We had an amazing day yesterday. Early in the morning we went to Cfar Nachum (Capurnuam) where there are some very interesting antiquities and a beautiful church. I spent the morning taking pictures in an ancient synagogue and Frank enjoyed the quiet there. It was quite lovely. We had lunch on a ranch (yes, a ranch! with horses to rent) that has a lovely restaurant and we didn't rent any horses. When we arrived home there was a big van in my parking space -- actually taking up four parking spaces -- and when I politely told the guy in charge that it was my parking space, he explained that he needed the space for an hour or two because he didn't have anywhere else to park and he had to be there. On top of his truck were sheets of metal and other equipment and Frank thought they were putting up a telephone tower. The guy in charge (who was obviously religious) explained that a neighbor had bought a Sefer Torah and was going to donate it to a nearby synagogue and he was there to transport the Torah in the way that it should be done. He said "Come back in an hour and you will see something very nice!" So of course we were intrigued and of course after an hour we went back outside to see what was happening.
Clearly they were building someting on top of the van. While we were standing there three of the helpers lifted an extremely heavy generator onto the roof of the van. We were quite mystefied about what they were building. In the meantime, guests were arriving, dressed to the nines. Like you would dress for a fancy evening. It was 4:30 in the afternoon by then, and soon a guy around 40 came to talk to the man who was in charge of the van. I started to talk to him, asking him questions about what was happening (because it wasn't clear to us even then) and it turned out that he was the son of the man who had ordered the Sefer Torah in honor of his deceased and blessed mother, and he very cheerfully and insistently invited us to join the party! Frank was in his shorts and a t-shirt and his hat (so they guy couldn't know that Frank is also religious) and I was in my ratty photography clothes and very sweaty, and we hemmed and hawed but he was having none of it. "It's a great mitzvah to be part of this!! Come!" So we went.
The apartment was down a long flight of stairs in the building next door to ours, and we immediately realized that this was the apartment that had been undergoing renovations for about two years (noisy!). And oh my, what greeted us when we went in! There were about 50 guests, all dressed up, and the tables were laden with dried fruit, nuts, cakes, and pastries of all kinds. In one corner of the living room there was a large table with a cloth and on it was the new Sefer Torah. Next to it stood a really magnificant Torah case. Sifrei Torah are made of parchment -- skin, actually -- and they were sewing the last pieces together. Apparently it is a great honor to make a stitch, because the photographer was there taking pictures of everyone who was sewing (and so was I). They invited Frank to put in a stitch, which he did, to his great pleasure! Then came the decorations of the letters and putting in the last letter and all of these things are also honors and for about an hour and a half people got honors and we stood around and watched the goings on. The mother was so hospitable and we felt entirely welcome there, even in our grungy clothes. It was quite a scene.
They were supposed to leave the house by 5:30 and go back up to the street with the Sefer Torah and have a parade with it to the synagogue. But by 5:50 they hadn't left yet and I had about had it and so had Frank, so we went up. Of course what I was most inerested to see was what they had built with that van! The minute we walked out the door we heard music -- that kind of freylich music that you hear at weddings and bar mitzva celebrations -- and it was loud!! They had made a huppa (wedding canopy) and on top of the huppa was an enormous replica of a Torah crown (a decoration for the Torah). It was amazing! The top of the van was all lit up and the lights were going around and they had two balls covered with mirrors that also were going around and they were playing this very loud music and it was some kind of glorious celebration! All this was happening in the right-hand lane of our street, which is the main street between the top of the mountain and the bottom. It was now 6:00 and there was lots of traffic!! A policeman was there with his motorcycle and it seemed to me that everyone was very cool about the traffic jam that was resulting from this celebration. Soon everyone came up in a little parade and the Sefer Torah was carried under the huppa and the men danced around the Torah (we were told that the women couldn't dance because it was not appropriate) and then the parade started down the street, the music blaring and the lights flashing and going around and the traffic jammed into one lane -- it was simply fantastic. I think this could only happen in Israel, to be invited to this incredible party off the street by people who didn't know us from a bar of soap, and the parade and the celebration!
And as Frank kept saying, "All this in the middle of what's going on here!"
So, I'll put up some pictures from the celebration to give you an idea. It was definitely an Israeli experience.
Pat
Clearly they were building someting on top of the van. While we were standing there three of the helpers lifted an extremely heavy generator onto the roof of the van. We were quite mystefied about what they were building. In the meantime, guests were arriving, dressed to the nines. Like you would dress for a fancy evening. It was 4:30 in the afternoon by then, and soon a guy around 40 came to talk to the man who was in charge of the van. I started to talk to him, asking him questions about what was happening (because it wasn't clear to us even then) and it turned out that he was the son of the man who had ordered the Sefer Torah in honor of his deceased and blessed mother, and he very cheerfully and insistently invited us to join the party! Frank was in his shorts and a t-shirt and his hat (so they guy couldn't know that Frank is also religious) and I was in my ratty photography clothes and very sweaty, and we hemmed and hawed but he was having none of it. "It's a great mitzvah to be part of this!! Come!" So we went.
The apartment was down a long flight of stairs in the building next door to ours, and we immediately realized that this was the apartment that had been undergoing renovations for about two years (noisy!). And oh my, what greeted us when we went in! There were about 50 guests, all dressed up, and the tables were laden with dried fruit, nuts, cakes, and pastries of all kinds. In one corner of the living room there was a large table with a cloth and on it was the new Sefer Torah. Next to it stood a really magnificant Torah case. Sifrei Torah are made of parchment -- skin, actually -- and they were sewing the last pieces together. Apparently it is a great honor to make a stitch, because the photographer was there taking pictures of everyone who was sewing (and so was I). They invited Frank to put in a stitch, which he did, to his great pleasure! Then came the decorations of the letters and putting in the last letter and all of these things are also honors and for about an hour and a half people got honors and we stood around and watched the goings on. The mother was so hospitable and we felt entirely welcome there, even in our grungy clothes. It was quite a scene.
They were supposed to leave the house by 5:30 and go back up to the street with the Sefer Torah and have a parade with it to the synagogue. But by 5:50 they hadn't left yet and I had about had it and so had Frank, so we went up. Of course what I was most inerested to see was what they had built with that van! The minute we walked out the door we heard music -- that kind of freylich music that you hear at weddings and bar mitzva celebrations -- and it was loud!! They had made a huppa (wedding canopy) and on top of the huppa was an enormous replica of a Torah crown (a decoration for the Torah). It was amazing! The top of the van was all lit up and the lights were going around and they had two balls covered with mirrors that also were going around and they were playing this very loud music and it was some kind of glorious celebration! All this was happening in the right-hand lane of our street, which is the main street between the top of the mountain and the bottom. It was now 6:00 and there was lots of traffic!! A policeman was there with his motorcycle and it seemed to me that everyone was very cool about the traffic jam that was resulting from this celebration. Soon everyone came up in a little parade and the Sefer Torah was carried under the huppa and the men danced around the Torah (we were told that the women couldn't dance because it was not appropriate) and then the parade started down the street, the music blaring and the lights flashing and going around and the traffic jammed into one lane -- it was simply fantastic. I think this could only happen in Israel, to be invited to this incredible party off the street by people who didn't know us from a bar of soap, and the parade and the celebration!
And as Frank kept saying, "All this in the middle of what's going on here!"
So, I'll put up some pictures from the celebration to give you an idea. It was definitely an Israeli experience.
Pat
posted by Frank and Pat Fischer at 5:46 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home