International Trip Chronicles

First International Trip

Greece . Macedonia . Bulgaria

November 11-22, 2013

 Greece

• Athens

When we arrived in Greece, we met up with our friendly Greece travel agent named Yannis Illiadis.  Since we would be spending a week in Greece and travelling many places around the country, it was good to have a Greek native for a logistics manager who helped us get around along with our staff.

The first night, Monday, November 11^th, we stayed in the Parthenon Hotel in Athens.  The next day we would have a lot on our agenda, including touring the site of the ancient famous Parthenon on top of the Acropolis, meeting with the Athen’s rabbi in the synagogue and JCC, visiting a museum of Greek Jewish history, being guided through the Acropolis Museum, and exploring the city of Athens on our own.

• Chalkida

The second night, Tuesday, November 12^th, we took an evening bus ride to Chalkida, which is a beautiful Greek port city.  A group of 5 of us went out to eat dinner and explore places in the port, and it was a very relaxing night of the trip.  We hung out outside for awhile after having fresh fish for dinner, and then we went back to our hotel to talk and philosophize about life in a nice lounge area.  We discussed our greatest fears, and we bonded over similar thoughts that run through our brains on the daily.  We also appreciated the diversity of our thoughts though, and everyone had something unique and fresh to add to the conversation.  This is something I love about Kivunim; everyone is so open to discussing issues and thinking about intellectual matters.  It’s inspiring to be around, and on Kivunim I really feel like my brain is starting to develop into one of a young adult.  Kivunim is a great year to transition between being more guided as a young student, and in college where I will be guiding my own learning with the support and resources available to me.  At this point in my life, it is time for me to start thinking for myself, and not relying on others to give me answers to life matters.  Part of being human is figuring out how to be an independent being in a communal society.

The next morning, Wednesday, November 13^th, Kivunim woke up early and ate some tasty Greek yogurt.  You have never tasted authentic Greek yogurt unless you have actually had it in Greece.  At least that’s my conclusion after comparing Chobani Greek yogurt to the real thing in Greece.  And the best is adding thick honey to the yogurt—it is the best kind of food consumption on planet earth.

After the wonderful meal, we walked to the Chalkida synagogue, and learned about the incredible story regarding how these Greek Jews were saved by the local Greek Orthodox bishop during WW2.  This is unique to this era of Greek Jewry, because unfortunately many other Jews in Greece were annihilated in the Holocaust.  Another fascinating feature of Chalkida is that it is probably the oldest Jewish community that has been sustained outside of Israel.  The community is diminishing quickly and only has four Jewish kids today, so I hope that the Chalkida Jewish presence can be preserved.  I think keeping the community strong also requires the outside global Jewish world’s support. Only a small fraction of Jews understand the importance of Chalkida Jewry and so I believe Jews should be educated about these unique Jewish communities that exist through antiquity and/or in the present worldwide.  That’s what Kivunim has been teaching me, and I think that by understanding our people from a global and historic perspective, the Jewish community will continue to thrive.  Then we visited a Jewish cemetery in Chalkida and saw a monument outside of it where the Greek Orthodox bishop was honored.  It was good that we had the opportunity to pay our respects in a place where such an old Jewish community have been able to sustain themselves, even after the horrors of the Holocaust.  There were also turtles nearby, and a lot of students were playing with them after reflecting in the cemetery.

After that, Kivunim had a picnic lunch on the port and ate spanakopita.  It was a beautiful day outside, and it was nice to sit by the water.  After lunch, Kivunim took a bus ride to Delphi!  

• Arachova

The views along the way were magnificent, and we passed a traditional Greek village called Arachova on top of a cliff that reminded me of the Greek village Lena spent her summer in “The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants.”  After driving passed it, everyone was wishing we had stopped there. Five minutes later, Peter got on the mic and said that every year Kivunim students ask if we can turn around and go back to explore the village further, and every time he has to say no because we on a tight schedule.  This time though he said we did have time and since we were a special group, we COULD go this time!! It was so exciting because although it was down pouring outside, everyone still agreed that they wanted this once in a lifetime experience.  I could not be an happier, and exploring the city was so majestic in the rain and fog, with valleys and mountains in the background.  They city was also decorated with Christmas ornaments and definitely had a jolly spirit.  All of the shop owners were so happy that 51 teens were giving them business, and they were so passionate about their work.  It was super inspiring, and a butcher told us how much he appreciated our presence.

        I also explored the nooks and crannies of the village with some friends, and we went in corridors and some man beautiful modest homes that all seemed to be attached to each other.  Some homes were really on the cliff overlooking the beautiful view, and we also saw the village church.  There were many cats walking around, and the floor reminded me of Jerusalem stone.  You could tell that the village was very religious, which makes sense because I think I remember learning that the country’s population is 98% Greek Orthodox.  After exploring the outside of the church and community, and taking some time to reflect looking out over the cliff, my friends and I walked back to the main shopping street in the city and went into some shops.  We went to a Christmas shop, and it was so precious because when we walked in an elderly woman was sitting next to the entrance, and a middle-aged woman was at the cash registered.  I asked the lady if that was her mother, and she said yes, smiling at me as if she was very appreciative I asked and made the connection.  I love observing relations between people in other countries, because the concept of family is so universal.  One of my friends bought a gift, and then we went outside and started walking towards the bus. I turned back to look at the village on last time and noticed the clock on the church tower floating in the purple hazy setting of the night.  It was still raining, and the way the village stone and night sky was lit up by the lights was a picture in my mind that will never leave me—that is how glorious the sight was.

• Delphi

        Then we got back on the bus, and I napped while we were on our way to Delphi!  I try not to nap on the bus during day trips, because I know the world travel I take on Kivunim can never be emulated just the same again so I want to keep my eyes open to see everything that’s around me.  But when it is night time on a bus and you cannot see much, I know it is okay to nap a little bit.

When we arrived in Delphi we got settled into our rooms, and then went out to dinner in the two-street village of Delphi.  After dinner, we had a session with Peter, and I learned that Penny, our tour guide for Delphi and who owns the hotel we were staying at, actually has a Jewish husband.  Due to the economic challenges in Greece today, Penny’s family has been struggling financially like most Greek families, and Peter posed the possibility of a unique job that she would be successful at—to be the only Jewish tour guide in Greece.  You see, Penny is one of the most effective and most fascinating tour guides we will ever encounter on Kivunim, and the way she presented Delphi to us was so real.  Some students mentioned that with Penny’s guidance they actually felt like they were there in Ancient Greece, not just in the present time looking back at an ancient site.  I was put in the tour group with a different guide, but our educator was also extremely knowledgeable, and everything our civilization teacher, David Mendelsohn, taught us about Ancient Greece came to life. On Thursday, November 14^th, we visited the remains of Delphi and the museum which held material that was excavated from the site to preserve it.  It is amazing how the Ancient Greeks were able to construct such architectural wonders and forward-thinking ways of thought like democracy, but it is also no wonder that they were inspired to live a super productive lifestyle when they had these magnificent mountains and scenery to look at.  The Ancient Greeks were determined to construct a perfect world to impress and satisfy the Greek gods’ desires.  They wanted to build constructions that looked like they reached the sky, so that their humanistic ways could also reach the gods.  They hoped to be touched by the gods, and feeling close to the gods ‘motivated people to work hard.  I think society can learn a lot from Ancient Greek society, seeing as they seemed to have a great balance between how they spent their time in life philosophizing, building up effective city-states, entertaining each other, and finding love. The belief in different gods also influenced people to better understand diverse humanistic attributes, which I think is what created the balanced lifestyle for them, thereby influencing future societies to also learn to live balanced lifestyles.

After visiting Delphi, we had a picnic lunch at a lookout where we could see mountains, valleys, water, and the world’s beautiful nature in general, and then we were on our way to our next stop, Kalambaka.

• Kalambaka

               We arrived in Kalambaka Thursday night, and after dinner we broke up into groups and reflected on our last few days of our first international trip.  We were asked what was going through our minds on the trip so far, and I responded by saying how I oftentimes feel more Jewish and at home visiting these Jewish communities than I do when I am actually at my home back in the United States.  Then after everyone expressed their feelings, some people went out, some people kept talking, and some people went to sleep.

               Some others and I had an extended session with Peter about our responsibility to Judaism and how we can teach Jewish education effectively in the future. Some of as Kivunim students chose to speak with the founder and visionary of Kivunim because we knew we could learn a lot from his ideals.  What was amazing was that he wanted to hear us speak and what our ideas were for the future of Jewish education.  We all find it unsettling how we came on Kivunim not knowing this global world of Judaism and communities in the Diaspora existed, and we find it significant for Jewish educators to teach about all of these unique Jewish communities.  For leaving our part of the Jewish history, isn’t truthful and we should seek as accurate a Jewish story as we possibly can.  We are a dynamic people, and parts of our Jewish history should not be forgotten.

