In Nachlaot, we also learned about a concept called כלל ישראל (Klal Yisrael) which can be described as the pluralistic nature of Israeli society. This concept is personally one of my favorite part of Judaism, and my favorite part of Jerusalem itself. In Jerusalem, and especially Nachlaot, you can experience so many different kinds of Jewish people: different origins, different traditions, and different opinions. We saw one woman and her daughter washing their dishes to make them kosher, which is not something that we are used to, but we were kindly welcomed to witness the occasion. Not only was it really interesting to learn about this process, but it was really cool to see it in person. There are also a lot of different synagogues in Nachlaot and we got to sit in front of a beautiful synagogue as Lali told us why Nachlaot is so important to her.
Sitting in גן התות (Gan Hatut) or the strawberry garden was a really special experience. Everywhere we looked we could see people of all different kinds. Israeli soldiers, parents with babies, religious Jews, tourists, and so many more. We were lucky enough to sing a song there as well as enjoy our scavenger-hunt lunch.
We immediately transitioned into a fun game that our madrichim and Hebrew teachers created for us to push us out of our comfort zones and into Israeli culture. Our task was to find different supplies for lunch throughout the shuk at Machaneh Yehudah while only speaking in Hebrew. Our instructions were also written in Hebrew. At first I was nervous to speak in Hebrew in front of Israelis because I was afraid of embarrassing myself by saying something wrong. I did end up speaking in Hebrew to a man selling salad and it went well which made me a lot more comfortable with my Hebrew skills.
After lunch, we all ended up gathering around two Israelis (probably no more than a few years older than us) and sung along while they played some popular Israeli and American songs. Someone offered them an apple in return for their entertainment, but they simply responded by saying that they weren't playing for any money, but that they were just playing for fun. I thought that this was a huge contrast to American musicians who would set up their guitar cases propped open to accept donations while they played as opposed to the friendliness of these Israelis who just wanted to have fun and play music in a public place.
Nachlaot was definitely my favorite Tiyul because of how interesting and beautiful the neighborhood is as well as the diversity of the people there. I hope that if I ever make Aliyah, I will be able to spend my time in a community like Nachlaot.
A beautiful start to an amazing Tiyul.
I'm not much of a cat person, but I really have to hand it this little one. Adorable.
This was a pretty cool painting that looks really realistic when it's this small.
No caption needed.
Some questions for discussion: What about this part of Jerusalem is different from the Jerusalem that we've already experienced? What does Klal Yisrael mean to you and how can we promote this value in our everyday lives?
In general, when there is a tiyul in Jerusalem, we typical visit ancient sites such as the Western Wall or King of David. However, in this tiyul, we saw Jerusalem in action where people were doing there daily routine. In the park, we saw people playing guitar, drinking a beer, talking to each other which is what people normally do. Personally, Klal Yisrael is the typical daily life of an Israeli such as what we witnessed at the park.
ReplyDeleteI thought that this part of Jerusalem was very cool. It was very interesting to see the interactions between all the different types of people who were hanging around the neighborhood that we visited. We saw soldiers, religious jews, secular jews, musicians, tourists and locals all in the same area in town. To me, Klal Israel is the typical daily life of jews. It is the combination of all types of people and cultures. We can promote this in our everyday lives.
ReplyDeleteA unique aspect of this part of Jerusalem that we saw was, going along with the idea of Klal Yisrael, is the different types of people living in the area. We were lucky to hear from Lali who had spent much of her childhood there and was able to give us a firsthand account of life there. It was interesting to hear about how, although she usually does not prefer living in cities, Nachalot was the exception because of its beauty and pluralism. I enjoyed witnessing all the different types of people living in the area, many of which were extremely friendly, always calling out “shabbat shalom”. We witnessed the extremely orthodox area of the city, while in such close proximity were secular Jews.
ReplyDeleteI loved this part of Jerusalem. I thought it was some what more modern and so beautiful. I could never picture myself living in Jerusalem, but Nachlaot made me consider otherwise. It is also so interesting to see so many different types of people and religions living harmoniously together. This is one of my favorite aspects of Judaism. Nachlaot was definitely one of my favorite places in Israeli so far.
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