thanksgiving… and a rap star

I apologize for the lack of blog posts recently! I have a lot to cover, but it’s all exciting stuff. first of all, I was lucky enough to work a babysitting job recently! a rabbinical student who studies at the conservative yeshiva here at the fuchsberg center (and is also in my yeshiva hebrew class) asked me to babysit for his daughter last thursday evening. of course, i accepted! i took a bus to emek refaim, a main street in the german colony of jerusalem, just about ten minutes away from where i live. once off the bus, i used my map-navigation skills (which truly involved a lot of pedestrian help) to find the family’s apartment. luckily, all of the israeli neighbors i ran into were friendly and helpful, and our hebrew conversations were within my understanding. i eventually found the apartment. deena, the young girl i babysat, was put to bed before her parents left. i spent the evening relaxing, reading, and watching TV shows on my computer. it was an easy job, but it felt great to be doing something i would normally do at home. truly, my life in jerusalem is transitioning more everyday to feel like my average, daily routine. it’s wonderful!

The next morning, my friends maya, julia, sivan, and i took a bus to jerusalem’s largest shopping center, malkha mall. we spent the morning shopping, walking around the mall, and eating at the food court. i had been to the mall on my previous trips to israel, but it was fun to go without a tour group with a time limit and a meeting place. i didn’t buy too much, but it was a successful morning anyway. plus, julia and i shared a delicious broccoli quiche at the food court, which was a treat!that night, for shabbat, a big group of friends and i went to scott’s apartment, who is a previous USY-advisor and current rabbinical student in jerusalem. sivan, jake aronson, louis, jake levine, zoe, elan, becca, maya, and i walked the short way to his house. there we met scott’s roommate chaim, who is also a rabbinical student here. they were friendly, welcoming, and hilarious. since we were such a large group, zoe and louis led us in a kabbalat shabbat service in the living room. all of us sang loudly and enthusiastically, in the shabbat tunes that i especially love. it was an awesome prayer experience, which doesn’t happen very often for me. we were clapping and harmonizing. it reminded me a lot of the service i love at the yakar synagogue in jerusalem.

what i loved even more about our service at scott’s was that our small, intimate group could have so much energy—and the men and women prayed together. it was a meaningful, exciting and conservative kabbalat shabbat. it gave me a lot of hope about the conservative movement, which, as i’ve been learning, struggles to find the kind of enthusiasm and energy our group had that night.after the short service, we ate a delicious meal. with a variety of chicken dishes, broccoli, fresh salad (with strawberries!), and warm dessert, all of us were full, satisfied, and happy after the meal. then we sat down for an funny, but intense, card game of “lifeboat.” the game is super complicated, but we got the hang of it eventually. it lasted a long time, but all of us were very dedicated to it! i really enjoyed the night. with a large group of my good friends and two welcoming and friendly hosts, we celebrated shabbat in an observant, meaningful, and always-entertaining manner. so great!once shabbat was over on saturday evening, a small group of girls took a bus (two buses actually, because we boarded the wrong one initially!) to the movie theater in talpiot, jerusalem. there, we saw the new twilight movie, breaking dawn. the movie was awful but entertaining, and all of us had a fun night.this past week, i had another exciting experience — an israeli haircut! i was a bit nervous, mostly because i’ve had the same person cut my hair for a long time, but i went into a salon across from my ulpan anyways. the man in the salon was wearing teffilin and praying when i first walked in, so i waited for him to finish before asking for a cut. he wasn’t an ultraorthodox man, and he didn’t even wear a kippah when he wasn’t praying.

it’s so interesting to meet such different types of jews, and israel is definitely the best place for it! i ended up really liking my haircut, so that was a plus too!later that afternoon, jake and i spent some time reading on a blanket in the park across from beit nativ. it’s starting to get chillier in jerusalem, and it’s especially cold at night, but it’s very comfortable in the middle of the day. so, we took advantage of the sun and relaxed outside for a while. jerusalem looked shiny, green, and beautiful, and it hit me once again how amazing it is that i’m here.

