I can not believe how long it has been since I last blogged. So much has been going on in my life and here in Israel- that I seemed to have spaced writing it all down despite my commitments to keep you all posted. I am going to TRY to sum it all up here- but its going to be difficult no doubt. Sometimes days feel like weeks here yet the month has felt like merely an hour. Im going to jump around a bit as my memory permits me-
Pesach was incredible in Israel. Even before the holiday began, the city began to prepare. Stores began to close, those scrumptious Passover candies became available in the candy shops in the shuk, less chumatz was being sold and bought, and lots and lots of cleaning. The transition this month from last ( Purim to Pesach really) was sooo interesting. At many of the shabbas tables I was at, we spoke about the preparation for pesach-not only the physical cleansing of the house but the emotional, religious, and physical cleansing of ourselves. We had break from school for two whole WEEKS! The first weekend I spent in Jerusalem. A close friend of mine was staying at her Aunts amazing house in an area called Nayot- basically a neighborhood at the end of the huge park – Gan Sacher. Until Pesach ( that Wednesday) my friends who were still in Jerusalem ( a lot of people had left the country to travel) hung out in Jlem- where I helped cleaned their apartments, and the like. Tuesday we searched for chumtz, and Wednesday burned it in the streets. I have never seen so many fires in dumpsters!
Wednesday morning was an extremely unbelievable morning. This year on the 14th of Nissan- a most spectacular event occurred. We blessed the sun- called Birkat HaChama! Sounds crazy I know, but in the Jewish tradition, every 28 years the sun rises on the same day it was created- returning to the cycle of creation. This day however was different because it fell on the eve of Pesach- something that occurs even more rarely- definitely less than once in a life time. What did I do for this special occasion? Watched the sunrise at the Kotel of course. I was one of about 50,000 people running at 540 in the morning to be crammed into the kotel davening under the chief rabbi of Israel and watching the sun rise over the holiest place in the world. The sun was unbelievably strong that day as I stood with my fellow Jews to watch this momentous occasion. Incredible.
Later that very long, exhausting day, was sedar. A few friends and I went to a family we have become close with in Nachlaot for Sedar. There were about 15 adults and 5 children under the age of 4, including a newborn- gathered around a vegetarian table, reading the Haggadah, sharing dvrei torah and other words of wisdom. We went until about 230 in the morning talking and sharing and questioning.
The next morning I began my crazy spring adventure. I was up about 800 getting ready to leave for Boombamella- a music festival held on Nitzanim Beach. About 8 of us camped out on the beach and spent three days hanging out, listening to music and enjoying the festival. All of the food they offered was kosher for Pesach- something we definitely took advantage of. Pesach seemed to fly by infact because food here is not an issue! Restaurants are open and change over to pesadic food, and everyone is in it together.
After Boombamella I came back to Jerusalem for a day (Sunday) and then left Monday morning for my trip up north. First I went to Tiberias- where we dipped in hot springs, saw the grave of the Rambam and Yochanan Ben Zachai, biked around the Kinneret and of course ate at the most amazing meat resturaunt in the country- Decks. ( I HAD FILET MINOIGN). After one night in Tiberias we headed to Haifa- saw the Bahai Gardens, stayed in an amazing hostel, walked around the city, went to a sculpture garden, a beer house where I had peach beer, ended pesach, and an art museum. We left early in the morning for Zichron Yaackov (my favorite place in Israel) for a Wine tour at Tishbi Winery. After the Winery we headed to Ceasaria to explore the ancient city and finally, after a train ride to Tel Aviv and a bus trip to Jerusalem, were finally home in Yerushalayim. We truly had an amazingly jammed packed week of traveling, and I have never felt so happy to back.
My shabbatot, since my last post, have been definitely diverse. I’ve spent a few in Jerusalem, one at Boombamella, and at Kibbutz HaNaton in the north. I have found Shabbat to be super stressful come Thursday night, but somehow by 2 pm on Friday afternoon, at peak packedness in the shuk- everything seems to be worked out. This Shabbat as well as the one before, I found myself in Gan Sacher in the afternoon. It is an amazing place to be on shabbas afternoon- people- secular, religious, jewish, muslim, old, young, are enjoying being outside and being together.
Getting back into the swing of things after my break was challenging to say the least.
My internship is going really well. I love the kids I work with and theyre getting used to seeing me around, remember my name and ask me for help due to my amazing English skills ;). Last time I was in, we were looking up lyrics to English songs they knew so they could understand what they were singing ( they love American Hip Hop- even though they don’t understand). Their all time favorite however is “Titanic”, also known as My heart will go on- something they didn’t know. It was surprisingly difficult to explain “ that is how I know you go on” as its translates really weirdly in Hebrew.
This past Tuesday was Yom Hashoah. Erev yom hashoah stores across the city shut down in honor of the day of Remembrance. At 10 am the next morning, a siren went off around the country for people to stop and remember the 6 million who perished in the holocaust. I was outside on my way to class that morning and watched the entire city stop. People got out of the cars, stopped literally in their tracks and thought. For the minute the siren went off, all that ran through my head was amazement that in light of such a tragedy there is now place of refuge, safety and comfort for the Jews of the world.
Wednesday came and I went on the COOLEST field trip of my life- the dead sea. With my environmental and natural source policy class, we ventured, through the West Bank, to the most northern spot of the Dead Sea we could go. We looked at the sad picture of the receding dead sea, the sink holes, the marks where the sea used to be and shrinking tourism. It was amazing to be able to ACTUALLY go out and see what we had been discussing in class- something I SO looked forward to about coming to Israel.
I could honestly go on for pages about the last month, but that will have to come in person when I see each of you.
My time in Israel is starting to come closer to ending and I am truly in shock. May will be here before I know it and just as quickly as this semester came, it seems its ending. I can’t wait to take these next few weeks as slowly as can- stop and smell the flowers- and enjoy my time in eretz Yisrael.
With Love,
Sara
