Promenades and Prayer

Havdalah again already!! Where does the time go? (The answer is many places, in no particular order- kibbitzing, classes, cooking, studying, biking, reading, praying, catching up with friends and family, and so on...)

This has been a week of firsts. We have completed our first week of ulpan (Hebrew classes). On Thursday I led my first shacharit (morning prayers) service, guided by two fellow students (thank you Faryn and Lauren) and rabbinical interns (thank you Lydia and Haim) who helped me understand and take ownership of the prayer. During my 'drash', or teaching moment of the service, I addressed other firsts (noted in an earlier posting of this blog): British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's visit as the first sitting British P.M. to address the Israeli Knesset and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres at Peres' Official Residence. I spoke about the relationship between these two firsts and Tuesday's pigua, about the presence of hope and progress in the face of shadow and attempts at destruction. Shacharit's a great service- it is designed to orient you to your day, help you get into your skin, thank God (or whomever) for where you are, and help you focus on who you want to be and where you want to be going. It's a wonderful way to start your day off on the right foot. The service took place on Thursday at the Haas Promenade, a lovely park overlooking the Old City. Following prayers and breakfast our class engaged in a day of study and discovery of Jerusalem through walking and learning.

Friday night I hosted my first kabbalat shabbat dinner in Jerusalem, blessed with the presence of old friends from Montreal and new friends from HUC. Little did I know that the beau of one of my dear friends from Montreal who attended kabbalat shabbat proposed to my friend not two hours later (mazal tov!! what a shabbat mitzvah!!)!! This morning I attended services at Kehilat Har-El, Israel's first Progressive-Reform congregation currently led by Jerusalem's first and only female rabbi, Ada Zavidov (a beautiful service celebrating the bar mitzvah of Noam O. in the presence of three generations of family members). Tonight closed with our first at-home havdallah, bidding shabbat adieu and welcoming in the new week.

My roommate has initiated a shabbat ritual whereby after dinner we gather a group of us around, and, aided and abetted by whatever spirits we can procure, debate topics fundamental to our new chosen paths. Last week the question asked around the table was "what is the meaning of shabbat?" This week's query was "What is the meaning of prayer?" (my roommate doesn't waste any time on idle chit-chat). I don't yet have answers to these questions, and I cannot guarantee that I ever will. Still, just looking back at this posting, at the past week, I believe that I am starting to have an idea....

Shavua tov!