Fridays are "short" days in Israel. Lots of businesses are not even open and those that are tend to close by 3pm in order for people to get to synagogue and/or families for Shabbat which starts at sunset. In our building, we are each allowed to make our own choices as to how we spend Shabbat, but Jews all over the world, Israel as a country, and Jerusalem as a city, take this pretty seriously.
When I woke up Friday morning I found some motivation to do some serious kitchen cleaning. We have had some ants wandering around in our kitchen, and that kind of grosses me out. Not as bad as some other things, but grosses me out nonetheless. We also have just developed food crumbs all over the counter and refrigerator door and our appliances. I thought about our cleaning supplies and food/spices we keep on the counter, and I decided to make one side of the sink clearly for cleaning and the other clearly for food. This way, we don't eat chemicals and we don't wash things with spices. Just keeps things a bit more tidy. I scrubbed all of the countertop, under all the appliances (toaster, microwave, and mini stove) as a clean slate. All brand new, no dust or dirt or food particles hanging out where they don't belong. I cleaned up everything that was left in the sink or beside it and gave it a nice scrubbing. I felt very productive!
At some point I decided it would be a good idea to start some laundry. The last time I did laundry, I wasn't able to fit everything in the washing machine (it's not like the triple loaders at the laundromat OR the mom and dad Kleinman machine in Port Washington), so I had a few leftover items plus things that have accumulated in my laundry bag since then. The washer and dryer are on the tippity top floor of our building, which means I have to climb a whole bunch of stairs - BUT - since I am on the top floor of the apartments, I have the shortest walk of anyone else in the building. And, I'm not complaining, it's good exercise to go up and down.
Around 1:30pm, Danni, my Israeli next-door neighbor, asked if I wanted to go to Super Deal (the grocery store on the corner nearby). Seeing as it was already on my list of things to do today, I say sure and figure we'll be back in about half an hour or twenty minutes if the line is short. I only had a few things to pick up. On the way out, I ask if anyone else is interested in coming; no one else needs to go, in fact Josh has just come back from there. He mentions something about laundry and I tell him that I just put the washer on but when I come back I'd be glad to give him some detergent when I move my things to the dryer. Danni and I head out and we begin walking up the block. He stops at his car. "You getting something from in here?" "Come, we drive to the store." "To Super Deal? It's right on the corner." "No it's not that close, we drive." Ahhhhh, he's talking about Supersol Deal, which is the bigger store not on the corner, and it has a parking lot. We pull in to the parking lot, and probably spend 10 minutes just waiting for a spot. Man this was like not such a great idea. What were we thinking???
Once we get in to the store, we can see that the checkout lines are absolutely bananas and the store is crazy packed with people. OK next time, no doing food shopping on Friday! Oh right, Thursday this week everything was closed for the holiday, and Wednesday was just like Friday in that everything was closing early and it would have been crazy then too. OK, I'll suck it up. Danni goes to the meat counter in the back to get some chicken. (He has this thing about making shnitzel! Who am I to stop him?) I run around picking up anything heavy I can think of, even if I don't need it right away, hey, as long as he's driving back I might as well stock up! Juices, milk, fruits and vegetables. I take my items to the checkout to meet him there. When he comes to meet me, he says, "Why are you standing in this line? This one [points] is for 10 or less." Oyyy, I can't read the sign that says it's an express lane. Shuffling over to a new line now. It still takes forever and I'm not really sure why. Every time I've been in the grocery store, the lines just seem to stand still. The cashiers do not bag the items for you (which is the reason some people give for the slow pace), but not every grocery store in the US does either. Westside Market does because they are fantastic. But most do not; in fact, I use the self-check out at Stop and Shop more frequently than the cashiers. So it's not just that there is no one bagging the items. I really am at a loss for an idea. Anyway, he pays for his things (no chicken unfortunately, Danni is very sad), and I pay for mine. The cashier wishes both of us a Shabbat Shalom (the typical Friday greeting here) and we head to the car. He wants to go check out another place to see if he can get some chicken.
