Filip - MH Warsaw

It's already 3 years here, but it feels like one. As times go by many things happen but you don't actually feel it, it's just inside you. Through this time there have been four changes in residents, dozens of guests, some for one night, some for more. Girl- and boyfriends came and went. It's just a good lively place, that's what I can say.

More and more people are coming, getting to know what MH in Warsaw is. Some stay, some go. But for all, I hope it is an open house. I feel we're hosts, warmly welcoming any guest who wishes to drop by. And that is an idea for what I would like MH to be – an open house. That is for me a real challenge.

Thanks to more visits from MH staff we know now that it's a thing we do along with the people the same as we are. David, Joel, Zvi, thanks for your work! And all the rest, keep it up guys!

Anyway MH Warsaw has been a guesthouse so far. More and more people getting to know about it and more and more guests. Which is really great and works as it should.

People – more and more people. That's what I recall after 3 years.
But my room didn't change much...

PS we still can't believe what David told us about beginning of Moishe House. It was worth it to live here for these years just to hear that story David!!! :-))

Filip

Sukkah Portland - Ancient Tradition, Contemporary Design

Emly Oren

Moishe House Portland

On October 5th, 2012 Moishe House Portland had the privilege of partnering with Oregon Jewish Museum and Portland Young Adult Shabbat for a spectacular event that featured six beautiful sukkah's created from artists around the country. The sukkah is a temporary communal dwelling place, traditionally created each fall in the observance of Sukkot. These shelters are created for protection and allow us to observe nature, joy, harvest, and the prayer for rain. As we head into the Fall and Winter, we hope rain will come to replenish our planet. We ask for actual rain but we all ask for all of forms of blessing to be showered upon us for the coming year.

The sukkahs held for this event were put in competition with many other sukkahs around the country; however, only six creative and original sukkahs were chosen to best symbolize and provide contemporary responses to the traditional challenges of sukkah design. Once these six sukkahs were chosen, they were put on display in the parking lot of Oregon Jewish Museum  for a week-long series of events that seek to place this ancient holiday within a modern context. One such event took place on this special Shabbat evening where we came together as a community for a yummy vegetarian potluck dinner, featuring a live band, and the display of the winners of this year's sukkah competition. Participants were given the opportunity to stroll, schoomze, and nosh their way through the sukkahs with family and friends.

Coming together as a community during this time of year reminded me of many things -Dwelling in a sukkah forces us to remove ourselves from the materialistic things that normally fill our environment. We surround ourselves day to day with our materialistic accomplishments but Sukkot forces us to leave those behind and return to a much simpler existence where our priorities refocuses onto affirmations of nationhood, spirituality, and the importance of communal living. Moishe House Portland was given the special opportunity to bring our community together, inviting others to dwell in our sukkahs and share a meal together. This Sukkah event reminded me of how lucky we are to be given the commandment of creating a peaceful and important dwelling place where participants have the privilege of learning, growing, and come together in the time of rejoicing. 

