I prayed this year. I think it was the first time I really ever prayed on Rosh Hashanah. I wasn't distracted this year by the social scene of gazing around the sanctuary to see whom I knew or look at all of the different outfits. I wasn't caught up in finding my old friends and waving to them during services to make sure that I would get to say hello afterward. No, this year, I actually sat in services and prayed. And it felt so good.
Don't get me wrong, I love services at NSCI, I love the social scene. But, this year in Jerusalem has been a different experience. It has been a great Rosh Hashanah. It began on Friday evening walking to services at HUC with my two roommates being greeted by every person on the street with a "Shanah Tovah". A real sense of community and joy was felt walking down the streets this weekend. At services I sat with my classmates as the director of our program, Yoshi, and the dean of our program, Naama led services along with three of our amazing cantorial students. Yoshi delivered a touching and beautiful sermon that inspired me to really take the time this holiday season to do "Chesbon HaNefesh" (literally translated to checking of the soul), self examination, to look at this past year and really reflect on the positives and negatives and what I can do to make myself a better person. Yoshi spoke of how we fall into a pattern of repenting for the same things year after year. I definitely agree with him, and it spoke close to home. It's not worth repenting for my sins if I am just going to fall back into my bad habits again. I want this year to be different. I am older now, I feel more mature, I want to feel more connected, Rosh Hashanah has been a meaningful one this year and I want the year to continue to be as meaningful as this holiday.
The music on Friday evening was just spectacular. The cantorial students this year are exceptional and extremely talented and truly enriched the services on Friday evening.
We went to our friend Matt's for dinner. The food was absolutely delicious (it may have been the best meal I've had since I've been in Israel) and the company was just so nice. Matt set the table beautifully with all sorts of fruits as decorations. The Holiday really felt special.
Saturday I went to Kol Hanishamah, one of the two Reform synagogues in Jerusalem, for services. There were two different services offered, a traditional one and an alternative "healing" service with meditation and a discussion. Allie Harris and I began upstairs with the traditional service. We arrived 5 minutes late and were surprised by how empty it was. Most of the chairs were empty and there were way fewer people than normally come on Friday evenings for Shabbat. As the service went on more and more people came. It was a very comfortable and welcoming environment. People were able to walk in and out as they chose. After a little while Allie and I decided to check out the alternative service where Ally Tick was. We spent the rest of the morning in the alternative service, which was also a relaxed environment with people walking in and out as the pleased. Rabbi Levi Kelman (Naama's brother) led the service and various meditations throughout. I'm not so into meditating but it was still an interesting service. We also split into four groups for discussion. There was only one English-speaking group and it was on the topic of "listening". It was a very enjoyable morning altogether.
Ally, Allie, and I walked home and made a nice Rosh Hashanah lunch. After lunch Allie Harris and I made our first Kugel to bring to Sally Klein Katz's (our ed seminar teacher) for lunch tomorrow. We made two so that Ally could have some- it's pretty delicious! Saturday night we went to Hannah, Rachel, and Jonah's for dinner. Dinner again was very delicious and we had all had a great time. We even played a game of "Apples-to-Apples" after dinner (sticking with the symbols of Rosh Hashanah of course.
Sunday concluded the Holiday weekend with Rosh Hashanah lunch at the Klein-Katz's. It was a relaxing afternoon and a very enjoyable way to end this wonderful holiday here in Jerusalem.
Now it is time to get back into "school" mode. We have a four-day week ahead of us, and then Yom Kippur, followed by three days of class, and then I am off to England for a week!
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and Holiday as well.
Shanah Tovah!
Note:
If you have time, I recommend checking out this New York Times article that I classmate of mine sent to me. This is a quote from the article:
"
But Jews are different. People come to temple to identify with other Jews, or socialize. The writer Harry Golden once asked his father, who was an atheist, why he went to services every Saturday. The old man told him, ‘My friend Garfinkle goes to talk to God, and I go to talk to Garfinkle.’ There’s a lot of that.”
“At least they come,” I said.
“Sure. But when you have a large percentage at a religious service who aren’t actually praying, it dilutes the quality of the entire experience.”
It's an interesting perspective, and I've been thinking about it over the past few days and so I wanted to share it with anyone who is interested.
No comments:
Post a Comment