A Long-Winded Post
I am so, so thirsty! Today is Tisha B’Av, a major day of mourning in the Jewish calendar. The time at which the fast was supposed to begin was nightfall last night – around 7:30 p.m. – but I was headed to the yeshiva to walk with others to the Western Wall so I really stopped eating just before 7. Now, as I write this, I have just over an hour left before I can eat and drink again and I am very thirsty. The fast ends at 8:04 p.m. and inside our refrigerator is a very cold bottle of Coca Cola, some fresh plums, grapes, and cold hummus, along with some fresh pita that I bought this afternoon, that I will devour at precisely 8:04 p.m.
Last night was an amazing experience. It was overwhelmingly incredibly to experience Tisha B’Av at night in the Old City at the Western Wall. We walked to the Old City with about twenty fellow students and there were hundreds and hundreds of others walking in the same direction – to be at the Western Wall of the Second Temple, destroyed in the year 70, to begin a day of mourning for that very Temple’s destruction.
We arrived at the Wall at nightfall and headed down to the egalitarian section where men and women can pray together. I had not been to that area before, having taken the typical route to the men’s only and women’s only sections. The egalitarian area is amazing – you’re several stories below the typical men/women area and you’re standing within ancient Roman ruins that were built next to the temple. We sat on an ancient Roman road that ran adjacent to the Temple. (It is tradition to sit during Tisha B’Av and I repeated this activity during morning services at the synagogue today; however, the synagogue has carpet and the Roman road does not.) In front of us, hundreds of feet high, was the wall itself – standing there for two thousand years. It’s difficult to appreciate the antiquity of this place, even when surrounded by it. Adjacent to the wall are the remains of what look to be small staircases going up a few feet but they are walls that divided ancient shopkeeper stalls along the road. After all, the triennial trips to Jerusalem for the three festivals brought in considerable commerce to the city and these salesman knew the principle of location, location, location. Behind us are walls that remain from Roman-era structures; the foundations of several columns are quite visible. I didn’t feel comfortable taking pictures on Tisha B’Av so I’ll have to go back soon and get some photos.
The evening service started, led by a rabbi. Later into the typical evening service, as is tradition for the day, the Book of Lamentations was read. Everything was said or chanted in Hebrew so I was glad I’d brought my English-Hebrew Tanakh (Hebrew Bible). The sound of the chant on this mournful day is a sad one and its words (have you read the book? It’s incredibly depressing) and sound brought tears to many.
We were at the Wall from about 8 to nearly 10 p.m. and then we headed back home to the western part of the city. Leaving the Western Wall, it felt like we were leaving a concert or baseball game – thousands and thousands of people were streaming from the Wall and the Old City and into the streets of the not-so-Old City and toward home late at night. Already I was getting thirsty from the walk to the Wall and from the length of the evening.
Finally, at about 11 p.m., I arrived home. I woke up at 6:30 this morning to go to morning services at the synagogue next door to the yeshiva – there were only a handful of others who made the early (7 a.m.) service. The morning service included another mournful reading of the Book of Lamentations.
After leaving the synagogue and on the way to the grocery store across the street, suddenly sirens broke the calm morning air. Two tiny sleek gold motorcycles drove to block cars at two points in the intersection. Two men were on each of the motorcycles, dressed all in leather. A police car, siren wailing, blocked another portion of the intersection. Two men jumped off the back of each of the motorcycles with a huge machine gun in their hands and stood in front of the cars, effectively blocking their path. In about a minute, several SUVs with sirens blaring and lights flashing flew through the intersection and turned left, heading north on King George. I wish I’d had my camera, especially to take photos of the bad-ass dudes with huge machine guns, but maybe they would’ve shot me so I’m glad I didn’t have my camera. Anyway, that was the most impressive motorcade I’ve seen. It certainly tops anything I’ve seen in Washington D.C. and I did get locked in the Library of Congress gift shop when they First Lady went to the library and that was a nice motorcade but here in Israel, they do it right.
