This past week has been a little less hectic than usual. We only went on two tiyulim so we had a lot of time just being on campus and catching up on general studies.

On Monday we went to Belvoir and Tzfat. We learned about the Crusades, explored a well preserved Crusader castle, and also learned about kabbalah and its origins. In Tzfat we went to a really cool art gallery where the artist combines art and the teachings of kabbalah. It was interesting to learn about a different side of Judaism and how we can incorporate its teachings into our lives. The rest of the week was spent on campus until Shabbat. We went back to Tzfat and I had a really good time there. My favorite part was when we went to a synagogue for Havdalah. Everyone was jumping and singing and laughing; it was so much fun. That weekend we also went to an ancient water system and everyone sang together in the cave.

This week we were asked to talk about an “only in Israel” moment. For me, that would have to have been on Yom Kippur. That night everyone went to their respective synagogues for Neilah and then we all met up on this street in Jerusalem. Just being in Jerusalem on Yom Kippur was really cool; there are zero cars in the street and you can walk around freely. In a way, you can also kind of feel the spirit of the holiday all around you- you pass by religious people everywhere in the streets, all the shops are closed, and there are signs everywhere that say “G’mar Chatimah Tovah” and other signs symbolizing the chag. It’s much different than in Miami; while there are a lot of Jews, you just don’t get the same feeling as you do in Israel. It’s not like the whole of Miami shuts down for just this one day.

After services ended, we started walking to the street. When we got there, the gap year program Nativ was sitting in a circle. We joined them and started to sing a bunch of songs in Hebrew. It reminded me a lot of something that I do at camp, Sloach, where we all sit in a circle in our cheder ochel and sing some of the same songs. Hearing everyone just singing their hearts out and just having a good time in the middle of a random street in Jerusalem was truly an experience that I’ll never forget, and it really was something that only could have happened in Israel.

It’s crazy that almost two months have passed already. Sometimes it feels like time is going by so fast, and other times it feels like we still have so much time left here. On Tuesday we’re going on our Yam LeYam trip, where we will hike from the Mediterranean Sea to the Kineret. While I’m not particularly excited to not be able to shower for four days, I am looking forward to the bonding experiences and memories that I know will happen during this trip.