Day Six: Shabbat

This week our group had the opportunity to experience Shabbat in Israel. Every Passover we hear “next year in Jerusalem;” and this year I was a part of that wish coming true. Although we’re here for such a short period of time, or group is able to get the most of out of our experiences, like Shabbat. When the night started, we all got dressed up and prepared for services –Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, or mediation. Having very few Shabbat experiences in my life, I was so excited to spend this time with ours and other schools’ Taglit groups. I went to meditation, led by Greg, before eating dinner; it was great to relax and begin a real day of rest. Dinner on Friday night was cool --we ate so much food (some of which I hadn’t even tried before). Before eating, we read the prayers and shared challah. This experience was especially interesting for me; I loved getting the opportunity to say these prayers that I haven’t revisited since the times of Hebrew school. The best, and most unexpected, part of Shabbat was waking up on noon Saturday morning. We had the option to go to morning services; this was enjoyed by some of our group, but I think most of us were really excited for 1pm lunch and afterwards. During the day we had our own IDF boot-camp experience, courtesy of our Israeli friends, and b’nai mitzvot services for our own Americans. (We are all so proud of them!) This week has been such a great time, and I can’t wait for the rest of the experience! Jayme