Shabbat in Jerusalem

The Israeli week is a tad different the week back in the States. The weekend is friday/saturday and the work week beings on Sunday. The entire city, (religious and secular) begins to get ready for Shabbat (the sabbath, the Jewish Day of Rest) on Thursday afternoon. Stores stay open late on Thursday and all of the markets, especially the major produce market, are zoos thursday afternoon and all Friday until around 2 0r 3 in the afternoon.

At 2 or 3 the stores start to shut down and by 4:30 or 5:00 the City become more and more quiet as people prepare for Shabbat. No buses run, few restaurants are open and fewer and fewer cars are on the street. It's actually rather remarkable, Friday mornings are crazy, and by 6:00 on Friday it's a totally different place. Shabbat beings a half hour before sunset on Friday night (around 7:00 here) and lasts until about half hour after sunset on Saturday.

By 9:00 Saturday night, the City has once again shifted from quiet to chaos, as quickly the restaurants open and fill up. Cars and Buses start pumping noxious fumes back into the air. Families and Yeshiva boys stroll the streets, HUC students trek out to the bars and street musicians and performers return to the streets.

It really is a remarkable two day transition. Even the change of pace reaches down to the super secular of Israel (which is the majority of the country). Needless to say it's my favorite stretch of the week. (Who doesn't like the weekend best). Yesterday (thursday), I went to a movie, out to dinner and a few bars ... today i slept late, did some shopping, took a walk ... and tonight I'll have dinner with friends. Come on down, Shabbat in Jerusalem, you'll love it.