1986-1987 Rothberg Yearbook

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For many of us, it was our first glimpse of Jerusalem, the city of
gold. The bus stopped and we were left at a spot holy to all of the
world’s major religions, the Idelson Laundromat. Overcome w ith
emotion, I left a few shirts to be cleaned and pressed.
The first few days passed in a frenzy of fighting to make it into
Resnick. “Did you hear the good news? She got out!” was the popular
phrase which signified a move from Idelson to Resnick. In the
meantime, we attempted to figure out the bus system and had our
doubts as to whether the one year people would ever stop studying and
talk to us.
Then came the first day of W inter Ulpan. For those of us in Aleph,
it was kindergarden all over again (only this time I did not have a
Snoopy lunchbox) w ith teachers using handpuppets to teach us how to
say our names in Hebrew. I doubt I’ll ever forget my first test which
came back w ith a frowning face and a grade of גרוע (It took me days to
find out it m eant horrible). But things quickly improved. We started
sleeping until 10:00a.m. and copying our homework from our
roommates while they showered. From 10:00 - 10:30 and 11:15 -
11:30a.m., all 100 of us crowded Goldsmith cafeteria and checked and
re-checked our mailboxes for the letter from that special someone. At
1:00p.m. we felt a surge of freedom and ran to Frank Sinatra for
schnitzel. Afternoons were spent exploring and nights were spent at
Lalo’s.
Ulpan was filled w ith Tiyulim: Har Gilo (Jon, Stu, and Darren
performing), Windows on Jerusalem, the Citadel and the Jewish
Quarter, Mt Herzl, the Chagall windows, Yad Va’shem, Ein Gedi, and
M asada for a rainy sunrise.
It was a month filled w ith countless laughs, surprises, and
experiences. Some of our Ulpan friends have faded into th e .
background, others we hope will stay w ith us forever.
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