Shabbos IV

First I’d like to thank Led Zeppelin for my post this evening now… Another week another Shabbos; after a long tiring week of classes nothing could have been better. For this weeks festivities my plans were made for me, my friend Joey got invited to dinner in Mea Shearim and I tagged along. After a rousing game of baseball in the morning, Shabbos quickly fell and off we went in search of our host. After a little confusion we made it to our destination. When we arrived we were greeted warmly and before we knew it we were engaged in song and dance, with our host’s warm voice ringing loudly off the walls. Just when I thought I’d drop we settled in for dinner, we talked and talked. Our host (who’s name I can’t remember) had an incredible story to tell. A hippie from Berkeley California, he and his wife moved to Israel twenty two years ago looking for meaning. They found that meaning in Hassidim, and now all these years later take delight in meeting guests on their own personal quests. One of my favorite things about Jerusalem is the crowd it attracts, where else in the world would you find and old hippie whose kids are Israeli Hassid’s. If you met the parents and children separately you’d never believe they’re related. The meal was exciting; Hassidim’s focus is on joy and arousing the soul and so you get a fusion of strict custom and structure with singing and dancing. After many festivities we headed home. I headed into the Old City and ran into friends in the Rova Square. My friend Ricky is a magician and treated all of us to card tricks, it was quite a show! After a long night I headed off to sleep. I slept in, waking up just in time to head off to my friends place up the hill from me. It was a relaxing lunch, and I was happy to spend it with familiar people. I’ve been noticing lately that I’ve really settled into the rhythm around here, it’s lovely. A few glasses of wine later the sun began to set and another Shabbos came to an end. With that I headed home to relax for a bit before heading out for my friend Daniel’s Birthday celebrations…