Shabbat ended here in Jerusalem about 20 minutes ago. It was a wonderful Shabbat spent in prayer and relaxation.
As I speculated yesterday, I went to the Conservative services. This is about a slow 15-minute walk from the apartment and the weather was perfect for just such a walk. I had the opportunity to speak with some very nice people, including the Cantor, before services started.
I was surprised that the cantor remembered me since it had been a couple months since I was there last. Just after the early portion of the services started, the Cantor came over and asked me if I would like to lead the Shacharit service. I was astounded that she would ask me and I immediately accepted the honor.
I performed a combination of the melodies I have been doing for years and some of the brand new ones that I have learned. It felt terrific to be leading a service again as I had not done that since I arrived in Israel. To be doing so at the main Conservative synagogue in Jerusalem was truly an honor.
I was told afterward that my leadership was “beautiful and well received by the congregants”, which made me happy. These comments came from the Cantor, the Rabbi and several of the congregants. One of the congregants told me that “your performance was a hit”. He said that as soon as I started there were comments and buzzing trying to figure out who this new person was and what his background was.
After services I walked with one of the congregants towards the apartment. Taking a path that was between his apartment and mine, we went a completely different way than I was used to and wound up getting me to within 2 blocks of my apartment before we went our separate ways. He asked me to bring my phone number next time I went there and that I should plan on having lunch with him and his wife.
After lunch at my apartment, I went for a very long walk with my flat mate. We were out for well over 2 hours and put on several kilometers. This was followed by the obligatory Shabbat nap. When I got up I thought I had not slept, only to find that there were only 8 minutes of Shabbat left. I had been asleep for almost 2 hours!
It was a marvelous day and I look forward to doing it again very soon.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Friday, November 5, 2010
A Couple More Pictures
On my walk today I went down Agron Street from King George. I did this just to walk by the US Consulate, which is only 1 block from the intersection. I had forgotten that there is a park directly across the street but had my trusty camera with me so I could share it with you.
There really was nothing much to take a picture of at the Consulate office, but not wanting to leave empty handed I did snap one just for the heck of it.
It is now almost Shabbat here and, as usual, the city is shutting down and getting very quiet. I will be spending Shabbat at the apartment this weekend, but may walk up to the Conservative Synagogue. I will post about that after Shabbat.
There really was nothing much to take a picture of at the Consulate office, but not wanting to leave empty handed I did snap one just for the heck of it.
It is now almost Shabbat here and, as usual, the city is shutting down and getting very quiet. I will be spending Shabbat at the apartment this weekend, but may walk up to the Conservative Synagogue. I will post about that after Shabbat.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
All In A Morning's Stroll
Since I am no longer going to the Ulpan I have been taking daily walks just to get the exercise (and hopefully continue my weight loss, or at least stop any gain). I generally walk for a few kilometers, taking about 90 minutes to do so.
Today I decided to play tourist and actually take some pictures while on my walk. I went the long way around from the apartment to the Ben Yehuda Pedestrian Mall/tourist trap and back. Following are just some of the pictures that I took along the way.
Note that some of these pictures were taken just to show an ordinary neighborhood here in Jerusalem. You will find that in many ways it is no different than any other urban area, but will likely note some differences as well. Please keep in mind that some of the terrain here is a bit hilly. I did the best I could to keep the camera level so you could see the slopes but it just doesn’t always come out right.
You can enlarge any picture by double-clicking on it.
The first picture is looking back down the main street near the apartment. The building on the right is the Museum of Islamic Art.
The next pictures are of a sign indicating that you are at the President’s house and a picture if the front gate area. I asked about taking pictures from up against the gate, but they said that was not allowed. Note that I sometimes have to walk around a different way when the President is coming or going, or is having guests. This is about a 5 minute walk from the apartment.
About 3 minutes from the President’s house is the street leading to the Prime Minister’s house. On the corner of that intersection is the Belgium Embassy. These are pictures of the Embassy and the intersection.
Continuing around the corner from the Embassy is the block before the Prime Minister’s house. I took pictures of the street leading up to the house, but no pictures at all are permitted on the section of the street with his house on it. As you can clearly tell, this is just a regular neighborhood. Unlike the White House, there are no tours or anything either here or at the President’s house.
The next pictures are at the corner of King George and Agron streets. Within 1 block of this intersection you can find the Great Synagogue (pictures previously posted, so not included here), the Center for Conservative Judaism, the Mizrachi world headquarters and 2 5-star hotels (the Prima Kings and the Leonardo Plaza).