               In the morning of Friday, November 15^th, we traveled to Meteora.  This is a magical place where there are about 6 remaining monasteries on natural sandstone rock pillars beautifully created.  The manmade churches add to the natural beauty of the area and shows how natural and manmade beauty can really coexist effectively.  We went to Meteora when the trees were golden and changing colors so it was such a glorious experience to drive up the mountain-like phenomenon. In antiquity hermits came to these Greek Othodox churches to become closer to God and to have a spiritual awakening.  We saw fantastic Christian images on the wall and it is so cool how much I am learning about Christianity this year.  I think it is really important to understand as much as you can about religions which are not your own.

·

• Thessaloniki

After Meteora, Kivunim took a long bus ride to Thessaloniki, and we had to get there in time for Shabbat.  Thessaloniki, as known as Salonika, was once a thriving port city of the Aegean Sea for the Jews who had previously escaped the Spanish Inquisition and immigrated to Salonika in 1492.  There were also a lot of Jews there from the Byzantine time period and even some Alexandrian Jews who arrived in 140 BCE.  During the Ottoman Empire, many Jews flocked to Salonika because they were protected under the sultan.  As you can see, Jews came to Salonika from all over, and you can only imagine how this created a thriving and strong Jewish community.  In Greek Jewish tradition, Salonika is known as the “Mother of Israel” and the “Jerusalem of Greece.”  We would be staying here for 3 days, so it was nice to have so much time to explore the city.

        That night we went to wonderful Shabbat services at the Saloniki synagogue, and met the rabbi who is an Orthodox Moroccan Jew.  It was so special because we were praying in the same space with Holocaust survivors, and unfortunately most of Salonika’s Jews were killed in the Holocaust, so it was important to still see Jewish life here, although it’s dwindling.  The young rabbi who led services then ate dinner with us, and a girl on Kivunim said the blessing.  Peter told the rabbi that he was welcome to leave if he did not feel comfortable hearing a girl lead a prayer, but the rabbi decided to stay and mentioned that this was his first time he ever heard a girl lead the blessing.  I was happy that he was open-minded and willing to try a new experience, even though his traditions did not usually go along with an egalitarian prayer space.

        I stayed at the synagogue after dinner to talk to the young community members in Saloniki.  I remember meeting two young teenage boys, two young teenage girls, and two young men.  One of the men was studying to be a lawyer in England and had just returned to Salonika again, and the other one actually grew up in D.C. and went to University of Chicago, but chose to serve in the Greek Army when his parents, who are natives to Greece, decided to return.  I felt inspired that although Salonika is known to be a ghost town for the Jews, there was still a presence of determined Jews who hoped to keep Judaism alive here.

The next morning, Saturday, November 16^th, we went to synagogue again and had the opportunity to stay for the Torah service.  It was such a nice experience and I love travelling to different religious sites around the world.  After the service we had lunch, followed by free time to explore Salonika further.  I went with a few other Kivunim students, and we walked along the coast, and found a person on a horse and carriage, and we saw a really cool and colorful Jamaican looking boat that said “One Love” on the front of it.  We also explored a Greek tower and fortress I think from the Byzantine Empire, and we saw people Zumba dancing in the city square.  We then had a reflective session together about the true meaning of prayer, followed by Havdallah where we went to the port and by the square where Jews were publically humiliated in and told of their ultimate fate to be sent to concentration camps in July 1942.  It is crazy how you look at the square today and see a whole new culture and way of life, and no remnants or indication that Salonika was once a majority of Jews.  The only monument close to the square is a Holocaust memorial.  But our presence by the port to close Shabbat was so meaningful, and we brought Jewish life to Salonika.  In fact, while were huddled in a circle, two women came up too and joined us in our Havdalah prayers.   That was powerful.

Then on Sunday, November 17^th, we went to the Monastirlis Synagogue, which was built in 1927-1928.  It was saved during WW2 and was preserved by the Red Cross until the Holocaust ended.  We sang Jewish songs to bring life to the synagogue and every time someone sings in a sacred place I believe all voices eternally leave a mark on the place so it was a beautiful moment.

We then boarded the bus and made our way to the city of Aigai and Vergina, which was the ancient first capital of the Kingdom of Macedonia, but today it’s within Greece’s borders.  There we went to a museum where we saw the tombstone of Philip II, who was Alexander the Great’s father! Philip conquered the Greek cities, so he set up his son for success with their takeover in the expansion of the Hellenistic world.  There are also paintings and remnants from the ancient world which we saw in a cave museum where the tombs were also located.  After exploring the city we returned to Thessaloniki.

The next morning was Monday, November 18^th, and four of us woke up early to go to shul (synagogue) with Jay and make a minion.  Although it was in an Orthodox synagogue, and girls are not traditionally counted into the minion, the two boys and Jay made the minion exactly 10 people which is necessary for having a morning prayer service!  It was a very special experience. Then Jay treated us to some coffee.

Once everyone else woke up we walked to the Jewish Musuem of Thessaloniki, which gave us a nice review for all that we learned about regarding the Jewish life in Salonika over a long period of time.

Skopje, Macedonia

               Next stop was Macedonia.  What was supposed to be a 2.5 hour bus ride turned into a 6 hour adventure largely due to the high security between the Greece and Macedonia border.  We had to first get passed the Greece border, and then there was like a “No Man’s Land” where we waited for quite some time, and after we got over the Macedonian border, hat was quite an accomplishment!  Despite how delirious we all became, we were all trooper and were as patient as we could be.  On Kivunim we really learn how to deal with situations we are not used to, which will only make us grow as humans!  Then once we arrived in Skopje, the GPS did not recognize any of the roads, so the bus driver somehow managed to get us to our destination after some time.  We were staying at this very small but beautiful Victorian style bed and breakfast, called Hotel Victoria.  Some people got mansion rooms and some of us got smaller rooms, but the whole stay in general was super cozy!  Once we got settled in, we would be meeting with the Macedonian Jewish community at a restaurant.  The craziest reunion I happened;  I thought that my Macedonian friend was going to study at university in a different country, so I did not contact her letting her know the specific date I would be in Macedonia.  But, out of total surprise, I saw her welcoming us into the restaurant and seeing her be the awesome Jewish leader I remember her to be.  We were so happy to see each other, and we decided that she would take some Kivunim students and me around the city later that night! I was thrilled!  During dinner I talked with two women (one Jewish and one non-Jewish) who worked at the Holocaust museum in Macedonia, which is a very significant museum to the whole Macedonian community in the middle Skopje.

               Then the Bulgarian teens came on the bus with the Kivunim students, and it was a fun ride!  The Kivunim students who wanted to see the city were dropped off in the center of the city, and Rebeka, my friend from Macedonia, along with some other Bulgarian teens, showed us around!  The combination of the lights, the buildings, and the water in the center of the city was magnificent, and I was so happy that I chose to go out and explore.

               The next morning on Tuesday, November 19^th, we visited a very special Holocaust museum. It does not just mention the horrors of the Holocaust, but it also rightfully focuses on Macedonian Jewry before the genocide.   After the destruction of the Holocaust, only 50 survivors remained, and the other 98% of the Macedonian Jews were wiped out.  The museum was able to built up with the enactment of the Law on Denationalization, which allows for the restitution of money and property rights of Jews, even those without living heirs.  This gave the Jewish community a lot of leverage to help them built up an educational museum for the Macedonian community to visit.  The museum is located in the central area of the city because there is where the Macedonian Jews lived between the 15^th and 20^th centuries.  The Jews lived in 3 different Macedonian communities, in Skopje, Shtip, and Bitlola, but today the Jewish population is really only in Skopje.  Today the Jewish community numbers only about 200 people, and many leave the country to seek opportunities elsewhere.

Bulgaria

• Sofia

Tuesday, November 19^th and Wednesday, November 20^th, have been extraordinary days for me in Sofia, Bulgaria.  Not only have I reconnected with my Jewish kin from BBYO and the JDC, within the past two days I have also forged new connections with other Jewish people including an inspirational man named Ed Serotta (a devoted filmmaker, photographer, and journalist who focuses on Jewish life in Central and Eastern Europe…he founded Centropa) and a talented elderly Jewish man (who was a sports journalist for the Olympics).  We visited the beautiful Sephardic synagogue and JCC as well!  Something unique about the Bulgarian Jewish community is that it is youthful, and many of the leaders are under the age of 35!  This is because there was a gap in continuing Jewish tradition after the Holocaust when communism took over Bulgaria and the majority of Jews immigrated to Israel.

