Etgar 36: Summer 2008

By Blake Engelhard

Today was another exciting day in my favorite city, San Francisco. Although a spectacularly fun filled day, today was also a day filled with sadness, a day filled with goodbyes and farewells. After accepting the reality that 11 of the closest friends I have made are flying away from my life in a single day because they had only signed up for the 22 day trip, I headed with the whole group to Yerba Buena Gardens. This is a magnificently decorated park with a beautiful water filled memorial to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. At Yerba Buena Gardens we ate a deliciously Jewish breakfast consisting of bagels, lox and donuts which were all provided by Shelby’s parents.

Roughly 45 minutes later I found myself on the campus of the University of California Berkeley, where 40 years ago students began to protest the rising costs of college and housing and this began the people’s power movement. It is also where today a group of Jewish teens were given a chance to explore the college town. We also heard about the history of the protests on campus and at nearby Peoples Park.

Our next stop was at the intersection of Haight and Ashbury streets for a tour of San Francisco’s hippie movement. Here we walked the streets where famous musicians such as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and the Grateful Dead lived as some of their most famous hits were produced.

Yerba Buena Gardens, Berkeley, and the Haight were three intriguing stops on today’s unique agenda.  We finished with an insane wrap up discussion filled with loving comments about San Francisco and emotional speeches about the group members leaving tomorrow.

Dinner at Mel’s Diner, a delicious 50’s diner, was next and was pretty good. Last, but not least, we headed to an ice cream parlor where you paid by the ounce. After this the night was almost over. We went back to the hotel, which brings me to the present. Sitting in bed, I want all the 22 day people to know that we will miss you all. After all, for all the 22 dayers and every other brilliant student, teacher and life mentor on the trip we have been on a journey, are on a journey, and I know we will take “the challenge” (or “Etgar”) to be on the Journey for the rest of our lives.

By Alana Cole

Driving up the California coast on Thursday from LA to San Francisco, we stopped at a beach:

3:30 AM is never a good time to wake up, and it is an even worse time to be thrown from your sleep by a fire alarm. Luckily it was a short lived false alarm. People’s recollections of roommates’ reactions were passed around as we walked to the San Francisco Public Library to meet with Leon Veal. We had been told that Leon was a man who learned to read at the age of 44, but he is so much more than that.

He is what some people would call a hero and, to me, a great inspiration.

At the age of 44, the illiterate Leon was stranded in a new type of job market without a high school diploma or hope for the future. He learned of a literacy program when he saw one of its beneficiaries studying in the park with a patient teacher. He followed their instructions on how to enroll in the program and figured that if he just learned a few more words he could continue to feign the ability to read and write and find a job. Soon he began working with a tutor once a week and he realized that he wanted to keep learning and to be able to do all of the things he pretended to be capable of.

As the years passed, Leon began to take classes at the area’s colleges and now has two degrees, works for the city teaching about illiteracy and inspiring people to learn to read.

His ability to lift himself up was not only inspiring, it also fulfilled the classic American dream that has been a prominent part of many of our discussions. But on the inspiring side, his story was fantastic, especially for someone like me for whom, to paraphrase Jean Louise “Scout” Finch, reading is as natural as breathing, the idea of not being able to do so is astounding. The fact that 10% of America cannot read is petrifying. No one deserves to feel ashamed as illiterate people are forced to and it is our duty to assist them. Who knows what they can become? They may just change the world - just look at what Leon does every day.

From the library we returned to the cool San Francisco air and got on the public subway which took us to the Mission District. We went to El Cumbre, a small taqueria, for lunch and had burritos which were about a foot long and absolutely fantastic.

We then made our way to Global Exchange where we were informed about the importance of fair trade. We learned mostly about how horribly cocoa workers are treated. We saw their fair trade store which had many items that were made by companies that ensure better pay and treatment for its workers.

After this meeting we went to Ghiradelli Square to get some sweet snacks and play in a park that led to Fishermans Wharf.

Our next stop was in the Castro District for some free time and dinner. This neighborhood is home to one of the largest gay communities in America and the rainbow gay pride flags were flying everywhere and displayed in store windows.

Shabbat followed and we went to a very interesting synagogue that was housed in a church not far from the Castro. The Rabbi, Michael Lerner, is the editor of Tikkun Magazine and a political activist. He had just been invited by the King of Saudi Arabia to attend a conference for Jews, Christians and Muslims in Spain. He left the conference early to come back to be at services with us. Many of us found the services to be fantastically meaningful. We danced, prayed and sang in the synagogue as well as out in the streets. Rabbi Lerner also spoke to us about the conference and the hope he has that will come out of it. He shared with us that the King of Saudi Arabia said that he wants to move Islam to a more accepting religion. We all appreciated how kind the congregants were to us and how they fed us at the oneg.

After the busy day, we returned to the hotel and quickly slipped into the world of dreams eagerly awaiting tomorrow.