Ahava from Israel: Shabbat in Har Nof

All of my roommates made Shabbat plans outside of Har Nof. Melody and Laura went to a friend of theirs in the Old City, Dana went to Ra’nana to be with family, and Shayna and Joanna went somewhere together, not sure where. Melissa, a woman from England who came for some of our communal meals, got set up with me to have Shabbat dinner at Mrs. Shaul’s, Shearim’s Administrative Director, and lunch at Mrs. Rottman’s, the apartment Dorm Mother. Melissa and I went to synagogue (shul) together Friday night (there is literally a synagogue on every corner). After davening (prayer), the men sang really beautifully, and we felt very lucky to have gone to a synagogue where people like to sing J Dinner at Mrs. Shaul’s was very nice – she has 5 kids – the eldest is married and has an adorable 2.5 year old boy and a baby girl of 3 months. Mrs. Shaul is originally from Philly and her husband is from Cali (but he was actually born in Bagdad!). Mr (or Rabbi) Shaul has a solar panel business in California. That is quite interesting. I know that solar panels are also very much used in Israel. The eldest daughter’s in-laws have a sukkah business that is thriving in England and the U.S. too. They also supply the etrog and lulav (holiday of Sukkot items). They get to travel to the places where they procure the items, so they have been to China (of course sukkahs would be built in China…) and Morocco (to get the etrogim). I wonder where else? Oh, and I must get Mrs. Shaul’s pumpkin kugel recipe – it was wonderful. I took a nice walk outside after dinner to digest. It seemed like most of Har Nof was walking outside. Never mind that it was close to midnight – couples, girlfriends, guy friends, baby carriages…you name it, they were all outside, enjoying the evening weather when you can go out and not die of heat.

The next day, Melissa and I went to a different shul to hear morning/mussaf prayers. Here, they didn’t sing much. But, there was a Bar Mitzvah going on, and we threw candy after the boy finished reading his parsha (torah portion). I liked this shul because women got to sit on the balcony, where the service was more visible than last night’s, where we were at the same level but had a curtain separating us. (Men and women sit separately in Orthodox shuls – I like this concept; it helps concentrate on prayer. But, I especially like it when the women can see the men but not the other way around ;-) ) The Kiddush (wine prayer and some food) after the service was in honor of the Bar Mitzvah boy. Wow, was it fancy! The family is from England, and Mrs. Shaul (who was there) told us that we could tell. Israelis would never put on such a fancy show. There wasn’t a lot of food, just some sushi, mini mini sandwiches, dessert, and fruit. But wow, was the setup fancy! The desserts were beautiful – definitely an artisan chocolatier. Lucky that we got to be there haha! Lunch at Mrs. Rottman’s was very nice, too. She’s from Belgium, so I couldn’t help but say Bonjour and a few words in French. If it were just her and I, I would have taken advantage, but it would have been rude in front of the others. Nevermind, I’ll make it up when she comes to school J Her husband looks Sephardi and gets that all the time, but in fact he is not. They also have 5 kids. A married son and a married daughter – the latter was there with her husband, cute 3 year old boy and almost 1 month old baby girl (pattern anyone??). We spent some time chatting after the meal – it was nice to get to know Mrs. Rottman!

Melissa was very tired (and dehydrated – she realized she wasn’t drinking enough water! I’ve been making sure to drink every half hour or so) so she went back to her host family. I was bored and didn’t have much to do, so I read and slept. I got up to do Havdallah (end of Shabbat ritual) by myself, since everyone was, of course, still gone. I showered and then went out for a very nice walk around Har Nof. Many people were out, again. I love that the neighborhood is so safe! Life resumed as normal – buses, cars, cell phones…even the local ice cream parlor next to Ye’sh, the grocery store, was open. I took my camera along for a nighttime shoot. See below!

Ahava from Israel!

Elina