High Holidays

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As the craziness of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur die down, and the craziness of Sukkot is upon me, I find some 15 minutes to write.

High Holidays in Israel really were something. For Yom Kippur we went to Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem. As we all settled into our rooms for the holiday and started to get ready, you could feel the excitement. Yom Kippur is not generally a happy holiday, what with the not-eating and all. But when with a group of people your age, from all different backgrounds, sharing something like a Day of Atonement, a fast, people can really connect. Everyone got into their white holiday clothing, swapping customs, double-checking the rules of the holiday.

Being away from my family for the Holiday made me think more about my own customs. It made me realize how comfortable I was with my own way of doing things, and how foreign someone else's customs - despite the actions being exactly the same - should be. I also realized that, truly, all around the world, people were getting ready to share in a single holiday. They were making last minute apologies, getting themselves ready to apologize to Gd. As Kol Nidre started, standing next to my new friends, I took in a deep breath. The customs were different, the service not quite the same. But I knew that in a few short hours, my family in the States would be standing, listening to Kol Nidre, too. At the same time, I was at home and a million miles away.

Yom Kippur in Israel is truly interesting. In a city as busy as Jerusalem is, there were no cars. There were people. After Kol Nidre we were allowed to walk around the city by ourselves. The street was PACKED with people just walking around, children riding bicycles. It was so nice to walk around, for the moment forgetting about all the things we had to do the coming week.

Yom Kippur morning was wonderful. The synagogue I went to used the same Machzor as my congregation back home. I felt totally at ease. I even ran into people I knew from the States - in Israel!! It totally made my morning! It was the first time in a while that I could remember being sad about leaving the service early.

I've begun to refer to Kibbutz Tzuba as "home." I will say, "I'm tired, I want to go home." It gets confusing when I try to refer to Northbrook, IL as home as well. Oh well....

I'm about to go on Yam L'Yam over Sukkot Hol HaMoed. I'm very excited!! 5 days, hiking from the Kineret to the Mediterranean........heaven!!

It's very late over here, so I'll stop writing here...
I hope everyone has had, and will continue to have, and very happy, health and sweet new year!!

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