Shabbat Shalom!

Today is Shabbat , or the Sabbath, for the Jews, and for us at the Center. It started yesterday evening, at 4:59, and we got to participate in welcoming in Shabbat with the Jews at the Western Wall (known as the Wailing Wall). Hundreds of Jews go to the only remnant of their temple at sunset, and sing and pray, touching the wall and rocking back and forth. There are hundreds of little scraps of paper stuck in the crevices of the stone; these are prayers, which are worth a thousand prayers anywhere else. All around us were these huge circles of people clapping, dancing and singing, celebrating their Sabbath. The men and women were separated by a wall, and we could see the top of all the men’s’ kippahs bobbing up and down as they danced. Some of us got caught up in the celebration (people would just randomly grab onto to you and pull you in—that’s what happened to me!). It amazed me how joyous everyone was. It was definitely an experience of a life time!!