First day of real work at Tishbi Winery

Ok so a little run down of my first day working at the Tishbi winery. The kitchen workers are Arab and one guy from South America that continuously flirt with me but they do not speak any English so I am forced to speak Hebrew although a smile with them goes a long way :)

The other waiters are all 20-22 year old Israeli boys, very cute, who already did part of their army service or ended their army service and are saving up money to travel to South America. One of the boys, Yaron, I staffed his Dor L Dor trip Summer 2005 - very small world!

The woman I am shadowing to learn how to give english tours is amazing, she is sooo sweet and is taking me under her wing and teaching me everything. She also gave me a ride home from work and invited me for Shabbat dinner.

So, during lunch we toured around an American couple and sat with them afterwards to do some wine sampling. After about 5 samples I felt myself get a little tipsy so I stopped and ate some bread and drank some water- I have to be a bit responsible!

The funniest thing that happened to me is there is a big vat of Petite-Syrah wine in the front of the store. Anyone can come and fill up empty wine bottles with 17 NIS wine - an alcohols dream. Anyways, I thought I knew how to work the system but I turned it in the opposite direction and wine went spritzing everywhere! My clothes, hair, the walls, counter! It was a big crazy but very funny and supposedly every new person does it and it is like an initiation.

Ok love for you all.,.,off to walk the strip before it gets dark
Esther

Hey all,

My apartment in Zichron Yakov is located right beside a beautiful park with a innovative playground and along side the "Midrachov" which is a street that is closed off for pedestrians and has a variety of cafe's, restaurants, shops, and boutiques. The actual apartment is a converted basement of a retired British couple who are extremely nice. There are five houses in this complex and they all share a pool, which I can access through the British couple's home also the beach is 15 minutes away.

Yesterday I had my first taste of what it is going to be like to work at Tishbi. I was standing next to the cash register talking to the manager, Valerie (a Scottish woman who made aliyah 25 years ago and worked at Yarden for 15 years) and the son of Jonathan Tishbi, who studied wine making in New Zealand, came up to shown us a brand new bottle of wine he was testing in the laboratory. We both had a taste and commented on its texture and flavor. It was pretty amazing.

I have a lot of studying to do between my Hebrew and wine knowledge but in a short time I should feel comfortable enough to speak Hebrew and shmooze with the best of the wino's.

Here are a couple of pictures of the apartment and my walk around the outskirts of Zichron Yakov.

Come and Visit!

Esther

Chag (Passover) in Israel

Shalom all,

It seems that the Jewish and Christian holiday’s fell on the same time this year between Christmas/Hanukah and Easter/ Passover so recently it was very busy time in Israel. You can see from the pictures the Church of the Holy Seplecre during Easter and a picture overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem during the Birkat Hachamah (the time every 28 years when the sun is in the estimated position from when creation began) the uniqueness of Jerusalem for different religions.

During the Birkat Hachamah, I could hear the echo of Jews praying from different areas around Jerusalem but what was amazing was hearing the Jews who were at the Kotel praying and singing all together because the reverberations off the walls of the Old City magnified the volume. It was one of those moments in life that I will remember forever and know that it was a special sunrise.

For Passover I went to my adopted Jerusalem family for a 6 hour seder where we read each and every page, front to back. Thank g-d there is only one night of seder in Israel. What I loved most about Passover in Israel is that you do not feel like you are suffering at all from dry matza rolls or horrible tasting food. Most of the restaurants were open and they served yummy potato bread and the menu was basically the same as during the year.

From my last email I told everyone I got a job in Zichron Yakov working at the Tishbi winery. I moved up here yesterday, got a one-bedroom apt that is very quaint, in the center of town and has a communal pool. I will send pictures and tell you all about my work experience next week. Today I went to the winery, picked up the menu and tour guide information so when you come to the Tishbi winery I will be able to give you a 30 minute tour and do some wine tasting

I can not end this email without recognizing that tonight until tomorrow night is Yom HaShoah. It will be my first time to hear the siren that will sound tomorrow morning at 10am in remembrance of the 6 million Jews that were murdered in the Holocaust.

I hope all is well with everyone.

All my love,

Esther

Moving On Up...in Israel

Hello friends and family,

It has been a whirl-win of a month. It was very nice to see friends and family in Boston and visit my old-home but once returning to Israel, I knew I arrived to my new home, where I feel I belong as a Jew. Visiting Boston made me realize that there is no place I would rather be than living in Israel. I also realized I've picked up a few Israeli "bad habits" and do not understand the meaning of an organized line anymore, personal space or how loud my voice raises when I speak Hebrew.

