The Holiest Holiday in the Holiest City

I have a lot to write about-so here is your warning if you don't feel like reading.


So, since my last update, we have had a full week of Ulpan. We are learning something new every day. I am slacking on the whole studying part though. Along with learning 40 new words a day, we volunteered. ITC (Israeli Teacher Corps) group is tutoring after school with 5th and 9th graders with their English homework for 3 hours. We also went along with the rest of the OTZMA group to help paint and finish apartments for a couple of hours. Beach time, sleep, grocery shopping is kind of put on hold, but hey, volunteering is what we are here for. I enjoyed working with the people in the community. I also had educational seminars for ITC that gave us some valuable information on the schools and the education system here in Israel. It's quite different from schoola in the U.S. but I can't compare until I am finally in the schools! I need to prepare myself for 40 students in one class to 1 teacher. YIKES!!

Friday morning, OTZMA was up early and on the bus to Jerusalem. We spent the weekend in Jerusalem, but this was not just any ordinary weekend. This weekend was Yom Kippur, one of the holiest holidays in Judaism. Jerusalem is also known as the holiest city in Israel. The day was full of seminars relating to Yom Kippur, but before we started, we all thought and talked about our Yom Kippur holidays prior to this one in Jerusalem. I thought back to my first memory of Yom Kippur and all I could think of was when my family and I went to services...in a church. Our synagogue rented out a church because our synagogue was too small to fit everyone who wanted to observe and attend services. I may have been too young at the time to understand it all but I remember thinking how odd it was to see crosses and etc. That is how we did it in our community. Then I thought back to college, where there wasn't even a synagogue within an hour of the city of Milledgeville. With a mixture of class, events, time, etc at school..services were a no go. But when a Hillel was finally organized at GCSU, they arranged for us to join UGA's Hillel for services. SO my senior year of college, I remember driving up with my roommate to attend services and then going back for class. Thinking back at all of these memories of Yom Kippur and then finally being in Jerusalem for this day made me a little emotional. I have been wanting to become reconnected to my religion and I just couldn't believe I was actually there.

The first seminar was Torah Yoga. YES, Torah Yoga! And YES it was everything and more than I thought it would be. It was yoga instruction mixed with the study of traditional texts. You use your body, mind, heart and soul as an approach to Jewish wisdom and growing holistically. I know it sounds confusing, but we discussed how you use guided meditations based on Jewish spiritual concepts. The more we discussed Torah Yoga, the more connection we saw between the Torah and the Yoga. The Torah is said to be inside you all the time, and when practicing yoga, you are using your body, mind, heart and soul; everything that is inside of you. Also that when/if you try to say the word G-d in Hebrew, it is really hard to pronounce (and you really don't want to be able to pronounce it) and the sound is very similar to the word breath in Hebrew. So G-d and breath are connected. It is hard to explain it in words, but I want you to experience it. I might be a little biased since I already love practicing yoga. It just opened up my world to a whole new way of being reconnected to my religion. Another cool fact that was brought up was that during regular yoga sessions, at the end, you chant "Om.." for kind of a peaceful ending mediation. At the end of this session, we chanted "Shalom", "Om" is at the end of "Shalom." I never noticed that. Thanks Shauna.

The second seminar I attended discussed Yom Kippur and how it was the Day of Atonement. During this day, you suffer (in different ways) to clean your slate of sins for the next year. It is a confession/repentance- we broke it down to where it came from and the purpose of it, and what exactly Jews are trying to accomplish from it. I was able to form my own confessions from Yom Kippur liturgy. I thought this factor was very interesting to think about: Yom Kippur means Day of Atonements- atonements are plural, so the liturgy says there are many. The word "atone" together is "at one" so some see it as a way of being "at one" with yourself, cleaning your slate before G-d.
The last seminar was unfortunately a little bit of a blur for me because I was so tired. The lack of sleep was finally catching up to me, but the speaker discussed the Secular state of Israel and how Jews are forming their own view of their religion. The differences between the Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, etc, and how some mix it all up.