In the center of Sofia, we had the chance to see the triangle formed between a gigantic synagogue, the Main Mosque, and the Main Orthodox Church.  It made it seem like the three religions have had a pretty equal and accepting history towards each other over the years, and especially with the saving of the Bulgarian Jews from the destruction of the Holocaust, it is pretty evident that religion did not cause too much tension in Bulgarian society.

We also visited the Lauder School of Sofia, which is a Jewish content public school in Bulgaria where they learn Hebrew and study Jewish culture (like celebrating Jewish holidays)!  And 65% of the students are not even Jewish! How interesting is that?!?

• Plovdiv

On Thursday, November 19^th, we went to Plovdiv to learn about the fate of Bulgarian Jews during the Holocaust, to see a Holocaust memorial (where it’s the Jews thanking the fellow citizens for saving their lives), to visit a synagogue, and to go to the JCC where we would be talking to Jewish elders.  I saw the synagogue and memorial for the second time, so this time I got an even more vivid memory in my mind of the experience. 

Before the war there were 47,000-48,000 Jews in Bulgaria, and after the Holocaust there were 48,000 Jews (before many Jews ended up immigrating to Israel).  The Jews were saved by their fellow citizens and the archbishop who would not let their Jewish neighbors be taken away.

After visiting the Plovdiv synagogue, we went to Bachkovo Monastery to pay our respects at the graves of two “Righteous Gentiles of the Earth” who risked their lives to save the Bulgarian Jews.

We then returned to Sofia for one last night.  We had dinner at the Jewish Community Center with the Sofia Jewish community.  We saw the rich Sephardic traditions that Jews preserved after being exiled from Spain.  They took with them much of their Ladino culture (the language they spoke in Spain which is a dialect of Spain written in Hebrew letters, and fused together with some Hebrew words).  The older Jewish community even performed Ladino songs for us this night.  One of the songs we learned prior to the trip, so we sang the song back to them in our wonderful Ladino (Hebreo-Spanish) accents.  Then we learned dances that the Jewish teens taught us.  It is so nice to have such lively Jewish leadership in Bulgaria where there are teens who are hungry and passionate to learn more about their Jewish roots.

Conclusion:

During this trip I learned how to look at Bulgaria and Eastern Europe through a more dynamic lens, as the dots are really starting to become connected between my current (on Kivunim) and past (Jewish) history studies.  Whether learning about ancient times or modern times, Greece, Macedonia, and Bulgaria all have extraordinary stories that are interwoven along with other countries throughout history.  If there is one main theme that I got from this trip it is that civilization is timeless.  Peter, the founder of Kivunim, said something full of conviction to our group at the beginning of the year.  He told us that this year of travel creates an upward spiral full of wisdom, and each experience makes the next one full of more magic, liveliness, presence, knowledge, questions, and vividness that will stay etched in our brains and in the people we touch so as long as we stay conscious to it.  Our wealth of wisdom will only grow if we keep an open mind and an accepting attitude.   As our first two-week international trip comes to a close, Kivunim has been welcomed and touched by the communities of Athens, Chalkida, Arachova, Delphi, Kalambaka, Salonika, & Vergina in Greece, Skopje in Macedonia, and Sofia & Plovdiv in Bulgaria.  That is a lot of history and culture to take in within a short period of time, and our presence in each community was felt mutually.  We are truly thankful for all of our hosts, guides, and educators, and it is our pleasure to teach the world about these unique places we visited.

Also after an incredible first international trip, we still have four more to go, and hopefully each time we remind ourselves to open our eyes, ears, nose, and mind wider, and feel more intently. Some people may ask why Kivunim students chose to take a gap year program where for 3/8 months we are away from Israel.  My answer is that our program sees the importance of not just learning and educating people on the state of Israel and the Middle East, but also to do the same for all the other places we visit.  We learn about not just past and present Jewish communities in all the places we visit, but also about each society’s multicultural chronicles.  For example, we don’t just visit Jewish communities and synagogues in the countries we visit; we also visit churches and mosques.  We do not just learn about religions, rather we also learn about past and present governments like: the ancient Greek city-states and their idea of democracy, the current Greek state and their economic struggles, and the once communist Bulgaria which is now a democracy still struggling to find their country’s own identity and sense of community.   On top of that, we have lectures on all three of these monotheistic religions, and have classes to teach us about the past and present governments of each country. We believe that the more dynamic and knowledgeable we are about the world from different perspectives, the greater impact we can make on our present and future societies.  Although it is impossible for me to remember every single detail and fact I learn on Kivunim, by the end of the year I think I will definitely be more knowledgeable about the world in which we live, and know how to be a better critical thinker and contributor to society.

Second International Trip-Morocco

 

Casablanca

Sunday, January 5, 2014

               When we got into the Casablanca daylight, the temperature was absolutely perfect and it reminded me of California air! We were on the coast by the Atlantic Ocean in Africa, so I guess it has some similarities to the warm California coastline on the Pacific Ocean.  We had free time before the other half of the Kivunim group from America and Europe came, so I read our detailed trip itinerary for the next 12 days.  It is exciting that we are not just getting a very diverse and thorough look at Moroccan history in terms of Jewish heritage, the Muslim presence, the indigenous Berber population, the French influence, and the country’s nationalistic pride as a whole, but we will also be getting a very profound experience as we travel across the geographical variations found in Morocco. Going from the Atlantic Ocean to the Atlas Mountains to the Sahara Desert, and inland, we will get a taste of the whole country during our time here.

               Then at around 7 PM, we all met in the hotel lobby to go to dinner at one of Morocco’s Jewish athletic clubs.  It was nice to see everyone again, and the food at the club was delicious.  Avniel came up to talk to me about my farming experience and it was so nice to see him.  He took a flight to Morocco through Paris from Israel without any other Kivunimers, so it was the first time all of us saw our Indian friend again!

               At dinner we had a lovely guest speaker join us—Mr. Brian Shukan—who assumed responsibility as United States Consul General in Casablanca, Morocco on July 31, 2011.  His term in Casablanca is 3 years long, and he has half a year left serving as a U.S. diplomat here.  Previously he has been a diplomat for other countries like Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Tunisia, and has been working abroad for the last 19 years, returning back to America for a little bit after each time serving in respective countries. He regarded Morocco very highly, and said that Morocco is a unique place with many different identities—one with the Arab world, the European (French) world, and the Berber (native) world.

               Morocco has held strong diplomatic ties with the United States since the superpower first came into being.  Morocco was the first to recognize the United States of America as an independent country.

               When Brian spoke about his time with Saudi Arabia he mentioned that the country has traditionally been a pretty isolated power.  I see a paradox here considering it is the leading Sunni country, but I guess their political isolation is a lot different than their religious presence in the Arab world.  For example, Saudi Arabia’s financial donation and support for King Hassan II’s mosque in Casablanca shows that they hope to keep Islam as a strong and unified religion.

               Our guides name for the trip is Raphael David Elmaleh, and he is the only Jewish guide in the entire Arab world.  He also worked with late Simon Levy to build up the museum in Casablanca about Moroccan Jewry.

Monday, January 6, 2014-

Hassan II Mosque, Neve Shalom, Jacquy Sebag, The Museum of Moroccan Jewry

               Just some background on Moroccan Jewry: currently there are 3,500 Jews in Morocco and 2,500 of them live in Casablanca.  Later this week we will be visiting the oldest synagogue in Morocco that was restored and is 850 years old.

This morning we went to the third largest mosque in the world following Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.  It holds 15,000 people inside, and 18,000 people outside.  The Mosque honors King Hassan II for his 60^th birthday, and there is a special plateau for the king to stand on when he comes to visit the mosque.

               The Mosque we visited was made by hand and three shifts of 6,000 artisans worked 24/7 to complete it in 6 years.  King Hussein II died in 1999, so it is good that his vision succeeded.  The mosque has features that were made from different materials coming from many places throughout Morocco, like from Fez and the Atlas Mountains.  A French architect designed the mosque and was King Hassan II’s friend.  The cedar wood on the roof is from the Atlas Mountains, and the mosque is located right next to the Atlantic Ocean.  The chandeliers are made of Venetian glass from Italy.  Women pray above in the mezzanine, which reminded me a lot of Orthodox Jewish prayer when women are separated from men.  Also the absence of images in Islam’s house of worship reminds me a lot of Judaism.  Islam is a very geometric religion and uses many beautiful mosaics to make shapes that are often circular in shape. The men pray on the floor with their shoes off, and so when I was walking in the mosque shoeless, my feet felt so free and my movement unrestricted.  I totally understand and respect why Muslim men pray on the floor shoeless.  It is such a natural way of praying.  Walking on the mosaic marble just made me want to dance and be a ballerina.  In winter, the floors even heated!  During Ramadan, the mosque is filled with 25,000 people inside and 80,000 people outside.  On Fridays (Islam’s holiest day of the week), 5,000 people usually fill up the mosque.  There is a wash underneath the prayer room that people go to before they pray—it reminds me of a Jewish mikvah (ritual bath).  El mihrab (Apple dictionary: a niche in the wall of a mosque, at the point nearest to Mecca, toward which the congregation faces to pray) faces the East towards Mecca.  The mosque’s architecture is Andalusian influenced.  When Muslims conquered Spain around the 10^th century, they brought much Spanish influence with them to North Africa.  In the 11^th-13^th centuries, the Crusades occurred and there was conflict on the Iberian Peninsula in Portugal, Aragon, and Castille since the Europeans were trying to recover their lost land. So because of the Crusader period, it makes sense that Spain would have influenced North African culture and architecture when the Muslims spread the Andalusian styles.

