Shabbat Shalom
Coming into Shabbat in Jerusalem, a lot of people were not sure what to expect. I know that I was a little weary of being in a highly religious place, when I myself am torn about the distinction between being culturally Jewish and religious.
For Shabbat we all cleaned ourselves up (which took a LOT of scrubbing considering the grime we hiked through over the last few days), put on something nice, and came down to the common area in our hotel. Immediately we were separated, with men going to one room and women to the other. The men then came to our room and gave us each a rose to help us all welcome the Shabbat. We lit the Shabbat candles, and then split off into two groups, one to have a discussion, and the other to have a traditional Shabbat service. I decided that when in Rome … so I joined the service. As we battled through deciding which tune to use to sing the prayers (Israeli version, East coast, West coast, etc.), we had a chance to share our different traditions. Two really cool things happened. 1) I realized that no matter where you are as a Jew, it’s pretty much the same thing. 2) As we turned to face Jerusalem and the Western Wall for Lecha Dodi, we were actually able to see Jerusalem from the window of the room we were in. I mean, how cool is that!?!
After services we all went to the dining hall and did a short Kiddush and enjoyed a nice Shabbat dinner with our new family.
Saturday, the day of rest, was just that. While the trip has been amazing, I think we all appreciated a day to ourselves to do as we wished. To begin the day, we were not expected to begin anything until 11am. Nice changed from our normal 7:15 deadline at the bus to move our things. From there we discussed the weeks torah portion. We began the discussion a little slowly, but by the time it was lunch time we needed to cut the conversation short. I think what was cool about the experience was that this discussion, like many of the other ones we have had these few days, followed us to lunch, with many people still debating the finer points, and trying to make connections to personal experiences and knowledge.
Oh yes, but it was a day of rest, so after a delicious lunch many of us went out to the pool to relax in the sun and take a swim. It wasn’t very hot out, and the pool was a little cold, but after a few days of hiking in some serious heat, everybody wanted to take advantage of being a little cool for as long as possible. I think it’s safe to assume that anybody who wasn’t lounging by the pool was back in bed sleeping and recharging batteries for the next few days.
In the afternoon we had two discussion groups. The first we made lemonade and used it as an analogy to describe our sense of Judaism, nationality, and compassion (really long story… ask your family/friend who came on the trip), and a second discussion about the Holocaust and our feelings about it. The second conversation was in preparation for tomorrow, when we visit Yad V’Shem, which is Israel’s official Holocaust memorial.
Right now we are taking a break before Havdalah service and then a night out in Jerusalem for dinner and maybe a little shopping. Time for me to go pack my bags, we are on the move again first thing tomorrow (probably 7:15 again… grumble).
Later!
Lilach
