Back to Shul, Back to School

Shalom and Bruchim Ha'baim.

The past few days have been filled with many wonderful events and moments. I've been blogging all of it in my head, and now it is time to edit and share with all of you.

On Thursday evening we celebrated finishing the bulk of our Orientation sessions with a trip to the Israel Museum. It was there that we indulged in the annual Jerusalem Wine Festival, a large gathering of dozens of wineries based here in Israel. Each had their own booth to showcase several of their best bitter, semi-decent wines. A delightful jazz band played as we meandered. It was held in the Sculpture Garden, where the famous Ahava (love) sculpture resides.


The event featured hundreds of happy, relaxed, and most likely inebriated people from all corners of the globe. Which was refreshing, considering earlier that evening each HUC student and SO received a text message from one of our administrators saying there was a Security Threat and we were to avoid the shuk and Ben Yehuda. Add Wednesday's tragic events to the mix, and you had one huge collective sigh of happiness from oenophiles and wine neophytes alike.

The Festival was an opportunity to do more than just enjoy our evening and have a good time. It was a chance to see a burgeoning part of Israeli agriculture, to converse with Israelis, Germans, Brits and Americans about anything and everything under the sun. (Or moon) Finally, it was yet another way to experience Israeli culture in some capacity outside the Americanized bubble that surrounds Hebrew Union College. I had a wonderful time with my classmates and with Adam, and we returned from the Museum with grand smiles on our faces.


The very next evening, Friday to be exact, we took part in our 2nd HUC Shabbat b'yachad. (together) It was absolutely wonderful. Really and truly great. The service itself felt warmer and more inclusive than the past several t'filah (prayer) sessions we have partaken in. The leaders, our fearless interns Haim, Lydia, and Dan, did a fabulous job. And, the past several days of getting closer to my classmates has only added to the feeling of connectedness and community that I've craved since we arrived.

After services we indulged in a delicious dinner, followed by an absolutely beautiful ruach (spirit) session. A bunch of my classmates brought out their guitars and began to play the familiar tunes of our youths. Everyone was singing and dancing along, and it really felt like a cohesive togetherness. Rather than contemplate the implications of how each of us connected to the guitar-based camp-style singalong music, I simply enjoyed myself. I connected to it all without even thinking about whether or not I would connect to it. It simply flowed, and it felt great.

Saturday morning's services were even better, and they left me rejuvenated and thrilled to be here in Israel celebrating Shabbat. Services were led by the dean of our school, Rabbi Marmur, and the dean of the Cantorial program, Cantor Havilio. Rather than go into what I liked or didn't like about the service itself, I will instead focus on the fact that they both translated tremendous connection with what they were doing. Regardless of their choice of words or the tunes we sang, I loved the service because their passion was so evident.

And, I will say that Rabbi Marmur is brilliant. I spent the whole rest of the day rhapsodizing about his brilliance, how interesting his sermon was, how erudite and yet wholly relatable his words are, and how dead-on he is about everything he says. It gives me great comfort to know he is leading this program. I cannot wait to just bask in his glow and learn from him this year.

Finally, Saturday evening we invited the entire class over to our apartment for dinner and Havdallah. It was a beautiful evening and everyone had a great time. I was so shocked by how many times people thanked us for hosting, and how often someone asked if there was anything they could help with. A few of them even did some dishes! They insisted! I could not believe it. I was honestly and truly blown away.

With fellow future rabbi Josh on our patio

What's special about this class, and what continues to surprise me, is that despite different backgrounds and personalities everyone seems to have a whole lot of respect for one another and a tremendous desire to build community. After searching for three stars in the sky, our Havdallah began. Lauren read a poem, and I said some rabbi-ish words. Then the entire group formed a circle and wrapped their arms around one another on our tiny little patio, spilling themselves onto the dirt area just so we could be linked together. That really moved me.

Cantorial student Jessie and SO Chad with Havdallah gear.

As Havdallah turned into Saturday night, and Saturday night became Sunday morning, we made our way to school at 8:30am to officially begin our HUC educations. That's right. We finally started! So far, school is good. The history class was mamash interesting, and my Hebrew teacher is awesome. Give me a few days, I'll write a full analysis.

Many hugs from an official HUC-JIR student in Israel.

Love,
Jaclyn