Sacrifices, Seders and Artifacts

So I didn't get around to updating mid-week as planned, so I have lots to write about and in hopes of not forgetting anything, I'm just going to do a day-by-day report of break so far:

Sunday (17.4) - Beth called and asked if I wanted to go to the Samaritan Passover sacrifice with them. I was half-asleep, so I was sure I heard her wrong but I said yes anyways. (See, Meg, I am listening to you and saying yes to everything - whether or not I actually hear what I am being invited to do!) But we did indeed go to the Samaritan Passover sacrifice at Mount Gerizim. The Samaritans trace their genealogy back to the Northern Kingdom of Israel, defeated by the Assyrians in 722 BCE. Mount Gerizim was where their temple was, pretty much from the beginning. Today, there are fewer than 1,000 Samaritans left (the figures I saw/heard were 600 and 750). They are the only ones who still sacrifice lambs for Pesach (Passover), and the ceremony begins at sundown the day before Pesach begins. [Pesach began at sundown on Monday; the ceremony began at sundown on Sunday.] It was an interesting experience, and pictures will be up on facebook later today. Basically, all non-Samaritans (except some photographers) had to remain outside the temple complex, either in the stands or around the fences surrounding the complex. We sat on the bottom row of the stands, in the right corner, so basically we couldn't really see anything. The stands, as my pictures demonstrate, were also separated from the temple complex by a chain fence. I couldn't really understand what was going on, as everything was in Hebrew, and I couldn't tell who was who. Thankfully, I did not see them kill or skin the lambs, although I was able to see some of the headless, skinless lambs after they had been skewered to be roasted. We left at that point, as it was already past the baby's bedtime and we were an hour from Jerusalem. It is not something I would want to go to again, but I am glad I had the chance to go. The people in the stands were not very polite, and the mood in the stands was not all that holy. I felt more like a spectator than a participant or observer of a sacred rite. That part was frustrating, because the annual sacrifice is clearly a sacred rite, dating back to Moses, and that sanctity was disrupted for me by crowds straining to see and people yelling for those in front to sit down. Nevertheless, it was still nice to experience the religious traditions of another people of the Holy Land.

Monday (18.4) - Pesach officially began at sundown. The seder I attended was actually rather short; it started around 7pm and I was home by 12:30am. We skipped and/or summarized many parts because they wanted the children to experience as much of the seder as possible before they fell asleep. (Unlike many seders, no one tried to keep the children up through it all!) I had never been to a seder before, so I didn't always know what was going on, but I really enjoyed it. There were 14 of us: the host couple; their daughter, son-in-law and three grandchildren; two other relatives of the hosts (cousins or neice/nephew...not sure); a guy doing a gap year before college (as was the male relative); two young people who had recently made aliyah; and myself and another Rothberg (undergrad) student. The food was good, and there was so much of it! Appetizers, soup, two kinds of potatoes, two kinds of meats, couscous, at least two vegetables, fruit, and two different cakes for dessert! Lots of singing, too - both traditional Pesach songs and some written by various family members. We also incorporated some feminist elements to the seder. The seder plate included all the traditional items plus an orange. Apparently back when women were not allowed to lead synagogue (I'm not sure if they meant lead anything or just to be a rabbi), there was a saying that women belonged up front like an orange belonged on a seder plate. So, of course, women started including oranges on their seder plates. Also, in addition to the Elijah cup, we had a Miriam cup. It is traditional to have an empty chair and a wine cup for Elijah; but instead of pouring Elijah his own cup, we passed the cup around and we all poured some of our wine (or in my case, grape juice) into it. We did the same with the Miriam cup, but with water. It is a means of recognizing the importance of Miriam in the Exodus story (after all, she did kinda help keep Moses alive!). Another tradition is hiding a piece of matza for the children to find. Whoever finds it gets a prize, but of course, like every good grandmother, our host had a gift for each grandchild - and each of us young people! All in all, it was a wonderful evening.

