Shabbat in Jerusalem

I spent this Shabbat in Jerusalem with Judy and also with Ofer and his family. It was a lovely, restful Shabbat. Friday night Judy and I were invited to one of her friends' houses. I quickly realized how much Hebrew I still need to learn. However, I found comfort in the three year old and the five year old girls- since we could communicate on roughly the same level.

Saturday afternoon Ofer and I walked around the Old City, simply wandering around the tiny streets. Originally we did not want to go to the Western Wall, since neither of us are religious, however in the end we decided it would be nice to see the wall. After going through security, we began walking toward the plaza in front of the Wall and an older lady began shouting at me to cover up. I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. We hadn't even walked more than a few feet from the far southern entrance, and people were already haggling me to wear more clothing. I was pretty disgusted. I had expected that I'd be approached once I entered the "wall section"- the area with the mechitzah. (separation of men and women). But I was blown away by the fact that I was yelled at even before I could see the wall itself. After that encounter we decided not to see the wall anymore and walked out.

The rest of the day was very relaxing and I'm now back in Akko and on my way to a meeting with the director of Ma'ase.