The Best Man!

On Top of The World

(On a trip to the Negev [desert] with my yeshiva/school)

Yoni and I

(At a wedding in Jerusalem)

Noah Cohen and I

(Downtown Jerusalem)

Almost Front Row at the Matisyahu Concert

(Downtown Jerusalem, this concert was actually the best concert I ever went to!)

~

From being on top of the world, a Matisyahu concert, learning Torah, hanging out with friends, learning Hebrew, and ton's of event's I've been everywhere but here- my blog!

But I'm back.

Here to update the world, my friends, and family on my latest experiences in Israel.

There haven't been any bombs on trains, but there have explosive moments of joy! :-)

Last week my cousin got married! 

He flew in from New York and spent 6 days together with me.

We met at a family gathering, and he asked me if I wanted to leave and go off road jeeping!!

How could I say no?!

So we walked to the parking lot of this banquet hall and there was this decked out jeep full of religious guys. I didn't no what to expect...

I introduced myself and after about 10 seconds one of the guys pulled out a bottle of booze and said l'chiam!!  We all took shots (don't worry there was a professional tour guide/driver who was sober). We sang, screamed, and had a blast!

At points we were chanting the words "who let the dogs out,..." sooo loud!! people on the streets would holler back "WHO, WHO. WHO"...

What a great day it was!!

Within 1 minute I could tell these guys were my cup of tea!!

We bolted up in the mountains with this jeep, I thought we were going to die!!

No car could ever do what this jeep could do.

The next day I went and spent Shabbat in Kfar Chabbad (near Tel Aviv). 

Instead of feeling like a guest, this Shabbat was different it was extremely meaningful praying, and eating with my entire family. 

Imagine, growing up secular your entire life, being away from your entire religious side of the family. Then being united many years later at a dinner table!!

Talk about a cherished moment. Straight up!

After Shabbat me, my cousin, and the religious party boys delighted in a wet sauna, pool, and hot tub.

The next day was the beach, and a movie.

So all my friends reading this now, do not worry about me for 1 second, I'm doing great out here!

Religious people don't just learn Torah all day, there are plenty of people that have balance with spirituality, physicality, and intellectuality. 

The day before the wedding, I got the best surprise ever.

My cousin asked me to be his best man!!

I couldn't believe it, he could have asked anyone he wanted!

He had friends fly in from New York, England, and one's that lived in Israel that he could have chosen.

It was a complete shock to me!

I asked him why he chose me. 

He said because I'm optimistic, upbeat, yet chilled out, and seem like a good candidate for being positive in stressful situations. 

 

Sold. 

I took the position with pride.

So what does a best man do? (In orthodox Judaism)

In my experience, I drove him around (with joy!), we went to the mikva, synagogue, and the funnest part was setting up his hotel suite!

We placed candles all around the room, put rose pedals on the bed, placed a bottle of wine in the fridge, and did up the washroom super sexy. The whole room was romance ready!

I almost felt like I was getting married!!

:-)

Then the wedding came and again for once I didn't just feel like a guest or an observer, rather a family member, participant, and behind the scenes to the most special experience of my cousin's life- marriage.

Which leads me to my next topic...marriage.

I've been focused on spiritual growth the last couple of years. 

I never felt ready to start dating for the purpose of marriage, because let's face it...that's pretty scary!!

However in the past month I finally thought about everything, put the pieces together and realized I'm ready to date.

So I started.

I won't reveal to much information here because, that's not so appropriate. You can talk to me about that privately. 

All I can really say is that everything is going well, and that this dating thing is the very exciting! 

In yeshiva/spiritual school I finally got the courage and Hebrew foundation to start going to classes with Israelis. It's pretty hard considering I'm not 100% fluent yet, but everyday it get's easier and easier. 

Hopefully I'll be fluent soon!!

Anyway, 

That's what I wanted to say...

I hope you enjoyed this entry as much as I did writing it...

Im at a coffee shop (The Coffee Bean) in a super live scene on Saturday night.

With friends walking in left, right, and center catching up with me.

It feels awesome that 6 months ago, I knew no one. 

Today...

I'm smooth sailing.

LO

VE

Adam Ezekiel