"Harry Potter" and the Visitor of Or Etzion
Some of you may not believe it, but after spending nineteen consecutive days at yeshiva on Mt. Gilboa, I chose to enjoy my free weekend... at another yeshiva! But before I get to that, allow me to share my experiences from Friday.
After arriving at the Jerusalem bus station early Friday morning, I walked with Benjamin and Yehuda down Jaffa Street, with the intent of getting to the Malcha Mall. Benjamin stopped to buy a chanukiah for Chanukah (which turned into a fiasco in itself, as he couldn't find candles to fit, and it may not be kosher, and the guy wouldn't give him a refund, but that's a whole different story altogether). However, since it was quite chilly and we needed to be at the mall at 10:20, we took a taxi the rest of the way.
Once at Malcha, we headed straight for the cineplex to buy tickets for the movie we wanted to see (the only place to see the film in Jerusalem was here). We bought some candy from Benjamin's favorite Malcha store Kidland, and were ready to go when some Americans asked us to move; we were sitting in their seats. I'll concede that the theater was 3/4ths full, but couldn't they sit somewhere else? They showed us the numbers on the ticket stubs to prove it to us, so we were "forced" to leave by an usher with a flashlight. Gosh, I don't think I've ever seen one of those. So we took our bags and sat in the last row, in the corner (Yehuda mysteriously lost his hat during the movie), and saw:
Now, overall this was a good movie. There were some excellent special effects, it stayed as true as it could to the book while maintaining its own integrity as a film, and had some excellent scenes. Its strong scenes, apart from the special-effects--laden three Triwizard tasks, were those that portrayed the teenage experience to which the wizarding world was irrelevant, where teens got to be teens; specifically, the Yule Ball and the aftermath of the Quidditch World Cup. Kudos, for the most part, to the kids: Harry, Ron, Hermione, and especially, in a surprisingly refreshing performance, Neville. That said, however, I do have some critiques on the film:
(right), who is in his second year in Israel, and from what I hear, is making aliyah.
Max is the only American at Or Etzion (unless you count Canadians, and even if you do, the exchange rate is tricky). Or Etzion is a hesder yeshiva for Israelis, which means Max will do army service soon. So if I thought I have it rough at YMG, I should think again. The yeshiva is run by Rav Druckerman, a 72-year-old rabbi who is the head of international Bnei Akiva, gives halachic advice (to rabbis such as Rabbi Rue), and just had his sixteenth grandson... by one daughter. How many other grandkids, I do not know. He also gets four hours of sleep a night, which I am told is up from his usual total of three. Again, I am not to complain.
Shabbat was nice. It rained, proving that the special rain dance worked. I felt a bit out of place at the yeshiva, as Max and I spoke in English, and I was wearing a non-white shirt (light blue). Lesson learned: wear white. Kabbalat Shabbat was okay, though not as spirited as YMG. Afterwards, we all lined up to shake Rav Druckerman's hand. The rabbi was sitting in his plush seat, and combined with the line and his big white beard, it almost felt like lining up to meet Santa at a mall. Just with a cherished chacham instead of a fictional fatty.
The food was okay, but YMG was better. Though Chanukah is near, there was no reason to have the food in that much oil. The rest of shabbat was nice: davenning, sleeping, touring the small moshav, learning, more eating (they had sliced cucumbers/tomatoes for seudah shlishit. Sliced!). When I asked what they do for fun around there, Max said "we learn." That's not my kind of place, but I think that it's right for people who are more serious about learning. I respect that, even if I would never do that myself.
Other notes:
At the lecture after Shabbat with Rav Druckerman, I found one agora! It's like finding a fourth of a penny. I think the metal is worth more than the coin value.
I like this picture of me with a yellow chicken. It says "Druckerman" on it, an
d it lets people know when they arrive at his house. Sign? Blase! Mailbox? Passe! A wooden yellow chicken is the way to go!
There was this guy who woke people up on Shabbat by clapping up and down the hallway. Perhaps the most annoying guy ever to perform a wake up, with the possible exception of Mr. Irons (Hillel of LA) with his pan and spoon cooing in his British accent "wakey wakey!" I'm going to call this guy Kid Clapper.
