MHLA Lee Levin, April 08

Alright kiddos

Passover

Bball

Poker

BBQ

It's spring time and I want to party and learn some Hebrew with dave. Check out our events this month they are gonna rock.

Lee

4/4/08 New House Experiences

So we are all moved into our new LA Moishe House complete with jacuzzi and back room for Poker Night!!! We kicked off our first month here with some poker nights and an awesome Purim costume party complete with a Superhero theme. I really wanted to do Aqua Teen Hunger Force with the other roommate but it just wasn't happening. So I eventually settled for Vemon, you know the evil version of Spiderman. Anyhow, I looked a little silly in my costume......kinda like an overgrown child going trick or treating but it was all in the name of fun. We even had a couple show up dressed as hamentashens!!! Check out our Phanfare section for great shots of the variety of costumes.
~Dave MHLA

Let the good times March on!

March seemed like a month-long celebration at Moishe House Montevideo. We hosted two big parties for visiting Alternative Spring Break groups brought down by Hillel Uruguay, three Purim events, a farewell party for Maia and her family, who just made Aliyah, and a congratulations party for Pato, who won the Kehila's Tanach knowledge competition and the grand prize of a free trip to Israel.

The ASB groups from the U.S. had a great time getting to know Montevideo and helping out by building emergency houses for impoverished families living in shanty towns on the outskirts. We were happy to reward their hard work with festivities at the Moishe House, and they had a ball hanging out and dancing all night on our awesome roof. For me, it was real fun to be able to sing along with someone to American songs again, seeing as how normally I only hear Cumbia and Reggaeton down here and I never know any of the words.

We did a good job extending Purim celebrations as long as possible, which was fine by everyone! We kicked off the festivities over a week early, hosting a party for the B'nei Akiva kids. Then we spent the night before Purim decorating the synagogue at Yavne, which made the atmosphere much more festive the next day at the Megilah reading. Then a week later we co-sponsored the biggest Purim party in Uruguay with Hillel. Almost 400 people came dressed in costume and danced the night away! You've gotta go check out the picks. http://moishehouse.phanfare.com/album/541556/832903#imageID=38778855

Maia was one of our regulars at Moishe House Montevideo. Had she moved anywhere besides Israel, it would have been much harder to say goodbye. It was still hard because we won't see her for awhile (for my roommates, until they move back to Israel, for me, until I visit!), but we're really happy for her and her family.

Pato is another regular, and he had spent months studying with Elkana for this Tanach competition. We were all proud of him for winning and had a fun time celebrating at Freddo, a delicious kosher ice cream parlor.

Now we're looking forward to Pesach and even more celebrations! I hope we're able to add just as much next month to local fesitivities. We're always trying to have fun down here! Until next time,

Jay Krefman

Silver Spring Alan eats too much food

We ate a lot, we cooked a lot, we brewed a lot, and now it's time to rest. Over March we hosted a number of special meals at MHSS without even realizing that that's all we were doing! Everyone enjoyed Southern Food Night, the Sushi- & Bagel-making, and especially the Homebrewing, but we realized we're gonna have to diversify again for next month. Check out our pictures from the great Purim party we threw with the help of Rachael's friend, professional DJ Phill!

Puuuurim and a lot m@re !!

b"h
Purim is already over??? here comes Pesach!!
Thank you Moishe House! Well that's a phrase that you could hear a lot this month in our house...
We had dinners with young people from around here, something that tho it seems to be an ordinary thing, not an event of 100 people, it has an effect on the people.. it's great!
talking about bigger events, we had 2 parties of groups of Americans that came for a week to Uruguay, to volunteer and know the place a little bit. all the program is produced by the Hillel organization, and it was fun to have them here.
Purim actually was the greatest event this month. we had parties starts from the party in the shill that we work there here in the community "Yavne", a Purim party for the kids of "Bney Akiva" in our house that was a success.. we setup the shill of "Yavne" until very late, with the help of some pizzas thank g-d, and Israeli visitors that we had here;
A family from the community did "Aliyah"- they went to Israel to live there, so we did a farewell party for one of their girls, hopefully that we'll all go to Israel soon Amen!
Two Shabbat dinners in Hillel for the American groups, some experience.. a lot of energy that night, no doubt..
One of the kids won a contest of the bible so he is going to Israel for the world contest.. Good luck Pato!!
I wish y'all a Kosher and happy Pesach!
Suerte!
Yonatan Yussim, Moishe House Montevideo, Uruguay.

David - MHSF - April 1st

This Sunday 13 brave young men will be venturing where many men have been before, though, none of us. San Quentin Prison. Under the guidance of our faithful leader, Mr. Ari Baruth, we will be taking our vast softball skills through the prtison gates, to one of the most well guarded fields anywhere in the world. I for one am extremely excited, and incredibly terified. Most of my life I do whatever I can to avoid putting myself in situations I consider to be dangerous or pants-wetting scarey. Now here I am 6 days away from walking into a scenario that is arguably both. When I think about it logically I know that these are just people like me, who for whatever reason have gotten caught up in a life that led them to this place. Under different circumstances these prisoners could be guys I grew up with, or me. They aren't "bad people". Secondcly, I also know that there will be a lot of people in charge of making sure that nothing happens to us during our 7 inning game. This has been done before, and they have no interest in having us walk into a situation where serious physical harm could be done to us.

More than anything I think that it is important for me to see at least a glimpse of what life is like for those serving long sentences in our penal system. With MILLIONS of Americans behind bars, and the numbers ever increasing, I think it is vital that what many men and woman go through on a daily basis in confinement be more than just a statistic. If anything I hope to gain a better appreciation for the life that I've been able to lead, and the freedoms I often take for granted. Wish me, and the rest of the Little Lebowski Urban Achievers, luck!

What the #$%& is Juice?

I'm going to Washington DC in a couple weeks for the National Leadership Conference for the Anti-Defamation League. I've become involved in the organization and I'm really enjoying learning more about it. The trip to DC will be an opportunity for everyone there to meet one another and to discuss different things that have happened in all the 30 cities where an ADL office exists. I'm going to be one of the younger, if not the youngest, person at the conference, and that always makes me feel weird. There's something about being young that resonates around a crowd, and it absolutely changes the dynamic. That does not really play out much in Moishe House events, at least in San Francisco, because at each event the age groups are consistently people in their 20's. It makes me wonder if a Moishe House would be successful if it were geared towards people in their 30's, or any sort of age group. There are Jewish youth groups for teens, but what about Moishe House alumni? Not just the people living in the homes, but the communities that were established. I think it could be a very successful venture, especially with providing an opportunity for young Jewish families with young kids to meet and socialize. Just an idea, and I thought I'd share...