Second Shabbos In Israel – Let’s Get Ready to Frumble

Israel is a microcosm of global jewry for it reflects all of the various denominations, sects, and international communities of the Jewish faith. This Shabbos, a fellow student and I spend Friday evening with a haradi, ultra-orthodox Jews from central and Europe, family near the neighborhood of Me’a She’arim. The haradi are the classic “Lithuanian” Jews steeped in a rich Orthodox tradition of yeshivas and Talmudic study. Noted for the donning of black hats, the haradi represent a very conservative and observant group within the Jewish spectrum.

My host was raised in the US and he had been studying and living in Israel for a number of years with his family. We attended late Mincha, afternoon prayer, and an early Maariv, evening prayer, service at his synagogue. It was brimming with men ranging from mid-twenties to early forties all donning black suits and the customary black hats. Granted my Hebrew is improving, I could not keep pace with the rapidity of their davening (a modified Yiddish word for “prayer”). The Shabbat meal was a languid and delicious full of discussion and debate. I was able to address a number of religious issues that needed clarification; moreover, his perspective offered a different on the faith and its teachings. I found value in experiencing a more traditional approach to Judaism. Although it does not appeal to me, my learning and my experience in Jerusalem has fostered an appreciation and an understanding of that lifestyle.

My host family was extremely hospitable and the food was exceptional, and like my previous Shabbat experience, continuous. Considering my travels in the American South, the hostess’s homemade, kosher lemon meringue pie would give Paula Dean stiff competition.

During the long walk back from the Me’a She’arim neighborhood to my flat in Baaka (about a one and half walk), I walked through a number of Jewish communities from the ultra-othordox to the Hasidic to the secular. Even though it was after midnight, the streets were alive with people – all observing Shabbat in their own way.