Temple Beth Zion/Westminster Presbyterian Church Travel'Blog'
Saturday January 16th – Greetings from Tel Aviv!
(Sea of Galilee, Mount of Beatitudes, Jerusalem, Old City Jerusalem, Masada, Yad Vashem, Ben Gurion Airport)
After a smooth but long eleven hour flight, customs check and shuttle to the hotel the TBZ/WPC travelers regrouped for the bus ride to one of Tel Aviv’s most active Reformed synagogues. The men donned yarmulkes as we entered the sanctuary to the minor chords of familiar Shabbat songs. The simple worship space was filled with Friday night worshippers of all ages: children, youth and teenagers, singles and couples and senior members of the congregation.
The rabbi – a kind, handsome, forty something man welcomed us with a joke about Buffalo’s renowned winters (Tel Aviv that day had temps in the mid 70s). Two young boys who would be bar-mitzvahed the next day read portions of the scripture from the Torah; we said prayers for the departed to the beautiful melodies of the Kaddush; and a newborn was blessed in a touching ceremony with her proud parents standing next to the rabbi in the chancel.
We had the good fortune to be sitting next to the president of the congregation a woman who came to Israel in 1946 and whose strength of character and devotion to the nation/state made me think of Golda Meir. “I helped build this nation,” she said and indeed she had.
Back at the hotel we enjoyed a phenomenal buffet of hot and cold food from salted Bulgarian white cheese to various kinds of fish and lamb to different concoctions of vegetables including eggplant (my favorite) and too many sweets to name (well, there was crème brule) – a fitting reward for the arduous journey over.
The next day we woke to the rhythmic crashing of the Mediterranean surf. A cloudless sky bode well for our plans to visit Joppa – the location to which the famous whale delivered Jonah and where in New Testament times Peter had a vision (Acts 17) of a sheet being lowered from heaven with all kinds of ‘unclean’ animals in it. We read the account of Peter’s dream in the courtyard of Simon the Tanner’s house where Peter was staying when the vision occurred. This event was the defining moment in the infant Christian movement as the earliest followers of Jesus determined that following Christ did not require adherence to the Jewish kosher laws thus launching Christianity from a Jewish sect to its path as a new religion.
Tonight we bid the Sabbath farewell in a lovely little ceremony Rabbi Rosenfeld led on the beach in front of our hotel – lighting two candles, using an orange to symbolize thanks for the good things in God’s creation and sipping the fruit of the vine – red wine –to lots of singing.
We feel so fortunate to be here, to be making new friends, to be enjoying old friendships, to be anticipating a profound and moving week ahead. Thanks for checking in with this ‘blog.’ See you tomorrow.
Blessings,
Tom and Carol