Shabbat in the Holy Land
I had this very idealistic idea of Shabbat is Israel before I came here–something that involved Shira Hadasha and lots of spiritual experiences. Now that I’m here, however, I’m realizing just how idealistic that was. Yes, there are a lot of Jews in Israel, which means a lot of synagogues and people celebrating Shabbat. However, you need more than a place to go for services to make Shabbat. Not any place works. It’s not fulfilling to walk into an Orthodox synagogue where the ruach is in the front and you’re stuck in the women’s section in the back–at least, not if you’re not used to that kind of thing, and these are the majority of the synagogues in Israel! You also can’t walk into a synagogue that does most of the service silently, regardless of its movement affiliation, if the ruach is what makes Shabbat meaningful for you. And of course, even if you find a good minyan–Shira Hadasha, for instance, or the Reconstructionist movement’s monthly minyan–this means nothing unless you have a community of friends with which to spend the holiday. Meals, conversations, board games–these are important parts of Shabbat! And I have seen glimpses of all these things in the past few months, the good bits and the bad. Honestly, after all this time, I’m not finding Israel particularly spiritually fulfilling. Maybe I’m not trying hard enough; I don’t know. Maybe the spirituality of the Holy Land is confined to the Orthodox majority; I don’t know. All I know is that I feel like I’m still searching for something, and I haven’t found it yet.
Interesting point. We are all taught to view Israel as this spiritual oasis, but really I think the Israel experience is probably more about connecting to our culture and our roots – and finding out about a part of our history and heritage. Spirituality is inside isn’t it? and if so, we can experience spirituality anywhere.