Entry 1 

11/9/2022

About me

My name is Maya, I’m almost 14 years old and I was born in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Both of my parents were also born in Israel and they both work in high tech.

I have one little sister –  she is 9 years old.

In my free time I like to edit videos, read books, bake and hang out with my friends.

I also like to watch shows and movies. My favorite shows are “Stranger Things”, “Friends” and “Modern Family” and my favorite movies are all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movies.

I also like listening to music. My favorite singer is Taylor Swift. I love her songs and I hope I’ll go to her concert in the future.

I don’t really know what I would like to be doing in 10 years but I want to study abroad, Probably somewhere in Europe.

Entry 2

23/10/22

My sister Noya

Noya is my younger sister. She was born on April 17tn 2013 and she’s 9 and a half years old. She was born when I was 4 and a half years old.

Noya used to have ginger hair but now she has blonde, wavy and long hair. She has blue eyes and she is 1.40 meters tall. She’s shorter than me. 

Noya is smart and she gets good grades in school.

She likes dancing, meeting up with friends and hanging out with me. She has a lot of friends so I guess she’s very friendly. She is a good dancer and she goes to 3 different dance classes. She is annoying sometimes but I still love her very much.

I chose her because she’s very special to me. She’s my only sister and I love her very much. Even though we fight a lot we are still best friends.

Entry 3

8.1.23

For And Against Essay 

Public transportation is a huge part of so many people’s lives here in Israel. There has been a debate for years whether or not public transportation should be available during the weekend. There are both pros and cons to having public transportation during weekends. 

On one hand, having public transportation during weekends is important to many people that don’t have a car and rely on buses or trains when they need to get to places during the weekend. Especially when there are only a few places that are open. For example, if you need something important from the supermarket during the weekend that can’t wait until Sunday or Saturday evening and there are no supermarkets that are open 24/7 anywhere near you, you have a problem getting there if there is no public transportation during the weekend and you don’t own a car.

On the other hand, many people claim that in a Jewish state, things should not operate during weekends such as public transportation and business in order to keep the Shabbat holy. 

In conclusion, public transportation during the weekend is useful to many people but others consider it harmful. In my opinion, there should be public transportation during the weekend in non religious cities but in religious cities it’s not necessary.

Entry 4 A

4/2/23

My bracelet 

On my tenth birthday I got a plain silver bracelet from “Pandora”. When I first saw this bracelet, I asked my parents if I could get one because I thought that it’s really pretty and then, on my tenth birthday, my grandma surprised me and bought me one. I was so excited and I started looking for charms for the bracelet.

Ever since that day, I’ve been buying charms based on my interests. For example, when I went to Paris in June I got an Ironman charm because I love Marvel. I have been wearing this bracelet ever since I go it

One of the reasons why this bracelet is important to me is because my grandma bought me this and I love her very much. However, she bought me other jewelry over the years and the reason why this bracelet is the most important is because it represents my interests and my personality.

Entry 4 B

8/3/23

Interview assignment

The family member that I chose to interview is my mother. I chose this person because I knew about a special item she has – a diamond ring that was given to her by her grandmother. My mother is very attached to this ring and it has a great sentimental value to her, as it belonged to her great grandmother, then given to her grandmother and finally to her. She wears this ring mainly on special occasions and on family gatherings. 

Both me and my mother have similar objects, jewelry, that have sentimental value to both of us. For me it is a silver bracelet, given to me by my grandmother and for my mother it is a diamond ring, given to her by her grandmother as well. It appears that our grandmothers are the connections between our chosen objects and we can learn that family is important and is something that means a lot for both of us. 

Appendix

Interview questions- my mother 

Q:What is the object?

A:The object is a Diamond ring that belonged to my great grandmother, was given to my grandmother and then to my mother. 

Q:When, where and / or how often do you use/d the object?

A:I wear this ring on special occasions, family dinners, family gatherings etc. 

Q:Why is the object important to you?

A:This ring has sentimental value to me, as it’s very old and has been with my family for over 50 years. 

Q:How would your life be different without the object or activity?

