Simcha

After spending it in Israel, Simchat Torah may be my favorite holiday.  It’s not because of food, which is what I love about Pesach (in fact, I barely made it to meals during the chag).  It’s not about relaxing, like Rosh Hashana (I was barely in my room).  Simchat Torah means the joy of the Torah, and it’s about having fun and being excited about Torah. 

For the night of the chag, I went to Shira Chadasha with a large group of Nativers.  The spirit was incredible here.  The women’s side had 3 Torot (plural of Torah), one in each of 3 circles.  We danced in and around the circles, singing at the tops of our lungs.  I held a Torah for part of one hakafa (There are 7 hakafot at night and 7 in the morning.  Hakafot are when we bring out the Torot to be danced with).   We reluctantly left around the 3^rd hakafa in order to eat at Beit Nativ (but they started birkat [grace after meals] shortly after we arrived). 

After dinner, I went with a different group to Roz’s Minyan, a minyan that I had pretty much forgotten about since its mention to us nearly 2 months ago.  We were led by the madricha Adi, and I didn’t understand why she rushed there as she did until we arrived.  Shira Chadasha was great, but this was a completely new level.  On the women’s side, we were in one big circle, but a lot of people were jumping and dancing individually or in smaller groups.  Everyone was so energetic, so excited.  Two women were doing cartwheels.  It was an amazing experience.

In the morning, I had the plan to go with Becca first to Roz’s, then to Yakar, and then to different shuls along Emek Refaim (ending at Shira Chadasha).  What happened is we get to near Roz’s, but we didn’t know exactly where it is (it was dark when I was there before) and everyone we ask also did not know, so we head back to base to get some food.  We go to Shira Chadasha, find they have finished hakafot, and go to Kedem where they are still doing hakafot.  I didn’t like hakafot at Kedem, so I leave and look for different shuls up Emek.  Everywhere I pass is done with hakafot and either has a kiddush or shiur (class) at that time, so I go back to Shira Chadasha, at this point upset about the morning (especially because the last night was so great). 

I get to Shira Chadasha during Torah reading.  They have split up into 4 or 5 different groups so everyone that wanted an aliya could get one.  After Torah, there is a kiddush outside, followed by the rest of the service.  We read the end of D’varim (Deuteronomy), and then the beginning of B’reishit (Genesis) to complete and begin the yearly cycle of Torah reading.  The other unique part of this service is the prayer for rain. 

I stayed until the end of the service.  I hoped that I would be able to find someone to host me for lunch, but people really only take in random strangers on Shabbat.  So I went back to base, again when everyone else was finishing their meal.

I decided I needed to go to the Old City.  I hadn’t been there since Jerusalem course, which was far too long ago.  I wandered around, surprised at how it was just as touristy as any other day, and went to the Kotel. 

We davened maariv as Nativ, ate dinner, and then went to a nearby park for Hakafot Shneut (2^nd Hakafot).  The chag was over, but this does not cease the celebration of Torah.  Upon entering the park, my friend Julia and I claimed a large concrete square and protected it from other Nativers.  (This really means we yelled, “Get off our square!” when friends came up to us.)  People sold snacks and toys (a few Nativers purchased light sabers), and it felt like a carnival for a while.  Then hakafot began.   Some people danced with Torot on a stage, but most of us danced in our own circles, lines, and clusters.  I did my favorite dance move (*cough* the only one I know *cough cough*), “the flail,” and got friends to flail with me.  About 30 Nativers did the Electric Slide during one or two hakafot.  I may have been upset that morning, but this was so much fun that I nearly forgot.  These hakafot went for a few hours, but neither the fun nor my energy decreased.

OUR SQUARE

10 Nativ guys, a safe distance from our square

Friday, the excitement of the chag was over, but my joy continued.  I boarded a bus to Kibbutz Tirat Tzvi.  After hiking for 3 days, then jumping and dancing for a day, sitting in a comfortable seat for 2 hours felt amazing. I came to the kibbutz to visit a friend from home’s family for Shabbat.  I met 4 generations of Shmuelis, ate great food (even as a vegetarian at a place where the main business is meat processing), and played with adorable little kids.  The family spoke mostly in English, but I was able to follow some of what was said in Hebrew, and they all helped me practice (especially the 2 and 3 year old kids).  Everyone was so nice, and I plan on visiting again later in the year.

