Highlights from September 2017 at URJ Heller High
Rosh
HaShana 5778
By Annabella
Kliman, 11th grade, Sacramento
Our stay at Kibbutz Yahel
was a restful, yet restless experience. Spending Rosh Hashana in Israel
was not at all what I had imagined but still a more than lovely experience. It
was nothing like what I had expected.
I was anticipating Rosh
Hashana to be an important time with long religious services that are stressed
and planned out months in advance, yet, if anything, it was the opposite.
Though still educational and heartwarming, Rosh Hashana wasn't a religious
holiday. At home, ever since I joined my temple, I haven't missed a Rosh
Hashana service. This is where all of my friends that are Jewish, but didn't
practice, would gather to listen to the shofar and would come again in a little
over a week. They would then disappear until next Rosh Hashana. Here, our
group was significantly larger than the rest of the people attending the
service. We gathered in a small room with kibbutz members in a circle shape so
that we could easily see each and every companion in the room. We later learned
that this was a Safardic style of prayer. They even had and read from Ashkenazi
and Safardic style Torahs the next day.
We all seemed to feel a
connection with each other. The Erev Rosh Hashana service was short and
calming. It was similar to a Friday night Shabbat service at home as in not
everyone came but it was still a nice relaxing service. Afterwards, we joined
everyone in the dining hall for a Rosh Hashana seder (something I didn't even
know existed) and a nice meal.
Later that night, as we
sat in a circle and exchanged our gifts for the "Secret Shana", we
each shared what we appreciate about one another. As we did the first
night on Rabbi Loren Sykes’s roof and went from person to person to get to know
each other better, but this time we said something about someone else, we lit a
candle for them, and instead of tossing a ball of yarn to them, we gave them a
meaningful gift.
We woke up and got dressed
in excitement for another service. Though this one was significantly longer, we
all got the chance to participate in it. We could do an aliyah, open the
arc, etc.
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A Visit to the Southern Temple
Mount Excavations
by Shayna Codd, 11th grade, Cincinnati
The
Sadducees live in the upper city of Jerusalem. They were usually pretty
wealthy. We knew this because of their roofs which were red. The main material
in their homes were plaster and colored tile. Each different color of tile has
to be imported from different parts of the world. The art in the homes were
Jewish but without that you had no indication that they were Jewish and had
assimilated to Roman.
The
steps that each oleh regel (pilgrim) went through before entering the Beit
Hamikdash were the southern steps. The holidays on which they did this were
Sukot, Pesach, and Shavuot. When going up the steps people would say prayers
and pay a 1/2 shekel. The importance of this place for the Jewish people is
that it is a holy site for Jews and it makes people feel more connected to
Judaism because of that. This means that today we have to try to remember the
Beit Hamikdash and respect it as a holy site.
Being on
the southern steps was an interesting experience. It's hard to imagine people
being there so many years ago, however, you feel a sort of deja vu being there.
This is because of something called collective memory. That we as a whole were
there and you can definitely feel that when walking up the steps.
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Students
visit model of Jerusalem in the Second Temple Period at Israel Museum
Video
filmed and edited by Lillian Ross, 10th
grade, New York
Second
Temple Model
By Lilllian
Ross, 10th grade, New York
Jerusalem
during the Roman period was a very spiritual location for the Jews. It was a
very sacred place and the Temple was the meeting place for the Sanhedrin who
were the assembly of rabbis for Israel. The four sects of Judaism were the
Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes and Zealots. On the tiyul, we walked around the
museum and stopped at multiple places. One included the Second Temple Model
which is very special to the museum. In addition, we learned the importance of
different rulers at the time. We acted out the different groups of Jews during the Second Temple Period.
Overall, the trip was very educational and important to our understanding of
the Second Temple period.