On the way back, I had to stop by the store to pick up some cleaning supplies and some food for tonight and thus I had to carry it all back to the apartment. At some point in my walk, the bags decided to rip themselves apart. After struggling with readjusting my items to avoid the growing holes in the bags, I happened upon a recycle bin and sitting next to it was a intact cardboard box. I placed my groceries in the box and carried my supplies home. I was getting more and more tired and more and more thirsty. Oh, water! Oh, Coca Cola! Oh, lemon mint drink! Oh, anything to quench my thirst in the sun which is beginning to warm up with city.
I arrived home with a mushy head form lack of sleep and calories and tried to work but could not. Unfortunately, we don’t yet have the ability to share an Internet connection so Jen and I have to switch – it’s frustrating but we’ll solve it soon. I’m actually writing this offline and will post it once I’m done and can swap the cable from Jen’s computer to mine.
We spent some time cleaning the kitchen in anticipation of making it kosher. I tried to nap but could not. I tried to read but could not. I wanted to drink but could not.
Soon, noon rolled around and it was time to go to the yeshiva. Regularly scheduled classes were cancelled for today (thank goodness!) but there was a talk before the afternoon service and after the afternoon service. I headed to the first talk, which started at 12:30 this afternoon. I was walking so very slowly. Listening to the rabbi lecture, I could hardly pay attention – I was so glad he didn’t make us partner up and discuss the text he was lecturing on. At 1:30 it was time for Mincha, the afternoon service. On Tisha B’Av, one does not put on their tallit and tefillin in the morning but instead, it is done in the afternoon. The afternoon service also includes a reading from the Torah, which is a typical morning activity. After Mincha, I could not last another lecture so I went home. The sun was blazing hot and I was thirsty, hungry, sweaty, and tired. Did I mention that another aspect of the Tisha B’Av fast involves not showering in the morning? Well, it does, so I was not enjoying the additional application of sweat to my body. In addition, one does not wear leather shoes so Jen and I bought Crocs yesterday – they’re basically plastic sweat factories for your feet! Fun fun!
I arrived home at about 3ish and continued doing laundry. As is typical in Israel, we do not have a dryer at our new apartment so today I got to experience a clothes line for the first time ever. I was thrilled that I didn’t loose any clothes today to the strong winds we have here on top of the building on the top of the ridge. The gusts can get pretty strong outside and, when all the windows are open, inside the apartment.
I have nothing to do except think about food and water so you just have to put up with my incredibly long post. By the way, I get to eat in exactly 50 minutes now.
So, yesterday we walked a lot! We left campus after Hebrew to do some shopping for our apartment. We walked north to the department store to try to find a flat sheet for out bed. Apparently, set of sheets only include a fitted sheet, a duvet cover, and pillow cases. Flat sheets between oneself and the comforter don’t exist. The department store didn’t have any. Then, we finally went to the Shuk, the outdoor market, for the first time.
The Shuk reminded me of what Farmer’s Market at Third Street and Fairfax in Los Angeles used to be, before it was turned into the trendy “The Grove.” Anyway, if you haven’t been to a Middle Eastern marketplace – there are hundreds and hundreds of booths selling mostly fresh food but the occasional housewares or Judaica booth pops up. There are lots of fish, meat, produce, spice, and baked goods vendors at the Shuk. The experience is sensory overload – sort of like a U.S. mall on the day after Thanksgiving. We bought some housewares (salt and pepper shaker, flatware container, and some plastic containers) at the Shuk. Then, we walked some more and some more, continually on the lookout for some Crocs.
Now, Crocs are extremely popular here in Jerusalem. They’re plastic shoes that look incredibly ugly and they only come in hideous colors. Everyone is wearing them. They’re worn with socks and, more popularly, without socks. Apparently, they’re formal wear as well as informal wear because we see them with every type of outfit possible.
Up until yesterday, we felt that everywhere we looked, there were Crocs for sale but yesterday, they must’ve sold out everywhere from people trying to buy non-leather shoes for Tisha B’Av. Every store we passed that had a huge display rack out front in previous weeks had no Crocs to be seen. We kept walking down Ben Yehuda street, the large pedestrian mall here in town. Finally, near the end of the street we found a store that had Crocs.
