A view of Jerusalem

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year! It’s the most wonderful season of all!” That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, the holiday season has arrived! I know what you’re thinking: “Isn’t it a little early for the holiday season? I haven’t seen any decorations or anything!” Well, here in Israel, the holiday season comes a little early. There are no Christmas trees or crazy sales on electronics this time of the year, but there’s certainly a tremendous sense of holiday spirit.

We are currently in the middle of the first Jewish month, Tishrei, which is laden with many wonderful holidays, beginning with Rosh Hashanah and followed by Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Simchat Torah. While I have been celebrating these holidays for the last 18 years, celebrating Jewish holidays in the Jewish state is a completely different experience.

In any synagogue in America, there are obvious differences between a regular Shabbat and the High Holidays, like the inflated size of a congregation or having to purchase tickets to attend services. In Israel, however, there are obvious differences everywhere you go. Before Rosh Hashanah, there are vendors selling apples, honey and flowers for the New Year on every street corner, every supermarket is having deals on wine and honey cake and, most noticeably, every person you pass on the street stops to say, “Shanah Tova!” (Happy New Year). On Rosh Hashanah itself, all the stores in Israel are closed, and it’s a day for everyone in the country, religious and secular, to spend the New Year with their families and relax.

The 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are called the Aseret Yemei Teshuva, or the “10 Days of Repentance.” During these 10 days, there are special services customarily held late at night called s’lichot, or “apologies.” We took a trip to Jerusalem to daven (pray) our S’lichot at the Western Wall (or Kotel). I have been to the Kotel many times, but I have never experienced something like this. The entire Western Wall was packed; there were more people there than I could have imagined. The chazzan, or leader, of the prayers was reciting his prayers into a loudspeaker so everyone could hear him, and every so often we would hear the sound of a shofar being blown over the loudspeaker. Countless Jews from all over Israel and the world gathered together to repent and pray.

The fact that this incredibly spiritual experience was only an hour bus ride away from my apartment in Bat Yam is amazing to me. And I felt fortunate to be able to spend Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year, in the holiest city in the world, Jerusalem. On Yom Kippur, the entire city of Jerusalem stops. There’s not a single car in the street. I walked back and forth from synagogue three times on Yom Kippur, and each time I was accompanied by tons of people walking in the middle of the street, dressed in white and wishing one another inscriptions in the Book of Life.

The holiday of Sukkot is about to begin here, and once again the country will transform. Sukkot are already being built everywhere, and people will soon be eating, sleeping and hanging out in these temporary huts we build for the eight-day holiday. Living in Israel year-round is a phenomenal cultural experience, but this time of year is especially an experience that you can’t get anywhere else in the world.

Check out what fellow Year Coursers Alex and Sarah are up to.

Gaby Grossman is a native of Los Angeles, Calif. She recently graduated from the Shalhevet High School and will be attending Boston University next year as a double major in political science and print journalism. Her hobbies include watching and critiquing movies, going to the beach and relaxing, coming up with original catch phrases and incessantly quoting The Office and Arrested Development.