Yom Kippur in TA!

Yom Kippur in Israel is like something I've never experienced before.  Everything in the city of Tel Aviv shut down around 1:30pm on Friday - and I mean everything.  In the states, even on the most religious of holidays, one could surely find plenty of shops and restaurants open.  But not here - it's apparently against the law for any place of business to be open on this day.  As a result, as nighttime fell on TA, the streets grew eerily quiet - no vendors calling out to customers, no cars or buses whizzing by, no music belting from storefront windows.  Then, new sounds brewed in the streets.  People were walking, biking, sitting, gathering.  It was like pedestrians taking back the land that they have coveted all this time, and Yom Kippur gave them the chance to be out and about like cars never took over.  I guess it doesn't sound all that exciting, but it was one of the coolest things I've ever seen.  A few of the gals and I took a stroll to Rabin Square to catch the action, or rather, lack thereof.  Granted, this was not the first time I've experienced pedestrian take over of the streets - clearly concerts, 5K's, special events, etc. have often been a cause for restricted driving and walking with abandon in places not usually allowed.  But this was very different.  People were hanging around in the streets, sitting on curbs, medians, intersections...and the biggest difference?  There was no direct "event" to pull them from their homes on a warm September evening.  No amplified music, no speech to hear, no food vendors, no art to be seen...just people.  The sound of people chattering away, some praying, many gossiping filled the streets, punctuated with playful laughter of children as they chased each other around on bikes.  Many donned the traditional white dress, which symbolizes our purity, in hopes that God will inscribe us into the aforementioned Book of Life when he passes his judgement onto us.  Me, I wore green, guess I hadn't really thought about the white garb.  Perhaps Saturday, while attempting to fast (it never really seems to go well for me...) I'll pull an old white standby out of the closet, and hope for the best. 

Addition:  so fasting for me went as it usually does...not well.  But on the plus side, I went for a leisurely stroll around the city and ended up at the beach, where I spent a good 2 hours sitting, listening, reading & writing.  It was glorious!  Later in the evening, my usual crew and I prepared an amazing break the fast feast (for those that actually fasted, and for others, like myself, that just enjoy cooking/eating/socializing!)  Thanks to Lynne, I have a crock pot and made my first successful meal in it!  Basically threw in lots of fresh veggies, spices & lentils and let it do it's thing...and of course it came out amazing :)  Thanks Lynne!  On a related note..if you have any crock pot recipes, send them my way!  First Hebrew test is in the morning...so the rest of my Sunday will be spent doing some much needed studying...

By the way, this is the A3 room as we refer to it...home of Annie, Alee & Anna - my room is shockingly similar to this one, but next door.  Perhaps a future post will highlight my humble abode...but I need to do some decorating first!