I Survived a Three and a Half Hour Wait at Misrad HaP'nim and Lived to Tell the Story

This is a very hard blog to write. I know I haven't been keeping it up the past few weeks, but with good reason. Let me tell you what I've been up to and what has been going on. It's quite scattered and goes back and forth because while I was living my life here in Israel, I was also having to stay updated about things in the States. I'm telling it just as it happened so you can get a feel of the things I had in the back of my mind while I participated in one activity or another.

Near the end of October, on a Thursday, I got a very difficult call from my dad explaining that his cancer had spread and would be going to a doctor to see which trial medications he qualifies for. The next day, Shmuel, Eliana, her friend Anna Lea, and I went to Holon. It was the last day of the Samaritan Sukkot and Shmuel had been invited to bring us to see one of their famed Sukkot. Samaritans are Jews that adhere closely to the literal meanings of the commandments in the Torah and don't bother with trying to extract further meaning or interpretation. When they read that on Sukkot you should have the four species represented, they go ahead and just build them into their Sukkot, which led to the famous tradition of creating a ceiling of hanging fruit that create all these incredible designs. Also, they sometimes build them in their homes (like the one we saw).

The Samaritan synagogue in Holon--the writing is in Ancient Hebrew

The ceiling of the Sukkah

  The edges, with details

When we got back to Petah Tikva (after making sure Anna Lea was safely on her way to Jerusalem), we got ready for Shabbat. I was feeling down so I went to my room and watched funny videos online while Dovi and Shmuel were at shul, even though Shabbat had started. All of a sudden, I got a call from my dad. He told me he was changing his Hebrew name to Eliezer. It was a short, nice conversation, I said hi to my brother Nathan, and I promised I would make sure he would be mentioned for the refuah shlemah. I went back to a video, but a few minutes later he called back. He asked me to come visit sometime before my ulpan. I was very shocked and said I would think about it. I took it very hard and as a result Shabbat, Sunday, and most of Monday were very difficult for me because I was waiting to hear if he qualified for the new drug. As soon as I hung up, though, I knew I would go.

Monday we found out he had been approved for two different treatments in case the first (a pill) was a bust. It would be a couple of weeks before he started. On Wednesday, I took Anna Lea to Yafo to see the shuk, the port, and eat at Dr. Shakshouka's.

The tower where Taglit 365 began our adventure of a lifetime

The first restaurant we ate at on Taglit...yummy shakshouka

When it came time for Shabbat again, I went to Jerusalem to visit family friends from Cleveland who made aliyah last year. I came back Sunday morning with a stomach bug, but it was good to see them and meet some of the kids I hadn't met before.

Eating crepes with Ayelet at Waffle Bar on Emek Refaim

My dad had gone to Florida for a getaway weekend with some of our family. He hadn't felt well over the last couple of days, so he and my stepmom, Jill, went going to the hospital as soon as they landed in Nashville. He was not admitted, but had to come back pretty much every day for testing. Over the week, I spoke with Jill and my dad about some options for coming to visit. We figured that if I came around the beginning of December that would be best, and I would need to get permission to leave since I have only been an Israeli citizen one month.

Thursday, Dovi and I went to Tel HaShomer base in Ramat Gan for a future Lone Soldier IDF job fair where we could learn about different parts of the army, jobs within each section, and what we need to do in order to get the jobs we want. We knew that Shmuel works there so we saw him on our way into the base (over an hour after they said everything would start, welcome to Israel!) and he walked us to the courtyard, but then had to leave again. The boys and girls were separated (about a dozen girls and probably at least 20 boys) and we were briefed on the basics of how the draft process works. We spoke about half and half in Hebrew and English. A few minutes in, when we were talking about the tzav rishon (first notice) and manila (the document on which you choose from the jobs for which you are qualified), a soldier walked in. He looked really familiar, and as I realized it was Noam from my Taglit bus, the biggest smile exploded on my face! He made a hand motion that said "Let's wait until this is over," and then calmly walked out. I refocused on the discussion, but a few minutes later, a group of four or five girls walked in to join us late. Again, one of them looked familiar, and we both at the same time realized we did know each other! It was Rachel Gardyn, a really close friend of mine from Ramah Darom. We hadn't seen each other since 2008 and lost touch almost completely the past couple of years. She's in ulpan and working on making aliyah within Israel and wants to be a volunteer in the army when she becomes a citizen. We didn't get to talk much, but now we know that both of us are here in Israel. We hugged on the spot and after got a bit caught up, but mostly we were just in shock from meeting so randomly. When they released us to join the boys, I found Noam and gave him the biggest hug! I knew he was a commander, but apparently he was in charge of making sure our program ran smoothly on the base where he works. He was very surprised to see me, but it's good to know he works on the same base as Shmuel, pretty close to Petah Tikva! I went to learn more about being a paramedic (I've been hearing a lot more feedback and almost everyone says it is the better job and I will get paid more then and in the future!), the Navy (Cheil HaYam, literally soldier of the water), and a few other options for me. Dovi and I had to leave the program early, but we ran into him on our way out. He was registering his soldiers for Birthright trips and himself for another Birthright trip, this one music themed (he's an amazing singer).

Navy boat on display

 (Yes, Commander!) כן, מפקד!

When we left the base, we headed for the beautiful city of Jerusalem. The pre-weekend bus was so packed that Dovi and I both ended up sitting on the floor (and we weren't the only ones) for most of the trip. When we arrived, we checked into this great little hotel (there are few differences between hostels and small-time hotels) called Hotel Zion near Ben Yehuda. The service was amazing (the owner truly loves his job and insisted on personally checking in and walking all the guests up to their rooms) and it was very affordable!

