Rabbi Bloom's Sabbatical Blog

  Shavuot . A few years ago, the congregation allowed me to take a special trip to Israel just to observe this incredible holiday in Israel. Yet Shavuot is the least well known and most underrated of all the major Jewish Holidays. Ask someone if they have heard of Chanukah, and the answer is almost always yes. Ask about Shavuot, and even most Jews are befuddled. Shavuot celebrates the receiving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. It is actually one of the three great Pilgrimage Holidays, along with Passover and Sukkkot. But Passover has the Seder and Sukkot has the Sukka (temporary hut like dwelling), and Shavuot, often occurring after school has been let out, doesn't quite have the attention grabber. But it does have great traditions, including the eating of dairy foods (the reasons are  manifold ), as well as the tradition to stay up all night studying sacred Jewish texts, called Tikkun Leil Shavuot. Back home, we only make it until Midnight. Here in Israel, most of the sessions do...

  Yom Yerushalayim, the Beautiful . This past week we celebrated Jerusalem Day, essentially the day on the Hebrew Calendar that Jerusalem was recaptured from Jordan during the Six Day War and a united city once again. After the War of Independence in 1948, Jews were removed from the Old City of Jerusalem, not even allowed to visit sites like the Western Wall, and that lasted until 1967. This day celebrates the day. People, especially children of all ages, walk around with Israeli flags and sing songs about Jerusalem. The passion and pride in the people is a beautiful thing to watch. I attended a very special morning service at the Haas Promenade, which overlooks the entire Old City. Here are a couple videos and pictures, which should give you some idea. Overlooking the entire Old City And a protest for those who feel it came at the expense of the Palestinians. Just so you know I'm there Yom Yerushalayim , the Ugly. Unfortunately, over the last few years, the day has become excessiv...

  Petra--Beautiful AND Uncomfortable . We took a 2 day trip from Jerusalem to see what is considered one of the 7 wonders of the modern world. Imagine if Bryce and Zion National Parks had cities built into them, with ancient shrines/temples/graves and revolutionary water management, then you'd have Petra. It was built primarily by the Nabateans but also utilized by Greeks, Romans, and various Muslim conquerors over the centuries. It was beautiful and inspiring. I had some great hikes, and the time spent there was great, if a little tiring. We also saw Jeresh, the ruins of an Alexandrian city from 2000 years ago. We were supposed to see Mount Nebo, where Moses looked over Israel and died before entering, but the pace was too slow, and we had to skip it. But I'm not sure this trip was worth it. It was very stressful in a variety of ways. First and foremost, it's subtle but clear that Jordanians do not like Jews. One tour guide asked if we were "real Americans." Anot...

  View of the Mediterranean Sea from our Tel Aviv Apt. It's hard to describe what the two days of Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha'atzmaut are like here in Israel. It's the heaviness and the excitement in the air, the Israeli flags waving everywhere, the siren of silence, the revelry, the barbecues, the general mood. In some ways, these are their biggest holidays.  Yom Hazikaron is Israel's Memorial Day, and it's for and about the many soldiers who have died in battle. So many families are directly affected by this, and if you didn't lose a relative in your own family, plenty of your friends did. There are no appliance sales on this day, but there are a whole lot of programs (tekes, it is called in Hebrew) that honor these people. There is also a moment of silence at 11 AM, and, just like with Yom Hashoa, everyone stops what they are doing, gets out of their cars or homes or offices, and stands at attention. However, as soon as that day ends, the evening changes to Yom...

Coq D'or Marselan Wine, Kosher from France What exactly will I be doing on my sabbatical , I have been asked multiple times. I am often tempted to answer "as little as possible" as I attempt to recharge, rejuvenate, and rest after 3 years of Covid Rabbi-ing. However, not only is that flippant, it's not really accurate. I at least plan to eat lots of amazing Kosher foo, drink lots of amazing Kosher wine, and buy lots of things, thus doing my part to stimulate the Israeli economy. But I jest. I am not just taking an extended vacation. The goal is actually to use my brain in ways I don't always get to in daily life. Traditionally, sabbaticals were often utilized by professors and clergy to do some sort of project or to study something in depth. But what I want to do is what we call Torah Lishma , learning for its own sake. And I now have a schedule of sorts to accomplish that. Ulpan . I will be doing a two day a week Ulpan (conversational Hebrew intensive) at the Com...

I said to another TBA member who is in Israel right now, if you didn't read the news, you wouldn't feel any of the tension that you are reading about in America. Mostly you'd just feel the peace of Jerusalem and the rhythm of the Passover holiday. I got into that a little bit last week, but a little more now. The Longest Seder . We attended the longest and latest Seder we have ever been to at the home of the Swidlers, a family who lives in the Nachlaot neighborhood of Jerusalem who we met when they hosted us 12 years ago through shabbat.com (it's a real thing), and we have become good friends with ever since. Since they are constantly hosting us (our apartment could never really meet their Kashrut standards) we took them out for a pre Pesach Pizza Hut dinner. Then, the next night, their Seder went from about 8:45 PM to 2 AM. But it was not just an all Hebrew/mumbling type of Seder. It was filled with questions and discussions and beautiful, beautiful singing. The entire...