Shabbat in Jerusalem

Sarah's post was written before the last day of Pesach (in Israel) on Thursday. It's now Saturday night and we've been around. My iPhone Health app tells me I've taken about 45,000 steps. Now Shabbat is over, we are mere hours from bread, and everyone is getting excited to go reunite with the pen pals and see authentic Israeli life (and did I mention the authentic chametz?).

Friday began at the Great Synagogue, with a peak on the way at the King David Hotel's walk of fame. From there we checked out Moshe Montefiore's windmill and the first neighbourhood outside the Old City, and came back to the hotel for a nap. In our nice clothes, we went over to the Kotel to have a very special kabbalat Shabbat service. We actually went to the Masorti Kotel, the mixed prayer section of the Kotel Wall to start. 

We did the prayers and brought in Shabbat right at the Wall. We then went over to the Kotel Plaza and saw the big show. Hundreds of people surrounded the Plaza as the sun set, Pesach ended, and Shabbat began. The mineret above the Kotel lit up and we heard the Muslim call to prayer. As the frantic holy atmosphere grew, we huddled around our backpacks and sang songs with so much ruach the people around looked at us like we were from another planet. It was a brisk and anxious walk back to the hotel as we all looked forward to a good Shabbos meal and a special celebration.

We sang some more songs and had some brisket, did the kidush just like at home, and after a short hofesh began Oneg Shabbat, or as we called it, the Battle of Alberta. All in good fun, the night quickly turned to morning and we were back out for another 20,000 steps.

The Israel Museum is a fantastic attraction and one day these kids will really appreciate the amazing artefacts and exhibits it holds. For today, we went to see the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Ahava statue (NOT a bronze bottle of moisturizer), and got a little ice cream for the walk back. Last year, dedicated followers of this blog may recall a hailstorm and frantic huddling in bus shelters during that same walk. I am pleased to report this was not at all the case this year!

After lunch, a guest speaker, and a little rest, we did some preparing for tomorrow. It starts at Yad VaShem and Hadar led a meaningful program to set the tone for the visit. All the chaperones were kvelling over the shulhanim we have with us.

That said, we are putting that tone aside for a little while at this point to go back to the Old City one last time for the Tower of David Light Extravaganza. 

As a final note, we have set up a photostream so you can see the fine photography skills of all the students in one place. The address is https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B07JtdOXmGKKBhV so tell your friends. 

Hope everyone at home had a restful Shabbat, and we wish those headed off on the March of the Living a nessiah tova and a meaningful experience in Poland.

Laila tov!

-Moreh Ari

 

Family First and Shwarma Second, by Sarah

Well, it’s finally that time in our lives to visit the holiest country in the world that we’ve been studying about for years. Some of us 10 years, some maybe 5, or 3, or even 1 year. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is the fact that we are here together to experience it together as a מִשׁפָּחָה (family).

Our exciting trip began with departing the crowded, yet smelly plane with excitement, joy, and of course, (all being teenagers,) laziness! We then met up with our tour guide and we were on our way to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv! We went to the overlook of Armon Hanatziv with the Calgary kids and did Schehechaynu on the mountain itself. And of course checking into our hotel and yada, yada , yada.

We work as a family and that means having to drag each other up the Ancient City of King David at 8:30 in the morning…. uphill. It was an eventful yet dramatic, and amazing morning! We went through Hezikiah’s tunnel. When we went through the long narrow, tight tunnel, we went into waist high water…. Did I mention it was freezing at first? It was a very tight space and I, (Sarah), do admit that I did have a little panic attack and was claustrophobic but after sinking into the water, and reality that I was making the biggest deal for nothing, I had an amazing journey through the tight, scary, narrow tunnel…oy vey! Us Edmonton kids found out that the Calgary kids are afraid of the dark!!! 

We demanded to turn all lights off and do it the intense way of feeling around the tunnel but nope! The Calgary kids wanted the lights on and do it the “safe” way. So we boo’d them till we got out of the tunnel which made us happy again.

After the tunnel and uphill walk, the girls changed into their religious clothing and we were on our way to the Old City. We went to the Kotel, underground tunnels of the Western Wall, ate Shawarma!! The Western wall was a very deep moment for me, and I hope I speak for the rest of the group. I went up, touched it, kissed it, prayed and let in the moment. It was a bit overwhelming…and the women there really like pushing you if you’re in their way, so be aware. Overall, the feeling of being in the ancient city is incredible.  You have to go for yourself and see.

I think a big message we have learnt so far on this trip is being part of the family. Even if they aren’t “biologically” part of you, I got to enjoy today with my TT family that I’ve grown up with for almost my whole life. Even though I haven’t covered much about being a family so far, we all enjoy and share these little connections and moments like this that will last a lifetime. I’m so grateful for all these things the boys, and Calgary kids have done so far to show and prove that we are all family. And I can’t wait to share three weeks with my מִשׁפָּחָה. My name is Sarah, and I approve this messageJ

Yallah, Bye. 

Bench or Table? Grade 9s in Israel: 5776

Do you know where the word "bank" comes from? Etymologists have two basic opinions. It is possible that it comes from Latin or Norse (doesn't matter), and means either "bench" or "table" (matters a lot).

Jacob, our tour guide at the Kotel Tunnel Tours, talked about this as we stood face to face with the northern points of the Western Wall, deep under ground on the original Wall Street where the money exchangers (the Firma of the day) would change Babylonian, Persian, and Greek coins into the shekels required to enter the Temple. 

He said the Romans would call the moneychangers the "bench men," who sat on a bench and made money from work other people had done. But the Mishnah referred to them as shulhanim - "table men" - who worked the tables that would allow Jews from all over to gain entrance to God's house.

I think this distinction is applicable to our grade 9 students' experience in Israel. Will they be bench people who will turn this learning opportunity into a party? Or will they be shulhanim, taking a journey through their education to cement a Jewish identity that's been waiting for this opportunity?

Let's be honest, sometimes we will be bench people. It will be fun, relaxing, really enjoyable for the sake of enjoyment. There's ice cream, shwarma, the beach, taking Israelis skating, jeep rides, and the like.

And sometimes we will be shulhanim, thinking and teaching and connecting, building a wealth of knowledge and experience. But wherever we go and whatever we do, we will be building that bank of experiences, and we will come home richer in Jewish identity and love of this land.

I hope that through this blog all of our readers will appreciate the experience our students are having, mostly through their eyes, although I will most likely do a lot of writing due to their exhaustion. And that's a good thing. We feed them well and they have lots of energy for walking and learning, but we drain it skillfully. 

So far the weather is nice, the kids are nice, our tour guide is nice, and the matza is... well, you can't have everything!

But you know, they're not complaining, so why should I? I look forward to sharing the adventure. I hope you'll enjoy as well. And now, what you've all been waiting for, the opening roll of film...