Thanksgiving in israel was quite the experience. i really missed being with my family, especially since my older brother was home for a few days from college, but i still had a great evening. all of the nativ alumni who are now in israel, either serving in the IDF, living here after making aliyah, studying, or here for a vacation, came to the nativ thanksgiving events. so there were around 200 people all together, the whole “nativ family.” it was really cute! i hope i’ll be able to come to a nativ thanksgiving dinner in the future too.first, we gathered in the synagogue attached to beit nativ, where we had a short ma’ariv service together. then we watched a video, which was a nice slideshow presenting what nativ 31 has been up to while we’ve been here. it was a lot of fun to see pictures from the beginning of our trip and to think about how many amazing things we’ve done together. then, the nativ acapella group sang two songs. they were both really nice, and i loved hearing my friends sing.after the presentations, we went into the main building to begin the meal. we were greeted by tables covered in envelopes. on each envelope, a name of a nativ-er was written. i opened my envelope to find letters from my parents, two brothers, and aunt carmen. it was an incredible surprise. the letters were funny, cute, and meaningful. i loved to read them, and now all of them are hanging on the wall by my bed. it really made my thanksgiving to receive them, and i’m still so happy about it.next, finally, was the thanksgiving dinner. we were all a bit nervous that the food would be how it always is at beit nativ: sub-par, to say the least. but the kitchen really stepped it up! the turkey was delicious, and i was surprised to see yummy stuffing and cranberries too, which aren’t usual israeli cuisine! but, as we all have learned on nativ, a meal is never complete in israel without hummus, so our thanksgiving dinner wasn’t completely normal and american—a good thing!after dinner, the nativ alumni guests left and we nativ-ers were alone once more. we got together in the auditorium and watched another, different nativ 31 video. previously, a couple of nativ-ers interviewed all of us, asking us funny random questions. in the video, clips of our answers, about completely irrelevant topics, were shown to describe our “thoughts” about directors, counselors, and experiences on nativ. basically, it was hilarious, since our answers were obviously about different things but could mistakingly be about nativ. it was a blast and very creative.

after that, we all decorated cupcakes. the point was to decorate the cupcake to look like a turkey, but in the end, it turned out to be a frosting-war, and most boys had chocolate all over their faces. it was a lot of fun and overall a wonderful thanksgiving.this past weekend was filled with lots of events through the lone soldier center. thursday, while volunteering, i helped carry lots of heavy items into cars to go to the soldier’s thanksgiving dinner in tel aviv. i couldn’t attend the dinner, but i heard it was very successful—with around 300 attendees! what an amazing thing. i was happy to help with that.friday morning, the lone soldier center organized a “turkey bowl” which was a touch-football tournament with lone soldiers and any other participants who wanted to support the center. a large group of nativ boys joined the tournament, as well as some members from other gap year programs. the soldiers who played had a lot of fun, and it was nice to be there for support and as the center’s photographer. also, my attendance will help me a lot to blog about the event for the lone soldiers center’s website, so that’s good too.

that evening, my friends louis, DJ, and i went to the great synagogue, which is across the street from beit nativ, for the monthly lone soldier friday night dinner. the great synagogue is a stunningly gorgeous place, and the hall where dinner was served was breath-taking! i met a lot of exciting people at the dinner, like a woman soldier who made aliyah after college and is now working in the foreign relations department with the IDF, meeting world leaders and sitting in on the countries’ discussions. i sat next to a girl who had made aliyah and is now a sushi chef at a restaurant on emek rafaim, and i spoke with a man who works for wall street and is taking a religious vacation to israel for a while. also, i had a discussion with a famous rapper, shyne, who is featured on a new huge rap album with lil’ wayne. he spent time in jail in the past, and he came out of jail as a very religious jew. now he is ultra-orthodox and lives in israel, but he still raps. he supports the lone soldier center’s mission very much and attends its events regularly. he spent a lot of the evening convincing my friends and i that it’s possible to observe shabbat and be a millionaire—a pretty unique experience!the dinner was yummy and a lot of fun. i’m really enjoying being part of the lone soldier center’s network, which is even larger than i had imagined. 

tomorrow i have a big test in my ulpan class, so i’ve been spending most of the day studying. i’m hoping to do well! tonight i went to a seminar for the david project, where we heard a speaker. he was a palestinian advocate for peace with israel. his story was really interesting and inspiring. he transitioned from a violent protestor to a promoter of peace, and his brother, a peaceful man, was unjustly killed by an israeli soldier. the most influential thing for me about his speech was that he argued that the conflict between israel and palestinians should not be about a competition of suffering. this competition is something i’ve been hearing from the beginning of my israel education. i’ve heard each side’s justifications of its violent actions being the result of their initial suffering. i really do think this constant excuse-making and moral-challenging will not move the solution forward. it was a very thought provoking message to hear from this man, and i’m sure his words will continue to impact me through my israel advocacy in the future.i hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving and a nice shabbat!

