We arrived in Old Jerusalem just after Shabbat. We wanted to explore the city at night and visit our friend, who just rented an apartment in the Armenian Quarter. None of us being endowed with the sense of directions we soon realized that we were lost. For the next hour or so we all got [...]

Hi everyone! I’d like to start by introducing myself, my name is Oleg Portnoy, I am a Visiting Graduate student from Toronto, Canada. I will be spending the spring semester studying at the Rothberg International School at the Hebrew U Mount Scopas campus here in Jerusalem and sharing my experiences with you. I am currently [...]

Israel and water? Right… The Israeli government’s water website now has a page where you can check back daily in order to see how much the Kinneret – our main water source, located in the Galilee – has gone up or down. It makes sense this exists online because an integral part of the Israel [...]

A funny thing about Israel is that the western New Year’s Eve is otherwise known as Sylvester.  Why? Well there are many stories and I don’t know which one is true, but here is the one that sounds most believable.  In Israel, restaurants will lose their Kashrut license if they advertise that they are putting [...]

From the Chanuka trip to the Israel Museum to climbing in the Judean desert, learning at Rothberg International School is always an exceptional experience that combines academic exploration with the discovery of this incredible country. The ‘Israel Challenge’ was designed for RIS students who are extreme sports fanatics – and saw us snappeling by the [...]

How interesting to get a glimpse into someone else’s life, especially when it’s so different from your own. Amnon (I’m not sure he actually has a last name – you know those people) gives tours all over the country and, according to him, he’s one of the only Jewish Israelis who know the Arabic dialect [...]

Last night, I attended a protest in the center of Jerusalem. I’m rather surprised by the lack of media coverage of it; it seemed like a big deal, with thousands of people marching down King George and Ben Yehuda, culminating in one very full Kikar Tzion. Yet, somehow, it wasn’t mentioned in either the Jerusalem [...]

Hebrew University is geographically located in East Jerusalem, though it’s considered West Jerusalem. The French Hill is ambiguous; not considered a Jewish settlement, but not considered West Jerusalem, either. All of this geography is a prelude to a very simple point: from campus and my apartment, I can hear the Muslim call to prayer five times a day (or [...]

You know how when things get busy, all you want to do when you have a spare moment is lie down and do nothing? That’s been me lately. Classes started three weeks ago already, and I haven’t written a thing. I’ve been so busy with schoolwork and dealing with idiot banks and phone companies… well, [...]

I think the weirdest part about Israel, and the thing that sets it apart from other study abroad locations, is the big emphasis on aliyah. Most people who speak fluent English in Israel, which is the vast majority of the people we meet on campus-sponsored outing or events, made aliyah at some point in their [...]