Endings, and new Beginnings

As Chanuka comes to an end...Today I will take part for the third time in the amazing Shorashim taglit trip for Asperger's participants!

And in the morning, I will briefly begin transitioning into my new role as Coordinator for the Southern Region of La'ad, a Jewish Agency for Israel volunteer-based project clarifying rights and benefits to Holocaust survivors throughout the Negev.

As for the beautiful eighth night of Chanuka, I caught Mom, Amy and her boys on Skype. What a treat it was to see/hear Jake (above) continuing Dad's tradition of playing piano concerts for me on Skype. Jake nailed "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star!" Beforehand, I lit candles

with my roommates (yes, of course, the maize and blue Michigan chanukia is mine--let's GO BLUE and win the Sugar Bowl!).

Off to bed, but I'll quickly relate a nice lesson I heard at Masa's office Chanuka celebration: unlike many gifts, the gift of light involves giving something (as the shamash candle gives light to the other candles) that remains with the giver. May we all spread light and joy and enjoy the priceless moments together on the holidays.

Much love from Beer Sheva,

אריק/Eric

P.S. Can't resist throwing in this ESPN review of the Mavericks' unforgettable 2011.

Changing the World

Hey guys,

This semester's going great. The highlights are the interesting law class and the fantastic Entrepreneurship seminar I'm attending this week (class started Sunday, and the final exam is already tomorrow morning!). I came to the realization yesterday that not only can entrepreneurs change the world, but also...what is more Zionist than creating jobs in Israel while serving a need of the Israeli public? Thoughts to be cooked soon--stay tuned...

Dear Dad,

Yesterday I had a comforting realization: while listening to a stunningly beautiful Fred Hersch performance from his album "Thelonious," I was saddened to think that you would never be able to hear the immense depth of his playing again. But then I realized that every song I listen to, you're there listening along with me...

I've put a lot of time into learning my favorite of your compositions, R.S.V.P.--the last piano lesson you gave me. I can feel the debut performance coming soon!

Last Thursday night I joined the student association's spectacular moonlit hike in the Chavarim "River" (water only flows there during flash floods) near Sde Boker. At the end of the hike, our tour guide wrapped up his explanation of the locale, then led us ahead for a silent walk (the silence lasted several minutes). A couple classmates started to hum "The Sound of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel. Sublime... I looked up to the full moon; it ducked in and out of an oval-shaped cloud formation. The "Moonbeams" (the name of a Bill Evans album) that beamed through in an undescribably beautiful manner left me with no doubt that you were looking down on me.

The moon and I had a rough stretch for awhile. The doctors said you had about two good months left on this Earth shortly before Purim and its full moon. I stopped with good friend Josh on a Purim night walk through Jerusalem, looked up, and realized your "moons" on Earth were numbered. As it turned out, the doctor was overly optimistic, and G-d only gave you one more moon with us.

For some time, I couldn't look up at the moon without getting choked up. Now, eight moons later, I miss you and love you more than ever, but I also feel you with me as I do what I can every day to earn my Master's in Gerontology and then aim to change the world of elder care in Israel!

--

In honor of my alma mater Michigan finally beating ohio again for the first time since I rushed the field in 2003, here's the amazing ohio pregame video, a fantastic set of pictures depicting a Day in the Life at Michigan, and an amazingly goofy MGoBlog post detailing the ohio win in the style of Star Wars.

Here's a YouTube find for the ages: Ask Me No Questions - Stevie Ray Vaughan & Albert King from their In Session album. That driving beat was my anthem for the 2003 Chicago Marathon. I sang it to myself on loop for 3 hours and 43 minutes. Not gonna lie--it did get a bit old around mile 18, but the videos from that recording will never get old.

My Biology of Aging professor mentioned Jeanne Calment, a French woman who nearly reached age 122 1/2. Her Wikipedia page shockingly claims that she smoked until age 117 and ate nearly a kilogram of chocolate a week. Unreal!

Here's the NYT behind the scenes piece on Gilad.

As I always do, I'm using music to get through a stretch of papers and exams. Here is a great WSJ article on pump up songs and the Shostakovich mentioned in the article.

My aforementioned friend Joshua Basofin on Israel's Carmel Forest's independent (we hope) rebirth.

A very powerful story about my freshman year quarterback (Brian Griese)'s initiative in supporting grieving children in Denver.

The wikipedia page of an incredible Holocaust survivor whom I met here in Beer Sheva, who as an entrepreneur built the Negev's classical music scene.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers will make their Israel debut next September 10. This country isn't terribly successful at advance planning, but we obviously are pretty good at booking foreign bands way in advance.

This son of two lesbians makes his case as eloquently as I could imagine.

--

Off to practice R.S.V.P. a bit, then wrap up the reading and prep for the exam! Love,

אריק/Eric

P.S. My late night practice session just coincided with that of Yossi, a ridiculously talented pianist who's studying Bio-tech Engineering. He was just knocked out by R.S.V.P. (especially the chord voicings you wrote for me at the end of the piece)! He even started quoting the opening line and improvised something beautiful from it...back to the reading...

Back to school

Southern public schools (including Beer Sheva's) remained closed today, but tomorrow everyone will please G-d be going back to school.

