Call Me Crazy

But, Yom Kippur is actually one of my favorite holidays. After fasting, I feel so rejuvenated and re-energized and ready to start the new year. I do, of course, get bored in services, but some of the songs are really pretty and filled with emotion. There is such contrasts with the prayers. Some are upbeat and say "G-d, you are awesome and almighty" whereas others are more downtrodden, saying "Here are the sins we have committed and we are sorry" but either way both are beautiful and convey the exact content and sounds that should come with a Day of Atonment.

Here in Tel Aviv, one of the most secular cities in Israel, everything shuts down. There were no cars and no stores opened. When I wake up on a normal day, I hear children screaming, an ambulance whirring, and traffic honking. Yesterday when I woke up, I heard nothing. There was absolute silence. Well, except for the fire alarm that went off a few minutes after I woke up. I went to Kol Nidre, Shacharit, and Neillah at the same synagogue I went to on Rosh Hashannah. After Kol Nidre, as we were walking back, everyone emerged from their synagogue and meandered towards the main intersection, Melch George and Dizengoff. A sea of white took over the intersection and sang songs. Children and adults alike rode their bicycles through the streets and surprisingly, the children wore helmets. Israeli parents technically don't have the best parenting skills and judgement so this was surprising to see. It was kind of like Christmas, but we were apart of it. Imagine Boston shutting down for the day. No cars, no opened stores. Just people gathering together as people to mingle. It brings a peaceful mindset and a connection of community.

Pre-fast was a rush of showering and cooking food before services. Being stupid, I had agreed to go to the beach with some friends around 3 hoping to back around 4, but I forgot to factor in walking time and rinsing off time so by the time I got back to my apartment, I had half an hour before I was meeting my roommate. (She was at her grandmother's, who lives in Tel Aviv) Kol Nidre was quick and I still have no idea why services at home are over two hours. Afterwards, I got back and chilled with some friends and ironically discussed the topic of starvation. The topic in question was "do people die of starvation in America?" Because I am from Democratic Massachusetts and the person I was discussing this with is from Kansas, we had different views. And I learned, this is not the only thing we disagree on, as we had another friendly disagreement about stereotypes the next day. (I feel so intellectual with these real topics!) The rest of my Yom Kippur consisted of Shacharit services, a nap, and Afternoon Services/Neillah. During Mincha, afternoon services, the Book of Jonah is read. Sadly, I have only heard it read on Yom Kippur maybe four times in my life, yesterday being the fourth. However, unlike the last few times, I was into the story and could sort of understand the story by reading the Hebrew, instead of the English. When Neillah began, I was surprised at the number of people that showed up. People were outside, listening through the windows as the sounds of the shofar swept through Rachov Borgachov.

For break-fast, a bunch of us went out for dinner at a place creatively names "Pizza." It is supposedly the best pizza place in Tel Aviv, but it was hard to judge because after 26 hours of no eating, almost anything is delicious. Although, honestly, I wasn't that hungry the whole fast, just wicked thirsty. After dinner, we went to the beach to chill and hang out. The beach has become more than just a place to swim. Everyone hangs out there and someone from the program is always there, day or night. The beach has become like a lounge in our little bubble between Rachov Allenby and Rachov Dizengoff.

For ulpan on Sunday, we went to Yafo for Hebrew class. I would tell you about it, but the tour was in Hebrew and I looked at the scenery instead of paying attention. All I can tell you is that there's a wishing bridge where if you stand at your Astrological sign and wave  your hands towards the sea (not the ocean. Israelis get mad when you say "ocean" because even though it's just as salty, it's a sea), and make a wish, your wish will come true. Other than that, all I have are the pictures.

Chof Hashannah

Before I talk about my Rosh Hashannah, I want to first talk about one of my favorite prayers. Aveinu Malkeinu, which means "my father, my king" is sung in a minor key. The tune is beautiful and I think that it captures the true spirit of both Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur, which is on Saturday. The translation of the whole chorus is: Hear our Voice, Lord our G-d, pity and be compassionate to us, and accept--with compassion and favor--our prayer. I know it sounds cheesy and very religious, but it also captures exactly how I feel on these holidays. 

Unlike the last time I was in Israel, I went to services on Rosh Hashannah. Oh, but don't worry. The awkward experiences were still present.

