Friday, September 15, 2017

Day 3: Erev Shabbat at Lake Kinneret




Here is a view of Kinneret around 8:am on September the 12th, taken by me


My dear readers, my dear brothers and sisters in Messiah Yeshua,  I am back from Eretz Israel since yesterday and I have an e-book in the works that will be entitled:

"Ellul in the Galil: a mystical romance
 Second journey to the Holy Land."

I'd like to thank my Messiah for inspiring me this wonderful title:)

I'd like to share an excerpt I've been working on with you all. 


Day 3 : Erev Shabbat at Kinneret


Experiencing Shabbat in Israel is very different from what you would expect elsewhere, especially if you are coming to an aera where people are strong believers.
Come to Israel and you will see : you will never look at Shabbat with the same eyes. The land of Galilee is the land of birth of the greatest rabbis and an inspiration to anybody who is a strong believer.
The Galil and its heights will transport you naturally to HaShem's mystical heights. The connection between Heavens and the waters will be revealed to you as you will develop your hitbonenut, your contemplative skills.

We were experiencing a heatwave in Tiberias. It was literally boiling with 41 degrees C° outside. After coming back from Yardenit, I had to stay inside of my hotel room. I was impatiently waiting for temperatures to cool down. The good thing in the Middle East is that it starts becoming fresh as soon as the sun starts going down.
Shabbat's entry was close and the temperature was going down a little bit. My ears were drawn to the balcony. I heard people singing a song as the music was getting louder. As I approached the balcony, I recognized the well known Shabbat song, « Lecha Dodi ».
As I decided to sit and relax, I saw people from the building facing me hug each other as the melody of « Lecha Dodi » was deepening.
The sun was leaving slowly and I made the decision to step out to watch the sunset. I wanted to be there to welcome Shabbat.
A few streets away from my Galilean place of residence, I found a space called «  The Garden of kisses » that offered a perfect view on lake Kinneret. From there a surprising, mystical encounter awaited me. It resembles no other encounter I've had before.

The ones who are used to observing the Sea of Galilee would probably know that the lake is surrounded with a visible, divine veil that marks the separation between Kinneret and the mountains. This veil is very distinctive, and always there during the day. But what I observed at Erev Shabbat only seems to happen at « Leil Shabbat ». As the sun was saying her last goodbye, the veil dropped at the surface of the lake, covering it completely like a mantle. It was a very visible manifestation of the Ruach, and my eyes recognized it as such.
I repeated several times : « וְר֣וּחַ אֱלֹהִ֔ים מְרַחֶ֖פֶת עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הַמָּֽיִם » «  and the Spirit of HaShem was hovering over the waters ».
The Spirit had now became a big mantle covering the surface of the waters. After a while the mantle totally united the Heavens with the waters also becoming one with the mountains that were filled with the lights of the houses upon them.
The spectacle I was witnessing was a majestic piece of art from Heavens, drawn up from the Hand of the Creator.
Sefer Bereshit had revealed one of its secrets to me during my contemplation.
As I looked left, I noticed that during all this time, I had not been alone.
My hitbonenut had been synchrone with the contemplation of an orthodox Jew, sitting a few meters away from me.


This was the splendor of Shabbat revealed to me, the very moment when the King meets the Queen and kisses her tenderly, and then both start dancing in the stars, celebrating the wonders of Creation.




© Isabelle Esling, 2017

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