzvahs on Mount Massada, and played with Yeminite children. It is now Shabbat, and time for me to get ready for the day of "rest" (I will be working an awful lot for a day of rest). You all need to visit. I need to stay for longer than 10 days, or at least on my own.

The security situation has been fine here. There are guns, metal detectors (ever been checked going into a McDonalds before?) But the overall atmosphere is one of people living their life. We have been with a number of Israeli soldiers recently, and the overall feel that I received from them - is that they want the Gaza pullout. Not sure if it will work, but something needs to be tried. They are also very in favor of the security fence. I am hoping to see the security fence soon, be important to see what exactly it looks like. That is it for now. Talk to everyone soon.

K

Greetings from Israel. I am pleased to say that we have arrived safely, and are beginning our amazing journey. I am writing to you from the coffee shop in our hotel, equipt with wireless internet access, and like all of the students I am exhausted, but it is the good kind of exhausted when you know that you have done something really special and worthwhile.

Here is an update of our experiences so far: Everyone showed up early to the airport - I can honestly say it is the first time in my experiences with birthright that I was not trying to track down a student or a passport at the airport. The flight was long, but the students were so full of energy, that they received very little sleep. As we were landing in Israel, we were all treated to a beautiful sunrise. Israel is 7 hours ahead of the east coast of the US, and after a 10 hour flight, people were feeling very tired, but filled with a nervous energy.

We picked up our bags and headed to the bus and went towards our first stop - the Jewish National Fund National Forest. The students got to plant trees in memory and thought of loved ones. Israel is an amazing country, because it is the only one in the area that is covered in green.

Following the JNF forest, we went to a promenade overlook over Jerusalem. This is the spot that visiting dignitaries visit when they first come to Israel. Our dignitaries said the Shehechiyanu - the blessing over doing something for the first time. The students took part in their own blessing, and then loaded the buses to make their way to the Old City of Jerusalem, and the Western Wall. Watching students put on tefillin for the first time, and seeing the joy and love for Judaism in their eyes when they go to the wall for the first time is awe inspiring.

We finished the day by coming back to the hotel for a good meal. Today we had another long day - going to Yad Vashem- the Israeli Holocaust Museum, Mt. Hertzel - the Military Cemetary, and to the Mega Event for all of birthright.

Yad Vashem was a very moving place, make sure to ask your students about their thoughts on the Children's Memorial, and listening to the Holocaust Survivor. Whle at Yad Vashem, we met a strange, familiar face. Mayor Martin O'Malley, of Baltimore, is in Israel touring, and we met him and took pictures with him at Yad Vashem. What a great statement to our students to see him there, supporting Israel.

From Yad Vashem, we went to Mt. Herzel - the Israeli Military Cemetary. Seeing the graves of the visionary of Zionism, Theodore Herzel, as well as former Prime Ministers Yitzchak Rabin and Golda Meir, is a very powerful experience. Arlington Cemetary is the closest thing to this location, but it does not come close to the power of Mt. Herzel, especially seeing graves of 14 year olds, that died trying to bring Israel into existence.

We ended the day at our Mega Event - filled with over 3000 Jewish birthright students, Israel Vice Primiers, and an Israel rock band. There was a battle of spirit between countries, but when push came to shove, the USA won, with the largest contingent in Israel.
Now we are back in the hotel, it is midnight here, and we have another long, beautiful days coming up.

I look forward to writing to you soon, and check out the web soon for photos - www.baltimorehillel.org/israel/birthrightphotos.html

Until next email,
Ken