My friend and I called some host families and invited ourselves over for dinner. Both were in the same area, but one family was definitely more welcoming than the other. Wednesday night, we arrived at the Family's apartment only to discover that no one was dressed. We were early, but not so much so that there was reason for the father to be strutting around in his boxers. The oldest daughter, around 4, was combing her hair in her underwear and her 1 year old sister was waddling in just a diaper. The kids I can at least understand. It's hot, they just bathed, there was some kind of tantrum. But neither the mother nor the father were dressed and my friend and I waited over half an hour for them. When they were finally ready, we crossed the street to the shul. Ten minutes later, services were over. Fastest Erev Rosh Hashannah Service ever. We could have gotten there late, but I don't really know because the women were put in a separate room where you couldn't see or hear anything. Literally. We faced a wall. At dinner, we blessed and ate all the things you are supposed to eat. That's fine, but it just took forever. Like over an hour to bless the apples, honey, dates, pomegranate seeds, 2 types of latkes, sweetened beans, carrots, and the head of a fish. Once dinner actually began, there was total silence. Except for the 1 year old screaming "abba, abba!" The father knew no English and the mother stopped talking to us at a certain point despite my Hebrew speaking skills and my friend's ability to understand Hebrew. By the end of the evening, the mother whispered to the father that we should do After-meal blessings so that we could leave. My friend and I were happy to leave these quirky parents.

Shacharit, morning services, probably began around 9, but my friends and I arrived at the conservative shul well after 10. And we were not even close to being the last ones. Some couples arrived after the Haftarah. It was a one room synagogue obviously built as a place of learning. There are benches along the perimeter with tables partnering up with the wooden seats. Bookshelves stuffed with the Tanach, prayer books, and commentary sat towards the door. Oh yea, this as also an American-based synagogue. Israelis are either very religous or not at all so the in-betweens are usually Americans or other Jews who have made Aliyah. Because it was an American-based synagogue, there was English translation in the prayer books and the cantor translated some of what he was saying into English. Services ended a little after one and we walked back, ate a quick lunch, and went to the chof (beach).

In my opinion, there is nothing halachically wrong (kosher) about going to the beach on Rosh Hashannah. I didn't go swimming because I felt that that wasn't appropriate, but I saw nothing wrong with going to the beach on Rosh Hashannah. Although it was the first cooler day in a week, it was still pretty hot out so the beach breeze felt nice.

For dinner, the girls the I went with and I ended up in the same neighborhood as the night before. This time, though, the family was much more welcoming. The mother was 35 with 5 kids ranging in age from 2 to 9 and those kids were adorable. Food-wise, dinner was the same, except that we had dessert at the end. The Mother seemed genuinely interested in getting to know the 6 strangers she brought into her house. The Father still didn't say much, but he spoke to us a little.

For the second day of Rosh Hashannah, I went back to the shul alone. The people I went with the day before wanted to sleep. There were less people there and less children. If I understood the rabbi correctly, then I think he talked about the history of the Shofar. Of course, there were a few words (ok, more than a few) that I didn't understand so he could have been saying something else about the Shofar.

It was a very melodic (and English-translated) service so I will be heading back there for the fast on Saturday.

Jerusalem to Tel Aviv

I had my interview for my internship: working with seeing-impaired children. But, for all I know, I could be working at some illegal underground operation. Besides the fact that it took me 15 minutes to find the office, my boss-to-be spoke very little English so she decided that it would be a good idea to conduct the interview in Hebrew. It's not that I couldn't understand her, but I would like to know exactly what I'm getting into, not just bits and pieces. She showed me around the school I will be working at and the kids are adorable and the staff seems nice. My boss said that in addition to helping with the babies, I will also be helping with the physical, occupational, and speech therapies. I am excited for that since it may involve a final decision in my career choice.

I somehow found my way out of the building and into a taxi where I was driven back to the hostel in Jerusalem to wait on the bus for an hour. We were supposed to go to the Jerusalem Mall, but we were cornered in by two very small white cars. My Madricha (counselor), who has a great Australian accent, eventually called the police to come tow the car, "but that could be in three weeks for all I know". We finally got moving, but our time at the mall was shortened before our tour of the Fence. Now, I'm sure the tour guide was a great guy, but...A) He spoke monotonously B) Had no accent to make fun of like the other tour guides we have had C) talked as if he was gonna die at any moment and D) Called settlements neighborhoods, which they are, but he refused to acknowledge that they were also settlements. This tour was given on the bus and there was A/C, we hadn't gotten a lot of sleep the night before because the tour of the Kotel Tunnels we took the night before didn't end until almost 1 am and we had to be up at 7 am. So, a lot of people fell asleep as we reached Gilo, The 8 Meter wall, and the best view of the Old City and the Dome of the Rock.