We went in and started looking for a pair for each of us. Crocs are sized small, medium, large, XL, XXL, and XXXL. I started with large and they felt snug but good while XL felt too big. I settled on large but the only colors available were powder blue, florescent pink, and florescent green. I figured, with a name like Crocs, it has to be green! Jen bought a pair in powder blue.
I wore my Crocs all last night to the Wall and this morning to synagogue and this afternoon to the yeshiva for Mincha and when I wear them, they’re comfortable to walk in but they might be too tight as my toes are sort of squished. You can’t return anything in Israel so since I’m not a huge Croc fan, I might just stick with this almost too small pair and just wear them only when I have to – the next and last time will be Yom Kippur next month.
We had planned to go out to a nice dinner before the fast started but we didn’t realize that all the restaurants close at about 4 p.m. on the afternoon before Tisha B’Av. Thus, we were really unprepared to start the fast so for dinner I only ate a bowl of instant soup, a peach, a bottle of Coca Cola, and a part of a small bag of Bamba – Israel’s favorite snack food. Bamba are peanut butter puffs. They’re like puffy Cheetos but they’re peanut butter flavored. They’re an acquired taste but they’re very popular. Anyway, I didn’t eat nearly enough. Some fellow students cheated and went to a non-kosher Ethiopian restaurant for dinner and stayed there, eating and eating just until it was time to walk (or waddle) to the Wall. Our plans fell apart because our kitchen wasn’t ready for us after having just moved. We really shouldn’t have moved two days before a significant Jewish holiday when we knew we’d need to make our new kitchen kosher.
Someone recently said that fast days don’t allow Jews to loose weight because we end up eating several far too large of meals right before the fast and then after the fast, we eat several days worth of food as well.
Jen just said that my lips are dry and cracking. At least they’re not bleeding. Well, in thirty-one minutes my problem will be solved when I drink two liters of water in one gulp. Oh, I am so thirsty. I wish I had eaten a huge steak along with a plethora of fruits and vegetables and gallons of water from 6:30 to 7:30 last night. Several students chose not to walk to the Wall in order to conserve calories. That’s a good idea.
OK, I’m done writing for now. Jen promises that she’s going to blog right after she eats and takes a shower. You don’t want a stinky blogger, do you?!
(I didn’t stop writing – I added the paragraph about the motorcade and now I have 20 minutes until I get to drink two liters of Coca Cola. And, I promise it wasn’t a hunger and thirst-induced hallucination! There were other witnesses!)
Last night was an amazing experience. It was overwhelmingly incredibly to experience Tisha B’Av at night in the Old City at the Western Wall. We walked to the Old City with about twenty fellow students and there were hundreds and hundreds of others walking in the same direction – to be at the Western Wall of the Second Temple, destroyed in the year 70, to begin a day of mourning for that very Temple’s destruction.
We arrived at the Wall at nightfall and headed down to the egalitarian section where men and women can pray together. I had not been to that area before, having taken the typical route to the men’s only and women’s only sections. The egalitarian area is amazing – you’re several stories below the typical men/women area and you’re standing within ancient Roman ruins that were built next to the temple. We sat on an ancient Roman road that ran adjacent to the Temple. (It is tradition to sit during Tisha B’Av and I repeated this activity during morning services at the synagogue today; however, the synagogue has carpet and the Roman road does not.) In front of us, hundreds of feet high, was the wall itself – standing there for two thousand years. It’s difficult to appreciate the antiquity of this place, even when surrounded by it. Adjacent to the wall are the remains of what look to be small staircases going up a few feet but they are walls that divided ancient shopkeeper stalls along the road. After all, the triennial trips to Jerusalem for the three festivals brought in considerable commerce to the city and these salesman knew the principle of location, location, location. Behind us are walls that remain from Roman-era structures; the foundations of several columns are quite visible. I didn’t feel comfortable taking pictures on Tisha B’Av so I’ll have to go back soon and get some photos.
The evening service started, led by a rabbi. Later into the typical evening service, as is tradition for the day, the Book of Lamentations was read. Everything was said or chanted in Hebrew so I was glad I’d brought my English-Hebrew Tanakh (Hebrew Bible). The sound of the chant on this mournful day is a sad one and its words (have you read the book? It’s incredibly depressing) and sound brought tears to many.
