F2F in Netivot and the Baba Sali

Last week, for the second time, a group of facebook friends and I met in Netivot. For some, the attraction of Netivot is the Tomb of the Baba Sali, and one member of the group lives right near there. It's a popular place of prayer, because he was considered a very holy and wise Jew.

Rabbi Yisrael Abuhatzeira was a Moroccan-descent Rabbi and Kabbalist Teacher.
Baba Sali has become legendary to Moroccan Jews and is known as the “Praying Father” of the Moroccan Jewish community, who made Aliyah to Israel in the middle of the twentieth century. Baba Sali was part of a lineage of great talmudic scholars, and his sons continue to lead religious lives. He was married to his wife when he was 16, and she would play a large role in his religious pursuits. He is known for miracles preformed, particularly healing a crippled IDF soldier, and for helping lead the Moroccan Aliyah to the young State of Israel.
His funeral, in 1984, was attended by an estimated 100,000 people and his tomb has become a pilgrimage site to Moroccan Jews. (Jewish Virtual Library)

You're not going to find the crowds that make Kever Rachel so unpleasant.

I'd say that it's heimish if you don't mind my using a Yiddish word to describe a pilgrimage spot most popular with Moroccan Jews. The food is there for the saying of blessings. It reminded me of a Sephardi/North African Jewish shiva house, one in which someone is in the week of mourning. There's lots of food, and the visitors are encouraged to make blessings and eat. The Ashkenaz custom is not to serve, since the mourner isn't supposed to be caring for the visitor. The mourner is to be cared for.

The reason we returned to Netivot to see a friend who had recently recovered from a serious medical problem. It was a celebration, and we met for dinner at a lovely dairy restaurant called KAKAO.  The food was great.

We didn't try desserts. I had their Five Color Health Salad, and they brought me olive oil when I requested it.

Miriam, another member of the group also blogged about it. I had a wonderful time and can't wait unit we meet again.

Israel, Such a Small Country, I Can Make a Day Trip to The South

Yesterday I met f2f some friends with whom I generally meet on the internet.  We may use facebook for daily group contact, but we, even the youngest who are my childrens' age, prefer the real thing, f2f meetings.  The social media doesn't rate compared to sitting around a table together talking and eating or walking around checking out stores together.

A couple of months ago we met up in Jerusalem, coming from as far afield as the Netivot area, Gush Etzion, Beit Shemesh, Hashmonayim and Shiloh.  We decided that the next f2f get-together would be in the south, Netivot to be specific.  And yesterday was the day.  We came from as far north as Netanya and Elon Moreh, making my Shiloh look a lot more convenient.  There were also women from Gush Etzion, Maale Adumim, Jerusalem, Beit Shemsh, Shiloh and the south.  I hope I didn't leave anyone out.

We're all busy people, but we made time for this get-together.  I'm embarrassed to say that I wasn't the only one who admitted that I hadn't really been in Netivot before.  You'd think it on the moon or something. 

Being carless, the logistics of getting from Shiloh to Netivot and back, by a combination of buses, tremps, aka rides and a healthy dose of Siyate d'Shmaya, the help/hand of G-d, can be rather nerve-wracking at times.  But even after my ride from Jerusalem to Netivot had to cancel barely twelve hours before take-off everything ended up beyond fantastic. 

Risa aka Isramom ended up leaving from Jerusalem by car, and I had a fantastic tremp which left me off a short walk from her apartment.  We had a great time together, and Netivot ended up much closer than we had expected.

We've all gotten a different perspective of the trip.  Miriam, who lives near Netivot wrote this on her blog.

Living in the South, I want to tell my friends, how much I appreciated your effort and enjoyed spending the day you. You are always welcomed in my neck of the woods.

Miriam mentioned that I entered one of their portable bomb shelters and stretched out my arms to show how narrow they are. 

You must understand that I have very short arms.  Three quarter length sleeves look long on me and long ones just hang over my hands and get dirty. 

I don't think too many people can fit in these bomb shelters.  And considering how busy Netivot is and how large and how many stores, there certainly aren't enough of them or other safe options when attacked.



Yocheved and Miriam in a portable bomb shelter.

After walking and shopping on Netivot's main drag, we went to lunch at Greg's.

The food was delicious and the company even better.  Another of the bloggers in the group was A Soldier's Mother.

The jewelry was sold for charity.





And then after eating we went to the Tomb of the Baba Sali, who had been the main spiritual leader of Moroccan Jewry.

 

We heard amazing stories about him from one of our group.  There was constant "traffic" as people came in and out to pray.  We were even offered food for a bracha  blessing by one.

Photo by Ruti on the way to Beersheva

And then, sadly, too soon, we had to leave and make our ways back up north.  Ruti and I got a ride to Beersheva with Reesa.  We discovered the Beersheva bus station in the midst of major renovations and had to run to the nearby train station for a "pit stop" before taking the express bus to Jerusalem.  I got to the Jerusalem bus station just in time to catch a bus home.  I quickly set up my chanukiya, Chanukah menorah, made the blessings and lit it.

Chag Chanukah Sameach to all!