While many people here speak English, those of you planning a visit might want to learn the Hebrew word pronounced she-roo-team. It is a most helpful word, and looking at the picture below i think you can figure out why. This one is on King George about 1/2 block from the Great Synagogue and the Leonardo Plaza. As you can see, graffiti is an issue here too.
I walked down Jaffa Street to King David. I thought you might be interested in the price of gas here, so took a shot of a gas station sign for you. Before you get TOO shocked, remember that the price shown is in New Israeli Shekels, not US Dollars, and that the price is per liter instead of per gallon. It is more expensive than you think. (At today’s exchange rate one Shekel is worth $0.2778. One liter is 0.26 gallons. That makes the price in US Dollars about 7.08 per gallon.)
A little farther down King David you come to a park area. This is actually only 1 block from the windmill that I posted pictures of earlier. I have 2 shots here, one looking up King David to the hills beyond and another of the walkway along the park. (Yes, it really IS November with all the flowers!)
Leaving King David I started to walk up Jabotinsky. And I DO mean UP. While you can see some of the incline in the picture, believe me it seems much more severe when you are climbing it.
We have heard much in our community about scooters or motorcycles being used in Israel to provide transportation for EMS personnel. These pictures are of a scooter equipped for exactly such a purpose.
Continuing along my path I came to the Jerusalem Theater. This is a performing arts center, and is 1 block from the Islamic Art museum posted above. There are 2 auditoriums here that I took pictures of. Those from Chicago may be surprised by the name on the second one. (I have no idea if there is a relationship or not.)
This last picture is of a typical strip mall here in a Jerusalem neighborhood. Note that there are apartments above all the stores. You can also see how wonderfully people park wherever they feel like it here.
While it has not been mentioned before, I should point out that people here actually use the crosswalks. All traffic stops as soon as someone steps into the crosswalk, and the pedestrians wait at the crosswalk when the crossing light is not on even when there is no traffic (except for the tourists, of course).
Today I decided to play tourist and actually take some pictures while on my walk. I went the long way around from the apartment to the Ben Yehuda Pedestrian Mall/tourist trap and back. Following are just some of the pictures that I took along the way.
Note that some of these pictures were taken just to show an ordinary neighborhood here in Jerusalem. You will find that in many ways it is no different than any other urban area, but will likely note some differences as well. Please keep in mind that some of the terrain here is a bit hilly. I did the best I could to keep the camera level so you could see the slopes but it just doesn’t always come out right.
You can enlarge any picture by double-clicking on it.
The first picture is looking back down the main street near the apartment. The building on the right is the Museum of Islamic Art.
The next pictures are of a sign indicating that you are at the President’s house and a picture if the front gate area. I asked about taking pictures from up against the gate, but they said that was not allowed. Note that I sometimes have to walk around a different way when the President is coming or going, or is having guests. This is about a 5 minute walk from the apartment.
About 3 minutes from the President’s house is the street leading to the Prime Minister’s house. On the corner of that intersection is the Belgium Embassy. These are pictures of the Embassy and the intersection.
Continuing around the corner from the Embassy is the block before the Prime Minister’s house. I took pictures of the street leading up to the house, but no pictures at all are permitted on the section of the street with his house on it. As you can clearly tell, this is just a regular neighborhood. Unlike the White House, there are no tours or anything either here or at the President’s house.
The next pictures are at the corner of King George and Agron streets. Within 1 block of this intersection you can find the Great Synagogue (pictures previously posted, so not included here), the Center for Conservative Judaism, the Mizrachi world headquarters and 2 5-star hotels (the Prima Kings and the Leonardo Plaza).
While many people here speak English, those of you planning a visit might want to learn the Hebrew word pronounced she-roo-team. It is a most helpful word, and looking at the picture below i think you can figure out why. This one is on King George about 1/2 block from the Great Synagogue and the Leonardo Plaza. As you can see, graffiti is an issue here too.
I walked down Jaffa Street to King David. I thought you might be interested in the price of gas here, so took a shot of a gas station sign for you. Before you get TOO shocked, remember that the price shown is in New Israeli Shekels, not US Dollars, and that the price is per liter instead of per gallon. It is more expensive than you think. (At today’s exchange rate one Shekel is worth $0.2778. One liter is 0.26 gallons. That makes the price in US Dollars about 7.08 per gallon.)
