Hi everybody.
This coming Sunday (Sep. 17th) evening, the Jewish New Year of 5773 will commence.
In Israel, schools and workplaces close, and families get together for a festive meal that begins with blessings over certain foods (the most well-known is the blessing over the pomegranate, a fruit loading with not just great-tasting and healthy seeds, but Jewish symbolism).
A week after the holiday ends (it lasts 2 1/2 days) Yom Kippur, the day of atonement begins. Israel literally closes down and a good many Israelis fast this day (yours truly included).
Four days after that, the festival of Succot (Booths of Tabernacles) begins. It lasts a week and ends with another (yes, one more) holiday, Simchat Torah, where the Jewish people celebrate God’s giving Moses the Law (Torah in Hebrew).

During these days, hotels are jammed as are roads and tourist sites such as Masada, the Old City of Jerusalem, etc. If you’re planning a visit to Israel at this time, my advise is to put if off after October 9th, when the holidays will be behind us and sanity once more will reign.

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