October 4th: Yom Kippur in Jerusalem, Part II

Something interesting spotted on a wall in Jerusalem

I hadn’t planned on fasting during this trip, since I’ve never found it to be a worthwhile exercise.  Jews are supposed to fast on Yom Kippur in order to keep the mind free of ‘earthly distractions’ and focus instead completely on communicating with God.  Even if I believed in such a thing, I find this idea nonsensical: Fasting doesn’t free the mind, it distracts you with hunger and slows you down through a lack of energy!  Nonetheless, my five amigos were all fasting, so I figured that if there was ever a time where I would fast on Yom Kippur, here in Jerusalem was it.  Plus, I didn’t want to be a jerk and eat in front of them.  So I joined them, and didn’t eat until sundown on Saturday.

The guys and I slept until around 11:00AM–A good idea, since the more time we spent unconscious, the less time we’d be consciously hungry.  I slept very well!  Once we were all up, we donned our dress clothes and decided to attend another part of the ongoing lecture/discussion at Aish for a little while before meeting up with the women.

This time, the discussion focused on a specific passage of the Talmud by a great rabbi (the name of whom escapes me).  I found the talk somewhat interesting.  The Talmud was just what I had always thought it to be: the writings of people who critically (too critically in my opinion) poured over every word in the Torah and came up with explanations and meaning behind the choice of each word, along with explanations of the explanations!  However, my comrades were less interested.  We left after about half an hour, and met up with the women to walk around the city.

We met them at the square outside of Hurva Synagogue.  Yasmin was painting in a small sketchbook she brought.  She’s a tremendous artist!  I complimented her abilities.

Most of us wanted to go to the roof of Aish, which we’d heard was a great observation point.  Yas decided that she wanted to go to the shade of the observation nook we discovered the previous day and paint.  She went off on her own while the rest of us ventured on to Aish.  The roof was indeed a gorgeous lookout point, with a much wider view than the nook.  A photo shoot commenced.  (It was also much hotter and sunnier up there than in the nook.  Yas made a wise decision in choosing to go to the nook to paint.)  I also saw a model of the Second Temple up there, property oriented to the Temple Mount.  If I looked at it just right, it almost looked like the Temple had been rebuilt and was sitting on the Temple Mount.

A model of the Second Temple

After admiring the view for a while, we decided to go down to the Kotel itself.  After arriving in the plaza, the women split off to go to their portion of the wall.  (To appease the Orthodox, men and women are kept separate from one another on the Kotel plaza.  I’m not fan of such gender segregation for a number of reasons, one of which being the inherent problems of such a situation.  Case in point: The Kotel is not split evenly–women have far less space than men–an injustice I’m irritated by every time I see a photo of the Kotel plaza.)

The Kotel, viewed from the top of Aish Synagogue

Upon reaching the Kotel, I stared up at it and touched this important piece of history.  After spending a moment taking in the area, I realized that I had never entered the building to my left, on the north end of the plaza.  Since I didn’t have an itinerary for the day, I decided to go explore.  Natti accompanied me.

Inside were dozens of Jews praying in a library that also served as a synagogue.  The wall of the Temple Mount continued along my right, with ancient stone arches extending from it, forming the roof of the building I was in.  I wondered how many of those arches were original to the Temple Mount, and which were constructed later, as many of the arches were comprised of stones as large as those of the Mount itself, and appeared to be an original feature of it.  This surprised me: I thought the Temple Mount originally stood alone on its western face, except for the stairways that led to its interior corridors.

Respecting those praying around me, I slowly followed the Temple Mount deeper into the library.  At the back was an archway that was blocked off in a rather conspicuous manner–surprising, considering the care given to maintaining the historic look of the rest of this city.  I glanced to my left to see Daniel taking in the area!  I had no idea he had entered it before me.  We exchanged head bobs.

After I finished exploring, I left the building and walked away from the Kotel.  The group was scattered at that point, and it took us a while to get back together.  Eventually, we met up at the nook.  I arrived to see Yasmin painting the Dome of the Rock.  I thought out loud that it might be worth investing in some frames for the apartment so we could display her work!

