I’ve been in Tel Aviv for three days now and it feels like I’ve never been away. I land at 4 am in the morning. The first task I set myself: Organise a taxi ride without being ripped off. The queue at the taxi rank is endless. I wheel my suitcase alongside the people waiting and ask if anyone is going to Tel Aviv and would like to share a taxi. A young couple from tech industry, fresh back from a Coldplay concert in London, is interested. During the 30-minute drive, we chat about all sorts of topics. Also about religion. It turns out that they are religious – they strictly comply the Jewish holiday and dietary laws “kashrut”. That fascinates me. After all, there are many different religious movements in Israel, ranging from ultra-orthodox, orthodox, modern orthodox, conservative, traditional and secular.
For me, Israel is a place of discovery, listening and learning. On this trip, I also decided to learn more about Jewish life. On Shabbat morning, I go to the synagogue nearby and meet an American lawyer who commutes between Los Angeles, Houston and Tel Aviv. She is – as we would say – ‘Bible-bound’. She knows the prayer book, the Siddur, like the back of her hand. No wonder as I find out later that her father was a rabbi. She gave up her faith for several years and then found her way back to religion when her first child was born.
Following my visit to the synagogue, I am invited to a Shabbat lunch. The contact and invitation came via social media. The group of guests, consisting of three couples and seven children, know each other well. They are all immigrant Israelis from UK and the USA. And me in the middle. The warmth is striking and the food is lovingly prepared. Before we eat, we follow the classic Shabbat custom: ritual hand washing, silence until the bread is blessed and broken as well as a communal blessing, called “Bracha” after the meal. I listen and learn. Because it’s all about consciously practising gratitude – for what life already has in store.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks wrote in one of his books: ‘Jewish Spirituality is the Art of Listening’. And this is exactly where the magic lies for me. I don’t have to know. I can simply listen.
Thank you and Shabbat Shalom.