You know that lovely feeling that happens when you wake up, look at the clock, and realize that you have less than sixty seconds to be dressed and in a classroom? I had the pleasure of experiencing that yesterday because I ignored my alarm. Smart move, I know. Funny that it was only two days ago that I learned and posted about how a person should take at least twelve seconds to get out of bed, because I most definitely did not achieve that threshold for healthy blood flow. I totally and completely jumped out of bed, ran into the bathroom, brushed my teeth, threw on a t-shirt and shorts, and managed to be ready in four minutes. The time was now 9:18, so I was only three minutes late. Or so I thought... Little did I know that class actually didn't start until 9:30. In other words, I was actually twelve minutes early. You would think that this would bring happiness and joy to my face, but to be quite honest it made me mad. I could have had sixteen whole minutes to get up, dressed, and eat breakfast... Lame. I got over myself, though, and walked to class bearing a notebook and a pen. Our first class was basically about setting goals for ourselves in this important time of self-reflection and introspection. At the end we did an assignment which I have done for the past four years in Mrs. Margolese's class, and it made me happy that we could do it again. Our teacher told us to write down goals and steps to achieving those goals, which we hope to have accomplished by next Rosh Hashanah. With Mrs. Margolese we wrote letters to ourselves, which she would later in the year mail to us, but the assignments are similar enough. I definitely enjoyed that class.
After class, we had a thirty minute break until the next class. Because of my very hectic morning, I took the liberty of using that time to take a shower, which was lovely. I think I even grabbed an apple on my out the door as I headed to our second class of the day. During Mincha of Yom Kippur the Haftarah we read is the book of Jonah. The topic of our second class was the reasoning behind reading Jonah on Yom Kippur. For this class we were more text-based, which was great. I enjoyed that class, as well.
When we were done with our classes it was about noon, and we had a free afternoon until we would meet at the bus at 6:00. I spent my time grocery shopping, eating lunch, and working on my computer. Since I lamely had to nullify my deferment to Rutgers University, I have had to begin the college application process all over again. Though most apps aren't due until much later in this year, or even early next year, I decided that I should try to get as much as possible done now because once real school starts I won't have as much time. So I've been using every minute I can find to fill out apps and write the necessary essays. It's most definitely obnoxious, but it has to happen so I'm making it work.
At 6:00 we boarded our bus and headed out to Yerushalaim. We were told that we'd be eating a beautiful Italian restaurant, so we were all wearing nice clothes. Our bus driver dropped us off below Sha'ar Yaffo (Yaffo Gate), and we walked up the stairs so we were across the street from it. We turned left and there we were... A mamash beautiful restaurant called Luciana. They sat us down at a long table, which already had incredible looking food on it. The first course was these garlic bread things with tomato, basil, and cheese on top-- could not have looked more delicious. There was also this great looking tomato and basil and cheese platter. Thinking I could have a little bit of the bread, I washed and had a piece from the end of the bread which didn't have any cheese on it. I went into the meal prepared to not really eat, but to more just enjoy looking at the food so it was totally okay. (For those of you who are wondering what in the world I'm talking about, I haven't been eating dairy since May. And if I eat dairy it gives me a hooooorrible headache and stomach-ache, so it's not at all worth it to me to eat dairy. It also has made me feel a lot healthier since I stopped, so I'm totally good now at not eating dairy.) But anyways, basically the food looking absolutely incredible. There was fresh green salad with all different kinds of cheese in it, pizza, two or three different kinds of pasta, this cheese with a thick tomato sauce on it, etc, etc, etc... The food did not end, and it all looked totally incredible. I was happy that my friends got to enjoy such an amazing meal, and I was kinda living vicariously through their facial expressions of satisfaction and bliss.
After dinner I met up with Dena in the Rova and we hung just hung around.. This woman asked me to buy her a Diet Coke, so I did, and out of thanks I was given a beracha. It went a little something like this (translated from Hebrew to English): "You should find a good Shidduch (person to marry) quickly and easily; a boy, or a girl-- whatever you please." Hello! Best beracha ever!!! Loved it. Anyways, we bumped into a lot of people she knew and introduced me to, as well as some people that I know. It was great to have some time to just spend with her because it obviously does not happen anywhere near as often as it used to. We found Adina Polack and Ilana, who were also great to see.
At 11:20ish I started to make my way with some people from my program to the main attraction of the night-- the Kotel. On the night before Yom Kippur, hundreds of thousands of Jews from all over Israel come together to say Selichot (special prayer services for the time around Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) for the last time. Ha'Rav Ovadia Yosef himself, the Chief Sephardic Rabbi of Israel, lead most of the Tefilah. There were so many people that they actually closed off the entrances to the Kotel because there wasn't enough room for all of the people to fit there. Here's two pictures of what I was looking at during the Tefilah service:
The number of people is totally unbelievable. And to think about what it will be like when Mashiach comes and all of the Jews of the world are at the Beit Ha'Mikdash? Unimaginable. I was discussing that idea with my madricha Shev. Crazy! After Selichot, when everyone was trying to get out of the main Kotel area as fast as they could, I went down there to say Arvit. By then it was about 1:00 AM, which was definitely another really cool aspect of the whole scene... Cool that everyone was awake at that time, and all right there. After Arvit I went back to the Rova to try to find Ilana's dorm, because that's where I was planning to stay the night. Ilana and fallen asleep and I was having trouble finding the correct entrance, so Dena kinda saved me in my time of need and brought me to her place. Another problem was that my phone died, so... Issues. It's all good though, Dena helped me out and I got there safely. When I got to her room she happened to have woken up a couple seconds before so she was able to help me get set up with a bed and everything, which was so nice. I enjoyed reflecting on the incredible experience which I had just had, and after that I slept really well.
Erev Yom Kippur.
This morning I woke up in Ilana's dorm, and within two minutes was greeted by a smiling Sarah Varon. What a great person to wake up to! Then Ilana showed up, so we were hanging out for a while, until we got the call we had all been waiting for. Garce was in the Rova! Hurray! Sarah and I went down to the street to get Garce, and we brought her back up to Ilana's room. We hung out for a while, checked out Sarah's room, woke up Dena, dropped off Sarah, then the four of us headed out towards Garce's apartment outside of the Old City. Only a fifteen minute walk from the Rova, we got there quickly. I was so excited to say Garce's parents, as well as the place that she has been excitedly talking about forever. Though I had seen pictures of it at some point last year, I was still totally amazed at how incredibly beautiful the apartment is. Every part of it was clearly extremely thought out and it truly shows. It seems like the perfect place for Garce's family, and I am so excited and thankful that I get to stay with her family for Yom Kippur. We went to Mincha a couple blocks away at 12:30, and since we got back we've just been hanging around. Garce is napping now, and I'm about to shower. But it's a beautiful day in Yerushaliam, and I could not be in a happier place for this holiday.
I wish you all a G'mar Chatimah Tovah, and easy and meaningful fast, and may Hashem accept all of your tefilot as we continue this new year.
Tizku L'shanim Rabot.
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