Day 2-Shabbat Service at Or Hadash

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Tonight we went to a service at a very impressive Reform Temple in Haifa. They were very welcoming. All the woman participated in lighting Shabbat candles, the kids went up to sing a song and Cantor Rica sang with the Rabbi. While most of the service was in Hebrew, we did get a good feeling for what was going on.

After the service, we had a lovely dinner with the Rabbi and some temple members. We went around the room and we each got up, Temple Beth-El members and Israeli temple member both, and said something about ourselves and our connection to Israel and this trip. It was an US-Israeli bonding event.

Even though the younger kids were starting to fall asleep (including Issac who slept on a couch thru dinner), we had an interesting Q&A session about the state of Reform Judaism in Israel. It was very eye openning. They told us they were glad to get visitors from the US where the Reform movement has a greater foothold in the Jewish community.

We ended the evening with a visit to their bomb shelter, where they were able to keep pre-school classes going during the recent troubles in Gaza. They were one of the few groups that were able to do this. They also told us of all the excellent social action programs they support such as supporting orphans for Ethiopia and Dafur.

We wrapped up with a great group photo.
- Caroline & Jeff

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Comments

[Debby]

Shabbat Shalom
Loved the first group photo! Keep smiling! Awesome! I'll share your adventures with everyone at the service tonight.... Rabbi Debby Hachen

[Cantor Rica]

Or Chadash
I was so impressed by Rabbi Nof and the work he does for this congregation and the greater community. He is an inspiration to all who meet him. It was such a pleasure being able to share Shabbat with him and his congregation. And forever this will also be remembered as the day I became known as Cantor Mica. Let's keep it our little secret....