Otzma Chai
Thursday, October 30, 2003
Monotony b'Medinat Yisrael
Yes, monotony b'Medinat Yisrael (in the State of Israel).
We occasionally go to class. Today, there were only four people in my classroom of twenty-two.
We occasionally volunteer. More than half of the volunteer options have permanently fallen through.
We occasionally attend group activities. This week - swing dancing - hovered around seven people.
Yes, we're all counting the days until we move out of Ashkelon. It's not that we don't like the city, it's just that this part of the program has truly gone down the drain, and apparently in the previous seventeen years of Otzma, the participants have always felt that way about the first three months. It's a wonder they haven't thought to change anything yet.
Regardless, in two weeks we leave Ashkelon, and a week later we start the true "meat" of the program. So my emails will once again be bursting with adventures.
The one adventure in the past week would be a quick outing in Jerusalem. A friend of mine, Miriam, who I'd met last summer in Israel was getting married on Tuesday night, so I decided to go to the wedding with Karen, another current Otzma-nik. On the sheirut [kind of like a group taxi between cities] to Jerusalem, I called a third friend to confirm that she, too, would be coming and that we could spend the night at her place. She said, "Oh! I'm so sorry I never called you. I'm not going to go to the wedding. Oh! You still need a place to stay? Um..." Frustrated, I called another friend in Jerusalem - she was busy that night. I called another friend - she was at work. Next I called another friend of mine - he checked with someone and confirmed that we could crash at his place, no problem.
Arriving downtown, we grabbed our bags and I realized, just as the van pulled away, that I didn't have my sweatshirt. I tried to run after it, but it was gone. I was left without my favorite sweatshirt. (It's technically my sister's - I love you Emma!) So we hailed a cab and headed up to Mt. Scopus. [Side note - in said cab, I lost ten shekels in the car seat. Grrr.] Adam, the incredibly wonderfully amazing last-minute host, took care of everything. Karen and I washed up, changed, and ran out the door - we were running about an hour late. We arrived and sat and stood around awkwardly for a while. [Side note - Miriam, the friend getting married, is ultra-Orthodox and Chassidic.] [Side note - you can never have enough side notes.]
To set the scene. The hall was large, though I could only see half of it. This is based on the presumption that the men's side was about the same size as the women's side. The room was split down the middle by walls on wheels, completely preventing all sight of the opposite sex. Everyone - absolutely everyone except for the wait staff - spoke only in English. Miriam's family is from Canada and her new husband's family is from Virginia, and although they both now live in Israel, all their friends are also English-speaking. All the women were dressed beautifully, most in dresses with a few shirt-skirt combinations. From what I saw of the men, they all wore dark pants, white shirts, and dark jackets with an array of head coverings (knitted kippot, black kippot, and black hats).
An hour and a half after the posted invitation's time, we all headed outside for the ceremony. I couldn't see or hear anything. All I know is that we all stood huddled together in the wind and cold, waiting to hear the stomp that meant that the glass was broken and we could go back inside. Back in the warm building, I was able to find some girls there who I actually knew. We all sat together and began to eat the salads. This was quickly interrupted by the arrival of the bride. The music began. (I believe it was a live band, but of course I couldn't see anything.) The women and girls all danced for the next forty minutes or so. We danced with Miriam (the bride), in multiple circles, in lines, on our own, with "jump ropes," and with tambourines. Panting, we returned to our tables to eat the main course.
That's about it. People trickled out and by ten-thirty, Karen and I left. With a cab back to Adam's place, we relaxed and changed. Adam is currently a counselor-type-person for a post-high school program called Young Judea. He lives in a big dorm-type building with dozens of eighteen year old's. Since he's staff, he has a room to himself with two bunk beds and, being the fantastic host that he is, found us clean sheets. Though we had our own sleeping bags, we were able to sleep on the top bunks of the beds. Not bad for super last minute. Although Karen and I originally intended on returning to Ashkelon early in the morning, as two am rolled around and we were all still talking, the idea was vetoed quite heartily. [Side note number four - the last bus to Ashkelon was at 8:30pm, the first one was at 6:20am. We took neither.]
