Shabbat

Shabbat-

January 21 & 22 2011

Friday was an emotional day for me with lots of wonderful information and experiences!

Our day began checking out of the hotel and preparing to leave Tel Aviv L.  The only thing I did not get to do, that was high on my list, was to put my feet into the Mediterranean Sea.  I guess I’ll have to come back! 

We began with a walking tour of the early Tel Aviv neighborhood of Neve Zedek.    Muki (our tour educator) had so much information to share with us.  I wish I had thought to video record everything he said because I’ve already forgotten so much and he was very interesting!  We learned about the history of this neighborhood and saw many of the old buildings.  I was struck at the sight of an old abandoned synagogue with a high rise in the background.  Everywhere you look, in Tel Aviv, there are cranes and construction going on. 

We went to Independence Hall.  We sat down in the very room where the Declaration of Independence was signed.  Muki set the stage before playing a recording of the actual day.  We listened to David Ben-Gurion welcome the gathering and make the proclamation for independence.

 

We had a few hours of free time to have lunch and explore Nachalat Binyamin (a wonderful arts and crafts market (similar to the art & wine festival in Palo Alto) that is only open on Tuesday & Friday.  I found several ways to spend my shekels…

Back on the bus and off to Jerusalem!  The drive was a little over an hour.  We drove past the checkpoints in and out of the West Bank. And were able to see settlements on both sides of the highway.  When we arrived in Jerusalem we checked into the hotel and got ready for Kabbalat Shabbat at the Kotel (Western Wall).   Since being selected to attend this seminar, I have been excited about going to the Kotel for Kabbalat Shabbat.  It was more than I ever anticipated!   Our group split into the men and women to go through security. Once inside we regrouped to discuss protocol and headed off to our separate sides of the wall. The atmosphere was electric.  Groups of people singing, dancing, praying and crying.   When I finally reached the wall and reached out to touch it, I felt a tingling up my spine.  As Jodi Foster said, in the movie Contact, “They should have sent a poet”.  It is difficult to put the emotions and electricity of the moment into words! 

Shabbat morning we had a relaxing breakfast and some of us headed to shop in the Shuk, in the Arab quarter.  Sheila and I had a great day bargaining with the shopkeepers and spending our shekels.  Tonight, after Havdalah, we are going back to Jaffa for a performance of the “Momentum of the Mayumana” which is supposedly like the Israeli version of “Stomp”.  I heard them rehearsing the other day, when I was in Jaffa with Giora & Nili.