Interview at the President's Residence - moving up in the world?

Okay - so here is the biggest thing that has happened to me so far...

On Tuesday, October 27th, 2009, I was at work as usual doing my thing and not really expecting much. Suddenly, Noga pops into my cube and asks me:

"Hey, would you be willing to go to the President's residence to interview a delegation of Rabbis from Los Angeles?"

At first I thought I misheard heard her .. would i be willing? THE presdient's house?are you kidding me? never mind that i have *never* interviewed anyone in my life or feel important enough to go to the president's residence...OFCOURSE I AM WILLING!!!!!!

So here is the background info. A delegation of 18 rabbis, of various denominations (orthodox, conservative & refor), came to Israel for a 3 day trip. The idea was to show solidarity with Israel and to also show unity between the differeing denominations. (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/middleeast/)
One of the stops on their busy tour was the Shimon Peres's place for a short, closed doors meeting. So, the Ministry of Tourism (at last minute of course) decided that they wanted to interview some of these rabbis on camera for promotional material. They needed someone to actually interview the people - and that someone turned out to be ME!!!! WHOAH!!! After getting things in order, I went home, took a 20 minute nap, woke up to do some research on the different Rabbis, take notes and memorize faces, and changed into nice clothes.

I met the camera crew (2 latin american jews) and after passing through security (which is no joke) and receiving a 'media' tag, I made my way into the President's main reception hall! Ofcourse, from the momment I walked up to the residence, I couldn't stop smiling and looking like a silly idiot. I really couldn't believe that I was sitting inside the presidence residence about to meet/interview some of the most influental jewish leaders of our day! (a few of the rabbis in the delegation were part of Newsweeks '50 most influental jewish leaders').

Before the doors were closed on the session, I managed to snap some pictures of Shimon and the Rabbis.


In the end, there was only time to interview two of the rabbis. Here are their names and links to short bio's:

Rabbi Denise Eger
http://www.boardofrabbis.org/Rabbi-Denise-Eger

Rabbi Marvin Hier
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Hier

If you are wondering whether or not this footage will actually be used for promoting tourism to Israel- I have no idea. It may have been a complete waste of time (from a business perspective). However, it was an *incredible* opportunity for me and even while writing this, I am having a hard time believe that I actually did that.

Oh, and you should all know that Shimon Peres walked RIGHT PAST ME AND SMILED AT ME!!!!! that's right people - i almost touched the president of Israel! hahaha.

I guess the one thing that I want to point out, in writing all of this, is the profound difference in Israeli culture when it comes to celebrities/political figures. In the U.S. there is a *very clear* wall between the 'common person' and the famous figure (be it hollywood/politician/what ever). But in Israel, as long as you pass security - it is totally normal to ask for a picture, shake hands, and interact with the nation's "stars". the relationship here is almost familial in a sense. It's pretty cool and further demonstrates how small this country is but at the same time, how involved people are with what is going on. I don't think something like this could have happened for me in the U.S. unless i knew some people who knew some people....

oh man - i love Israel!
<3