Okay, we are going to "fast"-forward (hahaha, I'm sorry, I couldn't help it) about two and a half weeks, and then we will rewind again in a few minutes.
YOM.KIPPUR.IN.JERUSALEM.
Should I say it again? “Yom Kippur in Jerusalem.” If you haven’t done it before I would highly recommend it.
Starting Thursday night the city begins to change. Coming back from town with my friends we encountered a mass stream of cars kotel-bound on every city street. The traffic was barely moving and there were people walking all over the place looking for parking—keep in mind it is 12:30/1:00ish AM. I went back to base and gathered few stragglers to walk to the Kotel with me—I figured, why not; all of the cool kids are doing it. This night was the last night for slichot and it genuinely seemed like EVERYONE got the memo and wanted in. Walking towards the old city it felt like we were making a pilgrimage to the site of the Beit Hamikdash. The walk over was chaotic. There were people collecting tzedakah money left and right, as well as chickens running all over the place. Wait. Rewind…chickens? Yes. I’m not sure I can sufficiently explain to you what kaparot are, but in short: you buy a chicken and rotate it around your head, then shecht it and it is supposed to symbolize the removing of your sins or something to that extent (*p.s.* the edible chicken is then donated to the poor).
ANYWAY.
We were literally smushed into a crowd of people walking towards the Kotel, and it did not help that there were equal numbers of people going the opposite way. If you have ever been in the old city, you have experienced the tiny alleyways and close quarters (no pun intended), so I think you can sympathize with the experience. Finally we made it to the Kotel square, and…WOW. There were tons of people everywhere. At this point it was suppppper late and veryyyyyy overwhelming, so my friends and I took a few minutes to soak up the atmosphere and then headed back to base! (Don’t worry, we took the longer—but less crowded—route homeJ).
Finally Friday morning is here and after a nice chance to sleep in we were ready to go.
11:30am- Lunch
12:15pm-Mincha
12:30pm- Stores close
3:00pm- Dinner
4:20pm- Leave for Kol Nidrei
I could not decide where to go for services so I ended up going with my madricha to a service where the congregants really get into their davening—it was very cool. People are swaying left and right, singing their hearts out, and really making the most of the experience. I can only speak from my own experiences, but I have never seen that at home, and it was quite an experience.
After services we witnessed the city literally “off”. No cars (apart from emergency vehicles) were on the streets, and all shops and traffic lights were shutdown. People roamed the streets with their families, dressed in white, and machzorim in hand.
As we approached our building we joined a huge group of Nativers sitting in the middle of one of the largest and most busy intersections in town singing zmirot and enjoying the peace of the night. We attracted a large group of people, some of which joined in and others who just stood and watched. Sitting in the middle of an intersection that normally takes 10 minutes to cross, singing songs with all of my friends felt surprisingly normal from what one would expect it to feel—only now, looking back on it, when the streets are busy again and the city has reopened do I realize what we did…
Next thing I know I am waking up at 4:40am. GAHHH.
You’re probably thinking I went back to sleep, in which case you are mistaken. It actually was no accident. A group of us woke up to walk to an early minyan so that we could have a break between davening during the day. Am I crazy? Yes. Was it worth it? I think I can say it was. Look, it was no OMGOSHTHATWASTHEMOSTAMAZINGSERVICEOFMYLIFELETSGOBACK, but it was definitely and experience that I am glad I had. I have made a decision to grasp experiences of the sort while I can, because before I know it I am going to be back in Washington and it is going to seem like I dreamt the whole thing. And, come on, you only live once!
The service was nice and ended fairly early, so who is complaining? Oh wait. Did I forget to mention the synagogue was a good 35minutes away? Yeah... that was a tough walk home—uphill. And an extra plus was that we got to see the sunrise on the walk there!
But we just kept going. Finally we made it back and rested for a few hours before “Kotel, here we come!” Another group of us went to the Kotel for Mincha and Neilah. Now that? That was cool. We walked all the way there in the middle of some of the busiest streets in Jerusalem, and the silence of the city was unimaginable. It was awesome, awesome, awesome…we talked about it the whole way there. Once we got there it was not nearly as crowded as Thursday night, but got progressively so as the sun set. We found a minyan by the mechitzah and joined in. We davened Mincha and Neilah, and as Neilah came to a close you could hear all the shofar blasts begin to sound all over the square from all of the different Minyanim. As far as my most memorable Jewish experiences go, that was definitely one of them! We also had great timing, we made it back to base just in time for cake!!!! Mmmm, yummy.
Now I am showered and dinnered and sitting here writing this to all you at home who are still amidst your Yom Kippur. I hope you all had an easy fast and wish you all a SHANAH TOVA!!
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