The kibbutz as a whole observed Shabbat, meaning from Friday sundown to Saturday night, people did not work, use electricity, cook or travel. This means that towns and places that observe Shabbat will have little public transportation running, and some stores will also be closed.
Out of respect for Shabbat, I would typically go and lay down in a nearby hammock and talk with friends and catch up on what they’d been doing in their classes or on their projects if they were doing an internship. One time, when the day was fair, we even had a small picnic in the kibbutz common area and relaxed under the shade.
Since our program had a separate area away from the rest of the kibbutz, we as individuals were not expected to follow Shabbat customs, but if we did venture outside of our program’s housing and designated buildings, we had to be respectful. Of course, we were guests in the kibbutz, but that also meant we had to be aware of the traditions and way of life that was there before us.
Due to the environment we were in outside of the program, Saturdays would become a day where we indirectly learned more about Judaism as a religion and what Shabbat means. Given that it was the day of rest, and some of our program friends practiced it, we would take the time to self-reflect and lay down our phones for the day, wishing friends a “Shabbat Shalom”, a peaceful Shabbat in Hebrew, when we passed by each other during the day.
