Strange Connection

Don't know why, but I feel this strange soul connection to this blog of mine. It's not been very long since I've started it, but I think it's more bloggish than my other ones. I blog whatever I want, even unimportant and random things. With this blog I feel like a hippie or reggae girl, who does not care what is going on around her. She's sunny-funny-witty-smily. Life is as it is and I wanna have fun. I wanna live every second, enjoy everything G-d created and love as many people as I can. Really. Really.
LOVE G-D! LOVE YOURSELF! LOVE LIFE! LOVE LOVE! :)

Dance! Dance! Dance!

What's your stone???

Today I found out that my zodiac stone is Tourqoise.
I thought I preferred green stones to tourqoise, but now I realize that everytime when I go somewhere, light blue stones attract me much more than the green.
Actually I've got this silver ring with tourqoisish stone in Georgia for 20 gel. Today I looked at it and decided that I really love it. So zodiacs may be right in some ways.

The following is the quizz I did on facebook and liked answers a lot :)

You were born on a Sunday. - correct, mum says; she knows better.
Your Zodiac Sign is Capricorn. - yes.
Your Chinese Zodiac Sign is Rat. - bliah, yes.
Your Ruling Planet is Saturn. - aha.
Your Birthstone is Turquoise. - I'm glad.
Your Birth Flower is Narcissus. - I love that flower so much. Yellow is one of my favourite colours.
Your Birth Tree is Apple Tree. - my favourite fruit as a matter of fact.
Your Birth Number is 3. - uhm...
Your Lucky Color is Brown or Green. - Can't say I love brown, but green is totally my colour, my blogs' too.
Your Lucky Day is Saturday. - YEAH! I love SHABBAT!!!
Your Lucky Number is Eight. - 8? Baruch Hashem, it's the best number ever.


So, you wanna make such funny and entertaining quizzes??? Log on Facebook and do it! :)

SHABBAT SHALOM!!!!

Berlin - as I see it

Brandenburg Gate

Bundestag

Only one of him is alive soldier

Today I went to the upper east side of Berlin, where are Reichstag, German Parliament and other historic buildings. When I was standing there on Pariser Platz, I felt sudden heartbeat, I looked at people who were walking, smiling, talking, taking pictures... there was time 60 years ago when this place was bombed, millions of people got killed. I've never felt something like that before. May be it's because that Germany has been dominant country of the modern history. Germany had begun both world wars. It is a country which makes you think about many things - even about your personality, who you are, what you are and where are you going to end up, if you know what I mean.

Even though I did not like Berlin very much at the beginning, now I can see that it was meant to be for me to come here and find my own self. Berlin is quite a city - clean and cold. So I hope I'll be able to clean my soul and never become cold, you know. Life is full of challenges and they make me better, stronger and wiser for sure.

I hope you all try to find something in places where you live which will motivate you for doing and being good.

HAPPY MONDAY

New day has come - MONDAY!
It's so sunny in Berlin. I'm on a lesson, our teacher is sweet young woman.
Today I have loads of things to do, so I'll have a chance to go out and feel the sun on my face :)

P.S. Yesterday we went ice-skating, it was terrible :lol: I mean, I suck at skating and my feet hurt so much. Still it was fun, I like going out with the girls and experience new things.

HAVE A HAPPY MONDAY!!!

Potato Kugel :yay:

It's been quite a week as they say.
I learned a lot. Now I have to settle all my knowledge and information to analyze and think.
I begin to like Midrasha. I got to know with girls better and they're fine.

My aunt's health is much better as Lilu told me yesterday, Baruch Hashem. I'm so happy my prayers were heard.

