Day 6 - Shabbat

Day 6 - Shabbat: 

After a relaxing Friday going around the shuk that you have already read about, we set off in the pouring rain to the kotel. When we got there we realised that the weather was too severe to even do kabbalat Shabbat outside so instead we prayed in what seemed at the time a small cramped room but turned out to be a splendid forum of enlightenment and spirituality. At first we prayed via the siddur but to increase the holiness and spirituality we danced together and showed our true emotions to bring in the shabbat in a way that we had never experienced before.

After the amazing davening we ate dinner in the yeshiva "Netiv Aryeh" so we therefore could experience the way yeshivas bring in shabbat. After that there was one of the most memorable and influential moments of the trip so far. We all sat in a circle and expressed fully what we thought were the best qualities of everyone else. This was five hours of pure bliss, emotion, secrecy and passion. This was the first time we all felt this and it will always stay in our memories for ever.

After the contemplating discussion we started the long and raining trek to our hotel from the kotel. The one hour journey towards the hotel, flew by because we had the time to talk about our true feelings with both our old and new friends. To our relief we were able to get a long and useful sleep.

On shabbat morning there was no real wake up and we came down in drips and drabs to shul. The service was spilt up into many parts giving many people, who may not have had the chance to do so, the opportunity to participate. For the rest of shabbat we spent most of the time relaxing and spending time with each other and enjoying various sessions and discussions with the leaders. We learned that shabbat is a time that is not a chore but a time that can increase our enjoyment and relationships with each other without the distractions of normal life.

We concluded the day with a havdala service that involved singing and rejoicing will all five communities coming together as one.

After havdallah, we went to the shopping mall for supper and some free time, before returning to have another inspirational sikkum and discussion.

To finish this account we would like to mention how the shabbat we experienced transformed our views on shabbat forever because we realised that the time we spend not watching tv or whatever else one can do on shabbat can be used to our immediate pleasure by spending time with our friends and family.

  

By Hugo Davidson & Jack Green