Spirituality and Tradition

This next day of traveling needs to be broken up in to two different blog posts because I have so many pictures to share...

Our Friday in Jerusalem began with a short bus ride to the Goldman Promenade, a beautiful place with an incredible view overlooking the Old City and the Southern Steps of the Temple Mount.  Here, under a canopy, we would gather, as a community, to experience communal prayer in Israel.  Doing a service while overlooking four thousand years of Jewish history is really powerful.  Uri started by pointing out what we were seeing and I could see our community connecting to the sites we had experienced.  

I remember the last trip I led two years ago how transformed I was by praying and facing the holiest of Jewish places.  Since that trip each time I turn to face east during a prayer like the Bar'chu I am once again standing at the Wall with my hands touching the ancient stone.  Israel has had a huge impact on the way I pray.  I wanted our group, especially our children, to have the chance to feel what is like to pray facing the Temple Mount.

We also had some surprises for everyone...

The first surprise is that two of our adult travelers decided to use this moment to declare how important being Jewish is to them by reading Torah as a bat mitzvah.  While some of the adults knew this was going to happen, none of the children did, and it was a beautiful surprise for them.  Here is Julie Klein receiving her Tallit from her family.

And here is Melanie Weisenfeld receiving hers.

I then invited all the children to come forward to be our prayer leaders.  Most of these kids have already led services at Temple Adat Elohim in some way, either as a bar or bat mitzvah, a confirmand, or as a part of the Junior Choir.  I wanted to give them the chance to lead a service IN Israel.

For me, the coolest part was preparing for the Bar'chu.  I am so accustomed to asking our community to face east as we throw our hearts across the sea to Jerusalem.  This time, I had to ask everyone to face north so they could see the Old City and the Western Wall.  This is a truly unique experience in Israel.

The highlight of the service was our two banot mitzvah reading from our Torah.  I am so proud of both of them, not just because of the wonderful job they did, but for the powerful statement they made that being Jewish is important to them, so much so that they, in front of their families and our community wanted to declare this publicly.  They are an inspiration to us all.

And then came some surprises that almost no one knew about, starting with a pre-wedding blessing for Robin and Randy, who will be celebrating their wedding in October.  How beautiful it was for us to honor their commitment to each other in Israel surrounded by so much love.

The next surprise was an anniversary blessing for three couples celebrating anniversaries during the trip, the Appells, the Minassians and the Messes.  It was such an honor to stand and bless these beautiful couples, surrounded by their children as we all celebrate their love.  I was so touched by the words they shared with each other, the gratitude that all of these couples feel for having found one another.  We all hope Robin and Randy have the same strength of love and friendship as they walk through their married life together.

It was a terrific way to start our Friday as we prepared for the Shabbat experience that was coming in the evening.