In the morning, Karen and I said goodbye to Adam (I hope we thanked him enough) and grabbed some coffee at the shop across the street. Next we began the challenge of attempting to visit Hebrew University's campus, a few meters from Adam's dorm. Although neither Karen nor I had proper ID, I showed the guards my old Hebrew U ID and explained that Karen was considering a program there and I wanted to show her around. After a brief consultation (and metal detector and bag check) we were allowed in. It was great to be back. I missed the campus, though walking around made me nostalgic for last summer.
Walking through the Student Union, I saw someone who looked familiar. I called out her name and she turned and started running the wrong way up the escalator. It turns out that a girl I had met last summer was completing her Master's at Hebrew U. Although we hadn't kept in touch at all, she's actually the girl who first told me about Otzma (she finished a year and a half ago). I had no idea she was in Israel and she had no idea I was on Otzma! Plus, she and Karen are both from San Fransisco. Good times all around.
Karen and I then had to rush off and grab a cab downtown. The cab dropped us off near the sheirut station. Although Karen was taking a sheirut, I was taking a bus. So we quickly said goodbye and started quickly walking toward the bus station. Carrying my backpack and two sleeping bags, I sped walked against the cold wind. Then it started to rain. I was so grateful for the rain, I hadn't really felt rain at all yet in Israel, that I didn't mind how cold it was, even without my sweatshirt. The wind was really strong, blowing umbrellas inside out and people's kippot, hats, and wigs off their heads. I arrived at the bus station, ran to my platform, and jumped on the bus literally as it pulled away. Phew.
Oh! And my sweatshirt turned up today, after all.
Now, back to the monotony that is Otzma.
Take Care,
Sarah....
Saturday, October 25, 2003
The End of the Vacation
Seeing as it's been a week since Sukkot ended and I still haven't finished writing about all of it, I figured I ought to get busy. So I'll try to remember everything as I dash off this quick update.
After Shefar'am, Becky and I headed down to Tel Aviv. We checked into a hostel (Momo's - I don't recommend it. But remember, if you're in Haifa, check out the Port Inn!), and after some quick phone calls and emails, fell asleep. The next day was pretty blah seeing as the reason to go to Tel Aviv is for the nightlife, the bars and clubs, and we slept through it all. So we ran some errands, got properly lost, and eventually hopped on a bus to Jerusalem.
On the way there we reconnected with a mutual friend and found out we could spend the night at her place. So we arrived at her dorm room at Hebrew University and exchanged story after story about each of our breaks so far. She had just returned from Eilat and Egypt where she climbed Mt Sinai. That night we hung out with a number of her friends, had a great dinner and smoked nargillah (hookah) in a really cool bar in a sukkah. Yup, we actually drank beer, smoked nargillah, and watched TV in a sukkah. Only in Israel.
[Sukkot is fall holiday following Yom Kippur in which you build small huts called sukkot (singular, sukkah) to dwell in during the duration of the seven day holiday. You eat all your meals in them and sometimes sleep there too. Technically they can practically any size so long as the roof has holes in it to see the stars, though in reality they tend to be the size of a small room.] Tsfat and Jerusalem were amazing during Sukkot, since there is a large religious community in both cities. Every kosher restaurant has a sukkah in front of it, and every home has one, too. So the sidewalks and rooftops are completely crammed with sukkot of every imaginable design.
The next afternoon Becky and arrived in the Old City and went to the home of this rabbi that girl Samantha we met in Tsfat told us about. Well his name is Rabbi Stern and he's in charge of something called the Jerusalem Connection - not that we ever found out what that actually means. But he knew of these people in the Old City who went on vacation for Sukkot and left their apartment for him to use. So the two of us and these two other girls who are volunteers on a kibbutz up north were given the keys for Shabbat. Yup - we stayed in the apartment of random strangers we never met for free. You just can't beat that! For dinner that night (Shabbat and Simchat Torah all rolled in one), we went back to Rabbi Stern's home and had a most amazing meal. Apparently, lots of other people have heard of this guy, too. There were at least thirtyfive people there, all in their twenties. We had lots of fun, drank a lot, and talked and talked and made new friends. Good times. (Unfortunately, since dinner was from 6:30 to 10:30, we missed most of the Sukkot singing and dancing and partying that Jerusalem is famous for, but oh well. It was well worth it.)
