A Comic Shabbat

My dad pointed out that I neglected to mention anything about my Shabbat experience on Friday night. As I mentioned in an earlier post, my roommate and I met a famous Jewish comedienne at a bar on Long Street last Monday night. She invited us over to her home in Sea Point (a very ritzy suburb of Cape Town located in a valley between Table Mountain and the Atlantic Ocean - extremely beautiful!) for Shabbat services and dinner. We arrived at her home in time to meet her twin sons and daughter before walking to their synagogue for services.

The Jews that attend this synagogue technically belong to the Orthodox sect of Judaism, but they are nothing like the Orthodox Jews that we know from home. In other words, there is a sizable population of Jews in Cape Town and in South Africa at large, but it is not as big as that in the United States. That said, however, nearly every Jew in South Africa is very observant. Despite the fact that the shul I went to is less observant than most in South Africa, men and women were still seated separately, and the services were conducted entirely in Hebrew. I suppose that these particular Jews may be compared to Conservative Jews in the United States.

One of Tracy's sons accompanied us to the main service, which was really nice, especially considering the fact that I was able to sing along in the prayers as the same chants are sung here as the ones we sing in the State. The fact that there was any singing at all made the congregation feel Reform, but in speaking with the rabbi (an American from Minnesota!) after the service, this is not the case. In fact, these Jews form their own unique form of Orthodox Judaism, so it is impossible to compare them to the Jews in the States. After spending some time in the main synagogue, we moved downstairs to a smaller prayer room devoted to young adults under 18. It was really nice to be around other young Jews, and the food (kosher sushi, etc.) was delicious! My roommate and I felt a little out of place, though, because neither of us are particularly religious or observant, but the rabbi made us feel welcome, and even invited us back next week!

Once services ended, we returned to Tracy's house for dinner. In addition to her immediate family, her brother, mother, and family friends, joined us for dinner. The food was all homemade and delicious - a nice break from our failed attempts at cooking at our flat! We ate, drank, and talked for hours until it suddenly became 11 PM. It was so nice to start the weekend this way, and we hope to do it again sometime soon. Not only did Tracy invite us over for Shabbat in the future, but she also asked if we would join her for the High Holidays in September. It is so nice to have met someone like Tracy so soon after arriving here, because she genuinely wants to ensure that our experience in Cape Town is positive and filled with meaningful activity. While I did not come to Cape Town to explore my Judaism per se, I am looking forward to taking advantage of the opportunities available to Jews while I am here.

On a completely different note, please copy and paste the attached link into your web browser to view the few photos I have taken since I arrived. Unfortunately, I often forget to bring my camera with me when I go out, so there are only 25 photos. Enjoy!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2005669&l=14e82&id=1085820031