It's been a little while since my last post, and quite a bit has gone one since then! My apologies for the hiatus. So, from the middle of September to the end, we had the High Holy Days here, which start with Rosh Hashanah (new year), and end with Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). This spans a ten-day period. Also, Yom Kippur is like nothing else I've ever seen. It's the only time one can witness nearly absolute silence in an actual city, which was pretty cool. It's also the most important holiday of the year, so I'm pretty lucky to have been here at that time. The next week is Sukkot, a celebration of nature, when many people make sukkas, which are small structures outside of their house or business, either traditionally made with leaves and branches, or are simply tents. Since Sukkot is a one-week break, added to the High Holy days it encompasses the equivalent of an American "winter break," incidentally also including the turning of the new year, though school goes on for some and work goes on for most during the middle of the first ten-day period. Sukkot ends with Happy Torah Day (a day of rejoicing because the Torah can be read again after a certain period of time when it cannot be read), and this is known as the one day of the year that the Orthodox Jews get hammered.
During the Sukkot vacation, six of us stayed four nights at a hostel on the water in Tel-Aviv, one block away from the very same beach where the beginning of You Don't Mess with the Zohan was filmed. The beach there is amazing, complete with amazing women, warm water, and people playing paddleball (for some reason Israelis love this). We would hang out there on the beach, or meet people's relatives, and we had a great time.
The volunteering has been going well, and we now have a semi-regular schedule, which is good because we can get to know the people we work for now. I have gotten to really like the schools, and helping the kids there learn English. I go to the schools two or three times a week, and the other two I go to the soup kitchen. I think we're actually starting to make a difference, which is good. In a few weeks, we're going to Eilat with all Oranim members from around Israel. Eilat is at the southern tip of the country, and apparently it's like a Miami-esque destination city, but with a lot of awesome hikes (i.e. the best of both worlds), so we're looking forward to that.
Well, goodbye for now, and another one is coming soon!
