Yesterday was my first Shabbat in Israel! Well, technically it started Friday night. At any rate, it was absolutely wonderful. I wanted to take a moment to talk about Israeli culture and customs a little bit now that I've been here for a week.
Shabbat starts on Friday night at sundown. To bring in Shabbat, there is a small ceremony accompanied by a traditional meal. The lady of the house lights two candles, representing the two Sabbath commandments in the Torah. Then, she covers her eyes and recites a blessing in Hebrew. For us IBEX students, one of the girls lit the candles, and Benj helped her repeat the blessing in Hebrew. Next, Benj filled a cup with grape juice (traditionally wine, but we Master's students can't do that) to the brim, representing the abundance that God blessed us with. Each person at the meal takes a small sip from the cup. Then two loaves of special braided bread are passed around. Each person tears off a piece and eats. The two loaves commemorate how God would provide extra mana Friday so that Israel would have enough food on Shabbat. Then we sang the Shabbat song and began the meal. Traditional Jewish people would go to a short service before beginning the meal.
Shabbat starts on Friday night at sundown. To bring in Shabbat, there is a small ceremony accompanied by a traditional meal. The lady of the house lights two candles, representing the two Sabbath commandments in the Torah. Then, she covers her eyes and recites a blessing in Hebrew. For us IBEX students, one of the girls lit the candles, and Benj helped her repeat the blessing in Hebrew. Next, Benj filled a cup with grape juice (traditionally wine, but we Master's students can't do that) to the brim, representing the abundance that God blessed us with. Each person at the meal takes a small sip from the cup. Then two loaves of special braided bread are passed around. Each person tears off a piece and eats. The two loaves commemorate how God would provide extra mana Friday so that Israel would have enough food on Shabbat. Then we sang the Shabbat song and began the meal. Traditional Jewish people would go to a short service before beginning the meal.
Saturday morning, we all piled onto the bus and headed to congregation. In Israel, Christians avoid using the term church, because Israelis immediately envision the traditions of the Catholic Church. The same goes for using the term Christna. If you say you are a Christian, they will think you are Greek Orthodox of Catholic. Evangelical Christians (as Americans would call it) usually refer to themselves as Messianic, or a Messianic Gentile/Jew, and refer to church as congregation to avoid the confusion. We attend a church in Jerusalem called Jerusalem Assembly. The service was very similar to what I'm used to in some ways, but also very different. There was always Hebrew with English translation. I think my favorite part was singing hymns in Hebrew. The slides had the lyrics in Hebrew, but also had the Hebrew words with English letters so that we could at least sound the words out and sing along. It was so much fun. We sang "Crown Him with Many Crowns" to the same tune as usual, but in Hebrew. I was grinning ear to ear the entire time because it was such a wonderful experience! The sanctuary was surprisingly noisy and quite informal compared to what I'm used to during the service. Even during the sermon, there were people talking. At first, this struck me as very odd and disrespectful, but then I realized that all the people talking were translating into different languages for the people sitting with them. Once I listened more closely to a few people around me, I heard French, Spanish, and a few other languages. After the service, there is a time of fellowship and food in another room. Most of the IBEX students stayed away from the food, since we had our meal planned and paid for in Old City. Several of us changed clothes (your knees have to be covered when you go to Old City), and then joined the group on the bus to Old City.
Every Shabbat, we all get the chance to wander around Old City Jerusalem and eat lunch there. Of course, you're told to stay in groups (never just a group of only girls though) and to stay together. My group went into the Muslim quarter and got shawarma and falafel for lunch. Then we shopped in the Christian quarter, visited the Church of the Holy Sepulcher again, and hung out around the coffee shop at Christ Church. We headed back to Yad Ha Shmonah at 5 o'clock.
At 8 o'clock, IBEX has a tradition that we call Saturday Night Live, not to be confused with the American comedy show. We all get together for a time of fellowship, games, and snacks. It was a blast, and was a wonderful way to end Shabbat together.
Israel has a few other cultural differences that I'd like to highlight. I think the hardest one to get used to is not making eye contact with people as you pass them. I guess it's just considered to be rude, or even flirtatious if you're looking at someone of the opposite gender. Modesty is also very different here than in America, especially in the Old City, but I think I mentioned that in a previous post. Any form of physical contact between people of the opposite sex is also very taboo. In America, if you see a couple, or even friends, hanging onto each other in a crowd, you don't even give it a second thought. Here? Absolutely scandalous. In America, it's considered chivalrous to hold onto a lady when you're trying to make your way through a crowd, but not so here. I emphasize the crowd aspect because of the Muslim quarter. That's when we all struggle with this rule the most. You're trying to stay in a tight group so that no one ends up lost, but you're also trying to guard your pockets and your backpack, as petty theft is common in Israel, especially in the Muslim quarter. That quarter is extremely different than the other three. You practically walk into a different world. There are people in every square inch of ground, trying to get one direction or another. Bumping into people is unavoidable, and completely normal. Shop keepers tend to target the women, trying to get us to buy things from them. Thankfully the guys in our group are always very conscientious of watching out for us, even though we can't make a human train to stay together. Thankfully we don't go into the Muslim quarter much. The only reason we venture there is to get good shawarma cheaper than anywhere else.
So far, my first week in Israel has been fantastic!! All of my fellow students feel like we've been here for a month already, and we're all very close. I think we've all adapted to the culture fairly fast as well. I think Shabbat holds the best traditions, and has the most cultural flavor to it. I absolutely love it.
Every Shabbat, we all get the chance to wander around Old City Jerusalem and eat lunch there. Of course, you're told to stay in groups (never just a group of only girls though) and to stay together. My group went into the Muslim quarter and got shawarma and falafel for lunch. Then we shopped in the Christian quarter, visited the Church of the Holy Sepulcher again, and hung out around the coffee shop at Christ Church. We headed back to Yad Ha Shmonah at 5 o'clock.
At 8 o'clock, IBEX has a tradition that we call Saturday Night Live, not to be confused with the American comedy show. We all get together for a time of fellowship, games, and snacks. It was a blast, and was a wonderful way to end Shabbat together.
Israel has a few other cultural differences that I'd like to highlight. I think the hardest one to get used to is not making eye contact with people as you pass them. I guess it's just considered to be rude, or even flirtatious if you're looking at someone of the opposite gender. Modesty is also very different here than in America, especially in the Old City, but I think I mentioned that in a previous post. Any form of physical contact between people of the opposite sex is also very taboo. In America, if you see a couple, or even friends, hanging onto each other in a crowd, you don't even give it a second thought. Here? Absolutely scandalous. In America, it's considered chivalrous to hold onto a lady when you're trying to make your way through a crowd, but not so here. I emphasize the crowd aspect because of the Muslim quarter. That's when we all struggle with this rule the most. You're trying to stay in a tight group so that no one ends up lost, but you're also trying to guard your pockets and your backpack, as petty theft is common in Israel, especially in the Muslim quarter. That quarter is extremely different than the other three. You practically walk into a different world. There are people in every square inch of ground, trying to get one direction or another. Bumping into people is unavoidable, and completely normal. Shop keepers tend to target the women, trying to get us to buy things from them. Thankfully the guys in our group are always very conscientious of watching out for us, even though we can't make a human train to stay together. Thankfully we don't go into the Muslim quarter much. The only reason we venture there is to get good shawarma cheaper than anywhere else.
So far, my first week in Israel has been fantastic!! All of my fellow students feel like we've been here for a month already, and we're all very close. I think we've all adapted to the culture fairly fast as well. I think Shabbat holds the best traditions, and has the most cultural flavor to it. I absolutely love it.