Alaska - Part XIV

Saturday - Shabbat

Vay'hi erev vay'hi boker - Yom hashishi. Vay'chulu hashamayim v'haaretz....
Okay, maybe it wasn't that dramatic, but we did at least see a good part of the land and sky that was totally new to us. On the Sabbath we ceased from our "labors" of driving around, kayaking, hiking and cooking, and instead visitied somewhere somewhat familiar and somewhat foreign - Chabad Anchorage.
We actually woke up at a reasonable time Saturday morning and walked about a half mile (full mile?) to the Chabad. We chose our hostel specifically for its nearness to shul (the reform shul - frozenchosen.org - was in the suburban part of town, and nowhere near a hostel), so I was happy to go. We got there during shacharit. Leyning was unimpressive - no cantillation at all, and the reader slurred the words "ohel mo'ed" (tent of meeting - used often in parashat Korach).
There were several notable features of this Chabad.
First, they mentioned that since it was Rosh Chodesh Tammuz, we should all be thinking about the last Lubavitch Rebbe's 10th yahrzeit (3 Tammuz) which is much better than the Chabad in "Simcha" Monica that talked about the man as if he were alive. They talked about how much good has happened in the world since his passing and about Matisyahu and how he represents the work of the late Rebbe - the popularization of Chabad Judaism among the masses - how it's "cool" to be Chabadly Jewish.
Also, they spoke great words about the late rabbi (I think) of the reform shul. She was a great person, apparently, and very welcoming. She was in good relation with the rabbi of the Chabad shul, and it seemed like they got along quite well. I may be misremembering, but I think the Chabad rabbi referred to this woman as rabbi. I was pleased that she was mentioned in such glowing terms.
I was also pleased that they said several psalms in English. It allowed for those who don't know Hebrew well to follow along with a rather rote part of the service.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but arctic_alpine didn't really get any stares because she was wearing jeans. We did, however, get asked or assumed several times if we were married. (She was wearing a bandana over her head out of respect for the shechinah).
Finally, I was glad that the kiddush/lunch was completely open to the public and veg-friendly. The cholent was meaty and there was a salmon kugel? salmon mold? whatever you call it - chopped up salmon in a jello mold shape with a spicy crust.. Anyway, everything besides those dishes were completely veggie. arctic_alpine and I were expecting to eat salad, challah and wine, and then to leave, but we wound up rather full of good food. Go Alaska! The company was okay, too. Of course, I wound up speaking to someone with few social skills for a good while (I always wind up finding them), but the rabbi was interesting enough (he was impressed with [Unknown site tag]'s SCA position and knew folk in DC). Also, there was a really neat couple from Pittsburgh. Did I mention that the guests went around the room introducing themselves? They did. The woman from Pitt said a lot of really interesting things about the differences between large and small communities and the differences between being a participant (required in small communities) and being a member (the norm in larger communities). She misses the chance to participate like she did in NorCal. kellev - you better be reading this because I was thinking about our conversations from last year on this topic.
After shul and a hearty lunch, arctic_alpine and I decided to walk around downtown Anchorage. We walked behind some of the girls from Chabad who had been imported to run the camp, but we eventually parted ways. Anchorage has lots of nice trails. We walked along the history trail which recounts Anchorage's history including a lengthy talk about the Good Friday Earthquake, and quite a bit about the history of the rights of indigenous people (not as happy as you'd want it to be, but better than it was in the Lower 48). We also walked through a beautiful and bustling Saturday open air market where we saw, among other things, a woman selling sandals without straps that stick to your feet. We also spent a while in this nice National Mall-type park which was hosting an African-American celebration of some sort (possibly June-teenth??). It was pretty nice, and they had a flagpole made of 110-foot-tall Sitka spruce. Sad for the spruce, but nice for the people of Anchorage.
We then walked along the bike trail we rode on the second day. This time we went a bit slower (because we were on foot) and we saw more things. For instance, there's a tunnel that had a lot of painted handprints all over it, as if a bunch of people dipped their hands in paint and touched the wall. My first reaction was "How terrible is that!" Then arctic_alpine pointed out that if you look at it the right way, it was a huge fish. Wow! It was so cool!
Anyway, we said goodbye to the mountains, to the open sky, and to the bay, and continued on. It was a really beautiful closure to a beautiful week. Even the mud flats seemed welcoming and altogether lovely.
We headed back to the hostel for seuda shlishit at about 7. We were a bit parched (we weren't carrying water) and sunburned and tired. We ate, talked, and spent the rest of shabbat hanging out and talking. Keep in mind that shabbat ended at 2:40 am. We stayed up the whole time, and a bit afterwards. The people at the hostel may have been annoyed but we were downstairs, so out of the way for the most part. At 2:40 sunday morning, we made our various emendations of havdallah over Kedem grape juice, Hanukah candles and cinnamon, loaded up the car, left our payment and keys in the appropriate receptacle, and drove to the airport.
We chatted a bit with others leaving at the same time. They were annoying and we were glad we didn't spend our trip taking cruises and bus tours like they did. If you're interested in the ridiculousness at the airport re my ticket, I can refer you back to episode I, but otherwise, the ordeal was rather uneventful. I got home, and had tea with Rachel, Toby, and David. And I was done.