The others were pretty tired (which is understandable: a lack of food does that to a person), but this was my first time in Jerusalem without an itinerary, and I was eager to go explore the city!  I decided to venture alone while the others remained in the shade of the observation nook.

The empty streets of Jerusalem on Yom Kippur

As I wandered through the nearly empty streets of the Jewish Quarter, I couldn’t help but be reminded of my synagogue back home.  I was never one to sit through the entire service during the High Holidays, and wandering these streets felt a lot like wandering the halls of my synagogue: Nearly deserted, except for a passing Jew wearing white dress clothes and a tallit, with the only sound being a faint chanting.  The resemblance was striking.  I couldn’t help but feel like the entire Old City was one giant synagogue!

Rothschild House

One of the first places I came to was an open plaza with one end dominated by a building with numerous arches.  The plaza was inhabited by about 20 frolicking children.  I figured the building must be a day care center, or a school operating as one today.  Turns out, the plaza is called Batei Mahase Square, and the large building is called Rothschild House.  (Look it up to learn more about it.)

The entrance to Eliahu Hanavi Synagogue rom Bet El Street.

Another little gem I came across was an elaborate door, barely ajar, and which sunlight was pouring through.  I entered and went down a staircase to my left.  I suddenly found myself in a synagogue!  No one was there at the moment, so I was free to explore it at my leisure.  Hanging on a wall was an undated but clearly old photo of the doorway I had just passed through.  The caption beneath read “Entrance to the Eliahu-Hanavi-Synagogue from Bet-El-Street.  (Photo. Aryeh Grayewsky.)”

The old photo of the entrance to Eliahu Hanavi Synagogue.

After I finished exploring the synagogue, I entered a door on the opposite end from where I came in, only to find myself in another synagogue!  This one was even older than the previous one, with the bima (stage) in the center and an old, recently restored mural on the far wall.  An orthodox Jew to my immediate left looked at me as I entered, and I politely nodded my head to him.  He returned the gesture.  (I love moments like that.)  There were a couple other people in the synagogue taking a nap.  I took a look around, though a quicker look than in the previous synagogue, before finding my way to the exit.

The southern wall of the Old City

The Old City wall, looking west

Outside was a parking lot, beyond which rose the wall of the Old City–I had just reached its southern edge.  I walked along the street next to the wall when I came upon a staircase leading up to the wall itself.  “Could I actually walk along the wall of the Old City?” I wondered.  I took the city up on the offer, and climbed the staircase.  I soon came across a closed revolving gate.  I turned around and walked in the other direction for a much longer period: This portion of the wall was open almost all the way to the Kotel plaza!  As I walked (and frequently stopped to take photos), I couldn’t help but think of all of the guards of the various armies that occupied this city, who for thousands of years patrolled these walls, guarding the city from various threats.

The Old City wall, looking east

As I came across the eastern end of the traversable portion of the wall, I headed back into the city.  I came across a garden where children were playing while an adult supervised.  I was on a wooden staircase next to, and separate from, the garden.  On a railing was an old wheelbarrow that had been converted into a giant flower pot.  I couldn’t resist a photo.

A converted wheelbarrow near the southern wall of the Old City

Soon after, I headed back to the hostel to rest–all of that walking on an empty stomach had fatigued me.  I texted the guys to let them know where I was, and took a nap for an hour.

Eventually, the others joined me back at the hostel.  We asked if the hostel had a plan for the Break Fast following Yom Kippur.  They did, starting at Aish Synagoge at about 6:30.  We hung around the hostel for abut 40 minutes before heading over to Aish.

The Kotel at the end of Yom Kippur

On the way there, we made a quick detour to another overlook of the Kotel.  This time, the plaza was packed with white-clad Jews.  This is what I was expecting to see at the Kotel on Yom Kippur!!  I was pleased it did not disappoint.

