Tzfat, Shabbat, and Eilat (Ok I didn't actually go to Eilat, it just rhymed)

This past week has been a rather hectic week for me. I have been traveling around a lot and I haven't had much time here in Jerusalem to update my blog. So I'll quickly update you on what I've been up to the last week.
  Last weekend 5 of my friends and I traveled to a friend's house in Rehovet for Shabbat. We got there Friday afternoon and spent the next couple hours making Shabbat dinner for the 7 of us. Once Shabbat began, we went to the Sukkah to do the blessings and then we went back and ate our meal. We had a great meal but the best part about the meal was that we were actually talking to each other. For the first time ever, I actually kept Shabbat. That meant no phone, no music, no TV, and no computer. No distractions at all. Just the 7 of us sitting around the dinner table talking to each other, undistributed. That night, as well as the next day, we just hung around the apartment, talking to each other,  playing games, learning card tricks, discussing politics, and having the deepest conversation about religion I've ever had. In a world where I can be 6,000 miles away from people and still have instant communication with them, it was nice for once to be able to put away my phone and my computer and focus on the people who I was actually with that weekend. It was nice to just get away from the normal, fast-paced world for a little bit and just relax and have a legitimate day of rest. While I may not consistently keep Shabbat every week, I did learn a lot from that Shabbat and I realized how nice it is to get away from your normal life every once in awhile.
 Saturday night after Shabbat we came back to Jerusalem only to leave for Tzfat (Safed) the next morning. For those of you who don't know, Tzfat is a religious city in the Northern part of Israel that is the central city of Kabbalah. It is one of Israel's four holy cities (along with Jerusalem, Hebron, and Tiberias). We traveled there for Simchat Torah which is the end of the holiday of Sukkot. After a long bus ride there, we arrived and almost immediately began our celebration. Simchat Torah is a very unique holiday, especially in Tzfat and I was so lucky to be able to spend it in Tzfat. After about an hour of settling in, we walked across the street for prayers. But these weren't just any normal prayers. These were anything but normal. These services were 4 straight hours of dancing and singing. As the Rabbis' said, "On Simchat Torah, we dance until our feet can feel the Torah." We danced to Israeli songs, to prayers, and to basically everything. It was 4 hours of dancing in a circle, going crazy. We literally danced the night away. But it didn't end that night. The next day, starting even before I woke up, the whole city of Tzfat was dancing. We danced in the street, we danced with the chief Rabbi of Tzfat at some random synagogue, we danced wherever we were. It was a great, albeit tiring experience. It was unlike anything I've ever done before. I knew Simchat Torah was a day for celebrating, but I never knew that the celebrating included 48 hours of nearly constant dancing and singing. It was a crazy holiday but one of the more fun things I've done here. We did also learn about the history of Tzfat and about the Kabbalistic thought but out of everything, most of it included dancing and/or singing.
 After Simchat Torah, we came home and ever since then I've been hanging out at Beit Ar-El. On Monday I begin my 10-day Magen David Adom class, which I am very excited for. Also, this Thursday there is a huge Hadassah 100th year celebration which I will be attending. I will update again soon, most likely after the Hadassah celebration. Hope everyone is doing well back home! Miss everyone!