Today was the first day of the 5772 school year for my Gerontology Master's program at Ben-Gurion University. Dad always was so excited to ask what I was studying, so here goes for my last semester:

• Legal Aspects for Older Adults and the Ill
• Biology of Aging
• Intro to Sociology (a better-late-than-never prerequisite).

As for the last credits to wrap up the degree, I'm debating between:

• Environmental and Occupational Health (a Master's in Public Health course), and
• Entrepeneurship and Leadership: Global Business Expansion (Master's in Business Administration).

I'm leaning towards the latter--it doesn't hurt that it's taught in English. I also feel an itch to try something different (the Public Health course reminded me today of my Epidemiology class quite a bit).

Just as I became a true local during my three years in Jerusalem and was able to offer directions to lost folks, it's really nice that I can do the same having studied in Beer Sheva for three semesters already.

Here's a picture with my great new apartment-mates (from left): Tariku from Petach Tikva, Ayalon the kibbutznik, and Ben from Gadera. These guys are great and chill. Ayalon has some work experience as a cook, which you can discern from his delicious creations (I'm taking notes).

He joked that it's been boring having a whole day go by without a siren going off. As for what to do in the event of a rocket or mortar attack, here are the

Home Front Command's instructions.

Back to work. Much love,

אריק/Eric

National Pastimes

Here's a long overdue new year's greeting for my first post of the Hebrew year תשע"ב - 5772. My girlfriend taught me this acronym of the Hebrew letters of the year:

תהא שנה עם בריאות, ברכה, ביטחון ובשורות טובות!

May it be a year of health, blessings, security, and only good news!

I decided to move to Beer Sheva to avoid the long commutes to Ben-Gurion University from Jerusalem for my last semester. Here's my new home. I left behind my incredible friends and spectacular capital city, all of which I came to know so well during 3+ years mostly living in the Baka neighborhood. The heavenly scent of those jasmine flowers was all over the air leading up to my move.

This last month I was preoccupied by my beloved Texas Rangers on their run as close to a World Series title as you can possibly get without hoisting that trophy. October baseball in Israel means many late nights, and several replays of games missed during Shabbat and חגים/chagim/holidays (three this time around). It also means being awake in the middle of the night and hearing the Muslim call to prayer echoing across town at about 4 am. It meant a couple nights enjoying the game with fellow Far North Dallas natives, and teaching my Israeli girlfriend baseball (Game 6 of the World Series was her unusually dramatic Baseball 101 course).

Dear Dad, you said at the beginning of this season that you believed Texas would take a step back before it could take a step forward. In the end you were slightly off--while we only won one World Series game last year, this year we won three. You lived to see this great team win its first six games, and they made an epic run to Game 7. Mom saw our boys pound Detroit 15-5 in Game 6 of the ALCS (finally a Dallas team beat Detroit in the playoffs after the Lions pummeled our Cowboys in '91 and the Red Wings owned the Stars like a million times). Aron and his Dad caught Holland's gem in Game 4 of the World Series, Standing Up for You as part of the Stand Up To Cancer campaign.

But the St. Louis Cardinals managed to shorten my life with their timeliest of hitting, pitching and defense (I'll shortly be returning that top-shelf bottle of champagne I purchased in hopes of a toast 32 years in the waiting). Hats off and special congrats to my friend from way back at a USY convention and then a taglit trip 3 years ago, Kenny from StL, who deserved a celebration while recovering from surgeries. Another big advantage of living in Beer Sheva, which sports a relatively minimal community of Americans, is that baseball is way off the radar here. So while I don't have the support of fellow Texans whose gut was decked by the Cards, I can just avoid the whole topic pretty darn easily here.

While the Cardinals were merely doing their job of giving everything they had to earn the title, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and all the gang in Gaza are literally trying to shorten my life by launching rockets all over the south. After I finished watching the replay of Game 7 on Saturday night, I heard that a father of four in Ashkelon had been killed by a terrorist rocket. That'll put a sports loss in perspective pretty quickly.

And a mere five days after my move to my new home in Beer Sheva, I just received my official "Welcome to Beer Sheva" from the likes of Islamic Jihad (I was in town for two of their rockets in one day back in March). When the siren was sounded here, I joined a friendly group of students in the shelter. The procedure is to wait for ten minutes after the sounding of the siren before heading back up. I bonded with Nir over Dallas sports (I informed him of the ugly Cowboys loss last night; he gave me "much respect" for the Mavs. Thank G-d he's also oblivious to baseball). He laughed off the sprint to the shelter and with the typical Israeli dark sense of humor said "נתראה במקלט/nitra'eh ba'miklat/see you in the shelter!" Yediot Acharonot newspaper is reporting that the rocket was intercepted by the Iron Dome system. Folks all over Israel question the extremely expensive system's worth, but it may have just saved my apartment from being blown up. I'd say that's worth it!

