Pesach is quickly approaching. For me this is a time of clean out and letting go.
This week our house did major cleaning. The fridge is quite a site! You can actually see the shelves!!! The five containers of humus are no longer.
We also received a magically box from the HolyLand. Filled with the artistry of Emmanuel, a wonderful graduate of Betzalel School in Jerusalem. For me, the box felt like a piece of Israel, arriving to bring beauty into our home. Thanks Morris!
Boston is fluttering between Spring and Winter, sunglasses and raincoats. Soon we hope for warm weather, but in the meantime, we dress accordingly.
Tonight is the night of the first seder. I look forward to sitting down, reciting the tale of our people's journey from slavery to freedom. I hope I can really see myself as coming out of Egypt. With this vision, I pray to become even more dedicated to all the work left to do in the world, so that everyone can sing their freedom songs!
See you at the Reed Sea! Alyson
Monday, April 2, 2007
Search for Hametz...mission accomplished
Never in my life have I spent so much time or laughed so much in the dark and with three candles. The boys of Moishe House Montevideo turned all the lights off, and searched every nook and crany for hametz in our house. It was a futile search as we had spent the previous 5 hours cleaning and throwing away all the crap in the fridge. After the little search was over we said a prayer declaring that we had NO bread products or flour except in Roi's butt crack.
The night before that was Abraham's wedding where we partied hard. The tequila flowed like Niagra falls (becuase he's Mexican), all the ladies and gents were looking snazy, and the Mariachi band was "en fuego." It was one of the best nights EVER capped off by the crew trying to get the 350 lbs "Bomba" into the air (not so successful). Also Abraham's cousin Ester was very cute.
Finally the end of March caps of the building of 9 houses through Moishe House and Un Techo Para Uruguay. It is amazing that in this time of afflicting for the Jewish people, we are taught to give even the little that we have, weather that be our time, money or effort. Now through our construction, we can know that 9 families will have a roof and that we acted as a catalyst for their upward mobility and pride.
Wine, Kugel, and Strawberries..oh my
The highlight of our month was the huge Friday night Potluck dinner that we had last week. I spent the previous week buying ridiculous amounts of food, as well as folding chairs at Walmart in preparation for the dinner. Honestly, I was a bit worried that this will turn out to be a small and quiet meal, and that the folding chairs will remain stacked against the wall. My skepticism persisted even at the shul that night. No more people came to services that on any regular Friday night; even the rabbi was away that week, and people seemed like they were just going about their routine. Turned out, the shul�s attendance was a no-good indicator of how well our dinner would turn out. Right at the advertised time, people started coming, carrying wine, Dunkin Donuts munchkins, trays of strawberries, kugel, and their pets. Most of them were a few years older than us, but I guess after a certain age, you can�t tell the difference, and also it does not really matter. The dinner was in words of Borat, �a grreat success.� All the meatballs, deli roll, salads, everything was gone in about 2 hours. Of the 7 bottles of wine that the guests brought, only two remained, by virtue of being not kosher. The most important thing however, is that people did have a good time. That means they are coming back with more wine, kugel and strawberries. And that means Moishe House Jersey is here to stay. eugene- Hoboken
Another Month another adventure
Hey Comrades
So the house in Cape Town has been buzzing. We had a massive event on Friday past which saw dozens of people coming to chill at our house with Nargilah and other goodies. We have had lots of guests over for our Wednesday Pasta which turned from Mushroom to tomato due to the fact that people would die from mushroom poisoning if they kept on having the same meal.
Living with the other 4 house mates is amazing. You feel an organic sense of growth in the group as you start to become better friends, sharing more about yourself and how you feel as things develope.