I can not write this email without addressing the celebration of Purim in Israel and the passing away of the elderly man I took care of, Dave Medved. Dave passed away on Purim morning, which I found out is actually a huge mitzvah and we had a few shots of whisky in his honor. Although I was sad and miss him occasionally he lived a full life and died peacefully.

One of the best aspects of living in Israel is the celebration of Jewish holidays and Purim was an exceptional holiday to experience. All the kids were dressed up, humantashins were in abundance and the partying was plenty. I would not say it was better than Halloween because growing up near Salem, MA and having Halloween as my birthday makes that holiday a fabulous occasion as well.

For the past couple of weeks I've traveled around Israel with Cassie (see picture). We relaxed in Elat, partied a bit in Tel Aviv, went shopping and sightseeing in Jerusalem and relaxed in a beautiful bed & breakfast in the Galil (Cassie's aunt owns it if anyone wants the information). Now back to real life...

Although...real life consist of...working on the Tishbi Winery in Zichron Yakov. Today I got a job working on the Tishbi winery as a tour guide and waitress. My goal for working on the winery and living in Zichron Yakov is to improve my Hebrew by being immersed in Israeli society and to learn the process of wine making. I plan on renting an apartment with Israeli young adults or living with an Israeli family.

I hope all is well with everyone and I look forward to people visiting me on the winery :)

Chag Samach (Happy Passover)

Esther

Elections and other stuff...

שלום כולם Hello everyone,

It has been a very productive and busy month in Israel (for me and the State of Israel), between the War in Gaza, Elections, Hebrew lessons, work and volunteering I barely had time to sit on the beach and read a book (which I did last Saturday). I have to admit I love wearing flip-flops in the middle of February and the sun is shining most of the days, however I am very appreciative of the little bit of rain that poured down in Jerusalem this very dry Winter (even when I get caught in it!). This is the driest Winter Israel has experienced in a very long time and it is scary because our water sources are getting lower and lower every year.

So even though I am enjoying my jobs and making a lot of friends in Jerusalem, I've decided that I need to step out of my comfort zone and be immersed in the Hebrew language and Israeli society more than I am now. Actually, I sometimes feel like I live in the Upper West Side or in Coolidge Corner. My plan is to move up to a Kibbutz in the Golan or Galil and work on a winery by the Summer. I've always wanted to learn the process of wine making and living in an area where English is rarely spoken is the only way I will become fluent in Hebrew. I am not ready to move to Tel Aviv but by improving my Hebrew I will eventually be able to get a job that suits my career ambitions which will most likely be in the Tel Aviv area. As for now, I am loving working and volunteering at PresenTense. This past Shabbat I chaired a very successful dinner at PresenTense with 70 people, which imitated a camp style feeling.

Ok- now my election experience...Most of you have read about the Elections in Israel so I will not recap the "still being decided" outcome. The one thing Israelis actually have an organized system for is the elections, probably because they do it so much. I get a card in the mail that states the location of where I vote, the hallway and even the exact booth number. However, I felt like I was voting for my Class President because I had to put a piece of paper with the party that I decided on into an envelop and the sealed envelop into a cardboard box. Even though Israelis are technology savvy they have not figured out how to make the election system modern. Also, Israelis do not understand the concept "mind your own business" (actually, I was told there are no words in Hebrew that translate this phrase) and even when I was in line to vote, the guy next to me asked me "who are you voting for?". I actually did not care that he asked and told him proudly "MIMAD" which is the Environmental party. He rolled his eyes at me and told me I was "throwing away my vote" which ended up being true because MIMAD did not get voted into the Knesset as a party (they were .3% shy of having only 1 seat). I was very excited and proud to be able to vote in these elections even if I did not vote for a big party. If you need explanation we can discuss in person or google "Knesset".

So as I was relaxing on this beautiful, sunny Shabbat day, I looked at my calender and saw that today was in fact Valentine's Day - I completely forgot about this holiday! What I love about living in Israel is that I did not see red boxes of chocolates everywhere, roses were no more expensive (I bought some for Shabbat), advertisements on TV are not geared to buying your "loved one" a present, and there was no pressure to be "on a date" today. To all my Friends and Family...Happy Valentine's Day and I hope you enjoy time spent with loved ones.

I am looking forward to visiting everyone when I come to Boston February 24- March 7. I will be in Boston most of the time but will travel to NY for a bit. I will have an American phone number so I will let people know once I get the SIM card. Have a good week and see you soon!