After sleeping in that morning (being sick sucks), we had lunch with a nice family in the Old City that reminds me of my adoptive family. [Speaking of, I really should go visit them soon.] Then, we ran into lots of awesome people we had had dinner with the previous night. We sat and talked in the square for a few hours before going to eat some more. That night Becky and I showered and packed again, ready to move on to our seventh home of the Sukkot break. But before we arrived at the home of another mutual friend who lives in Jerusalem, we went to concert. Becky had heard of this guy, Chaim Dovid, and he was giving a post-Simchat Torah concert in the Old City. So we stayed for an hour and a half, danced (in the women's section, of course), and overall had a wonderful time.
Then we took a cab to the friend's house and started walking to another concert that evening. Unfortunately, though there were hundreds and hundreds of people there, we were only there for the last song (and the two that came after it...), so we left. We had an amazing dinner (yes, more food) to celebrate Dorit's birthday and then got lost trying to return to her apartment. That evening I discovered the most ingenious travel idea ever, a pillowcase stuffed with clothes, dirty or clean, becomes a wonderful pillow. Who knew?
Next came a bus ride back to Ashkelon and the best part of traveling, returning home. Okay, maybe not, but after ten days in six cities, with seven different beds, it was nice to be back.
I was planning on writing about this past week, too, but these computers no longer have working mice, and I'm fed up with the tab key. So maybe I'll write more later. Or maybe I'll call you. Email me back with your number. Truly. I have an awesome calling card. Make me take advantage of it. If not, just know that it was all pretty normal. Classes, volunteering, you know the drill.
Until Next Time,
Sarah....
Monday, October 20, 2003
Sukkot Vacation - Shefar'am
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A quick word of advice, seeing as this email is about my three days spent volunteering in an Arab village. If you think you will disagree with what I will say here, and don't want to read this, please, please try to finish this email. It's written for you more than anyone else.
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So Monday morning, dragging our bags around and around the Haifa bus station, Becky and I finally found the Otzma bus headed to Shefar'am. We joined fourteen other Otzma-niks and headed east toward this "Arab village." We were sixteen Americans, idealistic and slightly nervous, ready to dedicate our next three days of vacation painting in an Arab village. That's literally all we knew.
After getting off the bus and herded into a community center, we immediately learned a lot about Shefar'am. First, the name is pronounced four different ways, depending on what language you speak, and whether you are reading or only speaking (the way I'm spelling it here was simply the easiest way for me to say it). Second, it's not a village by most standards - there are 35,000 residents. Third, it is very unique among Israeli Arab towns as it is not whatsoever dominated by a single religious group. Shefar'am is 60% Muslim, 35% Christian, and 15% Druze. Next, we learned that although all of us had come expecting to sleep on the community center floor and work alone, they had actually found residents of the town who would be paired with us throughout the three days and would host us in their homes.
These residents were all 18 to 24 years old, and so therefore very similar to us. In fact, in some ways, more similar than Israeli Jews our age since they were mostly in college and we are mostly post-college. Israeli Jews our age are either currently in the army, or just beginning university after their army service. This, obviously, puts us in very different frames of mind. Arab Christians and Muslims don't serve in the army, so instead they can go straight to university. Druze men, however, do serve in the army, and are, by nearly all accounts, the best soldiers in the IDF (Israeli Defense Force). By chance, the Druze who worked with us were either women, or men who have opted to go to university before army, and therefore serve six years when they graduate.
My host sister was Areen. She is an 18 year old Christian, and she has a 16 year old sister (like me) and a 14 year old brother (my brother's 13). She attended (and her siblings attend) Greek Orthodox Catholic school. Like all Israeli-Arabs, she and her siblings speak (with varying degrees of proficiency) Arabic, Hebrew, and English. Actually, she and most of her friends also speak Spanish which they've learned entirely from TV (those who can speak English more fluently, seem to have learned primarily from watching The Bold and the Beautiful). Although she lives at home (and, like all Arab girls we spoke to, has no intention of moving until she's married), she works three jobs saving up money. She's planning on traveling to Germany in a few months and hopes to retake some of her psychometric exams and get into university.
