nicole wiznitzer: shanah tova u'dolce vita

"E importante no essere sola per la festa." It's important not to be alone on the holiday, Nadia told me as she met me outside the Cenci at 10:00 this morning. Nadia is the woman who cleans my building and we have coffee together every morning at 7 am. I get up early because I like the quiet before the Cenci turns to madness and she likes to sit with me and talk..I think. When I told her I was Jewish, she immediately invited me to spend the holidays with her. So she pulled up this morning on the back of her husband's moped and they parked near the Jewish ghetto. Of course services started at 9, and it was already 10, but first a coffee! So we went to Bon Bar and then headed to the Synagogue.

Though grand and beautiful, it's impossible to hear anything inside the big synagogue. After 10 minutes, we went around the corner to Nadia's little synagogue. Nestled in the upstairs of the Jewish hospital, this synagogue was beautiful and intimate and exactly what I wanted. Her grandkids came running in yelling, "Nonna!" and we arrived just in time for Haftorah and the shofar. Like all good Jewish families, Nadia's son and daughter go to different synagogues and she goes to both. So we left the little and went back to the big to meet up with the rest of her family. The piazza outside was packed with Jews, loud and chatty. I thought everyone was just socializing, but soon I understood why we were all standing there. Nadia motioned me to the steps of the shul, this grand synagogue ingrained with so much history, and I was pulled under her family's tallit for birkat hacohanim. The piazza fell silent but for the voice emerging from within the doors. It was over as soon as it began and I joined Nadia's family for lunch at her house. It amazes and inspires me that the whole Jewish ghetto was emptied 60 years ago and fully packed today. Nadia told me that her entire family was sent to Auschwitz. Somehow, her mom ended up in Rome again, but I didn't catch that part of the story.

Shouting Shanah Tova out the window, we drove away to Nadia's house. Lunch consisted of fetuccini instead of chicken soup and all of the other traditional Rosh Hashanah foods. We ate too much, laughed at my broken Italian, and played cards. All too soon, I found a bus back to a different reality.

By far the best holiday I have had in my four years away, I wonder what creates community and a sense of home. In light of the international tension, what connects people and what separates them? I didn't speak a word of English with Nadia's family, yet somehow we transcended the boundaries of language.

My yoga teacher had a nice closing thought at our class last night that seems appropriate for the new year. He said that there is a reason why yoga is called a practice. There are so many things we cannot do in life. But there are an equal amount of things we can do. We can practice at being calm when it seems unlikely. We can practice mindfulness and patience and acceptance and education. We may not naturally excel at certain things, but we can certainly practice. Being with Nadia's family today, who without hesitation brought me into their home, reminded me of the uniqueness and importance of community, tradition and openness. Here is to a year filled with all of these things and more, and lots of practice.

Shanah Tova from Roma.

I was also in Florence this weekend, so here are some photos: