Western Wall on Shabbat

What an unforgetable night! Our entire group went on a "field trip" to the Western Wall for the start of Shabbat, or the Sabbath. In Jewish culture, Shabbat starts on Friday night at sundown. We all dressed nicely and modestly in order to respect the people and culture at this holy site and walked to the complex where the Western or Wailing wall is. What we saw brought a whole new meaning to welcoming the Sabbath day. The wall has a divide on it that seperates the men and women. So we seperated as students and went to our places near the wall. There were so many different Jewish worshippers there to pray by the wall or put in small slips of paper that act as prayers. On the women's side, I waited until there for a spot available for me to go and touch part of the remaining wall that surrounded the 1st century Temple.  I touched the stones that are worn down by the worshipping hands of so many and thought to myself about the blessings that I have been given in my life and thanked my Heavenly Father for them.

As I mentioned before, the men and women are seperated and they are SO different from eachother. To sum it up, the women's side is much quieter and emotional. I stood with a woman who had her head against the wall, crying a quiet Hebrew prayer. It touched me. Other women quitly read their Torah's close by. Further away from the wall, some women were dancing with eachother in a circle singing Hebrew hymns of praise. I had to join in at one point! The men's side was so different! Closer to the wall, there were many different types of Jews next to the wall reading from the Torah and praying. The thing that was very evident was the mass of men singing and dancing in order to welcome the holy day, Shabbat. There were so many different kinds of men of all ages and of all levels of Jewish practice celebrating together. Even our Mormon boys got to join in the loud dancing and singing. I was able to move further from the wall so I could look at the mens side and see the large crowds. There were even soldiers from the IDF (Israeli Defense Force) welcoming in the Sabbath day! They were actually the ones that the JC boys danced with the most and they were probably the loudest ones.

While I was watching, I was able to talk to our new Program Director Brother Andy Skinner who told us about the different types of Jews we were seeing and the different ways of welcoming th Sabbath. I was intrigued by was the answer Brother Skinner gave us. He said that these people are all in different phases of their lives and while some were celebrating another day, some were mourning their loved ones. I thought it was interesting to see the IDF's in this new light. Brother Skinner mentionede that tensions are high in Israel and these young men and women who are required to give years to the IDF are still celebrating another peacful day of their lives, and in a way, "living it up."

The night was beautiful, the people were beautiful and I was so grateful to be able to see a new way of welcoming the Sabbath. Brother Skinner, who has lived in Israel multiple times, was saying that it's almost a let down to go back to a Sabbath in the States because it is not celebrated. I want to at least recognize the beautiful spirit of the Sabbath in my life from now on because of the example I saw tonight.

Shabbat Shalom!!!

At the Western Wall on a regular day... not as busy but still awesome.