All my Love,

Esther

Getting Worse before it Gets Better

Hello friends and family,

I have received a few emails/ phone calls about the situation between Israel and Gaza and how I am doing and I just want to reassure all of you that I am safe in Jerusalem. I am not traveling anywhere for New Years just hanging around Jerusalem with some friends.

It is with hesitation that I write this email about the matzav (situation) because a part of me hopes that it is over in a couple of days; although the reality is it will most likely get worse before it gets better. I can go on and on about the political issues, but most of you know that Iran is funding Hamas and Hamas's sole agenda is to destroy Israel, so the big picture is the reality of fighting Iran but the immediate threat is that throughout these 6 months Hamas has rearmed with longer ranging missiles, weapons and training. Now it is finally time to deal with Hamas on the ground.

Throughout these 6 months of living in Israel I've met some great guys that are now in the army, some were called up to go into Gaza and some were trained in Gaza. It is a very unsettling feeling of actually knowing good friends here that are in Gaza compared to living in Boston knowing that "some random guys" are fighting on behalf of the Jewish State.

One of the stories I can tell you that happened a couple of days ago is this: I called my friend Dave at 10:30 Monday night and in a panicky voice he said he would call me back in 10 minutes. Ten minutes later Dave called me back and he was in shock. He was just on the phone with his mate that is a journalist who was driving near Ashquelon and all of a sudden Dave's mate heard a siren that a rocket was launched from Gaza and in position to hit Ashquelon. In Ashquelon they have 1 full minute before impact so he had 1 minute to find a shelter. Dave's mate stopped the car, put the cell phone on the seat but did not turn it off, and ran to the nearest shelter. One minute later, Dave was still on the phone listening through the phone and heard the rocket's thud. Dave then hung up the phone. Dave's mate called him back once he got back into the car and said that he was safe but could not find a shelter so he had to lie on the ground with his hands over his head until he heard the rockets impact.

My daily life is not directly affected by the situation like the people living in Beer Sheba, Sderot, Ashquelon, Ashdod and other Southern cities, but who knows? I can only hope that this mission will be swift and that the IDF learned a lot from their mistakes in the Second Lebanon War.

I am still on all these list serves from Jewish American organizations and I want to thank you for your media support, organizing rallies, and general support of Israel. I hope the next time I write it is with good news. Go to my friend Benji's blog for his comedic insight, he is brilliant. http://www.whatwarzone.com/2008/12/here-we-go-again.html

Happy New Year…all my love

Esther

Happy Hanukah, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!

Shalom

There is something about the holidays in Israel which reminds me how special it is to be living as a Jew in the Jewish state during this time in history. I feel very lucky to safely walk the streets of Jerusalem celebrating Hanukah with my friends, however it was not always like this and it will probably not continue forever but at this point of time in Israel I am very grateful for my freedom and lifestyle.

Some of the things I love about Hanukah in Israel are:

1. Menorah’s lit up on lamp posts and on taxi cabs (see pic)
2. Chocolate covered parve, yummy, sufganiot (aka Donuts)
3. Walking down the street and seeing Hanukah candles burning in the windows of people’s homes
4. Saying Chag Samach to everyone and not having to explain to anyone that yes, in fact, I am Jewish and do not celebrate Christmas

My favorite Hanukah story in Israel is that one of my friends, Paul, was at the gym the first night of Hanukah at 5:30ish. Over the loud speaker the receptionist announced that lighting the Menorah will be at the front desk in a couple of minutes. All of a sudden the treadmills, elliptical machines, macho men lifting weights, dance class STOPPED! Everyone came to the front desk to light the first candles and sing Hanukah songs. Only in Israel!

My next religious experience was Midnight mass church bouncing in the Old City. These were some of my observations:

1. You can tell who is Jewish at mass by who is swaying back and forth to the pretty Christmas songs
2. The Jerusalemite Syndrome Jesuses were walking around like it was their Birthday
3. The priest of the Scottish church said Christmas is all about a crack-whore, I think he was talking about Mary but he could have been talking about a ritz cracker
4. The priest also said if Jesus was an entitled middle-upper class Jew than he would not be their savior. This could be taken as anti-Semitic or maybe this priest had a bad day with Israeli customer service.

To all my Jewish friends, I hope you enjoyed the Matzo Ball dance, saw a good movie and ate yummy Chinese food. To all my non-Jewish friends, Merry Christmas and I hope you enjoyed it with your loved ones.

Today is my 6 month Aliyah-versary and I will be celebrating with friends at a few parties tonight.

All my love,

Esther