New Years, Shooting Stars and Repenting

Hey guys! Sorry I've been slightly inactive with this for awhile. I don't remember where I left off, but I have a feeling it was right before Rosh Hashana. So I'll tell you all about my life since then.

My sister and I spend Rosh Hashana on our Kibbutz with 13 other members of our kvutsah. We got to know each other pretty well and it was a much needed rest where I caught up on my sleeping. On Erev Rosh Hashana the kibbutz had a ceremony to welcome in the new year. Basically there was a lot of singing and dancing. Fun stuff. There was a choir that reminded me of my parents' choir back home. The food at this ceremony far surpassed anything else that they've ever given us to eat on kibbutz. We stocked up and took all the leftovers home.

After dinner there was a video that summed up the kibbutz's year. It was very funny and cute. They had a small segment about our movement being there, which was very sweet. Apparently my host mom's brother put the video together so she said she'd try to get me a copy. The kibbutznicks then walked over to their chadar ochel and turned on music for us to dance to. We knew a couple of them and learned a couple new ones and had to force ourselves early so as not to disturb our monk neighbors on our way back home.

We couldn't really find services on kibbutz, so I did my own version of Taslich and meditation. Although we were hard-pressed to find services, the forceful kibbutz rabbi came barging in to our house once or twice to try and recriute boys for a minyan. He wouldn't take girls. He did blow the shofar outside of our house for us though...

After people came back from Rosh Hashana vacation we had a hurried packing session for our three day tiyul of the Judean Desert (Tiyul is a field trip). The desert was pretty, but it was hard for me to enjoy it when I was struggling to stay hydrated, and keep up with everyone else. Also I'm pretty sure my pulse hasn't been that high in a few years. I think over all we covered about 20 kilometers in 3 days. We were dropped off in the middle of nowhere and spent the better part of two days walking twords Masada. We tried not to hike from 12-3 because it was just too hot to do anything during that time of the day. We sought refuge in various wadis (dried riverbeds) and shady cliffs. It was beautiful. We slept outside under the stars and ate very camp-y meals (which were ALSO better than kibbutz food). There were SO many stars. I had a hard time getting myself to go to sleep because I was busy admiring the stars. I think that I saw about three shooting stars a night.

We woke up just before the sun each day so we could start hiking without it bothering us too much. On the morning of the last day we got up right before the sun and climed up Masada via the Roman route. We watched the sunrise over the Jordanian Mountains. That was also very pretty, but I personally liked the stars better and I've done the whole Masada sunrise before... I don't actually have too many fond memories of Masada. I appriciate it's history and it's certainly a fascinating place, but personally I would probably appriciate it more if I took the Cable Car. This was my third time at Masada and I've walked the trails all three times. Next time I'm not walking...especially not the snake trail. But don't get me wrong, it's a fasinating place.

We spend most of the rest of the day by the Dead Sea. At noon-ish Judy, my friend Celeste and I hopped on a bus to Jerusalem to visit our friend Ma'ayan. We met her mom (after some slight difficulty) and she took us back to their house where we all took much-needed showers. Ma'ayan wasn't home when we got there because she's taking the year off before the army to study in a Midrasha. (Btw- We know Ma'ayan from elementary school. She was in the states for our 4th and 5th grade years). We had pre-dinner (which was actually a complete meal) and sort of chilled out for a while while we were waiting for Ma'ayan's school to get out so we could go pick her up.

We picked up Ma'ayan really late and brought her dinner. We went to slichot services at one of the temples her family goes to. We spent most of the next day wandering around Jerusalem, letting Ma'ayan catch up on her sleep. We ran into some other people from our program who were staying in Jerusalem. we hung out with them for a while and a bunch of them got various piercings. We had to go home kind of early beacuse the fast started early. We had a great meal and then hurried off to shul.

In the morning we went to their other shul because their services started later. It was a really hard day. I don't think I've ever been in temple all day before. But really, I was in temple ALL DAY. I can't decide if that made fasting easier or harder, but I remember appriciating everything I put in my mouth that night during breaking the fast. We went to Ma'ayan's aunt's house and she had tons of food. She also wouldn't believe you when you said "I'm full". I could bareley move by the time we left her house.

I think the highlight of breaking the fast was when my family called. I miss them all SO ridiculously much and I can't wait to talk to them again.

We stayed in Jerusalem for Shabbat. On Saturday we went to have lunch with a lady from our temple who happened to be in Jerusalem for the Chaggim. It was one of the biggest, most beautiful apartment I've ever seen. It was a in the Californian style and had a beautiful garden. This family was the lady from Shul, her husband, her daughter-in-law and her 7 grandchildren (1 biy, 6 girls. All siblings). It was all very loaded, but it made me very aware of just how much money some people have.

We got back to kibbutz late that night and were greeted enthusiatically by our kvutsah. I was really happy to see them, and the kibbutz has definatley started to feel like home.

Um...yeah. I hope that updates all of you. Also my camera broke on tiyul, so if anyone has any suggestions on how to fix it, I'd be much obliged. I really need a camera...

Ok, that's all for now. Happy Sukkot!

All My Lovin'
-Phia

P.S. I'm serious about the camera thing...