Day 3: Shabbat Shalom, Y'all

Shorashim #Bus166 breathed a sigh of relief as we were given the day of rest to...well, rest. The day started at 10:30 am with a dramatic rendering of this weeks parsha, in which Joseph, in a timeless performance by Sandy, revealed himself to his brothers. Lunch and a discussion about the importance of bonds between people followed, but most of us were excited to spend some free time outside in the sun. It may be unusually warm in Chicago right now, but not high-sixties-and-sunny warm, so it was a welcome sight for all of us. A few of us even played baseball with some kids from the kibbutz, which is when we all learned that Sandy plays club baseball. It's fair to say that Sandy won Shabbat this week.

In the afternoon, we talked about what was most important to us in terms of Jewish identity. When sundown came, we did havdalah together, to separate Shabbat from the rest of the week, just as it started to rain. After dinner (off the kibbutz!), we met again as a group for more name games. Nofar was the first to win the challenge by calling us all by name. Well played, Nofar. She even included our mega-cool security detail, Yuri and Yuval. Then, we went around the circle and either shared our hidden talents or explained the origin of our scars...it made sense at the time. Turns out, Joe does a killer banshee impression. Oh, and now there are committees. We're getting a word, joke, and theme of the day now.

This was our last night on the kibbutz. In the morning, it's off to Tzfat and Tel Aviv.  Kibbutz Gadot has been lovely, but through it all so far, I would say our greatest accomplishment as a group has been not straight-up murdering that rooster.