Shabbat with the Norwegians November 18, 2011

We were chatting with a Norwegian couple in the dining room of our hotel in Arbel, and let them know that our next stop was Haifa. "We live in Haifa now, " they said. "We are volunteering at Scandinavia House. You should come join us for Shabbat Dinner tonight."

It was an offer we couldn't refuse, and the date seemed meant-to-be when we discovered the hotel we had booked on-line three months ago was located only a block from Scandinavia House. This lovely house was the home of the Tansbergs, who years ago opened it up as a place of hospitality in Haifa for Scandinavians and anyone else traveling to Haifa. Each Friday evening, residents, friends, and guests off the street like us gather at one long table for a Shabbat liturgy, songs, and a delicious meal.

Since our first two Fridays in Israel were jn Palestinian communities, this was our first Israeli Shabbat. We enjoyed everything about it, but especially the conversations afterwards. An evangelical Protestant from Ecuador began trying to explain the difference between Catholic and Protestant theology to one of our Jewish liturgy leaders. Wayne couldn't help chiming in with some explanations of the spectrum of Protestant belief. That got us involved with more theological conversations with our Norwegian friends, who turned out to be Pentecostal!

We heard some of the history of Pentecostalism in Norway, and our friend's personal born-again story. On the walk home, another of the Norwegians engaged us intensely wanting to understand what we believed about the doctrine of atonement and what we believe. He was taken aback to discover we didn't worry about whether there is a life after this one. We parted as friends and look forward to meeting them all again for coffee later. Who would have thought a Shabbat meal in Israel would end like this?

Location:Haifa, Israel