Super Shabbat

Shalom chaverim,

So, I am still trying to catch up on the blog. Yesterday was Shabbat, which means Sabbath, so I naturally followed my professors and some other students to synagogue in the morning. Most of us who went were not Jewish, but some were. We went to a Conservative synagogue, and the person who sang the prayers for the first part was a woman. Then, when the Torah part came, they had men and women doing each part, and a woman gave the sermon. The service was entirely in Hebrew, except the sermon, though on of the men would call out the page number in English every so often. I sat next to Professor Schindler and her 7-year-old Jacob, so as she ran her finger along the Hebrew for him, I was able to watch her and follow along. Some of the time she even reached over and showed me in my book. Most of the service did not have phonetic pronunciations in English, though it did have an English translation. We ended up having to leave early to get back to the hotel for a scheduled talk. Synagogue was fascinating, especially since it has probably been 8 years since I have been to any synagogue. I have been about 3 times, but it has been a long time. It is constant chanting, with very little silence of speaking, except the sermon. At the same time, watching the people was interesting. There was a man walking up and down the aisles asking people to do things, one student went up and held the Torah scroll as they wrapped it back up in its cloth case. They were very welcoming to us in general, even though it was probably completely obvious that most of us were not Jewish. They placed us in the middle so we could see everything and the Rabbi could see that the room was full. Overall, I am glad I went, though I may still be processing it all.

We returned from synagogue to listen to a speaker. He is a man who started an organization in Jerusalem that does three things. He aids children whose families have been killed or injured in terrorist attacks, or who themselves were victims. He makes sure they have what they need, and gets them to school since you cannot stay up in society without education. Second, he works to stop the sex slavery in Israel. Third, well, I don't remember the third one right now. Perhaps I will later. He had many people who thought he was insane, trying to give away thousands of dollars that were just given to him to give to families in need, but he persisted and got the information he needed to help the families. Now, he functions mostly off donations from the US. He talked about this, but he also told many Bible stories. I am not sure what their relevance was, but he told them so well, that I don't care. It was funny to listen to him talking and supposing what the characters were thinking at the time. i am also familiar enough with the stories, both of the Bible and other Jewish texts, that I could listen to them with knowledge about what they actually say and his spin on them. It was just fun.

In the afternoon we went on a walking tour to Mishkanot Shananim (sp?), where we saw one of the first settlements outside the walls of Jerusalem in modern times. It was pretty cool to see, because I have read about it before, and it affords a great view of the Old City, though, to be honest, I have great pictures of the Old City from all angles by now. I have seen it from so many locations, yet it is still breathtaking every time. I don't know how people don't just stand and stare at it all day. I can't imagine having the view Jerusalem become commonplace, and I hope it never does for me.

Well, I will write again soon, probably today, to catch up on another blog entry. In the meantime, L'hitraot (see you later).