So while America's national pastime is baseball, and Israel's national pastime is celebrating שמחות/s'machot/joyous celebrations (I celebrated friend Ben (on the left)'s wedding last night in Jerusalem), the Palestinian Islamic terrorist national pastime is killing Jews. Gilad Shalit has been freed...Israel celebrated the restoration of a family; 1027 Palestinian prisoners, collectively responsible for the deaths of 600 Israelis and for wounding thousands, have been/will be freed...the resounding Palestinian response was a call for more terror and taking more Israelis hostage (here the "moderate" Abu Mazen applauded Hamas for kidnapping Shalit). Now, simply for the sake of killing Jews, the Gaza terrorist organizations have decided to send another several-days-long round of rockets across Israel's south. That's just what they do. Thank G-d they're usually unsuccessful, but may that father of four's memory be a blessing (and may the Ashdod school that was directly hit Saturday be repaired quickly). And the irony here is I'm joined in the campus bomb shelters by many Arab students. You may remember that some victims of Hezbollah terror rockets in 2006 included Arab Israelis.

I'll just go back to living and celebrating life, writing papers, and heading back to class tomorrow (assuming the rocket situation doesn't escalate). In St. Louis, a rain delay pushed the games back, putting the ball back into the Cards' ace Carpenter's hand for Game 7. In Beer Sheva, class was cancelled yesterday at the university, and yesterday and today at the city's schools. So we'll stay tuned (the university sends out text messages for "rocket days").

As they say in Israel's south these days, שיהיה שקט/sh'yihiyeh shaket/may it be quiet. I've already taken advantage of the convenience of living on campus. I only have about four more

months of this experience--sometimes you just have to take a deep breath, lie down on the grass on campus, and watch the clouds float by. As you can see, I'm a happy man back in the south--Islamic Jihad be damned!

Greetings from the computer lab (which doubles as a bomb shelter). Peace and love unto all y'all,

אריק/Eric

Some more oldies but goodies

As the de-cluttering rampage continues, I also found this from back in '07 when I started to roll out my aliyah plans:

I'm taking the values my parents gave me and using them to become the most complete version of myself that I can. These are values such as the importance of social action, persistence and strength, as well as the importance of education that I will, G-d willing, pass on to my children.

Staying here is turning my back on my true self, not listening to myself. In order to be true to myself, I need to follow my dream.

Reflecting in a sea of paper

In the midst of an intense de-cluttering dash, I ran across my Nefesh B'Nefesh application from back in 2008 before my aliyah.

"I aspire to attain fluency in Hebrew, earn a Master's, then work in Senior Housing Management."

4 main reasons for your interest in making Aliyah:

1. I want to pursue a career serving the older adults who came to Israel with nothing and built the country.

2. I want to set family roots in Israel and raise children who yearn to serve the country in the I.D.F.

3. I will build a special connection to Israeli family and friends, especially once attaining Hebrew fluency.

4. I am truest as a Jew in Israel: surrounded by Jewish learning, scheduled on Jewish time.

Taking one step farther back, I found the notes I took during a coffee date with my dear Rabbi Lopatin in Chicago, right as I was deciding to give aliyah a shot:

I'll be able to say 5 years later, "I followed my values, my conscience, and I acted on it." The only way I'll be happy is to do what's meaningful and follow the dream. Women there will share my values.

Workplaces want me to be a success, so that other people will want to come.

I can invest in Israel by attending an Israeli graduate school, also a wise investment in my development. I will get everyone rooting for me in school.

I'm "Living Lite" here. There are Life or Death issues there. Children talk about those issues there in serious discussions.

I can display my Judaism proudly there.

Talk about some inspirational de-cluttering, and a better use of these words here than in a pile of papers! Going back to my roots and remembering my motivation to...get these last two papers done for spring term! Take care folks,

אריק/Eric

Beer Sheva Bound!

Hey everyone,

Please join me in voting for my friend Ali's dad Mark Brand (of blessed memory) here as a Jewish Federations Jewish Community Hero.

Here's my Michigan friend Rabbi Micah Peltz's profound lessons 10 years later and the inspirational story of the first 9/11 victim, American-Israeli Daniel Levin.

As for me back in the press, this one's off the beaten path: a piece (scroll to page 6) that I wrote for the newsletter of the Jewish Federation of Southern Illinois, Southeast Missouri and Western Kentucky.

Thinking South

"It has become vital for Israel to think south." -David Ben-Gurion

So I'm heading down south to Beer Sheva at the end of next month to spend my last semester in grad school at Ben-Gurion University living on campus. As John Hiatt sings in Drive South, "it's hot down where we're going!" So I'll make sure to take full advantage of the pool and volleyball court across the street. Not to worry, I'll also be across the street from my campus (Health Sciences), and five minutes away from the campus synagogue, not to mention the student union and its opportunities for student involvement (look out, Green Campus initiative). Needless to say, I'm ecstatic to be moving to the city of the Seven Wells (direct translation of Beer Sheva), where Abraham watered his sheep and Moses in exile found a bride. David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first Prime Minister and the namesake of my university, said that "Abraham accomplished a consecration of this land (the Negev) to his people, and our work follows in his footsteps...Such a move won't be easy. But it will bring the satisfaction of creation...Israel is a very special place with special demands on everyone who dwells on its soil." I'll be sure to soak up the holy Jerusalem in the meantime--that holiness is especially palpable during the quickly approaching holidays.

Take care folks,

אריק/Eric

10 years

A decade has passed since the day that changed the world.

