We spent Shabbat at Kehilat HaCarmel, where David and Karen Davis lead the congregation. The building felt joyful, open, and bright, and in the congregation we noticed some of the friends we had met in Israel. That day, singer, Robert Stearns, was the special guest speaker.
Amazingly, Karen’s music, although beautiful on her CDs, had not prepared us for the powerful experience of joining the congregation in the worship songs, in Hebrew! The whole service was filled with expectation.
During the service, children were called up to receive their prayer of blessing. As they made their way forward, from all over the building, the congregation joined in prayer as leaders and parents pronounced the blessings… so touching.
After the service, Karen prayed for us, and we had lunch at the restaurant next door. There, we got to visit with friends, make new friends, and have a fabulous meal! The waiters took our order from a menu with no prices! (I believe this was a way to avoid conducting business on Shabbat; only free will offerings were accepted)
On the way back to Caesarea, we saw beautiful mountain lookouts, then traveled south, along the Mediterranean coast… what a view! Rozalie participates in an international phone conference prayer group of leaders, many of whom are in Israel. This time, she was praying on the phone with them while IN THE LAND! Her assignment was to pray blessings upon the Israeli government, so she called the names of many officials and addressed some current issues. The Israeli participants gave a warm welcome. For a shining moment we felt very Israeli!
