After living in Israel for a month as a citizen of the country it was finally time to celebrate the High Holidays the right way, in Israel. The High Holidays for those that don't know are the a series of holidays that fall in September-October and start off the new Jewish Calender year as Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year and is the first High Holiday celebrated in the Fall. At home, I am used to having delicious Rosh Hashanah meals with my family, going to synagogue all day, and relaxing at home. High Holidays for me consists of taking a break from the world and observing a Jewish Holiday without the normal activities such as going to school, going out with friends, and sitting on the computer all day. This year, although it still involved delicious food, was quite different.
Before the Holiday started I spent the weekend at Itai's house (my co staff from the summer I staffed wheels). It was amazing seeing him again and being able to spend the weekend with his family! I was also lucky enough to spend the weekend with Elkana, his wife Sara, and their amazing and adorable new addition to their family, Yarden! It was a fun weekend including, of course, eating, shmoozing, and relaxing. On Sunday I made my way back from Jerusalem to Ramat Gan to spend Rosh Hashanah at my grandparents. The last time I was in Israel for Rosh Hashanah was when I was on Nativ so I spent the holiday in Jerusalem. Spending Shabbat or a holiday in Jerusalem couldn't be more different than spending it any where else in Israel. You can compare the difference to spending Christmas in America and Christmas in Israel. Clearly when you are in America on Christmas you know you are surrounded by holiday spirit. With all stores being closed and most streets cleared, it is obvious that a large percentage of American Citizens are celebrating a holiday and with that brings a certain spirit in the air that gives off a feeling of happiness, tradition, and cheer. In Jerusalem on a Jewish Holiday, you get the same feeling in the air. There is a holiday spirit that is clearly present; stores and restaurants are closed, hardly any cars are on the street, and everyone is out walking through the streets of the city. In other places of Israel, like Tel Aviv (where I was over my Rosh Hashanah) a lot of places are open, cars are all over the streets as if it is like any other day, and people are doing daily things. People don't work on Rosh Hashanah anywhere in Israel but people still do things they would do on a normal weekday. For me experiencing my Rosh Hashanah in Israel, but less observant than I normally am on a holiday was a culture shock for me and quite the learning experience. I realized that although Israel is the Nation of the Jewish people there are still all sorts of levels of observance, tradition, and religion even if most of the citizens of the country share the same religion. I enjoy observing holidays in different ways and learning the different customs of all Israeli's as I acclimate to the world of Israeli living.
On Sunday Night (the first night of Rosh Hashanah) I enjoyed a holiday meal at my grandparents with my great uncle. It was a quiet night but really nice to be with family and it made me feel as close to my family at home as possible. Of course it is hard everyday to be apart from my family, but on Holidays the feeling that you are missing people multiplies as you know your whole family is together and only you are missing. Although it was difficult, spending the holidays with my family in Israel was the best option if I wasn't going to be home and I was so happy to be here to be able to do so.
On Monday I was lucky to be able to go spend some of the holiday with my dad's first cousins family who I have become very close with throughout my many trips to Israel over the past few years. My cousins Gali picked me up on Monday morning and brought me to her house in Hod Hasharon to be able to be part of their holiday meal with their family. Besides the delicious food and great company, it was nice to experience the way others celebrate their holiday. After lunch, Gali and I went to meet a friend of hers at the movies. Remember when I said holidays outside of Jerusalem our different? It was also really different for me because usually when I am at home for holidays I would never go out to the movies or the mall on the holiday. I would go to synagogue and spend time with my family at home. But here, in Israel, after celebrating the holiday, I went to the movies and noticed that a lot more people did as well. I love that the personality of Israeli's shines through their culture. From experiencing a Rosh Hashanah like this I noticed that a lot of Israeli's feel that going to the movies or the mall doesn't take away from a holiday, as long as they observe in their own way. Everyone has their way of doing things and Israel is a perfect example of how different traditions can be observed within the same cultures or religions. After the movie we went back to the house, ate dinner, and went out to a pub with a couple of her friends.
On Tuesday I also had a different kind of holiday experience. I went with my newlywed cousins, Reut and Asaf, to the port in Tel Aviv. Its a beautiful area with restaurants and stores right next to the water. Although it was still holiday the port was filled with families eating at outdoor cafes, walking around, or shopping. All stores were open as well as the restaurants. We sat down at a nice cafe for lunch, walked around, got ice cream (of course), and watched a fun game of footvolley ball that was set up on the port. It was nice to spend time with them as always and it was a beautiful day, although again different way of observing than what I am used to at home.
Wednesday morning I headed back to the Kibbutz. After a fun filled Rosh Hashanah and Shabbat it was nice to go back to the group and share stories from the break. More to come soon on Army prep!
No comments:
Post a Comment