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3 items tagged "JBlogoshere and singles and Aliya"
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17th
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11:10
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The Muqata
This coming Monday morning, at 10:30 AM, another few hundred North American Jews will arrive at the JFK airport in preparation for their flight home.
Its now slightly after 1 AM in NY, and I'm honestly very excited for the privilege to join this flight. I recall almost 18 years ago, the night before I moved to Israel. I couldn't sleep. Tossing and turning with anticipation, excitement, and a bit of trepidation, I could barely squash the jumble of thoughts which prevented me from sleeping.
Songs danced around in my head. Homeward Bound, ושבו בנים, Take me home, אם אשכח ירושלים, and so many others.
In the end, I didn't sleep. It was too much. I didn't sleep on the plane either...all the way home to Israel -- It was far too exhilarating.
But that was almost 18 years ago.
I spoke to one of the families tonight that I will be escorting home on tomorrow's flight. They had already put their kids to sleep, and were very excited about the flight...the culmination of their planning, hopes and dreams to return home.
Please join me over the next few days as I blog about 2 families and their journey home.
My thanks to Nefesh b'Nefesh and Webads for arranging this special trip.
--Jameel
PS; And special, special thanks to my wife and children, for their understanding -- while I "disappeared" for a few days to accompany this special flight.
Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד
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17:38
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The Muqata

A few years back I had some cool ideas for livening up the JBlogosphere. I managed to implement a few; the Purim parody carnival or the Purim collaborative Purim Podcast, yet others never got off the drawing board (like the JBlogosphere Game Show idea, which I think is still a great idea, but don't have the time or advertising cash to make it happen yet).
And then...this opportunity drops into my lap. Not only is it completely in tandem with my blog's goals and aspirations of promoting the good things about Israel, love for the land, and a general feeling of connection -- but the idea spans many blogs and bloggers.
Nefesh b'Nefesh has offered to send me and other JBloggers to the US (and return back) on one of their aliya flights -- to accompany an oleh family and blog their experience before leaving, during the flight, and at the welcome-home reception at Ben-Gurion airport. In addition to helping share their personal aliya, there will be a
JBlogger conference in Yerushalayim the next day.
I'm not listed yet on any conference panels...because I haven't yet figured out how to keep the yellow smiley face on my head for so long...
Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד
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18:28
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The Muqata
Israel's internet chats, blogs and media gave a resounding two-thumbs-up to Laizey Shapiro's "
Srugim"
TV series which debuted last night on YES TV. To the religious viewer, one could laugh, squirm, and ponder at many of the oh-too-familiar scenes in the show -- demonstrating the impressive quality of the acting, writing, and direction.
Normally, Israel's "artsy media" with their traditional anti-religious bias would have a field day with a TV series about religious singles, produced by a religious director. Yet the series has produced rave reviews from "
Achbar Ha'ir",
Maariv,
NRG, and many others -- attesting that this series appeals to both Israel's religious and secular worlds.
Obviously, for the sake of the script, not every scene is typical of the Jewish "Bitza" (Swamp) Katamon singles scene, yet the familiarity allows for every scene to be believable -- and if it didn't happen to you personally, you know people that it could have happened to.
A guy's "tefillin request" sends him to the next door neighbor, where an American accented Hebrew speaking young lady offers HER tefillin to him. Shocked, he returns to his girlfriend and angrily responds that he wasn't looking for a Reform Lesbian's tefillin...but for real tefillin. His girlfriend dumps him rather quickly...and you can easily imagine the scene in Jerusalem.
Everyone says the Shabbat meal scene is slightly uncomfortable to watch, because everyone's been there. Anyone who's ever been single in Jerusalem knows about singles Shabbat meals, where everyone tries and hopes to meet their intended life partner. Sometimes awkward and clumsy, the Shabbat meal is can be a neccessary evil in the Katamon singles scene.
Here is a brief clip of one of a Shabbat meal in yesterday's episode.
Speaking to Srugim director, Laizy Shapiro today by phone, he told me that it was really an exceptional experience making the show, and that there was a special atmosphere with the secular actors when filming...and he said the show could be a bridge between the religious and secular. Judging from the favorable reactions of the newspapers, I believe he's correct.
I wonder how the singles scene in Jerusalem will feel about being reflected in this TV series.
(The whole first episode
can be watched here on the YES website.)
Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד