My First Shabbat | Shorashim - Israel with Israelis

My First Shabbat

Seth Bachman

As the sun set on my first Friday night in Israel , so began my first Shabbat. 

Surrounded by my fellow peers in what was most of their first Shabbats in Israel as well, we embarked on our Friday night journey.

After a brief song session with all of the members of the trip, we were given an option for a typical Shabbat service or a discussion with our tour educator, Or. Back in the states I often go to Shabbat services so I chose the other option in that of the discussion. A few of the group members and myself sat outside the temple and spoke about why we chose to not join in services.

We spoke about how our parents were not the most religious and how our way of praying to G-d dose not always include the words in the prayer book. What followed was a very emotional conversation about how we have all been driven to prey for many different reasons from the loss of friends and loved ones to sometimes beautiful things like our first moments in Israel.

What made this moment so remarkable is that I am standing a circle with people that I met only a few days before and through the power of Shabbat we all are sharing very personal stories that are very hard to talk about. Not only did I feel very blessed that I was in Israel for Shabbat, but I felt even more blessed to be with Jewish peers that felt the same way I did. This connection was AMAZING and I will never forget this moment and my first Shabbat in Israel.