We were at the Wall from about 8 to nearly 10 p.m. and then we headed back home to the western part of the city. Leaving the Western Wall, it felt like we were leaving a concert or baseball game – thousands and thousands of people were streaming from the Wall and the Old City and into the streets of the not-so-Old City and toward home late at night. Already I was getting thirsty from the walk to the Wall and from the length of the evening.
Finally, at about 11 p.m., I arrived home. I woke up at 6:30 this morning to go to morning services at the synagogue next door to the yeshiva – there were only a handful of others who made the early (7 a.m.) service. The morning service included another mournful reading of the Book of Lamentations.
After leaving the synagogue and on the way to the grocery store across the street, suddenly sirens broke the calm morning air. Two tiny sleek gold motorcycles drove to block cars at two points in the intersection. Two men were on each of the motorcycles, dressed all in leather. A police car, siren wailing, blocked another portion of the intersection. Two men jumped off the back of each of the motorcycles with a huge machine gun in their hands and stood in front of the cars, effectively blocking their path. In about a minute, several SUVs with sirens blaring and lights flashing flew through the intersection and turned left, heading north on King George. I wish I’d had my camera, especially to take photos of the bad-ass dudes with huge machine guns, but maybe they would’ve shot me so I’m glad I didn’t have my camera. Anyway, that was the most impressive motorcade I’ve seen. It certainly tops anything I’ve seen in Washington D.C. and I did get locked in the Library of Congress gift shop when they First Lady went to the library and that was a nice motorcade but here in Israel, they do it right.
On the way back, I had to stop by the store to pick up some cleaning supplies and some food for tonight and thus I had to carry it all back to the apartment. At some point in my walk, the bags decided to rip themselves apart. After struggling with readjusting my items to avoid the growing holes in the bags, I happened upon a recycle bin and sitting next to it was a intact cardboard box. I placed my groceries in the box and carried my supplies home. I was getting more and more tired and more and more thirsty. Oh, water! Oh, Coca Cola! Oh, lemon mint drink! Oh, anything to quench my thirst in the sun which is beginning to warm up with city.
I arrived home with a mushy head form lack of sleep and calories and tried to work but could not. Unfortunately, we don’t yet have the ability to share an Internet connection so Jen and I have to switch – it’s frustrating but we’ll solve it soon. I’m actually writing this offline and will post it once I’m done and can swap the cable from Jen’s computer to mine.
We spent some time cleaning the kitchen in anticipation of making it kosher. I tried to nap but could not. I tried to read but could not. I wanted to drink but could not.
Soon, noon rolled around and it was time to go to the yeshiva. Regularly scheduled classes were cancelled for today (thank goodness!) but there was a talk before the afternoon service and after the afternoon service. I headed to the first talk, which started at 12:30 this afternoon. I was walking so very slowly. Listening to the rabbi lecture, I could hardly pay attention – I was so glad he didn’t make us partner up and discuss the text he was lecturing on. At 1:30 it was time for Mincha, the afternoon service. On Tisha B’Av, one does not put on their tallit and tefillin in the morning but instead, it is done in the afternoon. The afternoon service also includes a reading from the Torah, which is a typical morning activity. After Mincha, I could not last another lecture so I went home. The sun was blazing hot and I was thirsty, hungry, sweaty, and tired. Did I mention that another aspect of the Tisha B’Av fast involves not showering in the morning? Well, it does, so I was not enjoying the additional application of sweat to my body. In addition, one does not wear leather shoes so Jen and I bought Crocs yesterday – they’re basically plastic sweat factories for your feet! Fun fun!
I arrived home at about 3ish and continued doing laundry. As is typical in Israel, we do not have a dryer at our new apartment so today I got to experience a clothes line for the first time ever. I was thrilled that I didn’t loose any clothes today to the strong winds we have here on top of the building on the top of the ridge. The gusts can get pretty strong outside and, when all the windows are open, inside the apartment.
I have nothing to do except think about food and water so you just have to put up with my incredibly long post. By the way, I get to eat in exactly 50 minutes now.