I got a ride back to Jerusalem after Shabbat with a family with 5 kids and David Shmueli.  I learned more Hebrew from and taught English and Spanish to these kids.

Sunday, instead of getting right back into Yeshiva classes, we went to the Kotel tunnels.  We had a tour under the Wall to see remains of streets and rooms and artifacts of the different eras.  We then ate delicious falafel and were done for the day around 2 PM.

Monday, instead of Talmud class, we had a shiur about the use of computers in Yeshiva study and fact vs. meaning.  But for the afternoon, we were back to our normal schedule.  That night we watched Finding Nemo in Hebrew!

Yesterday, I went with Mia to the Sea of Spa store right by Beit Nativ to get our rish eaten by fish.  Yes, as everyone walking by sees, they have tanks of fish and for a small monetary price you can sit down and put your bare feet in the tanks to allow the fish to eat away your dead skin.  Some say it tickles, some say it’s uncomfortable, I say it’s soothing and relaxing.  But maybe only worth doing once.

Trivia: Today, it rained.  Only a little, but we all know this is the beginning of months full of precipitation.

I Guess Most of This Has to Do With Sukkot

[I apologize for poor writing.  I'm tired]

11/10: No classes, so went with a group to Israel Museum (really cool place with artifacts from many cultures as far back as possible, art, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and showing “The Clock”).  Didn’t get to see everything, so I hope to go back soon.

Erev Nativ (every Tuesday is “Nativ Night,” we have some sort of program all together): Rabbi Joel Roth talked to us about how he feels the Conservative movement is the most legitimate movement in Judaism today.  He felt very strongly, and I agreed with much of what he said (such as his heavy emphasis on halachic pluralism).  He compared Jewish tradition to a chess board: the pieces can be moved in a certain way, but it’s all coming from the same setup.  He believes a glass dome descended upon the chess board a couple hundred years ago in the Orthodox world, freezing the pieces in place, but in the Conservative movement the pieces are still moved.  An interesting analogy, but I am hesitant to accept it as valid.  While he was here, I realized that though I had recognized that some Nativers came from modern Orthodox backgrounds I had thought everyone here was pretty much Conservative, but now I see that there are actually a lot of Nativers identifying as Orthodox.  Just interesting.

After Erev Nativ we had some announcements.  Of greatest interest was that relating to the release of Gilad Shalit.  After over 5 years in hostage, this Israeli soldier will be returned to his country as Israel releases 1000 terrorists.  At first it seemed that everyone here was overjoyed (which I understand) at the prospect of the return of Gilad.  Most Nativers, as well as other people in Jerusalem, walked to where Gilad’s parents have been camped out in front of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s home (which happens to be down the street from Beit Nativ).  But I am more concerned about the release of 1000 terrorists.  Won’t this lead to more deaths?  More murders?  I know Gilad does not deserve his current treatment, that people all over Israel and all over the world have been praying for his return, but that does not make his life more valuable than any other.  This deal does have the potential for giving Israel good PR, but also giving Palestinians good PR, so it is hard to say which will be stronger in the UN debates.

12/10: In the morning we split up into our tracks for text studies led by the Yeshiva students of each track.  With Elan, Louis, and Mia, I provided texts and led discussion over all that the 4 species of lulav and etrog may represent.  I must say, we were surprised at how well the text study went because (1) we had about 2 minutes to prepare and (2) people actually participated, actually studied the texts as we asked them to!  Then we traveled as Nativ to HaShuk Arbaat Haminim, The Lulav and Etrog Market.  We got to pick our own palm, willow, myrtle, and citron (stupid word), and I bought a set together with Mia and Deena.  We haggled for lower prices and got a nice set to use during the holiday for under 60 shekel.  That night was the first night of Sukkot.  For the first time ever, I slept in a sukkah, which was surprisingly nice, especially as I slept between smelly blankets that I found on the floor in my hallway (though I must say they smelled better after Zoe dropped her orange juice onto me).