changes for the better

10.05.2011

I volunteered again at shalva, the organization for kids with special needs, on Sunday. It was even better this time! I’m starting to feel a lot more comfortable with the other staff, who are speaking mostly Hebrew with me and finally remembering my name! They’re all really nice, and they’re excited that I’m in Israel learning Hebrew and volunteering. When i first arrived, the kids were having a pet therapy session. The therapist brought in a cute dog and an adorable hamster. The kids learned how to pet and feed the hamster! It was so fun to watch. After the hamster ate some seeds, the kids felt the seeds he was storing in his cheek. During breakfast there, all of the volunteers are matched up with one or two kids to feed. even though all of the children are about the same age (between 1 and 2), they’re eating abilities range so much. some kids could hold a peanut butter sandwich or a spoon and feed themselves. others needed their bread and peanut butter ripped into tiny crumbs that were fed to them. after a while, most of the kids were getting fussy and stubborn about eating, and it was really a challenge to have them eat enough. i realized then how much shalva relieves families and parents of these basic, everyday challenges. i was paired with an adorable girl named hallel, who, lucky for me, was in a great mood the entire meal! i would rip the bread into small pieces and hand them to her so she could eat them. whenever she would open her mouth, she stuck out her tongue all the way, which was so cute and funny. she was smiling, laughing, and waving at me the whole time we were together, and i fell in love! such a sweetheart. during play time, we sat on mats on the floor to play with large legos. i showed a few of the kids how to put the legos together, and it was always exciting when, after watching, they could do it themselves. it was really a fun and satisfying morning there.