We spent six to seven hours each day painting the homes of elderly residents. In my group was five Americans, four Israeli Arabs, and our Jewish Israeli program director. The homes we worked in went from saddening to truly heartbreaking. The final home our group worked in was a true tear jerker. The woman lived alone, in a tiny basement room, about 15 by 15 feet, with the ceiling less than six feet high. She had one window, about one square foot. Outside her door was a faucet - she had no other source of running water. As we cleared out her stuff to paint, it just kept coming. The woman had obviously lived quite life before she ended up where she was now. She literally had over a thousand pieces of formal china dinnerware, and heaps of clothing. Not much else.
After clearing out her room, we began cleaning. While the boys tackled the dozens and dozens of huge cockroaches infesting her stuff, the girls began washing out her cabinets. Then we all spackled the walls (about a third of the walls needed spackling) and started washing down everything else. Meanwhile, another group joined us and while I spent two hours removing mold from her door and frame, they began the awesome challenge of washing her dishes. Finally, we painted. Unfortunately, because her room was so tiny and barely ventilated, the paint was never able to dry in time for a second coat before we began to return all her possessions to her tiny room. This woman was, without a doubt, living in extreme poverty. She needed a walker to move around, but because the concrete that had once been steps in front of her door had long ago crumbled, she had to literally crawl on her hands and knees, dragging her walker, to leave her home. She had obviously lived another life once upon a time, but her husband left her and remarried and her children have abandoned her. Now she lives with thousands of reminders of a life she once knew in a single tiny room.
Although the work we did in the daytime was physically and emotionally exhausting, the most rewarding part of the trip was during the afternoons and evenings. It was during this time that we, as American Jews, truly bonded with our Israeli Arab hosts. In their homes, all the families were incredibly warm and welcoming. Although we all brought sleeping bags, none of us ever had the opportunity to use them since our hosts insisted on making us beds on mattresses, couches, or even proper beds. We were fed so so much (as much as three dinners in a single night!) and were constantly asked if we wanted anything else to eat and drink. My host and her family tried to teach me Arabic, though I was a horrid student and only learned a few words and how to write my full name. Since her parents spoke very little English we primarily communicated in mutually broken Hebrew.
One night we had a big dinner in the community center followed by some dancing, singing, and a mini-concert. The next afternoon we had a walking tour of Shefar'am, including a history of the region, a visit to a gorgeous Catholic church, and the opportunity to explore a two thousand year old synagogue located in extreme juxtaposition in the middle of a commercial area. Tuesday night we went to the Arab city of Akko (sometimes written Acre) for the Festival. It was a very strange combination of Middle Eastern food, Arabic hip hop concerts, avant-garde Hebrew theater, trapeze artists and fire jugglers, and vendors of every sort. The bus ride there and back was filled with bonding and laughter. [Interestingly, my host was not allowed to come with us to the Festival because her father was afraid that her being in public with a large group of Jews could be unsafe if a terrorist wanted to bomb us. Another girl was not allowed to come because her father was afraid of the reputation she might get being out in public at night (most of the girls have 8pm curfews).]
Throughout the three days, we also were able to learn about the religious and political views of some of our hosts. All of the people we stayed with were for the most part secular, although they still strongly identified with whatever religion their family was. Maybe this is why all three religions live in such peaceful coexistence in Shefar'am. According to everyone we heard from, it is an incredibly rare thing for such a town to exist. All the Arab students also very strongly identified with Israel. They were very proud to live in Israel and to stand under the Israeli flag. When reading an Arabic newspaper, my host family literally spit when they saw a picture of Arafat, saying that he was causing so much more grief than was ever necessary. Most of our hosts seemed to agree that the current conflict is the fault of both sides, but could somehow be resolved if only Jews and Palestinians were able to live side by side as Christians, Muslims, and Druze do in Shefar'am.
The trip to Shefar'am was one of the most meaningful and eye-opening experiences I've had in my life. I am so grateful to have been given the opportunity to meet and befriend those to whom many Israelis would never even dream of speaking. As we left Shefar'am Wednesday night, we all exchanged contact information, knowing that our new friends would be as welcome in our homes in Israel as we are in Shefar'am throughout the next eight months.
My Sukkot journey continues in Tel Aviv....
sarah....
Sunday, October 19, 2003
Sukkot Vacation - Part One
Seeing as I was informed by some of my [not-as-loyal-as-they-could-be] readers that shorter emails are easier to get through and since my vacation was so long and I can't write about all of it at once anyway, henceforth is Part One.
