Shavuot & Mini Israel OSP Banquet
Before coming to Israel, I knew the basic religious significance of Shavuot as the holiday commemorating the event of the Jews receiving the Torah from G-d. Although that's more than what a bunch of OSPers knew, it barely scratches the surface of all there is to know about the holiday.
Both religious and secular Jews in Israel celebrate with a dairy meal. This is because when the Jews received the Torah, they learned about the rules of Kashrut and had not yet had the means to prepare kosher meat. Religious Jews also stay up all night, and Orthodox men traditionally study Torah the whole time. It's also traditional to visit the Kotel for a meaningful religious experience. Secular Jews in Israel, on the other hand, typically wear white, celebrate agriculture, and perhaps participate in or attend a tekes (ceremony).
Daniel's family's kibbutz was obviously secular, and, like he said, we had a dairy meal for dinner in the communal dining hall - which was extremely convenient for me, as a vegetarian. On Sunday, we attended the Kibbutz's ceremony which was fun. There were tons of cakes that many Kibbutniks baked, fun little activities (like a nature craft station), and a ceremony with lots of dancing and some singing. Daniel's little cousins participated, as did all of the Kibbutz kids, and they were so cute! I wonder if they'll remember me as Daniel's quiet girlfriend (they don't know English yet and they spoke Hebrew a bit too fast for me).
After the ceremony, Daniel's uncle drove us to Mini Israel, the venue where the OSP end of the year banquet would be. We arrived about 45 minutes before the buses with OSP students did, since they were late, so we walked around Mini Israel by ourselves first. Mini Israel is basically a giant model of Israel, including many landmarks, geography, etc. Strolling through the outdoor venue, I realized that I had seen/visited/experienced almost all of the country. The one major destination that I had yet to visit was Eilat, and I had plans to go there the following weekend.
When the OSP buses arrived, I walked through the venue again with my friends and took pictures with them. After that, it was time for the banquet, which was located on the rooftop of the venue's building, overlooking Mini Israel. It was so classy! We enjoyed a delicious buffet meal and open bar, a few students (including Miriam) delivered speeches, and the madrichim played a slideshow for us. I was in lots of the pictures, probably because a) they used some of my pictures for the slideshow, and b) they really liked me, probably because I'm with Miriam and Daniel so much, and they are among the madrichims' favorites, so now I am, too. Anyway, after the slideshow, it was time for the dance. It was a lot of fun, and I had a great time with my friends. The banquet officially marked the beginning of the end of the program, a reality that was hard to face for us all.
