Rosh HaShanah
The first day of Rosh HaShanah was spent at HUC services again- they were a bit better than the first day, but still disappointing in the lack of participation and the small number of attendees. After services, I brought tuna salad to a lovely brunch held by Amy and Sarah. A Rosh HaShanah nap was followed by dinner at Adena's, to which I brought my first ever homemade fried rice.
As I don't usually attend 2nd day Rosh HaShanah services in the States, I wasn't sure that I wanted to go to HUC services again. Jaclyn, Joel, and I decided that we would "shul hop" for the 2nd day instead of going back to HUC for the whole morning. We visited (in this order) Masoret Yisrael (the congregation affiliated with the American Conservative movement), the Great Synagogue (the official Orthodox congregation of Jerusalem), the Italian Synagogue (a historical synagogue that was essentially disassembled in Italy and rebuilt here in Israel), and Har-El (the oldest Progressive congregation in Jerusalem, with whom HUC held services that day). Masoret Yisrael was a perfectly lovely and familiar if not boring experience- my classmates and I brought the average age of the congregation down about forty years, and most of the congregants were clearly native North Americans. The Great Synagogue was certainly busier than Masoret Yisrael- there were a few hundred people there at least, with men and women praying in their respective parts of the synagogue and children running all around with their snacks and toys. I truly enoyed the spirited singing of the Cantor and (all-male) choir, but because I a) was not too familiar with the tunes and b) was given a Siddur that was Hebrew/Russian, I had a hard time following along. I felt very much on the outside because I was sitting in the women's section (a HUGE balcony) but I enjoyed observing this unique experience. The Italian Synagogue was the most physically beautiful of the synagogues we visited. There was an intense feeling of prayerfulness in the shul, both in the women’s section (which had room for about 20 and was packed with at least 40 people plus their children) and the men’s section (which women freely stood on the edge of and peeked in to). I had a hard time participating here due to my lack of seat/space to pray and prayerbook, but it was very cool to see this close-knit of a community (in fact, my roommate Deana's aunt married an Italian guy and this is their congregation). Our last stop was at Har-El, though unfortunately we only caught the sermon (given in Hebrew!), shofar blowing, and closing prayers.
Rosh HaShanah was concluded with a GREAT dinner at Leslie's, which featured about 20 guests, my regular AND sweet potatoes, lots of other great food, and at least 15 bottles of wine... OY. We had a practical seminar day after Rosh HaShanah ended, and then had another two days off for Shabbat! I got to spend a great Friday in Tel Aviv with Leslie and Jaclyn that was full of all kinds of crazy adventures, including a Sherut car accident, cab drivers predicting Armageddon, and better food than can be found anywhere in Jerusalem. We then had three regular days of school before Yom Kippur started.
dinner at Leslie's... see my potatoes?
In preparation for the break fast meal that my roommates and I held on Thursday night, I spent my day on Wednesday running around the city to various Holy Bagel locations attempting to pick up our bagel order- clearly not as easy as it is in the States! Because Yom Kippur evening services start much earlier here than at home (daylight savings time starts on the weekend between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur here, meaning that the sun now goes down around 5pm!), Joel and I, along with classmates Benji and Leah and a friend of Leah's from home, went to classmate Daniel and his girlfriend Jessica's apartment for a pre-fast meal at 2:30pm! Dinner was GREAT, but it was weird to be eating this big festival meal in the middle of the day. Kol Nidre (Yom Kippur evening services, named for the important prayer found at the beginning of the service) services were the best of all of the HUC services, in my opinion. There were TONS of people there, every sang along, and services were held in a room that has a huge picture window overlooking the
Sukkot
The three and a half days leading up to Sukkot after Yom Kippur were fairly eventful. On Friday, a bunch of my classmates gathered to decorate the Sukkah (festival booth) at school- it kind of looking likes it was decorated by 8-year-olds, but we're proud of it! Afterwards, I went on an excursion with some classmates to see the temporary shuk (market) set up for the selling of the Arba Minim (the four species- the three kinds of branches that make up the Lulav (myrtle, palm, and willow), and the Etrog, which sort of looks like a lemon- you hold these four together and shake them during Sukkot services and while in your Sukkah). This was a very unique experience, and I even got to buy three Etrogim with which I will eventually make jam or liqueur, whichever I decide sounds like more fun later on- for now, they're just smelling up my room! That evening, after a trip to the regular Shuk to buy food, Joel made a great Shabbat dinner at his apartment. Shabbat was spent, for the fourth weekend now, with Joel and Ari- our thing is to have a completely relaxing day… SO, we make breakfast for lunch (it’s been French toast, this week was cottage cheese pancakes- very good!) and then watch two movies, usually at least one of which I have never seen.
Joel and me in the Sukkah at HUC
Dean Marmur joined in on the fun
an Orthodox man inspecting palm branches for his Lulav
Saturday evening was Jason’s 25th birthday dinner, followed by my first ever experience at Babette’s, this amazing waffle place (see the pictures to catch my drift). On Sunday, our class took a field trip for our
waffle eating is clearly a skill that I do not possess
I’m sorry that this has been the longest post EVER… however, I am spending the rest of my Sukkot break (that’s right, I’m on break for 10 days, not that I’ve been to more than 6 days of school in the last month!) in ISTANBUL!! Joel, Ari, and I are traveling to
Chag Sameach!
Meredith