I woke up late (like I usually do) and ran to class without catching any morning news. In my Business French class, we paired off and discussed current events. My partner and friend Amy told me what had happened, in French. The university shut down before I could go to English class. I then caught my sister by email to make sure she wasn't at the WTC, went to work, where I sat and listened to NPR with my head in my hands for several hours, and then joined my entire Michigan campus at a beautiful evening memorial in the comforting setting of the Diag.

So ten years later, I'm hearing radio news coverage of the memorials, this time in Hebrew. I'll catch the Israeli tv news tonight, also in Hebrew. I never thought then that I'd be where I am now, Israeli and fluent in Hebrew (not to mention that my eight years of French would have been forced out of my head by all that Hebrew).

I'm finding myself speechless, but this post is in honor of my friend Leehe's best friend, Joshua David Birnbaum, along with all of the unfathomable 2,977 victims. It is also in honor of two other WTC employees who survived: my fellow OTZMA participants Jessica's brother Russell (here is his haunting post recalling that most frightful of hours 10 years ago) and Molly's dad.

Russell's story brought me back to my 2004 Hustle Up the Hancock Building and 2007 climb up the Sears Tower, both in Chicago. Firefighters made those climbs up 94 and 103 flights, respectively, in full gear in memory of their comrades who fell ten years ago.

May the memories of the victims be a blessing, and may we know no more terror.

באהבה/with love,

אריק/Eric

Check me out

Hey guys,

My Israeli TV debut is online here. Or you can see the full episode of Tzhok Me'Avodah (we're on a bit after 7:00--click on the 3rd bookmark: 7:13- רועי לוי מדריך תיירים בארץ הקודש-comedian Roi Levy guides tourists in the Holy Land). Bummer about that annoying ad right in the middle of our bit.

I recommend the full episode: the show's intro has some fantastic jokes--one of my favorites ever is at 2:30. There's some more hysterical stuff from 34:00. If you need help understanding, let me know.

Thanks for watching!

אריק/Eric

My Israeli TV Debut

After making it onto the Israeli airwaves via Reshet Bet and Galei Tzahal radio stations, then into print in Haaretz newspaper, tonight I'll make my Israeli TV debut! Look out for me as dumb tourist/Masa participant on "Tzhok Me'avoda" (a huge comedy show in its sixth season on Channel 2--this is the 15th episode this season). Stream live at 21:00 here in Israel, 2PM ET, 1 PM CT. Our segment is in English for your viewing pleasure. While I didn't know during filming that this would get aired during a Rangers game at Fenway, I proudly represented Texas with my hat--GO RANGERS! You can also find a fellow J.J. Pearce alumnus--my friend Benji.

Yesterday's Ann Arbor weather (boiling, then thunderstorms that ended the game early) made it a nice evening to listen to the game on Michigan radio from home. We'll take the W to start the Brady Hoke era--Hail to the Victors!

Other than that, just working and writing away here in Jerusalem (got one of the last papers in on Friday, two more to go!). And a great era of two and 1/2 years in the same Baka neighborhood apartment came to an end last week. I recall the epic run we had with great fondness--endless tons of laughs, kube dinner time, Monday Night date night, fundamentalist Zionist water conservation, priceless original artwork, Marcia's bellydancing skills, the time Dave locked himself out for the Shabbat dinner he hosted, the time Josh and I forgot to take the fish to Shabbat lunch, middle of the night couscous to watch the Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup, 5 am beers + 6 am champagne for the sweet joy of my Mavs NBA title, a lot of YouTube goofiness, sushi Shabbat, an awful wakeup call and trip to the hospital on July 5, 2009, then touching generosity and support when I flew off for the beginning of a terribly difficult 21-month journey when I got to Dallas for Dad's surgery, the apartment where I made a ton of great calls home, the place from which I prepared for my most difficult journey ever in April, the place to which I came back changed forever in May. The place may be a dilapidated shikun (housing complex), but it treated us darn well...

With that I'll go get some work done before I look for myself on TV! שבוע טוב/have a great week and a nice Labor Day,

אריק/Eric

Protests, Musicians who died too young & 2000 free SMSes

Hey folks,
Exams are over here--I think "Holocaust and Aging" went well last week, and "Policy" and "Nursing Home Management" both went splendidly. Now I just have to write three papers...

I spent the weekend before the last exam in Ashkelon, another former home from the OTZMA days. Israel's southernmost Mediterranean coastal town is also very dear to me. I got through that exam with a little help from my Ben-Gurion University friends.

As for the protests that have sprouted across Israel over recent weeks regarding increasing housing prices, no, I haven't pitched a tent and joined in. I'm taking a wait-and-see approach, but certainly think that Prime Minister Netanyahu and Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer deserve due respect as they have helped guide Israel's economy to ridiculously-low unemployment (5.7%) and economic growth amidst the global meltdown.

If it were up to me, the protests would focus on improving the educational and public transportation systems. Those are two major drawbacks that prevent many Israelis from leaving the overpriced center of the country (where most of the jobs are located). So that's my challenge to the government--Get the periphery's schools up to speed, make transportation to the center fast and cheap, and then we can truly settle the entire country--a strategic imperative that we can all agree on.

