Ambulances and Israelis: Friday in Tel Aviv

In Israel, the weekend goes Friday-Saturday instead of Saturday to Sunday. This shift accommodates the Jewish Sabbath, which starts Friday night. One interesting aspect of Israel is that the entire country shuts down on the shabbat (the sabbath). According to traditional code, Jews are forbidden to do any type of work on shabbat. Today this includes a whole arena of activities including spending money, using electricity, driving a car, playing an instrument, or even writing.

More than half of all Israelis are secular. Still, the entire country shuts down on shabbat (to different degrees). All public transportation comes to a halt late friday afternoon. Most stores close early on Friday and reopen Saturday night. More and more restaurants, bars, and clubs stay open on Shabbat. Still, it is strange to have so much shut down around you. In some ways, I suppose, it is peaceful. Everyone relaxes because even if they want to be productive and run errands on Saturday, they physically can't.

I went to Tel Aviv for the third time this Friday to meet up with two friends from my training course- Avital, who is stationed in Tel Aviv, and David, who is stationed in Beer Sheva. It was great to see the two of them! They were definitely the people I bonded with the most in Jerusalem, and I've missed being able to hang out together. We went out to a great Italian restaurant before the main event: the Nahalat Benyamin market. Every Tuesday and Friday, Israeli artists set up booths in this street and sell their goods. The market was crowded, hot, and exciting. There were vendors left and right selling all sorts of beautiful things- handmade jewlery, crafts, little statues, etc. I ended up buying 2 pairs of earrings, a silver star of david necklace, and two beautiful photographs to put up in my room in the fall. I love knowing that everything I bought was handmade and unique, and I will think of this summer and Israel every time I look at or put on the purchases.

My great day was followed by a fun and relaxing evening in Ashdod. The girls in the absorption center cooked a very impressive and tasty Shabbat meal and invited me over to join in. We had a great time all sitting together and enjoying Friday night. One of the things I miss the most at Penn is friday night dinners. At my house, friday is the one night we all sit down together for a meal. My mom lights candles, my dad says the blessing over the wine and the challah, and we all take some time to enjoy eating as a family. Having a dinner like that in Israel was definitely a treat.

After dinner a few of us went out to a pub with one of the girls' Israeli friends. It was nice to sit and relax there, but it didn't quite live up to my expectations of going out in Israel. I've realized that going out in the "real world" has some disadvantages to going out in college. During the year, I always go to parties where I already know people, and they all introduce me to their friends. It is very easy to go out and have a good time, because it is easy to meet new people and there is a certain established comfort level. Outside of college, going to a bar basically means going to a building full of strangers. Unless there is some secret strategy of which I am unaware, it seems like there is little else to do but sit with the few people you came with and have a drink. It's odd to be surrounded by so many fun people but not to be able to meet them. Maybe I have to get used to bars/clubs to have more fun at them- who knows? I guess I'll wait another year in the US and figure it out!