Friday evening-Shabbat--May 12, 2006
Friday evening--Shabbat--May 12th
We awoke from our short nap much refreshed and re-energized. By this time, the city had already begun to quiet itself and there was a palpable diminishment of noise, & hustle and bustle; the air was full of anticipation for the impending start of Shabbat and a sense of peace pervaded the atmosphere. Shabbat in Jerusalem is an incredible experience and one I never tire of. There is a sense of peace and joy here on Friday evening and Saturday morning that I've never experienced in any other city in the world. It's amazing how a large city, full of honking horns and traffic can become so tranquil in such a short period of time. This is really an experience not to be missed.
I took Rae-ann to services at a Reform synaogoue (one of only a handful in the country, as most are orthordox) called Kol HaNeshema. This is a lovely place to attend services, as the relatively young congregation, full of American, British, Austrailian, and European expats (generally English speakers who are either living temporarily in Israel or those who have made aliyah-voluntarily emigrated) enjoy the intellectual and socially conscious challenges of their dynamic rabbi Lev Kalman. The music is lively and the congregation is very much involved in the services. (If you know of and love Congregation B'nai Jeshurun in NYC, then this is one of the places you want to daven or pray in when in Jerusalem.)
Many restaurants are closed in Jerusalem on Friday evening and Saturday in observance of Shabbat. I decided to take Rae-ann someplace I knew would be open and that was within walking distance of our hotel. We wound up at the YMCA, a landmark structure easily noted by it's central spire that is right across the street from the world-reknown King David Hotel. Dinner was good, but not spectacular--we had a good Barkan 2001 Cabernet Reserve to help wash down dishes like Moroccan hariba soup--made with lentils, hummus, lemon, and fresh tomatoes--quite tangy, as is the custom in Moroccan food. We then went to a slightly less interesting dish of eggplant wrapped around goat cheese and followed this with main courses of vegetable lasagna in a cream sauce and penne with pesto. We splurged on dessert and went with the 3 Arches--fresh apples baked in a flaky crust, and covered with caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream; the scent of the roibois tea (a South African staple) flavored with vanilla and cinammon still sticks with me today.
We awoke from our short nap much refreshed and re-energized. By this time, the city had already begun to quiet itself and there was a palpable diminishment of noise, & hustle and bustle; the air was full of anticipation for the impending start of Shabbat and a sense of peace pervaded the atmosphere. Shabbat in Jerusalem is an incredible experience and one I never tire of. There is a sense of peace and joy here on Friday evening and Saturday morning that I've never experienced in any other city in the world. It's amazing how a large city, full of honking horns and traffic can become so tranquil in such a short period of time. This is really an experience not to be missed.
I took Rae-ann to services at a Reform synaogoue (one of only a handful in the country, as most are orthordox) called Kol HaNeshema. This is a lovely place to attend services, as the relatively young congregation, full of American, British, Austrailian, and European expats (generally English speakers who are either living temporarily in Israel or those who have made aliyah-voluntarily emigrated) enjoy the intellectual and socially conscious challenges of their dynamic rabbi Lev Kalman. The music is lively and the congregation is very much involved in the services. (If you know of and love Congregation B'nai Jeshurun in NYC, then this is one of the places you want to daven or pray in when in Jerusalem.)
Many restaurants are closed in Jerusalem on Friday evening and Saturday in observance of Shabbat. I decided to take Rae-ann someplace I knew would be open and that was within walking distance of our hotel. We wound up at the YMCA, a landmark structure easily noted by it's central spire that is right across the street from the world-reknown King David Hotel. Dinner was good, but not spectacular--we had a good Barkan 2001 Cabernet Reserve to help wash down dishes like Moroccan hariba soup--made with lentils, hummus, lemon, and fresh tomatoes--quite tangy, as is the custom in Moroccan food. We then went to a slightly less interesting dish of eggplant wrapped around goat cheese and followed this with main courses of vegetable lasagna in a cream sauce and penne with pesto. We splurged on dessert and went with the 3 Arches--fresh apples baked in a flaky crust, and covered with caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream; the scent of the roibois tea (a South African staple) flavored with vanilla and cinammon still sticks with me today.
posted by Scottland at 6:44 PM
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