Inside one of our sukkot

In a sukka, wishing a happy holiday

In the shuk

13/10: I went to Shira Chadasha for services.  There I happened to see my roommate Suzanne with her mom (here family came for the holiday and Suzanne stayed at the hotel with them so I didn’t know she would be there).  After services, I went with my friend Pam to her cousin’s house for a wonderful dairy lunch.

14/10: The most exciting event this day was finding a hat for 10 shekel.

15/10: I went to the Sephardi synagogue in Yemin Moshe (a nearby neighborhood) for services, had a delicious Kiddush, and unable to bring myself to try to get hosted for lunch, I went to the Ashkenazi synagogue where I knew I’d find Nativers.  There, I ended up eating another Kiddush (this shul is known for its Kiddush).  We came back and somehow I found myself eating a bit of the Moreshet Yisrael (the shul between our Beit Nativ buildings) Kiddush.  After lunch (I really only ate a bit of cholent and some vegetables) I napped in my room for 3 hours, which took me to the end of Shabbat.

I then started packing for the 3-day Desert Survival tiyul (hike) we were to leave early Sunday morning for.

16/10: Up at 5:25, I do last minute packing and head downstairs for the bus to take us south to the Negev.  I think Yerucham went to a synagogue in Be’er Sheva, and Kfar and Karmiel went to a hostel for services and breakfast.  The food was pretty much what we get at base, but a lot better.  We reloaded buses and a little while later arrived at the edge of the desert.  We put our night packs (with clothes, toiletries, tallit and siddur, etc.) in a cage to be attached to a jeep to meet us at our campsite that night.  Then we set off for the hike.  We were led by Nadav, our guide, and trailed by Esther, our medic.  (Description and reflection of hike below.) 

so beautiful

That evening, we reach our first campsite and are told to get a pad thing (so the rocks below us are not too jagged), sleeping bag, and our night packs and set up our “beds” while we still have some light.  But I don’t see my night pack.  I look in the pile again.  I ask everyone if they might have taken it.  I look with Rachel everywhere on the campsite.  It is nowhere to be found.  The assumption is that my bag flew off of the cage.  The company in charge of bringing our things to and from the campsite had someone drive back to look for it, but could not find it.  (He did bring back socks, toothbrush, and toothpaste for me.)  But I love the people on Kfar who helped me out by lending me clothes.

17/10: The next day when we reached our campsite, my bag still had not been found, but they also had underwear, deodorant, and shirts for me for the last day.  So my bag is lost somewhere in the desert, left to fend for itself.  Nativ and that company will work things out so I am reimbursed for all that was lost, but no money and no thing can take the place of the BBYO Tefillat HaDerech (traveler’s prayer) keychain I received at my last convention, the tallit I got for my bat mitzvah, or the tallis bag my mom made for me.

18/10: We finish our hike, have lunch, and take a bus back home, just a few hours after Gilad returned home too. 

Tiyul: We had 3 days in the desert, and it was not enough.  The tiyul was 3 days of climbing up and down mountains, 3 days of nature peeing, 3 days of singing, 3 days of learning about plants and animals and rocks in the desert, 3 days of the best “Too Far Kfar” bonding.  Everything was so beautiful, and my pictures do it no justice.  Sometimes it was tiring, sometimes our feet hurt from blisters, but the feeling of being on top of a mountain was more than worth it.

hiking up!

To me, the first day was the hardest.  We arrived about an hour late, so we were a bit rushed and very much not used to the hiking.  The second day we had all day to hike (we woke up before sunrise, left not too long after sunrise, and arrived at the campsite as it was just starting to get dark) and we had the shortest distance to hike, so we took frequent breaks to learn about plants we passed (one that makes a soap, one that flies dislike, one that will explode in water [or Jake’s mouth] to release its seeds as a last effort to continue its genes, etc.), rocks and fossils, and animals.  We also had a 3 hour break for lunch and napping/hanging out.  The last day we had a bit more time than the first day, but to travel the greatest distance (about 9 miles, for a 3-day total of 20 miles, going approximately halfway across Israel at its widest point).

hiking is tiring

At the end of hiking the first two days (because the last day we left the desert), we would get yummy soup when we arrived at the camp before eating dinner.  Dinner was surprisingly delicious, and the first day the vegetarian alternative was the best I’d eaten in a long time.  We had a campfire and would sing non-typical campfire songs, and most people slept under the stars.  In the morning, we had a pre-breakfast of cookies, peanut butter, and chocolate spread.  After davening we had official breakfast, including Kariot, the greatest Israeli cereal.

