L' (Reb) Chaim: Take Two

Nature's first green is gold
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay. 

“Nothing Gold Can Stay”- Robert Frost

Shining even brighter than Lil Wayne’s teeth, my experience here in Jerusalem has been golden.  Even the lows have been serendipitous, for they have paved the ways for new ascents.  On Thursday night, I faced the lowest of the lows that I have come into contact with here thus far.  It was that evening when the group flight captured an overwhelming portion of my friends here in the Kfar HaStudentim.  Upon their departure, the mood here in our student village was somber, and there was an air of all-encompassing melancholy.  My only consolation is that during the six days of Creation, God set in place the laws of nature that would allow for the innovations of Facebook and Skype.  Baruch HaShem for those!

And Baruch HaShem that the days preceding Thursday were not nearly as morose, and in fact were actually quite blithe.  During the week, many a palatable repast graced my plate.  Goodbye week does a doozy on one’s financial status as final meals at heralded restaurants are on everyone’s bucket list.  Over the course of this past week, I have eaten at Kadosh again, Tmol Shilshom (the café I referred to as Europe a few months back), HaMoshav 54 (a great meatery), my favorite falafel place, and my favorite Schwarma place.  Food is always a great way to drown one’s sorrows.   

I also had the pleasure of seeing my roommate Gil perform with a few friends at a local bar’s Jam Night.  They really rocked the place.  Their jam sesh ran parallel to my experience with a chocolate ice cream cone: when it was over I was left wanting more.  Oh, and that reminds me, that same night was the one that a few friends and I ate at Tmol Shilshom, and in between dinner and the concert, we stopped at Babette’s, a nearby waffle bar, for dessert.  Waffle bars are all the rage here in the Land of Milk and Honey.  On both of my squares I ordered hot chocolate sauce.  One square was topped with berries, the other with a scoop of chocolate ice cream.  Did I mention that I’ve been eating really well here?

Because the Israel Links season has commenced (the Israel trip that I went on last year), I will not be able to spend Shabbat with Yossi and Chaya, who organize the trip, any time in the near future.  This is a quite distressing realization, but nevertheless, the Shabbos must go on.  And so this week I put in a call to Reb Chaim, the man whose house that I dined at a few months ago.  This was the cooky rabbi that blessed all of us for five minutes and tried convincing my friend Robyn that her father was the proprietor of a store. 

I brought my friends Roee and Lauren along with me, fortunately, both of whom are still here for a while.  When we got there, we learned that Reb Chaim would be incapacitated for the night as a stomach flu had gotten the better of him.  With the rebbitzen at his side, it was just us and a pack of yeshiva boys to enjoy the great meal that they had cooked.  Reb Chaim’s presence, along with all of his dogmatic divinations, would have been a great treat, but those of us still in commission enjoyed stimulating conversation over delicious food all through the night.

Our Shabbatathon continued on Saturday when Roee and I went over to Lauren’s to make lunch.  By the time we sat down to eat, the table was covered by a collage of colors, a medley of mouthwatering dishes.  We made two types of chicken, pasta, veggie couscous, and downed a bottle of wine that I had accumulated in France.  The storm that we cooked up was temporarily sedating, but in short time, I accrued enough energy to go play some basketball. 

Tonight, two of my roommates, Gil and Benji, are evacuating the premises.  My roommate Steven departed a few days ago.   Nature’s first green has maintained its hue for five months now.  It has been one incredible ride.  As the original Eden sinks, we are forced to derive a new one.  But with a trip to Greece only days away, and the arrival of my family sitting just beyond the horizon, I know that a new Eden awaits.   Plus, I still have my shuk trips and my million dollar view from my apartment bedroom.  So while this golden experience could not stay, it will leave some great treasures in its wake.

Stay classy Rothberg 2012,

Zac