Thursday, June 9, 2011

Na'aseh V'nishma

Shalom chevrei!

Well, life is good as I continue to shteig (Yiddish for learn) away at Ohr Someyach. I am really starting to get into the learning here and my skills are developing quite quickly. Even though I am taking a lot of the learning and meeting some very interesting people, I can't quite help thinking that the bubble that is the Yeshiva world is getting smaller and smaller every minute - and yes I am starting to feel a little claustrophobic! Luckily I have a few opportunities to get out and explore and catch up with old buddies.....

It was really nice the other week to be invited over to the Grossmans for a lovely Kiwi shabbat! It was great to relax out in Ma'ale Adumim with great friends, great food and 3 energetic Grossman boys!

On the 33rd day of the Omer count (the count between the festivals of Passover and Shavuot) is the festive celebration of Lag B'omer. This truly is an amazing festival in Israel, as on every street corner there are scores of giant bonfires burning long into the night. A few guys and I went down the road to a local park where hundreds of locals were igniting everything from scrap wood to old mattresses! We grabbed some beers and some marshmallows to toast on the fire and sang and danced the night away!! Later that evening we joined the hundreds of pilgrims making the journey down to the tomb of Shimon Hatzadik (a famous Rabbi from the Mishna period) who is buried just down the road from our yeshiva in an arab suburb called Sheik Jarrah.

The next day the Yeshiva organised a day trip for us to make the most of the festivities. Firstly we went north to the Kinneret (sea of Galilee) to go for a swim and relax in the summer sun (yes, I got sunburnt!). We also enjoyed a yummy BBQ near the seaside - good times! After that we continued north to the Kabbalistic city of Tzvat. Tzvat (also known as Safed) is a fascinating place best known being a haven for Kabbalists including Yosef Karo (the author of the Shulchan Aruch) and Rabbi Shlomo Halevi Alkabetz (the author of the song Lecha Dodi sung on Friday night). The city, perched high in the hills, has a certain mystical feel to it as you wind your way through the many alleyways. I have been to Tzvat a few times before, however this time the Rabbis took us to a place I had never been - the old Jewish cemetery. Buried here are the aforementioned Rabbis and many other famous and influential Rabbis and Kabbalists.

We wandered down through the cemetery and past the Ari Mikveh (where hundreds of men where dunking themselves in order to purify). A few guys decided to go dunk, however I chickened out - mainly due to the fact that getting naked in the presence of hundreds of religious men (including my Rabbis) is not exactly my cup of tea!

Our final destination for our trip was the highlight - Mount Meyron. Here the famous Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai is buried. Lag B'omer is the anniversary of his death and due to his holiness Jews flock from all around the world to visit the grave and celebrate the festival. Over half a million Jews come to Meyron every year and pack out the place!!! We arrived at around 5pm, but the craziness had anything but finished! The bus dropped us off at the base of the mount and the 15 minute walk to the top was truly inspirational! Thousands and thousands of people singing, dancing and eating (there was huge tents packed full of free food including cholent, kugel, cakes etc) all the way up! The top of the hill revealed a Charedi mosh pit all wearing black and white with their funky black hats! There were bands rocking the scene and the dancing was truly unlike anything I have ever seen! A few of us boys decided to try and get to the grave... easier said then done! The first challenge is to enter the outer courtyard which is packed to the brim! Outside the entrance is mental with hundreds of people pushing a shoving in all directions. Finally we got inside the outer courtyard and was greeted by pumping Charedi beats! Challenge number 2 - get inside the tomb room! This took some serious elbowing, opportunity taking and luck.... but we made it (well at that stage it was each man for himself!!). After leaving the tomb we went down to the main event - the dancing and sining around the Yerushalmi Chassidic Rebbes who were igniting the final bonfires of the festival. We continued to dance the night away with our Rabbis and the thousands of black-hatters! Check out this youtube video of the action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sqdZcri4rI

Two weeks ago I received a call from Rabbi Dovrat (the previous Rabbi of Wellington, who currently lives in Modi'in) invited me, and the other Kiwis of Israel, to a special ceremony in honour of the Rabbi and Rebbitzin. The Wellington Jewish community had sponsored the planting of a forest in Israel to honour the great work that they had done while in Wellington. The Jewish National Fund ran a small ceremony, with speeches and messages from family and friends. The Rabbi planted a Strawberry tree, and I did the Haka to commemorate the New Zealand connection.

The Rabbis of our programme organised a special Shabbat that week just for our group. It was a really beautiful experience and was a great opportunity to bond with the group. Firstly we all went down to the Kotel, where I lead the Kabbalat Shabbat service. Another group of young Americans joined our prayers and we danced and sang for 3 hours!! There truly is something special about Shabbat in the old city - it is like another world and there is a certain sense of spirituality that flows through the many alleyways and squares. After praying we sang and danced our way back to the Yeshiva where we continued to sing late into the night! That evening a few boys joined me as we went down to Mea Shearim to visit the Yeshiva of Toldot Aaron, a Chassidic groups native to Jerusalem. From about 11pm until 3am they (and many other Chasidic groups) run a special service called a Tisch. Tisch means table in Yiddish and refers to a special singing service in honour of Shabbat. A large table is placed in the middle of the room with the Rebbe sitting up the front and all the elders of the community sitting around. Hundreds of the Rebbe's followers flock around the table and up on grandstand style seating to sing and received blessing from the Rebbe. It is a fascinating experience - and you really feel like you have stepped back in time as everyone is dressed with either a garb typical of the old Ottoman empire or the aristocracy of 1700s Europe!

The next big event on the Israel calendar is Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day) celebrating the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967. In the evening the Yeshiva brought us up to the tomb of Shmuel Hanavi (Samuel the Prophet) perched up high on one of Jerusalem's northern hills. The experience up here was kind of like a mini-Meyron with hundreds of black-hatters coming to sing and dance! We got there early and were able to appreciate the view looking down into Jerusalem. In the other direction we could see the Palestinian town of Ramallah and a few other villages scattered throughout the hills. The interesting thing about the tomb is that it has a mosque built on top (Muslims typically build mosques on sites that are holy to other religions) and it was cool to see Jews and Muslims praying simaltenously in peace!

The next day I went into the city with some friends in search of the grand parade. In previous years the parade had come through the centre of town, but due to the new tram installed in Jaffa street it was relocated - which I only found out later!! We manged to find a smaller non-official parade and joined them and they danced, sang and swung Israeli flags all the way down to the old city. On arriving in the old city we went to the new building of Aish Hatorah and went up to the top floor. The view from the top of the building is stunning with a fantastic vista across the old city and the temple mount. We decided to get some dinner and on our return we were greeted by the tens of thousands of Jews who had come from across Jerusalem to dance in celebration at the Kotel. There was a Jewish band rocking up beats all night and we danced with the multitude into the night!

Last week I was invited to one of my Rabbi's house for Shabbat. Rabbi Geller lives with his lovely family in Ramot in the north of Jerusalem. I had a lovely shabbos and even got to go to another Tisch (a small local Chasidut sect) and explore the bunkers and gun emplacements built by the Jordanians pre 1967.

We recently had Shavuot celebrations here - but you will have to wait until next blog update for all the details. Hope everyone is well!! Until next time......

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