Shabbat, June 30

We had kabbalat Shabbat in the apartment, led very nicely by the children, and then ate our take out dinner. After dinner Eitan threw up violently. We called it a night. Shabbat morning the kids did not want to go to the shul in the hotel across the street, so I went by myself at 9:45 thinking I’d catch the last 45 minutes or so of shul. Walking into shul, I decreased the average age of attendees significantly, but shul was basically over. They really know how to daven fast here. I came home to find the kids davening, very loudly and enthusiastically. Their loud enthusiastic behavior continued long after davening was over and I eventually had to send them outside to our little patch of grass to play “World’s Strongest Man” with a six-pack of 1.5 liter water bottles. Thankfully, Sami and the kids showed up in the late afternoon and we all headed down to the beach. The water was unbelievably rough, but the beach was packed with Shabbat beachgoers. While sitting in the sand, we were buzzed by two motorcycles, a jeep, and a horse. The horse and rider (bareback, in a bathing suit) then galloped over to the stairs and gracefully climbed the cliff (next to the stairs, not on them). You never know what you’ll see if you sit on the beach long enough.... We all came back up and ate dinner, and after havdalah, Sami and the kids headed back to Jerusalem. It was a bit strange, to celebrate Shabbat in Israel by ourselves, without a community, but all in all it was a good day.