Saturday, July 7, 2012 – Shabbat in Israel

New meaning to the Shema for me!  “Hear, O Israel”….I woke up early at 6am and, knowing that I have not been getting enough sleep for me, I laid back down; waking up in just barely enough time to get cleaned up and dressed for services at Hebrew Union College Reform Synagogue.  Found my way there along with others from our group.  We got there in plenty of time!  The service was really lovely and LIVELY!  It was 100% in Hebrew, except for the sermon.  And it wasn’t read in English along with the Hebrew as I’m used to…and many of the tunes weren’t completely familiar to me…even if the prayers were!  And, most importantly, the service was 2-1/2 hours long!  But it was a quick 2-1/2 hours.  I did feel more understanding of my non-Jewish friends who came to my sons’ Bar Mitzvahs and related how “lost” they were trying to find their way through.  I did not use a prayer book with “transliteration”…that is the Hebrew spelled out in English pronunciation spelling.  i was able to follow the Hebrew well enough to keep up and keep track!  But, I also, read to myself the English as they ripped through a lot of the Hebrew!  I followed along in the Torah and Haftorah portions with the book provided, again reading the English as they chanted the Hebrew.  I enjoyed the service a lot.  And I enjoyed the Kiddush afterward.  This week is an alumni even at the Hebrew Union College so there were many Rabbis and Cantors from all over the world there to celebrate with fellow alums!  It was neat!

I left there on my own, walking back and realizing I wasn’t sure what street I had to turn up on!  And I went an extra block or two before I finally did turn around and up the street where I was meant to be (where my hotel was!).  I looked up for landmarks, the one I needed and did see, the Dan Panorama Hotel which is across from our hotel, and I couldn’t believe my eyes.  I recognized friends Harry and Laurie Sparks out front of the hotel!  They live in Charlotte, NC and were there with their Temple group.  They came a few days ahead of me and we had tentative plans to meet that evening for dinner together so I was very surprised when I actually FOUND them on my own that morning!!!!  That was fun!

When I got back to the hotel, we had a group meeting and Torah portion discussion together for about 45 minutes.   Our group went to all different Synagogues and it was fun to hear where they chose to go and knowing that no matter where they went, it was the same Torah portion!  We had lunch and then the first long period of “Rest” time from about 1:30 to 6pm when we would meet again to have a discussion with an alum of AJR  (Academy of Jewish Religion) who lives and teaches in Israel.  This is where we all brought our”pot luck” purchases from the market the day before!  I did not wander out during my rest time.  I needed the rest!  I’m still lingering between both time zones which isn’t the greatest of things so I was exhausted and used the downtime to rejuvenate and it really worked!!!  Rabbi Lettofsky, our Rabbi who just retired, is in Israel for an extended stay and he came with his daughter and granddaughter and we Beth Israelites all took a few pics together!!!  It was fun!

I left just before Havadalah service which I really hated missing as it’s my favorite service and beautiful way to say goodbye to Shabbat.  But I had made arrangements to meet up with Harry and Laurie Sparks and it was really nice!  We walked down to the German colony area of Jerusalem.  It is called that due to the past and is now just a neat row of shops and restaurants.  Most of the restaurants were still closed due to Shabbat but would be reopining shortly.  They reopen at 9pm and/or 9:30pm and you can tell immediately that Shabbat has ended…because it gets LOUD and filled with cars and honking and people everywhere!  It was fantastic though.  And afterward we shopped a little on our way back.

It was after 11:30pm when I got back to my room!  I realized I didn’t know what time we would be meeting Sunday morning so I got out my rented Israeli phone and texted a few and wonderful Enid got back with my 9:30am report time.  I LOVED that it was so late of a report time!  We will be going to Yad Vashem, the National Holocaust Memorial Museum and also to the Isreal Museum after lunch.  I really want to go there as the Dead Sea Scrolls are there and I want to see them!

I’m off for now!!!