Tuesday (19.4) - First day of Pesach. Pretty much everything was closed, and I didn't really do a whole lot, other than reading for classes. Also took a walk around French Hill (the neighborhood the kfar is in).

Wednesday (20.4) - Another low key day.

Thursday (21.4) - Went to the Bible Land Museum and the Botanical Garden, both of which were free for Pesach, with my friend Rebekah. The museum contains artifacts from periods and areas relating to the Bible (go figure!). It's not a very big place - we saw everything in about an hour and a half - but I was impressed with the quality of the artifacts. Some of it was even better preserved than what they have next door at the Israel Museum. After we finished at the museum, since it was nice out, we decided to walk down to the garden, which took a little while to find.There are two Hebrew U campuses in Jerusalem; Mount Scopus, the original campus and the one where the international school is located, and Givat Ram, which was built after 1948, when the original campus was inaccessible due to the outcome of the 1948 war. Both schools have botanical gardens. At Mount Scopus, our garden contains plants from all over Israel. The garden at Givat Ram, however, contains plants from all over the world and is huge. It was pretty, and Rebekah and I felt at home when we wandered into the section with plants from North America!

Friday (22.4) - The lovely miss Becky (Annie's little sister) joined us for the weekend. Becky made aliyah after high school and has been here almost two years now. The three of us had a laundry party - what else do you do on a Friday night when everything is closed for Shabbat? Other than that, I just did more homework.

Saturday (23.4) - More homework. And dinner with Annie and Becky. After Shabbat ended, we caught a bus to the center of town and ate at Spaghettis, a kosher restaurant that is also kosher for Pesach (כשר לפסח). So for the first (and probably last) time in my life, I had noodles (Alfredo) without hametz (literally, "the dough"). I am glad I went and experienced such cuisine, but it's not something I am hoping to repeat. The noodles were an interesting texture and were kinda chewy, but I got two meals out of them. Another staple during Pesach is, of course, matza. Apparently, there is some sort of unwritten rule that only non-Jews actually like matza (probably because we are not forced to eat it every year and can supplement it with other hametz-y foods). So, of course, I do indeed enjoy matza and ended up buying a 2.5 kg (~5.4 lbs) box of it at the store.

Today (24.4) - Easter! I figured since I am normally a heathen and don't go to church (other than Christmas Day), I should at least go on Easter. I went with Beth's family to St. George's Cathedral, an Episcopal Church. I had never been to an Episcopal (or Anglican) church before (at least not that I can recall), so that in itself made it an interesting experience. The bishop was there, along with several priests and a couple of what appeared to be priests-in-training (seminary students?). For Easter, they combine their English and Arabic speaking congregations. All the songs and responses were done simultaneously in English and Arabic, but it seemed like the majority of the liturgy (meaning the priests' parts) was done in Arabic. The Gospel and the sermon were both done first in Arabic and then in English. The first lesson was only done in Arabic - I don't even know what it was. I would have preferred it if the sermon was treated more like a translation - a sentence or two in Arabic, then in English. I'm an adult and even I had a hard time sitting through a sermon in a language I didn't understand! The poor little kids were all restless and there were lots of dirty looks being cast, but what can you expect? I'm sure they didn't even understand the sermon in their language. They also use a lot of incense, so I have had a headache pretty much all day. But it was a nice worship celebration.

I think that's pretty much it. I feel like I haven't gotten nearly enough accomplished, considering break is more than half over, but I am at least enjoying my break some.

Quick Update

I am on break until May. For some reason, even though Pesach doesn't begin until Monday evening, Pesach break started Thursday. Not that I am complaining, just seemed strange to have an entire week of class minus one day.

The desert trip was cancelled. :(

Decided to go on a mini-adventure Thursday. Went to the market and Ben Yehuda. Bought a kilo of strawberries (1 kg = 2.2 lbs...were gone in less than 30 hours...), potatoes, candied almonds, challah, a couple treats and a few souvenirs. And then I decided to get a focaccia for "take away" (as they call "to go" here) from Focaccia Bar, which is pretty much my favorite restaurant here. Spent entirely too much money but had a good time. I needed to get out of the Hebrew U bubble, even just for a few hours.

