Rosh Hashanah

For my Israeli Rosh Hashanah I was invited to come visited friends of my mom's the Druckers. Gordon and Ahuva worked with my mom in the United States at a Jewish overnight camp in New Hampshire. They live in Pardesiya, which is near Netanya. The holiday was absolutely fantastic.For those that do not know, Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year. Jews typically eat apples with honey, pomegranates, honey cake, and other sweet foods to signify a sweet new year. Ahuva is a Yemenite and most of the family is Yemenite as well. The cuisine of Yemenite Jews has a few distinct dishes, while the rest of the cuisine is very diverse and has borrowed elements from all over the world. Since most the people that live in Pardesiya are of Yemenite descent, the services also had a Yemenite flavor to them. They were orthodox, with the men and women seperated. The Hebrew service was very different from the reform Ashkenazi service that I am used to having back in Massachusetts. It was nice to have a very interesting and different side of the holiday.

The food was flowing at every moment. The first night at Ahuva's we had many different types of fruit such of fresh from the tree mangoes, starfruits, guava, pomegranates, and apples with honey. Ahuva's sister made the most delicious pickles I have ever had. Dates and other dried fruits. A bunch of salads with cabbage, crispy noodles covered in caramelized sugar, celery, and diced chili. A beet salad with parsley, finely chopped onion. Cooked pumpkin. Braised beef ribs that was just as good of beef brisket. cousemeh which is kashka in Yiddish. Moroccan spicy fish with chickpeas. For dessert I had the ubiquitous honey cake and other sweets. There were at least 25 people at the dinner. Ahuva's family is very large with many children and grandchildren.

The next day after services in the Yemenite Shul we went to Ahuva and Gordon's daughter's daughter and son in laws house for lunch. We had malawach which is a Yemenite fried dough of sorts which is like puff pastry. it is served with a spicy concoction called zhug, and fresh grated tomato sauce. Israeli salad, and romaine salad. Mullet with garlic and tomatoes. Tehina with pita.

After a nap I went to the beach with Ari and Daleet, the children of Ahuva and Gordon. It was definitely the right decision and way to celebrate the holiday. Then we went to the Ahuva's hometown Elyashiv which is 10 minutes north of Pardesiya. There we stopped by Ahuva's sisters for a bit and noshed on some stuffed grape leaves with rice and ground meat. Then we went to shul and then to Ahuva's brothers Elkhanan. There we had at least 20 people join us for dinner. We had the fruits, black eyed peas, fried leek cakes, fried carp, Israeli salad , tehina with pita, stuffed peppers, rice, potatoes, braised veal, roasted chicken with date syrup, garlic,oil, salt and pepper. Cooked pumpkin. mushroom bourekas. and many cakes for dessert.

For breakfast I had the best shakshouka I have ever had in my life. Shakshouka is eggs cooked in a spicy tomato sauce and you eat it with zhug and bread. You can find it everywhere here and everyone makes it differently.

The holiday itself is not about being in services all day I have come to find. It is about being with your family and enjoying yourself and the company. There is always too much food and Ahuva made me take home leftovers. It is time to bring in a sweet new year with the people you care about. It is about eating so much food that you feel like not eating for the next week. I did not take any pictures of my time because it is hard to capture the holiday in pictures. It is a holiday that you need all of the senses. You need to see, hear the Shofar, smell and taste the food, and most importantly to feel the warmth of the friends and family you have. It would have been a shame for me to take pictures of Rosh Hanshanah. It is something that I cannot describe through the lens of a digital camera. It is something that you have to experience for yourself. I wish every Jew can experience the holiday here in Israel. It is like nothing else. With that I sign off. Tomorrow is another day Ulpan and volunteer visits. Lehitraot.