After the seminars we finally got to our rooms, took a mini nap and then we were able to choose what we wanted to do. Yom Kippur began at sundown, so we ate our last meal before the fasting began around 3:30. SO early! After that, services began around the city at 5:00. We were able to choose what type of synagogue we wanted to attend. I decided to explore The Great Synagogue of Jerusalem, it is one of many Orthodox synagogues in the city, but I have never in my life experienced anything Orthodox. I thought to myself: I am in Jerusalem, the holiest city, when am I ever going to get a chance like this right now? So I visited the synagogue, women were separated from the men, we were all up on a balcony. It was so crowded with men wearing their tallitot and women covered, some wearing wigs or hats. The service for the evening of Yom Kippur began with the Kol Nidre. Kol Nidre is a declaration of emotional tones that state any personal vows or pledges we take between this Yom Kippur and the next, and we renounce and don't consider them vows or pledges. Let them be null or void, and not established. Then it says may all the people if Israel be forgiven. All if this is repeated three times in such a touching song, it was such an experience to hear. I honestly don't know if I have ever heard the Kol Nidre before this. There was so much tradition and history in this beautiful synagogue. Again, it was another emotional experience.

After the Kol Nidre, I went with some other friends to the Gilad Shalit services. Gilad is an Israeli soldier who was kidnapped by Hamas in 2006, and has been a prisoner ever since. To this day, everyone is hopeful he is still alive, there hasn't been sight or word of him in two years. His family has a tent up on a side street in Jerusalem where rallies have taken place. This Yom Kippur his family held services there and invited anyone and everyone to come by. We went by for a while. It was touching.
The streets of Jerusalem were completely deserted of any moving transportation. Not a car or bus was in use. Besides the occasional police car, everyone was walking or riding their bikes in the middle of a usually busy rode and intersection. It was eerie at times; almost like in a movie, but amazing. The majority of people walking to and from synagogues were wearing white- it is a tradition in a sense of purity.
Saturday- I slept in, which was so nice. Walked to the Old City and the Kotel which was a nice experience on Yom Kippur, the Kotel/Western Wall wasn't that crowded, but all around the Old City, there were so many people including tourists! We sat at the Wall for a while then walked back to meet some others to attend evening concluding services at the Hebrew Union College. It was in this beautiful room with big windows overlooking the Old City! The cantors sang beautifully and I could actually keep up when they read and sang Hebrew. At the end, the Shofar was blown and it was time to break the fast!! I fasted the whole day and it wasn't as hard this year, I am not sure why. Of course, I made a rookie mistake and ate too much and felt sick. After breaking fast with good food, OTZMA packed up and headed back to Ashkelon.

Now back in Ashkelon, Ulpan and volunteering. Sukkot holiday starts soon! (Wednesday)

Too much food.

So I just spent my first Jewish New Year in Israel, and it was amazing. I can't wait for the other holidays. So Rosh Hashanah eve fell on Wednesday evening. My adoptive family picked me up and we went to schul (synagogue), then we traveled to another member of their family's house for a nice dinner. I met a lot of family and it was nice having a big meal (with new family). I just wish I knew more Hebrew at the time so I could have at lest had a decent conversation with them. Nonetheless, they were more than welcoming.

on Thursday, I was invited to come along with 2 other ITC'er's to a lunch at one of their host families. Another big meal. Then we got another tour of the city, which helped a lot. Then we participated in Tashlikh-(means cast away) which takes place on the afternoon of Rosh Hashanah. We walk to the ocean and throw bread into the water, this is symbolic of throwing away our sins from the past year.
Everyone else (with the exception of 3) from OTZMA left Ashkelon and traveled to various cities in Israel to stay with their adoptive families for the holiday. Since there were only of us left in Ashkelon, and a side note that our host families new each other, we all went to a BBQ with them and some neighbors Thursday evening. THE FOOD WAS AMAZING, in all accounts for all meals. Numerous Israeli friends have told me there is a saying that goes something like this: "They tried to kill us, we survived, let's eat." During this holiday, there is so much food: you eat, sleep, repeat.
I lucked out with an awesome host family. There are three sons, 2 of which are in town, so they offered to take us out, which was a lot of fun.