All in all, it's been a pretty low-key week. Only been on break a few days and already have been ridiculously productive. I will have 4-5 final papers to write after classes end (due between July 16 and August 16), so I am trying to get a jumpstart on those. And I bought the Bet (second level) Hebrew textbook before break started, so maybe I will start to teach myself more Hebrew. My Hebrew class is going soooo slow, which I probably shouldn't complain about since most other kids are complaining about how fast their classes are going. So for my own mental well-being, I need to work ahead.

Not much else to report. Spring is in full gear here, which means my allergies are wreaking havoc on me. Had a couple breakdowns earlier this week, mainly because break has started and many of my friends have left for home or to travel abroad and I am here with no real plans. But I am doing better, at least for the moment. I am hoping to make some day trips and maybe visit a few places around Jerusalem I haven't been to yet. Trying to make the most of the time I have left in Israel and reminding myself I will be home before I know it!

I may try to update mid-week, about my first Pesach Seder!!

Food and Hebrewness

So I am finally healthy, or at least as healthy as I get. My complete inability to sleep in Israel (at least without the aid of Tyledol PM) persists. At this point I think it is safe to say that my body has rejected Israel.

All in all, it was a pretty atypical week, though it felt like every other week. I had my Hebrew midterm on Tuesday, and, if I may say so, I kicked butt. I have been craving Focaccia like crazy, so Kristin and I indulged on Wednesday, and then the lovely Ms. Becky (Annie's sister) decided to grace us with her presence Thursday evening. We had Burger's Bar (or rather Annie, Becky and Kristin did and I just stole half their fries!) while Annie gave us a detailed account of her whirlwind tour of PhD schools in the States.

Friday I went to Ein Kerem with Ayana, my language buddy. The pictures are already posted on Facebook; if you're not on FB and you want to see them, let me know and I will send you the link. Ein Kerem is Hebrew for "spring of the vineyard" and according to tradition, it was the home of Zechariah and Elizabeth, parents of John the Baptist, and where Mary visited when both women were pregnant. We visited the spring, over which a mosque was built, and the Church of the Visitation, commemorating the aforementioned event. Elizabeth was also said to have hidden in the mountains with John during the "Slaughter of the Innocents" - a tradition with which I was not familiar. I thought the "slaughter" was limited to Bethlehem. Anyways, after we saw the church, Ayana really wanted ice cream and who was I to deny her that?

Ayana dropped me off back at the kfar around 6pm, which gave me plenty of time to prepare for synagogue, which doesn't start until 7pm now, thanks to the time change last week. Annie accompanied me, and we ended up having Shabbat dinner with the rabbi and her family. Pesach (Passover) is coming up, so I had asked if there were people in the congregation who were hosting international students for the seder. In the process, the rabbi invited us to Shabbat dinner. They have 3 little girls, the oldest of whom is no more than 9 or 10 (if that). It is a truly bilingual (Hebrew and English) household, and all of them switched back and forth in the same conversation. The youngest, who is 2, uses both in the same sentence, but that is to be expected. Having Shabbat dinner with a rabbi's family was a different experience, as was having it in a home with young children. I had a good time, and the food was delicious!

When I had asked about seder, I originally asked the person who had made the announcements, and he in turn called the rabbi over. She asked me something - I believe it was if I was an international student - and I answered "yes", but in Hebrew - it's become almost an automatic thing to say yes or no (along with other random words) in Hebrew. But since I answered in Hebrew, she responded in Hebrew. I just looked at her and said, "I have no idea what you just said," which made everyone - including Annie and the announcer-guy - burst out laughing. The man thought maybe she didn't realize she switched to Hebrew, but she said she did, that it was because I said ken (yes). I guess that will teach me from throwing Hebrew around! I do try to use it as much as I can when I am out - I can request a non-smoking table and ask for 300 grams of cheese at the deli in Hebrew - but my vocabulary is still rather limited. I tried to order in Hebrew at the ice cream shop, but the guy lost patience with me immediately and was like "I do speak English." Oh well.

