Shabbat Shalom - Restful in Yerushalayim
Today, we celebrated the second day of Shabbat in style. The greatest aspect of Shabbat was the wake up time: 11:30 am. We woke up, refreshed and rejuvenated, to a beautiful 70 degree day. Avital says that it is always beautiful on Shabbat, and she was right. In flip flops and shorts, we started our day. Our first activity of the day was an opinion game, where Linor asked us a question and we had to move to four different corners of a field to represent how we felt about the issue: Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, and Strongly Disagree. The questions were controversial: Should Jews only marry other Jews? Is the IDF responsible for Jewish people around the world?, etc. People on every side of an opinion debated their side, which brought out many important questions about Jewish life- should we only marry a Jew, what role should diaspora Jews have in Israeli life, etc.
After a lunch complete with chicken, pasta, meatballs, and soup, we took a long Shabbat break. People hiked around the kibbutz, went to the craft store, played soccer, and tanned. In late afternoon, we had a discussion about Israeli politics. One of our Israeli friends is best friends with Gilad Shalit, a famous Israeli prisoner who was kidnapped by Hamas since 2006. The Israelis and the Americans had a heated debate about what to do about the situation: if Israel should give up Hamas prisoners who have murdered civilians to save the life of one Israeli. From hearing about the Goldstone report, to the Gaza War of 2008, to the Tel Aviv bombings of the past 5 years, to the election of Hamas to power, we realized that this every situation is multi-faceted, that there are truly no easy answers. It was eye opening. We had a closing ceremony for Shabbat and sang songs to celebrate the Sabbath.
For dinner, we went to Ben Yehuda Street and saw crowds and crowds of people out on the town, celebrating the Sabbath’s end. From tourists to hippies to secular Jews to Hasidic Jews, everyone was there, in the stores and the shwarma shops, enjoying life. Knowing that 5 years ago, people were terrified to walk the streets of Jerusalem and now there are so many people you have to elbow your way through the crowd was amazing. It was a great energy.
Shabbat was restful and a great time to recharge our weary bodies and minds. Tomorrow we are off to the desert, but for now, Good Night and Shalom.
