Appreciating Friends and Anticipating the Fast

  This week felt like it consisted of a lot of different aspects of being here all wrapped into one.  On the one hand, it was an intense learning week, what with everyone trying to better themselves before Yom Kippur.  On the other hand, everyone was trying to rest up and not drive themselves too hard so as to be prepared and able to pray and fast on Yom Kippur.  A somewhat strange dichotomy, if you ask me, though it was nice to regain some balance between working hard and relaxing.

   The one thing that stands out in my mind from this week is bonding with the girls in my program.  Before I get to that, and tell you about Shabbat, I’ll just tell you brief highlights of the week.  In drama class, we went through some prayers on Yom Kippur and acted them out as if we were G-d.  For example, there’s a very powerful prayer about how we are the clay and G-d is the molder, we are the stone and G-d is the cutter, we are the glass and G-d is the blower, etc.  It was inspiring to envision G-d as such a tangibly powerful being.  Then, as we are still waiting to hear results for who got into the inter-seminary choir, instead of volunteering, my choir leaders and I were given time to arrange the songs we’ll be singing for the competition in January.  It’s frustrating to me to have to cater to the preferences of the judges of the event and to have to stick to the themes they give us, but as long as I get to sing I’m happy.  Speaking of which, I gave a few unintentional mini-concerts by the piano this week, when I was playing and people would just walk in to listen.  It was fun to play requests, and flattering to have people drawn to the music from down the hall.

  So this Shabbat was not extremely eventful.  However, it was the biggest opportunity we’ve had so far to put aside friends from home, and the long days of learning, and just get to know each other better.  We already know who we connect to somewhat, so it was nice to sit and talk with the people I'm interested in.  I spent most of Friday night with a girl from Minnesota, who also loves singing and is very open minded, though she was raised ultra-orthodox.  Then on Saturday, I briefly talked to a girl from Canada and a girl from Baltimore, and then went on a beautiful walk with a girl from Boston (who I actually went to camp with in 9^th grade – she was Naala and I was Simba!) and a girl from LA (who appears to be coming to Brandeis next year! It’s a small world).  I’m beginning to appreciate the company of the girls here. I also realized what it is that makes the dynamic here so manageable: we all seem to have similar ideals and similar goals (and if not, we’re very open minded about others’ opinions), but we all have very different personalities and hobbies, so spending time with each other is always exciting.  They did a great job picking an interesting yet compatible mix of students.

  Now we’re headed into Yom Kippur, which is said to be one of the highlights of the year here.  Girls from HaRova come back for years to come to the Yom Kippur service.  This year, 70 alumni are coming, many of the teachers are coming, and we have a completely full auditorium at our disposal.  Part of what makes the service so intense is that at HaRova they do non-stop prayer and discussion.  So it really does feel like an entire day dedicated to atonement and self-reflection.  I’m anticipating a challenge, as well as an unforgettable experience.  Hopefully it will go as well as expected, but I know I will miss everyone at home.  Have an easy and meaningful Yom Kippur!