But anyways. I will be attending a Pesach seder, at the home of a couple who moved here from the US 30+ years ago. They are hosting some other students/young people and their daughter's (I think) family, including three children under nine. Jon is supposed to be hosting a seder but not on the first night of Pesach, so hopefully I will celebrate Pesach for the first time twice - and in Jerusalem! I am also supposed to go on a "trip to the desert" Thursday-Friday this week, although if more people don't sign up tomorrow it may be cancelled. :(

Randomness

So today I thought I would post some random reflections on living in Israel.

1. I'm an Old Maid

When I moved to Israel, I suddenly became an old maid. Back home, I didn't really give much thought to being a 24-year-old single female. In fact, I rather enjoyed it. I could focus on my studies and hang out with my friends - and when I decided I wanted to study at Hebrew U, I didn't have to convince a guy that moving halfway around the world was what was best for me and my vocational goals. But once I arrived here in Israel, I discovered that everyone is married. Okay, not really, but there is an overwhelming number of girls my age (and younger) who are married. Perhaps it is just more noticeable when a large percentage of the population are religious, which translates into head coverings for married females. Not to mention the abundance of pregnant women and small children. Walking through Hebrew U, I pass dozens of pregnant women and even several strollers each day. I can't imagine how they do it. I had a hard enough time juggling a boyfriend and school some days, let alone an entire family!

2. Neither Tourist nor Resident...

As a student studying abroad, I am in this weird position of being neither a tourist nor a resident. Perhaps it's the same for all students studying abroad, I don't know. But at least here in Israel, it seems as if everyone is either a tourist (or a pilgrim) or a resident (Israeli or Palestinian), which, of course, leaves all of us international students out. In my case, my Hebrew is so elementary that I pretty much fall under the category of "tourist" as far as the Israelis are concerned. A few weeks back, we read several articles about pilgrimage for my methodology class, which is what got me really thinking about all of this. My first trip here, I was a tourist. We had a tour guide and a tour bus and we went to all the tourist places, although we also went to some additional, less tourist-y places. But this time around (other than the few weeks my parents were here), I am not a tourist. I have taken up residence, even if I am not a resident. Perhaps I am a "pilgrim," though not in the traditional sense of the word. I am not here to visit all the churches and re-trace Jesus' footsteps, but I am here to deepen my connection with the Divine and to attempt to figure out my life (if that is even possible). For me, the holy is not so much in the pretty churches as it is in the archaeology, the landscape, the language.

3. Israel is on Israel's Time

Literally. Everyone else set their clocks ahead a few weeks ago, but no, not Israel. We waited until Thursday night/Friday morning to "spring forward." They also "fall back" at a different time - I believe it coincides with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. I was told there was likewise a religious reason for the delay in springing forward, but I don't know what that would be. Purim was a couple of weeks ago, and Pesach (Passover) isn't for a couple more weeks. But regardless, while the rest of you have adjusted to the time change, I am suffering through it now. And not too happy about it.

4. 5 Girls, 2 Toilets, 1 Shower = Bad Math

That's right, we are now a full-house. Benni moved in with a friend from Italy, and two undergrads from Chicago moved in shortly afterwards. The girls are nice, but 5 people sharing one apartment feels like cruel and unusual punishment to me. Okay, it's really not that bad, and so far I don't think there has been any issues with the toilets or the shower - or even the kitchen, where we are currently sharing one cooking pot with a broken handle. But I have a feeling this could get pretty old pretty fast, regardless of them being nice. 5 people, and especially 5 girls, in one apartment is just asking for trouble. Really wishing I would have been housed in one of the grad apartments (where they are 2 or 3 bedrooms each) right about now! There was a reason I never joined a sorority!

Okay, that's it for now. Have a lovely week everyone!