A little farther down King David you come to a park area. This is actually only 1 block from the windmill that I posted pictures of earlier. I have 2 shots here, one looking up King David to the hills beyond and another of the walkway along the park. (Yes, it really IS November with all the flowers!)
Leaving King David I started to walk up Jabotinsky. And I DO mean UP. While you can see some of the incline in the picture, believe me it seems much more severe when you are climbing it.
We have heard much in our community about scooters or motorcycles being used in Israel to provide transportation for EMS personnel. These pictures are of a scooter equipped for exactly such a purpose.
Continuing along my path I came to the Jerusalem Theater. This is a performing arts center, and is 1 block from the Islamic Art museum posted above. There are 2 auditoriums here that I took pictures of. Those from Chicago may be surprised by the name on the second one. (I have no idea if there is a relationship or not.)
This last picture is of a typical strip mall here in a Jerusalem neighborhood. Note that there are apartments above all the stores. You can also see how wonderfully people park wherever they feel like it here.
While it has not been mentioned before, I should point out that people here actually use the crosswalks. All traffic stops as soon as someone steps into the crosswalk, and the pedestrians wait at the crosswalk when the crossing light is not on even when there is no traffic (except for the tourists, of course).
Sunday, October 31, 2010
The Great Pumpkin Has Spoken
While it is not celebrated here in Israel, I would like to wish those of you who do partake a happy Halloween. If you are interested in the origins of Halloween, which actually go back to ancient times, you might want to check out this site: http://theunexplainedmysteries.com/Halloween.html.
This past week for me was spent in rather intensive study and practice. Tomorrow I will be performing all of the pieces I have received for the Saturday morning service. This covers roughly half of that service.
I observed in my previous post that I seem to be moving a little faster in picking up pieces. This seems to be correct as I feel I am close to mastery of most of the material I received last Monday as well as what I had received before. I will find out for sure tomorrow evening just how much I still need to work on each piece. I anticipate receiving more music and to continue with the Saturday morning service. I am anticipating moving on to the Saturday afternoon, Saturday evening, Sabbath conclusion and Havdalah (literally “distinction”, the Havdalah service fulfills part of the commandment to remember the Sabbath in that this service verbalized the distinction of the Sabbath from other days*).
As I mentioned last week, I went to one of the settlements just north of Jerusalem for Shabbat. As usual it was a very peaceful experience. Shortly after Shabbat was over I went to a small gathering there that was put together. One of the people there was a Rabbi/author/concert pianist who played Broadway show tunes for us while we attempted to sing along. It was very enjoyable and I wish to thank the hosts as well as all those who attended for a wonderful time.
On another subject, a friend from the US will be here in just over a week touring Israel. I look forward to meeting up with him and his family in Jerusalem, and wish them safe travels. This will be their first time here so I am anxious to see how they react to the level of spirituality that this city contains.
*Adapted from the ArtScroll Series of prayer books, the Messorah collection
This past week for me was spent in rather intensive study and practice. Tomorrow I will be performing all of the pieces I have received for the Saturday morning service. This covers roughly half of that service.
I observed in my previous post that I seem to be moving a little faster in picking up pieces. This seems to be correct as I feel I am close to mastery of most of the material I received last Monday as well as what I had received before. I will find out for sure tomorrow evening just how much I still need to work on each piece. I anticipate receiving more music and to continue with the Saturday morning service. I am anticipating moving on to the Saturday afternoon, Saturday evening, Sabbath conclusion and Havdalah (literally “distinction”, the Havdalah service fulfills part of the commandment to remember the Sabbath in that this service verbalized the distinction of the Sabbath from other days*).
As I mentioned last week, I went to one of the settlements just north of Jerusalem for Shabbat. As usual it was a very peaceful experience. Shortly after Shabbat was over I went to a small gathering there that was put together. One of the people there was a Rabbi/author/concert pianist who played Broadway show tunes for us while we attempted to sing along. It was very enjoyable and I wish to thank the hosts as well as all those who attended for a wonderful time.
On another subject, a friend from the US will be here in just over a week touring Israel. I look forward to meeting up with him and his family in Jerusalem, and wish them safe travels. This will be their first time here so I am anxious to see how they react to the level of spirituality that this city contains.
*Adapted from the ArtScroll Series of prayer books, the Messorah collection
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)