There is a lot to celebrate right now here in Israel. We are in the middle of Succot - a holiday where the Jews re-enact how our ancestors once dwelled in Sukka's while they wandered in the desert for over 40 years. It is also a time to celebrate the beginning of the Fall Harvest. Today, I walked to the beach in Netanya and passed many different Sukka's throughout town. It is so fun to see! Back home, we have a Sukka at temple, but never all over the streets. So awesome to see here.
Last week we took a late night trip to Jerusalem. Between the days of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur are the "Selichot." These are the days were we really ask for forgiveness and repent for our sins. Jerusalem is home to the very famous Wailing Wall, aka Western Wall, aka Kotel. During the days of Selichot Jews from ALL OVER Israel come to this destination to pray together for 30 minutes (I believe from 11:30 pm - 12 am). This 30 minutes is intense and strongly united. To actually reach the wall you must push and fit you way through the body-to-body crowds of people. It does not make it easy when the elderly have taken chairs in the midst of the balagan (chaos). You don't see them and then all of a sudden you are stumbling over them. Another obstacle is the fact that when you are ready to walk away from the wall, you must never turn your back to it. The women trying to walk backwards through this crowd make it almost impossible for the rest of us to walk forward. Sound ridiculous? It is! But is powerful and amazing. It is an experience that you must have at least once in your life.
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| ALL ABOARD! |
After that we celebrated Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. For a 25 hour period we fast. Without satisfying our needs for food, we are atoning for all the sins we have performed in the past year. This is also a time to say all of our sorry's. Here is Israel, it is not only eating that we put off for 25 hours, it is also driving and TV watching. Try watching that TV and you'll get a whole lotta nothin'. Try getting in that car and possibly risk getting rocks thrown at you. The highway is completely empty, as well as our bellies. No eating also means no drinking, even water. After the 25 hours are up, we break fast with a big, beautiful, and highly anticipated meal. My personal experience was that Friday morning I went back to Miriam's home. Not much time passed, not even a new blog post, before I went back to spend with my dear friend and newly adopted third grandmother. We relaxed and watched movies and relaxed some more. Sunday she invited me to her weekly coffee date with her girlfriends at one of the biggest and best malls in Israel. I loved it! I met her girlfriends and chatted with them a bit in English a bit in Hebrew over a nice hot cup of Kafe Hafook (cappuccino) and then wandered the stores. I bought myself a very inexpensive and cute pair of mishkafe shemesh (sunglasses) and sandals. We headed home, ate some lunch, packed my bags and I headed to the Haifa port where I met up with my friends to board our ship!
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| In Cyprus at Larnaka Beach: Jenette, Amy, Alana, Anna. |
The Royal Iris was waiting for us, ready to begin a wild three days cruisin' the sea to Cyprus. Much different than an American cruise line, this ship was not about all-day buffets and activities. It was about laying in lounge chairs and exploring the island of Cyprus (the Greek side). Not complaints though! Besides the heavy rocking and the very bad hangover on the last day, I had so much fun! It was literally spring break '07 and I loved it all.
On the ship, our neighbors were a group of 16 year old boys. On the second night were passing their room to get ready for the night ahead when they stopped us to say, "Gilad Shalit is coming home." This statement didn't set in for at least a minute or two. Rumors have circulated in the past and after five years, you really doubt you are going to hear this statement. But they invited us to watch Benjamin Netanyahu (Israel's Prime Minister) speak about the deal that had been made between Israel and Hamas leaders with the help of Egypt and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Israel is to release 1,027 Palestinian terrorist prisoners in exchange for the release of Gilad Shalit. This is an agreement that has taken over five years to come to because it is heavily loaded. It is awful news for those victims of terrorist attacks, it is scary for what may happen in the future, and people aren't ready to really celebrate until he is physically home with his family. To be present in Israel for this historical moment leaves me speechless. I am so honored and feel so patriotic. As a Jew and as current resident of Israel, I entirely agree with Netanyahu when he explained in his speech that one human life is equivalent to this whole nation. To some it doesn't make sense how 1,027 lives is equal to one, but to me and to other Israelis, it does. We expect him home by next week! To stay updated on all of this please use www.JPost.com.
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| Bon Voyage! |
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