The sheer irony of being in Jerusalem never ceases to amuse me. People who you would never see otherwise are suddenly boarding the same bus as you, turning the same corner, or eating in the same place.
Friends... acquantices... Or someone who knows someone who is in the same place as you... Your roommate... your cousin... a friend from camp... There was a group on Facebook (Sefer HaPanim as I like to call it) called Six Degrees of Seperation... and in Jerusalem, it's less than that. In a way it's comforting... you are never alone... you know someone and as a member of Klal Yisroel, Yidden are always looking to help. And in a way, it's rather disconcerting. It means being on your best behavior cuz you never know who will see you. It means in order to be by yourself, to have a moment to think, you have to escape far away.... and within in certain time constraints, it's sort of hard.
Coming to Israel has been an adjustment on many levels... a new school... a new housing situation... a new country... and way too many opinions and expectations. What is suitable for Ben Yehuda is no wheres near appropriate for Meah Shearim... and they are only a few blocks away! It's a lot to try and understand.
I have been here for a month almost. In that time I have spent many, many shekalim, collected a nice amount of maavers (bus passes), used one cartisiya, been to several neighborhoods in Yerushalayim (Beit Hakerem, Bayit Vegan, Har Nof, Sanhedria, Rechavia, Geula, Meah Shearim, Kiryat Belz/Sanz, Ben Yehuda, Old City, Kotel), traveled outside of Yerushalayim, and gone on the light rail more times than I can count. One month, and it feels like a lifetime.
It's Yom Kippur on Shabbos. I can't say I am ready for it. I don't even think I am fully aware of the awesomeness of the day.. yet, I am prepared to go to davening and tell HK"BH that I want to live... I want to be inscribed for life... I hope He agrees.
Gmar Chasima Tova
(By the way, did you guess the song?)
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