I'm worried about Josh waiting for me to get back to start his laundry, and now I'm out and about doing errands. Danni drives to Emek Refaim, and there is no parking anywhere. He pulls over to an illegal spot but slides in close enough to the railing that it doesn't look TOO illegal. Before leaving the car, Danni asks, "You know how to drive this car?" I look - it's a manual. "Nope!" "OK, take my phone number; if somebody comes you just tell them I am coming right back, and call me. B'seder/ok, bye." Like I am going to be able to convince a security guard or a police officer, in broken Hebrew, that this is really what's happening? Right. Let's cross our fingers that the Israeli po-po have bigger and better things to worry about. I'm sitting in the car watching every car and every person pass, becoming startled every time someone does. Just another shopper walking back home. Just another couple going back to their car. Just another car cutting through this shortcut. What feels like an hour later (and is probably only 7 minutes in real time), Danni comes back to the car (yay for me and my worrying) but empty handed (boo for him). Bummer. This city is sold out of chicken by 2pm on a Friday! Chaval/too bad.
When we get back to Tsipora 5, I race inside to tell Josh I'm back. "I put your stuff in the dryer." "Really? And you just put it in or started the dryer?" "Started the dryer." "Awesome, thanks, ok so I owe you 5 shekels, right? And...did you have detergent or do I need to bring some to you?" "Got it and started my wash." Oh, whew, huge relief for me. I felt so bad about taking so long because I didn't want to be the cause of anyone's day being held up. I go upstairs to get 5 shekels and bring it back down to him. Hey at least my stuff's drying now! One step closer to clean sheets and clean clothes. Yum.
30 minutes later my dryer is done and it's time for folding. My favorite household task. Ha. That'll be the day. I suck it up and just do it quickly so it's taken care of. I think that's the trick - doing it right away. The longer it sits around, the more I don't want to do it.
Around 3pm I get a Facebook message from Rachelle about a minyan taking place at 5:30 tonight, starting with a meditation, followed by a service, followed by a potluck dinner. Well lots of us had thrown out some ideas for places to go for services tonight, but we had all agreed that we'd eat dinner together in the building. We were still committed to doing that, so we didn't want to stay for their potluck, but the service sounded nice so we decided to check it out. We planned on leaving around 5:20. I wanted to make something for dinner ahead of time, so about 4pm I start chopping up some vegetables and boiling some water for couscous (whole grain!). By 5 everything is done in my apartment, so I bring my items to Danni who has his plata (hot plate) set to be warm while we are at our respective services. He says that he can have a few people in his apartment if they would like to join him, so I tell everyone else to keep that in mind for after the service.
We walk to Beit Ar-El which is where this service seems to be (although none of us were even 100% sure it was there; the Facebook event was not so clear), and when we arrive at the gate there is a sign for "Bnei IKAR" and an arrow to follow. At least this is a facility we are vaguely familiar with so it is fine. We are greeted by someone just outside the Beit Knesset/synagogue who welcomes us and points us in the right direction. The meditation has started, so we all quietly find seats, close our eyes, and drift into meditation-land. Focusing on our bodies, our breath, and the earth. Although we missed about half of it, the part that we were there was very relaxing. Once the meditation was over, we moved pretty swiftly into Kabbalat Shabbat.
A pretty girl in a white outfit starts playing a drum - drum? There are drums here? No way! OK, I'm like totally at home here, it's awesome. Yedid Nefesh is the opening song and it is so beautiful to listen to everyone's voices together. We move through all of Kabbalat Shabbat with the drumming (a few different people have drums) and the collective singing. One person in particular is kind of taking the lead (I find out later his name is Josh), but everyone is really together. We are all using different books too, so no page numbers are being called out; the service just flows one song into the next. In between the Kabbalat Shabbat service and Ma'ariv (evening) service, one of the members of the minyan/group gives a d'var/word of Torah, kind of like a sermon but not quite a full one. He is very engaging has a very nice speaking voice, kind of goes all over the place with his idea yet somehow brings it back together (as I type this I can't even remember for the life of me what it was about; maybe it's because it is WAY past my bedtime).
