Topics!
- Rosh Hashanah
- Vegetarian Feasting
- Slichot
- Yom Kippur
- IDF Museum
- Sukkot
- Tiyul
- Simchat Torah
So we were in the Jewish High Holidays, which basically consists of Rosh Hashanah (New Year), Slichot (Repenting), Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), Sukkot (uh... "huts"), and Simchat Torah (Yay we finished reading the Torah this year and now we're going to start all over!).
Since I wasn't very religious in the states, I don't think I ever realized how... long... and... intense... the high holidays are. Have a nice meal here, build a shack and eat in it there, apologize to some friends, and carry on. But in Israel, these are national holidays, and everything stops. Everything closes, no one can make plans, nothing can get done, it's just weeks and weeks of dashing from one friend's house to another family member's house and eating and eating and fasting and eating.
There are obvious upsides to this... it's fun! Holidays are fun! Amazing food and company. But the downside is when you're trying to adjust to a new country, sometimes the most useful thing is to get into a routine, and that's really impossible when there's a new holiday every few days, and when the holidays themselves last for days and days. So I'm definitely nearing my limit for how many festivities I can withstand.
All that said, I think I've been doing a good job of making the most of things :)
It was really hard to blog during it though, so sorry for the long delay.
HERE. WE. GO. HOLIDAYS!
Rosh Hashanah
I was really intimidated going into Rosh Hashanah. Because of the way it combined with Shabbat, it was 3 days long, and in Jerusalem, that means 3 days of no public transportation, almost everything closed, and everybody being busy. I was scared that I would be lonely and homesick so I made about a million plans to fill up the time.
One of the things I did was go to Idit's family's house. Idit is one of the advisors of my program and she is so sweet and welcoming. Her family is Moroccan so they have a huge dinner and festivities! Her family was SO friendly and welcoming. Her mother came up to me and before saying a word just swept me up in a big hug and then kissed my face and said, "I could tell you needed a mother's embrace!!" and I said, "How did you know??" and she said, "I just knew. I just knew." I did need that. I miss my mom!
The meal was enormous, there had to be 10 courses, and they just kept coming and coming. And there were tons of little kids who between courses would run out to the garden to catch lizards. One of them found a chameleon:
Idit's brother is part of the Israeli police force and also a scholar. We talked a lot about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, Israeli history, and racial tensions in Israel currently. And he gave me and Kiyomi copies of his book and was gracious when I asked him to sign :).
Me and Idit!
Other things I did on Rosh Hashanah...
-Lunch at Shai's house with rabinical students - Fun!
-Lunch at Jess's house with other rabinical students - Fun!
-Dinner at Sarah Leah's house with awesome chicks and tons of food -Fun!
-Dinner with roomie - Fun!
And I wandered around a lot and marveled at the empty streets. This is Rothschild blvd, which is usually super crowded...
And this is Paris Square in Jerusalem, which usually has at least SOME people!
And this is just a lovely Jerusalem sunset shot :)
Slichot
So Rosh Hashanah is the New Year, and then there's this period called Slichot, where you beg God and your fellow man to forgive you for all the wrongs you committed the previous year and to write you in the "book of life" aka give you a good forecast for the next year. In Jerusalem, you could always hear people singing and chanting and asking forgiveness. I'm really not into beating myself up, so this was an awkward holiday for me, but the songs were sometimes nice, especially since I couldn't really understand them.
My group did an excursion into the old city starting at 10 or so until 3 am and it was CRAZY! People come from all over the world to apologize in Jerusalem. It was so packed with all different people.
My favorite part was visiting the tomb of King David, who was obviously one of the greatest leaders of the Jews, but also one of the most flawed. And what's special about David is (Among many other things, I supposed) he admitted when he was wrong and asked forgiveness, which is why it's traditional to visit his tomb on this holiday. It was a really moving experience for me.
Yom Kippur
Matat came to Jerusalem for Yom Kippur! For her, it was a big deal, kind of pilgrimage-y. She grew up in greater Tel Aviv, which is not so spiritual in general, and she got excused from the family gathering there to come spend it with me in Jerusalem. When she arrived the first thing we did was go to the grocery store and buy piles and piles of vegetables and other things to make some of her mom's recipes, and we cooked most of the night and the next day. You know Matat and I were a friend-match made in heaven because we share a love for 90s dance music. It was a very Salt-N-Pepa and LaBouche kind of cooking event.
I lit the candles!
There's no light like there is in Jerusalem
First course! Soup and Salad!
Second course! Salmon, peas with peppers, rice with yellow raisins and almonds, and roasted veggies!
My gorgeous dinner date!
I ate a LOT!
Dessert was apples + honey, honey cake, halva cake, and tea!
<3
I had a cold, so I drank water, but I didn't eat. We walked all around the city and even went to the Kotel. I got my pray on! But I approached with gratitude rather than repentance. As you might notice, it's traditional to wear white on Yom Kippur. No one drives so the streets were empty, and you can just walk down the middle of the road, and everywhere people in white stroll about.
We went to a closing service at the Great Synagogue which was lovely, then heated up the leftovers and ate tons and tons, and then went to Matat's friend's friend's house and then got drinks. Matat seems to know everyone in Jerusalem so it was lots of fun!
IDF Museum
Louisa and I are in charge of planning a seminar for the other fellows about the military and how it impacts society (broad, I know... we're working on narrowing.) And we decided to go to the official IDF museum to get a baseline for our research.
It was pretty bizarre, I have to admit. It felt more like a display for military enthusiasts than an archive or a story of the formation of a national defense force. It was rooms and rooms of equipment without much text, really. For example...
