Susannes Blog-- Shabbat! JWRP TAG 14 Transform and Grow Trip 2, Day 5 & 6 During the day on Friday, Nili Couzens presentation regarding modest dress is one that I will take home to share with my 15 and 13 year old daughters. My girls are excellent students, athletes and generally make good decisions. However, sometimes, I consider their clothing selections to be inappropriate. The shorts or skirts are too short and/or there isnt enough shirt, etc. They can not understand why I am not happy with the shorts exposing their tush because everyone is wearing these! I will usually comment in the negative something like that outfit is trashy and I said you arent getting it!. This usually results in a barrage of questions as to why and typically ends with all of us leaving the store unhappy; me because I just had to argue with them about this and them because we did not buy the item. Now, I have a more positive message to present to them in Be who you are on the outside, who you are on the inside. Just as a garbage bag would not be a suitable wrapping for the gift of a fine piece of jewelry, the inappropriate clothing is not a proper representation of someone as beautiful, smart, athletic, etc. as each of them are. Erev Shabbat, we started off with a concert that broke many stereotypes. Who would ever think that a Rabbi dressed in very Orthodox style clothing would be playing rock music and discussing pastimes of surfing and mountain biking?!? After lighting candles, we headed down to the Kotel for singing and dancing. All 200+ of us formed concentric circles and began to sing. Yes, we drew a bit of attention! Groups of younger girls and other groups of women began to join with us and were welcomed into our circles. Men were even seen peering over the partition to see what was going on. I do not usually keep Shabbat; however, my roommate and I decided to give it a try. We checked out the manual room key, agreed to leave the bathroom light on, locked our electronics in the safe and turned in our money and iPhones for safekeeping until after Shabbat. We were off to a good start. Upon returning to the hotel and having a room on the 8th floor, I headed to the elevator. The crowd in front of me piled into the Shabbat elevator that automatically stops at every floor. Without thinking, after the doors closed, I pushed the button to call another elevator! Aghhhh! In my room, I read a paperback book in the dim light. My roommate was not back yet and it had been quite awhile since I had returned. What to do? Our phones were locked in the safe so that wouldnt work, I didnt know anyones room number to go looking for our city leader. I waited, further pondering how to resolve the situation and then heard a rap at the door. More planning and communication was definitely necessary before embarking on an electronics free Shabbat! My next Shabbat keeping issue happened late in the day on Saturday. My roommate and I were going to rest for 15 minutes before we had to walk back to the Aish Center. Im sure you can guess where this is going! Remember, my iphone aka alarm clock was stored for safekeeping until after Shabbat. Therefore, after 45 minutes I woke up! The good news is that on Friday, I had made a point of not just following the crowd to the Aish Center but instead to be aware of each of the turns made and; therefore, was able to get myself all the way there without any assistance! So I had some issues with keeping Shabbat but I tried. Rabbi Friedman said we should approach Judaism with baby steps! For Shabbat lunch, a wonderful young couple, Ben and Jenna welcomed the DC and Rochester delegations into their home. Yes, close to 30 of us came over for lunch! Ben and Jenna shared their stories and we shared our most memorable moments or observations in Israel with them. Shabbat culminated with a meal at the Clamans, a beyond beautiful home in the heart of the Old City overlooking the Temple Mount. Here we learned about the organization, Thank Israeli Soldiers, heard first hand from current and former soldiers and celebrated Havdallah. Finally, a return to Ben Yehuda Street for more shopping. The stores were open and the street was packed at 10:30 when we arrived! Susanne
Posted on: Sun, 06 Jul 2014 04:11:07 +0000
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