Penn State Hillel was very busy this week preparing for Rosh HaShana. We spent all day Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday cooking for our Erev Rosh HaShana dinner. Our fabulous chef Marissa (along with her many wonderful kitchen assistants) prepared a menu of: honey mustard chicken, apricot chicken, grilled veggies, pomegranate salad, rice pilaf, couscous, cookies, cake, apple pie, and apples and honey of course!Wednesday night services were short and simple, but the room was packed with Penn State students looking to bring in the New Year. About 275 students joined us for dinner Wednesday night. On Thursday, services were led by Rabbinical student and Penn State alum Jeremy Wiseblatt. While Jeremy led, students coordinated. I had the honor of reading a Torah portion, and what I thought was the longest haftorah ever. Other students read Torah, participated in Hagbah and G'lilah (lifting and dressing the Torah) and some students lead the congregation in prayer.
I was not able to attend services on Friday because I had classes to attend, but I have heard that services were just as lovely on Friday as they were on Thursday. We concluded the week with a comfortable Shabbat service completely led by students with a delicious pizza dinner afterwords. My favorite part of the night would have to be the bentching after the meal though. I love singing the songs and banging on the tables and having a really fun time celebrating Shabbat. Saturday, I relaxed and watched Penn State lose horribly to the Alabama Crimson Tide :( While today I had my first day of Hebrew School. It's been a very Jewish week for me, but it's been a lot of fun.
I wish you all a happy and sweet new year filled with prosperity, health and joy. From all of us at Penn State Hillel, Shana Tova U'Metuka!
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