I just noticed that there is no holiday spirit around here. I mean, people know the holiday is coming, but it's just not as commercialized as Christmas in the USA. Americans know when Christmas is coming; the Christmas season goes from early November to early January. Americans know when Christmas is, and therefore, American Jews more or less know when Chanukah is. But here, nothing. Note: this could be a result of not having a television.
Well, I'm back at the yeshiva. More learning on the way. More later. Yawn.
After arriving at the Jerusalem bus station early Friday morning, I walked with Benjamin and Yehuda down Jaffa Street, with the intent of getting to the Malcha Mall. Benjamin stopped to buy a chanukiah for Chanukah (which turned into a fiasco in itself, as he couldn't find candles to fit, and it may not be kosher, and the guy wouldn't give him a refund, but that's a whole different story altogether). However, since it was quite chilly and we needed to be at the mall at 10:20, we took a taxi the rest of the way.
Once at Malcha, we headed straight for the cineplex to buy tickets for the movie we wanted to see (the only place to see the film in Jerusalem was here). We bought some candy from Benjamin's favorite Malcha store Kidland, and were ready to go when some Americans asked us to move; we were sitting in their seats. I'll concede that the theater was 3/4ths full, but couldn't they sit somewhere else? They showed us the numbers on the ticket stubs to prove it to us, so we were "forced" to leave by an usher with a flashlight. Gosh, I don't think I've ever seen one of those. So we took our bags and sat in the last row, in the corner (Yehuda mysteriously lost his hat during the movie), and saw:
Now, overall this was a good movie. There were some excellent special effects, it stayed as true as it could to the book while maintaining its own integrity as a film, and had some excellent scenes. Its strong scenes, apart from the special-effects--laden three Triwizard tasks, were those that portrayed the teenage experience to which the wizarding world was irrelevant, where teens got to be teens; specifically, the Yule Ball and the aftermath of the Quidditch World Cup. Kudos, for the most part, to the kids: Harry, Ron, Hermione, and especially, in a surprisingly refreshing performance, Neville. That said, however, I do have some critiques on the film:- The tempo of the film was... I guess intriguing is the word. Whereas the fourth book was methodically slow and plodding, slowly building up the mystery leading to the ultimate denouement, the movie seemed almost the opposite: quick and choppy, moving from scene to scene with much haste. I realize that this was to squeeze in as much as possible (the movie was two and a half hours), and a lot of scenes (Quidditch World Cup, Pensieve) and characters (Dursleys, Bagman, Trelawney) were cut, and probably rightly so. But you couldn't help but notice the brisk pacing that contrasted sharply with the deliberate steadiness of the novel.
- In keeping with the book, the movie displayed many characters in an almost pupu platter fashion (at least, I think the word is pupu platter; it's just so great to write): Rita Skeeter, Karkaroff, Madame Maxine, Krum, Crouch. Even some of the returning characters-- McGonagall, Snape, Hagrid-- had little to say in an effort to make it all fit. The only staff member who seemed to play any significant part was Mad-Eye Moody, in a enjoyably bizzare performance (though his many appearances are for obvious reasons). Rowling has all the pages she wants to describe the characters is detail and in passing; indeed, her knack at creating and maintaining characters is what lends the series much charm. However, though I applaud the movie for keeping the movie reasonably short, reduces much of the characters' personalities to rubble.
- Albus Dumbledore was frightfully disappointing, and wrong. The changes made to other characters, though at times inconsistent with the books, were acceptable because they managed to encapture the character as a whole. Yet this Dumbledore is nothing like the Dumbledore in the books: the movie displays an old man who is confused, impulsive, not in control, and weak, whereas the book portrays an old man who is nonetheless spry, someone perceptive and in command, eccentric yet brilliant, and wise. This was the most disappointing character in the film.
- Perhaps most critically, I did not get the feeling that this film was part of the series. Apart from the characters being the same actors, this felt very different. I did not feel connected to the previous film (ie Dursley beginning), and it did not set up well for the next ("The Parting of the Ways," the encounter between Dumbledore and Cornelius Fudge. Then again, neither actor was good, so maybe that's okay). The fourth book is the cornerstone (and in my opinion, the best book) of the series; this movie seemed to operate in its own independent universe, and has a shaky connection to the prior and next film (in the making, release 2007). I actually liked the third film better, but the fourth book better.
