Shabbat

They say when in Rome do as the Romans and so here in Jerusalem we do as the Jews, that is we observe the Sabbath or “Shabbat” as we call it, on Saturdays. It takes a little mental adjusting at first, but otherwise it's the same – one day out of seven reserved for worshipping and rest. Since Shabbat is on Saturdays we do have class on Sunday which seemed a little strange at first, but now that we have done it a few times we are growing accustomed to it.

For our first Shabbat in Jerusalem last week, we went to the Western Wall to welcome in the Sabbath with the Jews. We got there just in time as the sun was beginning to set and the plaza was filled with people, some visitors like us, and others preparing for their Sabbath worship. The wall is separated into two sections for prayer: the right side for the women and the left hand for men. So to honour their customs, our group split up and we were able to go down to the crowded area near the wall. (We had to be sure to turn off cell-phones and put away our cameras because to use these things would be to break the Jewish Sabbath.)

There were quite a mixture of people, many had prayer books and were praying softly towards the wall. Some people had obviously come early to stake out their places next to the wall because they were sitting in white lawn chairs right up close to it. I made my way slowly towards the wall and waited my turn to squeeze in and touch the wall, where I said a little prayer. The stones at the bottom of the wall are the original Herodian Stones from Herods’ Temple Mount (about two thousand years old). Anyway, after that I made my way backwards into the crowd as I saw the other Jewish women do and then joined a group who were singing and dancing – I believe they were part of a Birthright Israel group which brings those of Jewish blood to the Holy Land. It was quite an experience to visit the wall, which has come to be one of the holiest sites in the Jewish world, attracting Jewish pilgrims from all over and to celebrate their Sabbath with them.

Though the Jews begin their Shabbat on Friday night, we just observe the Sabbath like normal from morning until night. We meet for our church meetings in the upstairs auditorium, which has enormous glass windows overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem – definitely a beautiful backdrop to the meetings. After church we have a few hours of free time before dinner and so for the last two weeks I’ve gone out and visited some of the Christian sites. Last week I visited the Garden Tomb – one of the possible places where Christ was buried and resurrected. They took us on a little tour and pointed out the hill they believe was Calvary, where Christ was crucified. After the tour, we just took some time to sit quietly in the garden, which was surprisingly peaceful considering the city outside was so noisy.

Today after church we visited the Orson Hyde Park, and the Garden of Gethsemane. The latter is of course where Christ prayed and atoned for the sins of the world. (All of these places are within walking distance by the way. We live on Mount Scopus, right next to the Mount of Olives where these two places are.) I’m falling in love with the landscape here and I especially love the olive trees. The ones we saw today in the Garden of Gethsemane were so thick and gnarled I don’t even know how old they are, but they are beautiful. We stood in the little garden that they open to the public and sang a few hymns, then one of the guys was very nice and let us into the other garden across the street, which is larger and more natural looking. We spent some quiet time there reading scriptures and reflecting by ourselves until it was time to leave.

I suppose the conclusion to this post is that the Sabbath should be the same no matter what day it is on. Maybe I have learnt to appreciate it a little more seeing how full of praise the Jewish people were at the Western Wall and then being able to give thanks at the places that are sacred to me.

P.S. We are off to Egypt in one week! More adventures to come soon!