The two main stars of the past eleven days of traveling are: Me (theoretically, you know me somewhat at this point) and Becky. Becky is my beautiful wonderful roommate from last year at UF. We had an awesome apartment and very cool friendship. More importantly, we've been to Israel together a few times (last summer on JewishLeadershipInstitue, this past winter with UnitedJewishCommunites). While I'm spending ten months volunteering with Otzma, she's about to begin a seven month program of Hebrew and learning in Arad, Israel called WUJS. She spent a week in New Jersey, a week in Paris, a week in London, and now three weeks in Israel just traveling around. Her program starts this coming Wednesday. We spent all nine and two-half days of vacation traveling together.
Immediately after a final Otzma security briefing before our break, I got on a bus in Ashkelon to Tel Aviv. This was much easier said than done as my sleeping bag cord got caught on some guy's M-16 (em shesh-esray) and after I finally got my bags on the bottom of the bus, I needed to elbow my way back to the front, to get to the door. After paying for my ticket, I found a seat next to some soldier. The bus filled up, but that didn't seem to stop the driver. By the time he finally pulled away, there were at least ten people (almost all soldiers) standing in the aisle. As it was a long distance bus, they gradually sat down in the aisle and on the steps going down, but let me tell you, it was crowded! In Tel Aviv, I transfered buses to Tsfat (yay for planning ahead and catching the only bus on that route daily). In Tsfat, Becky met me at the bus station (she had arrived a few hours earlier from Jerusalem).
We stayed for three nights (the longest stay of the vacation) at a hostel called Ascent. It's some religious, Kabbalistic, Chabad, kiruv, English-speaking, cheap hostel in Tsfat. I'd stayed there before and it's generally a good thing because it's cheap, clean, at a nice location, and they offer free informative classes and hikes that actually earn you money off of your hostel-stay. For some reason that none of us were able to figure out, this particular weekend all the other guest were Israeli and so therefore all the programming was done in Hebrew. And although I was able to understand more than half of it, Becky and Samantha (a friend we met there) couldn't understand as much, and it was frustrating because it's supposed to be in English.
Becky and I did a lot of wandering around. She learned how to put together a lulav (a combination of willow, myrtle, and palm used for the holiday of Sukkot), and I kind of helped. Friday night we went to services at a huge Chabad synagogue, and then had dinner with a nice older couple who had moved to Israel from the states eight years ago. Saturday we went to an amazing Carlebach style synagogue in the morning. There was lots and lots of singing and music - superfun. We had lunch with a huge family neither of us could figure out. There were seven younger children running around, one daughter upstairs sleeping, two sons away at school, and the father. The father argued with us about university politics while the kids screamed and yelled in Hebrew and jumped down stairs and leaned across balconies. Very interesting. That night was an awesome melave malka (post-Shabbat party) with lots of singing and guitars and drums and banjo! Sunday we went shopping in the Artist's Colony of Tsfat (I bought the coolest turtle-flute-ceramic-sculpture thingy!) before catching a bus to Haifa.
If you're ever in Haifa, I highly recommend staying at the Port Inn. For $11 a night, it's beautiful, wonderfully staffed, clean, practically private, beautiful, clean, beautiful, and clean. Did I mention beautiful and clean? Wow - what a hostel. Okay, so it's in a pretty shady, seedy location, but a really short walk from all the restaurants and bars and stuff, and also close to the beach. Make your reservation today! That night (Sunday) we went out for dinner and later, drinks, with a friend of Becky's who lives in Haifa. In the morning we left for Shefaram....
Until Next Time,
Sarah....
Wednesday, October 08, 2003
Time for a Vacation!
So this is mostly just a brief shout-out before I go off for some hardcore adventuring.
Last weekend was amazing. I had a spectacular time in Jerusalem. Just hanging out with people, making new friends, and wandering around to get to know the city in the beginning. Shabbat was good, and afterward I got to spend the evening with some old friends from Gainesville, so that was very special, too.
Yom Kippur was phenomenal. The country literally stops. By the time the siren warns you that the holiday begins in ten minutes, the streets are already deserted. There are no cars in sight and the traffic signals don't even bother working. All to be seen are people walking around and children on bicycles. And everyone's dressed in white.