The view from the balcony at Hotel Zion

After we changed, we went to Baka for the Jerusalem Wine Festival, which was a lot of fun. I even met a couple who invited me for Shabbat sometime. We decided to meet some of both of our friends near Ben Yehuda at a bar where Dovi is well known from his mechina days, and we stayed for hours. When we did leave, we ended up at a karaoke bar and stayed until last song/call. Finally, it was about 4:30 AM and there was just a few of us left. We went to a place called Four Corners, which is basically a rooftop near the Kotel where you can see all of the beauty of Jerusalem. We watched the sun rise over the Dome of the Rock.  We went our separate ways while Dovi and I went to finally get a few hours of sleep, breakfast, and then went to Machaneh Yehuda to meet some of his friends.

Mitzi's in Machaneh Yehuda has the most incredible burgers I've ever tasted

When it came to be closer to Shabbat, I made my way over to the Inbal Jerusalem Hotel to meet up with the Nashville Jewish Federation community mission trip. My mom works for the Jewish Federation of Nashville and Middle Tennessee and several people from her office were on this trip (not my mom...but that's another story), and it was so good to see them. We are all very close and it was like seeing family. They had invited me for Shabbat dinner, but at the last minute also invited me to Kabbalat Shabbat. Little did I realize...

Me and my former youth director at the Kotel for Kabbalat Shabbat

Yes, we took pictures, but it was a lot of their first times at the Kotel and my first time as an olah AND for Shabbat! It was very special, despite the silly nature of the selfies. When I got a turn at the Wall, I prayed very hard for my dad. It was one of those times where I just really missed him and hoped that this whole thing would end sooner rather than later. We walked back to the hotel, enjoying the atmosphere of Shabbat in Jerusalem and me sharing some of my crazy stories since making aliyah. We had about an hour before dinner, so some of us hung out and got caught up. Hadar had been with her family for Kabbalat Shabbat, but before dinner I finally got to see her! I had missed her so much and we spoke in mixed Hebrew and English. She gave me a scrapbook that Ana, Julian, and Kasey had made me but I had to leave behind last month. Then, when she went to finish getting ready for dinner, I got a call from Jill. She told me that I was the first person she called after speaking to the doctor, and my dad was getting an IV. The doctor suggested that if I want to have a nice visit, I should come sooner than three weeks. I told Jill I was going to Misrad HaKlita on Sunday, and was struck silent when she said she would book my flight for Monday. We agreed she would book whatever flight she prefers and I would talk to her after Shabbat.

All of Shabbat I had no idea what exactly that meant. For all I knew, it was that my dad might be lucky to have three weeks to live, but, per his request, I tried to stay positive. I went to dinner even though I wasn't very hungry. I stayed to talk to the group for a while longer until we agreed I would come with Hadar's group for an activity in the morning. I went to the Muszkats and slept a few hours until it was morning.

When I got to the hotel, part of the group was going to Masada and the Dead Sea and offered their room numbers to me so I could eat the fancy hotel breakfast. After we finished, we hopped on the tour bus and drove to Tal Shachar where her aunt and uncle have a farm. Her whole family was there to help with the annual olive harvest (masik zaytim) and we were the special guests. It was so much fun and very cathartic, and after we had lunch that included oil from last year's harvest and LOTS of other delicious food.

The most effective way to harvest olives

They had little puppies

לחיים!

There were 13 of us in addition to Hadar's big family

Olives ready to be sent to the press, they turned our hands purple

We got a tour of the farm, where they have sheep, olive groves, a beautiful house, and a woodworking shop. They invited me back to help or have dinner sometime since it's not too far from Petah Tikva. I slept most of the bus ride back, and then took a cab to the Muszkat's to spend the rest of Shabbat. It was good to really spend some time with them, and as soon as Shabbat was over I called Jill. She told me that he is going on the alternative medication on Monday since it is intravenous and he is so obstructed by these tumors that are growing significantly by the day that he can't keep down food and thus the other treatment is on standby if this one works. We agreed I should get permission first and then buy the plane ticket so there wouldn't be any complications. The reason I am going so soon is because within three weeks my dad will probably be in a haze from all the medication and I'd rather spend some good quality time with him before that. If this works and he can keep food down, he'll take the other drug which is more effective and will very likely be okay! In that case, I will have a nice trip now and have an even better, healthier one in the future. For now, all we can do is pray and hope that this medicine works. After a while of hanging out and watching Nurit do her manila, I met up with Dovi and we went home.

HaYarkon River in Tel Aviv while waiting for the bus

Today I went to Misrad HaKlita to ask about the papers I would need. They sent me to Misrad HaPnim which was very intimidating, but I left quickly since I had left my American passport at the apartment. When I returned, there were about eighty numbers before mine. I ended up waiting for three hours and I didn't even have a book! It was definitely worse than any line I had seen here to date, being right after the weekend and open to the public. It took a lot of patience and persistence because they didn't quite understand what I needed at first or just didn't want to deal with it. When they finally realized what I needed, I had the notarized paper in my hand and was out the door in two minutes!

Tomorrow evening I fly out of Tel Aviv and head home for a short visit with my dad. It is not how I imagined my first month here, but I know that it will all be worth it. I will be back in time to celebrate Thanksgivukah and all of Chanukah, my first holiday in Israel (ever, not just as an Israeli!). I will blog again when I come home and again after the holiday! Thanks for reading this long blog, but as you can see it has been quite a ride and I am just glad I get to see my dad in a couple of days.

P.S. For those of you interested, I would be very grateful if you mentioned Eliezer ben Chana in your prayers as that is all we have until we know that this drug that he starts tomorrow works.

P.P.S. Vols are 4-6, but as I previously mentioned it is THE most difficult schedule for a non-ranked (and even a ranked) school in the history of the SEC. Hopefully we can pull out a win with Vandy in a couple weeks after their unthinkable Georgia and Florida upsets.