First Sabbath

On Friday we packed our bags to move to a hotel on a Kibbutz. For those of you who don’t know, a Kibbutz is a small community with a socialist mentality. For example, someone may go work with cows and another person uses that milk to make cheese which will be eaten by the community while someone else is running a day care to watch their children. Today of the 300 Kibbutzim in Israel, over 260 have become privatized so this is no longer the case and a lot of people work outside the Kibbutz.

Before we headed to town, we stopped at a protest in the street for Gilad Shalit’s return. He was captured 3 years ago after serving in the Israeli Army. In return for him, the Palestinians want over 1000 criminals and terrorists to be freed. Some Israelis believe the trade should be made because their soldiers and all people are held so highly. At the same time, others believe this trade would endanger the country. People with both views meet to protest across the street from each other.

Back at the hotel candles were lit for Shabbat and we had the option to go to text study, prayer, or yoga because everyone’s religious background is so different. Yoga was fun 
I finally got more than 4 hours of sleep on Friday night and slept in until an optional group meditation/discussion. Then a native New Yorker who now lives on this Kibbutz gave us a tour of the land and described the past and present community. I found out the neighborhood in the amazing view right outside of my room is actually all Arab. At another location on the hill, we could see the fence separating the Western Bank as well as a view of Tel Aviv all the way on the Mediterranean 40 km away.

Possibly the most awesome part of the trip so far was a tour underneath the Kotel (Western Wall). The Western Wall is the holiest place for Jews – the Holy of Holies. This is because it is the closest spot to the Dome of the Rock which is recognized by Jews, Christians, and Muslims. At one point I was standing at the recently uncovered entrance of a market over 2000 years old. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Wall_Tunnel