End of Summer

Our summer session ended last Thursday, so this past week I have had a week off of school, which students have been calling everything from summer vacation to ulpan break to intersession (because yes, school here is just that much like camp).

While many of my classmates opted to travel to nearby countries, I chose to stay in Israel, and for the most part, Jerusalem and do some exploring around here, along with catching up on sleep in preparation for Fall Semester to begin.

Last week I started my break with going to services at Har El, a progressive synagogue here in Jerusalem. Har El was by far the most American-like synagogue I have been too yet. The tunes and customs were all the same as I did back in the good ole USA, and much was in English. I felt cheated in a way at this service; I am in Israel and wanted to experience an Israeli synagogue, not something I have been experiencing and attending for my whole life. However, I know that when I get homesick later and really miss my Beth Israel experiences, I will likely head on back to Har El.

I spent last Shabbat at the Israel Museum with a couple of classmates. I have been to the Israel Museum twice before, once in the archaeology wing for a Biblical History field trip and once in the Sculpture Garden for the Wine Festival. It was so much fun and there is so much to see there! We went to the Jewish history/art section first and got to see torah covers, hannukah lamps, and clothes from Jewish communities all over the world and from all different time periods. The Israel Museum also has recreated some synagogues from countries around the world including Suriname, Italy and India. You get to walk into the room and see what synagogues look like elsewhere. My favorite was Suriname, which was a very white and bright room to show the joy of prayer and had sand on the ground to remind us of the exodus form Egypt!

Other highlights from the Museum included the modern art section, seeing more of the sculpture garden and visiting the dead sea scrolls. One of my favorite exhibits was a movie, which is 24 hours long and shows clips of movies and tv shows that show the time. It has clips from every minute of the day, and all the minutes in the movie match up to the minutes in real life. So if its 10:17, then there will be a clip showing that has a clock at 10:17. Its all about how time is fleeting and how we often take time for granted.

Reconstructed Suriname Synagogue

I also spent a day and a half in Haifa, which is a coastal city north of Tel Aviv. We went to the top of the Bahai Gardens. As my classmate Kenny taught our group, Bahai is a fairly new religion, I believe in the last 200 years. These gardens were magnificent and so gorgeous. I could have stayed there for hours just looking into the nature of it all and thinking about life. We unfortunately got to the gardens too late to walk around them and were only allowed on the top two terraces (the gardens go down a hill and make up I believe 19 terraces). Unfortunately we did not get to spend much time in Haifa, but I definitely plan on going back and visiting the beaches and national parks nearby. 

This break also included my first visit to the Kotel where I went up to the wall. While I have been to the kotel several times so far, I hadn't yet made it to the wall. I have had a fear of the wall, although I'm not sure if that fear was that I would go to the wall and feel nothing or go to the wall and feel a true connection. I didn't think I would go for a couple more months, but my dear friend's aunt was diagnosed with brain tumors and she asked me to put a prayer in the wall for aunt. I went to the Kotel and slowly walked up to the wall. All around me women were deep in prayer, some sitting in chairs, but many all the way up at the wall, with their heads touching the wall. I waited until a spot by the wall opened up and went and said a healing prayer for my friends aunt and all those who are sick and put a note in the wall. 

As I stared at all these religious women around me, I felt... almost guilty. Here are these women, so devout in prayer and so convicted of their faith. The wall means so much to them. And there I am, not sure about not only my feelings regarding this holy place, but also what it means for myself to be a Jew and what prayer means to me. Would my doubts about the place lessen my prayer? Lessen the prayer of those around me? The women's section of the wall is quite small, and I was taking up room touching the wall, and others had to wait for me to leave. Did I deserve to be there if I don't know what the wall means to me? While I waited for my friend to finish up his prayers on the men's side, I thought about this internal struggle I have been feeling in Israel- what connection do I have with Israel, with Judaism here? In the US, I was so sure of my beliefs, but as I have come to Israel, so many questions without answers have popped in my head. I am excited to continue to discover what it means to be  Jew to me, and with it, what my connection is to the wall. While I felt guilty at this visit, I am curious as to what my reaction will be on future visits. 

Stepping away from the philosophical, our fall semester of school starts tomorrow. I am a little nervous as to how I am going to manage my 8 (yes 8!) classes, along with homework, my volunteer internship, seeing Jerusalem and staying sane. In case you are wondering what my fall schedule looks like:

My class schedule

I know with a good attitude and lots of emails/calls/letters from all of you (hint hint) I'll make it through this semester just fine! Hope everyone has a fabulous Labor Day Weekend and a special Mazel Tov to Bryan and Sonia who are getting married this weekend! Wish I could be there!