Marom Seminar - 22-24 Sep
The night after my birthday party was the beginning of an international seminar of Marom, the European youth group (ages 20-40) of Masorti, the Conservative Jewish movement. Thursday night, the program kicked off with viewing of an Israeli film called Ushpizin, which focused on the lack of dialogue between religious and secular people in Israel. It was written and acted by a secular-turned-religious actor, and it was very well done; I highly recommend you watch this film.
On Friday, there were a few lectures – most of which I missed by sleeping in quite late – and a large presence at Conservative services that evening, as well as a large table for dinner in the community center afterward. We all sang Hebrew and Yiddish songs for a long time, something I haven’t really done since high school in my Jewish youth group, and it was loads of fun. On Saturday, I joined the group again in the morning for services and lunch, and later in the day for a session about High Holiday melodies followed by Havdala, the service marking the end of the Sabbath. After Havadala, my American friends left while I joined the Europeans at a bar with dancing called Bombay not far from the Jewish Quarter. It felt distinctly refreshing to be the only American in a group of Europeans all close to my age, and I ended up having a terrific time dancing the night away. I made sure to get a couple phone numbers before leaving early to make sure I got enough sleep to be awake for Terezin the next day.
Present at the seminar was an interesting mix of people. There were five CET girls, one or two other American students, three Israelis (one living in London, the other two in Berlin), one English guy, one German girl, and a handful of local Czechs. The people I ended up befriending were mostly Czech, and one girl, Zlatka, has become someone I’ve even spent time with on my own. That’s right, I now have Czech friends.
On Friday, there were a few lectures – most of which I missed by sleeping in quite late – and a large presence at Conservative services that evening, as well as a large table for dinner in the community center afterward. We all sang Hebrew and Yiddish songs for a long time, something I haven’t really done since high school in my Jewish youth group, and it was loads of fun. On Saturday, I joined the group again in the morning for services and lunch, and later in the day for a session about High Holiday melodies followed by Havdala, the service marking the end of the Sabbath. After Havadala, my American friends left while I joined the Europeans at a bar with dancing called Bombay not far from the Jewish Quarter. It felt distinctly refreshing to be the only American in a group of Europeans all close to my age, and I ended up having a terrific time dancing the night away. I made sure to get a couple phone numbers before leaving early to make sure I got enough sleep to be awake for Terezin the next day.
Present at the seminar was an interesting mix of people. There were five CET girls, one or two other American students, three Israelis (one living in London, the other two in Berlin), one English guy, one German girl, and a handful of local Czechs. The people I ended up befriending were mostly Czech, and one girl, Zlatka, has become someone I’ve even spent time with on my own. That’s right, I now have Czech friends.
posted by Unknown at 3:53 PM
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