When we got to Aish, the service was wrapping up, and food was being set up on the table at the back of the room–pastries and soft drinks.  Not exactly healthy, but we didn’t care at that point.  We waited at the back of the room until the service wrapped, then grabbed a few of the little pastries before following the leader of our hostel to the Break Fast he wanted us to attend.  Across the square by Hurva Synagogue were a couple of mobbed areas.  The one we went to had wine, bagels with various toppings, apples, pears, and a few desserts–not bad!  After sating our appetite, we said our goodbyes to our comrades from the hostels and made our way back there to pack.

Our departure was uneventful, and we arrived back in Tel Aviv around 9:30PM–far earlier than anticipated.  We decided back in Jerusalem to only grab enough food to tide us over and get our stomachs back to their normal size, and that we’d go out for dinner once back in Tel Aviv.  I quickly packed for the next day’s trip to the Golan before heading to dinner.

I met up with most of the group at about 11PM.  (Late, but not a huge deal: we’d sleep for a couple of hours on the bus ride to the Golan the next day to make up for what would be a late bedtime.)  We met on Rothschild Street at a place called Moses–a burger joint with a logo of cartoon dog.  Best guess at the story behind the name and logo goes to Fjo: He guessed that ‘Moses’ was the name of the owner’s dog.

Brittney decided to stay at her apartment, which was understandable–once back in your home after a trip, it’s hard to get yourself to leave immediately.

The food at Moses was good and the company was great.  Once my stomach was full, I started thinking about my fasting experience.  In the end, I got as little out of it as I expected, and I doubt I’ll ever do it again.  Nonetheless, it was interesting.

From the start, I didn’t really know what to expect from my trip to Jerusalem.  All I knew was that it would be an experience.  I was right!  I was very happy that I decided to go, and would do it all over again if I had the chance.  Well, everything except for fasting.

Up next: The Golan Heights!

October 3rd: Yom Kippur in Jerusalem, Part I

About a week ago, our group learned that there was a hostel in Jerusalem that we could stay at for free over Yom Kippur.  A bunch of us started discussing it over Facebook, and about 15 of us were ready to go, including me.  However, people started to get cold feet as we approached the deadline, the most common excuse being that we had to get up early on Sunday for our trip to the Golan.  I was still down to go though, since we’d get back to Tel Aviv no later than 11PM, and could sleep on the bus on the way to the Golan.

In the end, only six of us decided to go: Fjodor, Brittney, Natti, Yasmin, Daniel (the one from Chile, not my roommate), and me.  It was for the best, though.  Having only six people made it easier to decide what to do as a group.

The Bridge of Strings in Jerusalem
(Photo courtesy Wikpedia)

The six of us met at Levinsky around 9AM.  After grabbing breakfast, we walked to a nearby bus station which had a direct ride from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.  The bus itself was a tourist bus, so it was very comfortable!  We arrived in western Jerusalem about an hour and a half later, near a huge bridge that towered over the buildings in the foreground.  I learned it’s called the Bridge of Strings, and was built between 2005 and 2008.  (No wonder I didn’t remember it from the last time I was here.  It hadn’t been built yet!)  It was gorgeous!  Anyway, we took a train from the bus station to about a block outside of the walls of Old City–inside of which was the hostel where we would be staying.

As we got off the train, I spotted the walls of the Old City.  I couldn’t help but reminisce.  I spent seven weeks in Israel back in the summer of 2002 through the Alexander Muss High School in Israel (AMHSI) program.  I traveled the entire country–from Eilat to the Golan Heights, and from Jersualem and Masada to Haifa and Acco–learning the history of the country from ancient times until now.  It was an amazing experience!  However, I had no real desire to come back.  I recall thinking to myself how I never thought I would see this place again.  Yet, here I was.

Our group ventured towards the nearest gate–simply called The New Gate–in the northwest corner of the Old City.  As we entered, I was struck by how crammed together everything was.  I expected it–a walled city to get cramped after 5000 years of habitation.  Nonetheless, it was a cool to walk through something so different.

