Friday/Shabbat – Day 23/24
August 14, 2012
Friday Sarah and I said bye to Or after a delicious breakfast and, were on our way to Jerusalem.
Unfortunately due to some poor planning on my part, we hadn’t arranged accommodation for either of us for the weekend. Thus, in the Sherut (group taxi) Sarah and I planned to book rooms in a hostel for the weekend.
When we arrived at Jerusalem Central Bus Station we collected our belongings and started walking up to the market, only to run into Nadav Prawer; the charismatic husband of my cousin. He inquired as to where we were staying for Shabbat and when he heard that our plans were as yet unset, he immediately invited us to stay with him. Disappointing him, I let him know that we were due for dinner at a family friend’s place in Jerusalem and thus would be staying here. Not taking no for an answer, he whipped up his mobile phone and began dialing through all his friends, looking for someone to take us in. Eventually a lovely mid twenties lady, Terri Gar, said she’d be delighted to take in Sarah and with that settled I rang my cousins, the Slonims, to find a bed for myself.
Lunch was had in the shuk (market), Machane Yehuda, and was a delicious plate of hummus with pita.
The Market – Shuk Machane Yehuda
Afterwards we visited my favourite shop in the Shuk, Fromagerie Basher, an emporium of fine imported European and Israeli cheeses.
Fromagerie Basher
We bought food for Shabbat lunch (Challah and Jam) and were soon off for the evening.
Dinner at the Waimann’s was a delight. The company was spirited and engaged in lively intellectual discussion. Gila’s cooking was superb, and David’s selection of wines matched the meal perfectly (like I know). One interesting idea raised was the possibility of splitting Israel into a canton system, much like that of Switzerland, in order to resolve issues regarding governance of the land.
Following dinner, I decided to walk Eden Akiva, a cousin of the Waimanns home. By this point my legs were starting to tire, having done a good number of kilometers walking back and forth between areas of Jerusalem. Arriving back home at about one in the morning, sleep took me quickly.
Shabbat morning was a bit of a sleep in followed by, you guessed it, more walking! Lunch was a quiet affair with Sarah, with a nap following immediately. The afternoon held, again, more walking, trying to catch up with a dear friend; Merav Blum, who didn’t hear the knocking on her door.
When Shabbat came out Sarah, Daniella and her friend Channie, and I, went to see one of Israel’s biggest musical acts, Dag Nachash (Fish-Snake) perform live at the Sultan’s Pools as part of Chutzot HaYotzer, the Jerusalem International Arts and Culture Festival. With entrance costing a mere 50NIS ($11AUD) it was a bargain for a top evening!
HaDag Nachash
I didn’t notice, but, two rows away from me in the stands, Merav Blum was in fact seated with her friends. As the crows cleared away, we managed to find each other and the rest of the night was spent deep in conversation with her as I walked her home.
Merav and I
Shabbat – Day 11
August 2, 2012
A late wake up followed by a simple lunch in house made the perfect start to this Shabbat.
At about 1:30 my phone rang, indicating that Colin Bulka of machon fame (director of part of my gap year program) was waiting downstairs for a walk. I came downstairs to find him and his bike in top shape, rearing to go for a walk down the hot and humid streets of Tel Aviv. After a good chat, my skin almost felt seared off by the unforgiving rays of the sun.
Walking to Sarah’s place for a quiet afternoon seemed like a good plan, however, with the fast of Tisha B’Av (jewish fast day of mourning) quickly approaching we instead set off to the boys’ apartment for the pre-fast Seudah (feast).
After the departure of Shabbat, Sarah and I went to Frishman beach, where the synagogue was reading Megillat Eicha, the book of lamentations. The Rabbi described the relevance of reading it at the beach as stemming from the deportation of the Jews from Israel from the ancient ports and their return via nearby Yafo (Jaffa). The reading was mostly pleasant, though I did miss the sound of practiced singer lifting up in mournful cries as with the trope of Eicha.
We then returned to the apartment to pack and await a lift from Gali Birenbaum, a mutual friend of ours from ISSI, who would be hosting us over the next few days and helping us manage the fast. She picked us up and subsequently another friend, Ariel Kliger and we chilled at her place till the late hours of the morning.
Clean plaid clothes or dirty clothes? And a kumta!