Our group had an amazing time.  We all feel much closer to each other, and the few people with whom I had rarely spoken before I now consider friends.  We all legitimately like each other, and we have been reassured that we will be fine without our Karmiel and Yerucham friends 2^nd semester.  In fact, when we were at the far end of the same campsite as Yerucham one night and when we had lunch in the same place as Karmiel the last day, we felt no desire to be with them at all.  We know that we are the best track.  (When we were back at base and talked to the other tracks more, we were honestly surprised that they had a lot of fun, too.)

Most of Kfar.  We love each other!!  And two guys in the back are playing baseball with a rock.

Many of us would like to have continued the tiyul for another day or two or three, including me.  I am still unsure what I want to do during my 2 week break in January.  I might (depending on my Hebrew level) do Magen David Adom (“MADA,” Israeli Red Cross) training for the first week, and then I’ll be a volunteer paramedic about 1 day a week while at Kfar.  Whether or not I do MADA, I will have time that I want to be free in Israel.  Part of me wants to go to cities I haven’t seen (as I have yet to take advantage of my free weekends this way), and part of me wants to just hike more, probably in the north, because I know this is something I’d love to do more.  So help me out- what should I do?

Trivia: How did most girls deal with their hair during tiyul? Braids.  Why was this not so great for me? (1) My roommates decided that my hair must be braided from now on, never again in a ponytail. (2) That isn’t going to work, Suzanne and Leah, you saw how my hair fell out of my braid all the time, sticking out horizontally from under my hat.

Don't Pee in a Shofar

Yom Kippur: the Day of Atonement, the most popular Jewish fast day, the favorite holiday of only one person I know.  This year, Yom Kippur was much more than repenting for sins of the past year.

My Yom Kippur experiences began Thursday night with Nativ classes.  I chose to attend a text study of Kol Nidrei (the opening Yom Kippur service in which we ask for annulment of vows) and a study of Al Chet (a passage in which we ask for forgiveness for many different kinds of sins).  In the first, I learned that there is actually no purpose to Kol Nidrei because it is not truly a beit din (court) and does not follow the actual ordained rules for the annulment of vows; however, all Jews everywhere still do it.  In the second, we discussed what a community was and why Al Chet is of communal sins, not personal.  Both were very interesting.

On Friday we had an early lunch, followed by mincha together.  Some Nativers had gone earlier in the morning to do (or maybe just see) kapparot, a tradition in which one will swing a chicken around his/her head to transfer his/her sins to the chicken, which will then be slaughtered and given to a poor family.  In the afternoon, I did kapparot (for the first time!) but with money (not a chicken, also acceptable) designated for tzedaka.  After this, we ate our last meal for before the fast, followed by getting dressed for Yom Kippur.

While my roommates and I were getting dressed in the traditional all white clothing, we had a realization: we have the best roommates.  We all not only get along but actually like each other, and we think we are the only room of all of Nativ (or at least of girls in our track) to not have any even moderately serious problems.

Around 4:30, I left with a group to Shira Chadasha for Kol Nidrei and maariv services.  We girls had to sit outside (they have a side door on the women’s section to extend the sanctuary outside a bit) because all of the seats were reserved. Unfortunately, we could not hear well, so everyone except me left to go to Kedem (a nearby Conservative shul) or to the Great Synagogue.  I decided to stay there because I knew I at least somewhat liked this service, so I went inside and stood in the back for the 2 hour service. It was a nice service, but my legs hurt by the end of it.

