I was nervous about the workload getting crazy right when school started, but what they all said was true — seminary really was “nice” before Succos. With all the time off we had in the afternoons, the little homework we got didn’t take over.

I went to Geula a lot that week. The first time was with Ellie Fromowitz from high school and Shifra, a girl from Gibraltar. On the way, we spotted a carob tree, and since we had just learned that you can eat fruit under the tree it grew on without separating terumos and maasros, Ellie and I took pieces of carob and ate them, while Shifra took pictures! I know, I know. Me, Avigail Bloom, of the three older brothers who hate seminary girls with a passion, acting as the archetypical seminary girl under passersby’s very noses. Tell me about it!

Then we discovered this healthy drink place that Shifra was obsessed with ever after.

When Aviva, my roommate, invited me to walk to Geula with her one day, it brought my attitude toward her up a notch. We had a good time together. I was slowly starting to appreciate Aviva as a potential friend instead of just warily tolerating her. Layla was still sort of distant for the time being, but I had a feeling that would change soon.

My guitar was also becoming part of my dorm life. I had expected to use it; that’s why Mommy sent it with me. But my first week of classes showed me what a brachah it really was. On a day like laundry day — ’kay, that was super stressful, let’s not even go there — or anytime I was feeling overworked or stressed-out or tired, I found myself taking it out to sing. Sitting on my bed, alone, with her guitar slung over my shoulder and her favorite chords reverberating against my heart, I missed Mommy. But I also felt like her daughter. That week, I finally finished the oatmeal cookies she had made me for the plane and washed out the container.

Rosh Hashanah was coming.

It loomed with an air of urgency and intensity, as it always does during those last precious days in Elul. Along with the learning and soul-searching I was doing, I wanted to use my second Shabbos to experience a town known for its ruchniyus. I wanted to go to Bnei Brak.

Kayla’s cousin Goldy and I were already becoming good friends. Somehow that connection gave us both enough of a spark to feel comfortable faster than usual. My older sister-in-law also had a cousin in seminary, but she was on the quieter side, a girl who laughed easily but spoke softly and seriously. I figured we could try to connect over Shabbos.

The two of us hooked up with two more girls who wanted to go to Bnei Brak. We all seemed to want the experience for the same reason. We signed our names on the list by the Monday deadline and waited to find out whether our dream Shabbos would come true.

to be continued…

(Originally featured in Mishpacha Jr., Issue 832)