(right), who is in his second year in Israel, and from what I hear, is making aliyah.Max is the only American at Or Etzion (unless you count Canadians, and even if you do, the exchange rate is tricky). Or Etzion is a hesder yeshiva for Israelis, which means Max will do army service soon. So if I thought I have it rough at YMG, I should think again. The yeshiva is run by Rav Druckerman, a 72-year-old rabbi who is the head of international Bnei Akiva, gives halachic advice (to rabbis such as Rabbi Rue), and just had his sixteenth grandson... by one daughter. How many other grandkids, I do not know. He also gets four hours of sleep a night, which I am told is up from his usual total of three. Again, I am not to complain.
Shabbat was nice. It rained, proving that the special rain dance worked. I felt a bit out of place at the yeshiva, as Max and I spoke in English, and I was wearing a non-white shirt (light blue). Lesson learned: wear white. Kabbalat Shabbat was okay, though not as spirited as YMG. Afterwards, we all lined up to shake Rav Druckerman's hand. The rabbi was sitting in his plush seat, and combined with the line and his big white beard, it almost felt like lining up to meet Santa at a mall. Just with a cherished chacham instead of a fictional fatty.
The food was okay, but YMG was better. Though Chanukah is near, there was no reason to have the food in that much oil. The rest of shabbat was nice: davenning, sleeping, touring the small moshav, learning, more eating (they had sliced cucumbers/tomatoes for seudah shlishit. Sliced!). When I asked what they do for fun around there, Max said "we learn." That's not my kind of place, but I think that it's right for people who are more serious about learning. I respect that, even if I would never do that myself.
Other notes:
At the lecture after Shabbat with Rav Druckerman, I found one agora! It's like finding a fourth of a penny. I think the metal is worth more than the coin value.
I like this picture of me with a yellow chicken. It says "Druckerman" on it, an
d it lets people know when they arrive at his house. Sign? Blase! Mailbox? Passe! A wooden yellow chicken is the way to go!There was this guy who woke people up on Shabbat by clapping up and down the hallway. Perhaps the most annoying guy ever to perform a wake up, with the possible exception of Mr. Irons (Hillel of LA) with his pan and spoon cooing in his British accent "wakey wakey!" I'm going to call this guy Kid Clapper.
I just noticed that there is no holiday spirit around here. I mean, people know the holiday is coming, but it's just not as commercialized as Christmas in the USA. Americans know when Christmas is coming; the Christmas season goes from early November to early January. Americans know when Christmas is, and therefore, American Jews more or less know when Chanukah is. But here, nothing. Note: this could be a result of not having a television.
Well, I'm back at the yeshiva. More learning on the way. More later. Yawn.
posted by Yoni Bain | 1:21 PM
1 Comments:
From an email sent to me from Jeff Rabin:
"Anyway, you mention the word 'Etzion' means nothing. In a literal sense that's true, but there is a history to that word, 'Etzion,' as follows:
"Following the Arab riots in Hebron in 1929, many of the Jews of Hebron and the surrounding area fled. However, an entreprneur, Shmuel Holtzman, bought a great deal of land in the Hebron Hills, and founded a new settlement. In a play on words, the settlement 'Kfar Etzion' bears his name, because both 'holtz' (in Yiddish), and 'etz' (in Hebrew) mean 'wood.'
Some years later (also before the War for Independence) a new kibbutz called Massuot was established in the area [whose name was later changed to Massuot Yitzchak in honor of Rav Avrahm Yitzchak Kook, the first chief rabbi of Palestine (pre-1948 Israel)]. Later, another settlement was founded, called Ein Tzurim. Thus was established 'Gush Etzion,' or the 'Etzion Block.'
"After the area was conquered by the Jordanian Army in the War for Independence, the survivors of Ein Tzurim and Massuot Yitzchak re-established their communities in the area you were just in. (If you look at a map, you'll notice that Masuot Ytzchak and Ein Tzurim are adjacent to Merkaz Shapira.) I don't know this for sure, but I suspect that 'Or Etzion' is named after the original 'Kfar Etzion,' thereby recalling the three original settlements comprising the original Gush Etzion.
"I'm sure you know that after the Six Day War, the children of the survivors of K'far Etzion returned to re-establish that kibbutz, in the same location. The newer settlement of Rosh Tzurim is named after the the original Ein Tzurim.
"So, the word 'Etzion,' named after Mr. Holtzman, actually carries with it an illustrious component of the history of the modern State of Israel. -Jeff"
So there you go.
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