Shana Tovah

Rosh Hashana in Israel is really an amazing ordeal. Rather than the holiday season being late December, the country is alive with it right now. Every where I have been in the last week I have gotten happy new year wishes and this is a welcomed change from a “Merry Christmas” when I go to the grocery store.

I remember in elementary school, the week before Christmas we went into the auditorium every morning and sang Christmas carols. Well, here at uplan we spent a few days learning Rosh Hashana songs and then put on a whole show for everyone at the absorption center.There was a feast of apples and honey and lots of singing and dancing! Continued...

The whole country takes off 2 days for the holiday. And so that means everything stops. Since there is nothing to do, the days become more family orientated than Thanksgiving in America. Nobody travels or does any shopping because nothing is up and running. So what this meant for me was I needed a family. Thankfully one happened to be available and took me in! My mom met a women when she was in Israel many years ago who befriended her and showed her around the country, and she too, invited me to her home for the holiday! It was wonderful. This is the vew from the back of their home. Rosh Hashana dinner was the most amazing food, again I am allowed to spend a few days of my diet of hummus and pita, and it was great to spend time with a huge family and kids. Everyone was so welcoming and I felt very at home. During the next day, we traveled around the north of Israel. We were staying in a town called Nahariya which is north of Haifa. We went to cavesthat you can walk in and around which was very cool. Then we went on a small hike that you could see forever! It was very beautiful. We were even right next to Lebanon

The next day we went to a museam and saw some neat exhibits. There was a statue of a suitcase with roots, and an outdoor part with a lot of other statues.