Today was a day filled with surprises and a spiritual journey in Jerusalem. We planned to rise early, which we did, to join Abby and her family at the Cotel (Western Wall) for her cousin's pre-bar mitzvah. We arrived at the wall promptly at 8:30 only to discover everyone was gone because it was actually 9:30. We are now on Israeli day light savings time.Moshe Geller was there waiting for us. (upper right photo) We had met the day before at the Mehane Yehuda Market and he offered to show us another side of Jerusalem. When I expressed my disappointment at having missed the bar mitzvah, he laughingly said, Hashem has other plans for you today. No regrets, no sympathy, just be in the moment and be prepared to receive what G-d has to offer. We decided to go with the flow and allow ourselves to be in this stranger's hands for the day--although he never felt like a stranger.
Moshe is a delightful, joy filled, modern orthodox rebee who dresses like a Grateful Dead follower, which he was for four years. He was raised in New York in a modern Orthodox family, very scholarly, a father who is an academic and a mother who is in society. He joined a major wall street corporation and moved up the ladder. And then one day he was walking with Rebbe Shlomo Carlebach and they were passing a smelly, homeless man. The Rebbe hugged him and said a few words of welcome. That moment struck a cord and Moshe felt that there was more than the life he was living. Moshe had made many trips to Israel since his youth as his father was a camp director bringing children to Israel for summer camp, he was always a zionist. He did aliyah in 1994.
There is a large American modern religious group in Jerusalem. During the day we hung out with Moshe his phone never stopped ringing-people calling with questions (I found a chocolate bar in my apartment. I know that I didn't buy it. When is it important to seek the owner and when it is alright to use what I found.--people really trying to live the Jewish ethical life). Other callers invited him to Shabbos dinner, or to join them for other simchas, to check in on how he is, and just to say hello. He kept the calls short telling his callers he was with two beautiful people, Stuart and Adrienne, and would get back to them. Moshe has a few hundred students here and in the US.
The first thing we did together was visit the Wall. He encouraged me to take the time to deliver the prayers I had written on small pieces of paper for some friends and family and he took Stu to the Wall with him. Stu was headed for the Wall when Moshe instructed him to sit down and think for a while. He told him to forget the superficial thoughts and to consider the essence of what he wanted to say to the people he loved. After reflecting for a few minutes, Stu very much got into the moment and was able to turn off the external distractions and approach the Wall and his prayers for healing, for safety, for what he wants to pass on to his sons, and more. Stu prayed for strengths within himself, something he rarely does. He hoped that someone was listening because he gave this communication his best shot effort.
On my side of the wall I struggled more. How do you pray? How do you let Hashem into your life? How do you let go? I kept going back to trying to control the moment and was never able to really let go. I was aware of the women around me and their fervor. These were mostly young women, orthodox and modern orthodox from their dress. I wished I had the inner spiritual attachment that they have, or seem to have. I returned to Stu and Moshe more somber and more seeking.
I don't recall all of the details of our conversation, but felt Moshe's sense of his place and his comfort with his G-d, to be genuine and deep. There was so much activity in the courtyard. This area before the Western Wall is an integral part of the community, many activities happen here. Today there was a first grade graduation, the children were receiving their first sedor, book of prayers. (lower left photo) At another site a 3 year old was celebrating his first hair cut, a tradition among the orthodox (lower right photo). There was enough going on to fill a morning for even the most avid tourist.
Continuing through the Jewish Quarter we passed the Chabad Spiritual Learning Center, open for everyone. (center right photo)The 9 foot menorah is held in position here in preparation for the building of the third temple--the religious believe that will happen and that the time is not far off, so they are making preparations just as others made preparations for 50 years for Israel's independence and return to Jerusalem. All the time we walked we talked, about our spiritual life, about the questions whose answers we seek, about learning. We went to a Jewish book store and purused the racks for some good sources for Stu and I to study from--I know so little about Judaism. And all the time I felt touched and yearning and wanting to know more, to believe more to be more. One of the booklets about the bliss of Shabbos has this quote from Rebbe Cardlemach: "Shabbos is Paradise. Paradise is a place where everything is good, everything is holy, and everything is beautiful. In paradise, suddently it's clear to me that I can fix all my mistakes. Even more so, everything that I thought was a mistake wasn't, and every street I thought was the wrong street, was the only way to get where I was going. Shabbos is the deepest healing of the world."
Wouldn't it be amazing to actually live this deep love for Shabbos, to be renewed every week. It is said that Shabbos kept the Jewish nation together, because if on one day a week no one hated the Jews, the Jews were connected to one another, than why not on two days, or three. . .
Wherever we walked Moshe knew people and they knew him. Lots of young people, in their late 20s and 30s, with spouses and children, and so happy. I have always heard about the poor Chasidic young women, barefoot and pregnant all the time, but we didn't see that here. We saw lots of children, but we also saw lots of joy, preparation for Shabbos that was excited and active. Maybe we were fooling ourselves, but we really did feel the joy of Shabbos preparation all around us. Moshe introduced us to a half dozen people, and everyone spoke highly of him and welcomed us. A woman, Leila called, and Moshe put me on the phone. Leila couldn't be more welcoming. There is a definite community here even though the members live in different directions, Moshe lives an hour away, from the city center. We met many more of his friends just walking around the Suq. Friday the hustle and bustle was even more pronounced than it had been the day before during our shopping visit. We stopped at Marzipan bakery (Charlie had insisted we make this a stop on our trip) for warm rugala (sp?), rich with butter and sugar from the ovens. This was the first day since we began our trip when I wished I had a second stomach so I could eat more. How could we bring these home? And the macaroons we ate the day before called to us again--so much to taste and eat, so little time.
Over lunch at an Israeli-Moroccan restaurant we continued our talks with Moshe. We learned about Hebrew names and how they indicate the core of our being. My job now is to reflect deeply on my personal qualities so that Moshe can recreate a name for me since my given Hebrew name is lost. Stu's Hebrew name is Shlomo Baer--meaning at peace with one's self, in balance. And that is the first quality I came to know about Stuart, that he is at peace with himself. There may be something to this Hebrew name thing after all. We think my Hebrew name may be Miriam (my middle name is Marilyn), but we're not sure. We entered a friend's name, one who is in need of healing, in the international prayer circle, imagine thousands of people around the world praying together for your improved health. When we parted at 3 it was with a loose plan to meet again after Shabbos, to continue our connection.
We spent Shabbos evening alone together in our little apartment. Stu is fighting a cold and needed some time out. Saturday we are meeting Abby for a long afternoon walk around the city.
Good Shabbos friends.
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