A: I can’t really answer this question because I remember my grandmother wearing this ring from my childhood and she told me about it several times. I always knew that one day it will become mine. 

Q: where did you get the object from?

A:I got the ring from my grandmother. 

Q: Do you think you will ever sell this object?

A: I don’t think so. I plan to give it to you one day or to my granddaughters.

Entry 5

18/4/23

The holocaust 

We were asked to research a person who perished in the Holocaust. The name of the person I received on my candle, sponsored by the foundation Nervashem is Moishe Felman. He was born in 1926 and died in 1942, at the very young age of 16. He lived at Sokołów Podlaski, Poland and was the youngest of 7 siblings. He was perished in Treblinka camp in Poland.

I lit the candle on Monday night while I was studying for a math test. Lightning up the candle made me feel sad but curious about his story. It reminded me that each person out of the 6 million victims had their own story, life and family.

I am not aware of any friends or family that were in the holocaust.

I do not remember the first time I heard about the holocaust but I assume it was in kindergarten or first grade. I believe and hope it could not happen again these days because of social media and cancel culture.

I believe the way we can prevent another Holocaust from happening is spreading more information about antisemitism on social media.

Entry 6

26/9/23

Politics 

During the last 38 weeks, the situation in Israel has been chaotic. Protests became part of our daily routine, all because a new government has been elected, a government which includes extremist radicals. They have proposed 225 laws, beginning with the judicial overhaul which are aimed at dismantling our delicate checks and balances, clearing the way to transform Israel from a vibrant democracy into a messianic theocracy. 

We are fighting an existential threat to our values – from within our own government and therefore have no other choice rather than protest – go out to the streets, to the city squares, in front of ministers homes and basically everywhere that our voices will be heard. 

8/4/23

Entry 7

My vacation to London 

Yesterday, April 7th I came back from London. I’ve been there for a week and I had a lot of fun.

It was my first time traveling to London so it was very exciting. I have been wanting to visit London for years, ever since I watched “Mary Poppins” and “Paddington”.

I went to see famous locations such as the “Big Ben”, the “London Eye”, “Sky Garden” and “Oxford” Street. There was a huge mall close to our hotel with over 300 stores so I bought a lot of clothes and makeup products. My favorite part about the trip was “ABBA Voyage” and the Madame Tussauds. ABBA Voyage is an ABBA  concert but with holograms because the members of the band are too old to perform. The holograms looked so real and I felt like they were real people. Unfortunately, filming was not permitted so I don’t have any pictures or videos from there. in the Madame Tussauds I was really excited to see the wax figure of Taylor Swift because she is my favorite singer. I really enjoyed London and I would definitely travel there again.

Entry 8

17/9/23

My Rosh Hashana dinner

Yesterday, (september 16th) I had dinner with my family for Rosh Hashana. Rosh Hashana evening was on friday but we did it on saturday because it didn’t work out.

The dinner was at my grandparents house from my mom’s side.  It was me, my parents, my sister, my grandparents, my two aunts (my moms’s sisters), my uncle and 5 out of my 6 cousins because one of them was in the army. Usually before dinner I play with my little cousins. Then we have dinner and my grandma makes delicious food. After dinner my sister performs one of her dances from her dance class and then we have dessert.

Entry 9

5/8/23

My goals in 20 years

In 20 years I see myself living somewhere in Europe, probably London because I absolutely fell in love with the city after I visited there back in April.

I will be 35 years old and i hope i will already be married. I hope after the army I met my soulmate and moved to London with them. I really hope I was able to travel the world just like I wanted because right now, this is my biggest dream.

I don’t really want kids but I do want pets, at least a dog and a cat. 

I want to work at something with computers and I hope I will be rich and have a big house.

29/1/23

Watching  a movie with friends

Yesterday, Saturday, January 28th I met with my friends to watch the “Teen Wolf” movie-  an American supernatural thriller drama that is a continuation of the show “Teen Wolf”- a show about a teen that becomes a werewolf.

My friend was really excited for this movie so she invited all of us to watch it with her.

I only watched half of the “Teen Wolf” show but I still wanted to watch the movie with my friends.

