liam getreu

I experienced something quite amazing today: a meeting of Machon graduates from Machons of bygone years. It was a very interesting experience, to put it modestly. People from Machzorim (Machon programs) dating back to the late 1950s and early 1960s came mostly from all around Israel, but also some from the USA, Europe and Northern Africa.

There were also some interesting characters: one man, since graduating from his Machzor, has become a central figure of the Israeli Left, crafting policy that has led to both the Oslo Peace Accords, and more recently the controversial ‘disengagement’ from Gaza; another is the official spokesperson for Gush Katif, the main settlement in Gaza being engaged. Suffice it to say that their debate was quite amazing.

It was a pretty cool experience, and myself and a few others were interested in getting some of them back together (most of all those two I spoke of, above) for a debate for us given the ideological nature of Machon. Hopefully we can still get that together.

It was a bit of a weird experience, our first Shabbat B’yachad on Machon. See, it started with some really nice services, a nice dinner, I gave a little drosha at dinner from my Rabbi’s e-mail, it was really nice and quaint.

The best bit was the program we had at Oneg Shabbat, though. In our chavurot, which are essentially divided into countries (two for the Aussies; two for the Poms; and one for the South Africans, the sole American and few scattered Europeans). The ruach (excitement, screaming, songs, shouting) was intense. Absolutely amazing. The Aussies were bashing the Poms for colonialism and being bad at sport, the Poms were bashing us for our treatment of our natives (all in good fun of course), and whenever a South African said something, we would all yell the hell out of them. It was brilliant.

It was then resolved to have a toga party in the main hall at about 10.30 with some chatting, and chilling, no music, but it would still be fun. It wasn’t to be.

Just as people started arriving, word started circulating of a pigua (terrorist attack) in Tel Aviv. So we switched on the televisions, but saw nothing. We waited a while and it came on, and CNN didn’t leave our screens for hours. Most people stayed up until 3am, when the coverage seemingly ended, but I was in bed at about 1:30am, just exhausted and slightly shaken from the event.

It was good to be in Israel to see how Israelis react to piguim, but please, never again, it really wasn’t a nice experience at all. Hopefully the latest talks will resolve things so that neither us, nor Israel has to go through the horror of terror again.

We just finished the Machon Orientation Tiyul, which was good. I guess. The only shame was, we went to very similar places that we also went to on Birthright, like the Machtesh (the only difference was, we climbed Machtesh Katan, where as we did Machtesh Ramon on Birthright), and the introduction at the Tayelet, but other than that it was quite nice.

When we arrived at Ma’aleh Hachamisha having been at our Habo Orientation Seminar, we dove into lunch, divided into our chaverot, or groups (picture at Masada), and began our first tiyul.

Again, we started at the Tayelet, although no Kottel this time. And despite the warmer weather it was just as cold as the previous time we were there. I only wish I had my Michelin Man jacket this time.

And then began the long trip down to Arad, which was our base for the following days. We were just staying in a hostel, but it was quite nice nonetheless. Being our first day on non-real Machon (this wasn’t an orientation, so much as it was a random pre-Machon tiyul) we had to do some ice-breakers, which were lots of fun, especially meeting the random Brits and some more random South Africans (most of them were Habo, so we’d already met them). They’re awesome!

Informed of an early wake-up, and then having had that actually occur (3:30am is damn early!) we started the thirty minute bus ride to Masada to climb it before sunrise, so that we could learn about history and watch an amazing sunrise. Absolutely unparalleled. And the history is even amazinger.

That was a very, very long day because after that we went on a hike through Ein Gedi (I missed that, didn’t have the energy at all) and then had a short bus ride to the Dead Sea. Unfortunately, for health reasons, I made the decision that I shouldn’t go into the Sea, so I didn’t, but I was taking photos of the Dead Sea and Jordan on the other side.

Because that was such a long day a lot of us took the night to chill because we were peula-free and we socialised some more with all of our new friends, which was really nice. Thank God even though we had a big day the next day, it wasn’t a late night or such an early morning. Phew!

Again, we (and by we, I mean them, I wasn’t in the mood for a five-hour hike, and by wasn’t in the mood, I mean I would never be and don’t like hiking) climbed Machtesh. Only this time we climbed Machtesh Katan (katan meaning ’small’, but don’t be fooled, it’s really quite huge, but not too disimilar), and all the sickies and lazy bastards chilled on the bus, chatted, and went to Burger Ranch, which was a very pleasant experience to say the least.

The relief of getting into our rooms at Ma’aleh was unparalleled though. Really, that was what we were all looking forward to. That and doing our washing, which we also got to do that week. Beautiful. I love Machon.

