After our night out at the basketball game, we returned home. The next morning we woke up late, as usual. I made a quick brunch of couscous with onion and spices, took our pre-Shabbat showers and rushed to get ourselves ready and pack for the night. We were spending the entire Shabbat with Tessa, a friend from Seattle who made Aliyah and moved to Israel. She lives in a Jewish settlement outside of Jerusalem in the West Bank called Dolev. There was only one bus a day headed that direction so Rafi and I had to run to the Central Bus Station to make it on time.We made it to the bus and found seats next to each other. We noticed that the bus was completely full of Orthodox Jews. I looked up Dolev on the internet and a Wikipedia stated that it was a religious Jewish settlement so I was not too surprised to see so many Orthodox Jews headed that way. It is actually a really neat sight to be packed on a bus with tons of other Jews, many of which have long lulavs next to them in their seat. It made Sukkot seem really festive and added to the holiday atmosphere.
The bus meandered along the curvy road that seemed to lead us into the middle of nowhere. It was beautiful though. We passed through a checkpoint that indicated that we entered the West Bank territory and kept driving North. Rafi and I ended up getting off of the bus a stop too late because of the extremely unhelpful bus driver - some are amazingly friendly, while others are just plain mean and seem to abhor helping people they drive around. Rafi called Tessa and told her where we were (not that we actually knew where we were - no one was around and Dolev is in the wilderness). Tessa told a neighbor where we were because his wife was already out with a car. She came and picked us up and we drove to Tessa's neighborhood together.
The neighborhood was more of a small community of small homes. The homes were not what you would think of when you think about the word house. They were more similar to boxes on stilts with the insides furnished as an apartment would be. These were situated on a hill amidst much larger hills. Across one way, we could see two Arab settlements, and across another way, two more Jewish settlements. We learned something seemingly important about the lights in Israel during this Shabbat. The Arab settlements use white-colored outdoor lights, and the Jewish settlements use yellow-colored lights. This is to help passerby be wary of where they are.
When we got out of the car, Tessa came over and greeted us. It was actually my first time meeting her although I feel as if I should have already known her because we have many friends in common. Inside the house we also met another friend that I already felt as if I knew - Shoshi Dershowitz. I am friends with her sister in Seattle so it was really fun to finally meet Shoshi. Tessa and Shoshi cooked for Shabbat and visited with Rafi and I as we waited for Shabbat to approach. After a time Rafi and I were also able to meet Tessa's husband Pablo and his cousin Yonatan. It was a very nice and comfortable time. Rafi took our belongings as well as blankets and other bedding to a neighbor's house where we would be sleeping for the night. The neighbor was out of town and since the whole yishuv (community) is so open, they were opening their house to us for Shabbat. Shoshi and I set up the table in the Sukkah outside. It was sitting atop the hill next to the houses and was decorated with a variety of colors. We used cute party plates and napkins to liven the mood of the table.
When Shabbat arrived, the three of us girls lit candles and recited the bracha. We then went to the community's shul (synagogue) for Kabbalat Shabbat services. Upon returning home we brought out the food to the Sukkah. During the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, we are supposed to build "sukkot" which are basically temporary places of dwelling. We are supposed to eat our meals in the sukkah as well as other normal activities. Some people even sleep in their sukkot, although that is a bit difficult in Seattle weather as the tops of sukkot are usually not fully covered.
Anyway, we all gathered around the set table and sang Shalom Aleichem, did Kiddush (blessing the wine), netilat yadayim (handwashing), and motzi (challah blessing) before beginning the feast. First of all, the challah in itself was divine! It was baked by a woman from the yishuv. Apparently she makes a lot of challah every week in order to fulfill the mitzvah of "separating the challah" and saying the bracha (blessing). She follows that she needs to make a specific amount of dough in order to follow through with the mitzvah. At home when I make challah, I usually just "separate the challah" with any amount, but other people use more. So she makes a plethora of the yummy doughy goodness and sells the rest to others in the community. It was whole wheat and so fresh and doughy! Wow! It had a nice texture, but was not too grainy. There was also an abundance of mezze, or small dishes served before the main meal. There were bowls of hummus, tahina, tomato yumminess, couscus with pomegranate seeds, eggplant and more. The first course that appeared after that was teriyaki baked salmon. It was so moist and delicious. Rafi was definitely a fan - he can never get enough salmon. The main courses consisted of a broccoli pie, tofu and green beans in a peanut butter sauce, and scalloped sweet and regular potatoes. The meal was fantastic, as was the company. Everyone was eating and drinking and talking. We all really seemed to click and have a great time. Dessert consisted of coffee with a wide variety of cakes, cookies, and even homemade cheesecake. Tessa handmade the majority of the food, with Shoshi also contributing. They did very well!
After the eating frenzy, we all played games in the sukkah. Rafi taught me how to play backgammon. I thought it was really fun but I lost every time. When it became too cold to continue outdoors in the sukkah, we moved the party inside. We basically talked for hours. It was fun and natural. When we were all feeling really tired, Rafi and I said our lilah tovs and headed out to our own house across the "street."
The next morning Rafi and I slept in, opting not to go to shul - in Israel it begins at the terrible hour of 8:30 am! We woke up when Pablo knocked on our door to let us know that they were going to start getting ready for kiddush as he headed home from services. The entire rest of the day proceeded much like the night before. We ate a lot, relaxed, talked, and had a fun Shabbat time with our new (and old) friends. After Shabbat ended, we all did Havdalah together in the sukkah. Tessa checked the bus schedule for us so we would not miss the only bus to Jerusalem (although we could have hitch-hiked back home as it is very common in the area). While we waited for the bus to arrive we were able to look through Tessa's wedding album. It was really fun to see all of her pictures from the special day.
Tessa and Pablo walked us out to the street to wait with us at the bus stop. When the bus came we said our goodbye's and thank you's and headed back to Jerusalem with a happy aura about us. It was the general consensus of the group that it seemed as though we already knew each other before this Shabbat. Really, only Rafi and Tessa had known each other from early on when they were kids. It was a great way to spend Shabbat during Sukkot. Thank you so much Tessa!
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