Holidays from University started today, thank god, but more work awaits so it wont be as relaxing as what is needed. Recently some settlers decided to occupy a house bang in the middle of Hebron, and as usual dozens of soldiers now surround this house to protect the settlers and especially the Palestinians from being abused. Now this house does not fall within the normal settlement block found in Hebron1. This house, if the settlers are not removed in 30 days, will make the Palestinians lives more of a living hell as the 'facts on the ground' become even more permanent. This means that the lives of 100,000's of Palestinians will have to be rerouted and stopped for this 1 house of religious zealots who are motivated by an extreme sense of ethnic superiority which turns violent through its fundamentalist approach to ideology. With so much good happening in the name of Jews (such as Moishe House), its such a pity that so much wrong is happening at the same time.
Otherwise Iim really looking forward to our massive "3rd Seder." As the name says it will 3rd seder for all those Jews who want to look at this amazing festival in more relevant, cultural and moral terms for today. The theme of freedom is something amazing that should always be commemorated with like minded Jews in todays world context. Thats it from me. Keep well all you Moishe Housniks and have a great pesach.
Aleh,
Strauss (Moishe House Cape Town)
So the house in Cape Town has been buzzing. We had a massive event on Friday past which saw dozens of people coming to chill at our house with Nargilah and other goodies. We have had lots of guests over for our Wednesday Pasta which turned from Mushroom to tomato due to the fact that people would die from mushroom poisoning if they kept on having the same meal.
Living with the other 4 house mates is amazing. You feel an organic sense of growth in the group as you start to become better friends, sharing more about yourself and how you feel as things develope.
Holidays from University started today, thank god, but more work awaits so it wont be as relaxing as what is needed. Recently some settlers decided to occupy a house bang in the middle of Hebron, and as usual dozens of soldiers now surround this house to protect the settlers and especially the Palestinians from being abused. Now this house does not fall within the normal settlement block found in Hebron1. This house, if the settlers are not removed in 30 days, will make the Palestinians lives more of a living hell as the 'facts on the ground' become even more permanent. This means that the lives of 100,000's of Palestinians will have to be rerouted and stopped for this 1 house of religious zealots who are motivated by an extreme sense of ethnic superiority which turns violent through its fundamentalist approach to ideology. With so much good happening in the name of Jews (such as Moishe House), its such a pity that so much wrong is happening at the same time.
Otherwise Iim really looking forward to our massive "3rd Seder." As the name says it will 3rd seder for all those Jews who want to look at this amazing festival in more relevant, cultural and moral terms for today. The theme of freedom is something amazing that should always be commemorated with like minded Jews in todays world context. Thats it from me. Keep well all you Moishe Housniks and have a great pesach.
Aleh,
Strauss (Moishe House Cape Town)
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Lousy Smarch Weather
Here I sit, friends,in front of a computer. I know, I know...you're getting nervous. Don't worry, I'll keep this G-rated.
Well, hmm...I think we can all agree: that was a random introductory paragraph.
So let me really get started by saying that we're looking for a couple of new housemates here at Moishe House Boston. Alyson's leaving us for Eretz Yisrael, and Ari is continuing his critical public health work in Mali, so Margie and I are beginning to feel very sad. Now, I'm not posting any farewells yet, since we've got another two months with our awesome roomies, but they're gonna be a hard act to follow. Still, I wanted to stick this up here: if anyone out there in the greater Moishe-land knows of good folks in or around Massachusetts who might want to help keep this awesome community growing, send 'em our way. We've got some good prospects here in Boston, but we're like the Marines...Semper Fi. I mean, we're like the Marines: the few, the proud...er, the Marines. Never mind. All I'm saying is we want folks who are as awesome as those leaving us (if that's even possible!) to come join us in this grand adventure.
Just so you know what I mean, this past month we rocked out with some Ma'aseh Breishit (props to Alyson), kept that love going with a little bit more Beit Midrash (Margie Klein, where ya at?), and had the sort of Shabbats that would have made the Ramban go, "From the window, to the wall!" (well, maybe not, but Ari and his team definitely made the love flow.) Me? Just trying to keep on this social justice tip -- making some noise with GBIO over at the Statehouse, helpinng throw down with a sweet Labor Seder, and you know we're just getting started.
So stay tuned, and send your friends our way. This party ain't done by a long shot.
