Arrival

Friday, December 21
By David 

After long delays due to bad weather in Europe, our final family arrived at 3 this morning.  The weather followed them to Israel and we woke up to wind and rain. But our spirits were high, so we made a few adjustments in our schedule and started the day at the Time Elevator. There, in a multimedia show, we experienced the 3000 year old story of Jerusalem. A great introduction to this holy city that has meant so much to so many.

Visiting the renovated Israel Museum was special to each of us in different ways.  Some of us felt the reconstructed synagogues from Suriname, India, Germany, and Italy, while so different, they all shared common aspects: pulpit, eternal light (Ner Tamid), seating for woman, and the ark for the Torah.

Everyone was interested in how a special cloth was given to newborn Jewish children, embroidered with the Torah portion at the time of their birth, that follows them throughout their lives:  it is sewn onto the tallit, it is made part of the wedding chuppah and it is part of the burial.

We saw the Dead Sea Scrolls and thought it was remarkable that the scrolls and the Aleppo Codex came to Israel at the same time.

Nothing is as busy as the Market when Jerusalem prepares for Shabbat (the Sabbath).  Armed with a list of questions we had to answer in a scavenger hunt and 10 shekelsl with which each family was to buy something special for the group's Shabbat, we entered the mass of people in the market.  People from all walks of life in Jerusalem all jostling together and rushing through to pick up the necessities for Shabbat.  We sampled from among the variety of halvah, the fruits and nuts, cheeses and breads. And many of us filled up on the greatest street food:  pitas stuffed with falafel, salad, pickles and chips (French fries).

We returned to the hotel to dry off, warm up and prepare for the Sabbath.