Well, this is a big thank you note to Joe and Orit. Thank you for one of the most memorable nights of our traveling lives. You have a beautiful family.
Joe was supposed to pick us up at 7:00pm in the lobby of the hotel. We wanted to make sure we were down early and dressed appropriately. We had our bottle of wine in tow and sat and waited in the lobby. 7:00pm came and went and we were getting nervous that the sun was going down and Joe, being an Orthodox Jew would not be able to drive. He got there just a couple of beats past 7:00pm He was adorable. He greeted us and we were about to load up in his car when a siren went off. If you live in the south, you could imagine it to sound much like the tornado warning siren. I looked at Joe and he eased my mind. Of course I thought "air raid" and he said it was a 20 minute warning for all Jews to make sure they knew the sun would be down in 20 minutes and they needed to wrap up their day and get home. Pretty cool! I wish we had that kind of thing in Birmingham for teenagers on Friday nights or in our own home for me when I am getting ready to go somewhere and always seem to be running out the door...it would be handy!
The reason Joe was looking at his watch was he wanted to take us to see the sunset from the other view point of the city. He risked it and took us there. If you would refer back to our trip to The Taj Mahal back in 2007, you can get the sense of what I am about to say. The city of Jerusalem lay at our feet, the sun was being absorbed by all of the white limestone buildings, the hues of pink, red and gold it was the same as in India but more glorious because this was The Holy Land. This was the place where Jesus was crucified, died and was buried and on the third day rose again, this was the place where in the year 70AD the Jews temple was destroyed and the Western Wall is basically all that is left and they hold it to be the holy of holy places for them. This is not a city, it is a magical place that you have to visit. It holds history good and bad. It is a place like none other. This view was majestic and emotional. Thank you Joe.
We arrived at Joe's house and Orit came out to greet us/hug us. We had just enough time to walk to their temple for prayers. We only had a 10 minute walk. The night was falling and we were going to make it, thank God! Not being a Jew, I was really worried we would cause them to be late...we were actually early enough for Joe to show us around a bit and then Kathleen and I went to the women's side of the curtain and the guys the other side. The cantor started and everyone was enjoying the service. It was all in Hebrew but it was lively. At one point the men were dancing and the women were swaying on our side and I think if I had asked one lady if she wanted to dance she would have taken me up on it! She had come in late and asked Kathleen if she was from California! That made us giggle a bit and then another lady came up and sat with us, Sharon. She was lovely. She and her daughter both. She was from London and did her best to keep Kathleen and I up to speed on what was happening. Thank you Sharon.
The prayers lasted about 50 minutes and then we waled home. The streets were full of Jews from other temples walking home as well. The sounds of little kids running, people with open windows preparing their supper, no cars, it was nice. I think this must have been the way Jesus spent the Sabbath. Family, friends, temple, supper...a very nice way to glorify God.
We got back to the house and Joe told some stories and then we headed to the dining table. Their dining table is sunk about two feet below their living room and is basically under a staircase. Very unusual and very brilliant. We had never been in an Orthodox Jewish home. Lots to learn and they were great at explaining. There was a sink with a beautiful basin in the wall at the end of the table. Before we began, everyone had to wash their hands. Joe poured some wine in tiny crystal cups and we all drank when he finished reading from his prayer book. Orit showed us all where to sit and then the food came flowing out from the kitchen delivered by their smiling adorable son, Amit, which means friend in Hebrew. He was aptly named. He and Nick got along great. He is 16 going into his Junior year of high school. He was such a sweet boy and kept hopping up and down all night to help his mom. A good boy!!! We ate and talked for hours. Some of their friends dropped by the meet us as they heard we were here for the night. They asked questions and we tried our best to answer them all. They were all interested in places we had been and they wanted to know what we thought of Israel. They wanted to know if we were ever scared at all. We weren't. We loved it. We would love to have another evening with Joe, Orit and Amit. It was wonderful. We used the cell phone that Zvika gave us to call a taxi at 11:30pm and were back to our hotel before midnight. A great time was had by all!
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