               Then after visiting the mosque, we visited the Neve Shalom School where there are 150 students in the primary and secondary schools combined.  The students there were so sweet, and since it was a private school the institution seemed a tad bit more modernized than what I envision the traditional Moroccan public school as being.  Twenty-percent of the students at the school are even non-Jews.  My friend Noah and I asked a boy for a basketball, and the boy was so cute and proactive; he went to ask the headmaster where the basketball was stored, and then he retrieved one for us from the storage room.  We played basketball for the kids for a few minutes, and then Kivunim students split off into different classrooms to observe the daily routine of this school.  I was in a classroom with Noah, Avniel, Sam, Sean, Devorah, Ariel, and some others.  There was such a special vibe in the room and the students were so attentive to their teachers and to their studies.  We were in a Hebrew classroom that was being taught in French, and Noah, Sean, and Devorah know French and Hebrew, so that must have been a wonderful experience.  I know that I would get so much out of a Hebrew class being taught in Spanish—I hope I review some Spanish before our last international trip to Spain.  The kids were learning Hebrew pronouns, which I learned first semester this year in BabyBrew (first level Hebrew!).

               Following this visit, we walked over to the synagogue on the side of the school past the courtyard, and we met with a rabbi named Jacquy Sebag, one of Peter’s close friends.  Jacquy once got attacked by a man with an axe because of anti-Semitism.  When he got treated in Europe, he was asked if he would want to return home to live in Morocco.  He ultimately decided to return, because he was not fearful of being Jewish in Morocco—the event could have happened anywhere.  Peter regarded Jacquy as being an eternal living example of someone who has made history and helps to preserve Moroccan Jewry.  This is the inspirational quote that Jacquy left Kivunim with, and he thanked us for our interest in Morocco’s unique story:  “I am looking for my brothers; I am looking after my brothers.”  We sang Ana B’koach and he sang a beautiful prayer variation to us as well.

               Then we went to the Jewish museum garden for lunch, and then we toured the museum with Raphy.  Raphy did fieldwork for the museum and went to villages to find remnants of Jewish heritage to add to the museum.  He found photographs and stories and brought them back to Casablanca.  Raphy also told us a comical story from when he was doing fieldwork:  Once when visiting a synagogue, he asked the Muslim people where the geniza (a burial place for sacred Jewish texts because you are not supposed to burn them or throw them out) was, and they told him that it was under the synagogue.  Raphy wanted to retrieve old texts to put in the museum, and the Muslims were fearful that that he would get bitten by a scorpion because they were superstitious, but thankfully Raphy came out unharmed.

Raphy told us that Simon Levy was the main founder of the museum, and he was a radical leftist as an adult.  In his youth, he was a communist and helped to overthrow French control in order to bring the King back to power.  He had an anti-zionist identity and was known to be an iconoclast.  The Musuem of Moroccan Judaism was paid for by the government.  The Toshivim Jews originally settled with Berbers, while the Rashivim Jews were Spanish and settled in the north.  The Rashivim Jews had a higher education and knew about the Holocaust when it was going on because they had European connections, unlike the Berber Jews who were more remote from mass communication.  Raphy’s vision was not to help build the museum for the Jews, but rather he did it for the Muslims so they would remember Morocco’s Jewish heritage.  Back when the idea of building the museum was nascent, Raphy made an appointment with the Minister of Culture to discuss the possibilities of the museum.  The appointment happened to be the same day as an Intifada in Israel.  Although there did not seem like there was much hope during his meeting with the minister, Raphy persevered and claimed that the museum would not be for a political pursuit of Israeli pride, but rather would be a heritage museum about Jews living in Morocco with Berbers for the past 2,500 years.  The Moroccan Jewish heritage was a different story than what was going on in Israel.  After Raphy took us around the museum, Peter talked to us in a small synagogue attached to the museum, and then the non-Jewish female museum director told us that Morocco is a unique country because Jewish heritage is truly significant in the country’s history.  The director believes in change and does not necessarily believe tolerance is the way to go, because tolerance is fruitless unless change comes with it.

Rabat-capital of Morocco

Monday, January 6, 2014

               Rabat is an imperial city with a wall encompassing it.  There are four Moroccan imperial cities— Fes, Meknes, Marrakesh, and Rabat (in which the Alawid dynasty still rule and have been ruling for about 400 years). There once were 16,000 Jews in Rabat, and today there are 140 left.  The city has three sections: 1) The Medina (old city) & 2) The Mellah (Jewish Quarter) which are within the city walls, and 3) La Villa Novel (New Town).  The King’s palace and parliament (550 seats) are in Rabat, and so is the prime minister.  Morocco is a monarchy, but citizens still wanted to be represented through the parliament.

               While approaching Rabat, we drove along the coast and saw the beautiful Atlantic Ocean that is great for surfing.  We even saw gigantic waves, probably that were at least 20 feet high, and they were incredible.  We found out five days later that those huge tidal waves made a small tsunami there!

               The coast is also good for fishing here in Rabat; it is very rocky at the shore.  After driving along the coast, we entered the Rabat and entered a scenic lookout and gardens at an ancient rampart & fortress area called a Kasbah.  We sat in a balcony area overlooking the water, and the ledge was right over the ocean and it was a grand height.  One of Kivunim’s students started playing Titanic’s “My Heart Will Go on” while another student dangerously stood on the stone ledge and put his arms out like Leonardo DiCaprio did on the ship.  The garden had pretty orange trees, but the oranges could only be used for marmalade because they were bitter.  There were also bell flowers that were indigenous to the Berbers and their land called Udayas.

               Once we arrived at our hotel, I wrote in my journal and then we had dinner with three Mimouna Club members.  The Mimouna Club is at Moroccan universities and promoted the preservation and education of Jewish heritage spearheaded by dedicated young Muslims seeking to learn more about their grandparents’ past close relations with the Moroccan Jews.

               After dinner we split up into two groups, and half of Kivunim went with two men, while the other half went with a woman from Casablanca, who had also gone to school with Jacquy’s son.  Her name is Laziza Dalil, and she went to study in France.  While studying business administration there and indulging like college students tend to do, she got a wakeup call when someone told her that “France would be cleaner is the Germans were still there.”  She was so surprised that a country she learned to be so democratized and educated would still have people saying such horrible and sickly remarks towards the Jews.  It made Laziza realize to stick to her patriotic roots and stay in Morocco, instead of moving to France after having been studying there.  Three months later upon her return to Morocco, she learned about the Mimouna Club (Mimouna was a Moroccan Jewish celebration held a day after Passover. The Muslims probably chose this name as their club because they thought that the “liberation of the Jews” accurately aligned with their mission to inform their peers and the world the rich Jewish life that Morocco once had for over 2,000 years, and hopefully one that can be preserved for a long time so long as effort is put into maintaining the remnants of Judaism here (Raphy’s work restoring synagogues and building up the Casablanca Jewish museum is a huge part of this...in fact, King Mohammed VI put into law for schools to take their students to visit it).  Going back to Laziza, finding the Mimouna changed the direction of her life, and today she works for the government.  Being a woman in Morocco definitely lends fewer opportunities, but diligent and smart women like Laziza can get to where they want to if they persevere and encourage the country to become more progressive.

Tuesday, January  7, 2014

               This morning we were invited to conduct a private Jewish memorial service at the Tombs of King Mohammed V and his son, King Hassan II.  Mohammed V through his courageous confrontation with the Vichy French was responsible for saving the lives of the 250,000-300,000 Jews of Morocco.

               When we entered the holy site, there were guards on beautiful horses at the entrance gate.  When we walked in we saw many pillars, and other stone remains of an old Muslim religious area.  An earthquake that occurred in the 1700s destroyed half of the minaret and put the mosque, where Muhammed V’s new memorial stands today, in terrible condition.  There is also an old wall of the first mosque still standing today, and the pillars outside were once in the mosque as we soon learned. Before going into the religious site we had some time to take pictures, and I danced in the open space between the columns.  I do not think it was inappropriate to do so at a religious site because I believe King Mohammed V would be happy that there is a presence of happy Jews and two Muslims (Amal and Mikey) giving honor to his dignified actions of his saving the Moroccan Jews.  Also he would be happy to know that Kivunim is a coexistence program and is modeled and inspired much by the beauty of Moroccan brotherhood and interwoven yet still independent religious heritages.  By me dancing, I honestly think it represented Jewish vitality and appreciation to the king for keeping our ancestors alive.

