First Shabbat in Jerusalem

Note: the photo upload function does not appear to be working, so I have public links for my photos.

With the voice of my DIL( who threatened me if I didn't come home) ringing in my ears, I got through security at Tulsa in about 15 minutes. I had a one hour layover in Dallas before going on to Los Angeles for dinner at Denny’s with my younger son and to enjoy the comforts of the Travelodge on Century Blvd. The next morning, I was off to LAX for my TSA pat-down (almost lost Miles the Bear at the El Al security check point before my TSA pat-down – He really is too cute!) and board El Al for 14.5 hours of people watching, eating and snoozing.


Miles the Bear Hamming it up at LAX
(Two of the girls in the newspaper are my granddaughters, Alyssa and Abby)

I only loaded 10 hours of music on the iPod and MP3 players. But I had some annoyingly heavy books, none of which were read during the flight. I felt like a sardine in a much smaller than average sardine can. First, I gave up my AISLE seat for a MIDDLE seat to a child so he could sit with his mother. (Rabbi, I think I should get Double Merit Points for this Good Deed!) And, the guy next to me in window seat just gave off the “I-Hate-You-And-Everyone-Related-To-You” vibe. The woman who had the aisle seat was very nice, though, and we coordinated toilet visits and water runs…LOL. At least we had in-flight personal video screens on the Boeing 777, so I could watch Hebrew movies with English subtitles – or English movies with Hebrew subtitles.

I landed safely in Tel Aviv at 2pm-ish on Friday. It was VERY awesome to have flight crew wishing everyone "Shabbat Shalom" as we disembarked. I lugged my 120 pounds of crap through the Ben Gurion Airport and out to the curb. I forgot to get a cell phone before leaving the airport, but a Rabbinic student from California let use her phone to text the landlord my expected arrival time. I rode the Sherut (Shuttle) to my rental apartment (WAY CUTE!).

Pictures of My Jerusalem Apartment
I needed to find food before everything closed for the Sabbath...Lucky me, the corner market was still open when I was finished with the landlord. I paid NIS180 ($60) for food for a couple of days. And did I mention the YUMMY vitamin water? I am SO GLAD I cannot read Modern Hebrew well enough to know how many calories are in the liter I drank today! Too bad I forgot the matches and couldn't actually LIGHT Shabbat candles...

Miles the Bear Ready for His First Shabbat in Jerusalem

Darn jet-lag! I couldn't sleep last even with a sleeping pill. So I finally got to sleep at 5:30AM, meaning I missed Shabbat services. So I left to walk to the Kotel at 10:30am, taking the "scenic route"... Mara's Map to the rescue! I meditated and people-watched for about an hour. It started cooling off and, without my watch OR cell phone, my stomach told me it was time to get back. I can always tell what time it is by the rumblings of my tummy…LOL

I "discovered", however, that pushing my way through the SEA of People in the Christian Quarter was not nearly as nice or Shabbasadik as meandering through the nearly deserted streets of the Jewish Quarter. (and the shops weren't open.) The hill going up to the Jaffa Gate was steep, so I liked walking down better.

And I got lost again. Mara's Map is awesome! I got back to my apartment at 3:30. Food and a 3 1/2 hour nap were heaven!