Comparing our Israel Yom Kippur experience with what we're used to

So, Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the Jewish year. In Israel, where Orthodox Jews hold considerable influence over policy (if you've dug into Israeli politics recently, you have a sense of it), the country shuts down all commerce, including all public transportation. I thought I would catalog our day, comparing it with a normal YK experience in our Ohio Jewish existence.

Erev Yom Kippur (the day that holds the sundown that starts YK)
Morning and Afternoon
Israel: We have been adopted by the Ra'anana Masorti Congregation Amitai, and have gone to enough services that we run into people we know around town. It's nice to have a community.

Our challah looked
similar to this. on the
High Holy Days,
challot are typically
round to represent the
cycle of life (and other
interpretations abound).

On Erev Yom Kippur, kids don't have school and get to sleep in. Josh and I went out around 9am to snag one of the last round challahs from a bakery and went to two grocery stores looking for chicken to cook for dinner. It was busy out with people running their last errands. At 2pm, Josh quickly took our pasta salad offering for the break fast potluck over to the host so that tomorrow we can go straight there from the last YK services, more than 24 hours away. Now at 3:33pm, there's barely any traffic on the streets. We got a text from the twins' school that kids are meeting with their bikes and scooters at 1900 tonight to ride the streets (this is a thing in Israel. Since there's no cars on the streets, it's taken over by bikes).

USA: Josh and I would work full days and the kids would go to school. Round challah only if I had time to make it or time to drive to Lakewood to pick one up. Nothing is different around us. No worries finding chicken to cook for dinner. Girls' after school activities would continue as usual. I'm glad we're in Israel this year because YK eve is on a Tuesday, which means it might conflict with a 4:30pm conservatory faculty meeting, which it does...

Evening
Israel: We have a dinner that we hope will sustain us for more than 24 hours. Protein. Fat. We go to services that start at 5:45pm with the Kol Nidre portion starting at 6:15. At services, there is assigned seating. We are in row 26. There are six (??) chairs labeled J.Levy. Turns out we were surrounded by Americans, which was kinda nice. This congregation has lots of Brazilians and Americans.

We were told that kids don't dress up, but they definitely did. But at least our girls were comfortable. Lots of little girls in white princess dresses. Lots of women either in all white or a white top. Men in white shirts tucked into white pants with white sneakers. The rabbi and chazzan in white tunics and white pants. So much white. I knew white was the traditional color to wear, but really didn't put it together what it looks like when the overwhelming majority of people wear white. We don't bring any leather with us (tennis shoes or crocs, no belts, cloth bags).

Services are long, as expected: three hours. One difference is that Kol Nidre is sung three times, and the melody was embellished more each time to be louder and higher. Three different people came up to hold the three torahs during each recitation. Torahs were wearing white, too. Avinu Malkeinu was again intense, but not quite as intense as it was on Rosh HaShanah, when the rabbi was almost shouting it in his fervor. The sermon was the longest I have heard, and I'm up to understanding 20-25% of the words. (Not enough to have a clue....) For the first time, there's no visible clock, so you lose track of time. This is the third space we have worshipped in with this community. For YK, they rent a school gymnasium and expect about 250 people. Their normal space holds about 50 and the other space about 70.

We walk home (about a 20 minute walk), enjoying the freedom to walk in the middle of the street. Kids are zooming around on bikes and scooters. Little kids are learning to ride bikes. G&A are running down the middle of the streets. People are hanging out in their all white, and you see a variety of traditions/approaches to all white. We get home around 9pm.

USA: We either have a nice dinner or chow down some leftovers depending on how busy life is after work. We get a babysitter, then drive 35 minutes to our temple for Kol Nidre services. During services, we will hear Kol Nidre sung by the cantor we hire for the high holidays and we will also hear it played on the viola (sometimes cello). Torahs are wearing white. People are dressed up for the most part. Lots of dark suits. We don't bring any leather with us (tennis shoes and cloth bags). We will get home late--around 10pm, maybe 10:30pm.

Yom Kippur
Morning

deserted streets on
our walk home from
morning services

Israel: No school for kids. All places of work are shut down except for emergency services. Services start at 8:30am, but we don't wake up until 7:50. We planned to arrive around 9:00, hoping that it won't be too crowded yet. We actually arrive around 9:30. I'm glad we didn't get there any earlier because we brought the total number of daveners (prayers) up to 20. Lots of white clothes again today, but not nearly as overwhelming as it had been last night.

There about 50 by time the Torah service started at 10:30 and it might have hit 75 at the peak. We've decided to let the girls bring a backpack of activities if they want to step out and color or read for a bit. They made it for about an hour before they went outside to amuse themselves. Helen accepted the honor of opening and closing the ark, and Josh performed his Levite duties with good humor (twice witnessing the hand washing of the Kohanim and doing the second aliyah). Services ended at 1:00, a full hour earlier than expected. We had a really nice walk back to our apartment with the people sitting in front of us. We'll be at home for a little less than three hours before heading back for more.

USA: Luckily for Jan, there are no classes on YK. Hopefully no one will schedule important meetings or school open houses today, but in all honesty, every year Jan has to miss something, whether it's a conservatory faculty council meeting, the girls' open house, or other faculty meeting. Josh is not as lucky and has to remember to put in for a vacation day. The girls can choose to go to school or come to services with us.  We drive 35 minutes to services, which start at 10:00am, and we usually leave around 1:00pm to come home and relax.

Evening
Israel: We return for the last two services a little before 5 (about 45 minutes late). We ditch Gabi and Alice before entering the gym because there is Ruach--a youth movement that has programming they enjoy (Helen's not sure she enjoys it, so she stayed with us tonight). Services are timed to end with sundown, the official moment when YK is over. The room gets really full again, because everyone wants to hear the shofar that marks the end of the High Holy Days.

The end of services were quite special. Admittedly, we don't stay for full services in our Cleveland home, so we have nothing to compare it to. But, services concluded with Havdallah, one of my very favorite Jewish rituals. Parents made a covered walkway with their tallit and all the Ruach kids (about 60 of them) walked in and filled the area around the bimah. We turned out all the lights (it was dark outside) and we sang a lot of wonderful tunes. It was loud, heartfelt, and loving. Then they blew the shofars--one long blast each. Once the first had been going for 10ish seconds, the second one started. It was really cool to hear two simultaneously (and they

Ahuza St, the busiest
near our house, on our
way to evening
services.

coincided in an out-of-tune tritone that was quite beautiful). Both went through a few different partials and were beautifully blown by the rabbi and chazzan.

Afterwards everyone pulled out little snacks and bottles of water to break the fast. Chairs got stacked up and the gym started to return to its original state. Then we walked to the fantastic break fast potluck we were invited to. Havdallah marks that boundary between sacred time and secular time. We felt that strongly and with sadness as we walked outside to sadly discover cars being driven on the streets again. No more walking in the middle of the street....

USA: We break fast at a normal dinner hour, often with a big holiday meal that Josh has time to prepare that afternoon, and we share it with Jewish and non-Jewish friends. In fact, we might have something nicer than pasta or chicken since food is so much cheaper in Ohio.

===
Overall, this was a really great experience for me. My feet are tired because there is so much more standing during services here than at home. Thank goodness I was wearing sneakers. We also attended almost 10 hours of services while fasting. So many prayers are said multiple times during each service that things really started to blend together. That was a little wonky. I really loved the end of services and the sense of community.