Part of the Cardo, a main thoroughfare in Jerusalem back in the 6th century. I remember this spot from my trip here 12 years ago. I’m still intrigued by how visually evident the passage of time is here: Notice how much higher the street level is now than it was back then.

Fjodor volunteered to lead us to the hostel.  As we wound through the maze-like streets of the Old City, we decided to stop at a restaurant that served falafel and other typical Israeli dishes.  It was an old, two-story restaurant with a Jerusalem stone interior.  Two long tables were on either side of the room.  The left one was occupied by a tourist group, who’s guide was doing a great job answering complex political questions.  (Throughout our meal, I periodically eavesdropped on his discussion.)  The other table was empty except for a woman in her late 40’s.  We asked if we could sit at her table as she wrapped up her meal.  With a British accent, she graciously allowed us to join her.  Yasmin had a fun conversation with her as the rest of us looked through the menu.

After ordering, I went searching for the bathroom.  It was on the second floor, the main room of which was barely six feet tall, with an arched roof and low tables surrounded by blankets and pillows instead of chairs.  It felt more like a loft than a restaurant.  Had I known this area existed when we entered, I’d have insisted we ate up there.

The rebuilt Hurva Synagogue!

After our meal, we continued towards the hostel.  After a few wrong turns and asking a stranger for help, we happened upon something I had been hoping to see: The reconstructed Hurva Synagogue.  This synagogue dated to the 18th century, and was destroyed in 1751 only to be rebuilt in 1864.  During the War of Independence in 1948, the Arabs destroyed it again.  After reunification of Jerusalem in 1967, a commemorative arch was built in 1977, as the original structure had a similar arch.  (See the photo.)  That arch is what I saw when I was here in 2002.  Years later, I heard that the arch was taken down and the synagogue had been rebuilt.

The street/alley in front of the women’s hostel. The full hostel was through the door on the left, and the one the women stayed in was through the door straight ahead.

I found that pretty damn cool, because I sometimes imagine how if I were the ruler of the world, I’d like to restore all of the old, crumbling monuments to their former glory: The Coliseum, the Great Pyramids, etc.  While they’re amazing sites, I’m saddened by how time has ravaged them.  I imagine the original builders would be in tears if they saw them in their current, sorry state.  Thus, instead of just preserving them, I’d restore them.  I’d just place a black line in the mortar to visually distinguish the original work from the restoration, just like what’s been done on Masada.  Hence, I was thrilled to see the Hurva Synagogue brought back to life!

Anyway, we finally arrived at the women’s hostel.  (The men were to stay at a separate one.)  Yasmin and Brittney decided that they would quickly unpack their things before coming with us to see where we would stay.  After about 15 minutes, they came out of the building with their backpacks still on.  It turns out, the hostel was full and they’d have to be placed in a different building.  We were expecting a long trek to their new quarters, but were amused to see that it was just down the alley/street from the first hostel.  (The street was so narrow, I’m not sure it qualifies as one.  I could call it an alley, but that has a negative connotation that I don’t feel this path deserves–see the photo.)

A litle further down the street/alley, looking back at it. Those flowers were all over Jerusalem. Gorgeous.

After the women dropped off their stuff, the six of us stumbled around some more until we finally found the men’s hostel: An apartment building in a quiet corner of the Jewish Quarter.  We entered a room with about 20 other people in it.  Most were sitting at collapsible dinner tables while the rest were preparing Shabbat dinner.  We dropped off our stuff and then joined them.  The meal was pleasant: A salad, spaghetti, and challah.  The challah was the highlight for me, though: It was very fluffy and sweet!  We also hit it off with our housemates.  I spoke with someone based out of Eilat (who’s internship experience was “a joke”–his description, not mine.  I won’t get into details, but just know that if you ever plan on doing an internship program here, don’t do the one in Eilat!!), and a man who happened to be in charge of the hostel.  He was a slightly-heavy set man with a very friendly demeanor and very, very right-wing views.

