Bloaz @brotherbo - Tumblr Blog

Goodbye Sweeet Summer

So it seems my travels for this summer have finally come to an end. My time in Berlin was certainly too short, but left me with a sweet taste for more. The city there is truly as romantic as I and many others remember it to be in its intellectual and social history. There, one feels as “free” as can be, for when you look around yourself you find a beautiful and diverse mixture of people of all colors, genders, ethnic backgrounds, traditions, and aesthetics. The tidy European and markedly German nature of the place maintains a more clean and kept cityscape than say, New York City. It was a delight to be hosted by Nava and her father, Prof. Jonathan Schorsch, and to see them in their element there.

Because of my poor planning and desire to keep plans open to spontaneity, my return flight was through TLV, which meant I had a whole nother day and night back there before I got to return to NYC. I made the most of my time and Yonah Feld and I got to do a bit more cruising on the boat of an older man, Daniel, who Yonah made a connection with over sailing. Hopping on his Benetau 37 and finding a good point of sail gave me at once a sense of calmness and appreciation for the sailing education I’ve been given thus far.

Thanks dad.

I was super happy to finally get on my redeye flight direct to Newark and get on my way home, to the comfort of a place familiar, with routine, and my own space. However even upon arrival I only got a quick couple hours of relaxation before things picked back up again. I got my things ready to head up to Boston and celebrate my boy Noah Avigan and his marriage to the lovely Avital Fried. The aufruf weekend was a joyous occasion and a great opportunity to connect with friends from yeshiva and college. Afterwards I got to spend some time with Eliana before she heads off to Israel for the year to study at Pardes as part of the Hebrew College Rabbinical program.

I am tired, but thankful to have the time and place to rest now. I’ll be joining my school community, and more excitingly, my co-op community at the Bayit for my last year of school. This year I begin, and will hopefully finish a Masters in Ancient Jewish Studies. Though I’m quite sure I’ll be totally done with NYC by the end of this school year, I haven’t resigned from taking advantage of everything it has to offer in the meantime. I look forward to a year of live music and performances, exploring the skate scene around the city, forging bonds with new friends and maintaining those with old ones, and enjoying the flavorful delights of sound, sight, and smell with my adventure partner Kayla.

I feel grateful for everything I have, the experiences I’ve undergone, the places I’ve seen and the people I’ve met. I hope to share in the abundance with others and create space for those who are less privileged than myself in these regards.

Thanks for following along for the ride and till next time,

Bloaz

Blackberries & Bloomers - spotted in Morningside Park and LES.

Ber-lin clubbing

Another day of beautiful sailing and fine wind with feld, this time on a bit bigger boat.

Spotted in Berlin - al aqsa electronics

Goodbye Yiddish Summer

What a blast of a week! It’s hard to believe that the somewhat last minute decision I made to go volunteer at Yiddish Summer Weimar was such an incredibly inspiring and invigorating time. It was certainly the most exposure I’ve had as of yet to the Yiddish community in Europe and from what I gathered, is one of the most impressive introductions that I could have got. The level of talent was truly off the charts, and I felt privileged to have had enough of a relationship with one or two of the musicians that I felt welcomed into the community with open arms. I am always most intrigued by the types of characters these events bring together. The flavors of Yiddish and Yiddishkayt are many, from those who have left religious communities to find Jewish inspiration elsewhere to those who simply grew up with this type of Jewish connection as the standard. One of the interesting things about this festival specifically is the number of non-Jews that are intimately involved in making it happen and are extremely dedicated to the cause. One wonders why? In my conversations with those people it became clear that the reasons were not so different from myself. Many of these people are simply lovers of culture – they enjoy music, dance, literature, and history and want to play a part in developing and preserving that which has existed for centuries.

One aspect of the experience that felt lacking was a recognition and appreciation of Shabbes. Though I was told in previous weeks they did do something Friday nights, the hustle and bustle of the festival week overshadowed shabbat this week. Though I may present as Jewish in many senses throughout the week, on Shabbos I usually go full on with my white kippah and techellis tzizit out. For myself, while there is religious significance to wearing such garb, it takes on an added valence of representation. (Note that there wasn’t a single other yid I saw presenting with similar garb, kippah or tzizit, all week.) Wearing the garb means being prepared to answer questions about Jewish practice and traditions which are justified by the Torah. For me this moment of questioning begets an opportunity to share a torah which many people, especially in Europe, may not have access to. In truth, my experience as a West Coast raised Conservative turned yeshiva bochur to academic and Yiddishist means that I can speak torah which may be more accessible to outsiders or outcasts, to those who have been marginalized by more traditional perspectives and interpretations of Torah. When someone asks whether I’m “frum” (pious in Yiddish) - it always comes loaded with assumptions about practice and belief. To answer “yes” affirms that I am the one in control of what those assumptions may look like, and that it’s OK to present them as such. Gufa – when I can, I hope to present Shabbes as a time of healing and rest, to sing songs and tisch out, as a time to connect on a deeply interpersonal level and make space for everyone to indulge in the beauty of creation.

