Shabbat in Yerushalayim actually begins with a visit to the shuk. The sights, smells and sounds of the shuk lend to the atmosphere that Shabbat is coming. Our Fellow Travelers spent time in the shuk shopping for candy for Shabbat as well as souvenirs. It was fun to walk around and hear all the people wishing each other a Shabbat Shalom.
The walk to the Kotel was about 30 minutes from the hotel. After the girls lit candles, we began our walk to the wall. It is amazing to walk through the streets and notice that all of the shops are shut down and everyone is dressed in their Shabbat finest.
Nothing can compare to Friday night at the Kotel. The place was packed with people from all over the world. It is an amazing experience. There were so many Jews coming together to pray, sing and even dance. On the women’s side, we met up with Ora’s classmates from New Orleans who are also on an Israel trip from their school.
Dinner back at the hotel was beautiful. We had a special guest, Yehuda Attias. Yehuda is a lone soldier in the Golani Brigade. It was nice to catch up with Yehuda and have him spend time with his sister.
We were so excited to know that we could sleep in on Shabbat. We woke up at 7:15 a.m.! After a quick breakfast, we walked back to the Kotel. By the time we arrived at 9:00 a.m. the plaza was not full. Most people were already back at home, since they daven much earlier. Our group joined a minyan and Meir Cohen did a great job with the priestly blessing. This is a treat since in the diaspora the priestly blessing is only recited on Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot. It was nice to have time to daven at the Wall for a longer length of time. The girls took advantage and davened as close to the Wall as possible.
Back at the hotel we enjoyed another delicious meal and then we enjoyed a long rest time. Some of us took naps, others read or played games This is the only free time we have had this entire trip.
In the late afternoon, Nitzan took us on a walk. We went into Nachalot, which was one of the early communities to move outside the Old City. It was interesting to see how the homes were structured. Homes were built with a courtyard in the middle and all homes had their doors open into the courtyard. This gave the families the same feel as if they had a wall around them. In the late 1800s it was still a scary thought to leave the protection of the walled city.
Each new community had their own water source. In two courtyards we saw 2 such wells. Nitzan told us that early communities also shared ovens in the courtyard. It was too smokey and dangerous to have ovens in their homes. Sometimes food was mixed up. A Sephardic family member might take the Ashkenazi gefilte fish that was not so spicy. The Ashkenazi family might end up with the too spicy Sephardic fish.
We went by the home of Rabbi Arye Levin, who was known during the British Mandate as being a rabbi of the prisoners. Everyday Rabbi Levine would walk to the British prisons and visit with Jews who had been arrested under the British Mandate. He cared about people and had a wonderful reputation. The street has been named for him and Nitzan showed us a stamp that was made in his honor.
After our tour, we walked to one of the biggest parks we have every seen. There we met Mickey Katzburg and his wife Idit and daughter, Hadas. They walked over an hour from their home to come spend Shabbat afternoon with our group. We enjoyed snacks in the park and then took advantage of the park. There was one of the largest climbing structures we have ever seen at a park. We had lots of fun. We told our Israeli friends that back in the states, one would have to pay to go on these structures. No park in our neighborhoods have this type of structures. The girls played soccer with 2 very friendly Israeli children, Yael and Yehuda, who shared their ball.
Mincha, Pirkei Avot and Ma’ariv were davened at a brand new Mayanot building. This building is the home of their men’s yeshiva. Rabbi Shemtov and Rabbi Vichnin, were very welcoming to our group. The rabbis were excited to see Shneur Helfen, whose father Rabbi Tuvia Helfen, studied in Mayanot. Schneur received an Aliya.
Back at the hotel we quickly got our money and went around the corner to spend time on Ben Yehuda. Of course, we bought more souvenirs. It was fun to eat at Pizza Hut.
Yakov Wolff wrote...