i also learned on sunday that israeli schools don’t provide lunch time—students go home to eat lunch every day. the way i learned this was through the public bus system, which all of the young kids use to get home to eat. just as my friend tehila and i were leaving shalva, basically an entire school was boarding our bus! it was so crowded and stressful. tehila almost got knocked over by the bus door closing on her, and then we got a long speech in hebrew from the bus driver about “slowing us down.” definitely an israeli cultural experience! i was so impressed to see such little kids knowing their way around jerusalem, where to switch buses, how to get tickets, how to push to get seats. i know i wouldn’t have been able to do that at home when i was that age! so crazy.
that afternoon, my friends elan, louis, and i went to the pomegranz book store, which is a five minute walk away. the owners are english-speakers, and they’re really familiar and friendly with nativ (aka discount!). all of the books are jewish themed, ranging from prayer books and theology to kids stories. it was cute place. i found a book called Abraham J. Heschel’s Essential Writings that summed up all of Heschel’s main philosophical themes with different excerpts from his books. i didn’t end up buying it, since i want to check first if i can get it from the hebrew university library, but i was definitely excited about it!
since the real first semester has officially started and mini-mester is over, nativ is giving us stipends for some meals and supplying the rest at the base’s dining hall. on sundays, mondays, and wednesdays, i eat lunch at beit nativ. and on tuesdays and thursdays, i eat dinner here. so sunday was our first night to spend our stipend for dinner at a restaurant. my friend suzanne and i went to aroma for dinner, which is basically the starbucks of israel (with a dinner menu). we sat outside and ate our sandwiches, and it was a nice date!
there were a few optional evening programs sunday night. i went to jewelry making, where we made little beaded bumble bees and attached them to a bracelet. i’m planning on making more charms to add to it next week! it was a lot of fun.
the representative from the david project organization came back to nativ that night as well to conduct an optional session. he presentation a power point explaining the background, current situation, and possible future outcomes of palestinian bid for state membership in the UN. it was a really interesting hour and a half. all of us know how important this issue is to understand, and things were put in a lot more clear, simple terms. we covered an overview of the peace process between israel and the palestinians to better understand the situation now. we talked about america’s role in the bid as a veto-able country of the UN. we learned why the US will definitely use the veto if possible but also why obama’s administration is hoping to avoid that. we discussed what could happen once a decision is made, and how new palestinian recognition in any way could change the conflict completely. i definitely learned a lot. all of us filled out a survey about other issues about israel that we’re interested in focusing on during our next seven sessions. what i’ve really loved about nativ so far is the availability of these unique learning opportunities that we’re so interested in.
i’ve come to know the common israeli phrase “achrei hachagim,” which means “after the holidays.” a lot of things don’t really kick into gear until after the big holidays of rosh hashana, yom kippur, and sukkot. this also applies to the milah institute ulpan, where i’ve been studying hebrew. since the summer semester is over, the fall semester doesn’t begin until after sukkot. most nativers in ulpan are in the same two levels, so milah is conducting a private nativ-only class during this inter-semester period. unfortunately, i’m the only nativer in my hebrew level, so it wasn’t possible to get me an ulpan class. i was really bummed when i heard this, but i’ve definitely found things to keep me busy and engaged during my free time.
firstly, the conservative yeshiva here on base (where a lot of nativers study instead of going to ulpan or hebrew university) offers a hebrew class in my level! it’s only twice a week, on mondays and wednesdays from 1:45pm-3pm. i’m attending these classes while i don’t have my normal ulpan morning class, but i think i will continue to go even once my semester starts. since milah ulpan ends at 11:45am, i have free time in the afternoon to fit in some more hebrew learning twice a week in the afternoons at the yeshiva! i really liked the class when i went on monday, and i’m excited to be there again today. it’s nice to switch up the setting for my learning, especially because a handful of my nativ friends are in my class too, which is new for me! so that’s been exciting, and i think it’ll really boost my hebrew level while i’m in jerusalem.
another class that i’m choosing to take at the yeshiva is a Zionist Jewish Thought course for nativers. it’s on tuesdays from 3:20pm-6:15pm. the first class was yesterday! i have been hearing from the other nativers that the teacher of the course is really friendly and interesting, so i was excited to meet her. unfortunately, she couldn’t make it because of a family emergency. we had a substitute rabbi teach us instead, who happened to me a rabbi at congregation Moriah in deerfield last year, really close to where i went to school senior year at CJHS. so that was pretty cool! we didn’t end up learning about zionism, since that wasn’t the rabbi’s expertise. instead we broke up into partners to read some midrashim (explanations of the torah from rabbis during the 4th century) about why jews use the lulav and the etrog on sukkot. i was pretty bummed when i learned we were doing this, because i haven’t neccesarily loved text study as much as discussing jewish thought or zionism. but i was pleasantly surprised to find myself really enjoying the class. i worked with my friends mia and maddy (maddy and i will be in college together next year!), and we had some great conversations about the text and some broader, deeper topics as well, like faith, morality, selfishness, and what it means to have a “meaningful life.” the stories about the lulav and etrog were very entertaining, including court room scenes from roman times and symbolizing the lulav and etrog to different types of jews or the parts of a human body. all really cool! it was fun to discuss what we read as a whole class once we met back together, and i learned a lot about midrash and how to read and interpret it. i’m definitely planning on continuing this course throughout the semester as well!