After services, we walk back to Beit Nativ to find that a Nativ tradition has started without us!  Already, Nativers were sitting in a big circle in the middle of the busy intersection right next to our buildings, singing as if it were a Shabbat tisch (I guess it was Shabbat, but Nativers do this every year).  But not only is it Nativ- passersby would come and join and watch and sing.  (At one point we realized we had pretty much become a tourist attraction, too.)  The “tisch” was a lot of fun, but I was not surprised to hear that our director said it was the worst Nativ Yom Kippur tisch she had been to.

Did I mention how it was completely acceptable for us to be in the street?  There are almost no cars on the streets of Jerusalem- much because there is nowhere to go as everything is closed.  They even turn off the street lights.  We left a path for ambulances and police cars, and that was pretty much it.  During the day we would just walk in the street, avoiding collisions with bikes.

Saturday had an interesting beginning. Many of us had a plan to wake up around 4:45 to leave for Yedidya, a synagogue in Talpiot that was apparently amazing, at 5 to go to their early service at 5:45 to be back at Beit Nativ for a longer nap gap. We had a chain of waking people up to avoid setting alarms.  Overall, good plan.  I wake up in the morning to Mia coming into my room saying, “Jill, I’m so sorry.  My alarm didn’t go off, but it’s 5:30 now.  At least we can go with the group leaving at 6.”  So first I’m a little upset because I thought Hannah was supposed to wake me up, but whatever, not a big deal.  I wake up my roommates because they want to go to the leaving-at-6 service, but they make the wise decision to not get out of bed.  I get dressed and go downstairs to make sure I don’t miss the group leaving at 6.  But here I can see a clock.  It’s 2:50.  I look at the other clock.  2:50. OK.  I go back upstairs, having decided I should try to sleep for 2 hours.  Mia’s in the hall, worried about having sent me into the world at 2:50 as she has realized that her clock was somehow set about 3 hours ahead.  We go back to bed, and 2 hours later she summons me (though I don’t think I slept at all) to get ready at a more appropriate time.  I learn that the responsibility of waking me had been transferred from Hannah to Mia (I had been very confused), and we make our way to Yedidya.

Services there were nice, but perhaps not worth waking up so early.  Hard to say, not having seen other services.  They were over at 11:30, which was later than we expected, so we would only have a couple hours to nap before getting ready for mincha and neila services, which started at most places around 3:15.  But of course, I do not sleep.  I lay in my bed and try, but fail. 

I went to Yakar with Deena for the afternoon, which was fine, but not as great as I had hoped.  A lot of Nativers went to the Kotel and either loved it or thought it was nothing special.  After neila, we left, did our own Havdalah because it was already 5:52, and speed-walked to Beit Nativ to break the fast.

This was not a bad Yom Kippur at all.  I did not get too hungry.  I did not feel dehydrated.  I did not get headaches.  I did not feel too weak to move around.  I don’t understand because I didn’t sleep much; had a cough (which I’ve had for a few days); and must have lost energy and water through singing, walking 45 minutes to and from one synagogue, and going up and down 3 flights of stairs around 6 times when at home I would have no such activity.  Overall fantastic, at least by Yom Kippur standards.

Sunday, two sukkot were built between the old and new buildings.  Nativers decorated them, and I’m eager to finally have the opportunity to sleep in one.  I’m getting excited for Sukkot!

Trivia: Why is this blog titled as it is?  I studied in my Talmud class that while one may put water or wine in a shofar (apparently to make the sound smoother), urine (or “mei raglaim,” which one may translate as “leg water”) may not be put in a shofar because it would be disrespectful. Who knew?

My 1 3-Day Chag

The year 5772 has begun.  With it, I have heard the shofar, davened at 4 synagogues plus with Kehilat Nativ, slept too little, and eaten excessive pastries.  I think this is a good start to the year.

In Israel, Rosh Hashana is the only 2-day chag, and with Shabbat right after, it’s essentially a 3-day chag.  Outside Israel, there will be 2 more 3-day chags for the beginning and end of Sukkot.  As much fun as a 3-day chag is, it’s a lot of work and we eat too much food.

