Back in Jerusalem for Shabbat

see all photos »

The Florence Melton School in Palo Alto and the Melton Israel Seminar in Palo Alto is funded by the ALS Jewish Community Center, and the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, Marin County, and the Peninsula.

Friday, July 13 and Saturday, July 14, we continue our study of Jerusalem, and  experience Shabbat in Jerusalem.

Jerusalem Neigborhoods and Shabbat in Jerusalem

Jerusalem Neighborhoods

After three full days of intense study, we are ready for a change of pace and the Melton Israel Seminar provides it.  And, yes, there will be a break in the heat wave on Shabbat.

Friday morning at the Inbal Hotel after breakfast, Dr. Yonantan Mirvis from Hebrew University in Jerusalem conducts a study session entitled, "Symbols and Signs -- Mapping Jerusalem's Multi-Faceted Jewish Population".  We explore the question of what Jerusalem is today and who lives there by considering three issues.  What is the relationship of Jewish Israelis in Jerusalem to 1. secular learning, 2. the state of Israel, 3. the new morality?

After an intriguing introduction from Yonantan with much new information for us to consider, we learn about eight Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem.  French Hill, Ramat Eshkol, Har Nof, Bavit Vegan, Katamonim, Old Katamon, German Colony, and Bak'a.  We are asked to go out in pairs to the streets of Jerusalem to these neighborhoods to knock on doors and to talk to Israelis.  We are also asked to stop in a market to buy one specific low-cost item (about 10 shekels) for Se'udat Shlisheet on Saturday afternoon.

We have not been warned that we are being sent out to the streets of Jerusalem, most of us with little or no Hebrew skills, and this is an anxiety-producing assignment.  And this will not be easy.  It is late morning on Friday and many Israelis are very busy getting ready for Shabbat, shopping and cleaning and trying to beat the Shabbat clock.  But Haim and Yonantan convince that there is much to learned from this experience, if only we can overcome our apprehensions.  And so we go, all of us out in pairs, and we do it.

I go with Rona, a new friend and student from the Melton school in San Diego.  We choose to go to Old Katamon.  I already know two Jerusalem neighborhoods, German Colony and Bak'a, and Old Katamon is right next to them.  I had walked through it the previous week on my way to the Israel Museum, and I want to learn more about it.  Besides, I know that friends of friends live on HaPalmach Street in this neighborhood, and, maybe if we are lucky, we can stop by and say hi.

Rona and I are unsuccessful in our attempts to knock on doors and be invited into people's homes.  Either people are not at home, or they are too busy.  But we have more luck on the street.  We see a young couple walking their dogs who agree to talk to us, and then we talk to a police office writing a traffic ticket, and then finally, I talk to a retired man on line in the grocery story who it turned out came from my birthplace in West Orange, New Jersey.  You never know who you will meet in a grocery story in Jerusalem.

The encounter with the young couple is most moving to me.  The young woman, Ella, in her late 20's, early 30's, is a nurse, and she tells me that she grew up in the Samaria in the settlements, and that she came to Jerusalem to study.  She tells me that when she came to Jerusalem that people looked at her in disgust when she told them that she grew up in Samaria, that people blamed her and her family for the fact that Israel did not have peace.  This was painful to her; her family thought that they were doing the right thing.  Now that she has lived in Jerusalem for 10 years, she no longer tells people that she is from Samaria.  I think of the fact that Tisha b'Av is approaching, the time of the destruction of the Temples which the rabbis tell us was due to hatred among Jews.  And I think of what we learned on Wednesday at Qumran about the Sons of Light and the Sons of Darkness; and I think of the yishuv, the settlement at Mitzpe Jericho, where we were treated with such kindness and hospitality on Wednesday night; and I think of Ella and her painful experience.  And I think of our Melton school which is distinguished by Jewish pluralism -- all Jews are invited to come and learn, and, as a Director, I also strive for pluralism among our facutly.  And I think about the importance of diversity, and tolerance, and Am Yisrael Chai.  It is all One.

I am happy that I am able to stop by for a few minutes to visit Don and Donna on HaPalmach Street, friends of Rabbi Levin in Palo Alto, who now live in Jerusalem.  Five minutes later and I would have missed them since they were on their way out to pick up their daughter at camp.  It is nice to connect up with friends of friends and make more personal connections in Jerusalem.  We will try to get together next week, if there is time.

Then it is time for a quick lunch in Old Katamon, and a stroll over to Emek Ra'faim for some shopping before Shabbat, and to get ready for that very special experience of Shabbat in Jerusalem.

Attired in our Shabbat finery, we go into the Old City for Kabbalat Shabbat, returning to King David's tomb to light candles at the sound of the air raid sirens.  We celebrate Kabbalat Shabbat at the Kotel, a new experience for me and very exciting.  It is an amazing thing to be enveloped with such intense prayer energy, surrounded by so many people.  Then our Melton group is treated to a traditional Shabbat dinner, Se'udat Shabbat, at the home of Melton students from San Diego who also live in Jerusalem, overlooking the Kotel.  If you long to stay in the Old City near the Kotel, the Rakovs also run a small hotel.  Check out their website at www.kotelquarters.com.

The hospitality of our hosts makes for all of us a most memorable Shabbat dinner.  We eat; we share our experiences from the talking to Israelis in the afternoon; and, of course, we sing.  As a group we walk back to our hotel through the Old City, through the empty streets of Jerusalem at 1AM.  It is quite an amazing thing leading our group home through the empty shuq (Arab market), usually such a place of hustle and bustle and now completely quiet as we walk up, up, up the stairs to the Jaffa Gate.

And, yes, as promised, the heat wave broke on Shabbat and we have cool Jerusalem breezes.  Another incredible day for the Melton Israel Seminar.

Of course, Shabbat is not over.  We set our alarm clocks and get up early to go to Shabbat morning services at Shira HaDasha, my favorite synagogue in Jerusalem.  We return to our hotel to study the Torah portion of the week with Dr. Yonantan Mirvis.  And then so many choices, what to do --  sleep (a mitzvah on Shabbat), or an architectural walking tour of the 3 faiths in Jerusalem, or a walking tour with the Jerusalem Poetry of Yehuda Amichai, or studying the issues of the upcoming Sabbatical year with Dr. Mirvis.   We choose and then we convene once again all together for Se'udah Shlisheet, a light meal, in the park next to the windmill, and then we conclude Shabbat with Havdalah on the patio at our hotel.  Now we are ready for the new week!

It is time to go to our rooms and pack for the road.  We are leaving early tomorrow morning, Sunday, for three days of study up north in the Galil.  I do not expect to have internet access during that time.  I will catch you all up on our adventures when we return to Jerusalem on Wednesday.

Cheers from the Palo Alto Seven, greatly enjoying the Melton Israel Seminar!

Shavua Tov!