Friday I went to visit Inbal in Ramat Hasharon! Inbal and her sister were nice enough to pick me up, then we went on a small hike with their friend Yam in the middle of Ashkelon and Tel Aviv? It also had some memorials to look at and they were nice enough to fill me in on it all. It was very touching and I am glad they took me to see it! Friday night was dinner at Inbal's dads house, also amazing food. Another BBQ. Then Inbal took me out in Florentine, Tel Aviv. Saturday, after sleeping in, lunch at her mom's house, more amazing food, Cafe Neto, mall, and then I took the train back to Ashkelon.

All in all, Rosh Hashanah holiday was fun and food-filled. I never thought I would say this but I am sick of food.

Beginning of the High Holidays

I am so excited to spend my first High Holidays in Israel!

Since it is the beginning of the High Holidays, the group just traveled to Jerusalem and spent the morning walking in the Old City; it's called Selichot and prayers and services begin between midnight and dawn. Selichot comes from the word Selicha which means "forgiveness" in Hebrew. During Selichot, people begin to ask for forgiveness for their sins. We arrived at 3:00 AM and took a walk in the Old Jewish Quarters. We talked about the beginnings of Rosh HaShanah and then we went to visit the Western Wall. It was my third time at the Western Wall and I have never seen anything like it. Since it was Selichot, there was a large crowd yelling prayers. It was amazing. I got to go up and touch the wall again. Every time it feels like the first time, it's an indescribable feeling.

Today is the eve of Rosh HaShanah, the Jewish New Year. Almost everyone in the program has just left to go visit their adoptive families in different cities around Israel. Since I am living in this city for the whole 10 months, my family is here. I don't have to leave the city to see them! Tonight they will pick me up and we will attend a service and then meet some family to have a special dinner. I am excited to meet the whole new adoptive family!

Israel so far

15 days in the Holy Land so far. I haven't been able to create this blog in the beginning because first there was no internet, and then when I got to the website, it was all in Hebrew so I had to navigate on how to make a post. Anyway.. Life here doesn't seem too realistic yet, maybe it just hasn't hit me. I still feel like I am on vacation! A few times I have said to myself, "this is it, you are really here" but still doesn't feel real. For those of you who don't know or just don't remember, I am living is Israel for 10 months. It's with a volunteer program called OTZMA. Soon, I will begin teaching English in one of the schools of the city I am living in.

Day 1: My flight arrived at Ben Gurion airport at 5:00 AM..on little sleep. I can never sleep on planes. I took a sherut (taxi) to the location in Jerusalem where I met everyone else that was a part of the program. After a lot of information given out at orientation, we went to an overlook of Jerusalem which was beautiful. Then we went to stay overnight at the Bedouin tents and rode camels. JET LAG.

Day 2: We went for a hike which was fun; it was like an obstacle course. Then we went swimming at the Dead Sea and relaxed. We stayed in a hostel in Arad overnight.

Day 3: Hiked En Geti, which is a gorgeous hike with waterfalls and springs. Since Day 3 was a Friday, we headed to the Kibbutz earlier than usual to prepare for Shabbat; my first Shabbat in Israel of 2010 :)  Some of the other people in the program created it and we celebrated together. This was also the first Shabbat I have celebrated in 2 years, the last one I can remember was when I was on Birthright in Israel. It is really hard to stay connected to the Jewish Community at home when there really isn't a community nearby to begin with.

Day 4 or 5: I have lost track of days by now. It feels like I am just on another Birthright trip because we have just been hiking and having fun, etc. We finally make it to our city for the next 3 months. It is right on the Mediterranean Sea, absolutely beautiful. 10 minute walk to the beach. We are living in an absorption center for immigrants, full of Ethiopian children that are adorable..and out of the control; but it's fun.

So now we have been living in the absorption center for around 10 days or so, getting settled in. Living is quite different here than what I was given back home. It has put y life more into perspective and I am appreciative of all of the things I have been given at home. I feel like I was spoiled back home, but then here I feel spoiled living so close to the beach. We are all still finding our ways around the city. We take the bus to the local markets and malls. Our group has already volunteered some. We loaded and delivered food packages immigrants around the city, and we also spent a day in the desert, helping build a community. Ulpan (learning Hebrew) began this past Sunday. So far so good. I really want to learn to understand and speak Hebrew. I am not used to having homework.