This was always going to be an interesting day. Still based at Hotel Shoresh, today the group went to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial museum in Jerusalem. It was something that I was really, really looking forward to.

Supposedly it’s a very emotional experience, and one that I wanted to have in full, rather than some parts here, and others over there, so when it was decided that the blood test I needed would happen today, I was a bit upset. But it was still quite an amazing experience.

I was taken into Jerusalem to find a labaratory that would take my blood with one of the Birthright madrichim, from Hineini Melbourne, ‘Lippo’ (real name, Mark, whose younger brother, David, led me for a few years at Habo), and my friend Jarny who also needed a blood test went on a hunt.

Our first stop was an MDA house that provided free blood tests for those covered by local insurance, which both Jarny and I were covered for. Jarny got her blood test reasonably easily, but I was left without one because they didn’t do the tests that I needed done. Oh well, onto the next stop.

We got the name of a lab in central Jerusalem (on Hillel Street, for those who have been there before) called “Rambam Labs”. They, according to the woman who I spoke to on the phone, would do the tests I needed, no troubles. So we rocked up to the building, went up a flight of stairs and spoke to the reception of a rather dodgy-looking place, who quickly told me that the blood test would cost 650NIS, which is around $170. “Wow!” we all thought, what a bargain! Not!

Having almost fainted at the quoted price, but realising that my insurance would cover it without an excess, my blood was taken by a non-glove wielding nurse and all three of us went in search of a cab via some food. And there it was, just staring back at me, in the middle of Ben Yehuda Street.

Burger King. Kosher Burger King. It was such a unique experience. Cheese-burgers that clearly came with either fake meat or fake cheese. What’s the deal? It’s bloody weird, bloody expensive (31.90NIS for a meal with a burger, union rings and a coke, which is roughly $8) for food in Israel where a shwarma costs 12NIS and will fill you up for a month, but also bloody good.

(Lucky for me I’ve since discovered Burger Ranch, or ???????, where the prices are the same, but the burgers are so much better. The next stage is to try a place on Hillel Street in Jerusalem, and some other places around Israel, known as Burger’s Bar, which apparently have the best burgers in Israel.)

With that task completed we moved to Yad Vashem where everyone else on Birthright had a surprisingly shitty lunch and a very, very long bus trip up north to Pe’kiin for a traditional Druze dinner, which was exceptional, and then a rather chilled night in the local youth hostel.

Tomorrow would be quite an exciting day.

Having had an amazing lecture from Neil Lazarus, a Pom who has made aliyah and lectures on the ‘understanding [of] the complex political issues involved’ in visiting Israel. He involved all of us in the hall so amazingly, that even though the lecture started at 8am, we were all awake and intrigued by his lecture.

Then came another bus ride into Jerusalem to a suburb called Yemin Moshe, which was the first suburb created outside the Old City by a man named Moses Montefiore. Now the suburb is one of the most expensive in the ‘new city’ with beautiful views of the Kottel and the Jewish Quarter.

Standing outside the King David Hotel, waiting for our bus to a museum, it was absolutely freezing. I don’t think I’ve ever been colder in my life. I was standing in my huge Goose Down jacket, that made me look like Michelin Man, with my beanie and scarf covering every piece of flesh on my face. It wasn’t so much the heat, but the humidity that was killing me.

Our next visit was to a museum called the ‘Museum on the Seam’ which attempts to promote co-existence between groups, mostly Arabs and Jews, but also white and black people. To say the least, this was clearly an attempt at brainwashing towards a particular side of the Arab-Israeli conflict. I’m sure you don’t have to use your imagination that much to figure out which side. (You could also look at the website for a tip.)

But, nonetheless, whether I agreed with what was being portrayed or not, it was a good experience. Then off to eat again, at an amazing Yemenite restaurant in Jerusalem before being given some free-time in Ben Yehuda Street — my first experience in the centre of the ‘new city’, and it was a good experience.

So many chutchka shops, and because it was just before Shabbos started, there were quite a lot of beggars as well which detracted from the scene somewhat, but then again, it was rating so high on my amazing-o-meter that I wasn’t too fazed.

And back to our hotel for Shabbos. Our first Shabbos in Israel. The Orthodox service, run by two of the three boys I was rooming with was nice and quaint. It was only Birthright people, so that made it a really great atmosphere, which will contribute to how I plan on making my Shabbatot in Israel: surrounded by friends, and family whenever I can get to them.

Dinner was huge, as always. And then our sleep-in, like all Shabbatot, was also big. And well needed.