Sunday night, I went to synagogue called Shir Chadash in the the neighborhood of Nachla'ot in Jerusalem. It was a Carlebach style service, and I went with my friends Becky and Dorit. The sermon given by the rabbi was quite interesting in that, although he spoke half in English, half in Hebrew, he never really exactly translated what he was saying. He just kind of restated the last sentence in the new language, and then went on. (It took me a while of just tuning out the Hebrew to realize that he wasn't really translating. Very interesting.) Although there were children screaming and crying the whole time, the services were quite good. Especially when I looked out and all I saw was white. Every woman was dressed in a white dress, or a white blouse and white skirt, and all the married women had their hair tied back in white scarves. It looked like rows of angels. After services, we walked down to the Kotel (Western Wall). There I ran into dozens of people I knew: from Otzma, from hostels, from conventions years ago, from mutual friends, on and on.
Monday morning, I went to services in the Old City held by Heritage House and Aish HaTorah. Although the services were in Hebrew, the sermons and explanations were in English, as were alternative classes held upstairs throughout the day. I'm not quite sure what was so special about the services, but I had an amazing experience there. I'd never really done an entire day of uninterrupted praying like that before -- we literally went straight through and completed the 900 page prayerbook. There was a brief break in the prayers when Becky and I went down to the Kotel. Although very few people were there (still busy praying, I guessed), it was so surreal to be only a few meters away from where the Kohen Gadol (high priest) did all his rituals on that very day, thousands of years ago. By the time services were over, I was on such a high that I wasn't even hungry or thirsty. I walked about half an hour with some friends to the Otzma break-fast.
That night, I helped build a sukkah (temporary dwelling, like a hut, used for the upcoming holiday of Sukkot). It was lots of fun, even though I was the only Otzma-nik who ended up staying to help. I missed helping to build one at home (in Boca or Gainesville) so this was really nice.
Tuesday we went to the shuk (market) in Tel Aviv, a crafts fair, the Palmach museum, and bow-ling. [Apparently, in Hebrew it is pronounced like the *bow*-wow of a dog or the *bow* of a ship (not like a hair *bow*).] Today I skipped ulpan (tsk tsk), tutored a friend in Hebrew, did laundry, went to an evening class, and went to our group bonfire on the beach. I still need to pack before leaving on my adventures some time tomorrow.
Right, so as I was saying -- I may not be able to send out an update next week because, since we have the week off for Sukkot, I plan on doing a lot of traveling. Right now, the plan is to leave for Tsfat (in twelve hours), and stay there for a few days. Then head over to Haifa, then volunteer in the Arab village of Sefaram for a few days, then go down to Tel Aviv, and eventually make it back down to Jerusalem for the weekend. Of course, this is all a very rough schedule, we'll see what happens.
Have a great week (and wonderful Sukkot and joyful Simchat Torah).
Take Care,
Sarah....
Friday, October 03, 2003
Running 'Round the Country
The computers were finally fixed today (joy!) so I can actually write to y'all before the holiday. Unfortunately, I have only a bit of time before I run out the door and off on another adventure, so this may not be as lengthy as previous emails (some of you may be grateful for this!)
Two weekends ago, I went to Jerusalem with some friends for Shabbat. We stayed at a hostel in the Old City, where an old friend of mine from last summer was the weekend staffer. It was wonderful there, I made some new friends, reconnected with old friends (both of whom now live in Jerusalem permanently), had meals with wonderful families who hosted us, and learned to juggle! What more can you ask?
That Monday, as I mentioned, we went on a trip to Ein Gedi, the Dead Sea, and Massada. That was especially fun because it wasn't simply our group of forty who went, but rather hundreds and hundreds of young people studying in ulpans across the country. We were all around ages 18 - 28 and about half of this massive group were olim hadashim (new immigrants) and half were simply learning Hebrew or volunteering and learning Hebrew at the same time (like us!) That meant that a lot of people were from English-speaking countries (as opposed to Russian, Spanish, or Amharic speaking countries) so communication was much easier, and finally with people our own age. Additionally, this made the climb up Massada much easier, because if you lagged behind or sprinted ahead of your own small group, instead of being alone you were with new people to meet and get to know. I'm really glad I did that, because as it turned out, most of the people from Otzma stuck together, but since I ventured off into other groups, I met some really cool people and exchanged information so now I know even more people in Israel.
