Shabbat like it should be

A blog post by Adam. Following our moshav tours and immigrant discussions, the day was coming to a close and Shabbat was about to begin. We had been in Israel for three Shabbats, and had done little to acknowledge the most important Jewish holiday.

On our first Shabbat we went to a huge buffet at the Masada guest house, and saw several Orthodox families say the blessings but we did not participate. For our second Shabbat we were with my cousins and there was no mention of Shabbat except that the stores were closed. Our third Shabbat was at an overpriced Haifa hostel where we may have been the only Jews. We spent the day at the Baha'i Gardens with a Spanish man - not exactly the most Jewish experience.

And now we were with Roni and Ovadia. Completely Jewish and also completely secular. Their daughter who lived on the moshav had invited us over for dinner. We joined their daughter, her husband and three children, as well as three of their nephews and nieces who were staying for the weekend, for dinner. There were no prayers, but the house was alive with the laughter of children and conversation of adults. We feasted and enjoyed one another's company. We returned to Roni and Ovadia's home for more conversation, before retiring to bed.

The following morning we woke up late and had a large leisurely breakfast. We then walked just a few houses down to a pool, where we found Roni's daughter and son and their families as well as some neighbors and the nephews and nieces we had met the night before (Roni and Ovadia have five children, three of whom love on the moshav). The kids were running in and out of the pool, while the adults took turns supervising and chatting in the shade near the pool.  The children and grandchildren all seemed to be best friends. It was as if we had walked into an Israeli Norman Rockwell painting. 

We eventually returned to the house for naps, and a leisurely afternoon of reading and more conversation. We then had a large and delicious lunch, and shortly thereafter left the moshav as Shabbat was about to conclude. It had been a wonderful 24 hours full of family, and food, and rest. Roni said it was like this every weekend. And with three of her children and 9 of her grandchildren living on the small moshav, she said she saw family on an almost daily basis even during the week. For a short period we forgot about all of Israel's problems, and just enjoyed our time with our incredible Israeli hosts. We could see why they loved living here despite the barrage of missiles.  We will leave Israel with images of hardship, but also with an image of what Shabbat might be like...a time for family and human connection; a time to focus on what matters most in life.