Last Friday, I joined my cousins who live in Israel and their parents from England for breakfast/brunch at the Inbal Hotel on Jabotinski Street. It was a very nice morning. It was interesting to see how the the Inbal had constructed a massive Sukkah in the courtyard of the hotel as well as around part of the outer perimeter. Later that day, I spent Shabbat with the Bermans.

 

On Sunday, I spent the day wandering the streets of Jerusalem with my camera (a Nikon D80 dSLR with SB-600 speedlight and a 18-70mm Nikkor DX lens). I started off at the Shuk Arba Minim (the market for the Four Species for Sukkot) that was set up on Yaffa Street just west of Machane Yehudah (if I remember correctly). There were a significant number of vendors selling various Lulavim, Etrogim and the like. Each time I would make eye contact with a seller, he would begin trying to sell me his offerings. More times than not, the seller would talk to me in English, I suppose able to recognize me as a non-native.

I then ventured over to the Shuk, Machane Yehudah, with more of a goal of taking photos of the colourful scenes than making a purchase. I met an overly friendly vendor selling his art and other nicknacks.

I then made my way toward the Mea Shearim / Geula area, the streets were crowded with people buying and selling Arba Minim (Four Species), Sukkah decorations, and building materials for constructing Sukkahs. I picked up an inexpensive tape measure that, in addition to inches, has markings for the Biblical/Mishnaic measurement units that are used for, among other areas of Jewish law, constructing a valid Sukkah and ensuring a Lulav of adequate length.

 

I’ve been thinking about an interesting phenomenon that I have observed here in Israel. With regard to homes and buildings, it seems that here in Israel there is less of a separation between what is outside and what is inside. Whereas in Vancouver, by and large in my observation, people do not extend their indoor mode of living so naturally to the outdoors – in terms of using the outdoor space on their property in the manner that one would use indoor space – by contrast, in Israel, it seems that outdoor space functions as more of an extension of indoor space, rather than something separate that demands its own mode of use entirely. I am told that this is evidently due to the dry weather conditions that exist for most of the year. I nonetheless find it quite interesting. During the holiday of Sukkot, where people dine and sleep in their Sukkahs, this relationship between outdoor and indoor living space becomes even more emphasized. 

Last night I attended a Simchat Beit HaShoeva – a celebration mirroring the celebration in the Beit HaMigdash (Temple) during Sukkot that would include the water libation ceremony, though contemporary celebrations do not include this ceremony – at Darche Noam / Shapell’s. It was a nice evening consisting of refreshments in the Sukkah with a D’var Torah, followed by rounds of dancing to live music. Sukkot is described in our liturgy as “Z’man Simchataynu” – the time of our rejoicing. While all the Jewish festivals consist of happiness, Sukkot stands as special in this regard, where happiness and rejoicing is effectively legislated as a explicit fundamental component of the Chag. Perhaps one way of looking at this is to understand Pesach as the time of redemption for the Jewish people, then Shavuot as the time we receive the Torah, followed by the introspective month of Elul that precedes Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, which in turn is the time of our collective judgement, where Sukkot is the joyous culmination of this yearly cycle.

Today I went down to the Old City and prayed Shacharit (the morning prayer service) at the Kotel (Western Wall). Today, as it was the second day of Chol HaMoed (the intermediate days of Sukkot) – or the first for those from outside of Israel (like myself) – there was a large scale Birkat HaKohanim (the Priestly Blessing that Kohanim recite) at the Kotel. The Old City and the Kotel Plaza in particular were packed with people. It took a significant amount of time to get down to the Kotel itself. When coming back up, I found myself squeezed into a narrow block of the Jewish Quarter, with a huge number of other people all pushing and yelling to get through. It was a rather uncomfortable experience to say the least. I had lunch with friends at Rimon in the new mall just outside the Jaffa Gate. It was really good food. We ate in the restaurant’s massive Sukkah. We then walked around the Old City for a while and observed the festivities.

 

That’s it for now. Feel free to comment by clicking the comment link below. Please note that to protect against spam if you comment you will now need to enter the text in the box below the comment field (it is also part of a project to digitize old books that computer OCR software cannot read).

Upsherin

Yesterday, I had the privilege to attend the Upsherin of Yeheskel Berman (Rabbi Berman’s 5th son). Upsherin is a custom that some observant Jews practice, which involves allowing a boy’s hair to grow uncut until he is three years old, at which time there is a ceremony of sorts where his hair is cut, marking the transition from being a baby to a boy ready to begin his education. I have known Yeheskel since the day he was born in Vancouver three years ago so it was quite moving to be a part of this milestone.

The ceremony was held at the Kever Shmuel HaNavi (the Tomb of the Prophet Samuel), just north of Jerusalem near Ramot. After a brief speech by his father, Yeheskel’s grandparents took turns cutting little locks of his hair. We all then returned to the Bermans’ home, where the rest of the guests took turns cutting, and then enjoyed a celebratory dinner. Yeheskel’s hair was cut short, after which he received numerous birthday gifts. It was a very nice evening and so great to be part of such a celebration.

 

Four Species

This afternoon, back at Shapell’s, a man selling three of the Four Species – Lulav, Etrog, Hadas (myrtle branch), and Arava (willow branch) – that one shakes on Sukkot set up shop in the courtyard. It was quite a lot of fun to choose each of the components that make up the Four Species (the Arava was not sold, because it would have dried out by the time Sukkot begins). The Yeshiva brought in three Rabbinic experts to help us verify that each component we were to buy is Kosher, or fit for use, to perform the Mitzvah. I would venture to say that Sukkot is my favourite Jewish holiday – it’s just so much fun and so aesthetically beautiful. I have been quite excited to experience it here in Israel.

 

That’s all for now. Feel free to leave a comment by clicking the comments link below.

Wishing you a meaningful Yom Kippur! G’mar Chatima Tova.