And so I came into this weekend with no idea what to expect. It was nothing like I imagined, but an educational experience nonetheless. I had made reservations for us to stay at a hostel called "Ascent Safed". For a reasonable price they provided room and board, host families for Friday night meal, educational workshops and a tour of Tsfat. The only thing not advertised was that it is run by Chabad Lubovitch. Soon after our arrival I realized I'd have to change my mindset from a young Jew looking for a spiritual Shabbat to a curious student interested in learning about, and immersing myself in, a different culture for the weekend.
Friday night we attended our first workshop run by the director/rabbi of Ascent. There were seven students in total: me, my three friends and three Australian girls also in a gap year program who it turns out live a 10 minute walk up the street from us. By the end of the weekend we had all exchanged numbers and promised to meet up again soon.
Our Friday night meal turned out to be at the director's house. When we first walked in and I saw a long table that easily sat 25 people I wondered if they always had this many guests. I soon found out that it was just family. With five married daughters, husbands, children, and spouses' siblings... I was surprised there weren't more people. It was a real special Shabbat experience watching this family interact. It felt like: "Special Edition: Behind the Black Hat". I loved that I got to talk to and learn about this group of Jews that had before now merely been an unapproachable and mysterious group in my mind. When it comes down to it there are many similarities, first and foremost being the strong emphasis placed on family and children. Watching them talking about their week, laughing over some family joke or telling the kids to eat their vegetables, melted away that intimidating image I have always held of religious Jews.
Every week my grandfather asks my mom what our rabbi's sermon was about that Shabbat. If my mom doesn't go "I'm not really sure" then it was considered a good sermon. Unfortunately, if you had asked me, even right after the Tsfat workshops, what they were about, I couldn't tell you. I'm sure what they all had to say was interesting, but there were too many tangents, non sequitur and quickly mumbled Hebrew phrases in such thick Ashkenazi accents thst it made it almost impossible to follow their line of thought (if there really was any to begin with). After two lessons (one Friday night and one Saturday morning), half a dozen dvar torahs during the Friday night meal, and a lesson with our madricha I gleaned the following:
(Disclaimer: although the following facts are true they are interspersed with my own commentaries and opinions and should be treated as such)
(a) Lubovitch Jews have an almost unhealthy reverence for Rabbi Schneerson and view a trip to Crown Heights as equivalent to a sacred pilgrimage.
(b) Chabad Jews in general have an unshakable faith in God which I am simultaneously impressed by and spiteful of. They live their lives with the sole purpose of getting closer to God. Everything they study and every action is done to increase and improve this connection. I used to find this admirable until I realized it was just closed-mindedness.
(d) They are elitist. Whether stated outright or not, these religious Jews consider themselves to be holier and thus better than "goyim". Also not flat out said, but I suspect their definition of "Goy" includes many who consider themselves Jewish (perhaps myself included).
(e) They are some of the nicest, kindest and warm-hearted people I've ever met.
It wasn't the spiritual Kabbalah experience you may expect from Tsfat, but it was a fascinating experience nonetheless.
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