PEACE.
Well, hmm...I think we can all agree: that was a random introductory paragraph.
So let me really get started by saying that we're looking for a couple of new housemates here at Moishe House Boston. Alyson's leaving us for Eretz Yisrael, and Ari is continuing his critical public health work in Mali, so Margie and I are beginning to feel very sad. Now, I'm not posting any farewells yet, since we've got another two months with our awesome roomies, but they're gonna be a hard act to follow. Still, I wanted to stick this up here: if anyone out there in the greater Moishe-land knows of good folks in or around Massachusetts who might want to help keep this awesome community growing, send 'em our way. We've got some good prospects here in Boston, but we're like the Marines...Semper Fi. I mean, we're like the Marines: the few, the proud...er, the Marines. Never mind. All I'm saying is we want folks who are as awesome as those leaving us (if that's even possible!) to come join us in this grand adventure.
Just so you know what I mean, this past month we rocked out with some Ma'aseh Breishit (props to Alyson), kept that love going with a little bit more Beit Midrash (Margie Klein, where ya at?), and had the sort of Shabbats that would have made the Ramban go, "From the window, to the wall!" (well, maybe not, but Ari and his team definitely made the love flow.) Me? Just trying to keep on this social justice tip -- making some noise with GBIO over at the Statehouse, helpinng throw down with a sweet Labor Seder, and you know we're just getting started.
So stay tuned, and send your friends our way. This party ain't done by a long shot.
PEACE.
happy matzah week
so varsity vac (and by vac i mean study break) has just started, and after a hectic couple of weeks i think we all need the holiday quite badly. it's weird, but this past week i saw so little of some of the house mates, that you'd think we weren't actually living together! It's because the University of Cape Town feels the need to squeeze all tests and assignments into one week in an attempt to stress us out as much as possible and perhaps even cause a couple of nervous breakdowns. We all made it through the week relatively unscathed though, and i've managed to have some one on one time with a few of the guys that i hadn't seen too much of. I think most of us have just decided to chill and recover for a while after the past couple of days, so that's quite nice.
And what's also nice is that i've recently discovered the joys of watching movies on my computer, so i've kinda become a bit addicted to that. It's great for when you're tired but can't quite fall asleep, so you just put on a movie and watch it until you pass out. I very recently watched "Napoleon Dynamite", which i thought was really good!! It still sucks not having internet though, cos it makes things like my Moishe house blog and keeping in touch with people via email very difficult. But of course we're trying to get it sorted out.
I actually just spoke to my brother on skype though, which was awesome! He's on a gap year programme in israel, and i hadn't spoken to him for like 3 weeks so it was very cool to hear from him. He sounds like he's doing well, so that's good. and also he just bought a bicycle... he's always been a rather strange child... I've been checking out his photos on facebook though, and it seems like he's having an amazing time!
Ok, so what else has happened this month? There's been so much going on, but i'll try think of some of the important things. Living in the house has been great! Well, to be honest, my room's a bit of a mess at the moment, but i've vowed that now that it's the holidays i will make an effort to clean it! And anyway, i kinda like it being a bit of mess - it sort of gives it the "lived in" look. Although i must admit that at the moment it looks a little bit too lived in! :/
Varsity is going well, although i've been oversleeping more often that i would like to, and we've had some amazing events at the house! I've even met some pretty cool new people, which is one of my favourite hobbies :)
so i think i'll end off here, it seems like a good time for a movie on my computer. maybe i'll even make some popcorn, or perhaps guzzle a couple of slices of bread before pesach begins. mmm, matzah...
so cheppy pesach to all
much love and kneidlach :)
em
And what's also nice is that i've recently discovered the joys of watching movies on my computer, so i've kinda become a bit addicted to that. It's great for when you're tired but can't quite fall asleep, so you just put on a movie and watch it until you pass out. I very recently watched "Napoleon Dynamite", which i thought was really good!! It still sucks not having internet though, cos it makes things like my Moishe house blog and keeping in touch with people via email very difficult. But of course we're trying to get it sorted out.