At first, I told my friends I won’t be able to come because I had a test today (January 29th) and I needed to study. I was really nervous about the test and I hated the fact that I needed to cancel my plans just to study. In the end, I ended up coming to watch the movie and studying before and after. I think it was a smart decision because I’ve managed to study and to enjoy my time with friends. I think it’s important to know how to balance school with friends, family and hobbies. 

We ordered pizza from “Pizza Hut” and watched the movie. The pizza was delicious even though I don’t like Pizza Hut that much but the movie was pretty boring. I didn’t understand anything. Maybe it’s because I have never finished the show or maybe it’s because the movie was just just bad and not understandable. The movie got 5.6/10 stars on IMDB and 32% on Rotten Tomatoes, not very high. Even though I didn’t like the movie, I still had a good time with my friends. At some point we laughed about how bad the movie was and that was fun.

Also, I haven’t seen one of my friends in more than a month because she is very busy with school and with dancing so it was nice to see her.

28/7/23

My trip to Greece 

Yesterday I came back from a long vacation to Greece. 

This vacation was special because it was with my very good friend Hilly.  

Hilly and I have been friends since kindergarten and our families are very close, my sister loves her and both of our parents are friends.

We started our trip as usual, we took a taxi to the airport and we went through security.

We met Hilly and her family at duty free and it was very exciting because I have never met a friend at the airport before.

It was not the first time that I went on a trip with Hilly, we have already been to Romania and to Cyprus together before but this is the first time that we have been on the same flight together.

The flight was amazing because we had screens and they had my favorite shows and songs. We stayed in Athens for one night at a small hotel near the port. The next day we took a ferry to a small island called “Paros”.

Paros is not as famous as Rhodes and Santorini for example but it got pretty well known this year because of Tiktok.

We stayed at different hotels because they wanted something more authentic and close to the beach and we wanted a pool. our pool there was so deep! It was 3 meters while the pool near my house is only 1.8 meters.

During our stay in Paros we visited the beautiful towns and we went to the beach and the pool a lot. I liked the pool because it was very deep and I was able to jump but I didn’t like the beaches because there were so many fish and I am very afraid of fish.

After about a week we took a ferry back to Athens. As much as I enjoyed the beautiful towns of Paros, nothing competes with a vacation to a big city where I can buy stuff that I don’t really need from stores we don’t have here in israel.  Also, I missed Mcdonalds, Starbucks and famous clothing stores because they don’t have them in Paros.

Overall I really enjoyed this trip and I hope I will have the chance to go on another trip with Hilly.

30/7/23

My review on Paros, greece

Last week I came back from a trip to a Greek island named “Paros”. I really enjoyed my trip but I do have some complaints about this island.

Paros is a Greek island in the central Aegean Sea and is one of the Cyclades island group.

This island is absolutely beautiful. The streets in the small towns are gorgeous and I enjoyed walking around them. The beaches are also beautiful with teal colored water, you can take some great pictures there!

Even though this island is gorgeous, there are some bad things there.

First of all,  I didn’t like the fact that there are no famous stores there. no Mcdonalds, no Starbucks, no H&M, no KFC, no Sephora, nothing. I know that for some people it is considered an advantage because they like it when it’s more authentic but for me it’s absolutely a disadvantage, I didn’t really have what to eat there because I don’t like fish so for a week I only ate greek salads and their weird french fries.

Second of all, as much as I liked the beautiful towns and beaches, it got boring at some point. I wish there was a water park or a mall or even a museum but there wasn’t.

Third of all, and this is my biggest complaint, everything felt like it was meant for tourists. You can find a souvenir shop literally everywhere and everything is so expensive! a magnet that  costs 1 euro in Athens would cost you 5 euros there, it’s insane.

The beaches were the worst. If you want to rent a chair and an umbrella, what do you think it’s gonna cost? 5 euros? 10  euros? maybe even 15?

It costs 60 euros!!! And of course we didn’t pay that price.

Overall, I enjoyed my trip to Paros because I was with my friend and family but I don’t think I will ever go back to that island, mostly because it is just too  expensive.

