It’s been a long while, if ever, that I remember a week as busy as this.
Of course, there was a central theme in the Lag Beomer celebration. Nonetheless, it was a marathon week.
Because of a lot other activities taking my time, I won’t be able to fill in all the details of the things we did this week. I’ll have to suffice by listing the places we visited, a brief description and post some pictures which, hopefully, will be worth a thousand words.
Lots of photos and video follow!
We began our week on Thursday night (19.5) in Jerusalem. As every year, I was invited to speak at the seminary Shoshana Yerushalayim. This beautiful institution is located in the neighborhood of Kiryat Moshe, facing the famous building replica of “770.”
We continued on Monday (23.5) at the University of Haifa. We were invited there by Rabbi Tanhum Rivkin the Chabad Campus Rabbi. He had a huge event with hundreds of students, including the Student Union, professors, and even the overall campus rabbi, Rabbi Yosef Stemler. Of course, in the spirit of the Lag Beomer celebrations there was a huge barbecue. Everybody had a wonderful time.
The following day, Tuesday (24.5), we hosted a group of sixty students from the Shalem College, located in Jerusalem. This group of Israeli students had just finished an impressionable visit to the Israeli Prison Service. They have asked me to give them a first-hand view about what it was like working in the prison service for 13 years.
That same afternoon, simultaneous to my speaking with Shalem College, our staff responsible for the Two Kings plays, set out to give a performance to the network of kindergartens in the city of Nes Tziona.
Hundreds of parents and children gathered to listen to the Two Kings stories, and experience the Two Kings tale.
That very night (Tuesday) my driver took me to Ashkelon University. There I was invited by the campus Rabbi M. Chadad to speak with two large groups of students who are finishing a semester long seminar on Judaism. That was a very lively group, and as expected it lasted way into the night.
Our activities continued on Thursday morning (26.5), the holiday of Lag Beomer itself. A huge parade involving thousands of spectators from central Jerusalem, gathered afterwards for a Two Kings performance and a Rabbi Jacobs appearance.
We had to run from that event as soon as we finished, to head up north to the city of Yoknaom. There we were invited by the municipality to a huge parade involving thousands of spectators, parents and youth and, supervised by the local police force. There I was asked to perform and speak, winding up a world wind week.
On Sunday (29.5), my driver took me up to a suburb of Haifa, called Kiryat Tivon to speak with a small group of students attending the teachers college Ornim.
I’m sorry I don’t have more time to give more details, It’s been such an energetic week. And colorful. I just wanted to make sure I got down a summary of it.
