On the Jewish calendar this month is called "Mar Cheshvan," "Bitter Cheshvan,"since the month of Chesvan has no holidays, unlike Tishrei, which was full of holidays (Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashannah, Sukkot, Simchat Torah, etc.) But far from being "Mar", Cheshvan is pretty sweet. I'm pretty much moved into my apartment now, and am starting to make the place more of a bachelor pad. At my old place, I think I had maybe two visitors for the whole year. Now that I'm centrally located, I've got to be ready for the throngs of visitors who will be pounding on my door any day now. So I'm starting to buy new dishes, sheets, and tablecloths. I'm making my bed, washing the floors, and cleaning the dishes after every meal!
Meanwhile, life in general is going just swimmingly. A bunch of my friends are getting married; namely, Moshe, who passed this apartment over to me, Eli from my Gemara shiur, and Yaakov, a friend from Pisgat Ze'ev. Meanwhile, my cousins in Pisgat Ze'ev are away in Canada since I have not one but two sets of cousins getting married there over the next two weeks or so. I have sorts of tiyulim (tours/hikes) coming up this month, and I just got a bunch of new projects from work, so I'm employed for the foreseeable future. I'm stretching my mind into new dimensions of time and space in my Gemara shiur. And I've been learning lots of new lessons about how to, ya know, "be" around girls on the dating scene.
So here's a throwback to Tishrei; I realize this is about a month old, but I'm going to post some photos from Hakafot Hashniyot. Hakafot are a series of Pesukim (quotes from the Torah) read on Simchat Torah, where we finish off the torah and rewind. In the states, Simchat Torah is typically accompanied by wild dancing and celebrating, except because it's a Yom Tov (holiday) the prohibition on musical instruments applies. In Eretz Israel, holidays are only one day, not two like in the exile. So on what would be the second day, people whip out their instruments and make a celebration with live music. Here are some shots from the celebration in Pisgat Ze'ev. Every Jewish town in Israel had a similar event.
Rabbi Ishran, (cousin Rafi's father,) on the mike.
Cousin Rafi sings!
Dancin' around.
Smulik and little Shlomshlom (Rafi's brother and nephew, so they're my distant cousins somehow as well.)
Wishing a Cheshvan Matok (sweet Cheshvan) to all my readers!
Meanwhile, life in general is going just swimmingly. A bunch of my friends are getting married; namely, Moshe, who passed this apartment over to me, Eli from my Gemara shiur, and Yaakov, a friend from Pisgat Ze'ev. Meanwhile, my cousins in Pisgat Ze'ev are away in Canada since I have not one but two sets of cousins getting married there over the next two weeks or so. I have sorts of tiyulim (tours/hikes) coming up this month, and I just got a bunch of new projects from work, so I'm employed for the foreseeable future. I'm stretching my mind into new dimensions of time and space in my Gemara shiur. And I've been learning lots of new lessons about how to, ya know, "be" around girls on the dating scene.
So here's a throwback to Tishrei; I realize this is about a month old, but I'm going to post some photos from Hakafot Hashniyot. Hakafot are a series of Pesukim (quotes from the Torah) read on Simchat Torah, where we finish off the torah and rewind. In the states, Simchat Torah is typically accompanied by wild dancing and celebrating, except because it's a Yom Tov (holiday) the prohibition on musical instruments applies. In Eretz Israel, holidays are only one day, not two like in the exile. So on what would be the second day, people whip out their instruments and make a celebration with live music. Here are some shots from the celebration in Pisgat Ze'ev. Every Jewish town in Israel had a similar event.
Rabbi Ishran, (cousin Rafi's father,) on the mike.
Cousin Rafi sings!
Dancin' around.
Smulik and little Shlomshlom (Rafi's brother and nephew, so they're my distant cousins somehow as well.)Wishing a Cheshvan Matok (sweet Cheshvan) to all my readers!
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