Holidays, Homesickness, and Hot Days in the Old City (Week 3)

Sunday

Rosh Hashanah is in the air! The holiday celebrating the Jewish New Year begins tonight, so today was all about getting ready. We started out the day with learning sessions about the holiday. We had lots of choices of what we wanted to learn, and I decided to learn about the symbols of Rosh Hashanah and the different names and importance of Rosh Hashanah. Both sessions were very interesting, and also fun. Staff taught them both, and it was especially fun to get to know them better by being their students. After learning we had time to buy presents for our host family and get ready for the holiday, and then we had services at Beit Nativ. The services were led by Yossi (the director of Nativ), and I really enjoyed seeing the passion he felt while praying.

Monday and Tuesday (Rosh Hashanah)

Monday and Tuesday were filled with praying and eating. On Monday I decided to pray at Yakar, an orthodox shul that one of my pilgrimage staff prays at. The services weren’t very exciting. I didn’t really feel like part of the community. Also, the leader who led musaf had a speech impediment, so it was extremely hard to follow him. However, his voice was amazing. It sounded like it was surrounding you, and had a very ethereal quality.

Tuesday I had to daveneh at Yedidya, which was a 45 minute walk from where I live. It was actually a fun walk though, because I walked with friends. I also really liked praying there. I felt like I was actually a part of the services. Also, I thought they did a good job of having a mechitzah (separator between men and women) and including women in the service. For example, during the Torah processional when the Torah reached the mechitzah the men gave the Torahs to women, and let them carry it around the women’s side. I thought that was really unique and interesting, and I want to go back there for Shabbat services at some point.

After services I had lunch at a host home. The family was so sweet, and literally made us a feast. I was very excited because there was sweet potato casserole, one of my favorite foods. The desert was also delicious, which is always a perk.

One thing I noticed about this Rosh Hashanah in general is that it felt very weird. When I was at services, it felt more like Shabbat then the holidays. This is because I have very specific things I do every year on Rosh Hashanah with my family, such as hosting all of our friends for lunch first day. The holiday didn’t feel right without doing those things. This made the homesickness hit me hard. Keeping with my life motto of staying positive, I tried to look for the good in this homesickness. I decided that the positive side was that I now realized that next year I want to try and come home to be with my family for Rosh Hashanah.

Wednesday

I woke up this morning for Shacarit (the morning prayer service) feeling awful. My stomach was in knots, and to make matters worse it was a fast day. I decided to go to Shacharit in hopes that getting up and moving around would make me feel better. It became evident, however, that this was not going to work. After services instead of going to breakfast and then Yeshiva classes I decided to head back up to my room and rest. I slept for three hours, and woke up feeling refreshed and so much better.

This afternoon we had Jerusalem class, but I was actually excited. We headed to the temple mount, the location where the Jewish temple used to be. I was excited, because this is something I have never done before. The Muslim shrine the dome of the rock, and a mosque currently occupies the location. When I arrived and saw the shrine, I felt such conflicting emotions. I wanted to hate the shrine, because it is built on top of what is considered the holiest place for Jews. I couldn’t bring myself to hate it, however, because it is just so beautiful. A friend put it very well, saying he wished he could just pick up the dome and move it to a different location.

After the remainder of Jerusalem class, I headed back to my room and rested. It was hot in the old city, and Thursday was a fast day. It was the fast of Gedaliah, which commemorates the assassination of the righteous governor of Judah of that name, which ended Jewish rule following the destruction of the First Temple. The fast lasts from dusk until dawn, making it feel short in comparison to Yom Kippur, the fast holiday coming up next week which includes a 25 hour fast. Needless to say, by the time break fast rolled around I was starving. I headed to Ben Yehuda street with some friends, and we got pizza and ice cream. It was a delicious and fun way to end a long day of fasting.

Thursday

My three hours at the Yeshiva this morning felt like months. I haven’t been to class in a week because of the holidays and being sick, so my three hours of Talmud class felt like three weeks. We continued learning about Sukkot, which will be our topic until the holiday arrives. On the bright side, it was my first day studying with Alex as official chevruta partners (partners who study Talmud one on one).

After my morning Yeshiva classes and lunch it was time for my favorite thing; Jerusalem class. Today was devoted to exploring the Jewish Quarter. I was excited to finally get to see something Jewish after a few days of other religions, but looking at different synagogues for hours wasn’t exactly exciting to me. While walking to one of the synagogues, however, I found a jewelry store that I’ve been looking for, so I was excited to finally know where it is. I immediately texted my roommate Miriam, and we decided to meet up after Jerusalem class and head there together.

I met Miriam, Adam, and Alex at Aroma (the Starbucks of Israel), and we all headed to the Jewelry store Hadaya. I originally bought Hadaya on pilgrimage last summer, when I got the necklace that I now wear every day and a ring, which I unfortunately lost. So I was excited to be able to go back to Hadaya and replace my ring. I also had them add an engraving of the Jerusalem skyline to my necklace. I’m excited to pick it up next week and see how it looks, but for now I feel naked without the necklace that I wear all the time.

After Hadaya we got some yummy falafel in the old city. The owner of the shop was hilarious, and even let Alex come behind the counter and make her own falafel. After dinner we headed back to Beit Nativ and just hung out and the Hebrew U kids did homework.

Then Angela and I had a brilliant idea. We’ve been having sleepovers in each other’s rooms for the past few nights, and we couldn’t decide where we wanted to sleep tonight. We decided to take the stolen mattresses outside onto the balcony on our floor and sleep under the stars. It was beautiful and we both slept surprisingly well.

Friday and Saturday (Shabbat)

Fridays are definitely going to become lazy days for me this year. I woke up this morning at 9:30, an unusual treat since the rest of the week of I have to be a shacharit (The morning prayer service) at 7:30. I started off with a relaxing morning watching a movie. I spent the rest of the morning and afternoon waiting for some friends to get back from Hebrew University (they had class that morning), so to fill time I caught up on my blogging and cleaned my room. I was planning on heading to the shuk (outdoor market) when people got back, but we ended up all just being lazy and hanging around in our rooms.

The rest of Shabbat was just calm. I stayed in Jerusalem this weekend, and just spent time with other Nativers. After Shabbat, I skyped with some friends back home and hung out with friends here. Overall it was a very chill, relaxing Shabbat.