The observation “nook” overlooking the Kotel. I turned up the brightness on this image so you can see the man on the left, dressed like a Sith Lord. Don’t get me wrong: It’s a cool look. Perhaps George Lucas was inspired by this style, rather than the other way around?

After our meal, my group decided to walk around the city for a bit.  We eventually found a small observation point–which I call the observation nook–overlooking the Kotel.  Photo opportunities ensued.  I also made sure to take a photo of a man who I swear was a Sith Lord.

The Kotel!

After viewing the Kotel for a little while, we walked around some more.  Walking through this city was like getting a free history class: There were ancient monuments and accompanying plaques all over the place!  A very impressive fragment of the wall from the City of David was just around the corner from the men’s hostel, along with a map, and a marker on a nearby building showed the original height of the wall.  I’m pretty sure this wall was thicker than the current current wall of the Old City!

A fragment of the wall from the City of David. Notice the marker on the building in the center of the image. The top of it is the estimated height of the wall.

A map explaining the wall. The two labels cut off on the right say (in Hebrew and English) “Jerusalem in the First Temple Period 1000-586 B.C.”

The Kotel at the start of Kol Nidre, viewed from Aish Synagogue.

That evening was Kol Nidre, the service that marks the start of Yom Kippur.  The hostel that we were staying at had an arrangement with a nearby synagogue which allowed us to attend for free.  I decided to go, just to experience it in Jerusalem.  I had no actual interest in praying.  After we all changed into our nice clothes, we went to Aish Synagogue, which overlooks the Kotel–a pretty cool spot!  Judging from the crowd in the room, other hostel guests got the same deal we did: the room was full of Jews from all around the world, most in their early twenties.  The leading rabbi was either Conservative or Reform, and was clearly from the United States.  (I cringed every time he said “Yum Kipper”.  Though other than that, he was pleasant.)  After a few opening prayers, he told us that he was going to go into a side room for a discussion and Q&A session that anyone could come and go from as they please.  In the meantime, the service would continue.  We all decided to go to the side room.

The centerpiece in Aish Synagogue

The discussion was interesting.  It began by focusing on how Yom Kippur was supposed to help heal our relationship with God as well as improve ourselves.  It talked about the mind, heart, and body, and the different directions in which a person is pulled by each.  There was plenty of metaphysical and creationist nonsense thrown in as well, but I did my best to ignore that and instead focus on the poetic side of what the man was saying.  He talked about how our head was above our heart, and how our heart was above (most of) our bodies, and that the needs of each follow a similar hierarchy.  (He also said that animals were different from us because their heads, hearts, and bodies were all in line with one another, so they were lesser creatures than us and didn’t have a personality/soul–Complete nonsense, as anyone with a pet can attest.  But like I said, I tried to ignore that stuff and focus on the poetic side of the discussion.)  After about a half hour, our group decided to leave the discussion.  We all left with different opinions about what the rabbi said, and Fjo and I had an interesting conversation about it.

Our conversation was interrupted, however, but in unexpected run-in: As soon as we left the synagogue, we encountered the rabbi who gave us the Yom Kippur enrichment talk in Tel Aviv!  I was incredulous.  Israel is a small country, and the Jews are a relatively small community, but the fact that we happened to run into him on this street of the Old City–and there are many, many streets here–was very surprising to me.  This time around, the man had one of his children with him: his five year old daughter, who was clinging to his leg like a statically-charged sock.  She was adorable.  Anyway, we had a pleasant talk with him as we walked towards a square by the Hurva Synagogue, on the way to our hostel.  We took a break at the square, where I and others spoke more with the rabbi while Yas and Fjodor played Backgammon on a board Yas brought.

After about a half an hour, the rabbi departed and I decided that this would be a good time to take a group photo of us all dressed up.  (Brittney had the idea earlier in the day, and I wanted to make sure we did it as some point.)  I knew that the pillars of the Cardo (the second picture in this post), would make an excellent backdrop, so we walked over to them.  (They were just on the other side of the Hurva.) Three other members of our hostel who we befriended tagged along.  One of them was nice enough to take a few photos of us.  We then walked back to our hostels and turned in for the night.

