What you can't capture on camera...

By Dr. Yasmine Kalkstein
I think some of my most stunning moments in Israel will come from events that I cannot capture on film.  Why? Because it was shabbat or some holiday where you cannot take photos.

I finally had my moment at the Kotel on Friday.  I will be honest and say that I've been a little frustrated with the increasing ultra-orthodox dominance of the kotel, and although I was moved watching my daughter be moved (she LOVES the kotel), I wasn't actually as moved my first time there this year.  But Friday, I was moved.  Amidst the more silent women's section arose the beautiful Karlebach tunes of Kabbalat Shabbat.  Soon, they got louder, and it turned to dancing.  Soldiers who were at the kotel for a shabbat were dragged into the dancing.  I got my children, and they were pulled in by strangers into some circle.  We were all singing and dancing "shabbat kodesh" and.....it was just one of those moments.  Watching how the crowd swelled in the moments shabbat began was amazing.  Within an hour, hundreds of people flocked and were singing and dancing. 

Some of the girls we were dancing with talked about going to the kotel katan, and I said, what's that?  In the tunnels.  You can go to the tunnels?
The tunnels are a not-to-be-missed Jerusalem experience.

More here:
"The Western Wall of the Temple Mount is one of the most magnificent and significant remnants in Jerusalem from the days of the Second Temple, destroyed approximately 2,000 years ago.
The Western Wall stretches along almost half a kilometer, but today, the part visible to all at the Western Wall Plaza is a mere 70 meters of it. The tour of the Western Wall Tunnels allows visitors to reach the segments of the Wall hidden from view, and to touch the original and special stones that tell the story of the Jewish nation. Visitors to the Western Wall Tunnels walk through ancient and fascinating subterranean spaces with exquisite archeological findings, such as large stone arches, water pits, an ancient water aqueduct that ends at the Strouthion Pool, and more." (From https://english.thekotel.org/western_wall_sites/western_wall_tunnels/)
Anyway, the point is, it was just wide open, without paying for it, on shabbat.  We wandered in, and it was incredible.
Then we walked the old city to a dinner arranged by a friend of a friend....we didn't know what to expect, but it was actually an incredible philanthropic couple who host 40-60 people every friday, with the goal of especially supporting Israeli soldiers. This was one of the most amazing houses I have ever seen (from the roof you see the Dome of the Rock, the house is clearly ancient but renovated, the handwashing stations were modeled after the ancient Jewish temple in marble.....I could go on, but it was hard to even convey).
None of this can be captured in photos, but it was a shabbat to remember.

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