The Taj Mahal and Rosh Hashanah on a rooftop

This weekend we took a trip south to Agra to see the Taj Mahal and other architectural artifacts of the early Mughal empire (c. AD 1500).  The Taj Mahal really is one of the most incredible things I've seen.  We arrived in the late afternoon (fortunately after the very hottest part of the 100+ degree day), and watched the changing light reflected off white marble until after sunset.  It was a gorgeous place just to sit and chill out--one of the first truly serene places I've been in hectic, crowded (though always exciting) India.  Most tourist destinations fall short of expectations, the Taj Mahal certainly did not.



At the beginning of the weekend, on Friday night--the beginning of Rosh Hashanah--I went with just two other students to prayers and a meal and celebration, led and hosted by orthodox Habad Jews on the rooftop patio of a hotel in Old Delhi.  We had to wander through some impossibly narrow, impossibly crowded alleys to reach the place, but walking up the top stairs to see the last of the sunset fade over the city, and being greeted by two very friendly beaded men, and 40 or so other people, all chanting in Hebrew, was a pretty great moment.  I was dining with Jews from literally all over the world: England, Israel, France, the U.S., Argentina, India--and that's just the people sitting next to me.  Conversations wandered through Hebrew, English, and Spanish.  It was an amazingly worldly evening.




Hope all is well.  Shana Tova, Happy New Year!