How we spent the Jewish holidays

It doesn't happen every year, but this year Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Succot and Simhat Torah all fell within 4 weeks of each other. They are all "high days," treated like a Shabbat when everything is closed. This was in addition to the four regular Shabbats in that period, as well as some extra days off school and work thrown in for good measure, so it felt like a month of starts and stops. There were lots of Jewish visitors to the city and family reunions. We weren't really part of the festivities, but we had some good times...

Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year): we played with new friends, enjoying fruit of the season and pleasant weather

Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement): while the Jews fasted and went to synagogue, we enjoyed our newly arrived bicycles on streets forbidden to cars. They shut down all the roads, even the highways and the airport.

Succot (Feast of the Tabernacles): most of our neighbors built temporary shelters on their balconies with thatched roofs where they ate their meals all week. We set up our camping tents on our balcony, and the kids had a fun night under the stars.

Simhat Torah (Rejoicing of the Torah): This was one of the few days our consulate security people were allowing us to drive on a highway through the West Bank to the Dead Sea, so we planned to go to an oasis called Ein Gedi. The friends we planned to go with had to cancel, and the kids weren't interested in leaving the house, so we played Legos and board games all day.