CapeHoppin: From Cape Cod to Cape Town: L’SHANA TOVA

What I knew going in to tonight:

Met Jill at the Garden Synagogue when my parents and I visited the Jewish museum and poked our heads into the synagogue and, obviously, got to talking when she invited me over for Rosh Hashanah dinner in two weeks with the Jewish kids from my program. Last week I called her and asked if the offer still stood and even if it was now 6 friends if we were welcome. She sounded thrilled on the phone and we made arrangements to meet at synagogue on Sunday evening and then join her at her home for dinner after, and not to be picked up until at least 10:30pm! That’s it. All the info I had.

Well 5 o’clock Sunday rolled around. Had just gotten off the phone with the parentals, Bess of course overjoyed that I had rosh hash plans and reminded me to bring her something, Greg looking forward to yet another forced Jewish holiday dinner chock full of small talk, mediocre food and Hebrew he refuses to learn, yet listens to multiple times a year and Brett, full of few words…grounded…honestly sounded stoned- nothing much has changed on that front. Were driven to the Garden synagogue where we immediately picked out as foreigners and got introduced to the rabbi who welcomed us, as did other congregation members.

Well, never say I haven’t been to a orthadox synagogue again. Me and the other 5 girls sat in a row up top, far away from the men, rabbi, and sound. We were not allowed to sing! Do people know about this? How can you expect women not to speak??? Were the most talktative of the two! Well, shockingly enough I stood there in silence listening and reading along for the 90 minute service, which was pretty painless if I do say so myself. One weird story from the rabbi about a plan needing to land in the middle east and Isreal being the ONLY country willing to help…of course. That’s the shit I honestly hate about judiasm. Just like its sports, have sportsmanship. Root for your team all you want, but you don’t need to put down everyone else and make yourself out to be the all mighty saints.

Anywho it all looked like a classic jewish dinner. Mansion, hired help, old and middle aged South Africans, very jewish… very classy…small talk heavy...they were very interested in what we Americans were doing in Cape Town and, unfortunetly we also learned…they were also very racist. I loved tonight because yet again I got to experience something unlike I had ever seen before and have truly unique conversations. It was just really hard because we are here doing something so foreign and obscene to them, yet we are really just a 20 minute drive away and having an incredible time. I have now been in cape town for 2 weeks and have seen more of it than most people in that room, some pushing 90 years old. Its sad because it is so normal to them to write off neighborhoods like Langa as untouchable as a white person, yet I am smiling coming home here every night and experiencing something I will never get to and would have never been able to without the help of a program like SIT.

All in all, it was beyond gracious and incredible for Jill to welcome us all into her beautiful home and feed us such an incredible meal- really one of the best jew food dins I've ever had- and I am so happy to have had some of the conversations I had and meet some great, and not so great, people.