Rabbi Howard Morrison

On Friday, erev Shabbat, we learned to tie Tzizit for IDF soldiers. Since October, volunteers and others have made 72,000 sets of Tzizit. Customs vary between Sefardim and Ashkenazim. For those who use Techelet, the blue admixture, customs vary as well. As a sign of unity, many Jews who do not normally wear Tzizit have chosen to do so in wartime.

A bus tour showed us the various geographical and political lines in the areas surrounding Jerusalem. After time in the Shuk for lunch, we reassembled for Shabbat.  Most joined together on the hotel roof for our own Kabbalat Shabbat. A few went to the Kotel. We celebrated Shabbat dinner as a group. We were joined by our guide Moshe, his wife Vered, and their year and a half old twin daughters, Shai and Carmi. Many of the group visited with our Adath Israel friends after dinner to hear the stories of four current lone soldiers.

On Shabbat morning, people went to the shul of their choice. After lunch, Moshe led a walking tour. After dinner, we gathered on the rooftop for Havdalah. On the other side of the roof, some fifty university age students on a mission with the Shalom Hartman Institute made Havdalah as well. Afterwards, most of our group hit the area of Ben Yehuda Street for shopping, dining, and enjoying the Jerusalem night sky.