Posted on 11/15/2007 3:57:24 PM PST by Alouette
Dear FReepers,
I returned last night from my visit to Israel. It was fantastic! We spent most of the time with my daughter and her family, who live in the North of Israel. My grandson turned 3 years old, which is celebrated by an "upsherenish" ceremony in which his hair was cut for the first time. We observed this festive ritual in Meron, at the tomb of Rabbi Simeon Bar Yochai, the author of the Zohar, the mystical work of Kabbalah.
The reason for this custom, a child is compared to the fruit of a tree, which may not be harvested for three years from the time it is planted. The ritual signifies a child's transition from babyhood, when he stays at home with his mother, to boyhood, when he begins attending school. I asked my grandson what this event meant to him, and he said, "ugat yom holedet!" (Birthday cake!) My grandson refuses to speak any language except Hebrew. What a little Israeli!
We visited three of the four Holy Cities of Israel: Safed, Tiberias, and Jerusalem. We did not go to Hebron for reasons too obvious to repeat here.
In Tiberias, (also revered by Christians as the site where Jesus walked on the water), we prayed by the Sea of Galilee and enjoyed St. Peter's Fish at a waterfront cafe. The lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) was smooth as glass--not a ripple on the surface! Unfortunately, the water level is also extremely low, even more than usual. Hopefully it will soon rise as the rainy season has begun.
On our last night in Israel, we drove to Jerusalem and prayed at the Kotel. I took the prayer requests from FReepers, folded up the paper and tucked it between the stones, as is customary. May all your prayers be answered!
On the way back to the U.S. we had an 8-hour layover in Frankfurt, Germany, and left the airport in order to visit the historic Westende Synagogue, a magnificent 19th-Century structure. Even though this was worth seeing, it was a bad idea because we were not prepared for the freezing weather in Frankfurt.
We are back home now, had a great time!
But aren’t all these first haircuts supposed to take place on La”G Ba`Omer?
The custom in Chabad is to give the first haircut on the 3rd birthday.
The reason there are so many upsherins on Lag B’Omer is that no haircuts are permitted during Sefirah, so all the boys born during that time are shorn on Lag B’Omer.
Thank you for doing this mitzvah... may Hashem Bless you and your family only with simchas..
Even if it was a happy occasion, it must have been hard to see those gorgeous curls go.
Thank you so very much for delivering the prayers, you've been a blessing yourself!
Somebody turned three! Mazel Tov Bubbe!
Thank you SO much for praying for my family!! It means the world to me. I am also glad that you had a nice trip.
Thanks for being so considerate of others’ prayers!
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