Israel Testimonies: Rabbi Shabbat Dinner
By: Kari Olney
We
got on the taxi bus toward
the specific address we were given to go for the Rabbi Shabbat
Dinner. When we got off, it was not hard to find because there were
a lot of people lining up for the Shabbat Dinner already! So we
followed the pack. When we entered, we found many tables taken by a
few or a whole. So we had the request for a table where we can all
sit together in order to receive an ASL interpretation. They were
thrilled to hear about us and welcomed us in an instant they asked a
group of men to leave a certain table for us. When we sat down, we
started to notice that all the tables were grouped by either woman or
men. Different genders do not sit together expect for us. We also
noticed some young visitors (non-Jewish) from the hostel there.
The
Rabbi of this Shabbat Dinner who owns the house and has a huge family, 14
kids. He and his wife host the dinners for 30 years and their kids
helped a lot. There were 120 people there. We were served 4 courses
for the meal: 1st-included challah, tomatoes (pickled with onion),
hummus with oil and spices, corn, cucumbers with red peppers,
pickles, fish, horseradish dip and more! We ate until we were full not knowing that we had 3 more courses coming! The 2nd was chicken broth with veggies and chicken in it. The 3rd was baked flavored whole chicken. And the 4th was ice cream.
While
we ate, we began to discuss about a theme of the meal_the teaching of
Joseph and his story. The Rabbi explained about Joseph and then asked
us all to take turns in teaching. Some spoke in Spanish, Hebrew,
Portuguese, and English. It was interesting. At one point, I decided to stand up and teach in ASL and Carole translated it
into spoken English, I shared:
When
Joseph was young, his brothers rejected him. When Joseph underwent
many things, God lifted him up into a high position. God was with
him, but when his brothers came, he instantly embraced them as his
own without revenge and forgave them for what they had done. And that
story reminds me of how God taught me Psalms 133, when sisters and
brothers dwell in unity, God will pour down the oil upon the Mt.
Hermon and it flows down. So when I had difficulties with my
roommates disagreeing about the spaces we use. And I went to bed
feeling lousy about the situation and asked God what to do. He told
me to give up the space. What?! Yeah, I realized that it is not all
about fairness, but the “power of influence” that God has give
me. I was reminded of Prov. 19:11 “It is glory of a man to overlook
an offense.” So I went and did it. And it brought unity to the
house. In the same way, we had to remind ourselves to forgive the
others to bring unity.
After
this everyone applauded with their arms lifted high! I thanked them
and sat down.
We do not have any pictures from the night as the community could not use technology during Shabbat but one of our team members got a sneak picture during the dinner.
After a few other teachings, Renca had her turn. She
stood up to share: I wanted to say thank you all for hosting this
free dinner and welcoming us. You helped the visitors to understand
what Shabbat is all about and bring the unity to the community
through this. I can feel that you have a big heart and it is real.
And now I want to understand, how did you start all of this and why
are you doing it? When
she finished, everyone applauded and were touched. The Rabbi
responded: wow, Thank you! We have been hosting this simply because
hospitality is something to be valued and brings blessing upon the
people. Just like how our patriarchs, Abraham, blessed and welcomed
strangers.
It
was amazing. And when we completed the 4 courses of the meal, we
heard the last speech from the Rabbi saying that there were meals the
next day at 130pm and 430 pm. Wow! They must be very busy!
The
people surrounded us, asking us some questions. Elizabeth talked to a guy there who escaped from Iran and he
said that hes so glad that we were all Christians and thanked us. He
also commented that we have the teaching and heart, meaning that one
of us had the spiritual knowledge and application. He shared
gratitude and welcomed us into the community! Wow!
One of the Jewish men that walked with us back to our Hostel
More Pictures connecting with Deaf people in Jerusalem
By: Carole McClelland
There was one Deaf Pastor in the whole country of Israel, a man named Janne from Finland! He lives Jerusalem but travels all over Israel and the West Bank serving the Deaf communities in Israel. It was a blessing to meeting him and be able to encourage him as he is working alone! He gave us a great tour of Jerusalem with a lot of history in the city!
Earlier in the stateside part of the outreach, we had the opportunity to connect with VFCC, Valley Forge Christian College and the students there. Well, we learned that they were making a trip to Israel during the same time that we would be in Israel! God is so crazy! So we were able to connect with them in Jerusalem as well! Below are some pictures from when we got to see them! We love them!
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