A Tight-Knit Community

Throughout my life, I have always tried to remain integrated within the Jewish community. I attended Hebrew school and was involved in my synagogue until I went to college. In college, I went to Shabbat dinners at Chabad and networked with rabbis in the St. Louis community. As a recent graduate, I have chosen to spend the next year of my life living in Moishe House Philadelphia. While I am not religious, it is important for me to be connected to a tight-knit Jewish community. I feel that Moishe House provides exactly that.

I have only lived in the house for two months now and I am amazed at how close the Moishe House community truly is. At every event, I see people mingling, laughing, and having fun. I am constantly surprised that some of the guests at our events have never been to a Moishe House event or even met the other guests before, yet they seem to feel right at home in the Moishe House community. This is evidence that Moishe House provides a warm and hospitable community for all Jews in their twenties.

After spending the last four years in St. Louis, it was important for me to find a welcoming Jewish community like Moishe House. I am proud to say that I am now a part of the organization that provides this community for other Jews like me, who seek an inviting group with which they can spend holidays, learn about the religion, and have fun at social events. During my two months here, Moishe House Philadelphia has hosted a wide array of events, ranging from a large Jewish New Year celebration, called Apples ‘N Hunnies, to smaller, more intimate Shabbat potlucks each month. I am still learning about my responsibilities as a resident and adapting to life in Moishe House Philadelphia, but I am happy to say that I am now a part of a close-knit Jewish community.

Heather

Moishe House Philadelphia

The Key to Longevity

There are a few places where people live longer than anywhere else in the world. These include Okinawa (Japan), Ovodda (Sardinia), and, oddly, Loma Linda, California - all of which boast exceptional numbers of centurions (people who live to be over 100). Scientists have all kinds of theories about why this is, starting of course with the obvious; dietary habits, lifestyle, inbreeding (oh, those Sardinians!).

But the one that really stood out to me was Loma Linda - a seemingly normal California town - a place that obviously has the same food and culture as anywhere else in America. What do they have that the rest of us are missing?

The leading theory is that people there live longer for one reason: community. It happens that the 7th Day Adventist church in that particular area has brought a lot of people together, and members of that community simply live longer. Not only that, but a study done by Loma Linda University school of Public Health found that those who went to religious events and observed the Sabbath reported being happier and experiencing better mental health than those who did not.

Before I was asked to be a founding member of the new West LA Moishe House (Which officially opens next week), I was a big Moishe fan. When I moved to Los Angeles and was first feeling my way around, it was really comforting to know I could go to the house and would always be welcomed. And once I was there I never wanted to leave. I was not the only one who felt this way; sometimes the residents had to politely shoo people out because it was getting late and people just didn't want to go. I think they would have stayed the night if they could have.

I know many of us at this moment aren't really focused on longevity. Frankly, I'm a little more concerned with when to eat the second half of the chocolate chip cookie I started last night. But much of our happiness at any age depends on our sense of purpose and meaning. And so much of our purpose and meaning comes from the communities we align ourselves with. They have a profound impact on what we think, how we act, and how we feel.

This is what I have always admired most about those of you who are involved with Moishe House.  You have made the decision to open up your private homes and lives in order to fulfill that deep desire we all have for community; to create a shared sense of belonging and tradition, to learn and celebrate together, and to contribute to each others' success and well-being.

I'm honored to be a part of this community, and I know that the four of us who are opening our new home in West LA next week look forward to striving for the ideal that the rest of you exemplify so well. May we all live to be 100, and have plenty of time to sit around and recount our favorite Moishe House memories in the years to come. In the meantime, I'm going to go finish that cookie I started.

Moishe House East Bay Camping Shabbat

We’d been talking about planning a great camping trip for at least a year here at Moishe House East Bay, and we finally made it happen last weekend! We reserved a camping spot at beautiful Del Valle reservoir, located just outside Livermore. I’ve been going camping there for years, ever since I was about 11 years old, and I can say with all confidence that it is one of the most beautiful, accessible camping places in the Bay Area. It’s only about an hour outside of Oakland, and has trails, a lake, boats, beautiful camping spots, and tons of wildlife.

A couple of us showed up early to schlep in all of the food, water, tents, and toys (guitars, drums, muumuus, etc.) for the weekend, and set up everyone’s tents, put together a camp kitchen, and made the space welcoming for all who would be arriving just in time to celebrate Shabbat. Our guests were delighted to arrive to a campfire, snacks, cocktails, and live guitar music. Thanks to Birthright NEXT, we had plenty of delicious food, and so we lit our Shabbat candles, sang the blessings, feasted, and kicked off a weekend without technology, responsibilities, or distractions.

We spent our time hiking, running, swimming in the lake, sunning, making music, drumming, cooking, eating, making new friends, and just generally escaping from our busy city lives and reveling in the natural beauty of the Del Valle area. We saw tons of birds, including a couple of bald eagles, and even saw a couple of tarantulas in the area!! I’m so grateful to be a part of a community that has the resources to create such a beautiful, restful, peaceful Shabbat experience for such a wonderful group of people. It’s a wonderful opportunity to be able to create these types of experiences for young people in the Bay Area who are thirsting for a peaceful, meditative, spiritual retreat.

Glenn
Moishe House East Bay

Moishe House Boston, Hurray!

After spending three incredible years working with the Vancouver young adult Jewish community, I made the move out to Boston to start a graduate program at Brandeis University. When I mentioned to a friend that I'd be moving into the Moishe House here, their response went something to the tune of, "Boston, huh? You know it's a Moishe House on steroids?". I actually had no idea.

