I'm a little hesitant to write anything about Shabbos, because it seemed like everyone was trying to do something to earn an entry in this blog. And if I miss something... oh boy, woe is me!!
After dinner, we all (along with Ziggy, the Mellon's "puppy" - BIG puppy) walked Michelle back home. She lives in Beverly Hills, right on the border with LA. The road that splits the two towns is funny - one side is paved with concrete, and the other side is blacktop. Each town is responsible for their own side. Back home we can usually tell the town lines by how the snow plowing gets done (or not done). They don't have that issue here.
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| Ziggy (the Mellon's prior dog's name was Marley - see the connection??) |
We went to Mogen David synagogue Friday night. Small crowd there for the Ashkenazi (eastern European descent) services. There is also a Sephardic service (western European/Middle Eastern descent). I led the services. Saturday morning we went to Beth Jacob synagogue. I was honored with an aliyah (Hagbah - lifting of the Torah scroll to wrap it up after completion of the reading of the portion of the week). Had to make a pledge for a donation. Turned out, like in Denver, they had young men and women from Yeshiva University running learning programs there. And Rabbi Dr. Alex Mondrow, who grew up in Edison and behind whose family I normally sit in my synagogue, was the leader of that group. He gave the sermon during services. At the reception after services I went over to greet him. Funny that two weeks in a row I have seen visiting rabbis with whom I had a connection.
After lunch we all took naps, and then all the girls took a walk to Rodeo Drive. (The Mellons live right at the start of Rodeo Drive. It's a short walk to the "exclusive" Rodeo Drive part with all the fancy shops.) I declined to go since it would be getting close to afternoon/evening services and wasn't sure if I would make it back in time.
So we went back to Mogen David for services. This time I didn't have to lead services, but instead had to read the Torah portion (at afternoon services we read the beginning of the next week's portion - I usually do it back home anyway). So it was a busy Shabbos for me in terms of services.
Tonight we are all going out somewhere, not sure exactly where yet. I think Santa Monica pier closes somewhat early. Michelle just walked in and told me Third Street Promenade. Don't think I've been there before.
We wound up going to Third Street Promenade, an open-air pedestrian mall in
downtown Santa Monica. Big resemblence to Ben Yehuda Street in Jerusalem.
Street performers do their thing all along the street.
We overheard someone singing Hava Nagilah so we headed down to check it out.
Turned out to be an Ethiopian who has some interesting life story that we read
on a handout he gave us. He then played 'Jerusalem of Gold' in Hebrew. We all
threw in a dollar to his bucket. Later on, Chavee sat down on a bench and found
a $20 bill. She decided to go back and give it to him, so he gave her two cds
of his recordings. Each car listened to one on the way back. www.alulamusic.com
We walked up and down the whole plaza and then headed back home. Tomorrow we
will probably go to the famous Hollywood sites - Mann Theatre, Walk of Stars,
etc.
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