Friday, November 24, 2006

Stuffed

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Last night we went to a large kosher potluck to celebrate Thanksgiving. Our hostess had to make a choice between meat or milk, and she went with dairy to accommodate vegetarians and others who keep kosher. We did miss the turkey a little bit, but there was SO MUCH food to distract us from the lack of meat!! Donna made a giant noodle kugel from Josh's recipe and it was a huge hit. We'll be working off the desserts for a while...!

We missed our families and hope everyone had a great holiday. A couple photos from the evening:


Just a sampling of the huge buffet. Our noodle kugel is front and center (with the spatula just waiting to break the surface!!



Just one of the many overflowing plates of delicious food.



Donna, Stephanie (our generous hostess) and Jamie, hanging out in Steph's room.


In other news, we have booked a vacation to Paris at the end of December! We plan to explore the city and also to take the Eurorail (sp?) to Switzerland to visit Donna's family in Zurich and Lucerne. We can't wait!

Friday, November 17, 2006

Gambling Rabbis?

Last night we attended a Vegas Casino Night event at HUC, a fundraiser for the upcoming Passover trip to the Former Soviet Union (FSU). Several students at HUC will be going to the FSU to lead seders in the homes of Jewish families. The fundraiser last night was a great success, and a great excuse to get dolled up. There were also a bunch of raffle prizes, and my name was the first one to be called as a winner! We won 1 Large Family-Style Pizza from Pizza Panini (whose owner, incidentally, lives in the apartment directly below us.)

Another pizza prize went to our friends Erin and Matt, who are Ohio State alums (hisssssss) -- but we won't hold that against them. We plan on redeeming both pizza coupons tomorrow night when we go over to their apartment to watch the BIGGEST GAME EVER!!!!

Here are some pics from Casino Night at HUC:


Donna and Mary.



Josh deals Texas Hold 'Em while David shows off all his winnings.



Awwwwwwww.

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Hee hee. Funny Israelis.

On the front door at Erin and Matt's apartment building. (Click to enlarge!)



All that door banting's keeping me up at night...

Friday, November 10, 2006

Pics! Pics! Pics!

In response to overwhelming demand from the millions of readers of "Mr.BGTJ", here are some photos from today's festivities at HUC. Josh and Donna performed with the student choir and Josh played keyboard in the Simcha band as part of the Israeli Rabbinic Ordination and Convocation ceremonies. Seven Israelis were ordained as rabbis, and some honorary degrees were conferred, including a Doctor of Humane Letters degree that was given to Prof. Aharon Barak, former President of the The Supreme Court of Israel.

Anyway, we took some fun pics of ourselves and of our great friends at HUC! Click on the photos to see them full-size.


Donna and three awesome Cantorial students: Mary Thomas, David Frommer and Jamie Marx! We look happy because we just got free food.



On the balcony of the Blaustein Hall, with the amazing view of the Old City in the background.



Buug and Snuug! ;-P



HUC singers! From left: Melanie, Hayley, Cassie, Cheryl, David, Mary, Jamie, Jaimee, and Helayne.



The Simcha band! Josh on keyboard; Dave Vaisberg, percussion; Matt Cohen and Beau Shapiro, guitars (Beau is blocked in this pic); and Cantor Tamar Havilio, vocals. At the podium is Rabbi Michael Marmur, Dean of HUC.



Josh rocking out on the cool red keyboard during the pre-processional.

Monday, November 06, 2006

Oud 'til ya can't Oud no more!

Tonight we went to a concert of Andalusian Oud, one of the many concerts playing during the Jerusalem Oud Festival. The Oud is a pear-shaped string instrument that is closely related to the Lute. The concert tonight featured four very versatile and virtuosic musicians who each played a variety of cool and unusual instruments, including a medieval guitar, various flutes and recorders, and plenty of hand drums and tambourines of different sizes. The audience was totally into the music and we really enjoyed the eclectic nature of the concert! We definitely plan on going to at least one more concert during the festival.

I (Donna) spent some time in Rehovot this weekend visiting Savta and Saba; and of course returned to Jerusalem with two bags full of food that will last us for at least a month! We spent a rainy, gloomy day (so bizarre!) at the mall in Rehovot, where Savta spoiled me a little bit with some presents of clothing. Thanks to the abrupt shift in climate here in Jerusalem, I felt compelled to get a heavy winter coat which could probably keep me warm even in Boston! It's getting REALLY cold here, though, so I'm grateful to have it.

Last week I auditioned for the Jerusalem English Speaking Theater (JEST). The show is "Patience" by Gilbert and Sullivan, so of course I could not resist, being a huge G&S fan. I'm happy to report that I was cast in a supporting lead role as Lady Angela. The rehearsal period is quite long (only one rehearsal a week for quite some time), seeing as how we start this Wednesday and the show performs in mid-March!

Josh is keeping plenty busy with his schoolwork as usual. On Saturday he chanted from the Torah, reading from the same portion he did on his Bar Mitzvah. He did a marvellous job -- a colleague put it best when he turned around in his seat and said to everyone, "well, the bar has been set!" We are both participating this Friday in an ordination ceremony for the Israeli Rabbinical students (we'll be singing with the choir.) The ceremony is at the same time as the Gay Pride Parade that has faced such serious threats from the Orthodox community here. We hope that everyone will be able to march in peace and that nobody will be hurt. It is a shame that there should be such intolerance here in this holy city...

Our best to everyone back home! xoxo