Oiling the wheels and dusting off the siddur
Filed under: A New Reality, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Life, Religion
Yom Kippur arrives tonight, and the schizoid makeup of the Israeli public will once again become apparent.
Between the choices of fasting and attending synagogue services, walking, bike riding, and skating in the empty streets, or, if you live along the coast, heading the beach, makes the solemn day of atonement one of the busiest days in the Israeli calendar.
According to a poll conducted by Ynet and the Yesodot association, 61% of Israelis said they plan to fast on the holiday and 28% said no. Six percent said they would fast only part of the day and 5% had yet to decide. Interestingly, among secular Israelis, about half of respondents said they would fast (most of them all day).
Just because one fasts doesn’t mean that they’ll be attending a service, however. Ten percent of those that said they were planning to fast responded that they wouldn’t be going to shul on the holiday.
And in a more nebulous religious/secular question, 77% of the public plans on asking forgiveness from God or other people on Yom Kippur, as opposed to 23% who do not plan to make amends with anyone.
Relating to the uniquely Israeli tradition of youth jamming the streets on the eve of Yom Kippur with bikes and other wheeled vehicles, the public was divided. 35% responded that it is a violation of the sanctity of the day just as driving a car is, while 29% responded positively that it is one of the symbols of the day. Seventeen percent did not respond.
Like on every other day of the year, Yom Kippur provides ample proof that in Israel, anyone can find a way of life suitable to their beliefs and needs. May you find yours.
Foto Friday – Biking to the Extreme
Filed under: A New Reality, Foto Friday, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life, Pop Culture, Sports
Israel is a natural location for extreme sports. Some would even venture that just living in Israel is an extreme sport, given our highway conditions and of course that pesky security situation.
Even the Israel Postal Company has gotten into the act, with a series of stamps celebrating windsurfing, and — of course — the ever-popular all-terrain biking.
Yes, there are bikers all over Israel’s terrain, particularly on the weekends. when they come out in droves. It makes sense. The sport combines the positive effects of outdoor exercise with the even more popular crazy Israeli driver syndrome. There are extreme bikers in the Jerusalem Hills…
In Tel Aviv…
Very extreme biking in Haifa…
The popularity of ultra-sports is constantly growing (for proof, check out ISRAEL21c’s video about Parkour in Tel Aviv) and there are events scheduled for every weekend in the coming months. Shvoong is central repository for all sports-related information but unfortunately, the site is only in Hebrew, as is ProSport, which runs some of the country’s most fun and creative events. For English, try the Israel Cycling Federation, Cyclenix – MTB Israel, Ayalot, the Israeli Club for Runners and Triathletes or Sarma, the Israel Extreme Sports and Rescue Association.
And consider signing up for a charity hike or bike trip: Tsad Kadima’s Hike for Hope, Hazon’s Jerusalem To Eilat Ride 2010; ALYN Hospital’s 11th International Charity Bike Ride. All worthy causes and good fun.
Picture of the week – A green Yom Kippur for all the world
Filed under: Environment, General, Holidays, Picture of the Week
Children riding their bikes and bimbas on an empty street in Jerusalem. Photo by Nati Shohat/Flash90.
For some it’s a solemn day of fasting, prayer, and asking for forgiveness, for others – specifically children – Yom Kippur is the day they claim the streets.
Ever year, children all over the country hone their cycling skills as the traffic stops and the roads clear. Whether it’s on a bike, roller blades, scooters, bimbas, or even unicycles, the nation takes to the street in what is probably – ironically – one of the most joyous holidays of the year.
Aside from the sheer pleasure of cycling undisturbed down some of Israel’s main arteries – like route 6, or the Ayalon Freeway, the quality of undisturbed silence is unparalleled. There are no buses, no cars, no trains, no airplanes even. The only sound is the whir of bikes, and the calls of children.
And the air quality, well…
I’ve long thought that some form of Yom Kippur actually ought to be adopted by other countries as an environmental measure. This must be the greenest day in Israel.
Every year there are reports in the local press about the dramatic decline in air pollution throughout Israel’s towns and cities. It’s a chance for the country to breathe again. Imagine what would happen if London followed suit, or New York, or Beijing. Perhaps this should be the latest campaign for environmentalists.
Holiday transitions
Hard to believe, but we are already in the middle of the chagim period, the month-long period of holidays that falls every autumn. We’re past Yom Kippur, a.k.a., the Festival of Bicycles, when a good chunk of the country spends the evening and following day in synagogue, while many kids take over the empty streets of all cities on the eve and day of Yom Kippur with bicycles – as well as skateboards, roller blades, skates and scooters. In fact, bicycle sales rise in the weeks prior to YK, with companies advertising Yom Kippur specials.
Then, it was straight into another Shabbat, as Yom Kippur ended on Thursday night, which meant a rush for the supermarket and butcher counter on Friday morning. Unlike the week before, when Rosh Hashanah ended and we went into another Shabbat, there wasn’t quite as much of a fresh chicken shortage, because the week before also coincided with the end of Ramadan, which meant a lot of chickens being eaten out there.
But the end of Shabbat this week brought the annual put-up-the-sukkah evening, when you gather your forces to snap together metal poles and string up the canvas walls. With Sukkot beginning Monday night, it’s another rush into the third holiday of the season, and the longest, at a full seven days. So now we’re thinking sukkah decorations of paper chains, plastic fruits and blinking lights, and one-dish meals that are easier to serve to the crowd.
I’ll let you know what I decide to make, as soon as I get started on the paper chains…
Getting ready
The day of Yom Kippur eve is, ironically, usually quite pleasant.
Most people don’t go to work, the kids are home from school, and it’s almost like a Sunday morning would feel like if there were Sunday papers and football games on TV.
Since there’s no big meals to prepare for, you get a free pass for the morning – watching a movie in bed with the kids, doing some household chore that had been put off, or doing some reading in preparation for the fast and solemn day of prayer.
In the afternoon, though, the complexion noticeably changes, and one eerie element is that you being noticing that almost all the cars on your street are parked, and everyone is home. As it gets close to sunset, people start emerging from their homes, either dressed in their Beit Knesset finest, or for the neighborhoods kids, brandishing bicycles, scooters and any other mode of transportation that they can ride down the middle of the roads with.
After the Kol Nidre services in the evening, it looks like huge block parties everywhere you go, with neighbors and friends hanging out and milling around. It’s definitely one of my favorite moments of the calendar here, and so uniquely Israeli.
Here’s wishing you a meaningful Yom Kippur.
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