Tuesday we had an education day focused on the concept of Jewish time. We learned about some holidays and did a pre-Tashlich ceremony. Living right near the ocean, we all went over there and did the ceremony at the seashore, which was very beautiful. That evening, a local rabbi spoke to us about preparing for Rosh Hashana. I'm glad we heard from him because he taught us lots of Israeli customs for the holiday which are quite different from what we do in the states. That way, if we were to come upon, for example, a sheep's head at the Rosh Hashana seder table, we would theoreticallyy] be less shocked. I stayedafterwards to ask if he had an English-Hebrew mahzor (prayer book for the High Holidays) that I could borrow to look over before the holidays. He loaned it to me for as long as I wanted, so I was able to bring it with me to the services I went to, and understand what was going on since everything was completely in Hebrew.
Wednesday was classes and volunteering as usual. (Not quite as usual when you take into account that the house we painted was so horribly infested with roaches, but we're learning to take lots of things with a handful of salt and a deep breath.)
On Thursday, we only had Hebrew class in the very beginning of ulpan. Then we heard another talk about spiritually preparing for the holidays.Afterwards, the entire ulpan (Otzma plus olim hadashim) gathered back together for singing and a mock-Rosh Hashana seder. There was a man there who wanted to teach us how to do everything halachically (correct according to Jewish law) however, we all spoke different languages. First he explained everything in Hebrew, then he said it again in Russian, then a woman translated it into English, and then another man translated it again into Spanish. The diversity of people and languages all doing the same things together at the same time always amazes me.
That afternoon, I got a ride up with a friend's adoptive father to my adoptive family's home. Things there were beautiful and relaxed, I really love the family and community they live in. Services were neat because many of the melodies (okay, not many, but some) were the same as I was used to in the states, from vastly different holiday experiences. Regardless, we all say a lot of the same words with many of the same tunes, even when we speak different languages daily. Another thing that was very different was the clothing people wore there for High Holidays. It was much more casual, so much so that of the hundreds of people I saw, maybe three or four were dressed appropriately for High Holiday services I've been to in the past. Much more relaxed, and yet more serious at the same time - there was no talking at all during the services, just praying. Here's what I did that weekend: slept, ate, prayed, ate, slept, prayed, ate, ate, slept, prayed, ate.
I got a ride down to Tel Aviv with some family of neighbors of my adoptive family, then took a cab and then a bus and was finally home by one am, just in time for a shower and nap before the 7:15am bus to class. After classes I volunteered at the park and instead of weeding, did some very disgusting work which I won't type for those of you with soft stomachs. (For details, email me.) Tuesday was an educational day in Be'er Sheva. Wednesday was classes and painting apartments in the afternoon.
Wednesday night we got on a bus at 7:30pm for Jerusalem. We went on a tour of a few different historic neighborhood, walked to the Old City, and went to the Kotel (Western Wall) for slichot at midnight. (Slichot are prayers said early in the morning or late at night from before Rosh Hashana until Yom Kippur.) The Kotel was absolutely packed with people, it was really amazing and beautiful. There were even groups of people praying in the open plaza behind where most people pray. It made me very very happy to see so many people there. We got back on the bus and rolled into Ashkelon around 3am.
Thursday we had classes and an educational workshop. As soon as it was over I ran to my room, showered, packed, met some friends, grabbed a cab, and hopped on the 7pm bus back to Jerusalem. We met up with other Otzma-niks at the bus station, ate, and then went our separate ways. I grabbed a cab and went up to see some friends at Hebrew University. I spent the night there with them on Mt. Scopus and took a cab down to the Old City this morning. I'm going to be staying there for Shabbat, and haven't quite figured out my plans from there, but I'm sure everything will work out.
In Summary:
Ashkelon, Jerusalem, Ashkelon, Massada, Ashkelon, Hoshaya, Tel Aviv, Ashkelon, Be'er Sheva, Ashkelon, Jerusalem. Whew!
[Oh, and for those of you who call me, we switched our clocks forward (for an easier fast!) so until you guys switch your clocks we're only six hours ahead of EST.]
Shabbat Shalom,
Shana Tova,
Gmar Hatima Tova,
May you all be inscribed in the Book of Life and Blessing,
--Sarah
