Hawaii day 7

July 30

This morning's breakfast fare on offer at the Waikiki Gateway Hotel was nearly identical to yesterday's, except there were no pancakes; in their place was more white rice. Razelle and I had the chance to sit at the table with the best view of the street in the whole dining room. The best part of Honolulu for us has been "people watching." Joggers and surfers, families with kids (often the kid walked a distance behind the parents as if trying not to be associated with them, yet not wanting to lose contact with them, either). People hurrying to work mixed with people on vacation from work. We realized that Hawaii is a dream destination for many of these tourists – their honeymoon, vacation from school, closest part of America to Asia, retirement, surfing, sailing, golf – and that for them, getting here involved expense and expectations. Yet we watched these tourists pass by as if none of these considerations applied to us, tourists that we were just the same. Honolulu had not been our goal. Hawaii had been our goal and we didn't find "Hawaii" in Honolulu. We found "Hawaii" on the island of Hawaii, and we found it on the parts of the north shore of Oahu that weren't commercial. But in Honolulu we found pretense.

We drove up to the synagogue for Shabbat morning services at the conservative (Masorti) Sof Maarav synagogue. This congregation felt familiar to us and we were comfortable there immediately. I hadn't taken my seat yet when I was approached by the man responsible for greeting visitors. He asked if I was a Cohen or a Levi and he gave me the second Aliyah to the Torah when I answered Levi. He was pleased to agree when I asked if Razelle and I could share this honor. He said he believed in "togetherness." Razelle sat with me and wore a tallit like the other women seated among us. Here was a part of Honolulu we were pleased we'd found.

Every element of the service was performed the way we would have experienced it in our own synagogue back in Beer Sheva. The Torah reading was done by one woman after another; several had learned the skills of Torah reading from a course the synagogue had offered the women in particular. Others among the women had a thorough background that showed by their competence and confidence while leading prayers.

Several men had key roles in the service too. The sermon was delivered by a man who was commemorating the anniversary of his mother's death. The topic of the sermon related to journeys, the topic of today's Torah reading. Razelle and I smiled because our journey around the world had brought us here in time to hear this sermon and reflect upon our journey here this Shabbat. Another man in the congregation with a background in archeology explained the exodus from Egypt and the way points of the exodus listed in today's Torah portion from an archeological perspective. Razelle and I have a list of way points we find ourselves reciting when we relate our journey to others. On so many levels we knew we were where we belonged this morning. Toward the end of services another man creatively sang "Adon Olam" to the tune of "Sentimental Journey" in keeping with the topic of the day. We were all able to sing it along with him as soon as we recognized the tune. It was great fun. This is a congregation that enjoyed celebrating the Sabbath and we enjoyed celebrating it with them.

The president of the congregation, our host from the evening before, gave announcements following the concluding prayer. Razelle was so moved by the whole atmosphere of these services that she raised her hand and was acknowledged by the president. Razelle rose and introduced herself and choked with the sincerest emotion as she praised this congregation and thanked them for the way they made this Shabbat among the most meaningful experiences of our entire journey. The congregation was moved by what Razelle had to say. The president then announced that there were several guests at services today and introduced them. I rose last and introduced myself as Razelle's silent partner, which brought a laugh.

After services the three men who were out-of-town guests were asked to lead the Kiddush (blessing) over the wine together before the pot-luck meal commenced. While we ate we got to visit with the members of the congregation and learn more about some of them. We shared some of our stories with them too. This is a group of people we could fit right in with were we to catch the bug and never leave this paradise that has a hold on all of them. We invited them to look us up if and when they get to Israel.

We drove back to our hotel with intensions of seeing more of Oahu, but when we got to our room Razelle just didn't have the will to go out again. She said I could go see Diamond Head and the picturesque southern end of Oahu on my own if I wanted to, but she didn't feel inclined to leave the hotel right away. I stayed with her instead. At first it seemed she might be willing after a little bit of relaxing, but the sun set (which is lovely to behold from our balcony here) before she decided she was ready for more sightseeing. I showed Razelle the map I was given of the Hilton Hawaiian Village. One of the eateries is a New York deli. That motivated Razelle to stroll over there. The distance one way was about the limit of what Razelle could walk. When we got all the way there we found that they were closing up for the night and were not accepting any more customers. Razelle took a copy of their handout menu and we left there disappointed. We went next door to a pizzeria and each of us had a large bowl of salad. By the time we'd finished these Razelle had the stamina to walk back to our hotel. This was our last night in Hawaii. Tomorrow we would reach the mainland. We are looking forward to it.