Yom Kippor (by Ellie Tepper)

Yom Kippur in Israel is completely different than it is at home. Every single store closed at 1:30 in the afternoon on Friday, in preparation for Kol Nidre and the Pre-Fast meal. Adam, Rivka, Shelby, Alex, and I headed to the shuk to pick up last minute things for our final meal. We cooked chickens in sautéed onions, made a huge salad with the most beautiful peppers ever, had pasta with asparagus and mushrooms, honey potatoes, and delicious pastries directly from the best baker in the shuk. It was a weird feeling having my final meal during the afternoon but we stuck to the time very precisely and at exactly 5:28, we put our forks down and had our last sip of water. That night, I hung out with everyone until about 8 when my food coma hit and I was ready for bed! On Yom Kippur here, everything is shut down. No stores are open and no car is on the street. Outside, children were playing in the middle of King George Street while people strolled up and down, completely ignoring the sidewalks. I managed to use the day as a perfect chance to catch up on my sleep. Surprisingly, I slept until 1 pm! For the rest of the day, I watched movies and continuely napped until about 5, when I retreated to the other building to visit everyone else. We couldn’t break the fast until 6:20, which was the longest hour and twenty minutes EVER. When it was finally time, we all headed to the big classroom and ate a variety of foods from pasta salad to potatoes, to eggs. After eating a few things at the group break fast, Alex and I took a walk to our favorite sushi place, Moon, to really break the fast! It was amazing. One minute there was not a car in sight or a store open and then in a blink of an eye the city woke up! All of the restaurants in town opened and the traffic backed up. I have never seen anything like it before in my life. Hopefully I’ll spend Yom Kippur next year in Jerusalem and have a completely different experience.