ימים נוראים | High Holidays, Israeli Style

As most of you know, we have just completed the Days of Awe: Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. As Americans, we have certain practices and traditions that we are accustomed to performing during this period. However, in Israel, it is another experience completely.

Rosh Hashana is two days long. This year, it fell on Saturday and Sunday. Since the weekend here is Friday and Saturday, that meant that we got the day off on Sunday, when we normally have to work. All of the shops in Ramla closed early on Friday afternoon and stayed closed until Sunday night after sundown (except one convenience store which I assume is run by non-Jews). This was pretty unfortunate for me, since I pretty much ran out of groceries on Friday afternoon, and I didn't realize it until after the supermarkets closed for Rosh Hashana. So I basically had to live on a box of Frosted Flakes (called Frosties here) and half a package of frozen schnitzel (i.e. giant chicken nuggets). Good times.

Yom Kippur in Israel is truly a unique experience. Traditionally, during Yom Kippur, one sits, reflects, prays, and does nothing else for the whole day, including a 25-hour fast (not even drinking water!). There are no television broadcasts in Israel on that day, and literally everything is closed. A large percentage of Israelis, however, are very secular; not religious at all. Despite this, driving on Yom Kippur has become taboo. (Igniting the engine is considered "lighting a fire," which is one of the things prohibited on Yom Kippur.) Starting at sunset the night before, there are literally no cars on the roads (with the exception of emergency vehicles, of course). It has become tradition for groups of young people to ride bikes on the highways on Yom Kippur, which is impossible on any other day. Check out this picture of people riding on Highway 20 in Tel Aviv. How cool is that? I went out during the afternoon and there were families standing and talking and children riding tricycles in the middle of the streets. I stood in the middle of the intersection of Herzl Blvd and Weitzman Street, which is normally one of the busiest intersections in town (Fairfielders, think Black Rock Tpke & Stillson; Rochesterians, think Elmwood & Mt Hope). It was pretty crazy. Here are some pictures I took.

Ironically, despite being in the "holy land," this was the first year I can remember in which I did not attend services on the High Holidays. Originally, I was planning on attending services at Kehilat Birkat Shalom, a reform synagogue in Kibbutz Gezer, located just outside Ramla. Unfortunately, their website doesn't have an up-to-date calendar and they didn't pick up the phone the several times I called, so I didn't know when services were happening. I also found a reform synagogue in Rishon LeZion, two towns away, which did have a schedule on their website, but unfortunately, I had no way of getting there, since even the Arab taxi drivers do not operate on Yom Kippur. .חבל

But I did fast the whole day, and we had a wonderful break-fast cooked by Misha, consisting of homemade schnitzel, pasta, a salad, and a very professional-looking plate of hummus.