The group at Cardo in Jerusalem after Kol Nidre. From left: Yasmin, a guy from our hostel, Brittney, Fjodor, me, Daniel, and Natti.

September 28th and 29th: Ulpan and a Tour of My Office

September 28th:

Our ulpan field trip today was to Rothschild, the nice boulevard near where I live.  On the way there I had a nice conversation with one of the teachers—in Hebrew!  It was a basic conversation, and I’m sure he made an effort to only use words that we already knew, but nonetheless, it was a gratifying experience for me.  This class really works!

Our first activity was in front of the building in which Israel declared itself a state.  We sat on the steps of a monument in front of the building and asked each other questions using the words we’d learned that day.

Following that, we formed pairs and once again harassed Israelis with questions and recorded their answers.  This time I was paired with Garrett, one of the Levinsky folks.  We happened across a very friendly couple, both of whom spoke perfect English, despite one being a local and the other being from China.  The woman from China spoke almost no Hebrew.  Nonetheless, we recorded both of their answers to our queries.  Garrett and I had a nice conversation while looking around for our final victim.

Following “Israeli Q&A”, our final activity for the day was a bingo-like game.  We were split into two teams.  Each team was given a card with answers to various questions in Hebrew, laid out in a grid.  Each person was then given a strip of paper with a question in Hebrew.  We were then called on to ask our question, and if we had the right answer, we marked it on our paper.  My team won.  (Suck it, other team!)

 

September 29th:

Today was an exciting day for me.  I left ulpan early for a tour of my work (the name of which rhymes with “Bleco Blave Plower–for search engine purposes, I’ve removed the actual name from my blog posts), the company with which I’m interning!  I was to meet Andrei–one of the employed at the company–at Habima, a theater near where I live.  After waiting under a tree for about 5 minutes, a man no taller than me with short blonde hair and a slightly stocky build approached wearing a blue plaid shirt.  With a Russian accent, he introduced himself as Andrei.  We had a nice conversation as we walked to the office, which I learned was only about a 10 minute walk from my apartment.  (Lucky me!  Some people have their internships clear on the opposite side of the city from where they live.)  Andrei is from Ukraine, and came to Israel a few years ago.  He has an engineering background and only starting working with the company about six months ago.

That fact surprised me at first.  Then I remembered my time with Caztek Engineering, a small engineering firm in St. Paul where I worked for three years when I first got out of college.  During my time there, the size of the company fluctuated between 2 and 5 people.  Thus, turnaround in small businesses can be very high.  After I remembered this, I understood how Andrei could be so new to the company and yet be the one showing me around.

We arrived at a six-story office building along a busy street.  My office was on the top floor, in a suite with other small businesses (which is another similarity between this company and Caztek).  After a quick elevator ride, we came to a frosted glass door labeled with a couple company logos, including that of my company.  Andrei showed me the door code and we entered.  In front of us was a clean, well-lit, triangular room with wooden linoleum floors.  It was a nice space!  On my immediate left was a glass wall housing a couple of very noisy Israelis.  A little farther down was a room that housed a small kitchen.  On my immediate right was a closed door.  Beyond that was a series of small, sun-lit offices.  In the far corner was a large triangular meeting space with a couple of afghans on the floor, a bookcase filling one wall, and windows on the other.  A long, glass meeting table filled the right side of the room, near the windows.  I learned that the meeting room and kitchen were common spaces, and the other rooms were other small businesses.  We entered the closed door on my immediate right.  Inside was my office’s dedicated space.

A two-room suite was on the other side of the door.  The room I was in was crammed with four desks–two taken, two empty–and a floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the busy street.  I was told I could take either empty desk.  Sitting at the desk across from the door was Roy, a tall man with dark hair and dark eyes whom I’d spoken with over the phone before coming to Israel.  He promptly got up from his chair and shook my hand and introduced himself with an unusual charisma.  I learned later that he was marketing department for the company.  It’s a good fit for the man.

