So I went to Sfat for Shabbat! Aside from the deliberations of whether this counts as a “Sfabat” or a “Shafat,” (all joking aside), I had a really great time.
I met up with some friends from Hebrew U Friday afternoon. We checked into our Shabbat observance-friendly hotel and walked around the artists’ colony for the hour before it closed. I got some great photos of the city and we were able to start to get our bearings around town.
Sfat is known for its narrow alleyways and artist studios. Here’s a photo of both:
We then came back, got ready for Shabbat, and went to the Beirav Synagogue for Friday night services. To summarize, it’s a traditional mechitzah davening with Carlebach tunes and LOTS of ruach. Being that Sfat was historically (and still is) a center of spirituality, it was very fitting. It was so cool to sing “Lcha Dodi” (prayer to welcome the metaphorical Sabbath Bride) where it was written. At one point, the power on the whole street went out, so we continued singing in complete darkness.
Afterwards, we came back for Shabbat dinner in the hotel, where we quickly realized we were a unique group of people. Most of the groups there were observant families—whether Haredi, hippie-ish, or something like that. We, a co-ed group of students who sang z’mirot (songs for Shabbat) loudly and joyously, didn’t fit into many of their conceptions of what non-Orthodox people are. There’s a tendency here to think that you can be only religious or secular, with little room in the middle.
The next morning we slept late, ate lunch in the hotel, then went up to the Citadel park at the top of the mountain to rest, play games (Catan appears to exist outside of Brandeis), read, or hang out. Somebody even brought a Frisbee, and while throwing it around attracted a group of local Orthodox children who also wanted to play with us. At one point when a child threw the Frisbee over the side of the mountain, I joked that “pluralism doesn’t work because it ruins Frisbees,” but it was truly very cool to see everyone playing and getting along.
After being back at the hotel for Seudah Shlishit (the traditional third meal of the day), we came back to the park for Havdallah (the service to end Shabbat). We sat and watched the sun set while singing z'mirot again and counted the 3 stars to signify that Shabbat had officially ended.
You can kind of see the Kinneret in the distance here:
The moon, the sunset, waiting for stars:
As a somewhat last-minute decision, I decided to go to Jerusalem with everyone else to be able to say hi to a friend on Sunday who’s in Israel for March of the Living (explanation here). I also got to do some touring of the Old City which I hadn’t really had a chance to do in the past.
We went up on the roof of the shuk and got a cool perspective of the Dome of the Rock and the Mount of Olives:
Walked past the brand-new (and controversial) Hurva Synagogue:
We saw the Western Wall (and setting up for a Yom HaZikaron ceremony)
Excavations below:
Al- Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock:
We also explored a bit more of the archaeological sites near the Temple Mount.
In front of the Mount of Olives:
Cool mosaic tile floor:
We then met up with Erika and showed her around (little did she know a Burgers Bar trip was in her future)!
After leaving the Old City we walked around some of the newer areas. Look at the cool store I found in Mamilla:
And some really cool murals:
Once we got back to Mount Scopus, where the Hebrew University is located, I was able to see Noam, a friend from Brandeis! He was even kind enough to show me the area where he lives and we had a short time for tea before I had to catch the bus back to Haifa. At 8 PM, the siren went off (like on Yom HaShoah, except for Yom HaZikaron) to commemorate those who had fallen in wars and terrorist attacks. Everyone on the bus stood up in the aisles, and once it ended we left Jerusalem and headed back home.
More on Yom HaZikaron and Yom HaAtzmaut to come…stay tuned to hear about the rest of this crazy, adventure-filled weekend!
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