Non-Jewish Tourists to Israel Join Jewish Families for Shabbat Dinner in Their Homes
On a recent Friday evening in Jerusalem, more than a dozen participants from a Chinese business delegation snapped photos of each other waiting outside a house in Nachlaot, a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood best known for the famed Machane Yehuda outdoor food market. At this hour, the market was shuttered and empty, and various renditions of the kiddush could be heard coming from the densely populated hodgepodge of newly renovated and dilapidated apartments stacked along the area’s winding alleyways.
Upon entering the home of the Orthodox, shomer-shabbat Cohen family, the Chinese visitors pocketed their mobile phones and cameras. As the guests filed in, they handed hostess Michelle Cohen gifts, including swaths of silk fabric, teas, and wall tapestries from China, as well as bottles of wine from Israel. Inside, two long tables, arranged in an L shape, were set for more than 20, and Sabbath candles glowed on a high shelf, out of reach of the children. Bookcases bursting with religious texts, framed family photographs, and extra sets of kiddush cups covered one wall.