So, yesterday we walked a lot! We left campus after Hebrew to do some shopping for our apartment. We walked north to the department store to try to find a flat sheet for out bed. Apparently, set of sheets only include a fitted sheet, a duvet cover, and pillow cases. Flat sheets between oneself and the comforter don’t exist. The department store didn’t have any. Then, we finally went to the Shuk, the outdoor market, for the first time.
The Shuk reminded me of what Farmer’s Market at Third Street and Fairfax in Los Angeles used to be, before it was turned into the trendy “The Grove.” Anyway, if you haven’t been to a Middle Eastern marketplace – there are hundreds and hundreds of booths selling mostly fresh food but the occasional housewares or Judaica booth pops up. There are lots of fish, meat, produce, spice, and baked goods vendors at the Shuk. The experience is sensory overload – sort of like a U.S. mall on the day after Thanksgiving. We bought some housewares (salt and pepper shaker, flatware container, and some plastic containers) at the Shuk. Then, we walked some more and some more, continually on the lookout for some Crocs.
Now, Crocs are extremely popular here in Jerusalem. They’re plastic shoes that look incredibly ugly and they only come in hideous colors. Everyone is wearing them. They’re worn with socks and, more popularly, without socks. Apparently, they’re formal wear as well as informal wear because we see them with every type of outfit possible.
Up until yesterday, we felt that everywhere we looked, there were Crocs for sale but yesterday, they must’ve sold out everywhere from people trying to buy non-leather shoes for Tisha B’Av. Every store we passed that had a huge display rack out front in previous weeks had no Crocs to be seen. We kept walking down Ben Yehuda street, the large pedestrian mall here in town. Finally, near the end of the street we found a store that had Crocs.
We went in and started looking for a pair for each of us. Crocs are sized small, medium, large, XL, XXL, and XXXL. I started with large and they felt snug but good while XL felt too big. I settled on large but the only colors available were powder blue, florescent pink, and florescent green. I figured, with a name like Crocs, it has to be green! Jen bought a pair in powder blue.
I wore my Crocs all last night to the Wall and this morning to synagogue and this afternoon to the yeshiva for Mincha and when I wear them, they’re comfortable to walk in but they might be too tight as my toes are sort of squished. You can’t return anything in Israel so since I’m not a huge Croc fan, I might just stick with this almost too small pair and just wear them only when I have to – the next and last time will be Yom Kippur next month.
We had planned to go out to a nice dinner before the fast started but we didn’t realize that all the restaurants close at about 4 p.m. on the afternoon before Tisha B’Av. Thus, we were really unprepared to start the fast so for dinner I only ate a bowl of instant soup, a peach, a bottle of Coca Cola, and a part of a small bag of Bamba – Israel’s favorite snack food. Bamba are peanut butter puffs. They’re like puffy Cheetos but they’re peanut butter flavored. They’re an acquired taste but they’re very popular. Anyway, I didn’t eat nearly enough. Some fellow students cheated and went to a non-kosher Ethiopian restaurant for dinner and stayed there, eating and eating just until it was time to walk (or waddle) to the Wall. Our plans fell apart because our kitchen wasn’t ready for us after having just moved. We really shouldn’t have moved two days before a significant Jewish holiday when we knew we’d need to make our new kitchen kosher.
Someone recently said that fast days don’t allow Jews to loose weight because we end up eating several far too large of meals right before the fast and then after the fast, we eat several days worth of food as well.
Jen just said that my lips are dry and cracking. At least they’re not bleeding. Well, in thirty-one minutes my problem will be solved when I drink two liters of water in one gulp. Oh, I am so thirsty. I wish I had eaten a huge steak along with a plethora of fruits and vegetables and gallons of water from 6:30 to 7:30 last night. Several students chose not to walk to the Wall in order to conserve calories. That’s a good idea.
OK, I’m done writing for now. Jen promises that she’s going to blog right after she eats and takes a shower. You don’t want a stinky blogger, do you?!
(I didn’t stop writing – I added the paragraph about the motorcade and now I have 20 minutes until I get to drink two liters of Coca Cola. And, I promise it wasn’t a hunger and thirst-induced hallucination! There were other witnesses!)
posted by Matt at 8:36 PM
1 Comments:
I'm adding this post to the number of books I've read this year!!! =)
Post a Comment
<< Home