Eitan Update 4: 3: Yom Kippur and Sukkot in E”Y, Relationships (Endings), and a Visit from the Parents

[Eitan Halevy]

Eitan Update Volume 4, Issue 3

November 24, 2006/ ג כסלו תשס"ז

“Yom Kippur and Sukkot in E”Y, Relationships (Endings), and a Visit from the Parents”

 

Note: I have a new post on my Torah blog at the address http://emunahshlemah.blogspot.com/.  It’s a somewhat scattered dvar-Torah on this weeks parshah, Toldot.

 

I. DISCLAIMER:

 

This update is long overdue, and ends about a month ago, before I returned to yeshivah for the Winter ‘Zman’(semester).  Sorry for the delay.  This update is also a bit more terse than usual, for the most part just the facts.  For newer or more detailed information, drop me a line!

 

II. YOM KIPPUR AT THE YESHIVAH:

 

Yom Kippur at the yeshivah was magical and intense.  Toward nightfall, despite over 24 hours of fasting, the davening (praying) got more and more intense.  Around 4pm I stopped feeling hungry and was totally absorbed in prayer.  By the time we finished praying Maariv (evening prayers) and went outside for Kiddush Levanah (sanctification of the new moon)—which was a good 1.5 hours after sunset, when we could have been eating already—guys were jumping and dancing and singing their hearts out.  Usually Maariv at the end of Yom Kippur is the fastest davening of the year, but here nobody was in a rush.  It was the best and most intense davening I’ve ever done.

 

III. SUKKOT

 

Sukkot in Israel is special.  If you keep this holiday outside of Israel (unless, perhaps, you live in Southern California) you’ve never really experienced Sukkot.  You build your sukkah (which many of the apartment buildings are specially designed to accommodate with staggered patios—so none of them are covered by the patio above), cover it with palm leaves, or your vegetal skach (shade cover) of choice.  You bring out your bed and your dining room table and you make a little house in the sukkah.  During Chol Moed (the intermediate days of the holiday, when most ‘work’ is permitted) you can sit out there on your computer, making phone-calls, living your life, but basically hanging out in the sukkah whenever you’re home.  You eat all your meals out there, and sleep in the sukkah, but not like you’re camping, rather in your own, proper bed, which you’ve brought outside.  It doesn’t rain here during Sukkot, as a rule, so you don’t have to worry about getting wet.

 

Unfortunately I was sick for most of that week, so I missed out a bit, but it was still fun, and I’m already looking forward to next year!

 

IV. VISIT FROM THE PARENTS

 

The week after Sukkot my parents were here.  We had a great time.  We stayed a few days in Jerusalem, and in addition to seeing some sites in the city we had a chance to drive out to Gush Etzion (the settlement block where I live) and I showed them around Bat Ayin (the specific town, within the larger block of Gush Etzion), the yeshivah, etc.  We ended up having dinner at Gavna, the restaurant I mentioned in a previous mailing, and another meal at the Gush Etzion winery, also nearby.

 

After that we spent a few days traveling around in the North.  We drove up Har-Hermon, where the only Israeli ski area sits, lonely, on top of a barren peak near the Syrian border.  We saw many of the streams which form the sources for the Jordan river.  We saw a point where water gushes out of the mountainside, which many peoples have considered holy.  When we drove through Kiryat Shmona we saw a roof which had been blasted apart during the recent war.

 

It was lovely having my parents here.  They always help me stay grounded, reconnecting me to who and what I really am.  And it’s just nice having them around…

 

V. RELATIONSHIP NEWS

 

The relationship I mentioned in previous posts ended the day after I got back to yeshivah.  It was definitely the right move for all concerned.  I’ve been on a date since then, which didn’t lead anywhere.  In any case, I’m back on the market, so, anyone know a nice, frum girl in Israel they want to set me up with?  J

 

VI. IN PARTING

 

Hope y’all are well.  Please e-mail me back and let me know how you’re doing, what you’re up to, etc.

 

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With love,

-Eitan