For all her problems, I am as thrilled as ever to live in Israel. I belatedly celebrated three years since my aliyah over Shabbat lunch last Saturday with several close friends. It was lovely, despite the boiling heat.

In music news, Dad definitely would have asked me "So what do you think of Amy Winehouse's stuff?" He was intrigued by my connection to popular music. He didn't quite see how hip-hop appealed to me. There was something about our generation's urban voice that spoke to both of us--he was simply blessed with being 18 years old in the most magical of jazz years, 1959. Any attempt to compare the astounding output of that year's urban music with my coming-of-age year of 1997 would be the ultimate exercise in futility. The best my generation had to offer was Notorious B.I.G. and Puff Daddy 's ubiquitous "Mo Money, Mo Problems," heard everywhere around campus freshman year (anyone who stepped foot on a college campus that year can certainly get my back).

Anyway, sadly I never paid attention to Winehouse until it was too late. When I heard the news from a Ben-Gurion classmate, I thought immediately of the last similar story in my mind--the death of Kurt Cobain, which came as a huge shock to me back in 1994. This memorable scene from Six Feet Under kept that loss on my radar a decade later. Here's Nirvana's "All Apologies" on MTV Unplugged (man, the crowd at that show caught a seriously historic show). If you haven't heard of the depressing club of wasted talent that Winehouse joined, here's the 27 Club. By me, 27 was a phenomenal year--unimaginable to die so young. Whether it was the suspected overdose or not, an Israeli told me not to bother learning the depressing phrase: מנת יתר m'nat yeter. Too late!

Of course as I'm sure you're hearing plenty of her stuff these days, I too soaked up the tributes on VH1 and MTV here last week. In general, I see her as a pretty Jewish girl underneath a really bizarre costume. I of course think her messages in several songs are appalling (i.e. glorifying substance addiction), but there's no debating that she was an incredibly soulful singer and rich songwriter. And her style defied genre, which is a very special trait. Here's a great performance of "You Know I'm No Good." And if you have a little more time, here's a fantastic nearly hour-long show on BBC one sessions (or just watch "Back to Black" from that show here). Dvora Meyers sums up Amy's story aptly here.

As for all the attention that the tormented Winehouse has received (I found the 257-strong list of references on her Wikipedia page particularly striking), it saddens me deeply that so many penultimate professionals in the industry, like Dad, don't garner that kind of attention. Of course her bandmates knew there was risk involved in joining her band, but her complete lack of professionalism in showing up to a show in no state to perform cost them months of work. Dad was always early for his gigs, as a bandleader he always treated his bandmates with the Golden Rule in mind, and he consistently brightened others' lives through his playing. So my message is twofold: a) go out and support the little guys in the music industry who do a great job every night, and b) my submission to Wikipedia of a page for Dad. I'll keep you posted as I hear back from them...

Dad was one of the countless jazz musicians who have jammed with Von "Vonski" Freeman over his seven-decade-strong career in Chicago. Here's hoping Vonski recovers and is able to keep wailing on the sax, but man I would have loved this tribute to the irreplaceable Vonski!

Here's a cool article about Jewish entrepreneurs' involvement in reinvigorating New Orleans' jazz scene, replete with three tracks.

For any friends here in Israel, here's your chance to get in on Orange's Ramadan deal of 2000 free SMS messages this month! I'm hoping I am actually receiving the deal as advertised, but I did receive a confirmation SMS and email from them.

Here's a Wall Street Journal piece on America's slowly recovering job market. The way Bret Stephens rants here about both Obama and the lack of a legitimate Republican contender in next year's elections, you'd think he was about to throw his hat into the race.

Back to my Mavs, Yisrael Hayom (a major free newspaper) has a cool feature where you can look at archived editions online. From this link, flip to pages 38-39 to read all the stories about "טקסס על הסוס"- Texas on the Horse and our defeat of the Heat.

That's it for now. Much love,
אריק/Eric

Please Vote!

Hey good people,

Please join me in voting every day for Michael Ferraro's sandwich to earn the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research $10K. Let's keep the cause in 1st place!

Here's the long overdue link to Dad's Myspace page: listen to his February hour as DJ on KNTU (his alma mater the University of North Texas' jazz radio station), Dad telling his life story, his funeral service (17:35 Amy and Eric's Eulogies; 33:45 Rabbi David Stern's Eulogy), and Dallas' Ohev Shalom synagogue's Rabbi Rodin speaking about him.

All's good by me--just trying to rock out exams season. Speaking of, here's a hilarious spoof on dating during exams put together by some fellow Ben-Gurion University students. With two exams back-to-back weeks, I spent six days down south in the Negev. After never having prayed at such a synagogue, on Thursday in Beer Sheva and Friday in Kiryat Gat I prayed at two synagogues whose names honor the victims of the Holocaust. When a friend at school told me to go to the late Thursday morning minyan at the Auschwitz Synagogue, I just about fell off his couch. Sure enough, the synagogue is named in memory of the holy Jews who perished in Auschwitz, and my Shabbat experience in Kiryat Gat was at the synagogue in honor of fallen Israelis and Holocaust victims. The communities were very warm and both offered me honors during services, but I'll have to say those names are--for me, at least--an acquired taste in imparting an uplifting spiritual experience.

