The weather on this Shabbas day was absolutely divine. The sun shone all day, the temperature was nice and cool, but warm enough to go without a jacket, visibility over the valley was incredibly clear... it was beautiful, and a special Shabbat present - none of the days I was in Tsfat saw much of the sun besides that day. It is disappointing it happened over Shabbas and I didn't take any pictures, but I suppose that beautiful day was a little present just for me and not meant to be shared with all of you.
At noon, I attended a class on Jewish meditation - meaning, prayer, and our states of mind going into and out of prayer, and what prayer even means within Judaism. I learned a lot, and this was definitely part of the beautiful side of Judaism I learned about while in the holy land. This isn't a theology blog, so I won't go too much into it, but there were some really beautiful thoughts about connecting to the Infinite, and both bringing yourself to a place to be able to do that and bringing yourself away from that place to maintain humility, modesty, to come back to reality.
After the class, it was time for a wonderful Shabbat lunch. There was even more food than the dinner I'd had the night before - all the times I'd forgotten to eat whilst traveling were being made up in this one Shabbat weekend. We all ate, drank wine, and got to know each other - there was a couple getting married in a couple weeks having an inspirational Shabbas together, quite a few girls and one boy from English-language seminaries in Jerusalem, a couple Birthright extendees, and the Ascent staff, most of which I'm pretty sure are Rabbis - if not just very learned Jewish men. We shared some stories about our lives and about our Shabbat experiences thus far, and there were some pretty incredible ones. A fellow Birthright extendee (not from my trip) who went by Keshet (Hebrew for "rainbow") had walked into his room at Ascent to come face-to-face with his friend Daniel from their home in Chicago, having not seen each other in five years (they went off to college in different states). Daniel's girlfriend Penina (Hebrew for "pearl") was studying at a women's yeshiva in Jerusalem for a month in order to visit him during his full year of study, and her friend Rikki had come that weekend as well. I tell you who these people are because they are the people with whom I spent most of the rest of my Tsfat experience.
The highlight of that meal was when, near the end, everyone just started singing whatever Hebrew song floated into their head, and the entire table would get swept up and sing along. Sometimes it was soft, sometimes it was spirited, but it was an incredible thing to be a part of.
There was another class that afternoon, but I decided to take it off and enjoy the beautiful afternoon, looking at the incredible views afforded by being in a city on a mountain, enjoying the sun, watching and listening to the children play in the empty streets. I ended Shabbat by sitting on the balcony by my room, watching the sun set, marveling at how peaceful I felt after a fully observed Shabbas in what could possibly be the holiest place in Israel (as a place to be, not as a place of specific religious significance).
At last, it was time for Havdala - the ceremony that closes Shabbat and begins the week. Joined by the overwhelming majority of the guests in Ascent from the IDF, we watched as the Havdala candle was lit, blessings were said, and then the curtain drawn between the genders for spirited dancing and live music. Once again, the gender divide was a bit of a drag, especially since the live music was on the mens' side, but the hostel was so full of young people that weren't as strict about observing the modesty of separation between genders that the curtain stayed open most of the time so we could watch the men dance - they got very enthusiastic, it was a blast to watch, and that wasn't before we had our own tamborine-filled fun behind the curtain.
Members of the IDF watching the havdala candle being lit.
Women dancing, filled with clapping and tambourines.
Rikki and Penina during the women's dancing.
Peeking at what was going on over on the mens' side.
After Havdala, we still had a couple hours until Motzei Shabbat dinner (after-Shabbat dinner), so I went out with a couple girls from the Jerusalem yeshiva to perhaps find a snack or otherwise just wander the streets of Tsfat. One was Michelle from Mexico City, and the other Ruah from America. After walking around a while with them, I received a phone call from Jazzy and Pauline, to meet with them before dinner. I sat with them at a restaurant for a little while before having to leave for my own Motzei Shabbat dinner at Ascent, but it was great to just sit and talk with them a while. They're a couple of the coolest people I met on my trip, and hope to see them in L.A. sometime soon (Pauline's working on a visa to come here, and Jazzy already lives in L.A.).
Tsfat locals bursting into spontaneous Havdala dancing on the street.
Michelle and Ruah at the gorgeously set Motzei Shabbat dinner table.
Dinner was quite nice - the food was delicious, and we were joined by a Rabbi telling whatever stories he felt like telling - he decided on the theme love. Imagine an older Jewish rabbi, sigging at your table, rambling on about ancient stories of love while enjoying delicious food - it was an awesome evening.
I spent the next while talking to Loren on Skype, which was nice; it was good to get a long conversation in. Eventually, other guests that had gone different directions during our free time came back, and we talked for a while about next-day plans and generally just got to know each other. Here's a nice group picture in the lounge at Ascent:
L-R Daniel, Penina, Keshet, me, Tammy, and Claudia.
A few of us later went over to Tammy's daughter's house to meet Tammy's new grandbaby, only a couple weeks old - Tammy had flown out to be here for the birth and made it in time, and was staying at Ascent to be nearby to help out with the new baby without being subject to its 24-hour crying cycle. A few of us were invited over and we got to meet them and were served little snacks and talked with her husband, who was a musician. We had to leave at midnight to get back in to Ascent, but it was another nice evening getting to know an Israeli family.
So, that was Shabbas in the mystical city of Tsfat. I found out that day that as a Birthright extendee, I got two non-Shabbas free nights, so I decided to stay in Tsfat a couple extra days. The next couple entries will be about my remaining time in Tsfat, then I just had my one last day in Israel which I spent in Tel Aviv before going to the airport... so I will be wrapping this trip up soon! But first, the rest of Tsfat.
As always, I do not include all (or even close to all) of my photos
here in my blog. To see all my photos from my post-Birthright travels,
see my Flickr album: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtashalocke/sets/72157628990457609/
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