Yom Kippur

It has been very difficult for me to find the right words to describe Yom Kippur in Israel.  We heard many people telling us how quiet everything will be, no cars will drive, everyone is respectful.  We were also told to walk to Herzl (the main street in Rehovot), walk to the highway, stay in the house and relax.  During the day of Erev Yom Kippur, I noticed that for me it didn't feel like Yom Kippur.  If I was at home, there would be stress to get everything ready for the holiday.  A nice bustling atmosphere in the house.  Everyone in the house would be doing things to get ready for the dinner together.

That was not the case here in Rehovot.  We had a pretty relaxing day.  Most of my roommates were just relaxing around the house doing their own thing.  One of the Israelis graciously invited us over to his parents house for dinner.  Two of my roommates decided to join him for the dinner.  Another two went to one of their teachers that invited them over for dinner.  One roommate decided to spend the holiday in Tel Aviv with some friends from ITF.  In the end it was me and one roommate at home for dinner.  It's very rare that I find time to spend quiet uninterrupted time with one roommate.  It was really nice that we had the chance to just sit and really talk.  We had found a conservative synagogue nearby to check out for services.  Once we finished our lovely dinner we left to find our synagogue for the evening.

There were still some cars on the roads when we left the house.  Some people had begun walking in the streets.  We were a little hesitant to walk in the road so we decided to stay on the side walk.  It was amazing to see how many people were outside on the sidewalks and just moving around the city.  We found the synagogue and waited for one of our roommates to join us.  A young girl came over to me and asked if I am from my school I am working in.  It was pretty cool to be noticed by one of the kids.  I have only been in the school two days so far.  We waited for a bit and couldn't find our roommate and decided to enter the synagogue.  We stood at the back.  There was a section of the synagogue that was open with added chairs.  But of course for Erev Yom Kippur all of the seats were taken.  Quickly we were both wrapped into the services and really happy.  I can describe the calm feeling of belonging that quickly overwhelmed me.  After several minutes of standing in the back I convinced my roommate to go get us some machzorim.  It was such a nice service, because it was so familiar.  We edged closer to the light after each prayer as it became darker outside.  At the end of the service the sun had fully set.  We began our walk back to our house on the street :).  On our way we found the roommate we had been waiting for before the service.  The three of us walked back home in the middle of the street.

We heard a lot of talk about kids riding bikes on Yom Kippur.  This was no joke!  There were swarms of kids on their bikes.  You could feel the anticipation that had been building to just ride their bikes all over the city.

When we got home one roommate stayed home and the other one, plus two more decided to walk toward the moshav.  Not to May's house (she was in Jerusalem), but just toward the highway.  It was so nice to be together, walk slowly, speak quietly, and just take in the feeling in the air.  We approached the highway and decided to walk the opposite direction of the moshav.  After quite a while we decided to turn around and head home.  It was really an amazing evening together.

The next day the majority of us slept quite late.  We had discussed going to services but instead decided to just spend the day relaxing at home.  It was a beautiful day.

I have never had such a calm, introspective, relaxing Yom Kippur.

Rosh Hashana

I have been quite distracted with all of the high holidays to update consistently.  I will try and write about each one...

Rosh Hashana

Most of the house left for the holiday.  Alan and I went to pick up one of my youth group kids who is studying in Hod Hasharon.  We took the bus to Tel Aviv and then the train to Hod Hasharon.  It was really exciting to finally see Shana.  We have spoke so many times about spending time in Israel together.  One of my cousins was kind enough to pick us up from Shana's school and drive us to his place for a coffee.  It was a lot of fun to see them, since it was my first time since I've been in Israel.  It's amazing to think how busy I have been, how long I have been here, and still have family I haven't been able to see yet.

Two of their grandchildren were at their house.  Gali is a very energetic and charismatic 6 year old.  Alan, Shana, and I played a board game with Gali.  I explained that Alan and Shana do not know Hebrew, yet.  Gali had a quick response, that she will speak and I need to translate.  It was a lot of fun.  After the game her older brother Itai (a 4th grader) came to hang out with us as well.  Right away I started asking him about his English classes in school.  Up until this point we had listened to so many lectures about teaching English as a foreign language, and I finally had a live student to work with!  I started writing words for him to read in English and then he would write words for me in Hebrew.  It was a lot of fun.  A lot of the things we had discussed in our seminars were finally real.

A couple of hours later my uncle and aunt from Jerusalem picked us up and we headed off to Tel Aviv.  We went to my aunt's, ex-husband's, sister's house.  Alan, Shana, and I just went with the flow.  It was interesting to be in a new house for the chag.  It was the first time I had a Rosh Hashana seder.  A nice evening with a lot of Hebrew.

The next day we drove down to Be'ersheva to see my cousins.  The cutest baby in the world! :)  It was really nice to see family.  My baby cousin is growing so much! It's amazing to see the differences in only two weeks.  She was playing with my necklace, and actually ripped it off my neck.  A strong little cookie.  After spending the day together we headed back to Jerusalem for the night.  We stopped at a small Arab/Israeli settlement, Neve Shalom, for some tasty coffee and treats.  The beauty of Israel, right away Shana realized she has been to Neve Shalom several times.

The following day my uncle and aunt drove us back home to Rehovot.  Friday night was spent at home together.  We have Friday night dinner together almost every week.  It's a really nice time together.  After dinner May and her sisters came to visit and see Shana.  It was fun to show off our newly acquired living room.

Overall, Rosh Hashana, was a nice relaxing beginning to the 3 weekish period of holidays and vacation here in Israel.