Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Simchat Torah

Dear Readers,
While the Jewish Holidays are observed by Jewish people all over the world, where back home we have to request work off, or take the day off from school while the rest of society carries on with their day, here in Israel, every Jewish holiday is a national holiday, so that makes it very convenient for all of us!

I already talked about Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. In this blog post I will talk about the three holidays that come after Rosh Hashana, and yes, they all involve food of some sort. We're Jewish...it's what every Jewish holiday must have in order to celebrate our triumphs over something or someone.

Yom Kippur (Friday September 13):
This is a really hard holiday for many people because it is the Day of Atonement, where we must ask for God's forgiveness, and anyone else we've wronged in the last year. This holy day is so holy that here, the entire country shuts down. Yes, each week on Shabbat everything closes early on Fridays and stays closed for 24 hours. The buses will not run, but you are welcome to drive your car. On Yom Kippur, however, EVERYTHING comes to a standstill. You cannot drive your car, unless you are an emergency vehicle, and all the stores and shops are closed. It is a tradition for people to walk, bike ride, or skate along freeways, streets and anywhere that automobiles usually travel on. On this holy day, you can't get hit by a car, but will most likely get the wind knocked out of you by a 3 year old on a tricycle.

To witness this sight is truly amazing though (the holy day, not being knocked down by a toddler). The country is forced to get away from their phones, computers and televisions (even the TV stations won't play a single thing) and you either spend the day reading, sleeping, or walking around on the streets. My relatives that I stayed with observe this holiday by fasting as well, meaning they won't eat or drink (this is the type of fasting I am used to from back home). It was also extra holy because it was Shabbat so that made things even more interesting. Not every year this happens, it just depends on the Jewish calendar. Anyways, it was a challenge not to drink water in front of them. I could use my cell phone as long as I used it out on the balcony, but could not use it inside the house. Later after sundown, we walked to their friends' house to break the fast and chow down. I inevitably fasted, save for some yogurt and water because I wasn't feeling well so I didn't feel like eating anyway, so you can bet I was stuffing my face at that dinner!

This wasn't taken on Yom Kippur, but this is a 9/11 Memorial outside my relative's apartment, a very moving piece.

A few days later, my teaching fellows and I had our first potluck. We are going to try to have one for the first Shabbat of every month. For this round, I brought a pastry for dessert. Boy, do we have some chefs in the house! The potluck was amazing and I can't wait for the next ones!

Chowing down!

Sukkot:
The day before Sukkot was to start, I went out on a little adventure with some of my fellows. We found a coffee shop near our apartment. This shop not only has coffee, but tasty smoothies, food, and other drinks. This place is special because they take in at-risk youth and train them to be the chefs! So, our drinks were delicious and we were contributing to a community cause.

The second way I celebrated the start of Sukkot was by heading to the beach! One of our Israeli friends took a few of us to Ashkelon, which is about an hour or so bus ride. There are charter buses that leave throughout different parts of the city. This one left from Central Bus Station and we ended up being on a bus full of Israeli soldiers. They get free rides everywhere, so during the holidays the buses are packed with them heading home. One soldier even gave up his seat for me! They really pack in these buses, with people standing or sitting in the aisles! Yes, I know, not the safest way to travel, but hey I don't make the rules. Anyways, my Cali blood was craving the beach so when we eventually made it I was SO happy! The water was so warm (the Mediterranean Sea!) and the sand felt great between my toes. We played frisbee in the water, I tanned on the sand, and overall had a great day! We met a really interesting person at the bus stop on the way home to Be'er Sheva. He lives on the outskirts of Be'er Sheva in an ecological community. Very hippie-esque but nice person.

That night was the first night of Sukkot (Wednesday September 18th), the Arnstein's invited me over for dinner. We had a delicious meal of chicken, salad, bread, honey, and lots more food I can't even remember because my favorite part of the meal was dessert! Beth made Belgian waffles with blueberries, ice cream and whipped cream. YUM!

Being a good little house guest and helping with the dishes!

Waffles for dessert!!

Friday morning I took a bus that takes off right near my apartment and is a direct trip to Jerusalem! I went to stay with my British friend Alastair, whom I met when I lived in Montréal and went to McGill University. I met him through my other Jewish friends and became great friends. I haven't seen him in 2.5 years so it was amazing to see him! He is doing Ulpan (Hebrew) for just this semester at Hebrew University until he starts his job back home in England. He just completed his masters so he had some "time to kill" so he thought he'd come to Israel. Sounds awesome to me! He lives on the same floor with some other Hebrew University friends, and the girls' apartment had an extra room so I got to have a whole to myself for 3 nights! What a treat!

