Our First Erev Shabbat in Jerusalem

We had our first Erev Shabbat in Jerusalem.

We met up with some friends on the corner of Karen Hayesod and Lincoln.

We were introduced to new people.

I was greeted with "is this THE Jeremy Gimbel? It's an honor to meet you."

We didn't know how to respond to that.

We walked over to Har El, the first Reform synagogue in Jerusalem.

We heard the Rabbi speak only in Hebrew.

We sang the Kabbalat Shabbat melodies.

We heard the siren announcing the arrival of Shabbat as we began singing Tzadik Katamar.

We sang with the Cantor, who used a 12 string guitar.

We sang melodies from ancient days and from Debbie Friedman.

We were the only people younger than 50, except for the Australian Bar Mitzvah boy.

We heard him chant the Kiddush with a combination of a New Jersey, Israeli, and Australian accent.

We welcomed Shabbat.

We saw what Jerusalem had made, and it was very good. And there was evening - the first Erev Shabbat.