Shabbat Shalom!

Ciao Blogos,

How's everyone doin'?

I had a superb weekend in Tel Aviv. Relaxing, good company and stellar food. What more can a gal ask for? We took a bus of HUC students yesterday morning and spent the day trying to survive the heat. Whew! Was in 90's plus bad humidity- "too darn hot..."

I went with a group of 10 students on a lovely walking/historical tour of Neve Tzedek. We made our way through the old streets and ended up at the green market at the old train station. From there headed over to the shuk which was over-crowded and intense due to the Shabbat rush, even for me.

I met a friend of mine, Reut, for lunch on Sheinken St.- great to catch up with her. Then headed to the beach for a while to meet up with some HUC people. I should note that I had already been dripping with sweat from the heat for HOURS. It was almost too hot for the beach. Water was even hot. Yikes.

Last night we all went to the Beit T'filah Yisraeli service on the namal (port). My friend/classmate Andrea sang in the service- beautiful, as always. They draw a huge crowd in the summer- hundreds of people gather. It's the most beautiful setting for a service- the sun setting over the ocean in the distance and the sound of the sea- stunning. I have taken a million pictures of that same exact scene and it never gets old. I absolutely love it. People didn't sing so much last night which was sort of upsetting to me, but I still enjoyed the service- especially the musicians. They add in several Israeli songs/melodies- scattered throughout Kabbalat Shabbat. The highlight is "What a Wonderful World" sung in Hebrew. "Eh-zeh ach-la o-lam." Gets me every time.

After the service, a group of us went to Benny Hadayag for dinner on the namal- an awesome fish restaurant. I split a 2.2 pound whole fish- sea bar. Unclear if that is the real name of the fish or a bizarre Israeli translation. Nonetheless, one of the best fish I've ever tasted. Delicious. They kept bringing an assortment of about 20 salatim and we also had a few spectacular desserts. It was an indulgent and totally worth it meal. I will definitely be visiting Benny the Fisherman again!

Today I went to the beach again- a great way to spend Shabbat. Incredible people watching. I love seeing all of the Israeli families together on the beach on Shabbat. It's so different than a Shabbat in Jerusalem, but equally restful and rejuvenating.

Today was a much better beach day- cooler, heavy breeze and huge waves. It was lots of fun wave jumping and hanging in the ocean. Took me back to the old St. Martin days...the lifeguards were having a field day with the waves, blowing their whistles and screaming at everyone, trying to get them to stay between the cones in the designated swim areas. Israelis don't pay attention to rules and certainly not to life guards, so that was amusing.

About to gear up for another week at school- only a few left.

Hope all is well with everyone and you are enjoying summer. When July is over, we can pretty much kiss the summer goodbye, so enjoy it while it lasts. Why does it always go by so quickly? No other season passes like summer. Especially winter...what's up with that...

שבת שלום.

לםלי