Shana Tovah U'metukah!!

L'shana Tovah to everyone!!
Sorry I haven't updated in a few days, the internet was down on Monday and then I obviously couldn't go on during the holiday.

Rosh Hashana was so amazing in Israel!! Monday night we did services as a group and then before dinner we all walked across the street where the Shalits (the family of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier who is being held captive in the Gaza strip) were having dinner on the sidewalk outside of the Prime Ministers house. This is Gilad's third and hopefully final Rosh Hashana in captivity. There is almost always a table set up outside the Prime Ministers house with a petition to sign asking the Prime Minister to work harder to get Gilad back. After we wished the Shalits a Shana Tovah, we had a Rosh Hashana seder with lots of different fruits and then a big festive dinner.

On Tuesday the Yerucham group walked 45 minutes to a suburb of Jerusalem called Talpiyot where we split up between a few different shuls. I went to one called Maayanot. It was a pretty quick service (relatively), but overall it lacked enthusiasm and kavannah, which was disappointing. After services we were assigned host homes for lunch. The lady that set it all up tried to put us with people we would have things in common with. So, the people whose house I went to (their names were Yonatan and Ruti, but I forget their last name) lived in Philadelphia for 4 years, from '96-'00, and celebrated the high holidays the years they were there at none other than Temple Beth Hillel Beth El- Wynnewood. We played lots of Jewish geography and they are really good friends with Laura and Mark Solomon, the Simon-Hazanis, the Monsons, and a bunch of others. This was exciting for me because I was a teeny bit homesick not being able to spend the holiday with my family, and the fact that they knew my kehila that I come from was comforting.

After lunch we all did mincha and then walked back to base. I sat on my balcony and ate a delicious pomegranete that I bought at the shuk on Monday. It was the ripest, most delicious pomegranete I have ever had. Then I went to dinner at Rabbi Paul Freedmans house. Rabbi Freedman is a past president of USY. 12 of us got to go there, and it was really nice. He taught us a little bit about the holiday, and I enjoyed it very much.

Today we were allowed to go wherever we wanted for services, so I went to a young minyan called Kedem. A lot of rabbinical students and other young people go there. It was really, really nice. Afterwards I walked back to base, ate lunch, played rummykub, and then took a 4 hour nap. Before my nap I ate my new fruit of the year, a passionfruit (which I also bought on Monday at the shuk), and said shehechiyanu. I woke up just in time for Maariv. We davened outside, and this silly old lady who lived next door and hates noise blasted opera music during our services. Then we ended the chag with havdallah! I made myself grilled cheese for dinner on my friends sandwich maker. Now we're all just sitting around, happy to be on the internet for the first time in a few days, even though it's kind of slow right now.

I hope you all had a wonderful Rosh Hashana!

-Sarah