Israel

When compiling the list, we enjoyed learning more about each other’s cultures and we hope you enjoy reading our list of pop culture phrases too!

This list has been compiled by our April Amplifying Israel Teen Fellows: Rian Gordon, Atlanta and Noa Boguslavsky and Tamir Shaginyan, Yokneam, Israel.

Hebrew Phrases:

“Al hapanim” – על הפנים- when something is really bad and not fun.

Example- I’m really bored… this concert is “al hapanim.”

“Sababa” – סבבה – okay or “cool”

Example- “sababa”, I’ll be there tonight.

“Chai beseret” – חי בסרט – something you call someone when he is “dreaming” or not connect to reality (in free translation it is- living in a movie).

“Met al ze”- מת על זה- when you wanna say you really love something (in free translation- “im dying on it”). Example- this food is great! “Ani met al ze”!

“Para para” – פרה פרה – very similar to- “one step at a time” (a bit weird, but in free translation it means- “cow cow”).

Nadir-נדיר  “awesome”

Sahi -סאחי “someone boring and simple”

Ani Pipi-אני פיפי “It’s so funny, I can pee out of laughter.״

English Phrases:

“That slaps” – when something is excellent or amazing!

Example: That song slaps!

“Break a leg”- A way to wish someone good luck before a performance of some kind.

“She’s so sweet, she told me to break a leg on stage tonight.”

“I’m down”- I agree or am interested.

“Wanna go to the movies?” “Ya I’m down.”

YOLO- “You only live once”

“I know I shouldnt eat the whole pizza by myself but YOLO.” 

“For real” – to speak honestly

“That was scary for real.”

Drip- extreme coolness, style

“You got some nice drip.”

The 2020-2021 school year has not been the easiest for anyone. Around the world, students have had to adapt to learning virtually. Many students have yet to go back to their school building since March of 2020, including me. 

Every day I wake up at 7:20 am and get myself dressed and my parents drive me to my friend’s house. We go to her basement where we have two tables set up across the room from each other. We each sit at our own table. We log on to class every morning at 8:20 and have four 70 minute classes. We make lunch and eat outside so get some fresh air. 

For lunch we keep kosher and we usually log on to our Jewish Culture Club meetings. At these meetings we have a rabbi teach us about each weeks torah portion. The torah portions bring up many interesting conversations.  We usually have some music playing to make it a little more fun as we sit and listen to our classes. 

Usually during the day I also talk to some of my camp friends. I attend a Jewish summer camp in the mountains of Georgia. Last summer was supposed to be our last summer as campers but Covid cancelled camp. So our unit has stayed connected virtually and are really looking forward to Israel this summer.

Doing school with a friend has caused less anxiety and stress by giving us some social interaction. Virtual school is not easy but I have adapted and made myself successful.

Each day for me starts when I take my dog ​​for a walk. Because of the pandemic I study some days though Zoom and some in school. So, I wake up every morning according to the way I study that day. Today I’ll tell you about my typical Sundays. American teens may not realize it, but Israelis go to school on Sunday! Our weekend is on Friday and Saturday  because Shabbat is part of our culture and Sunday is just a regular day! 

School on Sundays starts at 7:45 a.m. so I wake up at 6:20 and take my dog​​ for a walk. When we get back, I quickly get ready for school, eat something and go out. I usually go to school on foot because it’s close to my house. My first class is English literature. English is a language I really like, so I enjoy studying it. After the English class I have a free period that I usually use to finish homework that I didn’t have time to do, eat or just sit and talk to friends. Next I have a two-hour math class and three hours of physics. I study the Bible in school, but other than that, I am not a very religious person. I enjoy hearing different interpretations of the Bible stories since some of these solutions make more sense. 

I finish school at 2:50 p.m. When I get back home I eat lunch and watch Netflix or read a book until 4-5 p.m., do my homework if I have any, and after that I usually hang out with friends or go back to watch Netflix. Because of the Coronavirus I don’t have a lot of options for activities after school so my week is usually the same. At about 8:00 p.m. I have dinner with my family, then at 11/12 at night I go to bed. Sunday is a relatively free day for me, so in addition on Tuesdays for example I have an entrepreneurship and computer science course, and on Fridays I usually go to the sea to surf.

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Judaism is a big part of my daily life, I celebrate Jewish holidays with my family, and keep the Jewish tradition in our family. For example, I want to talk about my Bar Mitzvah experience. When I turned 13 I did an “Aliyah latora” at the west wall in Jerusalem! After that, we went celebrating my Bar Mitzvah at a big restaurant with my whole family. I would never forget that experience, and to this day I wear the golden David star necklace my grandparents gave me.

The feeling of silence on Shabbat or Yom Kippur is really calming and peaceful. Those are the days when people just stop everything in their lives for a few days.

The holidays are very special for me. I meet my family, eat really good food with them, and feel festive.

When traveling with my family around the world (but also in Israel) we go to alot of places that are related to Judaism and Jewish history, and we feel the power of it.

