Aharei HaHagim

Israelis have a saying אחרי החגים that means "after the holidays" and I never quite understood it until living in Israel for the holidays. Basically everything stops during the months of September and the beginning of October, and as soon as Simchat Torah is over in October, everything picks back up again in full force. It is quite a strange phenomena and while it was nice to have experienced it, I am glad that everything is up and running again! This also means that I have not blogged in ages, but hopefully I will be able to get back into the swing of things again.

My High Holy Day experience was incredible, I have written A LOT about it, but it was much too wordy to post on a blog, if you are interested in reading let me know and I can send it to you!
We had a 10 day break during Sukkot and my boyfriend Jason came all the way from Portland to visit! It was a wonderful and relaxing vacation, and I'm posting some pictures below.







My first meal in a Sukkah! Nearly every restaurant in Jerusalem turned its patio, or the walkway in front of the restaurant, into a sukkah! This is Jason and I eating at an asian restaurant











We went up to Haifa for a couple of days and had a wonderful trip! This is Jason and I on the Mediterranean right before sunset.

I posted pictures from the Baha'i Gardens in my post about my first trip to Haifa, so here's a non-scenic picture of Jason and I at the Gardens!

(ps, contrary to what you may think, the Trailblazers did not actually pay Jason to wear their shirts every day in Israel...)

We went to the Kotel!

School has been back in session for a couple of weeks now, and boy is it busy! I am taking 8 courses plus a program at the Hartman Institute where I get together with Rabbinic Students from the other movements to study Texts every week. Look for more posts about my classes!