FEATURED JOBS
Comments (0)By Sam Stern
Student, Baltimore Hebrew Institute
Saturday was the last day of 2011. It was also Shabbat. Over the past few days our group has been here in Israel, learning about social services and touring Israel. We took a break for Shabbat.
On Friday evening, Mickey Rubin and I led a Shabbat service for the rest of the members of our trip, and we were able to enjoy a spiritual moment and reflect on all we had seen. It was amazing to reflect on the children’s home, Bet Elizrakai, and the community for adults with special needs, K’far Idud. It was equally special to share the feelings we had experienced at Yad Vashem, and how it felt to be in Jerusalem. Our community from Baltimore had the opportunity to come together in a holy way in a holy place.
On Saturday Morning, many of us went to the old city of Jerusalem. We shopped in the market and explored the city and went to pray at the Western Wall. We chose to skip a day of rest for the opportunity to find something important to us as individuals. For some it was the market, for others it was modern Jerusalem, and for me it was the Wall. As a Jew in the Diaspora, I belong to a synagogue community that I love and the Greater Baltimore Jewish community, for which I work, as well. I feel a special connection Jerusalem and the Western Wall, and was ecstatic to be able to celebrate Shabbat in a very different way than I am accustomed to. On that Saturday night, after we did Havdalah, we celebrated the New Year (and then celebrated it again at 7 a.m. with our friends in the U.S.).
Our Shabbat experience in Israel was special for many reasons. It was a chance to relax, and a chance to explore. A chance to celebrate, and a chance to pray. Although we are sad to see Shabbat leave, there is so much more to this incredible land that we still have to see. If you will allow me to practice my Hebrew, “l’hitraot!”
Students from Baltimore Hebrew Institute are in Israel on a leadership mission. You can follow their experience right here, on THE ASSOCIATED’s Global Impact blog.
