Yom Kippur and Eilat

For Jews Yom Kippur, the day of Atonement, is the most important Holiday on the calendar. It usually involves fasting for 25 hours, of which I took part, and private confessions of guilt after which you can be considered absolved by God. A number of fellow International School students and I walked (since there is not a single car or bus on the road) to a Modern Orthodox Synagogue. I have been to a couple of reform shabbat services but this was my first foray into the more conservative religious aspects of Judaism. Now, Modern Orthodox do not wear a specific type of clothing, like the black suits and hats of Haredi or Ultra-Orthodox, and engage in slightly more liberal lifestyles but try to retain the strict religious practices and belief systems of the Orthodox. Their Shuul, Temple or Synagogue (I'm not sure which terminology is preferred) is located in a brand new apartment complex that was designed for Modern Orthodox families. This was only the second service ever performed there and, like all synagogues that I have been to in Israel, the men and women are seated separately and kippah's were required by men. In this particular one, the men sat in front in a much larger seating area while the women were above and behind. Other more reformist synagogues sometimes have the men and women sit next to each other instead of in front of or behind. By the beginning of the ceremony all of the seats were filled in the men's area which meant that many women were standing in the back. I spoke with several of my female friends afterward and they all felt not particulary pleased with the situation. The service lasted about two hours, where traditional prayers were read but unlike other services, the Rabbi or prayer leader was not a gifted singer and so the prayers lost much of their rhythm and pleasing melody. In the middle of the ceremony, the Torah, housed in a large wooden cabinet in the front of the room and carried around so that the men could touch it with their tallits (a cloth woven from 613 threads, symbolizing the 613 commmandmants of the Old Testament, and tied in knots at the ends) Tallits are is usually given to men at their bar mitzvah and worn under their clothes by the more observant or else wrapped around them for religious ceremonies). Much of the time we spent standing and, if we had wanted, there was another 6 to 8 hours of prayer the next day. It wasn't particularly enjoyable and it isn't supposed to be. I am glad we attended though.

A couple of days later, a few friends and I rented a car and drove South to the very tip of the country that borders the Red Sea. It is called the Vegas of Israel and is full of tourists, hotels and shops. We drove through Tel Aviv at rush hour and got stuck in traffic for an hour and a half. As we finally exited the city to the South, I accidentally missed the turn and we ended up on a two-lane highway, which, much to my traveling companion's chagrin (and of course my parents'), dead-ended at a Gaza Strip check point. It was dusk and there weren't any guards around because the check-point had been closed as had all of Gaza for some time now. It is amazing how close Gaza really is to the heart of this country and that with one wrong turn, we were standing on those borders that have been scrutinized tirelessly for the last 60 years. We backtracked and continued South, entering the Negev Desert which makes up a majority of the country and reaches all the way down to Eilat. The drive is beautiful, even at night, and especially with a full moon. We drove along the Dead Sea for a bit where the sulfur and salt is almost palpable in the air. We stayed in Eilat for five days and swam and snorkeled during the day, hiked in the mountains (big hills) overlooking Jordan, Egypt and Israel, and listened to live music and danced by night. It was a true vacation experience.

On our last day in Eilat, we entered Jordan to visit the ancient city of Petra.

To be continued....

Tallit or Prayer Shawl

The gang before we left (Nick, Brian, Colette, Tucker and Miriam)

Lots of Camel tours

Tucker and I with the Red Sea behind and Jordan in the distance

The gang again

Barren landscape of the Negev