I actually just spoke to my brother on skype though, which was awesome! He's on a gap year programme in israel, and i hadn't spoken to him for like 3 weeks so it was very cool to hear from him. He sounds like he's doing well, so that's good. and also he just bought a bicycle... he's always been a rather strange child... I've been checking out his photos on facebook though, and it seems like he's having an amazing time!
Ok, so what else has happened this month? There's been so much going on, but i'll try think of some of the important things. Living in the house has been great! Well, to be honest, my room's a bit of a mess at the moment, but i've vowed that now that it's the holidays i will make an effort to clean it! And anyway, i kinda like it being a bit of mess - it sort of gives it the "lived in" look. Although i must admit that at the moment it looks a little bit too lived in! :/
Varsity is going well, although i've been oversleeping more often that i would like to, and we've had some amazing events at the house! I've even met some pretty cool new people, which is one of my favourite hobbies :)
so i think i'll end off here, it seems like a good time for a movie on my computer. maybe i'll even make some popcorn, or perhaps guzzle a couple of slices of bread before pesach begins. mmm, matzah...
so cheppy pesach to all
much love and kneidlach :)
em
Howdy Doodle House-a-reenoes
Hey guys,
So this has been such a great month for me. I'm really starting to feel established and adapted to living with these crazy nutters i call house mates.
The big achievements so far have been:
When i conquered the washing machine and final forced it to do my bidding. March the 14th will always be known as the day of clean socks from now on.
When we ran an incredible event about Israel and Israeli politicians...I'm still blown away about the whole Lebonon war planning.
Celebrating St. Patricks day. This was one of the funnest nights I've had in such a long time. It was such a pleasure spending good quality time with good people.
We still have a bit of problems with the house, we decided to do something called Kupa. A Kupa is a communal money pot. The idea behind it is to express some values of togetherness and equality and pool our money together to buy things for the house. At the moment, the Kupa only covers food, toiletries and essentials for the house. At every house meeting we talk about how well we feel we're handling the Kupa, and Daniel Barnett (he's our "Gizbar", which means accountant) gives us updates. Ideally the Kupa will grow a bit bigger and will include ALL of our expenses and not just essentials.
As you can guess, a Kupa is great for bringing a group together but also very difficult, it's easy to have fights with people when you think they're buying stuff unneccesarily. So far no arguments have happened, but last week, Barnett and I had a massive argument on how to best document all the payments. A few hours later, we spoke and came to a cool compromise and apologised for any harshness that came up during theargument.
Otherwise life in Moishe House South Africa is sweet...
Kev Sack
So this has been such a great month for me. I'm really starting to feel established and adapted to living with these crazy nutters i call house mates.
The big achievements so far have been:
When i conquered the washing machine and final forced it to do my bidding. March the 14th will always be known as the day of clean socks from now on.
When we ran an incredible event about Israel and Israeli politicians...I'm still blown away about the whole Lebonon war planning.
Celebrating St. Patricks day. This was one of the funnest nights I've had in such a long time. It was such a pleasure spending good quality time with good people.
We still have a bit of problems with the house, we decided to do something called Kupa. A Kupa is a communal money pot. The idea behind it is to express some values of togetherness and equality and pool our money together to buy things for the house. At the moment, the Kupa only covers food, toiletries and essentials for the house. At every house meeting we talk about how well we feel we're handling the Kupa, and Daniel Barnett (he's our "Gizbar", which means accountant) gives us updates. Ideally the Kupa will grow a bit bigger and will include ALL of our expenses and not just essentials.
As you can guess, a Kupa is great for bringing a group together but also very difficult, it's easy to have fights with people when you think they're buying stuff unneccesarily. So far no arguments have happened, but last week, Barnett and I had a massive argument on how to best document all the payments. A few hours later, we spoke and came to a cool compromise and apologised for any harshness that came up during theargument.
Otherwise life in Moishe House South Africa is sweet...
Kev Sack
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