monday night, my roommate sarah and i went exploring to find a reasonably-priced and appetizing dinner. we stumbled upon kyoto, an asian restaurant. we split a dish called kyoto chicken, which was made of noodles, chicken, and mushrooms in a delicious peanut sauce. definitely one of the better meals on nativ so far! we were so happy. we treated ourselves to sharing a large, melty dark chocolate cookie at a bakery on ben yehuda street called pillsbury, which was also, obviously, delicious.
that night, we had the opportunity to watch the disney movie “The Incredibles” in hebrew. it was so much fun to watch! we kept the english subtitles on to follow along more clearly, but i was pleased with how much i could understand of the hebrew. it was fun to hear how israel adapted the movie into hebrew. the best example was when the husband in the movie, in english, says, “i’ll bring home the bacon,” which is, of course, a normal phrase we hear in america all the time. but in the hebrew, he said, “i’ll bring home the bread.” in a jewish state, “bring home the bacon” doesn’t make a lot of sense, so israel changed the phrase a bit to fit its society. so cool!
yesterday, i walked to the jerusalem lone soldiers center, which is less than five minutes away from base. lone soldiers are people who, voluntarily, join the israeli defense forces from countries around the world. these soldiers don’t have family, friends, homes, or communities to rely on like israeli soldiers do. so the lone soldiers center helps them to adjust to the move by helping them find a home, do their housework, pay for some of their supplies, give them shabbat and holiday meals and celebrations, and much more. such an amazing place, really. my friends elan and louis have been volunteering there a bit the past couple weeks, and it sounded like a lot of fun. so i signed up! i filled out a simple form, and i’ll be working there on thursdays from 1:30-3pm. i’m really excited! the office seems really friendly and relaxed. i will be doing things like writing thank you letters, calling soldiers about events, updating their website, etc. definitely a different type of work than at shalva, but still something i care a lot about doing and will be a good new experience.
last night, we split up into second-semester track groups. my group discussed our “role” in israeli society while we’re here for the year. our counselors read us scenarios like “when i haggle over a taxi’s price” or “when i celebrate shabbat” or “when i ride the public buses,” and we held up signs that said “tourist” or “resident” based on how we felt in israel during those situations. it was interesting to think about the differences of these feelings and how they fit in with our place in israel during this year. then we had a long discussion about the differences of israeli culture from american, like the absence of formal politeness to the large gap between religious and secular jews. there were a lot of differing opinions about our reactions to these cultural differences in our group, but we definitely all agreed that they exist. then we reflected on the challenges of our two different relationships with america and israel, and i shared how i felt on september 11th here, like i was proving my american identity rather than my usual jewish and israel-proud identity as always. it was a thoughtful and important night, and i’m happy to have been surrounded my peers who are in such a similar place as me but also with different opinions.
overall, it’s been a great week so far! chatima tova!
even sweeter than apples with honey
10.05.11
erev rosh hashana was spent together at beit nativ. the program director led the service, and i started to get used to the different high holiday tunes and using the new prayer book. it was easy to pick up on all of our excitement for the holiday in the holy land and the three-day chag ahead (since shabbat followed rosh hashana immediately). we held a short seder before our dinner, where we ate traditional rosh hashana foods like dates, beets, carrots, fish heads (really, there were fish heads on our tables!), pomegranates, and, of course, apples with honey. yum!
on the first day of rosh hashana, nativ assigned us to certain synagogues in order to meet up with a volunteer host family for lunch after the service. i went to congregation Yedidya in talpyot, which was about a thirty minute walk from the guesthouse. he streets were much quieter than usual, and we heard many “shana tova” greetings on the sidewalks, even from strangers—only in israel! we arrived at about 8:30am, and the service ended at 12:45. it was long, but all of us really enjoyed it. the synagogue is considered liberal modern orthodox. so men and women were separated, but women played a much larger role than in a usual orthodox congregation. the two sections were of equal size, a woman gave the d’var torah (a speech teaching about the reading of the torah), and the torah was carried around both sections, not just the men’s. definitely unique in that the service was basically egalitarian but still traditional. i thought it was really cool! the people there were mostly american immigrants with israeli children, but of course there were others as well. the sanctuary was a large open room with lots of bright windows and a bimah in the center. i followed along in my new machzor (high holiday prayer book) as best as i could, even without page numbers announced.
most nativ-ers were set up with host families who had little connection to our program but not everybody. i had rosh hashana lunch with the garr family, who are the parents of the director of nativ! so my friends elan and aryeh, along with my counselor rachel, walked with the garr’s to their beautiful home from the synagogue. we met yossi, the nativ director, his wife and three adorable little boys there too. it was a really comfortable lunch, even though i had never met yossi’s parents before. the food was delicious—gefilte fish, meatballs, chicken, vegetables, salad, chocolate chip banana bread… basically a dream come true after a month of usually-yellow cafeteria food. the family was so friendly, and yossi’s sons were too cute. the youngest, shai, who is three years old, was jumping from lap to lap around the table during the entire birkat hamazon (prayer after the meal). lots of fun! i’m really grateful for such a nice afternoon. all of nativ joined back together for ma’ariv services that night and ate dinner on base. i was still totally full from lunch!