One of the most interesting things that happened in the entire course of the evening was saying the Rabbi's kaddish after this bit of Torah. It is a special kaddish prayer after you do some sort of studying. I cannot remember a single time in my life where I have been in a group/synagogue that has recited this. However, as a part of my Judaic Studies group last year in Westchester, we studied the different parts and variations of the Kaddish prayer, including the Rabbi's kaddish. So I found it to be interesting to say the least. I wondered if some people in the room even knew what it was all about and how it related to the other kaddish variations (not that I'm so learned myself). I'd like to study this more - the liturgy that we began to study last year in our group. I'm not sure that's going to happen here but I'd certainly like to someday.
A new leader begins the Ma'ariv service, a gorgeous blond girl who has been singing and spirited the entire time. Her voice isn't particularly pleasing to me but kol hakavod (great job) for taking the lead in front of such a large group, many of whom are strangers. She is very passioned about the davening/praying. The Ma'ariv service includes the silent amidah/standing prayer so everyone usually finds their own spot in the room, wiggles their feet around a bit until their chairs are not in the way. It's pretty quiet until the service leader begins chanting again, and sometimes the congregation joins in as well. We conclude the service after some brief introductions, so those new to the minyan (like us!) and those staying for the dinner (not us), could have some instruction as to how to change over the room setup. Before our group departed to come back to our own dinner, we introduced ourselves to some of the friendly faces around the room. Rachelle recognized/met someone from Cornell, I introduced myself to Josh the service leader and Zev who seems to help run the show, and Josh from our group as usual was making friends with everyone. We stayed to say kiddush, wished everyone a Shabbat Shalom and came back to Tsipora 5.
This is where the adventure continues! Danni is quite a host, we discovered tonight. Danni is one of 2 Israeli men who are living in our apartment building as part of our program for living purposes; the Israelis have their own lives (school, work, family) but live with us so that throughout the program, we can all interact and learn from one another, share customs and traditions, and most importantly, FOOD!
As I mentioned, I prepared some food ahead of time so that Danni could enjoy it. He doesn't eat food that was prepared during Shabbat, as it is supposed to be a day of rest and therefore, no cooking. Danni prepared a lot more food than I did, and when we arrived back, we began setting his table in his apartment. He had 3 friends plus himself; we ended up with the 7 of us who attended services (me, Rachelle, Isaac, Rachel Z., Josh, Denise, and Carolyn) and Rachel Good who was in the apartment when we arrived back. All of a sudden I start taking my dishes from my kitchen and bringing silverware over. More chairs, and then the table. Carolyn helps me tilt the table 90 degrees so it'll fit through my doorway, into the hall, and then back into Danni's apartment. We slide the tablecloth over, adjust the place settings and seats, and commence the Shabbat Dinner party!
We do the kiddush blessing over the wine; we say the hamotzi blessing over the bread, and begin to feast. Slowly but surely, almost all the food is consumed. Danni's friends are jumping right into the conversation; one of them making all kinds of remarks and American puns. Very nice people; so happy to be sharing a Shabbat table with so many Israelis!
Around 9pm, I duck out of the room, with my silverware and pots and pans in hand, to start the clean up process. I wanted to get this started while I set up my computer to Skype with mom and dad. We had a Skype date at 9:30pm my time, which was about 3:30pm in NY. It was great to see them (and Yvonne!) and I hope they thought it was great to see me. Hopefully this can be our weekly Skype chat so we can catch up with each other. Once we were done, Danni came by to see where I had been. I told him "I'm doing illegal Shabbat things" (as in, using the computer/electricity). It's OK, he doesn't judge! He commented, "Shabbat is time for family." I agree with that!
The party leaves; Danni cleans up his place. The volume goes down as everyone makes their way back to their respective apartments. Danni's friends leave and we all wish each other a Shabbat Shalom. Around 11:30pm, he asks me if I'd like to go for a walk around the neighborhood, just because. "Who else is coming?" "Josh said he'll come." I invited Rachelle as well, and the 4 of us set out for some new streets, a new neighborhood, and some great conversation. We walked as all 4 of us; we walked two at a time as well. Everyone talked to everyone. I think we walked around for about an hour, looking at houses, apartments, gardens, cars, people, hearing the silence of some blocks and the busy areas of others.
So much for Friday being a "short" day - quite a long post to tell the tale of another fabulous Friday in Jerusalem.
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