Outfit for Mount Hermon, maybe? Does The North Face work with the IDF?
I have to say this kind of upset me. You have to remember that almost all soldiers in the IDF were drafted, and they're drafted at 18. These are 18 year olds who are obligated to protect their country. Like my friends. It really made me nauseous thinking of my friends in gas masks. Obviously it's hard to describe in brief here.
Know all ye landlubbers!
So many guns. There were so many rooms full of guns.
More guns.
Lots of gas masks.
The most interesting room was dedicated to the chiefs of staff over the years, which had lots of interesting documents and candid photos of some of Israeli's most famous statesmen and generals. But overall it was a head-scratcher of a museum. Is it for Israelis? It didn't seem like it. Is it for Americans? It kind of felt like it was for New Hampshirites :P.
Sukkot
Sukkot is seven. days. long. It's kind of a harvest holiday. And it's also a holiday reminding us of how we wandered in the desert, which frankly feels out of order to me (why doesn't it come after Pesach then?). We build huts and decorate the huts which are called... sukkot. These sukkot need to be non-permanent structures. We're supposed to be a bit exposed to the elements and to remember that everything we have God gave us (and could take away), and not to get too comfortable. But then I heard an argument that actually the meaning should be the opposite, because if you're wandering in the desert in tents and stuff like early Israelites, then maybe hanging out in a sukkah was actually rather lavish. Well hm.
Rivka invited me to spend the first night, which is the most important, with her family in Karnei Shomron, which is a settlement in the West Bank.
Now, for those of you that hear "settlement in the West Bank" and react in this fashion:
Indeed, brace yourselves for the following intense images:
Tuna!
Batya, Rivka's younger sister, and her husband Tomer. They are the sweetest, best people.
Tomer, Batya, and Rivka trying to work out how to fit 18 people into our sukkah.
Gorgeous kitchen! Rivka's parents designed it themselves!
Gorgeous
I love their house
A lot.
Pretty, quiet neighborhood.
With hills!
Our sukkah! I helped hang things.
Rivka and her baby niece, Rona. Rivka's mother made up a song that she constantly sings about Rona. I don't know every Hebrew word, but the English is great: "Rona Bona, The Little One. She's so cute and also chubby." True words.
Dinner was AMAZING. I'd never had ceviche before, but now I'm totally addicted. There was so much food and I just kept eating and eating and eating.
Rivka's brother, Eli, and Rona!
It was great to meet the rest of Rivka's family. They were all such kind and warm people, and really smart and funny. I felt totally welcome. It was also great to see where Rivka grew up. It is so totally gorgeous. I wish I'd taken pictures of the hills around her house. It makes sense to me why she loves the outdoors so much, and why so many of her family members are tour guides.
But her town also (I found out via wiki) suffered a Palestinian suicide bombing in 2002 which killed 3 teenagers, seriously injured 6 people, and wounded 30 more. I remember Rivka telling me about it now, and I think that really must shape an upbringing... living in such a gorgeous place that's worth protecting and is violently threatened.
Tiyul
For the second half of sukkot, the Dorot fellows went on a tiyul... like a hiking trip. We went all around the north, and it was lovely! I shall tell the tale in photos...
At Hula lake park, you can see mountains in Syria in the background. It's pretty crazy how drastically different worlds are so close together in the Middle East. This area was also significant for me because it's where the Ben Canaans settle in Exodus, it's the land they see when they first enter Israel from the north that makes them fall in love with it.
You can't really see in this photo, but there were crazy migrating birds making all kinds of crazy formations in the sky.
Water Buffalo!
Next we went to a Druze village. You should wiki the Druze if you don't know what they are, it's complicated. But they're a minority in Israel that for the most part identifies as Israeli, serves in the IDF, etc. We did a cooking class with them. Here's Louisa being adorable.
Making stuffed grape leaves!
The food was DELICIOUS. Especially that stuffed zucchini you see in front of you. Yes, I got the recipe. Yes, I will make it for you.
<3
The Druze/Palestinian/Arab/Israeli Village of Shujya!
No idea what this says, but it looks cool and it made me think of Molly.
Then we went to Rosh Hanikra, a gathering of grottos riiiiight on the Lebanese border. Though it's very beautiful, our guide told us that this particular view is a mixed one for Israelis, as it's also the spot where Israel and Lebanon trade POWs, and bodies.
We went on through, of course.
The water was SO BLUE.
Whoa.
:D
Some kind of David and Goliath reenactment, though I'm not sure of the geographical connection.
Then we went to Kibbutz Tuval, the collective community our advisor, Neil, helped found. The views were amazing!
Whoa.
Then we went to Beit Alfa, the site of a very old Synagogue. They excavated a mosaic floor and you can see both the Roman Zodiac and the Binding of Isaac, which is very unusual.
"Doroters Doroting"
We finished at this collection of springs that weren't hot springs, but they weren't cold, either. They were warm springs. It was so fun!
Simchat Torah
Every year we read the Torah all the way through, with a designated portion to read each week. Simchat Torah celebrates finishing a cycle and starting a new one, and contains a lot eating, drinking, singing, and literally dancing with the Torah. Like taking the huge scrolls and dancing around with them.
But I have to tell you, after about 4 straight weeks of holidays, I was holiday-ed out. So I went to Batya and Tomer's house for dinner, which was lovely and fun, and then I went on a date, which was also lovely and fun. It was great to wander the streets of Jerusalem and see the religious families bustling about, coming and going and all the kids running in the streets.
Despite the title of this post, the holidays DID end, Thank God.
And then even crazier shit went down!
Next time on my blog: Homelessness! :D
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