We then continued onward towards Tel Aviv to our new home, Beit Leni, where we would begin three weeks of Ulpan. We had taken a placement test a few days before, but I am convinced they just put names in a hat and placed us randomly. There are 6 levels and both my good friend and I were placed in level 4. She moved down a level and I moved up only to find out that that level was still learning past tense, which I have learned only a million times so I am currently in the highest Hebrew level. Woohoo! Go me.

My room at Beit Leni is temporary housing, luckily, because although it's spacious, there's nowhere to put anything, if that makes sense. I changed the set-up of my side so that I could at least have a head board, but my roommate's bed in basically in the middle of the room. We have a "kitchen", but no oven and the water here isn't the best. I'm not talking about taste, I'm talking about stream. I was in the middle of taking a shower (a cold one because the hot water button, called a Dood, wasn't working) and the water decided to stop working. So I basically had to somehow wash my hair without water. The water came back 2 minutes later and this happened for the rest of my shower. Needless to say, it was not fun.

The Madrichim planned events for us this week so we wouldn't be bored at night, which is really nice of them, but sometimes it's nice to relax after sitting in ulpan for 5 hours. A teacher came to talk about Rosh Hashannah (RH)  through various texts. And, not that I'm bragging or anything, but we spent a majority of the time on my comment. There were passages from Jewish texts. One said something like, on RH you stand before G-d in order to be judged. It is a day of sorrow and seriousness while in contrast, the other text said that RH was a joyous occasion full of dancing and eating. So we discussed the difference and like all conclusions when it comes to Jewish texts, we found none.  The Madrichim also got us into a dance club that is apparently relatively new in Tel Aviv. That was fun because, while I've briefly met most of the people on the program, it was nice to mingle and actually remember people's names. The only annoying thing about the club was the they had flashing lights and it felt like I was having a seizure. On the upside, though, there was an outside where you could have conversations in a normal tone.

I will post my Rosh Hashannah in the next post, but I didn't want to make this too long. So there's your update!

Round 2

I am in Israel! After two years of wanting to come back, I have finally made it. But it doesn't seem real. I feel like I'm in a dream and that I'll either wake up soon or go home in a few days. It's amazing being back here. I kind of know the cities, kind of know the language, and definitely know the culture. I sort of know where I am and I am excited to being a new adventure of exploration in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

I got to Israel on Monday and stayed with my friend's cousin. I walked around the Mamilla Mall, which is right near the Old City, near the Zion Gate. It was cool that I was able to navigate where I was because I had been to the Old City many times before. I went to a falafel place for dinner only to find out that they had run out of falafel, pita, and shwarma. I wasn't a happy camper, but no worries because the next day for breakfast, we made shakshuka and we ate it with hummus and for lunch we went to a hummus place. After lunch, I went to the youth hostel to begin the program, Career Israel, where I will be doing an internship. At the hostel, I saw Mara, who used to work at Umass and we caught up while I filled out the necessary forms. Between awkward conversation, dinner, and "get-to-know-you" activities (not ice breakers), I met a bunch of people who seem friendly. I told the group of people I was hanging out with that it was my birthday so after all the mandatory activities, we went out to Ben Yehuda street.

The past two days, we've been touring Jerusalem. The tours have been ok. It's hard to pay attention that long when you're hot, sweaty, thirst, hungry, and in the hot sun. We went to David's Tomb and the place where the Last Supper was held. I had been there before so there was no new information, but after a break of ice coffee (which is actually a cappuccino or a freddo) and a walk through the Arab quarter, we ended up at the Holy Sepulchre (and yes, I had to look up how to spell that). That is the place where Jesus was buried before he was resurrected. Also, the center of the world is supposedly there. So of course I had to "feel the energy" of the center. For dinner that night, we drove to Ein Kerem, which is somewhere in the mountains and it was beautiful, especially since we went at sunset. At the restaurant we were at, we ate Israeli-Indian food. I'm still unsure of what that is. There was 8 Israeli salads with fried potatoes and meat. It was a delicious "festive" dinner, as the Madrichim described.

Today, after our Hebrew Placement test (Shmuel would be proud), we toured Nachlaot, which is a 36+ neighborhoods ranging from extreme orthodox to chabad to secular yeminites. The buildings were very fresh, but they too ranged from old to new. The tour guide got yelled at by an Orthodox lady because we were not dressed appropriately (which was true) and we were on private property (not true). Either way we left and he explained that for every person who is not welcoming, there is one who is and pointed to an apartment explaining that the guy used to be a Floridian surfer turned religious and is happy to invite people in for Shabbat. And speaking, of Shabbat, Jerusalem is about to shut down and so I must get ready.