Our 1st Shabbat in Jerusalem

We arrived in Jerusalem late in the day on Tuesday June 19th. After settling in that evening and the following day and evening, we realized that Shabbat was upon us. Luckily, the Wexner Fellowship, that Rachel is a part of has fostered in its fellows the need to take care of one another. One of Rachel's colleagues who has been living in Jerusalem for 8 years but is leaving at the end of the summer to begin seminary invited us to his house for Shabbat dinner. We planned to go to Kol Haneshama (the progressive synagogue) with another student, but we were under the impression that services begin 20 minutes after candle lighting, so we were planning on 7:30. Greg called at 5:45 and said that he checked the website and it starts at 6:15. None of us had showered so we scrambled to get ready and arrived at services towards the end of the t'fillah. It is a very nice shull, and there were a lot of people there. Apparently once a month Open House, the GLBT group in Jerusalem, holds services after the main service. We did not go because we had plans but we would like to see what it's like next month. A friend of ours from DC happened to be there so we got to spend a little time with him. We were under the impression that Friday night services are long at this shull and started later so we told our friend we would be at his apartment at 9:30. Well, we were finished by 7:30 but could not call because our friend is Orthodox and observant, so we hung out with our DC friend until we left to walk to dinner. There were 8 other people crammed in a small room, and the table was an old door. We said blessings and shared a very nice meal together. The company was great! Everyone there except for us consider themselves "Flexadox" meaning they are socially progressive Modern Orthodox folks. We had great conversations and Rachel and I felt very comfortable there. We didn't leave until after 1am and a group of us walked together. It is amazing how quiet and peaceful Jerusalem is on Shabbat. There is usually a lot of traffic, honking and construction noise, but on Shabbat that is mostly gone. Peace and quiet on Shabbat is definitely something we can get used to. We exchanged numbers with some people, and we actually just got a phone call today from a couple who want to hang out with us tonight, so hopefully that will happen. I feel like our first Shabbat in Jerusalem felt so normal and comforting that it was as if we have been here for a very long time. We look forward to this experience growing and changing as the weeks progress.