Festival of Festivals- Part Twee

Happy (belated) New Year!

Spending any holiday away from home can be tough, but I easily had one of the best New Years celebrations of my Jewish career in Brussels last weekend. It involved an ambassador, a darling little British couple, nosy women, an Antwerp chef from the past, and, of course, a healthy dose of Jewish geography. Let the games begin.

First of all, I found this wonderful Jewish community in Brussels called the International Jewish Center (IJC) through my cousin, Jordan. They are a community in the truest sense of the word- only about 6 or 7 years ago did a few local families want to start a new synagogue, something warm, close-knit, and in English. You can feel how organic and grass-roots the shul is; the rooms are small and cozy, the people are open and friendly, and there’s a real feeling of connection with the people around you. They even have this really cool program at the shul, Adopt-a-Grandparent, where they match grandparents without grandkids in Belgium with kids without grandparents in Belgium. Um, can I sign up?

On top of that, the rabbi was amazing. At the last minute, the rabbi who was supposed to do our services became ill, and they flew Rabbi David in from Israel to come join us for the holiday. Not only is he an incredibly nice guy but I really enjoyed his services! Mom- I enjoyed services! The best way to describe Rabbi David would be to say he is just like Jason Ellis (for those of you who know him)- extremely enthusiastic, contagiously happy and smiling, and clearly has a love for what he does. Normally I find services to be cold and distant, more like a performance, but I felt really engaged and drawn into everything. It felt really nice and not at all like services I’m used to.

Rabbi David, my cousin is an up-and-coming rabbi who has spent some time in Europe, do you know him? The short answer would be yes…turns out Rabbi David was my cousins mentor during his year in Israel, was the head of his admissions committee, and lead Jordan’s trip to Russia. Oh, and the seder he used for Sunday’s dinner was one that Jordan wrote last year. I’m awesome at Jewish geography.

There were other wonderful people there, including the U.S. Ambassador to Belgium and his family, a couple diplomats (one from Brazil!), the sweetest little old British couple who made the Sidur readings sound like poetry, a possibly gay Welsh couple, the chef of an Antwerp restaurant my Dad took me to for my 23rd birthday, and the typical array of nosy Jewish mothers asking me if I was single. Plus an unfortunate post-doctoral student who was uber socially awkward but devious enough to ask for my number right in front of the rabbi (like you can say no in front of a rabbi?) Not cool.

I really enjoyed my New Years celebration. I feel fresh and ready to face 5770 with hope, inspiration, and another awkward Jewish boy texting me. L’shana Tova…

xoxo
kw