24/6/23

Why taylor swift is the music industry

Taylor Alison Swift was born on December 13, 1989. She is an American singer-songwriter. Recognized for her songwriting, musical versatility, artistic reinventions, and influence on the music industry.

Taylor has 10 albums: “Taylor Swift”,  “Fearless”, “Speak Now”, “Red”, “1989”, “Reputation”, “Lover”, “Folklore”, “Evermore” and “Midnights”. I think folklore is the best one.

those are the reasons why i think she is in fact the music industry:

her vocals

I don’t know much about singing but she has an amazing voice, she sings live at every concert and she knows how to balance brighter tones with darker tones.

her relationship with her fans

Taylor is known for having an amazing relationship with her fans. She used to have secret sessions where she invited fans into her house but they stopped because of covid. Some fans claim that they felt like they were her best friends while meeting her. Taylor is also known for having easter eggs in her imagery, clothing and lyrics about upcoming projects that we as fans need to find.

her current tour

Taylor’s current tour is called “The Eras Tour”.

The concert is 3 hours and 15 minutes long and she sings 45 different songs. The tour has 146 dates across five continents.

The tour had a cultural, economic and political impact. There was a huge demand for tickets  and it was almost impossible to get them. She literally broke “Ticketmaster”.

lyricism

I think lyricism is the most important reason to why she is the music industry because this is the thing that makes her stand out as an artist, she even mentioned that in her documentary “Miss Americana ”. compared to other artists that have great songs but lyrics that don’t really mean anything, taylor always has a lot of depth in her lyrics but the songs still sounds good, for example, in her song “No Body, No Crime” she tells a whole murder mystery story and the song still sounds amazing.

5/9/23

“Folklore” love triangle explained

The folklore love triangle is a story that is told in three different songs in the album “Folklore” by Taylor Swift.

There are 3 characters in the story: Betty, James and August and each song is from a different person’s perspective

The song “Betty” is from the perspective of james. 

The song “Cardigan” is from the perspective of Betty

and the song “August” is from the perspective of August.

All the characters are still in high school and they are about 17 years old.

Betty and James were in a relationship for a very long time. James leaves for the summer,  meets August and they have a love affair. Betty finds out about it from a girl named Inez (mentioned in the song “Betty”) and she is mad at james.

“you weren’t mine mine to lose” is one of the most important lyrics in the song “August” 

that tells us that August is “the other girl”, she is not some mean girl who is stealing a man, she is just insecure. She believed she had something real while from James perspective it was only a little summer affair- “it was just a summer thing”(from the song “Betty”).  Another part from the song “meet me behind the mall”. is very smart because you can also hear it as “meet me behind them all” as James doesn’t want anyone to know about their relationship.

In the song Cardigan, Betty feels like she was being used- “and when i felt like i was an old cardigan, under someone’s bed” this song is from Betty’s perspective 20 or 30 years later looking back.

After the summer, James ends things with August and tries to win Betty back. The song “Betty” is basically James trying to win her  back- “im only 17, i don’t know anything but i know i miss you” the special thing about the song is that James never says the word  “sorry”,  not even once. At the end James won Betty back and Taylor Swift tells us that they stayed together and got married.

19/5/23

Why Taylor Swift does not only write songs about her exes

There is a common misconception- usually from Taylor Swift’s haters and Kanye West’s fans that Taylor only write songs about her exes and yes, she does have a lot of songs about relationships and breakups,  just like almost every other artist, she also has a lot of songs in her discography that are not about that and i’m gonna show some examples for that.

“No Body, No Crime” is a song about a murder story. In the song, Taylor’s friend Este gets murdered by her husband.

“The Last Great American Dynasty” is a song about Rebecca, the previous owner of Taylor’s house in Rhode Island.

“Marjorie” is a song about her grandmother and how Taylor thinks she talks to her even though she passed away.

“This Is Me Trying” is a song about the strength it takes to overcome mental illness.

“Soon You’ll Get Better” is a beautiful song about fear of losing someone from terminal illness. The song is about how she struggled with her mom’s cancer.