               I also spoke in Arabic to the painters who were painting vents black diligently.  I said “Marhaba” to say hello to them and asked them “Kif Halik inty”…”How are you?”  Then I had my Kivunim friend Noah come over to talk to them and translate to them in French how appreciative I was for their meticulous work.  They were pleased to receive that remark, and they told me I was a “good person.”  That was very sweet of them to say.  Then David told me how he loves my efforts I make to interact with the everyday people in the countries we visit.

600 artisans built up the site in 8 years.  Everything in the memorial was made by hand.  There is someone who prays in the grave room 24/7, men go in shifts and read verses from the Koran….I am assuming the book here is always kept open.  The man praying sits in his religious garb on the ground with his shoes off.  I love how connected Muslims are to the earth with their bodies.  When we walked inside the building to begin the memorial service, we moved in a two-line procession up the stone steps to the front door, and took our shoes off upon our entry.  The space was laden with beautiful mosaic geometric-styled stained glad.  On top of the grave in the room there was a domed roof.  Kivunim put flowers next to the graves.

What made Mohammed such a special man? King Muhammed V reigned for about 35 years and during the Vichy regime.  He was able to successfully bring Morocco to independence, which was a huge accomplishment after all the imperialist history in the country.  He was also very good to the Jews, he said that if the French dared to put the blue stars on the Jews that they would have to put them on all of the Moroccan Muslims as well.  This is such an inspiring story that really shows the strong brotherhood between the Moroccans and Jews, one that still exists today between Muslims and the remaining Jews; though most left after the Holocaust and in the 1960s when there were mass immigration waves to Israel.  It was very difficult for Jews to part from a land that had people (Berbers the whole time and Muslims starting in the Common Era) who treated them so well for thousands of years.

               The maintainer of the memorial site spoke to us in French, and a Jewish official was translating to English.  Peter sang a beautiful memorial payer, and a Jewish man chanted a beautiful Moroccan tune I am guessing back to us.  They thanked us for Kivunim’s interest to come to the memorial site, and also thanked us for our coexistence work.

               Then we left and would be going to Fes.  During a bathroom stop Michal sat in the driver’s seat and I pretended I was the kid.  Then she turned some Moroccan beats up, and the front of the bus started dancing—it was a glorious sight and moment!  The bus driver started breaking it down and showing us his Moroccan moves as well!  It is so nice how over the course of our international trips the bus driver becomes part of our Kivunim family, and it is really respectable the amount of driving they do for us.  I am so thankful for them.

               The bus ride had magnificent views of vegetation, animals (like goats, donkeys, and horses), and the greenest grass ever.  I also spotted many hut houses and there were colorful clothes hanging on a line outside to dry.  We were approaching and driving through the Mid Atlas Mountains, and were about 1200 meters high in elevation.

Fes

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

When we got to the city of Fes (the medina part of it) we went through the blue-mosaic entrance arch and into as Peter would say, “a magical ancient city suspended in animation.”  Fes’s medina presents a subculture of Morocco, dating back to the 12^th century.  A medina is the old Arab quarter of a North African town.

               As we walked through the ancient corridors, and past all the vendors trying to sell us their material goods, I automatically thought of the Israeli shuk and of Jerusalem’s Old City.  But as I started exploring the medina deeper, and going through the nooks and crannies with the other students, I realized that this was quite a unique place.  You saw people with traditional Moroccan garb walking around everywhere, and when there was still a large population of Jews in Fes you would find them dressed the same way, and the Muslims and Jews would be brothers together, sharing the same Moroccan culture.  Many of the students today showed interest in purchasing Moroccan gowns, and Celia (my roommate and I) were determined to buy traditional dresses for the cheapest price we could get it for.  David Mendelsohn, my Ancient Greece professor, was also with us on the trip, and he spoke in Arabic (although not the Moroccan dialect you can still kind of get by; written Arabic is different than spoken Arabic, and each country have unique spoken dialects) and in French (French is a second language here) to try to bargain with the vendors.  I only had 200 durham, which is about $25, so I could not spend more than that anyways.  The vendor would not lower his price any more than 300, and his vendor partner would raise the price again every time he lowered it, so we ended up moving on and hoping for another opportunity to purchase Moroccan dress.

               We all wanted to purchase the garbs for different reasons, maybe some of us to fit more in to our Moroccan culture while being here, maybe others wanting to carry a sample of Moroccan material culture with them, and maybe some of us just did not know their intentions for buying it.  Nonetheless, by putting on the garb, we would be representing a feature of the Moroccan culture, so whenever we are in public with it, it is important to realize that!  Peter, the Jewish founder of Kivunim, mentioned that he once received the garb as a gift and wore it on a plane, which motivated people to respect him and bow down to him as they perceived him as a super dignified religious Moroccan Muslim.  He laughed after and apologized for the confusion, and that he was proud to wear the garb because he got it as a present from an actual Moroccan Muslim.  Also it is significant to realize that clothes are just materials and can technically be considered to be façade; though I am not going to disagree with the assertion that material culture helps create the identity of a human, because I truly do believe that. But in a simplified reality, it does not matter if a Muslim or a Jew or anybody for that matter is wearing a Moroccan garb, because we all humans.

               We glanced into Maimonides’ residence when he stayed in Fes, so that was a cool experience considering he had such a profound influence on Jewish heritage.  Maimonides was alive from 1135-1204, and was a “Jewish philosopher and rabbinic scholar, born in Spain” who wrote “His Guide for the Perplexed (1190) in attempts to reconcile Talmudic scripture with the philosophy of Aristotle” (Apple dictionary).  What I think is so interesting about this fact is that Maimonides was influenced by Aristotelian thought, which we learned about in our ancient Greece unit.  Aristotle was alive from 384-322 BC, and was a Greek philosopher who was also Alexander the Great’s tutor!! So it is so amazing how everything we learn about and see this year is inextricably interwoven.

               After doing this, we walked to a madrasa, which was a dormitory for Muslim students with a school and mosque attached.  Girl lived on the top floor and had covered windows facing the courtyard so that people would not be tempted to look in while they were praying/studying.  There was again beautiful mosaic covering the walls, and also some tiles written in the beautiful Arabic calligraphic script.  They would use these shapes and words in place of images, so Muslims found a way to make their space magnificent without adopting the Christian’s use of painting angels, prophets, and patriarchs.

               Then we went into souk shops in the Medina and learned about their unique trades—many places tried to sell us goods.  The first place was a metal engraving place where the artist actually made part of the palace’s portico. We went to a wool/fabric/cotton place where everything is handmade and with a loom, and we saw the material being woven in front of us.  I haggled and bought a garb that was worth 600 durham for 200! It is black and floor-length with blue trim and other accent-colors.  The souks kept telling me that I look like a Tangier Moroccan.  Tangiers live in Tangier, Morocco, which is a seaport on the northern coast, “on the Strait of Gibraltar where it stands guard at the western entrance to the Mediterranean Sea” (Apple dictionary).  We also went to a tanners shop, where we saw all kinds of animal skin, leather, and sheep woven bags, shoes, and other goods! We could see an incredible view of the tanners’ simple machine factory outside, where the method they use to dye the animal skin is primitive and has been used here for thousands of years.  We saw all the barrels with the dye in it, and animal skin hanging over the barrels waiting to be dyed.  You saw people working out there, many cats hanging out, and women walking up and down stairways probably to fetch materials.  The color-filled vats that these Moroccans use for the dyes can also be compared to the dry vats (where only stains remain) on Masada today that are more than 2,000 years old, and which once stored an abundant water supply!  See—the Kivunim connections continue.

Photo Creds to Suzy Lee Weiss

Side Note: Remember when I mentioned that Peter told us that the whole year of Kivunim traveling and studying is an upward spiral that has knowledge building upon past wisdom?!? Well, I see now that it is true!

               We also went to a carpet industry shop, and everything here is handcrafted from wool as well.  The work was incredible, and the men workers were so passionate to present their beautiful work to the Kivunim students.  Unfortunately none of us had enough money to afford the beauties, but the men were still so kind to be hospitable and to show us into their 12^th century official rendering of what a medina house looked like with authentic Berber rugs!  They also served us tea!  After this, we quickly went into a jewelry shop and then went back to the bus for a short drive to the Fes hotel.

