Tzur Hadassah: A special Kabbalat Shabbat evening

This Friday I chose to join 20 of my classmates at Tzur Hadassah, a small moshav right outside of the West Bank, for Kabbalat Shabbat services and then dinner at a synagogue member's house. We arrived and met with a member of the synagogue who gave us a tour of Tzur Hadassah and a brief history of their community. The community was establish in 1960 and has grown today to have around 4000 families. Our guide explained to us that he arrived back in 2000 and found that he and his family yearned for some sort of Jewish religious experience, particularly around the High Holidays. Because there was no established synagogue in Tzur Hadassah, he would go to a Conservative synagogue in Jerusalem but found that he didn't like how strictly they followed halacha (Jewish law). He decided to create his own kabbalat Shabbat services in Tzur Hadassah and found the his community also loved the idea. Slowly it grew and became a permanent part of their community.

The actual location of Tzur Hadassah is gorgeous. Lots of mountains surrounding it with foliage and plants and flowers everywhere. It reminded me very much of the Poconos -- small and quiet and peaceful.

Services were held in a tiny building. It was explained that the original synagogue were actually two large storage boxes that had been welded together! You would never know to look it though. There were lots of colors and paintings in the room. It had a very homey feel. The service was absolutely lovely. Like the rest of the country, it was very casual and laid back. Things flowed from one to the next like it was the most natural thing in the world. Between the Kabbalat Shabbat and Maariv service, the rabbi explained that it was their tradition to have a short study session with a large question. Tonight's question went as follows: Most Progressive (Reform) Jews believe that the Torah was written by many authors and not written by Moses (from God) at Sinai. If this is true, then is the Torah still holy? The congregation then began to participate and discuss this topic. I don't remember everyone's opinion, but the consensus was that the Torah is still holy. It's part of our tradition and it's part of our history. And more than that, it has seen b'nai mitzvah of generation and generation of children and at other significant moments in the generations of the Jews. That makes it holy. I found it an interesting discussion, although at times hard to understand because people mostly spoke in Hebrew. It took a lot of my concentration.

After services I went with Joel and Meredith to a family's house for dinner: Ido and Galit with their children Dolev (13), Lilach (8), and Naama (6). We arrived at their house and were introduced to the entire family (only Ido had gone to services). I asked Naama one question about her dog and we immediately became best friends. We sat on the couch for 5 minutes and then she took me upstairs to explore her bedroom. She showed me her treasure box of special objects and papers. She spoke to me in Hebrew very fast and rarely pausing for a breath. I maybe understood 60% of what she said, but as long as she didn't ask me a question I could generally get by in the conversation. And like any other 6 year old, she LOVED to talk so it didn't matter so much that I didn't do so much Hebrew speaking. She just wanted someone to listen. We talked (or she did) for awhile and then we started to play cards. We played "Milchama" or war. She was so cute. I kept on loosing my hands and I would make a face and she would giggle and giggle. It was very cute.

We said the blessings at dinner and while we munched on veggies and challah, Ido conducted a little study session on texts of Tisha B'av. The kids would read and answer his questions. It was really very nice. I got the feeling that something like this happens every Friday night at dinner. Dinner was fantastic! Chicken and potatoes, rice and meatballs, roasted veggies, and salad...delicious! The conversation at the table was wonderful as well. Their family is just charming!

After dinner we sat on the couch for a little while and sang a few songs on guitar and had dessert. Lilach wants to be a singer when she grows up. She had a beautiful voice. I wish I had been able to speak with her more. She seems like a very sweet girl. Before we knew it 9:30 arrived and so we had to go back to the bus. We were all very sad to have to leave such a lovely family. We're already planning our return to Tzur Hadassah so that we can visit again.