One of the clarinets from the Israeli orchestra had invited us for shabbat dinner tonight. I had been rehersing in Birzeit with the ESNCM symphony orchestra (more to come on that!) so we were a bit late. But couldn't call and tell her, because Jews apparently aren't allowed to use (cell?)phones during the shabbat, starting from sundown friday, maybe because they are electric and that they hence contain sparks, which are fire, and Jews are not allowed to light fire on shabbat.
It was nice to eat and talk together all seven of us, to hear about their lives and oppinions. At the end of the meal they prayed the end-of-eating-prayer (it's called something proper, but I forgot it), which to me sounded like they were all murmuring something in Hebrew very fast for a long time. They also sang some Jewish songs in Hebrew, first with original melodies and then with alternative melodies like the Adams Family and one by Beach Boys. It was funny to hear profane and religion mixed this way, but nice that it's allowed to play in Judaism (though I don't know what the rabbis would say to it).
When we biked through the orthodox area going there, a lot of Jews dressed in traditional black coats and big hats or golden holiday robes muttered "shabeeesh!" after us, which is shabbat in Yiddish, and by that they meant we were not allowed to bike on a shabbat. Also the traficlights in the area were shut down and the roads blocked by police fences, so nobody would break the shabbat and drive a car in the area. I think it's too restrictive, but let them do it if it makes them happy.
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