On Sunday evening, December 21, tired, hungry, and spent from a long trip with our wondeful 19 month old, I ventured out from the hotel in search of dinner for Ginny, Jude and me.
Near our hotel, the Melody Hotel on the beach road in Tel Aviv, is a place called Benedict, that does breakfast 24 hours a day. When I got there, the staff were gathering to light candles for the first night of Chanukah. They looked around and asked if anyone knew the brachot (blessings), and I volunteered, admitting that I was a rabbi after all. We began to light the candles and the fan kept on blowing them out, until I realized that the waiter had handed me the first night candle to light, not the shamash, the one we're supposed to use to light the other candles. Once we switched candles, and moved out of the fan the lighting went fine. They listened quietly while I sung the blessings, and then all joined in to sing Ma-oz Tzur.
I got two candles from them to bring back to Ginny and Jude so that we could light our own candles in the hotel room.
More Israel stories to come - almost all of us are here and the tour starts today!
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For all of you in Israel, it is Christmas morning in Minden. It has snowed last night and is continuing so we are having a peaceful quiet white Christmas and/or white Chanukah here. It is really beautiful. My electric Chanukah menorah gleams orange in the middle of all the white. My house is the only one on our cul-de-sac without the glow of multicolored lights. Happy Chanukah to all of you in the holy land.
ReplyDeleteJude, what did you get for Chanukah????
Where are you Rabbi J.? We haven't heard from you but we have heard about the mortar attacks by Hamas from Gaza and about the Israeli Air Force retaliation. Have these affected your itinery? Are you safe?
ReplyDeleteSigned, Your Minden Jewish Mom