On Friday evening, April 24, the members of Darchei Noam got together to celebrate Shabbat Tekuma, the Shabbat of “rising up” as we move in Israel from the sadness of Yom HaShoah to the hope and happiness of Yom HaAtzmaut. As always, whenever a holiday promises to be celebrated together over food, we expected and enjoyed a large turnout. But really we came together to be warmed in the proud ritual of rejuvenation and renewal. Also, as Rabbi Stacey Blank, our charming and effervescent rabbi sculpted the evening, it became an effective edifice of Jewishness.
We began the evening with our monthly “Musical Shabbat” service accompanied by our young members Shir and Dror Shahak on guitar, interlaced with poems about Israel, readings from the Basel Declaration and the Declaration of Independence, and quotes from famous Zionists. We enjoyed a potluck dinner together and then a festive “Shirah B’tzibor”, singing of Israeli songs, and even the children jumped up to dance.
As we all joined our voices in prayer and song, we felt how important our being here, in Darchei Noam, in Israel, and being a part of the celebration of the whole Jewish nation of its self-made present, and in its Tekuma—standing up—in the new synagogue which we are building stone by stone, warmed everyone’s heart. How amazing it was, and is, to feel part of a people which created this amazing country of ours.
Yes, the soup was delicious, the vegetable dishes were all tasty, but the spirit of comradeship and brotherhood were the sources of the real joy at feasting together while celebrating our nation’s tekuma—our standing firmly on our own two feet. God made the Jewish people, but we made the Jews proud.
Watch many more photos from our Shabbat Tkuma event in our Web Albums
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