Gateways

Sukkot in Israel is not just a festival of sitting in booths outside but an all-out break. Banks are only open half the day, schools (and JOH) are closed, and there are festivals all over the place. One particular festival that caught my eye was the Gateways Festival, a series of shiurim held over the course of two days. I ended up attending only four sessions during my time there, partly because of my all-nighter at Ahuva's, but they were generally good.

The first session I attended on Wednesday, "Mystery of Mikveh" led by Rabbi Miriam C. Berkowitz, was a bit of a let-down. It was just a powerpoint overview of the concept--what it is, who uses it, etc. I knew this stuff already. I mean, I've been to a mikveh before. I've read a little bit about it for class. Been there, done that.

My next session--Rabbi James-Jacobson Maisels's "The Meaning of Forgiveness"--was much better. I went to it thinking it was about seeking forgiveness, but it was really about giving it. I took a lot away from it, the biggest being that if you remain angry at a person, the pain they caused you once just keeps repeating itself over and over and over until you let go of that anger. It sounds pretty simple, but it's a really big realization for someone who's stuck in the cycle. New year's resolution, perhaps?

The sessions I went to on Thursday were more fun and less serious. The first session was "Creative Connections to Sukkot and Self" run by Yael Unterman and Ilene Prusher. Basically, creative writing in which we pretended to be a sukkah--such as this one, where I write as the sukkah outside Village Green:

There are so many different people in me. In and out, in and out, all kinds of people. Haredi men, with their long beards and dark suits. Young men and women, tourists, with their tank tops and shorts and cameras. All come bearing trays of food. Pizza. Quiche. Chocolate cake. All kinds of food for all kinds of people. Some sit down quickly, eat, leave. Maybe they bentch. Others stay, talk, dwell in me. Maybe they come in a group, maybe they come alone. Some meet old acquaintances. I recognize you, they say. Were you at Mati’s sukkah two years ago? Yes, I was! I can’t believe you remember me.

Three girls sit at the next table. Who are they? They’re not daitim. They’re not tourists. There’s no Hebrew in their conversation. Americans. “This is the first time I’ve eaten in a sukkah this year,” one of them says. I’m her first. I’m many people’s first, over the course of these seven days.

The girls leave, and their trays remain on the table. What are they? Just one of many. In and out, in and out, leaving no trace but an empty tray. Then even those disappear, and new people arrive.

It was really fun. Yael teaches a creative writing on the parsha class at Pardes on Sundays, but I can't go to it because I don't really have 800 NIS to spare. It's sad, but I gave her my email address so she can tell me when she does random workshops like the one at Gateways. Sigh. I forgot how good writing feels, and how I can't do it without prompting but once I'm given something to go on... it goes.

My last session was "Song and Soul" run by Dr. Elie Holzer. It was beautiful right from the beginning, which meant I had to capture it. (Thank goodness for my voice recorder!) I have two clips to share here which basically sum up the entire session. Blogspot won't let me upload mp3s, so they're in video form with random pictures. Just ignore Garfield there, okay?

First, the meditation:

This was only done once, but it was enough. I'm not a big fan of meditation (I left the forgiveness session before the meditation bit), but this was extremely calming. It was followed by a bit of text study out of Heschel's Man's Quest for G-d and then a bunch of prayer-songs such as this:

My voice recorder is not quite so wonderful at capturing music, which is sad. It was beautiful. It also made me wish I had gotten up for the 10:00 Musical Hallel session, but oh well. Nothing I could do about that.

I had intended to go to one more session--A Taste of Gan Eden--but a need for food and quiet down-time one out. Instead, I discovered tuna pizza (much better than it sounds) and returned to the festival in time for "Jammin in Da Sukkah," (acapella) which I found a bit too quiet for my taste. Again, oh well. I got to play with a kitty in the sukkah, and it delayed doing my laundry that much longer.

And... that was that! Really, there enough jammed into one wonderful week that I think one more even would have driven me overboard. Now for a nice, quiet week of emails and scholarship essays...