It was phenomenal to get back to my old stomping grounds--what can I say, I love Kiryat Gat! Dear friend Ruti (who featured prominently in the old blog) warmly welcomed me into her home; we had a warm Shabbat dinner with all the kids and her new granddaughter. Dad smiled down on us as we enjoyed Ruti's phenomenal Morrocan cooking, which Mom, Dad and I enjoyed immensely when Ruti hosted us for dinner back in '05. Saturday afternoon I took a stroll around the old hood, walked by the old house, and said hi to a couple Chicagoans staying in the Federation house. A fittingly simple song, which was all over the radio when I lived in Kiryat Gat, came to mind: הילה הררי עם כלא שש - זה היה ביתי/Ze Haya Beiti (that was my house). I was, however, unpleasantly surprised to see that the Chicago mural, painted on the side of the Shprintzak Elementary School (where I tutored English) by OTZMA volunteers the year before me, had been painted over :/

Ruti helped me to keep in mind the simple pleasures of Israeli life. After adding some lemon to a tuna salad, she exclaimed, "What an awesome lemon! לימון מוסיף המון (a rhyme for lemon adds a ton)," and then said "We have a lot of problems in Israel, security issues...but we have amazing fruit." Appropriately said for a woman who lives on HaRimon (Pomegranate) street, in a neighborhood whose streets include all of Israel's seven species (including my old street HaTe'ena (Fig), plus others like Parsimmon for good measure. It's always good to slow down, enjoy the beauty of the pomegranates (which grow daily) on my walk to my nearby synagogue, and smell the flowers (I think that's honeysuckle in the air these days)...

This is my kind of late life potential--friend Ester Golan (Cafe Europa participant)'s website and blog, and some ridiculous musical late life potential from 74-years-young Buddy Guy.

Not sure what to think of Glenn Beck's Restoring Courage event here in Jerusalem's Old City this August (which I certainly won't be paying to attend), but I for sure at least give him credit for successfully encouraging a ton of people to visit Israel.

Now I'll keep up Dad's legacy of sharing tons of music with loved ones by letting you in to my adopted Israeli soundtrack. As for my emotional state, this fantastic Yehuda Poliker song (lyrics: Yonatan Gefen) sums it up so well פחות אבל עוד כואב/ Pachot aval od co'ev (Less, but it still hurts). Here are some lyrics: "It comes and goes, you know" "We learn to live with it this way" והנה כל המילים.

אביב גפן - המכתב: Here's Aviv Geffen rocking out his classic song Ha'Michtav (the letter), featuring the message "אף פעם אל תפסיק לחלום: Never stop dreaming."

Lest you think all Israeli music is about breakups like those two, בעז בנאי - כל השבוע מרגיש כמו שבת: Boaz Banai's video for Kol Ha'Shavua Margish Cmo Shabbat (the whole week feels like Shabbat) gives a great taste of the amazing energy of Tel Aviv. Here's a super-cool Yoni Bloch choose-your-own-adventure video, and another fun one: Achariut (responsibility) יוני בלוך - אחריות.

Have a great week-שבוע טוב!

אריק/Eric

The Tale of a Champion

Dallas Mavericks, 2011 NBA Champions

On a cool, cloudy mid-June day in Jerusalem, when it even rained a bit, a new champion was crowned--the Dallas Mavericks--who, after being founded in 1980, finally broke through to win it all for the first time. The NBA for us growing up meant catching the Finals with Amy and Dad every summer, watching somebody else's team win it all. Our year didn't come til 2011...it really feels like hell froze over.

The 90's were a great decade for Samuels' sports teams: the Reds won the World Series in '90, our Cowboys won the Super Bowl in '92, '93 and '95, Michigan football took the title in '97 and Michigan hockey in '98, and the Stars hoisted the Stanley Cup in '99 (Ann Arbor's Walnut Street was the scene of my fanatical screams that night). Since then it's been one runner-up after the next--the Stars in '00, Mavs in '06, Rangers last fall, and Michigan hockey, who lost the title game the night Dad passed away. Here's hoping I won't wait 12 years to celebrate the next title (all eyes move to our Rangers to join the club).

But in the meantime, I celebrated this as if it might take a decade for the next one. I caught the game at home with four buddies. This was the culmination of many weeks of middle-of-the-night hoops, as my Mavs did what roomies David's Celtics and Noah's Bulls couldn't--vanquish the hated Heat. We waited until the second half to pop open some 5 am beers (I went with a Moosbacher pilsener from Germany for Dirk, while Noah chose an Israeli Goldstar to toast Dirk's country losing 66 years ago).

As for post-game, when their White Sox played for the title in '05, Noah and his dad put two bottles of champagne on ice: a good one for drinking, and a cheap one for the champagne shower. So with the Larry O'Brien Trophy in the building, I prepared appropriately. How sweet was that to continue the time-honored tradition of toasting a championship with champagne! I only wish I could have sprayed champagne on Dad to celebrate his beloved team's huge win...

Dad would have had so much demise of evil to celebrate lately: the Mavs taking down the despised Lakers and Heat, the ouster of Tressel and Pryor from o state, the Navy Seals' elimination of Bin Laden. (Did I go too far to put the sports guys in the same sentence as Osama?) Regardless, Dad's smiling his head off from above these days...