Schnitz and Giggles

Rodrigo R. Rodarte

Moishe House LA

I recently came up with a new schnitzel recipe off the cuff that I thought came out nicely and I wanted to share it. As part of our own take on celebrating the high holidays, we were all in a cabin in the woods (not like the movie) for the Saturday night in between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur for some reflecting and rejuvenation. The four of us and ten of our community members were having an amazing and very relaxing time just talking, joking, smoking hookah, thinking back on the previous year and just being away from the city for a night. As evening approached, dinner became the only thing we were able to reflect on, so in keeping with tradition in our house, the boys laced up our aprons and got to work. Jon wore the main chef hat, prepping a London broil and some sides, and I took on chicken duty for the non-red-meat-eaters. With only the chicken breasts, the limited spice rack of the cabin and the snacks we brought for our hike the next day, my options were limited and I had nothing planned. There were some requests for schnitzel but no breadcrumbs. I decided to make it anyway. We had some chips and pretzels open from snack time, so I took them both, smashed them into a million pieces, toasted up a piece of wheat bread, crumbled it in the mix, and threw in some spices and garlic. Using the traditional egg coating and a super hot oiled up pan, I breaded and fried the chicken like normal. As we sat to enjoy the tremendous meal before us in the surreally tranquil atmosphere of the cabin and the woods, we all shared words of appreciation for the great food, for the opportunity to be up there and for the time to get away from life for 24 hours. We chowed hard, laughed, drank and I felt truly blessed to be a part of all of it. To my surprise, the schnitzel played a starring role in the meal, the reviews were rave and bellies were filled. The next day as part of our plan for the weekend, we hiked up a mountain and separated from one another for individual reflection. Sitting by myself on top of a rock it occurred to me that despite all our efforts to plan the perfect program, the perfect retreat, the perfect meal, and many other things, it is often the unexpected that turns out best, the unplanned that we truly remember and appreciate. As I enter another Jewish year with more events and Moishe House memories to come, I am more than ever thankful for the opportunity to share the surprises and happy accidents of life with my wonderful roommates, friends, family and community. 

Recipe:

1 cup crushed pretzels

1 cup crushed, flavored chips of choice

1 super toasted, crumbled up slice of bread

1tsp Salt

1tsp pepper

1 clove garlic, ultra minced

2 lbs thin sliced chicken boobs

2 eggs

1/4 cup soy milk or almond milk

Mix thoroughly the crushed ingredients, salt, pepper and garlic in a wide, shallow bowl or dish.

Beat eggs with soy milk.

Pound chicken nice and flat (or slice thin).

heat generous serving of oil in large skillet to medium-high eat.

Dip chicken in egg mix, roll in dry mix, fry thoroughly on each side until both sides are crispy and brown

Moishe House SFV

Being a resident of Moishe House for just over a year now has not only showed me new things but taught me many things as well. Becoming a Jewish Leader in my community all began as a camp counselor at a Jewish sleep-away camp. As a camp counselor, I learned to be a responsible and independent individual as well as being aware of my surroundings. By this I mean, there is someone always paying attention to your actions, whether it was the camp director or the kids in your cabin. Through the camp I was elected to participate in a Birthright trip experience to Israel that was mostly made up of camp staff. I bring this topic up because as most of you know, Birthright NEXT assists in funding our Shabbat Programs each month. I became aware of Moishe House after attending my Birthright trip and hosting my own NEXT meals post Birthright. Through a friend that worked for the Birthright NEXT Los Angeles Chapter, he had mentioned Moishe House and how fitting it would be for me, as he was a former camp staff member as well. All the basics learned at a summer camp can be transferred to being a resident of Moishe House starting with program. We all have a program quota that needs to be fulfilled monthly and different program types that need to be fulfilled quarterly. I have the ability to organize and execute these programs without any issues and that makes me a strong Jewish Leader with the community I have built with my fellow residents. Programming has become second nature to me and Moishe House has allowed to me to exercise my horizons with various programs I can host for my community. We constantly take feedback from our participants and community members and we take this feedback and apply it to better our events and program, which also shows that every leader has room for improvement.

Jason Zide 

Moishe House Great Neck - Oren Kashi

What a great year MHGN has been having so far. We initially started off the year with much trepidation due to some fundraising problems but thankfully we have managed to raise the needed funds to keep us operating (thanks goes to the Ron Rubin Foundation, Iranian American Jewish Federation, Moskowitz Family Trust, and lastly but DEFINITELY not least, the donations from MANY of our regular participants)  Since then,we have been able to claim to be the single cause of three couples getting together, one married (a founder of MHGN), one engaged, and one has been dating seriously.  We have revamped the house with some interior decorating with furniture that was donated to us by one of our regulars and made our space more homey and spacious to all that come.  We hosted Italian cooking nights, house parties, our infamous shabbat dinners (Indian, Mexican, Chinese, Persian, Moroccan themed), International movie nights, bikur cholim!, holocaust speakers, adventures from modern iran events, and I can just go on.  We have participants from all walk of Jewish life and countries.  Some of the countries our participants originate from are: Iran, Syria, Israel, Panama, South Korea (yes..you read that right), Cuba, Columbia, Canada, Argentina, Russia, Kazakhstan, Switzerland, France, Brazil.... We might as well start our own UN! 

