December 22, 2007
On different planes and with different routes 114 members of our congregation and all but one piece of luggage arrived in Jerusalem in time to celebrate Shabbat Friday night. We shared a festive dinner with members of our Hineinu congregation Birkat Shalom and their rabbi, Miri Gold.
She told us about the wonderful mitzvah work they are doing to help resettle 300 new immigrants from Peru and we presented her with a piles of jackets to keep them warm upon their arrival.
Shabbat morning found a group of us at services at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Insititute of Religion,
others took the time to beat their jet-lag and still others enjoyed the quiet peacefulness of Jerusalem on Shabbat.
In the afternoon we visited the Shrine of the Book, home of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Israel Museum where we explored a gigantic model of what the Old City of Jerusalem looked like 2000 years and met characters who told us about their ancient sacred work, cleaning the Temple and offering sacrifices. Shabbat in Jerusalem came to a close with havdalah blessing
looking out over the Old City walls and reflecting on the sights, smells, tastes and sounds of this beautiful day that will be our shabbat souveneirs.
