More Rosh Hashanah, And A Bunch Of Random Stuff

2nd day of Rosh Hashanah we first went to some long time friends of Rachel's parents home for a truly special meal. They have a very large apartment home, rare for Jerusalem, with multiple balconies of various sizes and a very open living/dining/kitchen area. They were very gracious and loving hosts and there were tons of people there of all ages. Their home was literally filled to the brim with the sweetness their friends and family brought with them. The food was fabulous, and more and more kept appearing on their large buffet table. Judging from this Rosh Hashana I could easily say that lasagna is a traditional new year's food to eat (we ate it at Thursday's lunch too) as there was what seemed like a never ending stream of lasagna coming from the oven that was truly divine. It really was one big free for all around the food table and we have an all new appreciation for the phrase "Dig in!" after surviving several rounds at the buffet table. And we came away from it all with no stains on our clothes! It was a joyous occasion enjoyed by many.

We left there after dessert (dessert was its own insanity!) for a classmate of Rachel's apartment where she and her boyfriend hosted folks for a relaxing afternoon lunch. We were both so full that we felt rude declining food initially, but we were there long enough to have little pockets open up in our stomachs to taste the fruit salad and desserts. It was nice to just hang out with folks and talk and laugh, mostly about inappropriate things, but hey, we can't be serious learned students and their SOs all the time now can we?!

We had talked all day about possibly going to services and left our friend's home intending to walk to Kol Hanishima. But we ended up standing on the sidewalk outside the apartment building talking to a friend of ours who is a fellow SO at HUC. We stood there for an hour and 45 minutes talking, never thinking to sit on the benches next to us and literally watching people we know walk to and from services, all in disbelief that we had stood there for that long talking. It was a wonderful time spent, and we were perfectly okay missing Shabbat services. We took a picture to commemorate our marathon conversation -- check it out on DropShots. Rachel and I then walked home and spent the rest of the evening relaxing in our PJs. Shabbat morning (today) we slept in rather than get up and go to services. Honestly, Saturdays truly are Rachel's only days of rest. I did some long overdue dishes (see hilarious picture on DropShots) and made us a nice dinner. We are looking forward to setting our clocks back one hour when we get in bed in a few, and tomorrow starts a new week here in Jerusalem. Unfortunately, with the end of Shabbat returns the loud traffic on Jabotinsky. We can't wait for cold weather when we can have all of our windows closed.

Until daylight savings in the U.S., effective tomorrow (Sunday) there is only a 6 hour time difference between Israel and the EST in the States. This will change in November when y'all fall back and the time difference will return to 7 hours. There are some random pictures I put on DropShots that y'all can check out. The link is towards the top of the left hand side of the blog home page. Happy New Year!

L'Shana Tovah -- A Happy, Healthy, Sweet New Year To You All

It's hard to believe that we were at the shuk shopping just over 24 hours ago. Since Rosh Hashana doesn't end until Friday at sundown at which point Shabbat begins, the shuk and stores and shops will not be open again until Sunday, so we had to consider social obligations, plan meals and shop accordingly. We didn't head to the shuk until after noon on Wednesday, yet it was still very crowded. Rachel usually doesn't go to the shuk with me but was able to this time because she did not have school yesterday. We went armed with tote bags and a back pack as we had a long list. My favorite shuk thing happened which is that we were able to get everything we had on our very diverse shopping list at the shuk. It's simply the most cost effective way to shop but is a total pain in the ass at the same time as Rachel and I were barely able to make it home and up to the top floor without falling down from the weight of the bags. We first went to the Iraqi Shuk -- see previous post -- and it literally looked like what most Iraqi markets may look like these days; it was over half wiped out of all produce, and what was left was slim pickings (I'll keep from making any snide Bush comments).

We are attending Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur services at HUC. The Blaustein sanctuary is breathtakingly gorgeous as all you see when you look out the floor to ceiling windows behind the bimah is the Old City. The choir was fantastic last night and today, with very talented cantorial students and some not so shabby wannabes. Today's service was about 4 hours long which was a bit painful, but hearing Gingy blow the shofar towards the end of the service, again, with the Old City in plain view, was pretty darn cool and definitely worth it. We are really looking forward to Kol Nidre -- we hear that it is a truly beautiful and spiritual experience, and people come from all movements and synagogues to hear the choir and soloists -- they stand in the back and leave after Kol Nidre. I even think some of our Orthodox friends are going to come with us to HUC. There was a student led Rosh Hashana seder last night after services that was nice. I had never participated in a Rosh Hashana seder, as was the case with most people I think, but it was nice to share a good dinner with friends regardless. We had a wonderful afternoon with our aforementioned Orthodox friends and a couple they are friends with. We were invited for lunch in their new apartment -- they just got married a month ago today. The food was exceptional -- pancakes and lasagne (I know what you're thinking) made up the main course. I said that it's a good thing we have some days left to ask God's forgiveness because that apartment was full of shameless gluttons today! We really love meeting new non-HUC friends, and the newlyweds have been very good, whether intentionally or not, at introducing us to their many progressive thinking and open minded Orthodox friends. One of my biggest wishes for this year in Israel is to be a part of as many experiences as possible where preconceived and uninformed opinions that I hold for a number of reasons can be chiseled away at if not totally shattered. I just really want to understand people, places and things in a way that is good and right and fair. A good thing to meditate on this next week until Yom Kippur. My list is long but I will make room for more.

I told myself I was going to be in bed hours ago, and it is almost midnight, so I will say laila tov for now. I have more reflections I want to write about and I know more will emerge this next week and on into the rest of the chagim, so check your email, I'll be in touch. I have updated DropShots by adding any outstanding pictures and videos and also worked on captions. The link to that is on the left side of the page towards the top. Also, if you haven't done so already, you can sign up with your email address to receive an email when I post something new on our blog.


To all of you, our family and friends, our community,
we wish you a Shana Tova u'Metuka,
Amy (and Rachel)