So how was Rosh Hashana?  Pretty amazing.  To begin, we davened as Nativ (plus a few guests like our director Yossi’s family), with Yossi leading maariv.  Then we had a dinner of not great food, making me miss home a bit.  Also, for some reason, half of the fish heads we had at the table (a symbol to be a head, not a tail) congregated near me…that was fun.  But after dinner, I stayed up late hanging out with people around Beit Nativ, what I have found to be one of my favorite things to do hear at any time.  (Also noteworthy: this night we established that many of us were Harry Potter characters [I’m Hermione!] and we made plans to watch AVPS.  Never have I disliked the lack of electricity during chag and Shabbat more because we knew we’d have to wait 3 days!)

Thursday morning, I had a fairly long walk to Mayanot (a Conservative synagogue in Talpiot), but with a group of friends, it was not bad at all.  I loved the service at Mayanot- it was very similar to home, but shorter (as all Israeli services are when you don’t bother with things like calling page numbers) and with a few new tunes (many of which I liked, but I do greatly prefer our tunes at home for “Hayom harat olam” and “Areshet sifateinu”).  There were a lot of really cute kids running and crawling around.  Also, the best thing, something I we all decided we should bring back to our shuls at the U.S., was that after Torah service we went outside for a Kiddush, which meant a lot of delicious food and just a nice break to move around and talk for a little before the dvar (sermon).

After services, we (Julia, Mia, and me) went to Marne’s apartment to get food to take to her friend Suzanna’s house.  Well, first we stuck around for a while as Marne was a baal tekiah (shofar blower) and let anyone who wanted to blow her shofar.  We then walked to Suzanna’s for lunch with a total of 14 people.  There we had a lot of great vegetarian food!  After this, I decided to eat as few Shabbat and chag meals at Beit Nativ as possible.  It was a lot of fun talking with everyone and playing with Marne and Suzanna’s 6 year old daughters.  We Nativers would have loved to stay longer, but we left around 4:45 to get back to Beit Nativ at a reasonable time.

At Beit Nativ, we davened mincha at Moreshet Yisrael.  I then left to go to Barbara’s (a yeshiva student) home for dinner.  This meal included me, Barbara, her husband, her son and daughter (both in their early twenties), and her daughter’s friend.  Her daughter is also a vegetarian, so again I had really great food.

I came back to Beit Nativ and again stayed up later than I should have for the time I had to wake up for services in the morning.  I ended up going to Shira Chadasha, which was great!  Much better than the last time I was there.  I love their way of being orthodox and egalitarian.  This service included more new tunes and a lot of singing in general.  We also had kiddush after Torah service here, which not only led to me finding Marzipan rugelach, but I talked with a fellow yeshiva student who happened to be there and we found we were going to the same place for lunch!  We may have arrived late because Shira Chadasha services go later than most other places, but there was no way we could have willingly left this service early.  Lunch at Vered’s was great and, thankfully, light (at least as vegetarian).  I could not eat another big meal.

Again, I stayed well into the afternoon, with little time to rest before Shabbat.  We had mincha and maariv at Moreshet Yisrael, and then I went with 2 Nativers (a different Julia and Aliya) and some others to Rabbi Epstein of the yeshiva’s home for dinner.  This was also a lot of fun, and of course we had great food.  Because a couple people were tired, we did only a little singing before benching and returning to Beit Nativ, but when we got back Julia and I had our own little tisch because we needed to sing more.  Once again, I stayed up late talking with different people.

Shabbos morning I went to Yakar, which was great.  It remains one of my favorite shuls.  We had a kiddush and shiurim before Torah reading.  I went to the English shiur about “Do you pray guilty?”  In the afternoon, I found myself able to nap for a little, but not as much as needed.  Overall it was a relaxing Shabbos.  It was great to be back for more than sleeping and time when I should have been sleeping.

There are still quite a few shuls that I want to attend at least once, plus I want to see some Sephardi services.  I keep on thinking I should do that next week, but that’ll be Yom Kippur.  I’m not sure where I want to go for Yom Kippur, but I think I want to go somewhere I know I like, so it will probably be Shira Chadasha or Yakar, as Mayanot is a bit far of a walk for fasting.

Trivia: What is the translation of kaparah? Atonement.  What is the origin of this English word?  At one, from the days when “one” was pronounced as it is spelled.