Every year at this time, our synagogue has a service at Laguna Beach, on a bluff overlooking the ocean and wild rocks full of sea lions. It is always fun because you see people wearing their beach clothes who are usually wearing three piece suits and ties, like the rabbi, who inevitably wears a baseball cap and has a sweater tied around his shoulder.
This year, it was really really crowded. Word got out how much fun it was to sit around watching the sun go down and to sing together overlooking the ocean and to eat sloppy vegetarian sandwiches on a blanket with people you know for years but not usually outside the synagogue.
There wasn't enough room for everyone to sit, especially since the little stone benches there were full of people's picnic food, all collectively laid out in super duper all you can eat buffet of watermelon, Chinese vegetables, cherry tomatoes, honey cake, lavash, borsch, egg salad, and items from every cuisine one could imagine.
I brought a friend with me who is not Jewish, and she had fun observing everyone, noshing, and singing along to songs she didn't know. She came along last year too, and I think she had fun. It is always interesting to see people you know relating to others they know but you do not. You see new sides of them.
One moment I especially liked was when the sun was finally slipping away, and someone said, "Come back tomorrow, bubbie." And I hope, I always hope, that it does.
2 comments:
What a wonderful event--singing, honey cake, and sunset. Perfect.
It was a great time. It was a little hard to hear though because the neighbors in the surrounding houses complained about last year's service, so no amplification!
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