Yom Kippur in Tel-Aviv

It was a quiet weekend. And when I say that it was a quiet weekend...I really mean it. It's now ten days into the new year, which means that it is Yom Kippur--the Jewish Day of Atonement.

Yom Kippur is one of the two "High Holy" days (the other being Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, which I wrote about last week). It originated in Bible times, when, as recorded in Leviticus 27:23, the Lord said to Moses:

"The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present an offering made to the LORD by fire"

The ten days after Rosh Hashana are called the Days of Repentance--or the Days of Awe. In those ten days, Jews can utilize the time to seek spiritual renewal, with the culimination being Yom Kippur.

In those ten days, I learned some interesting tidbits from my co-workers regarding Yom Kippur. In a nutshell, the entire country of Israel shuts down for a 25-hour period. And when I say shuts down, I mean shuts down. There are no cars on the road, all businesses are closed, virtually no one works...and, as my dad informed me via skype yesterday evening, even Tel-Aviv's Ben Gurion airport (the only international airport in Israel) shuts down--there are NO flights in or out of the country.

The reason for the Israel-wide shutdown is to enable Jews to devote time to God--spending the 25 hour period in repentance, fasting, and prayer--with much of the activity happening at the synagogue. That being said, there is a wide spectrum of religiosity here in Israel, especially in Tel Aviv. While some of my co-workers has planned on fasting, others treated it as more as a restful weekend. One said that her kids simply think of Yom Kippur as the "bike holiday"--since they can ride their bikes on the street with no threat of cars.

I was thankful to receive a forewarning from co-workers, urging me not to attempt to drive during the holiday. Apparently in the "more religous areas", one could expect to have rocks thrown at their car for driving on this Holy day. It seemed a bit ironic to me that someone who couldn't brush their teeth on Yom Kippur would think it ok to hurl stones at a passrby in a car, but the rules are the rules, I suppose.

At my company, our factory actually shut down for the holiday--mostly, that is. One guy in our group was assigned Yom Kippur duty--so he stayed at work for nearly 30 hours making sure that things were ok. Not sure how he was chosen to take one for the team, or why three people couldn't each take a 10-hour shift, but I didn't question it.

Another tidbit we learned was in regards to the Yom Kippur war of 1973. Apparently the Egyptians and Syrians craftily utilized the Day of Atonement to launch a surprise attack, which started a ~3-week conflict and most certainly caught Israel off-guard.

Since then, Israel has enacted a service called "silent radio". Silent radio is a real radio station that "listeners" can tune to, but will only hear silence (can you hear silence?)  unless something bad happens. In the event of a conflict or catastrophe, the news will be broadcast--thus, breaking the silence. This service is especially helpful on days like Yom Kippur, when enemies might be scheming surprise attacks. We decided not to tune in this year.

With Yom Kippur quickly approaching, I went for a run just before sundown (the beginning of the holiday)--thinking I better sneak one in since running might be offensive during the big day. As I stopped to turn-around and head back to our apartment, I overheard an asian couple speaking Mandarin and could not resist saying hello. Seeing that they were wearing coats (I was shirtless and covered in sweat), I asked them "nimen leng bu leng"--literally "you cold not cold", but essentially the equivalent "are you cold"? The man replied "hen leng" (very cold) and we both laughed. As it turns out, this Christian Taiwanese couple had just flown in to visit the Holy Land. The woman had been raised in Dallas, and her sister had lived in Portland since her husband worked for Intel. I wished them well, then headed off--later realizing perhaps I should've warned them about Yom Kippur.

After sundown, things got extremely quiet in our neighborhood here in Tel Aviv. With no cars barreling down our busy street, we were able to open our windows and turn off the air conditioning for the FIRST time since moving here a month ago. We were amazed to hear the Mediterranean Sea from our living room, something we had not thought possible! We even spent time on our balony (including Sammy skyping with Grandma & Grandpa B), another first. So far, we were really enjoying Yom Kippur! Other sounds heard included children playing and bikes wizzing by. Here's a shot taken from our balcony around 11pm - you can see that the cars had been replaced with bikes...oh, and the children were still playing at this late hour, something not uncommon here in Israel.

The next morning, Nicki, Sammy, and I went for a nice long walk. Everyone in Tel Aviv, it seemed, was out doing the same thing. We started at Hayarkon Park, then realized that we should be taking advantage of the situation, so then hit the streets.

It was amazing to watch so many families simply being out and about. Walks, bikes, skateboards, picnics (minus the food), songs, and laughter were in abundance. We also saw and heard more birds than we had in the last month--amazing what you notice without the ovear-bearing noise of traffic. Here's some pictures on/near the Ayalon highway, a typically jam-packed 8-lane freeway which runs through the heart of Tel-Aviv.

We did see some Jews who weren't all fun and games on the streets. I had read that men typically wear white on Yom Kippur, a symbol of spiritual purity. Here is a couple that seemed to be on their way back form the synagogue.

 We did see a few cars randomly throughout the day. No rocks were thrown, but the etiquette of drivers seemed to include ensuring that their hazard lights were on--perhaps as a rock-deterrent. We also saw a couple of ambulances and a police car. Other than that, it was all bikes.

We even managed to spot some "funny english"--something that was fairly common in China and had provided much entertainment value. Here in Israel, though, it is few and far between.

Sammy enjoyed his first Yom Kippur. He didn't work and doesn't have any teeth to brush, but he did refuse to fast :) Actually, we learned that he's in the clear--Jewish kids aren't expected to fast until after their Bar/Bat Mitzvah. And, you'll notice that he was certainly wearing white.

All in all, it was a wonderfully relaxing, quiet, and peaceful weekend. Nicki suggested that there should be a monthly Israel-wide shutdown, and I tend to agree.