Shabbat Shalom (Hey!)

Hello, friends, loved ones, Romans, countrymen, cherubs, monkeys, and others! 

This was my first Shabbat in Israel this year.  Shabbat here is very different than in other places.  First, the stores are closed by the early afternoon on Friday.  In America, we're turning into 24/7 shopping fanatics.  Second, the roads are nearly silent with exception of families walking to shul.  In America, there's always traffic.  Always.  Especially in New Jersey.  Third, every one feels the spirit of Shabbat here.  Who knows with the US?

I had a delicious Shabbos dinner with a lady who I met over the last few days, Yocheved.  She is the widow of a Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) professor.  She made inquiries about having her old master's thesis typed up, and I decided to take on this project.  Yocheved also invited two friends from her home temple in New York, one of whom is a volunteer in the Israeli Army, and her neighbor and long time friend, a well-educated Ethiopian Christian.  The five of us chatted about everything from politics to history to Shabbatot of the past.  What a truly delightful evening.  We did not attend a service which bummed me a little, but there will be plenty of chances in the future.

For the Saturday morning service, I went to the HUC's service meeting up with most of my classmates.  It was a very musical service led by two faculty members.  Among the many guests at our service were a number of touring groups, teen tours, and a delegation from a temple in Baltimore.  I realized that one of the men leading one of the groups was MY tour leader from my Birthright trip three years ago!  Avi and I reconnected, and he had a laugh when I showed him his copy of the itinerary with his notes which I keep to this day in my talit bag.

After the service, the other students and I went out for a nice luncheon at the YMCA across the street.  We were expecting a buffet featuring bacon, but the buffet closed.  Nevertheless, we had a wonderful time, and debated making this a regular tradition after HUC services on Saturday.

Since nearly everything was closed on Saturday, my options were to go back to my apartment and relax or fry in the sun.  So, I made the difficult decision to watch Fantasia and do some things around the apartment. 

In the evening, my classmate had a little show at an English comedy club.  There were four comics: Benjie, some other guy who wasn't funny, Michael (my classmate), and the headliner, Hani.  With exception of the guy who wasn't funny, they were all quite hilarious.  Benjie talked about his time making aliyah and moving to Israel, Michael made humorous observations about  proprieties, and Hani talked a little of this and a little of that.  It was nice for Michael to do in Israel something he really enjoyed back in the States.  I think it was even better since he had a great turnout from his classmates. 

Overall, we're a pretty supportive bunch.  I grant you, we don't have classwork yet, we don't have millions of errands to do in town other than food shopping, and we're still enthralled by the uniqueness of Jerusalem, but we all seem to want to be with each other!  I was talking to one student about possibly seeing a production of Carousel playing at the theatre of the HUC featuring one of the professors, and there's been such a great interest by everyone in the class!  I have such a great feeling about this year.

"Shabbat Shalom (Hey!)" is a popular Shabbat song.  It has also been called "Bim Bam."