Jerusalem bound

The day I arrived, we also met up with our friend Lainie, another Jewish friend from Montréal, who just made Aliyah and will be starting the army next month! Michal, a girl on Alastair's floor just so happens to be good friends with Lainie as well! Such a small world this Jewish/McGill world is!
Lainie, Alastair and I had a great lunch at CaféCafé, walked around for a bit looking at the art throughout the alleyways, and then Alastair and I had to head back to his place to make some food for his group's potluck! He made an Israeli couscous that was to die for! I ended up making my own version of it a week later! Before our dinner, we went out to their courtyard to say prayers and L'chaims under the student housing Sukkah that was set up. At the dinner I got to meet the rest of the girls on Alastair's floor, as well as one of his roommates, who is also English. Such lovely company! We had such a great dinner, and these friends too are such great cooks!

Lainie and Alastair!

I've missed this girl!

The view from the student housing!

Jerusalem sunset.

Beautiful view. Beautiful life.

The next day was Saturday, which meant Shabbat, i.e. everything was shut down. So we just took it easy that day, enjoyed the view from their building (they could see the Golden Dome from their apartments! So lucky!) and lounged around and visited. That night as we were just about to leave for Havdallah services at the Western Wall, it started pouring! So, there went our immediate plans. Fortunately, it stopped after an hour, so we still went into town. We ate at Café Hillel on Jaffa St. which is right next to Ben Yehuda street, one of the most popular streets at night. We went around 9:00pm, so it was very slow, but pleasant. We even ate under a Sukkah, because every outdoor cafe or restaurant hand Sukkahs over their patio furniture! We also got to meet up with another McGill friend, Jill's, boyfriend. It was so great having this huge McGill reunion! I caved and got an apple pie with vanilla ice cream and a mocha hot drink. I was in HEAVEN! As we were eating I saw the guy that I met at the Askelon bus stop walking by my café! I called out his name and ran over to say a quick hello. Seriously, the Israeli world is very small! We got up and went to hang out at an outside bar, but still continued visiting, chatting, laughing, reminiscing, and enjoying the company. It was such a great way to end Shabbat!

End of Shabbat sunset, right before the storm hit!

Love this Brit!

Pure delicious

Some of the McGill crew!

I've missed this one!

The next day Michal and Alastair spent the entire day playing tour guides for me! We took the light rail and got off near the Damascus Gate and walked through the Old City. We went through the Arab Shuk, which seriously looks like something out of a movie! We even ran into a small alley wall that supposedly Jesus walked through carrying the cross that he was crucified on. Pretty amazing and mind-blowing history that touched these cobble stoned streets and walls. We eventually made our way to the Wall, where I got to go a second time since being here. I really wanted to be here on Sukkot because this is one of the major holidays Israelites would make pilgrimages to the holy city thousands of years ago. I even got to shake a lulav and etrog, once at the Wall (well in the Kotel, not really at the Wall) and then another time at a Chabad that was still within the Old City walls. We walked around for a while, made our way out of the Kotel (this is where the Western Wall is located), found a shawarma place to have lunch (of course), and made our way to Marzipan, a well-known pastry place in Israel. I couldn't help but indulge and get a few things. There are these pastries here called Ruglas, which kind of remind me of chocolate croissants, but better! I got a few of those and shortbread cookies that have jelly inside them. We made our way through the twists and turns of the Old City and before we went home we stopped at Mamila. This is a huge shopping plaza that looks like South Coast Plaza right in the middle of Jerusalem! Finally after another hour, we headed home. We were too tired to eat out or make a complicated meal so Michal and Alastair made several different types of eggs, and we threw in some veggies and had another great meal!

Damascus Gate

Arab Shuk

For my dad:)

The street that Jesus made his trek on

Roman Ruins

Shaking the Lulav and Etrog!

Maccabi!

A beautiful Sukkah we came across

Mamila

These are salt figures made from the Dead Sea salt!

Singin' in the Rain?

The next morning it was time for my visit to end and so Alastair walked me to the light rail to make sure I took the right one that would take me back to the central bus station. I had such a lovely visit with my friends and I know I will be back!

Simchat Torah:
This holiday celebrates the end of reading the Torah and to start reading at the beginning again. My co-teacher, John, found out from a neighbor that there was a celebration happening in the square near our apartment. So we ventured out to there (this is where I grocery shop and buy my fruits and veggies) and eventually a long procession of people brought two intricately decorated Torahs to the square. Since the majority of people here are Orthodox, the men got to dance with the Torah's first, and later the women would be able to. I photographed John being dragged to the circle of dancing men by some Orthodox men, and it was so funny while the neighbor women and I stood nearby and watched. At one point a man carrying one of the Torahs brought it over so I got to touch it, kiss it to show respect, and John took my picture! We headed back after about an hour, and when we arrived at our apartment a bunch of our friends were hanging outside. There was another celebration going on in the middle of our neighborhood where there is a tennis court. They set off fireworks so we got a free show not 100 yards from us!