Oh, and by the way :lol: not by the way, it's pretty serious story of me that happened yesterday :D every Thursday evening (or Friday morning) midrasha girls go to different families and help them cook Shabbat meals or babysit. So I went to the Smiths'. Rabbi Smith is Rosh Yeshiva of the Yeshiva in East Berlin as a matter of fact, so I felt quite honored to be in his house. Rebetzin Chaya is a wonderful woman and they have two adorable children. So she asked me to make potato kugel. Well, did I mention that I've never cooked any kugel in my life? Instead of 1/2 cup of oil I poured 2 cups and probably would have added more if Chaya did not stop me. I was so embarrassed, boy! Anyway, kugel-like-thing was done.
Her children did not want me to leave, so I had to tell them it was very late (09:10pm) and I was going to sleep too. Then rebetzin gave me cake and I left. On the way to midrasha I kept pinching myself:
'Me': Sophie, this lovely family who seldom asks midrasha girls to help them, called and trusted you their kugel; and what did you do?
'Sophie': I made the oiliest kugel in the world :|

Then I realized that it's not that big deal. Maybe kugel became tastier, huh? Whatever it might be, I learned a good lesson, how difficult it is to manage 2 children who try to "help you out" and make kugel with you, in addition with that you have to be patient, smily and good cook.
I hope to learn and be a good woman. I really really do.

Shabbat Shalom!

I just love this picture of an old jewish shoemaker and want to share it with you.

Having a nice day, morning lectures are over; had a delicious dinner actually - meat, pea salad and potatoes.

It's quite sunny in Berlin, still freezing cold though, want to go out, but hate wearing winter coat and boots.

Have a nice evening, day and whatever it is at your side of universe.

First lecture

Today winter zman began.
And I missed morning lectures, because I walked Naomi's sister to the dentist. So we spent all day waiting for her dentist, walked in freezing weather and got home at 3:30 pm.

But Baruch Hashem I attended evening lectures. Olga and rabbi Fabian were fabulous, but Leah's one was just amazing. She told us about Adam's 2 natures; we read weekly chapter of the Torah and analyzed it. So interesting and so many things to see and think. I just loved it.

It's like as it is in real life - one's nature, one's difficulties, achievement, laughter and tears, high and low. I think Adam - was not a one man, but whole mankind so to speak with all its nature and understanding. I think we haven't changed since then, have we?

P.S. I love Leah, she's loveliest madricha I've met lately.

Hard Berlin Day

Autumn in Berlin

I had a quite hard day today.

Yesterday I found out that my aunt has a brain tumor and has to have an operation in a few days. Couldn't sleep last night, I was thinking about her, about David, her grandchild, whom she is raising up for her daughter passed away last year. It's been very difficult and stressful year for my aunt, and she couldn't fight it, now she's sick and I can't imagine what will happen to David if something goes wrong with my aunt. Hashem help her and be with doctors during the surgery.

It was raining cats and dogs all day long. I went to buy a sim-card for my mobile. I bought it, then it wasn't working properly so had to go to the shop again and shake the helluva assistent. In addition with that I wore boots and they really hurt my feet. Now I feel quite sore. I miss my Tbilisi home and mum :((( I'm such a home-and-mum-sick, can't wait to see them both :)

G-d, give me strength, please!
This too shall pass, shan't it?

Girlfriends

By Meir Levin

Translation by Shaul Gorgel

Immediately upon my arrival into Israel and to my utter astonishment, I got a job as a chess coach in several Israeli schools. In one of them, pupils were quite grown-up. About chess they couldn't care less. There was a boy in the class who spoke Russian. He helped me interprete myself into Hebrew when necessary. However, much to my discomfiture, the headmaster would walk in wearing shorts, not to mention her rather low neckline...

In the other, things were more complicated. The kids were small and dutifully out of control. As soon as they filed into a class room, they would pair off and beat each other up. One of the girls was really extraordinary as she would smash her boy counterpart's face against her knee. When I finally managed with some effort to rescue the little brat from her hands, he broke to me: "This ain't no Russia! I'm calling the police". So I had to come up with all kinds of ploys. Buy them chewing gum. Lie to them that I was going to teach them how to play chess and then we'd all together go to America. At first, they believed me, but soon enough I had to make up new fairy tales.