After helping set up for concerts and shlep things back and forth this past week I’m tired. I’m ready to be home and settled again in NYC, to see my friends at the skate park and enjoy a morning coffee with Kayla. But my travels aren’t over just yet! I’m currently headed to Berlin for my last two days in Europe and will be staying with my friend Nava Schorsch at her father’s apartment there. Nava and I only met at the beginning of the summer when we were both helping out at the Eynaich Yonim Fellowship. Though we had only heard about each-other previously through friends, our mutual friendship with Yonim Z’L solidified a bond that can only be felt between those who have lost a friend whose life force was so impactful on your own. The last time I saw Yonim in person was three summers ago in Berlin. We were dirvishes in an underground fetish club on BDSM night. He was visiting Nava at the time, but I didn’t have the chance to meet her. Now the two of us are back in Berlin and Yonim isn’t anywhere to be found. Not in the flesh at least. Though I have no doubt we’ll still “see” him somewhere – maybe busking on the streets or twirling around in the park. Maybe sitting at a cafe drinking an espresso and writing poetry.

Shavua tov,

Bloaz

Me an ma girl Sheyndl, a native Yiddish speaker from Buchovina region in Romania. We had a great time getting to know each other in Yiddish and I had the privilege of hearing her precious accent! She asked to sit next to me on the bus when we were leaving the festival.

The Caravan Orchestra: a group of Israeli and German musicians playing in Erfurt.

German אײַס קאַווע - because as I was told “they don’t believe in ice here,” cold coffees are made cold with a scoop of ice cream instead. Fine with me.

Tateeeee

Ysw

Continuing my Yiddish Summer activities I’ve finally made it to the Yiddish Summer Weimar festival week. The festival has been taking place in Weimar, Germany for the past 20+ years and brings together some of the best musicians and culture makers from around the world. I reached out to the festival organizers a couple of weeks back to see whether I might be able to volunteer. They found a couple of shifts for me to work and agreed to cover my accommodations so I’ve mostly been getting to know the other volunteers during the day, walking around the city, and helping out at night. I always love meeting the people that these types of events bring together. Many of the volunteers here have no connection to Yiddish or Yiddishkayt but somehow found themselves involved with the organization running the program – the Other Music Academy which is based in Weimar.

Aside from that I’ve been hanging out with some of the musicians. A highlight here is definitely the music. Each night of the festival there’s a formal concert followed by a ‘cabaret,’ which really just looks like a Yiddish themed open mic. The past two evenings I’ve performed the very same recitations I learned at my previous Yiddish program and they were a hit! I don’t have much left in my repertoire so I’m not sure if I’ll be getting on stage the next couple nights but it sure was fun to be up there bringing some Yiddish to the people. I’ll continue posting some pictures from my time here over the next couple days and round up the experience after I head out on Sunday.

Chüse,

Bloaz

Breakfast

Dan Kahn on piano @ YSW cabaret.

Fry dinner w my volunteer friends :)

Texas x Weimar

Guest post from Sam Klein Roche after our week in Switzerland:

One of the lines in a Yiddish poem by Itzik Manger that I was assigned to memorize is “di midkeit vert mider by der svell fun a hoiz”, or “the tiredness becomes tireder at the threshold of a house.” It’s a lovely poem and I think it’s a nice line, but for some reason when we were waiting under the implacable Tel Aviv sun for a bus up to Ma’ale Gilboa a couple weeks ago Boaz (and eventually I) started repeating this line over and over again, usually with an addendum of “bro.”

Certainly in Lugano, where the hours are as densely populated with joints as the hills are with trees and both the hills and hours revolve around the most gorgeous, lazy lake you have ever seen, the tiredness was tired. We spent the better part of two days floating around the lake alternatively in kayaks and an inflatable raft, and we were exhausted before we even made it to the threshold of Boaz’s cousin’s house.

And although the simplest way to understand this line is that there is an overwhelming feeling of tiredness right as we arrive home, I think there’s a deeper statement about how all emotions tend to get intensified as we stand on the threshold of a place which means something to us. It was a privilege being able to watch Boaz reunite with his family in Switzerland and dive deeper into their lives and discover more about his family’s history. It seems like he is standing at the shvell of a new moment of self-discovery, guided by the stories he heard on this trip.

I was also lucky to arrive at the threshold of yeshiva, a very important place in my life, for the first time since I left last year. Standing there I felt that as much as I was returning home, I was also on the threshold of something new and different. And yet, di midkeit vert mider.

Met this holy yid named Avinoam Stillman here at the festival. A long time coming.

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

Bloaz