Shabbat Chanukkah in Mea Shearim

B"H

The worst what can happen to a religious Jew on Shabbat are heavy rain showers. Rain in Israel is a blessing, as we don't have too much rain and water. However, when someone plans to go somewhere on Erev Shabbat or Shabbat lunch, heavy rain showers turn out to be a catastrophe. Either you take a rain coat or you choose to get completely wet, as according to the Halacha, we are not allowed to use umbrellas on Shabbat.

Last Erev Shabbat my friend and I went through the whole experience. The winter has started in Israel and it was raining on Erev Shabbat. I took my rain coat and walked for about 30 minutes to Rabbi Mordechai Machlis in the Maalot Dafna neighbourhood. There, we had a great Shabbat meal where we especially enjoyed the hot delicious chicken soup.

Then we had the free choice. As it was the Shabbat during Chanukkah, all the chassidic groups had a Tish. I am sure that even the Shomrei Emunim had a Tish taking place. Otherwise they hardly have, as the Rebbe is not the youngest anymore and also lives in Bnei Brak.

During the winter, the chassidic Tishes start much earlier and you should be there at about 10pm. The Belzer Chassidim already start at 9pm and Dushinsky start at 9.45pm.

We walked down to Shivtei Israel Street and started with the Toldot Aharon synagogue. The Tishes on the holidays are always packed and as soon as we entered at Toldot Aharon, we saw hundreds of women watching the Tish downstairs. There was not space to stand left, let alone to sit. The Ezrat Nashim there consists of two huge rooms and both of them were completely full of women. We had no chance to squeeze ourselves inside and decided to move on to the Toldot Avraham Yitzchak just around the corner.

There we were lucky and found two great seats. Also at Avraham Yitzchak, the Tish was packed but there were still some seats at the Ezrat Nashim. The synagogue is still suffering from construction works going on but it was okay to sit and enjoy the Tish. Every day during Chanukkah, the Toldot Avraham Yitzchak have parties for the children going on. And we weren't too surprised when we saw many women taking their little kids to the Tish. Actually it was packed with small children. Sometimes is became too noisy and the Rebbitzin wasn't very pleased and told people to be quiet. But what can you do with babies and small children ?

Rebbe Shmuel Yaakov Kahn was in his great mood and was singing and conducting his Chassidim downstairs. He was so excited and couldn't calm down. Even at the end of the Tish he got so excited that he started to jump in his chair while he was sitting. However, I think that he does not feel to well and he reduced his dancing. Towards the end of the Tish, Avraham Yitzchak has the great custom to stand up, sing enthusiastically and jump. Unfortunately, last Erev Shabbat they reduced their jumps due to the Rebbe. Instead, they took each others hand and started swinging.

The Tish of the Toldot Avraham Yitzchak is and remains the best Tish in Mea Shearim. Followed by the Toldot Aharon.