I would like to take a piece of my friend Judah's blog that sums up my morning and then I will add my own blog material.
Most of my activities today essentially had to do with Sukkah. We had two shiurim this morning at the yeshiva, both about sukkah. One, by Josh Kulp (my Talmud teacher for Elul), dealt with the difference in opinion about the symbolism behind the sukkah. There is a debate in rabbinic literature about the sukkah commemorating actual sukkot or the “clouds of glory” that protected the Israelites on their journey. The other shiur we had was with Reb Shmuel about the purposes and laws of the sukkah. Very practical on many levels.
Shortly afterwards we got free pizza at the Yeshiva. They ordered from Sababa – we agreed that it’s not the best pizza in town, but it’s free pizza, who cares?
After our Shiurim on Sukkot I had the rest of the day off, meaning I ended around 12, which is incredible cause that never happens. After classes were over I headed to my room and did some work for a bit and hung out until all of Nativ met back at 3 in the afternoon to start building and decorating the Nativ Sukkot. We have two large Sukkot in between the two buildings. The bases were set up for us, so all we had to do was put the walls on and put Skach on tops of the Sukkot. It reminded me of the hours I used to spend putting up the Sukkah for school every year with the exception that I was the only one putting the Sukkah up at school and it took me 12-14 hours in one day to get it up and it almost always fell down due to rain and wind. It was very nice putting the Sukkah up. The boys for the most part put the walls and Skach up, while the girls decorated posters and made the classic paper rings for the Sukkah. All in all after the Sukkot were done they looked great and I am excited to eat and sleep in them during the Holiday.
After we finished the Sukkot it was about time for dinner so I ate dinner at Beit Nativ with everyone and then everyone who goes to Hebrew U went to study for tests and papers that they had to deal with for the next day. I thought since I didn't have to prepare for anything at Hebrew U, I would go and do my laundry. It was a peaceful and relaxing night for me at Base. I did my laundry and did a few other peoples laundry. My mother would be proud of me cause after 19 years of never doing my laundry at home, either because she wouldn't let me or the other members of our family or because I didn't know where the laundry room was, I am getting pretty good at the whole laundry thing and folding of my laundry.
That is pretty much it for today. Can't wait to see what is in store for me tomorrow.
Thursday October 1, 2009
I couldn't have asked for a better start to today. I woke up for davening with the rest of the group and after davening, around 8 am, I went back to bed until 1 in the afternoon because I didn't have any classes at the Yeshiva cause we had just started our Sukkot break. It was an amazing morning. I hope to do that more often if I am alloted the opportunity. After I woke up around 1, I showered and got dressed and headed down stairs for lunch. After lunch all of the Hebrew U kids returned from school after taking their final tests and writing their last papers for the MiniMester. At around 2 in the afternoon we had mandatory sessions on Sukkot that were run by Nativers that were in the Yeshiva. The session was on the 4 species of Sukkot.
After we had our session we all gathered in the lobby of the main building and prepared for going to the Shuk HaArbah Minim, the Shuk for the Four Species. Before we left their were a bunch of us who were wearing red shirts so we all took a pictures. Yossi was even in the picture! We start walking to the Shuk and once we get there we were overwhelmed with the amount of people buying their 4 species for Sukkot. Because the first day of Sukkot is on Shabbat this year everything was dirt cheap. The reason for everything being dirt cheap is because the commandment in the Torah states that you should use the 4 species on the first day, and because the first day is on Shabbat this year you don't use the species, which means everything is very cheap. I bought my full set and a carrying case for it all for 60 Shekels which is roughly $16. It is so much cheaper in Israel that what I used to pay in the states, around $50.
After we came back from the Shuk, I put my 4 species in the fridge so they would stay healthy and then I got changed for the first round of the NBA, the Nativ Basketball Association. We have 5 teams of 4 people who just play basketball once a week in Gan Ha'Pamon. It was great to start playing sports again even though my sport isn't basketball. We played from around 6pm to about 10pm. I played in about 7 games of 12 minutes each. I had a great time and so did everyone else. We are going to be doing this once a week on either Sunday or Thursday depending on schedules. After basketball we headed back to Base and got cleaned up and just went out for a bit at night.
I would say all in all, I had a good week and I am excited for Sukkot break.
I will be posting again after Shabbat and the first day of Yom Tov Sukkot. I am going to Modiin, which is out side of Jerusalem before Tel-Aviv, to spend Shabbat and Yom Tov with my Talmud teacher, Josh Kulp and his family. I will post again after Shabbat before I will be on a 3 day break because of our 3 day survival journey in the south.
Shabbat Shalom and Moadim L'Simcha
David
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