High holidays have arrived and they are something to see here in Jerusalem. Rosh Hashanah this year was on Wednesday night through Friday evening, and of course shabbat started Friday night, so the entire city was shut down for 3 days. There were no busses, no stores, no restaurants. Some people were still driving, but it felt like a three day long shabbat. Normally that would be a good thing, but after a while it becomes a little overwhelming being totally shut out of the world for 3 days. That Saturday night the world came back to life and it felt like the country breathed a sigh of relief that we could all go out and spend money again.
Tonight is Yom Kippur which means that there won't be a single thing open in the whole city. Normally on Shabbat there are a few places open, but tonight, there will be nothing. After services, it is apparently a tradition for everyone to go out on Emek R'fayim (a street near by) and just walk around, and all the kids go out on their bicycles. I'm really excited to go see this because there will be no cars anywhere so we can walk in the street and really enjoy a night with nothing else going on.
School so far has been great. Most of my classes are really exciting, and also done entirely in Hebrew, which is a great challenge. The history classes are a real struggle because I don't like learning history but hopefully they will get more exciting after Sukkot break when we start to get into a routine.
Sukkot break starts on Tuesday after class and lasts until the first week of October so I have a week and a half off. I'm taking a three day trip to Istanbul with Sarah and Leah and then I'll be hanging out in Jerusalem/Tel-Aviv for the rest of the break.
I hope all of you have a שנה טובה ומתוקה and גמר חתימה טובה. A good and sweet year and are written in the good book, the book of life.
Shanah Tovah from Yerushalayim
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