               We freshened up, and then went to dinner at the Fes Jewish club.  Today there are only about 150 adult Jews left in Fes.  The appetizers reminded me of a spicy version of the food we made on the farm, and then we had couscous with cooked vegetables, followed by chicken.  Then for dessert we had tasty clementines (which are one of Morocco’s largest exports during this time), and sat in a lounge area for a reflection session on our trip so far.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Fes-Mellah (Jewish Quarter)

·        28,000 Jews once lived in the Mellah

·        Golden Gates of the palace right outside the Mellah were made by the souk metal shop we visited yesterday

·        There were Spansih style balconies in the Mellah

·        There was no water or electricity until the French came and brought a water system to the Jews

·        The first synagogue we visited is called Ibn Danan, and a family gave a large donation to build it

o   There is a pipe on the floor and a hole on the ceiling in order to receive natural rain water that would be pure for the mikveh (Jewish ritual bath) located in the basement under the prayer space

o   There are no eternal lights in most Moroccan synagogues, but there are memorial lamps.

o   The Ashkenazic and Moroccan way is to put sefer Torah in robes, not in robes like in the traditional Sephardic culture.

o   Bimah is not in the middle of the synagogue but is in the back.  The ancient covering of the bimah was still preserved.  Benches in back of the bimah are a Sephardic feature.

o   The Ashkenazic way to do a prayer service is for Cohen’s and Levy’s to have the aliyah in the Torah service followed by the shlishi (the third Torah reading).  In Morocco though the custom is for anybody who would like to go up first, to go up.

o   Kids face in front of the ark separate from their parents so that they can learn and chant the prayers by heart without talking to their parents.

·        Mellah means salt.  Morocco revenue in ancient times was mostly from sugar and salt.  Since King trusted Jews to sell it and run the salt trade, they coined the term Mellah for the Jewish Quarter.

   The second synagogue we visited was previously a boxing match room.  So it was fascinating to see how the building was restored and turned into a synagogue.

On the Road—10 hours

               Now we are traveling through the Mid Atlas region, and we see a lot of forest fires in the hills. I also see donkeys and shepherds in the pasture—oh how what I love farm life opened my eyes to. 

We eventually arrived in Errashadiya, and I started to feel pretty sick—I had a bad headache, felt achy, and my throat was swollen.  But I stayed composed and still had a wonderful experience learning about a unique synagogue that was restored in this village.  The synagogue sadly had a roof collapse in 2006, and three years ago Kivunim students helped to paint it.  Raphy put much time and dedication into preserving the synagogue.  It is remarkable that Raphy receives no animosity towards his Moroccan synagogue recovery projects and gets much support from the government.

               “In Morocco synagogues are treated with deep respect and become museums where local children can learn about the neighbors their grandparents speak of, but that they will never know.”

~Kivunim Itinerary

               1960 was the last time that the synagogue was used, and things were left behind.  When community left, they did take the sefer torah and other significant objects with them nonetheless.  The synagogues in Morocco leave a voice that speaks to Muslims and Jews.  There is no need for guards to protect the synagogues from graffiti and anti-Semitic actions because the whole Moroccan community respects its historical Jewish heritage.  In this particular synagogue, women used to sit outside—the Moroccan Jews were Orthodox.  Sephardic synagogues (Jews from Spain) had bimahs in the middle of the shul, but Morocco’s Toshivim (Jewish settled people) in Errashadiya also used this feature.  Next week we will be visiting an adobe synagogue that is at least 700-800 years old.

               The Jews here used to recite a special prayer for the King; Jay pointed it out in the siddur.  In Halakah (Jewish law and jurisprudence, based on the Talmud-Apple dictionary), it says to add a prayer for an influential leader, like a King.  So this siddur can be identified as Moroccan because the Jews would pray for the King’s welfare. 

               After visiting the synagogue in Errashadiya, we went on to Erfoud, where we would be switching into jeeps for the final leg of the trip to the Saharra Desert (which is the largest desert in the world aside from Antarctica, which is supposedly also a desert because deserts are determined based on how much water the land gets).

               Erfoud was once home to a large Jewish community.  What were Jews doing so far away from the coast, other Jews, and urban centers?  We were traveling along the ancient trade route, and seeing as though the Jews were amongst the greatest traders – they came to Morocco at the time of the Second Temple in the 2^nd century B.C.  They settled in small villages, predating Israel 600-800 years.

               Erfoud was the birthplace of Rabbi Eliyahu Shitrit of Saloniki, Greece…oh, how this year is inextricably interwoven.  After stopping in Erfoud, we took a 45 minute jeep ride to our final destination. The ride was nice and bumpy on the rocky sand on the outskirts of the Saharra. 

Merzouga—on the edge of the Saharra

               We ate a delicious dinner at around 8:30, and I went to sleep at 9:30 because I still felt sick.  Although the resort hotel was magnificent and the bed was comfortable, I was so achy that I did not have the best night’s worth of sleep.

Merzouga

Thursday, January 9, 2014

 I woke up at 5 AM in pain, but I really did not want to miss the camel ride and sunrise in the Sahara Desert on Kivunim.  The Erg Chebbi dunes are famous for their great height and size; they can rise up to almost 500 feet (50 stories!) high in some place, are 13.5 miles long and 5 miles wide.  They are rolling dunes that you would see in movies, and we had the opportunity to see the magic found outside among the vastness of the morning desert.

               I went to the reception room with my roommate Nina and we waited for more people to show up.  I still did not know if I would have the energy or composure to go out and ride a camel, but my wonderful Arabic teacher Amal helped me feel better and got me some freshly squeezed orange juice.  My RA Gabi got me some Tylenol and a throat soothing candy because my symptoms were a sore throat, a migraine, and soreness.  My roommate from Israel, Lilly, was sitting next to me with a cat in her lap (she is in love with cats and I think she is a brilliant cat whisperer), and she and Nina were taking wonderful care of me.  Lilly’s rationale was that I would get better quicker if I did not go, but my other friend Bri (she danced in high school like me) encouraged me to push through it because I would only get this unique experience with my Kivunim family once! This whole situation reminded me of dancing on stage for my dance recital after a week of being quarantined in my house with the swine flu—when you’re sick but have to perform, your adrenaline kicks in and you dance well.  The same goes for this experience I concluded—my adrenaline would kick in.

               I ultimately decided to go and I walked to the camels in the pitch black on the sand dunes.  At first I was nervous that I would be getting on/riding a camel without being able to see anything, but I quickly realized the positives to do this:

1)      I did not realize that I was pretty high up

2)      The streaks of color entering the dark morning sky created these beautiful human/camel silhouettes.

               I held on to the handle on the camel tightly and a student named Paul was in back of me with my Kivunim director, Jay, in the front.  We went up and down sand dunes, and when we arrived at a tall sand dune mound people went up to it to see the sunrise and to pray if they so wished.  I could not get up there all the way (plus it was not a good idea to exert too much energy), so my Bedouin/Berber camel puller held my hand going up a smaller mound (it’s difficult to walk on the sand in the Sahara, but it is easy to sit on a camel and let it do the work), so I am glad I ended up going.  Michal, my roommate from Israel, hung out with me and the Berber guy, and she started talking to him in French—it was awesome!  Then we wrote our names in Arabic in the sand.  My friend Mackenzie and I laid in the sand and I fell asleep!  For a sick girl, it was a dream come true to nap in the breezy winter Sahara.  Then the Berber man walked me back home on the camel, and it was an incredible experience.  I am glad he became my friend.  He tried to sell Paul and me fossils, but I had no money for him.  Walking back to the hotel, another Berber man gave me a free camel stone.  Then I ate breakfast and took a nice warm shower…

A beautiful poem written by a fellow Kivunim student of mine while meditating on the sand dunes:

Here I sit in the vast dunes of the Sahara. The sky is a beautiful mixture of fierce violet, endless pale blue, and a bright piercing orange more golden than the Dome of the Rock. The grains of seemingly fake sand sift smoothly through my dry, cracked fingers. The breeze sails calmly into my knotted, staticky curls. Against my cheek, the wind feels soft as velvet. The curves of the dunes skate left and right with purpose and ease. The whirlwind inside of me makes my knees buckle and fall to the sand. The sand then forms a cushion around my legs making it much harder to decipher the difference between desert lumps and me. I am one with the sand. I am part of the magnificent beauty that exists in this world. מה רבו מעשיך ה׳ Never before has any line in the siddur been so applicable. How great are your works God! It's difficult to fathom how something so flawless can live on this earth among such disease and disaster. How could something as massively incredible as the waves of sand in the Sahara come about to begin with? There must be some greater force out there, because on this coordinate of the globe exists true magic. I am astounded by the importance of each particle of sand and how it contributes to the greater wonder. I breathe in deeply, allowing the early morning air to enter and enrich my being. I feel my muscles relax into the surrounding sand as I slowly exhale. This right here is serenity. מה רבו מעשיך ה׳!

