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