She came, she saw, she conquored/Tisha B'Av

Many of you know that my great friend Jess came to visit this past weekend. She is my first friend to come visit me here in the Promised land (hopefully not the last!) and is certainly one of my closest friends in the States, so it was a real treat having her here.

A quick run-down on her visit:

Thursday: Jess gets in around 4pm. We hug, catch up etc. Rena comes over and the three of us go out to one of my favorite resturants, Olive, which is on Emek Refaim. After dinner we come back to the apartment and get ready to go across the street to Filter (literally it is a bar across the street). Jess gets to meet almost all of my close friends here in Jerusalem over a Carlsberg or Tuberg. Jess had a Jack and Coke which she fought about with the meltzar (waiter) for 15 minutes before getting a shot glass and bottle of coke. We also had this amazing chocolate cake with hot fudge.

Friday: We get up early to hit the shuk before it gets too crowded. Along with Lauren, we buy food for Shabbat dinner and the weekend. We get home, put everything away and crash for a few minutes because of the heat/exhaustion. Jess relaxes while Lauren and I cook Shabbat dinner- stuffed peppers and Lauren's special salad. At 5:30, Rena, Michael, Jen, Rachel, Lauren, Lauren's boyfriend Alon, Jess and I lit Shabbat candles and headed off to Kol HaNishama for services. Came back for dinner- the peppers were a hit! After dinner we went over to our friend Rose's apartment for a little party she was throwing. (Rose's best friend is getting married this weekend to a guy who she was set up with by ROSE! However, since she is in Israel, she wasn't able to be at the wedding. Therefore, we had a "Mazel Tov Meg" party in honor of her friend.)

Saturday: Services at HUC and a chill lunch followed by a very chill afternoon of sleeping, eating etc. Saturday night was a little strange because it began Tisha B'Av, the 9th day of the Hebrew month of Av. Many terriable things have happened to the Jewish people on this day throughout history including the destruction of the First and Second Temples as well as the explusion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 and parts of the Holocaust were thought to have taken place on this date as well.

Jess and I walked to school and participated in the Tisha B'Av service. I had been practicing for a week to be able to chant a section of Eicha, the book of the Bible know as Lamentations. The troupe (melody used to chant Eicha) is mournful and beautiful and I was very proud of myself for doing it. In general, I have a hard time chanting, and this was certainly the challenge of the week. After the service at HUC, Jess and I walked into the Old City with many of our classmates to see the Kotel (a section of the remaining wall that was once part of the Second Temple area.) I'll write more on that in a separate post, but it was powerful, amazing and something I know that I will never forget.

Sunday: Jess slept in while I went to ulpan and a special text study on the rituals of Tisha B'Av. We also had mincha (the afternoon prayer service) as a class community. Then I came home, watched Jess pack up and helped her take her suitcase to the cab.

Jess' visit. Short. Sweet. Not long enough. I guess this is how these visits are going to be. I loved seeing a familiar face (or at least someone I've known longer than 6 weeks) and I can't wait for her to come back in January and visit again!

I have a study session at Julia's house and then a good-bye party for Adam, one of our summer interns who is going back to LA on Tuesday. I promise to write more about being at the Kotel last night and the impending disengagement from Gaza soon. Life is about to get interesting here. Do I feel safe? Absolutly. I can't imagine anywhere else in the world I would rather be right now. With that said, as news appears on your televisions, radios and computer screens, please stay in touch- mailto:krperolman@gmail.com and I'll be posting on this topic more as it comes up.

Love to all who are reading...