I also feel the Jewish history in my family’s history. My grandfather and all of his family are Holocaust survivors and today, he is proud to be Jewish, and proud to be living in Israel as a Jewish person.

 I am not very religious, but I try my hardest to keep holiday traditions and keep kosher.

Other then being Jewish in Israel, I have many other interests. I like music, hanging out with friends, watching movies and tv shows, and gaming.

I was born in Israel and I live in Israel so naturally I’m Israeli and I’m proud. Living in Israel has its ups and downs but after reading the paper and watching the news about the life of Jews in other countries it seems to me that I live in a wonderful place without antisemitism and prejudice.
In Israel we are all Jews that is what I see at school when I look around me. Of course there are other nationalities and religions in Israel but still Israel is a country for Jews. It is like an oasis in the middle of the desert.

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In Israel being a Jew is not unique. My family and I eat kosher food and don’t mix dairy products with meat. We do it even without thinking and without special intention. When we go to the supermarket the meat we buy is kosher and so are the rest of the groceries. On Shabbat my parents don’t work and we don’t have school because Israel is a Jewish country. Sometimes we need to intensify the fact that we are Jewish so we do that with special little rituals like the ritual of the challah baking on Friday morning.

I’m not religious, but on Friday mornings I like to get up early in the morning and bake challah bread with my mother. This is a small but an important ritual that takes place in my house. The challah baking ritual began even before I was born with my sister, Maya.  Now that my sister is in the army, I find myself baking the challah with my mother only almost every Friday. This ritual got me closer to my mother and when we sit together to eat Friday night dinner we look proudly at our challahs, knowing that we did something special for the Shabbat.

Before this past year, one of my favorite Jewish traditions was going to Synagogue on Saturdays.  I would dress up, grab my beloved Siddur I received from my bar mitzvah, and spend 3-4 hours praying in Hebrew, listening to the Rabbi’s Dvar Torah, and gossiping with fellow members of the congregation, all for the reward of some truly incredible bagels and lox.  However, with the start of this pandemic, this ritual hasn’t really been possible, so I’ve had to find other ways to connect to Judaism.  I go to The Weber Jewish Community High School in Sandy Springs, Georgia.  It’s an egalitarian school, so prayer isn’t mandatory.  I don’t usually go;  they’re very early and as a 17-year old kid, my self-inflicted sleep deprivation makes anything in the early morning pretty difficult. 

I go to classes like Hebrew and Modern Jewish History.  I’m lucky to have those classes and it’s been great to express my Judaism through learning and studying.  I believe connecting with my Jewish community and learning about Judaism are just as important as praying or reading Torah. Since one of those things can’t be traditionally done as I’m stuck at home, I’ve been connecting and studying like never before.  I’m involved in organizations like BBYO and Young Judaea, as well as the AJC and the Jumpspark fellowship program.  These really are the highlights of my week;  They offer a break from the monotony of school, homework, video games, exercise, and sleep. 

One that stands out, however, is the Jumpspark program.  With Jumpspark, I work with Israeli teens just like me to tell our stories of Jewish identity in America and Israel. I’ve learned a lot about Israel from my Israeli friends in Jumpspark or otherwise.  My work in Israel advocacy is one of my most beloved connections to other Jews in Israel, but talking to Israeli friends helps me get new perspectives, and they’re all wonderful, interesting people.  My greatest friends live at home, in the USA.  I connect with other Jews in the US, as many others do, through groups like BBYO.  I’m the Mazkir, AKA communications czar, for my local BBYO chapter.  It’s a good bit of work but incredibly rewarding, when we can all get together in zoom or in an open park and just hang out.  In lieu of in-person religious involvement, I’ve found meaning and depth in just connecting with other Jews.

Judaism is the main part of my identity. I think the reasons for that are: that in my close community everyone celebrates the holidays whatever their beliefs, my family does kiddush every week before Friday dinner. Also, my grandfather was a holocaust survivor and his story impacted the way I see Judaism and my need to be part of Jewish people.

For me, being an Israeli means contributing to the community, speaking Hebrew, and celebrating our civilian holidays like Independence Day.

Judaism and Israeli history are really woven together in my school work. In school every morning we stand to Hatikvah. Through school we  travel across Israel and learn stories from history or the Torah. Also in history class, I am learning about the Holocaust and that has made such an impact on my Jewish identity. A couple of years ago my school took my class to Mount Herzl Cemetery. Mount Herzl Cemetery is the site of Israel’s national cemetery and other memorial and educational facilities. There we learned about the people that lost their lives for Israel. It was very emotional and gave me a new perspective on what it means to be an Israeli. 

Outside of school I volunteer for Krembo Wings (https://www.krembo.org.il/en/), a youth movement for children with and without disabilities. Youth movements are the way that a lot of teenagers contribute to the community here in Israel. 

Although being Jewish is the main part of my Jewish identity, I also spend time reading, meeting friends, drawing, or doing homework.