Simchat Torah and Dragonfruit

When I last posted, the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah was about to begin. (http://www.chabad.org/holidays/JewishNewYear/template_cdo/aid/4464/jewish/Simchat-Torah-101.htm and http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday6.htm) Simchat Torah is the holiday celebrating when we complete and restart the cycle of reading the Torah. On Simchat Torah, both the last and first section of the Torah is read. It is a very festive, fun holiday with lots of singing, dancing, eating, and celebrating. We went to services at Shir Chadash both Sunday night and Monday morning. During the service, immediately before the Torah reading would typically begin, all of the Torah scrolls are taken out of the ark (where they are stored when not being read), and everyone dances around the person who is holding the Torah. There are seven "rounds" of holding the Torah scrolls and dancing, and certain prayers are said during each round. The songs are of traditional Jewish music and the dances are kind of like the hora you would see at Jewish weddings. Kids are very much included in the celebration. The little ones are on their fathers' shoulders during the dancing, and there's always lots of candy. At Shir Chadash, the women can also hold the Torah scrolls and dance, although the men and women dance separately on their side of the "mecheetzah" (the barrier). That being said, both men and women seemed to peer at the other side to watch their husbands/wives/children dancing. Rachel, the Rabbi's wife, brought me a Torah to hold while a group of women danced around me and sang songs. It was pretty emotional but fun. I was glad Dad was here for the holiday. 

Our synagogue in Cambridge (Temple Beth Shalom) is known for its Simchat Torah services, as hundreds of people, including many students in the Boston/Cambridge area, come to the synagogue to celebrate. Although we had a lot of fun at Shir Chadash, we missed being at TBS.

At sunset last night, Simchat Torah ended. A couple hours later we heard incredibly loud music and noise, like a concert of some sort. We couldn't figure out what it was, but the music got louder and louder as the minutes went on. The boys were already in bed and couldn't sleep because of the noise. I looked out the windows in the dira and could faintly see some neon lights, like the glow lights that kids have at July 4 fireworks in the States. Dad and I went outside to investigate. There was a parade (more like a caravan) led by two huge trucks with flashing neon lights on the top and sides, blaring Hassidic music, with a loudspeaker broadcasting widely through the neighborhood. There were hundreds of Hassidic men, in full Hassidic garb, dancing wildly, and hundreds, if not thousands, of Hassidic women and children following along, singing and shouting. (http://judaism.about.com/od/denominationsofjudaism/a/hasid.htm and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasidic_Judaism)  Apparently, a yeshiva (a religious study institution) nearby has an annual parade during which they carry the "sifrei torah" (literally, Torah books) from the yeshiva to the Rabbi's house. I can't tell you how loud yet festive the parade, but it was also chaotic. All of the secular Israelis in the neighborhood came out to watch as the parade went by.

This morning, Dad, the CK and I went to the Emek, while the WK stayed at Park Moshava with some friends. We needed to go to the post office on the Emek to pick up a few packages. I had tried to pick the packages up on Sunday, but the post office was closed because it was the day before the Jewish holiday. Usually, the post office is open Sunday-Friday, albeit with weird hours (like 8am-12:30pm and then 3:30-6pm). And it was closed yesterday for the holiday. We got to the post office around 10:30am, and took a number. They were on number 148 and we were 179. We walked around for a while and did some other errands, but we kept checking back to see how close they were to 179. The third time we checked back around 11:15, they were on 168. We stayed at the post office and waited because once they call a number, you have about 3 seconds (no exaggeration) to get up there. The other 20 people at the post office (both in the small room and milling about outside) were about as happy as we were about waiting so long. The packages were presents -- a cheetah wall decal and a book titled Banchee, the Worm King -- from their aunt in California. The kids loved the gifts. Alas, nothing for Pentheus or the Katamom!

After some lunch at the dira, Dad, the CK, and I took the #13 bus to "Merkahz Ha'eer" (the City Center). We wandered around the downtown area a bit. Papa bought a few postcards and some "gleeda" (ice-cream) for us. After hitting the bathrooms in Hamashbeer (a quasi-department store - it sells everything from Estee Lauder cosmetics to bugspray and from nice business suits to Tampax ), we took the "rahkevet kali" (light rail) down Yaffo Street:

The rahkevet kali began running within the last 18 months. It's sleek and the ride is surprisingly smooth. It costs the same as a bus ride (almost 7 shekels), and unless you have a pass, you have to buy a ticket at the "tahchahnah" (station). When we rode the rahkevet, it was just after 4pm, and it was packed! Many of the people were quite rude when pushing and bumping as they got on and off the rahkevet, and the CK was a bit frightened by the jostling. We only took it 2 stops to Machaneh Yehudah, the outdoor market. (http://jerusalem.wikispaces.com/The+Machaneh+Yehudah+Market) Dad doesn't think he had been in Machaneh Yehudah before today, so we wanted to make sure he saw the market during his visit. We went to a bunch of stalls - stopping, of course, for Papa to buy more gummi candies for the boys and then roasted almonds and fresh pita bread with za'atar for Pentheus.

While we were in Machaneh Yehudah, we saw the funkiest fruit. The guy told me it's called dragonfruit in English, but I can't find the Hebrew word in my English-Hebrew translator. I meant to take a picture of the sign in Hebrew at the market. The guy told us to peel it like a banana and to eat the insides. Here are some pictures. The first photo is of the top of the dragonfruit and the second is of the inside, once it has been peeled. The color in the photos doesn't do it justice - it's as bright a magenta as one could imagine:

The texture of the peel reminds me a bit of an artichoke heart, but the insides are sweet but not tangy like a berry.  One dragonfruit costs 12 shekels (about $3). Pentheus said it's worth every shekel! The rest of us thought it was okay, and that it would have been better cold (rather than room temperature).

Tomorrow morning the boys go back to school after a 2+ week vacation. Although they are not so much looking forward to it, Pentheus and I definitely are. Despite the fun things and the holidays during the vacation, it's been a hard couple of weeks. The boys, especially the CK, just haven't settled in, and there have been a lot of complaining and too many tantrums. I fear the CK will be miserable back at school tomorrow, but am hoping that we can ease him back in with only 3 days of school this week (Wed-Friday). Then next week, the boys will be out of school Sun-Wed while we travel around Israel with my Dad and sister (who arrives this weekend - YAY!) At some point, I'm hoping we can get back into (or to be honest, establish for the first time) some sort of routine.

By the time my Dad and sister have left Israel, we will have just hit the half-way point in our adventure in Israel. I had thought the first half would have gone much more smoothly than it did, but I guess it is what it is, as they say. There have been a lot of bumps in the road, especially with getting the kids adjusted to school and the boys' overall behavior. We've certainly had good times as well, but we've all struggled somewhat over the past 2+ months. That being said, I am glad we are here, and while I am optimistic that the second half will be easier than the first, I have been tempering my expectations, just in case.

(Oh, and before I forget, I'm sending a special shout-out to the MFS Blog Club!)