שנה טובה ומתוקה!

Shana Tovah Umetuka!

A happy and sweet new year to you all!!!

I’ll drop a quick update to you all before I turn my computer and all electronics off for the weekend (until sundown on Sunday!)

This morning, we woke up at 830, davened and had a quick breakfast. We then went down to the basement of beit nativ and had a study session. There were 3 – 45 minute sessions available; with each session have 4 different options of things to study.

The first session that I went to was studying the torah portion that is read during the second day of Rosh Hashanah, also known עקידת יצחק (Akedat Yitzchak). Or better known as the “Binding of Isaac”. This is when g-d goes to Abraham and tells him to slaughter his son, Isaac. Abraham obeys and when he is about to sacrifice his favorite son, an angel of g-d stops him, telling him to sacrifice a nearby ram instead. The angel did this because Abraham showed that he had complete faith in g-d, and had trust. To me, this story is amazing, and shows how strong a person's belief can be. But other people in the limud (class) were voicing their opinion on how they disliked the story because some people don’t know why g-d would ask that of anyone… I find it interesting to see other people’s perspective on the torah!

The second limud I went to was all about the service and the machzor (books used for the high holidays). It was interesting and I learned a lot about the upcoming services. We learned the difference between the high holiday services and a normal Shabbat or daily service. It was really interesting and I learned a lot, even though I thought I wouldn’t.

The third and final limud I went to was learning about the traditions, customs and laws for Rosh Hashanah. Once again, I felt like I wasn’t going to learn that much, but the joke was on me, as I learned SO much and had a fun time while doing it!

After we finished, we (Seffi, Josh, David, Tyler, Judah and I) went out for lunch. We wanted to go get pizza, but we were sick of the same pizza place that was a 15-minute walk away. So we found a new place, about 5 minutes away, which was the same price, run by an American who made aliyah (moved to Israel) and tasted amazing. I think we found our new go-to place for pizza!

After the pizza, the boys and I went to do something that I’ve never done, nor would I have ever thought to ever do. We went to a mikvah (a spiritual bath). The purpose of a mikvah (in our case) is to achieve ritual purity for the new upcoming year. It was a totally amazing experience! It started out by each of us going into a little booth to undress and take a shower before going into the mikvah. After we were done in the shower, we would individual go into the mikvah, say the Schecheyanu (the prayer said on special/new/unusual occasions) and dunk our heads underwater 3 times, so we were completely submerged, then got out. Once we left the mikvah water, we were considered to be “pure”. Although it sounds kinda weird and unusual, it was a great experience, and it set the tone for the upcoming transition into the Jewish year of 5770!

i’ll update you all after the holiday and let you know how it goes! I wish the best to everyone reading this and shana tova to all!

Love Always,
Seth Daniel