A Journey Through Rabbinical School...One Challah at a Time: The Adventures of HUC

Adventure (har-pat-ka-nah) הרפתקה

It is hard to believe that I have already been here for just over 1 month. In some ways it seems like it has only been a few days since my arrival in Israel, and in other ways, it seems like I have been here forever. Throughout the past month, and specifically within the past few weeks I have had a lot of adventures, but with my class and individually. Here are a few of the adventures that I have had (in no particular order)!

1. Adventure of the Jerusalem Bird Observatory

Last week, my class and one of the other Hebrew classes got to spend the morning at the Jerusalem Bird Observatory. Having no prior knowledge of this place, I assumed that it would be something equivalent to a zoo or Butterfly World wherein we would go into large rooms where there would be birds flying around that we could see. However, this was not at all the case. The Jerusalem Bird Observatory is a safe haven for birds from all across the Middle East, as well as other parts of the world. They have nature trails that are open 24/7 and where one can see all sorts of natural flora and fauna. It was a little bit different from the tiyul (trip) that I expected, but it was a nice break from the monotony of having class every day for almost 4 hours a day!

2. Adventures of the buying my first talit in Israel

I have every only owned one talit in my life, and that is the one that my mom made me for my bat mitzvah. I love that talit, and am sure that I will wear it plenty during my rabbinic career. However, I have been looking to begin cultivating my talit collection, as of course Rabbis always need just one more talit! I didn't necessarily expect to buy a talit so quickly upon my arrival to Israel although I did have a certain idea of the type of talit that I wanted to purchase. I have been eyeing talits made by Yair Emanuel , which has a very beautiful and specific style about it. I happened to be on Ben Yehudah street in Jerusalem with a good friend of mine and he wanted to browse in some of the Judaica shops. Being the good friend and avid shopper that I am, I of course obliged. When I saw this talit, I just couldn't resist!

3. Adventure of going to Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsua Mosque

The Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque have been on my list of places to see over the past 5 times that I have been in Israel. However, it wasn't until this week that I was actually able to go, and the day couldn't have been a more perfect day for it (with the exception of it being 100 F and having to wear clothes not so conducive to the heat- see pictures). What makes getting to the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque so difficult is that there are very limited within which tourists can go and visit this site which is the 3rd holiest in Islam. You can only go from 7:30-11:00am and must be dressed very conservatively (for women this means either long pants or a long skit and a shirt that covers below the elbows, and for men this means trousers and a t-shirt) and have to go through a separate security area to access the area. Just before going through security, there is a sign which is an official statement from the chief rabbis of Israel stating that Jews are not supposed to go and visit the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque. This is not because of the anything political, but rather because it is said that somewhere in this area is where the holy of holies used to be, a place that only the high priest could enter once a year on Yom Kippur. Since no one knows exactly where it is, the rabbis say that no one should go there, in case they accidentally enter the holy of holies. However, we decided to go anyways, knowing that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

The ramp to the right of the wall is the entrance ramp to Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Upon arrival to the entrance, the sight was absolutely beautiful. These sights, places that I have looked at for so long, but have no know what they looked like up close were suddenly right at my finger tips. This place, that has been fought over for centuries, was so incredibly beautiful and peaceful. While I understand the conflict behind why each group believes that they have a right to that land, for a few minutes, I forgot all about the conflict, and just marveled in the beauty of these magnificent buildings. I went with a few of my classmates, and once we reached the general area of the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque we each took some time to look around, take some pictures, and individually explore the area. I know that tourists, and especially Jewish tourists, are not allowed into Al-Aqsa Mosque and very rarely are let into the Dome of the Rock. However, as I was walking past Al-Aqsa Mosque I was lucky enough to see the door open and to grab a brief glimpse of what the inside of the mosque looked like.