Though there are difficulties with all this greatness...(no pun intended on Great Neck..) and that is CLEAN UP!  Even though we host 80 ppl for a shabbat dinner, the clean up is quite taxing.  Sometimes it can take days to recover especially from cleaning up spilled Rogan Josh from the floor.  Either way though, its all worth it.

Overall, I get to live with the best guys I could live with and it gives me immense pride to be part of this organization to engineer change and interaction in our Great Neck Community!

Moishe House Baltimore - Eta Flamholz

I recently locked myself on the roof of Moishe House Baltimore alone and cell-phone-less. You might
well ask how this happened, but that story is for another time, another blog. Suffice it to say, I had
several panicky moments in which to lament my inability to repel down a wall and then several more in
which to wonder if the gathering storm clouds were about to let loose.

But the panic subsided surprisingly quickly. I’d like to think this occurred because I’m an amazingly
logical and calm human being. The truth is, the panic dispersed because of a minor epiphany, an “aha”
moment, that put both the roof and my current position as a House resident into perspective.

As I sat on the rooftop deck wondering if I’d ever see my family again, I looked up and caught sight of
the downtown Baltimore skyline. Despite the aforementioned storm clouds, the day was warm and the
sun was setting in an array of colors behind red brick houses, colorful storefronts, and leafy greenery. It
was gorgeous. That’s when I realized how blessed I was. I was sitting on an envy-inducing rooftop deck
in the city I love, having just seen some of my closest friends over a delicious MH brunch.

I have only lived in the Baltimore House for 2 months, but in that time I have met literally dozens of new
people, met friends for happy hours, volunteering, and learning, and had a wonderful, fun-filled life. And
all of these things were afforded me by Moishe House, from the House itself (along with the persnickety
roof) to the ability to hold events like brunch for friends old and new.

Eventually, my neighbor saw me on the roof and came to the rescue. It was probably for the best too,
since my epiphany would only have lasted as long as the good weather did. But I’m glad I got locked
out, glad I had a moment to reflect on the first months of my residency and the wonders that 3 girls in a
house can do when they have a little (or a lot) of help.

Hope everyone has a sweet new year filled with interesting people and different experiences!

Eta

Roxy - MH Cape Town

Having lived and experienced being a part of Moishe House for two and a half years now, I can honestly say that it has been a life-changing and amazing experience. I’ve had the opportunity to meet so many different people, live in the centre of the Cape Town and Johannesburg youth communities and at the same time, been able to explore my Jewish identity.

When first being offered to live in Moishe House, I was slightly hesitant, as it appeared nothing more than a religious organisation, but after just a few weeks, I came to understand it to be very different. Moishe House offers one a comfortable, safe and resourceful space in which to engage with one’s own version of Judaism and inevitably, to strengthen that connection, whether it be through religion, spirituality or culture.

For me, it has without a doubt been the latter and by living in a space that was not only constantly social, but also educational, I have been able to strengthen my Jewish identity in the way that I want to- creating something that is unique to me, within my community.

I have questioned, engaged with, argued, fought, laughed, cried, made new friends, forged connections with individuals and organisations and above all else, learnt a lot about myself, my community and the Jewish religion.

Some of my experiences with Moishe House have included the following; monthly dinners where we re-connect with old friends and make new ones, girls only evening where we learn about female empowerment, epic table tennis tournaments, magical Shabbat dinners and seminars, the annual Limmud conference, dozens of guest speakers from all over the world, working with South African NGOs such as Equal Education and the Social Justice Coalition and finally, working with Habonim Dror.

By the end of my Moishe House experience, it would have been four years since I first embarked on this journey and I look forward to connecting with international Moishe Houses in my future travels and experiences.

Roxy Joseph - Moishe House Cape Town