the next day, we could pick where we wanted to go for services. i went to a synagogue close to base called Chovei Tzion. its building has three stories, with three separate and different services on each floor. we climbed all the way to the top floor to the minyan we had heard such good feedback about. it was an orthodox synagogue, this time populated pretty evenly with israelis and americans, which was fun. it was a really quick service. in israel, most synagogues have reserved seating for their members. a lot of congregations also have open seating, but chovei tzion did not. our counselors had warned us of this and told us that we should sit in any open seats. it’s supposedly really normal for someone to approach you to ask for their seat when they arrive. so, we all hopped around during the service to new open seats, which kept us on our toes, in addition to forcing us to have at least short conversations with the members. pretty unique! the man who blew the shofar at this synagogue did such a great job, and i loved listening to it. overall, i learned a lot during the services here in israel. mostly, it really sunk in how amazing it is that i’ve sung the same words with the same tunes every year in america, just like people in israel do too. it’s an incredible connection that we have with each other, a unique familiarity and understanding that covers the world through jews. i love it.
a large group of my friends and i walked to the park across the street to read and relax on our blankets. jerusalem pretty much shut down completely, but the park was busy with children and dogs. it was nice to be forced to enjoy a relaxing afternoon, rather than going out to a restaurant or something like usual. the day was gorgeous, as always here. i started to read the book Black Box by Amos Oz, who is a famous israeli author. jake checked the book out from the hebrew university library. i’ve loved reading it! of course, the boys ended up running around the park, tackling each other and playing a some sort of improvised funny game of catch involving a pinecone. it was all really nice.
i ate both lunch and dinner on thursday at beit nativ, and i definitely missed home-cooked meals. thursday night, my friends and i attempted to complete a 1000 piece puzzle called “television history,” which had so many small pictures of different famous actors and characters on it. it was a lot of fun and super challenging, and after a couple hours we gave up. but i’m proud of at least finishing the border and a decent amount of the middle! it was a good night.
our schedule still didn’t go back to normal even when rosh hashana was finished, since shabbat started right away! another morning in the synagogue! this time i went to Moreshet Yisrael, which is directly next door to our dorms and is an officially conservative congregation. the people there are american, and the service is very similar to ours in america. we even use the same prayer book! so it wasn’t super different or interesting, but it was nice to see the congregation members there and get to know them a bit.
for shabbat lunch, i was invited to my relative’s house. his name is uriel bachrach, and he’s the cousin of my grandpa on my mother’s side. i’ve only met him once, when i was a freshman. he lives in Yemin Moshe, one my favorite places here, which is only a ten minute walk away. it’s the gorgeous area, considered an artist community, right outside the city walls. i posted pictures of the stone streets and pretty windmill there on the blog a bit ago from my jerusalem history course. using a map, jake and i found the right street and, surprisingly quickly, the correct address for uriel’s home. his house is beautiful. joining us for lunch was his wife zohara, zohara’s daughter with her family (three cute children) and her husband’s parents. they live on a kibbutz in jerusalem, near the town beit shemesh. everyone was so kind and welcoming. they were all excited to meet us and hear about our trip, and it was wonderful to get to know them. zohara’s daughter works for the jewish agency with the city partnership program between israel and america, which interests me a lot! basically, she’s really familiar with people just like me, who love to come to israel and meet the locals.
the meal was yummy, with chicken, gefilte fish, kugel, pasta, fruit salad, and honey cake. jake and i did our best to understand and speak hebrew at the table, which was a lot of fun and quite rewarding. we found out that uriel is the president of the syngogue in yemin moshe, where we went for services and an amazing kiddush on our first shabbat here! after the meal, uriel told jake and me about his role in the underground jewish army during the independence war, called the hagganah. since he is a chemist, uriel was the leader of a small top secret, eight person unit, that was in charge of designing, creating, and performing operations with israel’s first organized chemical warfare. he showed us an amazing book he wrote called “The Power of Knowledge” (only in hebrew now, but he’s working on translating it to english), and explained to us some amazing stories about his time in the hagganah. he told us of how he defended yamin moshe with only two other men, how he and his unit took over a jordanian police station in the negev without any loses after other israeli forces had tried to do so eight times previously, how they acted as german railroad engineers while they were really spying, how he recently received an award from the state of israel, signed by both the president and the prime minister. we even got to see their signatures! such an amazing story. jake and i have been boasting to our friends all day. jake even claimed that since he had shook uriel’s hand (and uriel had shook the president of israel’s hand), that jake had basically shook the president’s hand as well! it was so interesting to learn about, and i hope i hear more. uriel and zohara insisted that we see them again, and i’m very excited to. it was great to reconnect with my relatives, and it felt wonderful to be in their welcoming home and get to know them all.
now that all of the holidays are over, this week will feel pretty normal—until, of course, yom kippur in a week! tonight israel gains an hour for the time change, which is done earlier than in america. at least that means more sleep for me tonight!
i hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!