Yom Kippur

I'm really loving all the extra days Rob gets off during the Jewish high holidays. I'm also finding everything I'm learning about the Jewish faith quite fascinating as well. They have some really great practices, including a 10 day repentance period from Rosh Hashana to Yom Kippur where they try to reconcile with people they may have wronged and set things right in their lives.
Yom Kippur is considered the holiest of Jewish holidays, and in Israel even secular Jews observe it (sort of, at least). No one drives a motor vehicle. All shops and businesses are closed. We found when we went to the beach that even the elevator was closed! What made it all especially cool is that because everything is closed and there are no cars on the road, people take over the streets with bikes and rollerblades. There was a quiet over the city, and yet when we went outside, it was alive with children and teenagers and adults in the streets. Kids everywhere were forming little bike gangs and riding around having fun. Michael thought it was pretty cool to ride his bike in a lane like a car. It felt magical at night and we couldn't help but stay out a little late.

 During the daylight hours, my brother Troy (yay, our first visitor!) and I rode our bikes on the freeway to downtown Tel Aviv, just for kicks. Having everything shut down and the streets wide open with people truly made it feel like a special day. What an awesome tradition!

 We thought the beach might be crowded, since everything else is shut down, but I guess since no one can drive to get here it was pretty much deserted. Moreso, I think most people were probably pretty busy feasting after their long fast.