Our Mavs took us on one incredible ride. I caught a February stomping of Sacramento--my fellow Israeli Omri Casspi's Kings were overmatched from the tip-off (it was cool though to see several Israeli flags around the arena). The two-time defending champion Lakers--swept away with authority. Shannon Brown likes to think LA swept themselves (Ben Rogers called him out in this brilliant interview). The media focus in the Finals was again not on Dallas, but on Miami's failures. With all due respect to my sister's profession, what is wrong with these people who can't place the focus where it belongs, on this ultimate old-school team? These guys' determination to the last minute was unreal.

Here's the radio call of the crowning glory. The nba Mini Movie for Game 6 forced tears of joy down my cheek. The Mavs now join the fraternity of Dallas champs who urged them to victory in a pre-game message (as for me, The Time is Now to write two papers). And for some random trivia, sounds like Shawn Marion and I have identical left pinkies.

It's not the old NBA on NBC; here in Israel it's the NBA on ספורט/Sport 5, and this is the swagger song, my new anthem--עוד יהיה לי/Od Yihiye Li. It's a tasty Michal Shapira cover of a cheesy '89 pop song. This one was written for Jason Terry and this team. Some translation (הנה המילים): "One day I'll spread my wings, you'll see that I'm not afraid; I'll get the good news my heart sends me, I'll break through the long distance; I'll get what I wanted, what I've been missing. Why not?" A lot of the Hebrew doesn't translate terribly well, so think of it as a sort of Israeli "My Time After Awhile" (played here by Buddy Guy). That's me spreading my wings JET style on my street.

Off to keep typing and write those papers now...As the Mavs' unmatched leader Coach Carlisle said last night, the Mavs said all year that "it's not about what you can't do; it's about what you can do." So it's time for me to be the Dirk Nowitzki of gerontology. Have a Shiner for me Dallas!!!

Eric/אריק

Happy Birthday Dad!

Dear beloved Dad,
Today, you would have turned 70. I'm glad we got to celebrate so many of your birthdays together.

Our Mavericks gave you an early birthday present last night (it was already June 3rd when I watched from Tel Aviv). I have no doubt that you were coaching the Mavs from above. You always said, "There's plenty of time left" when rooting for our Dallas teams--beloved, yet overwhelmingly underwhelming over the decades. You gave the Mavs the push for their 4th quarter comebacks in Game 1 against the Lakers, Game 4 against Oklahoma City, and last night against the team that I call the Miami Michael Jordans, i.e.
"Michael Jordan misses, Michael Jordan with the rebound. Michael Jordan throws the alley-oop to Michael Jordan for the thunderous jam." This Heat team is so unfairly, disgustingly loaded with talent. But at the end of the day, the best complete team wins the game. And doing the little things right got us that win: at the end of the day, we missed only 4 free throws, and the Heat missed 8 (17-21 vs. their 16-24). Ball game right there.
I was ready to say earlier in the game, that if we pulled out Game 2, that just meant we had forced a Game 5, a boon for the Dallas economy by ensuring 3 home Finals games. But the manner in which we stole a game that noone but you and the Mavs themselves believed we could pull off gives me a lot of hope for more wins to come. Just 3 more--with good health for Dirk's finger and Haywood's hip, we can do this!

Your message to the world is to always keep hope alive, whether in rooting so loyally for your usually hapless teams, or in fighting the vicious disease of pancreatic cancer for almost 21 months.

After the game today, I started in noting your birthday at a nearby synagogue. In saying the Mourner's Kaddish for these first 11 months from your passing, which I am aiming to do three times a day at the morning, afternoon, and evening services, I am revisiting the skill developed in my high school drum line days of listening to those around me, and coordinating for a tight, unified sound. The goal is for all mourners to say the Kaddish as one. The old drum line buddies would be proud.
I also have led services all over Dallas and Israel, a new role since you left us that is reserved for mourners during the week. I continue to find my voice and try to honor you while receiving the humbling honor of being a sort of spokesperson for each service's group of holy Jews praying for good things.

Your birthday continued on the spectacular Tel Aviv beach. The water today was simply stunning, with shades of turquoise and navy blue reflecting the glory of G-d's creation. You always wanted to watch me play beach volleyball, the sport which I usually manage to not make a fool of myself while playing. While 11 months off the court left my game rusty, I rocked a good serve and threw down 2 authoritative blocks of spikes at the net. Other than that, my teammate Mahmoud from Eritrea and I were overmatched by a solid pair of Israelis. But I heard you cheering for me anyway from above.

Now I'm back at long last visiting cousins Toker and Batya on their pastoral Kibbutz Urim in the Negev desert. I got in an invigorating 3-lap bike ride all the way around the kibbutz. The natural scenes reminded me of those I experienced riding through the Sam Houston National Forest during my epic Texas roadtrip with Mom last month. The trade was the scent of pine trees in Texas' Piney Woods for this season's beautiful lavender flowers descending from trees, which I have seen all over Israel this week, from Herzliya, to my Jerusalem neighborhood, to Beer Sheva, all the way here to Urim. While circling the kibbutz, the scents alternate between flowery, and less-so--courtesy of the dairy farm and horse stable. The sights include palm trees and an enormous cactus farm, and a refreshing breeze cooled me off as an unusually long stretch of delightful spring-like weather continues. I didn't make it out to the highway where we ran when you and Mom came to visit in '05--Batya and Toker don't have a helmet.

