Internet, Bisquits, Older Guys, and Cabbage

I apologize for not sharing the details of yesterday's adventures, but when the climax of yesterday's "adventures" is the appearance of cabbage at dinnertime, then you know that the day was none too memorable. Anyway, on to the day's most exciting news:

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This is the distance that Benjamin Epstein created with his thumb and forefinger, indicating the exact measurement, in centimeters, of how close we are to getting wireless internet in our rooms. This is very very exciting, or potentially exciting, since this distance could translate into hours, days, weeks, or millenia by yeshiva time estimates. Nevertheless, having wireless internet, now that I have my fixed laptop, could be very very good.

It has come to my attention that, when describing the comestible circumstances at the yeshiva, I forgot to mention a very important snack oft consumed whilst learning. So, I present to you:
Bisquits! and Tea!
(Or, if you wish to pronounce it the Israeli way:)
Bisqvits! and Teh!
At least my conscience can now be clear.

(Another note before moving on to new faces: I just received the first two editions of The Boiling Point, and I am currently in the midst of reading it. Though I must say that it seems that they miss my poised leadership, witty cartoons, proofreading tenacity, dedication to excellence, and constant humility, they seem to be getting on rather nicely. Keep up the good work.)

And now, on to new faces.
Although I feel I have introduced sufficiently the Americans and most of the rabbis, I have not done justice to the Israelis who make up most of the yeshiva's population. There are 56 Israelis here who are my age (we are שילוב י'ג, or the 13th Shiluv/age group at the yeshiva) plus a colel, plus members of previous shiluvim. I have decided to introduce the Israelis in the coming day, accompanied with a picture, although the descriptions will be shorter due to the facts that (a) I don't know all of them so well, and (b) there are so many of them. But today, I am going to start with some of the older guys.

The Israeli word for older guys (who are not in the colel) is בוגר, or bogger, plural בוגרים, or bogrim (note: it is often fun to call them "boogers" when they are not listening). As explained above, the older guys are sometimes colel, but for the most part they are just bogrim, older members like myself who are in yeshiva in accordance with the whole yeshiva-shiluv idea, which is that these shiluv Israelis will spend a total of five years either in the army or yeshiva (1 in yeshiva, then 1.5 army, then 1 yeshiva, then 1.5 army). There are a good number of older guys, but I shall merely present those with whom I have made contact. I did not give out a questionaire, so this is my take on them:

Eitan Rubinstein
Eitan is a member of the Harvard Class of 2004, and is studying at Ma'aleh Gilboa for the year. We used to be chevrutas during the bkiyut gmara session in the afternoon (as I may have mentioned previously), but, because he needed to study a different tract of gmara, we are now learning three hours a week after Ma'ariv (as opposed to the eight hours a week). His favorite words are "super" and "beautiful," and he is the only person I know who knows, or cares, what an interrobang is [by the way, it is a question mark followed by an exclamation point (?!)]. He shares a table in the Beit Midrash, as well as his room, with Steven.

Steven Exler
Steven is from Maryland, and attended Brandeis University before coming to Ma'aleh Gilboa. He also served as a cantor to an American synagogue over the High Holidays, and the congregation even paid to have him flown there. Steven is also studying for the rabbinate at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah. Steven has a sense of humor, and he enjoys telling jokes with Jewish themes. We are currently learning the laws of פרו ורבו (reproduction) by investigating a variety of sources, ranging from gmara to Shulchan Aruch to modern responsa.

Shachar Langbeheim (left) and Asaf
For those of you Shalhevet folk out there, Shachar may look familiar. That is because he is the younger brother of Elon, Shalhevet science teacher! Take another look. And another, if you're not sure. Or even ask Elon if he has a brother. Elon was from the first year of students here, and Shachar from the tenth. Shachar is the chevruta of Ezra Fishman, and is currently the computer guy in charge of the wireless internet (see above).

I don't know Asaf's last name, partially because I only met him today. Rav Yossi recently notified me that he will be my new bkiyut chevruta, and we started today, learning tractate Shabbat. The only other thing I can say right now is that he looks a bit like a Weasley. Even though Rav Yossi claims that Asaf is a bogger, Shachar has just informed me that he is actually not an older guy, but just a member of Shiluv 13 who came late.

That's the colel guys for now; soon, I hope to start publishing some of the Israelis.