I spent the first night at my friend Adar's family's Kibbutz, Kibbutz Ruhama. I have never been to a Kibbutz before, so the experience was doubly exciting. After a tour of the kibbutz by Adar, and a quick history lesson from one of her grandfathers (the Kibbutz was privatized in the early 90's, so it is not what one would think of as a traditional Kibbutz, it's more like a gated all-inclusive community), we arrived at her Aunts house for one of the most amazing meals of my life. I was not prepared, and didn't have my camera on me to take a picture of the heaps of food on my plate, very reminiscent of holidays at my house as well as at the Nidel-Novick residence.
About 16 of us crowded around a dinner table, yelling in Hebrew and laughing as we started in on the feast: Stewed beef, roasted chicken, fish with lime, rice with almonds, salad with rimon (pomegranate) seeds, cabbage salad (salat kruv - my favorite Israeli side dish), chopped liver (the best I have ever had), and countless other tidbits covered our plates...a real smorgasbord! After the food coma set in, everyone sat in the living room and participated in a tradition I think I'm going to keep from now on. Everyone was asked to write a brucha, or belssing, for the upcoming year. Whether it be for the community as a whole, for the world, or just the family...and then put it into a basket. Everyone then draws a brucha and reads it aloud -- and people try to guess who wrote it. Some were funny, some were written by the children, some were very touching...but it was a way to connect with the holiday without involving religion, something I have gotten very used to after living with Hazel&Jordan as parents. Next year, I'm beginning this tradition as my own.
After spending the night at Adar's house in Rehovot, we spent the next day at...THE BEACH! We drove to Rishon L'Tzion, one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever been to. Who goes to the beach on Rosh Hashana one might ask...well - almost all secular Israelis.
We found a cute little beach cafe and indulged in some breakfast at 12:30pm. I was immediately drawn to the shakshuka. Shakshuka is a spicy tomato and fried egg stew of sorts that is baked in an oven and served wit a variety of other ingredients. It is an amazing breakfast/brunch food, and also for late-night drunk eating. Since Israeli dairy products are the most amazing in the world, I had the Shakshuka with Balkan cheese. Balkan cheese is a sour, goats milk cheese, very similar to goat or feta cheese. It is delicious. it was served with a side of white hard crusted bread that was sprinkled with zatar, a middle eastern spice mix which I put on almost everything because it is so delicious.
how amazing does that look??Living in Tel Aviv, a secular multicultural modern city has been the most amazing week. I have grown to love this country more and more just from living here, instead of Jerusalem. As much as my father hates to hear this, I really do feel at home here. Especially in Tel Aviv, religiousness hidden away from public view.
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