Now the holy Shabbat is coming. May you rest in peace on this day of rest and peace. שבת שלום/Shabbat Shalom.

I miss you and love you more than the whole world.
אריק/Eric

P.S. Here's the less-than-stellar OECD report on Israel's elder care והסיפור בעברית

We're #1

Well, it's been awhile. Great to be back!

I took two phenomenal trips of late:
-Staffing an incredible Shorashim/Koach birthright trip for special needs participants in late December. As Bruce Sharon said, there was some serious holiness on that bus, with simply incredible people all around.
-Yet another holy pilgrimage to Dallas. Dad rocked it out in the studio of KNTU, one of America's top five jazz radio stations for market share. His hour as DJ is online here on his Myspace page. The weekend with Amy, Aron and nephews Jake and Ben was amazing as always--Jake beat me in backyard softball 17 - 5, and Ben is walking and talking up a storm! We met Dad's wonderful staff at the Crowley Clinical Trials center--he's in phenomenal hands.













Now it's incredible to be back where I belong in Israel. I got back late Monday night and went right back to Ben-Gurion University for spring semester classes starting Tuesday. This semester I have a ton of Nursing Home Management (six hours of various courses weekly), as well as Human Resources Management in Elder Care.

Our professor for Policy of Elder Care informed us that Israel has moved up one spot over the last year, and now...
We're Number One* for male life expectancy (*it's a tie).

Back in Dallas, everybody and their dog was asking me what Israel and I are thinking about the destabilization of the Middle East. Can't lie--it's a bit unsettling. But...
What, me worry?!? My life expectancy went up by a few years with my move to Israel, all the way to the longest for males in the world! Now, our women's life expectancy stayed put at seventh place--nothing to sneeze at! But our prof explained that discrepancy as such: Israeli women take great care of the men, but Israeli men aren't quite as good to their wives. The prof didn't comment on American-Israeli men...

As for Zionist history in the context of the new Middle East, Daniel Gordis' Jerusalem Post Magazine piece is goose-bump worthy.

Also in the newspaper Friday was...me. This sad piece of news includes my picture on page 5 of the Haaretz English print edition. That's not my favorite paper, but it's pretty exciting to grace the pages of an Israeli paper for the first time nonetheless.

I represented Northwestern Hillel (from my staff days) proudly at former student Ilene's wedding at the spectacular Beit Shmuel Wednesday night. Mazal tov to Ilene and Noach!

That night, while we were celebrating the building of a new house in Israel while overlooking Suleiman the Magnificent's Old City walls, two rockets fell on Beer Sheva--the first since Operation Cast Lead more than two years ago. They fell one neighborhood over from where I stay. The false bubble of security burst along with them; I will be very aware of the locations of shelters around town now that they are suddenly relevant again.

Are you thinking I might be less determined to study in Beer Sheva now? Are you high?!? My trademark Israeli resilience will certainly not let the pathetic excuses for human beings who launch those rockets (with the goal of indeterminately targeting anyone from my toddler cousins to the 80-somethings I have interviewed for my research job) determine how I will lead my life in Israel.

Shabbat was restful and lovely; I got back to the Kotel/Western Wall this morning after a too-long hiatus, followed by lunch at elder care mogul Leah Abramowitz. Her family has been in the same Old City apartment since before 1973's Yom Kippur War.

On the walk back to my Jerusalem neighborhood, there is a view of the separation barrier in East Jerusalem. (The section that you can see from the Old City is among the less than three percent of the separation barrier that is made of concrete.)

Less than ten minutes later, I walked by a memorial to eight holy Jews who were murdered in a bus bombing during the intifada of the early 2000s. I stop and look at this memorial just about every time I walk by; I also stop and pay respects at the other memorials littered around Jerusalem on my regular walks. For the first time, I connected the two stark visuals together. And I thanked G-d for the people who constructed the security fence, and by doing so thwarted the attempts of the pathetic excuses of human beings who would murder Jews for the "crime" of living in our eternal homeland.

All this may have you thinking I've been overcome by hatred, but that's not the case. Thanks to my best efforts, I don't hate Hamas terrorists. But I have zero love for them whatsoever. If there was a number smaller than 0, that would be how much I love them. Interestingly, I read that the Palestinian street's version of the region's revolution is to call for an end of the schism between Fatah and Hamas. As Gaddafi's era is waning in Libya, G-d only knows what the next developments will be...

This is the perfect time to bust out this classic, with which I quickly became enamored after my aliyah to Israel. Mordechai Ben David and his Hollywood-caliber video production team are just the ones to get the smile back on my face. The streets he circles in the video are the same I circled today (I may or may not have relived his slow-mo running scene). To translate the chorus, "We're believers, sons of believers, and we have noone to lean on. Noone except G-d, in Heaven." That says it all.

Between MBD and my אחלה/achla/awesome life expectancy, I'm sleeping just fine tonight! And big thanks to all y'all for reading--I feel the love! Much love back at you from Jerusalem,
אירק/Eric