In the less then three months that I've been a housemate, this house and community continues to amaze me. Our calender is jam packed with everything from social justice events with local interfaith organizations, to holiday parties, sex ed discussions and leadership trainings. Meetings go on between various committees on an almost daily basis. People here aren't just involved. They are proud and fully committed to this community and treat it as their own.

Fall has been busy for us. Highlights included a Sukkot Party, a Tikun on Tap event which focused on the occupy movement, and our bi-weekly Shabbat services and dinner. New people are always popping in and although the work is non stop, it's more gratifying than I ever could have imagined. People live happier lives when they are connected to community, and for the young adult Jewish community, Moishe House does it better than any organization that I've seen.

With Love,

Tslil

Introducing -- SF Russian Jewish Moishe House

It's a real treat writing the first entry from the Russian Jewish Moishe house of San Francisco. The team, Aleks (me), Vitaly, and Anna, are excited to embark on this amazing journey. We can't wait to meet new people, create new memories, and have a lot of fun doing it!

On Friday we inaugurated the Moishe House with our first event, a Housewarming/Halloween party. We had an amazing crowd out here. It was great to see so many people dressed up, letting loose. We enjoyed drinks on roofdeck while dancing and watching ships in the harbour. Special thanks to Gene Kosoy for setting up a photo booth.

A little about us --

We're three friends who decided to open up a Moishe house after realizing how much we enjoy hosting events and having good times with our friends.

A little about our Moishe House:

We're nestled on the south slope of Potrero Hill, which is a sunny neighborhood in SF, by the bay. We're looking to host rewarding and fulfilling events for the Russian Jewish community of SF.

-Aleks S.

Give Shabbat a Shot!

Let me start this blog by saying that I am nowhere near the level of a Rabbi; I'm just a simple Jew, who lives at Moishe House Great Neck, reflecting on his experience of becoming a more observant Jew. It's an experience that has changed my life, and that has given me the opportunity for tremendous growth in character and as a person. Here are few of the simple reasons why:

There is a huge misconception that observant Judaism and it's laws are restrictive to your daily lives and routine; however, I found it to be more liberating than I could have imagined. One example is Kashrut. You might find a Jew who would say, "I am a human, and true freedom is being able to do whatever I want; so I'm going to eat that cheeseburger, because I want to." In truth however, that is not true freedom; that person is merely a slave to his desires. He wouldn't eat that cheeseburger if he didn't desire it. True freedom is being able to understand that there are boundaries in life, and being able to overcome your desires.

As humans it's very easy to take the many blessings we have in life for granted; we tend to look at and desire what others around us have. However, many of us, Thank G-D, are blessed to have the ability to see, hear, talk, and walk. We are blessed to be able to see a rainbow (which we make a blessing on), smell a flower (which we make a blessing on), or even go to the bathroom (which afterwards, we make a blessing on). Another great example is waking up in the morning. Most people usually wake up dissapointed that they have to wake up so early; the first thing an observant Jew does when he wakes up is say they Modeh Ani, and thank G-D for giving him the gift of a new day. By saying blessings and thanking G-D, we automatically become more aware and appreciative of the blessings we have in life.

Finally, the most enjoyable experience for me of becoming a more observant Jew was when I became Shomer Shabbat. It's an awesome experience to be able to have the ability to completely disconnect from the work week and its stresses. It's an awesome experience to be able to have a nice dinner with family and friends without the distraction cell phones. It's an awesome experience to participate in and hear the beautiful Shabbat prayers and songs. It's an awesome experience to be an observant Jew!

So as a friend, a Jew, and fellow Moishe House resident, I would like to encourage all of you to try to apply something from Judaism to your life; even if it's overcoming just one desire, saying just one blessing, or "Giving Shabbat a Shot!"

I wish you all the best,

Joseph Yadgar

History is just stuff repeating

Oh, Fall. Having lived much of my adolescence in California, the change of seasons is still a noteworthy event. This is my second Fall season as a Moishe House resident, and I already feel how different everything is the second time around! The prep for an event, the weekly meetings, the required blogs... what once seemed intimidating or confusing, hah! No longer, my friends.

As fellow bloggers have mentioned, the real start of Fall for the Jews is all about Sukkot. Yes, yes, the Hebrew calendar starts anew sometime in Fall, but Sukkot really gets you in the season properly. For me, it’s the gathering of natural materials for the schach. I’m pretty convinced that the trimming of the city’s parks, family’s yards, the city streets' trees and all that other landscaping you see at this time of year, really started because that’s when we need stuff to cover our temporary shelters. (Another example of our history governing ‘secular’ activities? Pesach & spring cleaning!)

Last year I had also found much of the material for our schach, but I was mostly just hired help, taking directions. This year, as one of 2 ‘veteran’ residents, I took it upon myself to lead the building of our sukkah. (shout-out: Moishehouserocks.com!) I won’t go into the details (you should’ve been there!), but will rather share some thing I took from it.

As we built our sukkah, 2 doors down (no, not 3) we could see a family building theirs. (Note: the family’s sukkah was more ‘kit’ than ‘creation’ but to each their own) I stopped my efforts for a few moments to watch the two children throw schach onto their latticed-roof as their parents looked on. It hit me that here I am, participating in a tradition that, by all intent, I’ll be passing on to my children. And that’s what warms my heart about the Judaism I continue to discover, practice & share as a leader in our community: the universality - and at the same time, the uniqueness - of its role in one’s life. In some years, those children will be building their own. Years from now, my children will be throwing schach onto the structure I built. And 800 years ago, far away from Philadelphia, and without the musical accompaniment of an iPod & speakers and other 21st century niceties, a father was watching his children do the same.

-Cody Greenes