My First Trip to the Land of Israel
My First Trip to the Land of Israel
I went to a Sephardic shul in Yemin Moshe (yes, I made it this time), very close to the Askenazi one I had been to the evening before. The Jews there had sojourned in Persia before making Aliya to Israel. The tunes were interesting. The women's section was behind a lace curtain which was easily seen through. There was no view of outside that I could see from where I sat, and no clear windows at all in the women's section. I do not know if there were clear windows in the men's section that I was unable to see. I enjoyed experiencing the tunes and the fact that the prayers were pretty much the same, even though the tunes were different.
Again, I had to walk up over 100 steps and a hill to get back to my home at the Kings Hotel. I would eventually get used to all the walking. After the Shacharit and Musaf (morning and additional services) of Shabbat were over, regrouped for lunch at the hotel. We had a restful time from then until Havdalah later at Sally and Rabbi Klein-Katz's home. It was nice to see an Israeli apartment. The ceilings are really tall in that, and most other dwellings I saw in Israel. This helped keep the home cool. The Havdalah was quite lovely, as was the hospitality of the Klein-Katz's.
After Havdalah, a time called
motzi Shabbat, some of us walked to Ben Yehuda Street. Ben Yehuda Street is
a kind of pedestrian mall, a shopping place that gets very full every
motzi Shabbat. When we were there, it was dark, but here is a picture of
part of Ben Yehuda Street during the day.
On motzi Shabbat it is much more crowded than this. Ben Yehuda Street also
has many open air cafes such as this one.
The poles with the small white umbrella-like top are heaters, so that diners can
eat comfortably even in Jerusalem's winter. We ate at a cafe called Etnachta
where the food was kosher dairy. I ordered and ate a pita with goat cheese and
tomato sauce.
When we were done eating, we went down to this square at the end of the street. There we saw Hasids or Heredi dancing. We also did some shopping. I got a real nice mezuza for my brother's new house, one for my neice's new room in her new house, and assorted t-shirts for other relatives. We walked home to the hotel really late...
Get your own Free Home Page