shabbat shalom

For a couple of hours last night I forgot where I was and felt like I was back in Africa. It was shabbat so practically everything in West Jerusalem was closed, but we were on our way to an Ethiopian restaurant. Opening the door and curtain we found ourselves in a small room in the midst of what appeared to be a private party with about a dozen or so men of varying ages dancing to very loud tinny music. We were welcomed in and seated near the door.

After ordering some drinks and the usual mixed plate of tibs and the usual assortment of lentils and vegetables (this time served with actual teff injera!), we sat back and watched the entertainment. The men danced around each other with a variety of sways and shoulder shrugs and quivers. After we ate we got drawn into the dancing and were told to play "follow the leader" so the men could show us how it's done.


Some background info for you...

Shabbat
From sundown Friday until sundown Saturday the vast majority of businesses in West Jerusalem are closed in observance of shabbat. In Jerusalem, a city that is home to a lot of strictly religious people, this practice is taken quite seriously by many residents. The word derives meaning from a Hebrew word that means "ceasing (from work)" and there are 39 categories of prohibited "work" activities during this period:
ploughing earth, sowing, reaping, binding sheaves, threshing, winnowing, selecting, grinding, sifting, kneading, baking, shearing wool, washing wool, beating wool, dyeing wool, spinning, weaving, making two loops, weaving two threads, separating two threads, tying, untying, sewing stitches, tearing, trapping, slaughtering, flaying, tanning, scraping hide, marking hides, cutting hide to shape, writing two or more letters, erasing two or more letters, building, demolishing, extinguishing a fire, kindling a fire, putting the finishing touch on an object and transporting an object between the private domain and the public domain, or for a distance of 4 cubits within the public domain

So no cooking, no driving, and no turning on and off any electric device (though the device can stay during shabbat). There is something called a "shabbat elevator" which stops at every floor, allowing people to get on and off without pressing any buttons; people can incorporate their house keys as part of a tie pin, belt buckle or brooch so it is a part of the clothing or jewelry and not an object that is transported; and a there's a "shabbat lamp" that allows the lamp to be turned on and off while the electricity stays on, so it's still permitted by religious rules.

Ethiopian Jews
There's a fairly large contingent of Ethiopian Jews in Israel, numbering over 120,000, the majority of which were born in Ethiopia. Also known as "Beta Israel" (meaning house of Israel), the Ethiopian Jews have some practices in common with other religious Jews though DNA evidence questions their Jewish origins.

In promotion of the Law of Return and the national mission of gathering diaspora Jews to support the entrenchment of the state, it was ruled in 1975 that the Beta Israel were descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes. In 1984 and again in 1991 the Israeli government launched 'rescue' operations and airlifted tens of thousands from civil war and famine and settled them in Israel.