Just after sunset yesterday, I heard what sounded like singing outside. I looked out of the window and saw a couple dozen people gathered on the roof of the synagogue across the street. It was a wedding, with a chuppah, candles, prayers and, finally, some really cheerful whistling as everyone walked back indoors from the snow-covered roof.

Watching it from the balcony was very moving: I was sharing in somebody's joy without having been invited - in a way, it was like watching a theater play. The air around me smelled incredibly tasty, and, very briefly, I wished I had been invited to the celebration...



In the apartment building right next to the synagogue, I saw people coming over to their windows, looking out to see what's going on some ten meters away from them, on the roof... At some point, two kids walked away from the crowd around the chuppah and stood by the fenced-off edge of the roof, looking into those windows...