One girl started nudgering me saying that my fellow teacher Gregory gave out choveret (periodicals) to the girls and that she wanted them too. I didn't know what choveret is. On the break, Gregory explained to me that he'd received old and disused chess periodicals and gave them to the kids. Those were happy, although not for long. I stayed in the school for as long as two months. Then, they sacked me, and I was actually very glad they did. They had really bled me white. And I lacked imagination either.

Soon, Aryeh Rosenberg, the man who got me that job, rung up inquiring if I was receiving the periodical of the Israeli Chess Federation. I said I wasn't. Aryeh gave me the number to call. I gathered courage and called. I must say that even if I have some command of Hebrew, it is exclusively thanks to the nerve that I have. From my first days here, I boldly went to work in the Israeli school. I was speaking Hebrew with everyone not bothering whether I was understood or not. The yeshiva staff complained I was asking them questions in an incrypted language.

So, this time round too, I dialled up and started off upbeat:

- Aryeh Rosenberg paid up. Everybody got chaverot (girlfriends) and they're using them, and I haven't got any.

No reply came.

- I can't go on without them, - I went on to make a point of just how bad it was for me without them and how much I needed them. Suddenly I heard my wife and daughter giggling. Realising I was saying something wrong, I pulled myself together quickly: "Sorry. I made a mistake, I need chaverim (mates).

Such a rapid overturn in my sexual tastes totally drove the woman at the other end into indignation:

- This is not a brothel! This is Chess Federation, mind you! Now, what do you want?

- A magazine, - I said in Russian.

- Tell me the address. We'll send you one.

Choveret I got. I prepared for the competition on behalf of the Elitzur chess society. I took the second place. Job offers from Israeli secular schools were flowing in. But by that time, I already feared "headmasters in shorts". I didn't want something funny rubbing off on me. I said no. Soon I got a job offer in a Russian language religious girl school, where I have been working since. I'm fine there.

One Soul

I have a task for Sunday. Madricha Leah asked me to write a speech, which I'll say during the dinner for the girls.

I wrote it already and want to share it with you:

'One Soul'

There is this story written by the brother of the chief rabbi of Georgia, Meir Levin. Story is called 'One soul' and author talks about his life, how he moved to Israel at his late forties and began studying Torah. He had a chavrusa from Chabad; so everyday he used to go to that man and learn. One day when they finished studies and Meir Levin was about to leave, the Chabad man stopped him and said: 'You are such a good learner of Torah, even though you are litvak and I'm from Chabad, I can see we have got one soul.'

After reading this story I thought a lot.
Then we went to Antwerp and I had a chance to meet different people - chasids, litvaks, georgian jews who have kept their tradition for ages, and realized - no matter who we are - ashkenazi or sephard, where we are from, how educated and how wealthy we can be - we all have one soul, One Jewish Soul given by the Almighty G-d.

This is what I wrote and will read on Sunday to the midrasha girls. I hope they will like it. I changed some scenes in this story, but main idea is the same.

Happy holidays to you all!

Lost in Antwerp

City Hall of Antwerp

Ziskind family

Ostend

I went to Antwerp for holiday of Sukkot. It's been amazing there, I fell in love with Belgium really. Me and other 9 girls from the Berlin midrasha lived in various families. I stayed at Ziskind family. They had made lovely sukkah outside the house, we sat there for seudas. Boys and their father, rabbi Ziskind sang and entertained us.

Antwerp is lovely city and I'd love to live there. People are so relaxed and calm. Jewish neighbourhood has been so warm to us. We went in 4 families for a dinner as ushpizins. The day before our departure, we went to Ostend, rented bikes and rode them down to the beach. It was just amazing!!! It was raining and we still did not care - rode and rode on...

When we got back in Antwerp, Belz sisters and other Antwerp girls threw a party for us. We danced for hours. I even performed georgian dance and everyone just loved it. I had so much fun. Although I missed my georgian friends so much, when I'm back, Bezrat Hashem, I should make something like that in Tbilisi for the MaBaT girls.

Now I am in Berlin already. Till 13th October we have holidays so fun is still there waiting for us ;))

Love ya all,

Tschuß