Israel Trip + 6/13
A trip of a lifetime-Part I
I had no doubts coming on to this trip, no silent voices telling me to rethink or reconsider it, so I knew that I was definitely meant to be there.
I flew to join a Kabbalah weekend organized by The Kabbalah Center.
When I looked at hotel options, I kept being swayed to book a room at The David Citadel. It was weird because the rest of the group from the center was staying in The Mamila Hotel or The Plaza. I left and came back to it a few times and each time I thought about booking, I felt pulled to book the Citadel. I found out later just why.
My flight from NYC-TLV was delayed. I looked around the airport to see if I knew someone, and sure enough, I met a couple from the center who agreed to share a cab with me to Yerushalayim.
From the first second I landed until I left, I have felt totally protected and safe. Some of the circumstances were “annoying” but I always felt protected by Hashem.
I checked into the hotel on Thursday. I hung out by the pool, rested and then met up with my good friend Rachel.
5 years ago during covid I was traveling in Mexico alone. I saw 2 girls in a restaurant and had a feeling they were Israeli. I went over to introduce myself and Rachel Chaya and I became instant friends.
After having a quick snack in Mamila, we walked to the Kotel. On the way to the Kotel we happened upon a group of cyclists doing a cycle class outside the walls of the old city. We stopped, danced to the music, laughed, cheered everyone on and continued on to the Kotel. Strangely, it was closed because the Prime Minister was there. We didn’t think anything of it at the time, but we would very quickly find out just why. Unfortunately, I never made it back to the Kotel because it shut down for security reasons until I left.
Towards the night, Rachel Chaya and I decided to check out the Tel Aviv scene. Who knew that hours later Tel Aviv would be the targeted site for many of the missile attacks. We were lucky we left back to Yerushalayim when we did.
That night, the sirens went off. I hadn’t been back long from Tel Aviv which was a blessing in disguise. It was strange, because as I tried to go to sleep that night I felt a vibration under my bed. Like something wouldn’t allow me to sleep. I moved to the other bed, which was slightly better but still, I couldn’t get to sleep. I thought of one of my favorite books as a child, The Princess and The Pea and wondered what “pea” I was feeling. Then the sirens went off and I jumped out. That was the pea! I just grabbed my phone, my mini Zohar and room key and followed the instructions into the shelter. I met a woman in the shelter from Mexico City who was here for the same event. Information came on quickly and we all found out that Israel had launched an attack on Iraq and they were retaliating.
I forget how many times we were woken up that night but it was a lot. By the next morning we realized that the whole city was shut down and the event that we came for was being canceled.
So with the restaurants, stores and sites being closed, the need to be close to the shelter and the uncertainty about whether there would be any event at all, I remained in the hotel for the whole day.
I sat at breakfast enjoying the weather, the scene, the holy air and then I saw a few women who looked familiar. I’m not one to strike up conversation with stranger, I tend to keep to myself, but I kept feeling like I should go out of my comfort zone and speak to them.
When I walked over to their table, I realized that I actually did know some of them. They told me that they were here for a Bar Mitzva for a friend of theirs who had moved to Israel a few years ago. Then they told me their friends name and I realized I knew her too! I had gone to her home once for a design consultation for a small renovation project. When I walked through the house, I told her that the energy of the home was off, and it needed to be a gut job and I couldn’t take it on as a small reno.
It turns out that shortly after that consult, she and her husband had decided to make Aliyah to change the scenery of their lives.
After breakfast, I went across to the Mamila hotel where everyone was staying, to meet with Rachel my teacher. I stood in the lobby feeling somewhat out of sorts, when this beautiful French woman walked over to me and introduced herself. We ended up going for a walk with a few others, and it was at that moment when I realized I had entered into a time zone where people just loved, shared, gave and felt connected with you.
Shabbat itself was incredible. On Friday night, we all squeezed into the outside terrace to sing Kabbalat Shabbat and you could touch the unity in the air. We heard words of support, encouragement and love.
That Shabbat is in my top 5 most incredible ones I’ve ever experienced. We were all living and breathing certainty, faith and trust. It is 1 year since I started learning Kabbalah and I was presented with a test. Would I fall back into old patterns of stress and doubt, or could I live in the present moment with the knowledge that Im meant to be revealing light, exactly where I am?
On Friday night during the meal, a siren went off. We all left our uneaten food and piled into the shelter. Two sweet teen girls started chatting with me. They were in the shelter alone. Their parents were divorced, their Dad was on another floor and their Mom wasn’t at the weekend. In a way we comforted each other. Me, missing my girls. And them, missing their Mom. God put us together in that room to be a support for one another. We chatted and laughed for hours. We never finished eating.
Friday night, the sirens continued and each time we awoke to go into the shelter. It started getting exhausting, being woken up at all hours with a jolt. But each time, Id hold on to the knowledge of trust, gratitude and say thank you to God.
Sometimes Id just chant mantras in my head like “Ein Od Milvado”, or “I am safe”.
By Motzei Shabbat we were all feeling the high of what we were experiencing. And the exhaustion, but pulling through. Everyone was in good spirits. We spent the night dancing on the rooftop and running up and down the stairs to the shelter. At this point people were joking, bringing wine in, singing. I brought my plate of baked potato in my true vegan lifestyle.
Havdallah, Dancing, and running to the shelter videos:
Stay tuned for Part II!