Then we took jeeps again that drove us away from the edge of the Sahara Desert.  I was in a jeep with Noah, Sean, and Nina, and Noah and Sean decide to stick their heads and bodies out the window so they got a super amazing experience feeling the wind current against their skin in Morocco.

The sand dunes in the desert...can you imagine when this place was filled with ocean water as opposed to desert land?

ON THE ROAD

               When we left for our day bus ride, I was on the sick quarantined mini bus (there were 4 others who had the same symptoms as me.  We stopped at a Jewish graveyard:

“The most unexpected we will find shrines to venerated Rabbis, known by the honorific ‘Baba’ [Arabic father; holy man] where both Jews and Muslims come to pray and ask special favors of the Divine in times of illness and needs.  It is quite remarkable to see Jewish graveyards and within them graves of honored rabbis being cared for in a world completely bereft of Jews.”

~KIVUNIM Itinerary

               When we stopped for our routinely travel picnic lunch, a Berber worker at the lunch stop gave me free tea—he was so sweet, and he told me to let him know if I wanted anything else.  I also got a free present for my brother, a coca cola bottle with an Arabic label…my brother loves labels from a marketing perspective, and not only that but he loves loves loves Coca Cola, especially out of a glass bottle!

Telouet-Home of The Kasbah (fortress) of the Glaoui brothers

               Once we got into the high Atlas Mountains region, we took a big jeep up the mountainous region to Telouet.  It was dark when we were going up the mountain, so we could not see how high we were but we could tell that we were driving next to a cliff.  The route resembled a spiral going up , and it was nice and bouncy! In the back row with me was some other sicklings, Tamar, Mikey, and Lila.  When we finally arrived to the village, we were welcomed by Berber men with gafir on their heads and Berber women in Moroccan costume because tonight we would be entertained by local tribal dancing.  We would be seeing and feeling “the powerful influence of Black African slaves brought here by the sultan over the centuries.  Berber Ahouch or Ahwash dance is part of Moroccan Berber culture and folklore…The word ‘Ahouach’ means group dances in Berber, dances related to one another, poetic improvisation, individual and group singing in Tashelhit, through rhythms alternating from slow to fast” (KIVUNIM Itinerary) The stars and constellations were absolutely spectacular, and we went into the Auberges (inns), which would be our home for the night. Kivunim’s business brings 1/3 of inn’s yearly income which shows the significance of our relationship with the Berber village.

               The inn was super comfy even though it was cold outside, and the room we would be sleeping in reminded me of the mattresses and tents in the Bedouin village, the Breema shack, and the Adulam hut house I have stayed in so far this year.  The Berbers made up the beds so thoughtfully, and the 33 girls plus Gabi and Amal in a room with a furnace!

               Jay, Raphy, and Peter called in a Berber physician to check on the sicklings.  I felt very connected to my ancient roots because a village healer was coming to diagnose me with whatever sickness I had.  It was a very unique experience going to the doctor on top of the Atlas Mountains!  The physician was not dressed in any physician’s outfit like a doctor in America would be dressed in, and he as wearing a sweatshirt and jeans.  The doctor checked our blood pressure, temperature, and stuck the disinfected handle part of a silverware fork in our mouths to check our tonsils.  He concluded that Saul, Mikey, Bri, Tamar, and I all had infected tonsils with a fever, so he gave us antibiotics that we would be taking twice a day for five day.  We had soup for dinner, and the sicklings added a dissolving tablet to our water that made it fizz up. 

               Then we went across the street to go to the Berber tent for the Berber tribal dancing.  Peter told the sick people that they could sleep and get some extra rest, but Bri and I being dancers and all, were determined to have this unique experience!  The Berber women were dancing and singing in a semicircle.  Kivunim girls also joined in the circle to learn the dance moves.  The men were in the middle with the drums, and you could tell how passionate the villagers were.  They served us tea too, giving us such nice hospitality!  It is so inspiring how on Kivunim we encounter such primitive people who live lives like our ancient ancestors did.

               I went over to the Berber children and used body language to communicate.  I said “Ismi Genna” and “Shu Ismak” to try and learn their names.  They don’t know the same Arabic dialect that I am learning this year, but they were still able to make out that I wanted to know their names.  I ended up using the international Arabic keyboard so they could write out their names in Arabic for me.  I love the smiles I was able to bring to their faces and I love the concept of human connection.

               Then I got a lot of energy and dance all over with my friend Bri and others.  A very young Berber boy taught me a clapping sequence, and it was fun to dance with him.  I was happy that I went to the cultural experience, and after I slept in the sick corner with Jana, Bri, Tamar, and Lila.  I slept all bundled up with my coat on and blankets!

Friday, January 10, 2014

Telouet

               So we woke up around 8:00 and Peter told us that we would not be going to the village school and the Kasbah (village’s ancient fortress) as previously planned, because we would be snowed in for Shabbat if we stayed any longer.  Nonetheless, the villagers were thankful and thought that the presence of Kivunim brought luck and precipitation to Morocco’s land.  The King supposedly announced on the radio that precipitation was long overdue, so maybe we were a lucky charm.  After the schoolmaster came and we gave him all the toys and school supplies we brought with us, we returned to the jeeps for what would be a long trek down the Telouet mountain.  Bri and I were talking up a storm in the inn about our home friends (dance and school), and so we understandably missed most of the jeeps so were put in the last jeep group aside from Peter and Raphy.

               So our journey…

               Or jeep family started with Bri, Tamar, Jay and I being shoved in what seemed like a military van.  In the front were Thalia, Hadrielle, Rachel, Alex, and Jana.  It was snowing immensely outside, and the first 10-15 minutes went pretty smoothly (well for a 4-wheel drive slipping down a mountain), because we kept getting stuck after that until the bus finally shut down.  It’s crazy how a few days ago we were in tropical Casablanca, and today we were struggling to get down a snow-capped mountain.  Jay and I noticed people (Berbers) walking up the mountain, and I asked him what he thought they were doing; he said they are living in the elements.  This was an ironic observation because who would have ever thought that 15 minutes later we would be seeing 14 Kivunum students and Gabi stranded on the mountain since their jeep broke down.  They had to walk 1.5 miles in the snow for 30-50 minutes with limited snow clothes on until they arrived at the bus. 

PROGRESSION OF THE TREK DOWN AND INSIDE JOKES:

• The Hunger Games-would we survive driving in the snow next to the cliffs?
• Our bus’ back wheel fell off so Raphy (who was in back of us), called the police
• While waiting we were calm and had a music jam session
• The car that came to our rescue tried towing the car with us in it by tying a string to his vehicle.  Hadrielle said “we’re a camel behind another camel”—that was a hilarious remark.
• Once the vehicle tried to tow us with the string, the string connector instantly broke… so what was hilarious about this was that they tried to tie the cars together again with the string after the first attempt failed.
• Then Jay spotted smoke coming out from behind his seat because the rubber was burning—so Raphy’s order to us was to get out!
• We all eventually got into the new vehicle.  There was no windshield wiper, so after the front mirror got snowed on, the driver would stop the jeep to clean it off.  He was also driving with his head out the side window.
• All of a sudden we find Celia, Gabi, Perrie, Nina and Lexi walking down the mountain.  We unfortunately had no more possible room in our truck after that.  It was so sad passing Kivunim people that we could not pick up, and it really set my priorities straight for what I should be appreciative for in life.
• 1.5 hours later we made it down (Allhmdllah...Thank goodness!)

               We took another 10-12 hour bus ride today because the side of the mountain we were supposed to go on was blocked by snow.  We therefore went all the way around the other side of the mountain, and that added about 8 hours to the trip originally scheduled to be 2 hours.  There was absolutely beautiful scenery nonetheless...and it was cool to see the Atlas mountains from many different sides. We finally arrived in the hotel in Merrakesh at 11:40 PM.  We ate dinner, said Kaddish, and then I went to sleep!

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Marrakesh

               We woke up around 9:00 and had breakfast before leaving for shul at 9:45.  It was the first synagogue here built up outside the mellah after the Vichy regime left and Morocco became an independent country.  The King did not have to submit to any other power now and wanted the Jews to have freedom to put their synagogue in places that they wished to.  This shul was built by a family who took an ark from a synagogue in the mellah luckily and coincidentally one day before an unexpected fire destroyed the shul.  The ark is a few hundred years old and all the aesthetic work on it was handmade.  The mehitzah separating the girls from the boys was very small and was like an iron-crossed window, so it was hard to hear/see what was going on.  This year girls are often confronted with this difficult experience of being behind a mehitzah, because traditional Judaism is different in some places globally than it is the way we were brought up praying.

