This week was actually quite good and very different then the weeks have been in the past. Yes, I had my regular classes and regular schedule, but this week added a few different twists to my life. My dear friend Jayne, who I have been friends with for several years, came to Israel this past week for a family Bar Mitzvah with her father and grandmother. I had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with them and that gave me the ability to do a few things that I don't get to do very often. I had the chance of learning about a very unique hobby of Jayne's father of collecting ancient coins from the 1st and 2nd centuries. He focused on coins from the time of the Bar Kochba Revolt which was in the year 135. The coins that he had collected and invested in while he was in Israel had inscriptions with the ancient Hebrew alphabet and had very unique pictures that would signify what time period it was from. It was interesting to learn about the history of the coins and trace it back to things that I had been learning about all my life.

It was great to be able to spend time with Jayne and her father and her grandmother. I had the chance to do my favorite thing which I don't get to do in Israel, eat out at restaurants. I have to say that I truly understand and respect what my brothers had told me throughout college. If you get a chance to have a meal with someones family and they are taking you out, YOU NEVER SAY NO!!!! I had more meals this week with several families of Nativers that I was full for an entire week. Each time I went out it was to a different restaurant that I can say was extremely tasty. I now have a good idea of the best of the best in Jerusalem. If anyone ever wants to come to Israel and is looking for a place to go for a meal, just let me know and I will be more then happy to show you where to go. I thank everyone who added to my imaginary weight gain this past week and encourage others to donate to it.

I would like to share what happens when people do stupid things and how it effects a lot of people.

Last night/early this morning(Thursday/Friday, someone decided they wanted to make some toast in the toaster in the kitchen outside of my room and in the hallway. All of a sudden while I am on the phone with someone I smell a burning smell so I immediately run from my room and I see whats going on. It turns out that the person who put the toast in the toaster forgot about it and left it to burn. The smoke and the smell set off the smoke alarms and then proceeded to start the fire alarms. This fire alarm sound was unlike any that I had ever heard in my life. It was one of the most high pitched sounds I had ever heard. It kept going for quite a long time. We opened all the windows to try and air out the kitchen area and started wafting the smoke out side but the alarm kept going. Meanwhile we loose power. This was the start to a perfect evening. I immediatly ran to get the security guard at the gate outside Beit Nativ. We didn't have any of out staff in our building and I figured that the guard would know how to turn off the alarms. He is a very lazy guy and doesn't really like us so much. He took his time to get to the building while I was explaining what had happened and I explained that their was no fire. He finally turns off the alarm and wanted to know where it exactly was so I showed him. After that whole process I kept trying to get him to answer me about turning the electricity back on, but he explained to me that he wasn't able to do so and he couldn't get a hold of anyone to do it till the morning. Meanwhile, I go back to the lobby of the main building and I am greeted by two of Jerusalem's finest Police Officers. They asked what had happened and I explained it to them and they started laughing and wanted to see where it exactly was. They basically said that the person who did it wasn't so smart. It was pretty funny to see them laugh about it all. They also said that it was a good thing their was no fire. After I showed them the scene we walked back to the lobby and they told me that the fire department was on their way. I said to them that I had never seen a fire truck or firefighters in Israel before and they said it would be my lucky day. The firefighters arrived and started yelling at the Police and the guard at base because we didn't call sooner. I was saying to myself, why didn't the alarms signal them to come and why did it take both squads so long to get to base. God forbid their wasn't actually a fire because God only knows what would have happened.

The end result of this entire thing was that we lost power until early Friday morning, I got to speak all in Hebrew to the guard, police and fire department, I found out that they have a fire department and fire trucks in Israel, and most importantly, the toast that was burnt, doesn't taste so good.

What an exciting end to a great week. And just for a cautionary note, I did not burn the toast!!!!

Shabbat Plans

This Shabbat I was invited out for both meals. Friday night I will be davening at Shira Hadasha as usual and then heading to a Rabbincal student from AJU that I am in the Yeshiva was for dinner. On Shabbat morning I will be heading to Yemin Moshe for Davening and a great kiddush. I am then going to lunch with Judah to Rabbi Paul's and Nina's. I have been told that they aren't the best cooks so that is my logic in going to the best kiddush in Jerusalem before hand.

Anyways,
Shabbat Shalom
DBH