On Sunday afternoon Jessica and I went to Alanna and Rebecca's house for our pre-Shabbat meal, as did Woty (also from JOH) and a girl named Julia (I think) from the Conservative Yeshiva. The food was wonderful--lentil soup, sweet potato lasagna, baked potatoes, broccoli, and honey cake--and the company was even better.
After our meal, we all headed down to services at Kedem--where, to my great surprise, Leora Perkins (from Brandeis) led services! I didn't even know she was in Israel, and apparently she didn't know I was here either, despite the fact that she's living with Noam and Emily Jaeger. Anyway, she led services, and there was a lot of mingling afterwards. Yom Kippur in Jerusalem is amazing; everything shuts down and people walk in the streets because the only cars are police/army/emergency. Of course, I knew this from my time here in high school, but I don't remember people congregating in the streets. It was like one big party (without the music or dancing), or oneg Shabbat at the biggest outdoor synagogue in the world (without the food, of course). Emek Refaim, the street which houses Kedem and Shira Hadasha and probably about a million other services, was full of people standing around talking, and we couldn't walk more than five steps without bumping into someone Jessica knew. The intersection of Ein Gedi and Derek Chevron (another really big street) was the same way.
On Monday we (Jessica and I) went to two different minyans: Mayanot in the morning and Kedem in the evening. It's remarkable how different these two places felt, even though they're both lay-led traditional egalitarian minyanim that meet in school buildings. Kedem has the feel of a Hillel in that (as far as I saw) it's populated entirely by students in their twenties, whereas Mayanot is a congregation of people at all ages--from people who are definitely someone's grandparent to the little kids playing Twister outside. I definitely preferred Mayanot to Kedem. I think there's something special about davening with people from all generations. It gives it a feeling of connection with the whole Jewish people--many of whom are praying these same prayers at this same time in their own synagogues and time zones--and not just with Kids (Students) Like Me. It's a nice feeling, as is davening without a big, solid curtain separating me from the ruach.
Between services we went back to Jessica's and slept, and after Yom Kippur ended--around 18:00, since we changed our clocks on Saturday night--we went to the house of one of Jessica's friends from Pardes for a break fast breakfast. I like that idea; I may very well steal it. And btw, Miriam Farber (a Brandeis alum and a Pardes student) makes the best cinnamon rolls ever.
One thing that I forgot to mention is that Jessica's roommate has a really cute hamster named Rimon, and now I really wanna get a hamster. Only problem is that I don't know what I'd do with him when I go on vacation or when I leave at the end of the year... not to mention that I don't know whether they're even allowed!
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