Shabbat in Yerushalayim

One of the biggest differences between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, obviously, is the religious factor. Tel Aviv is a Westernized, secular party city, and Jerusalem is, well... the Holy City, and it is holy to all three of the world's major monotheistic religions. You can see the contrast everywhere; there are men in black hats who live next door, and a woman at the bus stop last week told me to cover my neck, but this enormous contrast manifests itself most clearly on Shabbat.

Shabbat in Tel Aviv is just like a Sunday in the United States. Some things are closed, and the streets are a little quieter, but overall it's just a slightly-more-relaxing-than-usual day. In Jerusalem, it's a whole different game. Nothing is open within a five kilometer radius of my building, we can't turn the lights on in the hallway of the building or play music too loud, and we certainly can't watch movies with the yeshiva boys next door. It's like the whole world shuts down.

In Tel Aviv, anything that's available to do for fun on Shabbat costs money, which means, basically, that being secular (and not bored to death) is for rich people. In Jerusalem, on the other hand, the forms of entertainment that exist on Shabbat are religiously Shabbat-appropriate, which means that they are free, and therefore student-friendly. Which brings me to Major Reason #2 why Jerusalem is better than Tel Aviv...

Parks. Jerusalem has parks. Tel Aviv has the beach, but the beach is all sandy and who wants to go sit in some sand on Shabbas? Jerusalem has a park around every corner, and because so much money pours into this city to fund "beautification projects", they're all perfectly landscaped with fountains and stone benches and sculptures and little memorial plaques dedicated to rich American Jews. It's perfect. And so on Shabbat in Jerusalem... we walk. We go on long walks to parks (sometimes with picnics) and we sit and talk and enjoy the crisp Jerusalem air, and it's perfect.

In other news, I've started working for Rabbis for Human Rights. Right now it's a lot of administrative work and translation, but they're hoping to start up an English class at a Bedouin school in the area, so hopefully I'll start doing some more hands-on work soon!

Shavua Tov!