Jerusalem

This weekend I had the incredible opportunity to spend the weekend with my parents in Jerusalem. I had been into Jerusalem before, but never for more than a couple of hours, and not during all of shabbat. I spend the weekend with my parents, seeing family friends, eating really, really good food, and walking around the streets of Jerusalem. The experience was really enjoyable as I had never left Tzuba before without the EIE community. It was really nice to have a weekend to reflect on my past 6 weeks in Israel and become excited for what was yet to come. I knew that stores in Jerusalem closed on shabbat, but I never understood what the fully meant until I witnessed it first hand. I felt like I was in a zombie apocalypse movie as the streets were completely empty. The only other time I had seen something like this was during Christmas in America. It was nice to know everyone around me celebrated shabbat and that the stores were closed for a reason, a jewish reason. At the same time though, I felt frustrated with the fact that I was only in Jerusalem for 2 days, and could not go out to eat dinner at a restaurant or shopping past sundown. I now better understand why liberal and secular Jews are angered with the city closing down on shabbat. It really can put a dent into ones weekend, even the trains are closed. At the same time, I felt very united and like I was sounded by Judaism everywhere I went. 

While in Jerusalem I had the opportunity to go to the Zoo! This was such a fun experience for me because I love animals. At the zoo, I got to feed the giraffes and elephants which was something I had never done before. One of the giraffe’s had also given birth just a week ago! The zoo was really cool because it is one of the only places in Israel where complete pluralism exists. While walking around I saw people from all cultures and religions existing in peace. I thought it was awesome knowing that the zoo is a safe place that is welcome to everyone.