Why call it a fast if it's so slow?

I don't remember the name of the tradition, but my day of atonement essentially began at a chicken slaughter house. The custom involves swinging a chicken around over your head 3 times, and then having it ritually slaughtered (this helps to absolve you of your sins). It's an ancient, outdated, tradition... but it is apparently alive and well on the streets of Jerusalem. The images of chickens being swung through the air and then killed will be forever burned into my mind, and I can safely say that I have no intention of ever taking part in this morbid ceremony again.

Later that evening I was enjoying a normal night on Ben Yehuda street (a popular hang-out for Americans in Jerusalem) when a friend and I randomly decided to go to the Kotel (Western wall). Entirely unbeknown to us, we would become part of an enormous pilgrimage to the Old City of Jerusalem because of a special prayer service. As we climbed the hill to enter into the gates of the Old City we realized that we were among tens of thousands of people who had the same idea as us. The throng of people in front of the wall was unbelievable and to fight our way through took 20 minutes. 

Getting back to the youth hostel at 2:30 am, I tried to watch the Presidential Debate, but my eyes would not stay open. I enjoyed a long sleep, ate lunch, and then hopped on a bus with 6 friends to the Old City (once again). This time, the plan was to stay in a youth hostel outside the Old City and spend Yom Kippur exploring the synagogues in the holiest place on earth. The plan went very smoothly and I had an absolutely wonderful, meaningful, Yom Kippur.

Tomorrow I am taking the train to Haifa (a city up north), where I will be staying until Saturday evening when I will be coming back to Jerusalem for the performance of a very popular Israeli rock band.

It has been a crazy few days, and hopefully it will continue to be crazy!

-Zach