so a little background: 48 hours before the second yom tov,i get a call from a friend working in the knesset with an invitation to go with him to......CHEVRON! (interesting fact: mendy has never been to chevron...)
so erev yom tov at 2:30 PM decision is taken CHEVRON is on!
bulletproof bus ride....and an hour later im there,like right there! in the small 70 families strong enclave right behind the meharas hamachpela.....
quick visit to the old chabad shul which was entirely renovated....(cutest and smallest chabad shul on record: not more than 250sf total....all rose marble polished walls,and a real chabad museum with pictures, letters etc....incredible....even the alleyway leading to it is an intricate path within the tiny district)
another visit to a great old synagogue and the most secure playground in israel and we're ready for yom tov...
davening at meharas hamachpela....and we're off to eat at one of the most remote house in the middle of the arab neighborhood: baruch marzel and his extended family lives in one stretched caravan house untop of a hill not far from menucha rochel's kever..few barbed wire a shpritz of soldiers and.....arabs! great food,great people....we make our way back alone in the dark...laughing!
late rising and chabad minyan at the mehara....and we're off to hebron chabad shliach danny cohen's house for....a yom tov BBQ!
unheard of in most other places a ''yom tov BBQ'' is the custom around chevron jews.....
lamb chop and steaks,shnitzel,burgers,and chicken wings tons of salads and one of the commanding officers of the army base all that on an gigantic veranda untop of the house with a shining sun and strong winds and you get some unforgettable simchas yom tov in recent memories....
after a quick mincha at avrohom avinu shul's we head out alone to ''shchunat mamre'' a 200 families enclosed village that sits untop a hill directly across kiryat arba ,besides a few patrol army jeeps the 20 minutes walk is done without any kind of extra care... once there we spend another 2 hours eating and talking with itamar ben gvir (great politic talk and incredible insights on internal workings of the isreali society)
we rush back to meharas hamachpela as the sun sets to seudas moshiach organized by danny cohen....already passover is ending and we're on our way back to jerusalem.
same night i'll try for the first time a proper shawarma laffa (another dream realized!)
the next night me and a few friends head out to ''MAMILA'' the new shopping arcade built by lev leviev,absolutely gorgeous piece of heaven right under the old city walls.....we decide to eat at the newly opened cafe rimon, i'll have a mullet's fillet with a yogurt sauce and some kind of couscous cranberry salad mixed with a loaf of bread and salads....tasty!
on the way back i stop to buy some cheese danish croissant and the next morning a latte's full of cream awaits me down my house....
pictures are optional but imagination is required!
guys don't get me wrong i love montreal and NY and FL but seriously? i'm moving here! like right here!
