View of the Dead Sea

Shabbat Shalom everybody! When the words are said together, they convey the message “may your day of no work be peaceful”, and can I say it really has been very peaceful for me. Let me explain why.

This week I have traveled to Jericho, Bethlehem, and the Dead Sea.  I used Egged Tours to book these tours because: 1) this is WAY cheaper than the taxis, the guides have a lot of insight into the areas you are going, the mini bus is very comfortable, and the people who take the tours with you are an interesting bunch. In addition to how amazing each of these places were (order of importance for me: Bethlehem, the Dead Sea, Jericho), it also officially finishes my list of everything I wanted to see/do in Israel.

(In My Billy Mays Voice): BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE! 

A neighbor of mine invited me to their house for an Orthodox Jewish Shabbat dinner. This was a very pleasant surprise for me. The Shabbat (or Sabbath) begins on Friday at sunset and ends Saturday at night. During this time, when basically everything shuts down, it is a time to reflect, relax, and spend time with friends and family. Now, I’m a Catholic American that doesn’t have much experience or knowledge of Jewish traditions, so I can’t begin to explain all of the rules and beliefs of what the Shabbat entails…but I can describe the very lovely dinner I just had.

I arrived at the home around 8:30pm, and was introduced to everyone (husband, wife, son, daughter). These folks were from the US, so I instantly felt right at home when the conversation started. After getting to know everyone, the whole dinner was explained to me. There’s washing of the hands, prayer, singing, blessings, and other rituals were involved at different times. I basically followed along the best I could, except the parts in Hebrew, and there was no pressure on me to know everything (which is good, because I was lost in the sauce).

There was wine, soup, bread, and a spread of food that was amazing! Fish, salad, noodles, stuffed peppers, lasagna….ALL SO GOOD! In between the singing and prayers, a conversation took place that is reminiscant of so many family dinners I have participated in before. We talked about life, school, current events, travel, Grandma posting on Facebook; I really can’t stress how refreshing this all was.

I learned a lot about the traditions, ate some great food, and had wonderful company through it all. I’m not Jewish. I’m not Israeli. If I wasn’t invited, I would have never thought I would have this experience; but I am so very thankful for this wonderful night!

Moral of the story: When doors open for you, put a smile on and walk right through that door.