Uch..more mountains

So while the entry you are about to read is based on climbing another mountain and is once again a little rambly, I would say that no other experience I have had since being here compares to this one.

Most pictures that you see of Cape Town include Table Mountain. It is a central geographical landmark of the city and is so enormous that it is impossible to ignore, you can try but you will most likely fail (sorry for the pessimism but I have tried it and I don’t think its worth getting your hopes up). Well on Friday I took a great deal of pictures excluding Table Mountain from the background. This is because on Friday, finally equipped with appropriate footwear, I climbed Table Mountain (sorry if this sounds too dramatic but I need some sort of build up for this story to convey its significance).

Look up at it from the starting point, I could not fathom how we were going to reach the peak, but because it was out of mental reach, I was excited to finally get a little bit of exercise. So begun our five hour trek up the mountain. Along the way, it was incredible to see what lay below get smaller and smaller and all of the buildings melt into each other. I actively participated in a process in which the countless separate creations of the world transformed into one united entity. Looking out onto all the wonders of nature as well as man (people I should say) made me feel above the world; above conflict, above stress, above any form of negativity. The world stops after a certain point, the point where there is no longer movement. It is a paradox that such intense stillness can reveal the endless progress of an entire city. Having climbed from the ground, from the root of physicality, and advancing to the top of all that has grown from that root, where there is no more up, was one of the most spiritual experiences I have ever had.

Looking ahead from the peak of the mountain, after hours of exerting more energy and sweat than I thought my body had the capacity to contain, I noticed we were on the same level as the two fain clouds that suspiciously rested in the sky. By the transitive property it seemed as though we were in the sky, celestial beings perhaps. I think a part of me understood why when people make physical references to heaven they refer to the sky, for there is nothing above it. Protection seems so feasible from there, because every part of the world is visible..or at least Cape Town.

As you can tell my mind was in another place throughout the hike. But to give you a more practical grasp on the situation, we were told that we were going to be at the bottom of the mountain by four o’clock which would have left plenty of time to get to where me and my new Shobbos buddy, Seth, needed to be for the weekend (we were going to get picked up at 4:30). But just in case we packed all of our stuff for the weekend with us. After having no concept of time after reaching the top, I noticed it was 3:05, and we were told that we would have plenty of time to relish our feat once arrived. So I admit, my thoughts began to focus in a different direction. The stress I thought did not exist at the top of the world began to creep its way inside my head. After a good forty-five minutes at the top we began to make our way down. After walking for another twenty minutes we were given the choice to take a cable car down to the bottom or hike a steep path down. Seth and I inquired about which way would be quicker and we were told since there may be a line for the cable car, that if we could manage running down the mountain we could do it in a half hour.

Well, I understood before coming to South Africa that I was entering a country governed by the Metric system and that I would thus need to adjust to celsius and meters, but apparently the “minute” measurement in South Africa is code for 3 minutes. This was not doable by any means in the time we were told. As we ran down the mountain, jumping from rock to rock, I could feel my knees buckling from the rather quick pace that my buddy was not conditioned to handle. With little hiking experience, I RAN down a mountain, a mountain I was mentally preparing myself to fall down. With the help of my adventure partner’s positive attitude and hiking advice, it took around an hour and fifteen minutes to complete this task, one that left our legs immobile and minds equally exhausted. My legs remain in the same state, but at least my limbs feel somewhat more attached than they did at that time.

Arriving at the bottom, I cannot express the overwhelming relief that was present everywhere in my body, besides for my shaking knees. It was 5:45 and we had no idea how we were going to get to Milnerton, our destination for Shabbat (the same place as last week which brings Shabbat in at 6:30), nor did we know how far away we were from it. We found a taxi and luckily were told that it was only a twenty minute drive. So using every last rand (South African currency) we had, we rode toward Shabbat. Sweaty, sandy and drained, we arrived after taking a little time to figure out where we needed to be. Walking up to the property, we were told that a security concern was forcing people to walk a few blocks out of the way to get to the entrance. We finally arrived at the house at 6:23, shoeless so as not to spread sand throughout the house of our gracious host. I do not think it is possible to show up at a house of people you do not know so well in a more disgusting and uncivilized state. But we were welcomed with open arms (figurative open arms, I don’t think anyone would have been willing to touch us). We both showered very quickly and got dressed within a ten minute span and made it downstairs for davening.

I hope these details offer you some kind of insight into how amazing it felt to be clean, on flat ground and in familiar territory. As great as last Friday night davening was, this was incomparably better. Everything works out, if you will it into working out. After eight hours of exhaustion and sunburns, it was Shabbat, it was time to rest. It was time to focus on only the good, and there was so much. I thought about so many amazing experiences I have had over the past week and a half, I thought about the amazing people I have met both on my program and within the community surrounding me at the time, I thought about the beautiful view I saw that same day that made me understand what it must have been like to create the world and lay back and appreciate it. This definitely qualified as an adventure in Cape Town.

The adventure continued as we sat down to dinner with 30 people, and the power proceeded to go out during kiddush. Seth and I just looked at each other and laughed, as the prayer just continued. The whole meal and conversations that followed took place using the light of the Shobbos candles. Nothing seemed that much more difficult because the power was out, because Shobbos is a time to put aside all of your concerns and just embrace the people you are around, the life you live and the delicious food set before you.

Being in this place, at the house of the Hack family for the second week in a row, I felt like a part of the community. I knew some of the people and I met new ones, and simply felt at home. The distance was completely suppressed underneath the shared prayers, foods and Jewish hospitality and graciousness. I cannot tell you how much more so (kal va’chomer) I appreciated all of this after constantly being warned about always taking the proper safety precautions. To be able to go to the house of strangers and feel completely safe being there, being around all of the other people present and leaving my bag in a room accessible to anyone, just added to my joy. To know that there are people that are so wonderful and willing to create a home for strangers on the simply basis that they are Jewish is beyond comprehension. I am so thankful to have this community and specifically this family as a part of my South African experience

Over the entirety of this Shabbat, I was happy, content, for countless reasons that I hope I have conveyed. Saying havdalah with a guitar and recorder playing in the background, I fully understood the distinction between chol and kadosh, or for you sociology majors, profane and sacred. This Shabbat was pure kadosh, pure sacredness, and I hope that somehow it can last beyond this one day. Based on all the great things I have experiences over the past eleven days, I have a hunch it may... at least in my knees.

South African word of the day:

serviette - noun - pronounced surv-ee-ET..I think - napkin

Example sentence:

Johannah wiped the chocolate off of her face using a serviette.


I wish you all the same kadosh!