The Intermediate Days of Pesach

We are now in the intermediate days of Pesach, and almost everything is closed for the entire week. Just about the only exceptions are grocery stores. This is the norm all over Israel.

Today (Thursday) I went with some friends on a short trip into the mountains to a park near the Hadassah Hospital near En Kerem. There are some very nice views and a wonderful nature trail. I have put some of these below for your enjoyment.

The yellow plant below is mustard. Yes, you CAN eat it!

In the picture below there is an old train track area next to the road. This was the first train route built by the Ottomans, and it ran from Jaffa to Jerusalem.

The red plant below is called, in Hebrew, the Dom Maccabeem. The English translation is blood of the Maccabees. This flower is used to symbolize all those who have perished in any Israeli conflicts.

The white flower is a variety of garlic.

The last picture is of a friend’s dog, a Husky.

Pesach in Jerusalem

In Jerusalem for Passover!  WOW!!!!!!!!!

As I expressed in earlier posts, Passover here in Jerusalem is like no place else. People have been busy preparing for the last one to two weeks, some even more than that.

Our own preparations included a thorough cleaning of the entire apartment, koshering the cooking utensils and silverware, koshering the sink and searching for and removing all chametz from the apartment.

On Monday, prior to the onset of Passover at sundown, I went to the mikvah (ritual bath). This was an entirely new experience for me, and left me feeling spiritually elevated and clean. I had perceived during meditation a couple weeks ago that I was supposed to do this, but had not done so yet. My dunk in the mikvah allowed me to fulfill that obligation, and I felt extremely good about doing it.

I went to a friend’s apartment here in Jerusalem for the Passover Seder. While walking there I heard the sound of young children singing the four questions coming from a Seder there were obviously already in progress. If I hadn’t been in the mood before, that by itself would have done it.

Our Seder started about 35 minutes after I arrived, and was very much the same in many ways as any Seder I have ever been to. The atmosphere was extremely jovial, and I was surrounded by people that I knew. Most of these friends have significantly more religious training than I do, so the conversations were interesting and quite lively. The Seder ended a little after midnight, which is early for Jerusalem. I understand that the Seder my flat-mate went to did not end until 4:30 AM!!!

While I was walking back to the apartment I heard the sounds of large groups singing Passover songs as they were approaching the end of their Seders. The sounds made me smile, and I was quite content.

Erev Pesach

Today is Erev Pesach. Things this morning seemed a bit hectic as people all over were burning any chametz that they found during their search last night. Similar to the stations for koshering cookware and flatware, there were stations every few blocks for burning chametz. The pictures below were taken within 6 blocks of the apartment.

I also went to the mikveh (ritual bath) today for the first time. It was a very pleasant and rewarding experience. It is through immersion in water at the mikveh that one is purified, and as a result I feel a stronger connection to HaShem.

I will be attending a seder (literally this means “order”, but in this context is a holiday meal) this evening at a friend’s home a few blocks away and then services tomorrow morning. I expect the seder to be very similar to what we experience in the US, but the feeling here is VERY different. I cannot really explain it, but when 75% or more of the country is all doing the same thing at the same time it just feels more special and much more personal. I know that sounds like a contradiction, but it is not. The whole experience takes on a more personal meaning.

I will undoubtedly post something about the seder later this week.

Until then ----- חג שמח פסח --- Happy Passover!!!!!!!

Shabbat HaGadol

Yesterday was Shabbat haGadol, the Sabbath before Pesach. I went to the Conservative synagogue for services Saturday morning. Much to my surprise I was asked if I would lead the Shacharit part of the service. I gladly accepted that honor.

As I have mentioned in the past, I am being taught many cantorial techniques. I have been practicing these and trying to incorporate them into all of the pieces that I have learned, not just the High Holy Days material that I am learning now.

The end result is that I was told by the Rabbi, the Schliach Tzibur (their cantor) and several of the regular congregants that had heard me before that this was the best that they had ever heard me do. I found this to be quite interesting as I was not satisfied with it. I made a couple mistakes which apparently they did not catch. On the walk back to my apartment I was talking to the cantor, who lives not far from me, and told her that I had actually switched tunes at one point after starting a piece because nobody was singing along. She had not noticed that I did that, but the congregation joined in immediately after I made the change.

The entire experience was a great honor for me, and I am grateful for it in several ways.

First, by itself it is an honor to lead a service, ANY service. Second, it is a special honor to lead on Shabbat haGadol.

The most important reason is that I had started to doubt myself and if what I was doing was really G-d’s will for me. I had felt a separation from Him and could not feel His presence as I had since arriving in Israel in June. I have no doubt that this was self imposed and I have been praying about it since January. While walking to shul I prayed for Him to give me a sign if this was what He wanted.

 I believe I got my answer.

The rest of the day was absolutely beautiful. I sat outside for a while on our balcony, just listening to the birds sing and feeling the warm sun on my face. It was mostly quiet except for the birds and the occasional meow of one of the local feline residents. This afforded me the opportunity to thank HaShem for His answer, His support, the beautiful day that He gave us and many other things.

All-in-all, Shabbat haGadol was a marvelous day for me, and I wanted to share some of that joy with you.

A Beautiful Friday Afternoon in Jerusalem

I went out walking today (15 April 2011) and wanted to share a couple of pictures taken locally. The first two are some Yeshiva students on the street corner a couple blocks from my apartment. They are koshering cookware for Pesach, something about which I posted the other day.

In the first picture, they are dipping cookware in boiling water.

The second picture show them using blowtorches to kasher a stove-top grill.

The last picture is just a house that I found interesting. It is most likely an old Arab home.