Day 2.55: Durham, NC to Chapel Hill, NC

We woke up in time to walk to the nearby church where Beth El, which was under construction, was having Shabbat morning services. Services, which included a fiftieth anniversary celebration and an aufruf for an upcoming wedding, were very nice, and the highlight for Arielle was that there was coffee available outside the whole time. For everyone else, the highlight was Arielle speaking to the congregation about her work, which was followed up by an announcement from Rabbi Dan that she would be returning next March for a scholar-in-residence weekend! We met Rabbi Sager, the rabbi emeritus, who married Abe’s Uncle Bruce and Aunt Nancy. We stuck around for lunch and talked to a number of friendly congregants, and then we went to Rabbi Dan’s talk about his recent trip to the AIPAC Policy Conference. We walked back to the house, where we relaxed and then played Settlers of Catan with Ranon. Later in the afternoon, we went for a walk on the Duke campus with Rabbi Dan and his dog Delilah, and threw a Frisbee around with Rabbi Dan and Ranon. On the walk back, we got a great tour of the under-construction synagogue, which will likely be finished when we next return and should be quite a sight to behold. We hung out for a little bit at the house until Shabbat ended, when we packed up and said goodbye.

We drove about half an hour to Chapel Hill to the home of Abe’s Uncle Bruce and Aunt Nancy. We spent a while talking, watched some basketball, and then went to sleep.

Approximate number of miles covered: 11