A door to my right led to another triangular room.  On the left was another floor-to-ceiling window along with a small circular meeting table and padded seats.  In the far corner was a desk, bookshelf, and white board with various notes scribbled in English.  This was the office of Inna, the president of the company.

The office was a nice setup!   A little cramped, but clean and comfortable.

Andrei and Roy told me that Inna was out of the country at the moment, doing something in the U.S.  (I don’t recall what.)  I was also told that there were two other interns that worked here, who, like Andrei, were also from Ukraine.  One was a civil engineer, and the other was an electrical engineer.  (They weren’t in the office at the moment.)

After additional pleasantries were exchanged, I was told that it would be best for me to show up around 10AM on Wednesday.  My tour would also have included going to Yafo to see the prototype wave energy machine up close, but I had to attend a mandatory Yom Kippur “enrichment event” that evening through my program, so we postponed that portion of the tour until my first day.

Andrei offered to walk me back to Habima, but I declined, telling him that I could find my way back and that I didn’t want to keep him from his work, since I was sure he was plenty busy.  (When I sent him and Roy a ‘Thank You’ email later that day, I made sure to point out that was why I declined, since for all I knew, there might have been a cultural difference between the US and Israel or Ukraine, and didn’t want to insult him!)

After leaving, I came back to Lunz for a little while, sent the ‘Thank You’ email, and then caught a bus with Oliver to the Yom Kippur enrichment activity at Levinsky.

The view from Levinsky

Oliver and I arrived about 45 minutes early, so we went up to the Levinksy apartment and relaxed with them for a while.  When it was finally time to go downstairs for the event, we ended up sitting in a room waiting 15 minutes for the speaker to show up.  (Sonya and Carmel, two of the Destination Israel coordinators, did their best to the fill the time.)  Finally, a very tall man with a long, well-groomed beard and Harry Potter-like glasses entered.  I believe he said he was from New Jersey, and made aliyah some time ago.  He had a charisma and vocal cadence very similar to other American rabbis I know: a calm and peaceful demeanor that can quickly put you at ease.

He embarked on a discussion of the meaning of Yom Kippur.  He started with what I found to be a very interesting talk about how the purpose of Yom Kippur is to atone for past transgressions by making adjustments in your behavior in the new year.  While I knew most of the facts, the way he presented it gave me a new perspective on Judaism.  Namely, it’s emphasis on making oneself better, and of finding peace through acts of loving-kindness.

Then he started dancing around an issue that I could tell he knew would make us uncomfortable: A god.  He started going on a philosophical rant about how something cannot be made from nothing, and thus the something must come from outside of the universe, and that something must be infinite.  He liked to use the term “The Infinite” instead of God in order to avoid offending our rational sensibilities.  He failed.  Many people in the group started challenging his flawed religion-logic about a god.  One person even brought up a book by Lawrence Krauss, a famous astrophysicist, called “A Universe from Nothing”, which directly challenged the man’s philosophical argument using science–something which gave me a tremendous feeling of satisfaction.  (I turned around in my chair and silently expressed my agreement with him and satisfaction at his mentioning the book.)

Others in the group were clearly disgruntled about this event being mandatory, and unfortunately for the speaker, they were misdirecting their feelings towards him.  Fortunately, he maintained his calm and peaceful demeanor, and respectful responses (something which I wish I was able to do as easily in response to such abrasive challenges).  However, his body language betrayed his discomfort.  He started his talk a couple feet in front of the wall behind him, using hand gestures and with his head on a swivel in order to make eye contact with all of us.  By now, however, he had retreated to the wall, hands in his pockets, and barely any head-swiveling.  I felt a little bad for him.  He was clearly uncomfortable at being challenged about the existence of a god.  Nonetheless, it was reassuring to me to be among such rational company.  And as I said, his responses remained respectful.

The event ended courteously, and I went back to my place for the evening.