“A Place In This World” is a song about her trying to find her place in this world.

“Miss Americana And The Heartbreak Prince” is a song about the issues in the world regarding politics and inequality, using the imagery of a high school to present the world.

“You Need To Calm Down” is a song about homophobia and cyberbullying.

“Mean”  is a song about her critics

“Innocent” is a song about the accident with Kanye West at the VMA’s. she wrote  “who you are is not what you did” about him while he wrote horrible lyrics about her.

“Long Live” is a song about her fans

“Ronan” is a song about a kid named Ronan. He passed away days before his 4th birthday because of neuroblastoma and the song is to honor him and for his mom Maya Thompson.

“Look What You Made Me Do” is a song about her feud with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian and how everyone called her a snake and she disappeared for a year.

“The Man” is a song about the sexist double standards in society and especially in the music industry. “i’m so sick of running as fast as i can, wondering if i’d get there quicker if i was a man”

“The Archer” is a beautiful song about her struggle with anxiety.

There are so many other examples and I can’t name them all but I think this proves my point.

12/8/23

My trip to Cyprus

Yesterday I came back from a short trip to Cyprus. I have already been to Cyprus twice this year so it wasn’t really special but I still had a great time.

The trip was supposed to be only me and my dad, a father-daughter trip but my mom had to come to sign some papers for our new house so my sister also joined and it was a family trip. 

It was only me and my dad for the first two days so we drove together to the airport. On the plane we met my friend Mai’s dad and he is also a friend of my dad.

Mai is moving to Cyprus at the end of the month and I’m really sad about it because we have been good friends since kindergarten. The good thing is that Cyprus is really close, it’s only 40 minutes away from here and I travel there a lot because we bought a house there that will be ready in 2024. In fact, my next trip to Cyprus is next month, right after Yom Kippur.

After the short flight, my dad and I went to the new mall that had just opened a month ago. There is already a big mall really close to our house but now they have opened a new one closer to the airport.

Mai’s dad invited us to his office. My dad knew some people there and he talked to them but I was pretty bored. 

For dinner we went to our favorite restaurant there. This restaurant has so many options: sushi, pizza, pasta, burgers and my favorite: their cake pops.

The next few days were pretty much the same: I was at the pool swimming or reading a book while my dad was in meetings. We picked my mom and my sister from the airport and then it was me and my sister at the pool and my mom and dad at meetings. We went on a trip to the mountains there and everything was so beautiful. We also went to the mall and I bought some new clothes.

Overall I enjoyed this trip and I can’t wait for the next one where I will visit my friend Mai at her new house.

23/9/23

Why I think homework is unnecessary 

Homework is a thing that every student hates. It takes up so much from our free time and in my opinion, it’s just useless. Sure, homework is supposed to help kids but in reality, they don’t do anything. a student is supposed to learn from the homework but we get so much homework from so many classes that you can’t blame students for using apps to solve them such as Photo Math and Chat GPT.

We are in school for so many hours of the day. I have two days where I finish at 4 pm and another day where I finish at 5 pm. After school we have a  lot of things to do. eating, cleaning our rooms, working out,  and some kids have tsofim, jobs or other activities. Some kids just want to rest and maybe to meet with their  friends or do their hobbies. Homework can sometimes take 2 hours and we don’t have that time.

​​Research shows that some students regularly receive higher amounts of homework than experts recommend, which may cause stress and negative health effects. Too much homework can result in lack of sleep, headaches, exhaustion and weight loss. 

The researchers also found that spending too much time on homework meant that students were not meeting their developmental needs or cultivating other critical life skills. 

Sometimes, we don’t have time to be with friends and family, which is very important.

Another problem with homework is that It highlights inequalities.  Kids from wealthier homes are more likely to have resources such as computers, internet connections, dedicated areas to do schoolwork and parents who tend to be more educated and more available to help them with tricky assignments. Kids from disadvantaged homes are more likely to work at after school jobs, or to be home without supervision in the evenings while their parents work multiple jobs.”

Those are the reasons why I think homework is just unnecessary and useless and I hope we will not get them anymore or at least, we will get less.

THE

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