Thursday, November 6, 2008

Holidays in the last month

Once again I realize it has been WAY TOO LONG since I’ve written a long and meaningful update! So – here we go! A novel dedicated for all of you back home – informing you of the goings-on and happenings since I got back from Jordan…
First of all was Yom Kippur – or Day of Atonement – was the day after I got back home, and it was also the day I got sick. Before that I hadn’t taken a nap or slept at all during the daytime… but Yom Kippur I slept for 3 hours and all through the night and felt pretty ill for about a week after that. I’m not sure if I caught a bug/virus, or it was simply due to the loss of adrenaline after the excitement of the trip… but it wasn’t fun. Today I still have sniffle but the sick feeling was gone after about a week…
Yom Kippur was very interesting though. It is the most holy day in the Jewish culture and its purpose is to become right with God – or receive “atonement” for your sins. Biblically this was the one day of the year the priest would enter the holy of holies, as well as make lots of sacrifices for the nation of Israel. Of course there hasn’t been a temple since 70AD… so today many orthodox Jew will sacrifice a chicken, but for the most part they simply try to be “better” people – and hope that by being better around the holiday, their good works will outweigh their bad, and God will look more favorably on them. It’s a little more complicated than that… but that’s the simple version of holiday as it is today…
The whole country closes in recognition of this day! It’s like a super-extreme Shabbot (Sabbath) – where it’s even illegal to drive in most all areas, and all street lights are turned off! It’s fun because people are free to walk down the middle of the roads without ever having to worry about a car coming.
Several of us went to synagogue that morning and watched as the priests and people all prayed and went through the holy day routine. It actually reminded me very much of the Catholic churches in the area – a very beautiful building, beautiful clothes on the priests, and lots of standing and sitting and praying… but the service was in Hebrew and we never really had any idea what was happening.
About a week later the Feast of Tabernacles began – and most of the Orthodox Jews (and many of the kosher shops/stores) build Sukkots (pronounced sue-coat). These are basically little temporary dwellings build in recognition of the tents the Israelites stayed in so many centuries ago in the wilderness. This holiday is a huge change from the somber mood of Yom Kippur – everything changes to celebration.
The sukkot itself generally has 3 or 4 walls (with a door) made of plywood and 2x4s, and a roof of palm branches. The holiday lasts a whole week – and the sukkots stay up the whole time. Families will use these to eat and sometimes sleep in, and cafes will generally use them to allow customers to eat outside.
In classes – things are going well… we’re coming in to the last leg of the semester though! Only about 1 month left! This means that it’s time to buckle down and finish up the big papers that will be due in a few weeks! …one due in Daniel class, and one in Revelation… as well as a few projects for the Study Tours class…
In other, more random news, I have learned to knit!! I’m pretty excited! J I haven’t made much yet – I really only know how to make a scarf… but I’m working on learning more! There’s a yarn shop nearby the apartment and I now own not only great yarn, but also knitting needles and a crochet hook! So I now have a brand new pass-time as I sit and listen to Chuck Tracts! Haha!