               After services when we went into the actual synagogue room, I realized how different it looked than what I imagined it to be from the other side.  During the service the rabbi would speak in a Judeo-Arabic dialect with French intertwined.  It is so cool how within the Moroccan Jewish community they can speak three different languages and mush them together into conversation.

               After this, I met a Jewish 25-year old woman from Brazil who was stopped by Morocco to visit her Moroccan friend before visiting Israel.  Her parents were exiled from Egypt in 1956 and she loves Jewish education regarding the Diaspora.

               We were then free for a few hours after having lunch on the roof.  Michal, Celia, Devorah and I went right outside the medina to explore the park and a mosque, followed by shopping.  Then we had a session with Peter about 1) the Parasha of the week in which we discussed whether Pharaoh’s hardening heart was caused by his own free will or by God.  And 2) we recognized that King’s Day was approaching and that free action vs. free thought was an important concept to ponder.  People gave very intellectual answers, and the questions asked were deep.  Part of Kivunim is learning how to ask profound questions that can lead to scholarly quests to further our knowledge about the world in which we live.

               Then for dinner we went to a traditional Muslim family’s home for dinner.  Jamal has opened his house up to Peter and Kivunim since 2005, and he has enjoyed learning more about Jewish customs and traditions through the years.  We were delighted to hold our Havdalah ceremony in their lounge area, and following that we had a cooking lesson by Jamal’s wife, with silly Raphy as the translator.  Then we had dinner and a Henna party.

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Merrakesh

               First we went to the Jewish Quarter and to the synagogue.  The Jewish Quarter was created in the 14^th century and at its peak there were 31,000 Jews.  The gates were only closed Shabbat.  While we walked through the Quarter, we saw spices for cooking and for witchcraft.  The souks here would tell fortunes and give people herbs.

               The synagogue: Mizrahi Jews came to build the synagogue.  A little child showed us the synagogue and said Shabbat Shalom.  Peter told us that a different time a kid walked Kivunim there and said that his grandfather told him that he was living in the home that Jews used to live in.  After the synagogue, we went to the King’s old palace and continued spending our day in the heart of Marrakesh.  There was beautiful mosaic all over the palace and it was a big place to walk around.

               From a guidebook quoted on Kivunim’s itinerary: “Bustling, labyrinthine and shrouded in shadows, the souks of Marrakesh offer the city’s most fascinating sights.” ~KIVUNIM Itinerary

               We also passed by the Ben Youssef Mousque at the northern end of the souks.  In the famous square we saw a monkey on a chain which was really sad.  We also saw many Moroccan men dancing.  They make you pay to get a picture with them, but I managed to dance with them and get a picture for free.  I love the spirit of Merrakesh; it is so mystical and the entertainment here is very fun and exotic.  

               Some facts about Merraksh:

It comes from a Berber phrase “come and go.”  The square was/is a popular space for people to go and shop.  It used to be a slave and women market which is definitely unsettling but I am glad I was informed of the square’s past history because I think a large aspect of Kivunim is knowing from where something comes from, it’s past and its present state.  The new town of Merrakesh was built by the French in 1912.  The mosque by the square was built in the 12^th century, and it is the highest minaret in Merrakesh.  The three other minaret are in Rabat, Meknes, and Cordoba (in Spain).

               When we entered the medina after a pizza lunch, we went to a spice souk shop.  Merrakesh is the capital for spices.  Saffron is the king of spices. It was so cool and I bought green henna lipstick (turns pink on your lips), rose hand cream, Moroccan oil, and Egyptian coal eyeliner for momma.  The place was set up like a pharmacy and the sales person was so effective at convincing us to buy the products.  I also received a five minute massage—it was lovely.

               After this, we had free time to shop around the medina, and Mackenzie and I went to purchase a scarf and then we sat out a café with Gabi and Nina.  I got a good latte!  We went up on a roof and saw a beautiful panoramic view of the square.  We also saw acrobats, and I gave them some money!  I also love seeing the horses and carriage riding around town, and it is definitely on my bucket list to go on one around Merrakesh if I ever come back.  

               Tonight we went to an amazing restaurant with magnificent Mimouna club members.  There was also belly dancing, and I went up to do it.  Talking to the Mimouna club member at our table, I learned a lot.  The girl’s name was Sanaa Etolli.  She loves Morocco but feels like she has too many identities: French, German, Moroccan, and Berber.  She is a businesswoman for SWISS International.  She has a beautiful necklace that has been passed down through her family.  It has a prayer for good fortune written on it in a mix of the Hebrew and Berber languages.  It represents how Jews and Berbers used to live together—what an absolutely beautiful pendant.  It was so interesting to learn her story.

Monday, January 13, 2014

ON THE ROAD to Essaouira

               Today we are driving to the Atlantic coast for a day of relaxation.  We just went to a supermarket.  It was fun to frolic around a Moroccan supermarket, and Kivunim students played soccer outside before we left to continue traveling.

               We would have a lot of free time to explore the rampart and port where we could watch fisherman working on their trade.

               Also during out drive we saw goats in Argon trees, and a donkey resembling Petal from Adulam Farm, was sitting under the tree watching over the goats (or I guess you can say physically under the goats)! There was also a man holding a baby goat—it was a glorious sight!

Essaouira

               We visited the Jewish cemetery and the synagogue.  Essaouira is known to many as Mogador because it was colonized by Portuguese and Spanish people and this is the name they gave to the port.  “As a port city Jews actually held much of the trade and economy of the port, the latter providing 40% of all trade on the Atlantic coast between Tirhbuktu and Europe.  The traded good consisted mostly of ostrich feathers, gold dust, salt, ivory, slaves, etc…The most important Moroccan Jewish merchant families from Tangier, Agadir, Marrakesh, and parts of northern Morocco were recruited by the sultan to take charge of developing trade activity and relations in Mogado vis-à-vis Europe.” ~KIVUNIM Itinerary

               The French changed Mogador to Essaouira in 1912 because they did not want the Portuguese name.  There were 41,000 Jews here at one point, while the population of Muslims was 10,000.  This percentage of Jews is even more than the Jewish majority percentage in Thessaloniki.  The Portuguese colonized places outside of their main land because they wanted to use their colonies to make more profit.  Jews had business contacts with other parts of the world, so they ran the trade market here—they were international traders and Jewish commerce was prevalent on a global scale. 

               Today is also King’s Day, so we rang a Tibetan bell, and we were a voice in Africa—we rang the bell of freedom in commemoration of the special day.  As Martin Luther King, Jr. would say, “LET FREEDOM RING!”

               After this we went to the rampart and the medina and had a lot of time to shop around after exploring the rampart overlooking the ocean!  We ate delicious seafood for dinner.

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Arazane

Going to Arazane was probably one of my most vivid experiences on this trip.  Visiting an adobe synagogue claimed to be 850 years old, and meeting Harim, an 85-year old man who was entrusted by the rabbi to keep the synagogue’s key, has retained Arazane’s connection to their past Jewish heritage and neighbors.  Also seeing the hospitable Muslim kids made me so happy, and they had an innocent curiosity to follow us to the synagogue and learn of our intentions to visit their village.  We went into the adobe synagogue and all squeezed ourselves into the tiny space, yet were still super comfortable and felt attached to our ancient, eternal roots.  We brought a myriad of voices into the sacred space, and adding unique voices into the earthly air reminds me of the mosaic of faces found in the river in the novel Siddhartha.  We sang Tov Lehodot and Ana B’koach, while Harim also chanted something to us in Hebrew that he has remembered after all these years.  He also said “Shalom” and “Mazal Tov.” It was super inspiring hearing a Muslim man remembering and preserving the Jewish tradition in Arazane, and his past friendship with the Jews and covenant to the rabbi and the synagogue speaks so much for the concept of coexistence itself.  We also saw a beautiful ancient mikveh bath, and then were welcomed onto yoga mats with an offer of sweet tea.  We took a picture with Harim, and I shook his hand delicately to send him my appreciation, for I knew that although we do not speak the same language, human touch speaks louder than words.

               We then drove along the water to our final destination of the day, and driving in the present time after we walked through our ancient Jewish past represents the eternal beauty and seemingly contradictory yet purely complementary elements found throughout this trip.

Taroudant

               We spent the rest of the day (it is also Prophet Mohammed’s birthday), in Taroudant, and we visited the Medina.  Then we had some free time, ate dinner, and ended the evening with a reflection session.

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Casablanca

      We spent a day on the road to travel back to Casablanca, where we would be staying for one last night in Morocco.  We had some free time once we got to the hotel, and then for dinner we went to another Jewish club for dinner.  It was also Tu B'shvat so we had a small seder for that, and we also met the founder of the Mimouna Club, who has just received a degree from Brandeis University!! It was a nice night, and then I got a lot of sleep before traveling the next day.