Purim Weekend, Part II: Lo lefached klal

Friday night I slept comfortably at the hostel with more than a dozen other girls, all of us well-fed after Friday evening's dinner at various family's homes.  Saturday morning I awoke and quietly ate a breakfast of pastries and juice while I waited for the other girls to get up.  I had a pleasant conversation with one of our madrichot (like a counselor or RA) for the weekend, an orthodox girl who, two years earlier, barely knew the aleph bet.  I joined her to hear the special Torah reading for that weekend, then we passed the time before our lunch placements.

The nonchalant, carefree atmosphere of Saturday morning set the tone for the rest of Shabbat.  All was pleasantly calm as we had our lunches, walked around and relaxed in the afternoon, and joined the men's hostel for the third Shabbat meal.  I drifted between small groups of people, joining conversations here and there as I was interested.  In the afternoon I had a wonderful song session with Batya, a beautiful African American kallah (bride - she's getting married in June!) who, despite her Baptist roots, is now an Orthodox Jew.  She has a gorgeous singing voice and I thoroughly enjoyed making up harmonies and countermelodies with someone who shared my passion and fervor for music.

Of course, as was indicated by Friday night's festivities, music played no small role in this Shabbat.  Every meal was seasoned with our voices, our clapping, and our raucous percussion on the tables.  Per Orthodox custom the women generally remained rather quiet while the men sang at the top of their lungs, but their spirit and joy was so overwhelmingly persuasive that I couldn't help but sing, even if it was mostly to myself.

For the third Shabbat meal, we were led in song by the evening's guest, a recently married young rabbi who spoke about Divine Providence.  There, the women sang more openly because there were few married men who needed to be concerned with hearing the beautiful voice of someone other than his wife.  We repeated the melodies until the tables shook with our percussion, and it was so much fun to see the guys so fully swept up in the spirit of the moment.

After dinner I went with another girl to the Kotel in hopes of catching Havdallah, the closing service for Shabbat.  I had heard that Havdallah at the Kotel is an amazing experience, but alas, we were a few minutes late and missed it.  So instead we sat and talked, learned about each other, and developed a friendship faster than I think I have ever experienced.  She had recently come to Israel on a two-week trip and was spending Shabbat in Jerusalem because her brother is a student at a yeshivah (religious school) in the Old City.

I went to Jerusalem not knowing what I would do on Saturday.  I figured I might walk around, see the city, get lost, and enjoy the day.  Little did I realize I would be entirely immersed in a Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) community in the Old City.  I'm glad I didn't have other plans :)