Shabbat in Jerusalem

Friday, June 15

The day begins with a trip to Neot Kedumim, a biblical nature reserve located halfway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. It's a large park where they use inspiration from the Bible to recreate physical aspects of the book. For example, the Seven Species are listed in the Bible as food products that are unique to the holy land; so wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olive and dates are all to be found on the reserve. We had a tour guide who told us a little about the creation of the reserve and showed us a little of the place. We planted almond seeds and ground ezob herbs (aka hyssop, a relative of oregano).

We returned to Jerusalem for lunch in the Machane Yehuda market. It's a sort of long alleyway in which there are various stalls that sell fruits and vegetables, baked goods, fish, meats, cheeses and spices. You can also find jewellery, clothes and souvenirs there, but mostly it's known for the food. We wandered around there, picking up little bits to eat for a meal. I got some pastries and tasty nectarines.

Back at the hotel, we got ready for Shabbat. We were to take a trip to the Western Wall and so we wanted to dress up a little and look nice for the evening. Our bus driver took us to the Old City and drove home for the weekend; it was his day off so at the end of the evening, we would have to walk back to the hotel. Ami took us on a path through the city, describing some aspects of the remaining fortress walls, or the underground segment that preserved a sort of forum. He also took us to a rooftop where we could view various domes of the religious orders of the city (Al'Aqsa Mosque's black dome, Dome of the Rock has a gold dome and Hurva Synagogue has a white dome).

We were taken to the Hurva Synagogue. This building was destroyed in the 1948 war and only rebuilt within the last few years. After Ami gave a speech on the synagogue, he told us we had a surprise waiting for us. So we were led on a walk and told to go into a house. Ehood, one of the soldiers travelling with us, had his family invite us in for drinks and snacks. They also has an amazing rooftop patio where we could take photos and enjoy our food. We also took the opportunity to do a Shabbat service there. Jill led us in singing a song called Od Yavo Shalom Aleinu, "Peace will come upon us", so we sang that for a bit.

We were then taken to the Western Wall. This is a minor remnant of the original Second Temple (or actually, the remaining section of the wall that surrounded the courtyard of the Temple). It faces a large plaza and there is a dividing gate in the middle. The men are designated to the left section and the women go to the right. It was a fascinating experience. We each wrote notes expressing hopes and wishes and went to the wall to find a space for the notes. There were women who had placed chairs directly in front of the wall; they would sit there, presumably for hours, and they do this every Shabbat. It's obviously a deeply spiritual place for many Jews. I felt more lucky to be able to visit this place on Shabbat and to merge my love of ancient history with my Jewish background.

After visiting the Kotel, we embarked on our long walk back to the hotel. It's not necessarily that it's a great distance but getting a group of 50 people back to one spot takes some time. It took an hour to amble back, but it was a nice walk. It was made especially interesting when we passed the Machane Yehuda market, a place that was so crowded and busy during the day but shuts down completely for Shabbat, so it was silent. We also took to walking on the streets because there would be no cars or streetcars out that night.

Once at the hotel, we went immediately to the dining hall. A few people were designated to doing the Shabbat prayers over the bread and wine before the meal began. It was, overall, a really nice day and night. We were also told by Jill and Jared that we would be allowed to sleep in the next day! After a week of having to wake at 6:30-7:00, this was a welcome notice.

Saturday, June 16

We had a program set for 11:00 where we would discuss our visit to Yad Vashem (the Holocaust museum) the next day. There were pictures relating to the Holocaust set out around the floor. These included pictures of propaganda, the gate to Auschwitz, people waiting for the trains to the camps, etc. We had to pick the picture that spoke to us, and then discuss it with other people who were in the same group. A spokesperson from that group would summarize the discussion for the other groups.

We broke until lunchtime at 1:00. Then we had another program, a Kol Voice seminar. Kol Voice is an organization that seeks to educate and promote Jewish identity. Our speaker was a well-spoken British man who talked about Israel and the various issues currently occurring in the country. He only had an hour-and-a-half, so it was difficult to get in as much information as he did, but he did a really good job of explaining the conflicts and problems, and talked about various sides of the issues.

Then there was some free time until the evening, when we did the Havdallah, which is the closing service of Shabbat. We all stood round in a circle and listened to the prayers said. You are meant to use all five senses for the service: to hear the service, smell the spices (that were passed around), taste the wine, see the candle (that is multi-wicked) and feel its heat.

After the service, we were driven to Ben Yehuda street for dinner. This is a pedestrian walk and tourist destination. It has food stores and many clothing/souvenir shops. We had over an hour there and returned to the hotel for the night. There we had to pack our things and get ready to check out the following morning.