today i'm so excited because i'm inviting you to come on a tour of a jewish hotel
i will also share with you 5 things that you will only find in a kosher hotel including the item
number 4 which i think will surprise you i will also show you many special items we use to travel
to our jewish home away from home as an orthodox sephardic jewish family and if you're new here hi
my name is Sara Malka and on my channel i share all facets of my orthodox sephardic jewish life
as a full-time working mom with small kiddos so don't forget to leave a big thumbs up to the
video and subscribe to our channel let me put on a pretty tichel (headscarf) and let's jump into it
when you arrive at the hotel it looks like any hotel it is beautiful and inviting but we can
start seeing the differences when we come in the buildings after climbing what felt like 200 stairs
and being completely out of breath we finally arrived to the first item you will only find
in orthodox jewish hotels which is a mezuzah on every doorpost for a quick recap on every doorpost
in an orthodox jewish house or kosher hotel there must be a mezuzah as it is a commandment
found in the Torah the mezuzah which is a scroll is protected in a beautiful case
when we unroll the scroll we can read the prayer of shema these scrolls are hand written by a Sofer
or a scribe who has studied for years how to write a mezuzah and to make sure the
mezuzah he writes is kosher this particular mezuzah is not kosher as a word is missing
the role of the mezuzah is to remind us that G.od is the King of kings
He is everywhere and He is the ultimate protector for the Ashkenazim the scroll will be slanted
and for the Sephardim the mezuzah will be almost straight like on the doorpost of our home
when we enter the master bedroom of course we see that there is a mezuzah on the doorpost as well
as two beds and a crib we also see a dresser and there is also a night table and inside
the night table instead of a bible like in the typical hotel room we often find a Torah booklet
this booklet is related to a previous parasha or portion of the Torah we read and study every week
it contains the torah portion commentaries reflection and study companion for every
day of the week we also have a large closet we put in it of course all our weekday clothes as
well as our special clothes for shabbat and if you want for me to do a video on how i dress modestly
at work during the weekdays and on shabbat and the holidays as a jewish orthodox woman please
let me know in the comments below in our closet we have our first specialized item
you will see when we travel as an orthodox sephardic jewish family it is a hat carrier
my husband and my son will carry their hats in that special box so their hats keep their shape
for our hasidic brothers they would use a circular hot box like this one to put their shtreimel
when we continue our tour of this kosher hotel we see this door it is the only door within the hotel
room without a mezuzah on its doorpost because it is a bathroom another fun thing in this hotel room
are these washer and dryer it is not usual to have such luxury but it is amazing to have
and here in the next room is where we will find the second thing you will only find in a jewish
hotel which is the sheer amazing number of beds per hotel room in total in this hotel
room we have 10 beds with a crib compared to the usual one to two beds for traditional hotel rooms
and of course kosher hotels need to have that many beds per hotel room because there are many
many very large families in our orthodox jewish community thank G.od finally in the last room
we have one single bed and in the closet we have a plata which we will put our food
on on shabbat for it to stay warm which is another thing you will only find in a kosher hotel
when we go in the kitchen because we are spending shabbat here the hotel prepared for us tea lights
it is customary for us to light before shabbat one
candle per member of the family so we will light five candlelights for shabbat
we also have what we need to make havdalah which is the celebration we do at the conclusion of
shabbat we will use some besamim or spices here we will use some rose buds and cloves we will also
use a special Havdalah candle as well as grape juice or wine and if you want to learn more about
how we celebrate havdala i will leave the link in the description box below and the link above often
in the drawers in the kosher hotel rooms we will find torah books as well as different prayer books
and we will talk a bit more about them with the fourth item you will only find in a kosher hotel
in the kitchen we find the third item you will only find in a kosher hotel
which are kelim or washing cups we use to wash our hands ritualistically in
the morning when we wake up after going to the bathroom and many more occasions
the keli has two handles to make it easier to pass the keli from one hand to the other
another thing you will only find in a jewish hotel is a percolator usually in a hotel room
you will have a small coffee machine but here you have a very large percolator that will be kept on
during shabbat for us to be able to enjoy some coffee or tea during shabbat when we go out of our
hotel room we have this beautiful little road that brings us to this breathtaking view of the lake
on the side note before we came to the hotel we visited a beautiful winery
we also had a glorious time on this ferry boat where we enjoyed this beautiful sunset
when we go back to the hotel and we enter the main building
we have the main eating area with a very large buffet that was absolutely delicious thank G.od
on the side of the room we have again something you will only find in a kosher hotel
washing basins with kelim or washing cups we will use them to wash our hands before eating bread
at the extremity of the room we find the fourth thing you will only find in a kosher hotel
a small shul or synagogue of course in this shul we have many many Sefarim or holy books chumashim
or torah books to follow along on shabbat when the torah is read as well as monday and thursday
as the torah is read two times during the week as well as on shabbat and on
the holidays/Rosh Chodesh we also find many prayer books for all the nomination of orthodoxy whether
sephardic hasidic chabad or ashkenazi you will also find some tzedakah boxes to give charity
as it is customary to give charity before praying on weekdays and of course in the synagogue you
will find extra tallit bags with tallit or prayer shawls the men wear for the prayer
as well as Tefillin and if you want to know more about religious articles and items you will only
find in an orthodox jewish home i will leave the video link above and in the description box below
on a side note in case you were wondering this synagogue is fully equipped with a few Sefer
Torah that are kept in a special place called Aron the sefer Torah scrolls like
the mezuzah scrolls are both hand written on special parchment by a Sofer or scribe
it is important to note that not every jew can read directly from a Sefer Torah as you cannot
find the nekudot or vowels in the sefer Torah like you can in a regular chumash or Torah book
this is why usually the Sefer Torah will be read by a ba'al Koreh who will sing the words
of the Torah while reading them according to the ta'amim or intonations when we go out of the main
building we will go towards the fifth thing we will only find in a jewish hotel we have to walk
a few minutes to get to that area because it is completely at the end of the complex
finally hidden away behind a small forest we find a long and narrow staircase i almost fell down the
stairs a few times because i am so clumsy when i go down the stairs you know in the movies when
you see a wonderfully dressed woman at the top of the stairs and after a few steps you see her
fall down all the stairs well that is totally me i also did that many times in the hospital while
getting to the room of a code blue /cardiac arrest patient and thank G.od only my legs and my ego
were bruised with every fall finally after going down all these stairs we have the fifth item that
you will only find in an orthodox jewish hotel a kosher pool this pool is completely secluded and
why is it so unique because contrary to the usual outdoor pools we find in traditional hotels which
are found in the middle of the hotel complex with every room having a view on the pool here not only
is the pool far away from any rooms of the hotel but also the pool was dug in a hole away from any
hotel room this is to ensure that nobody will peek in while the opposite gender would be swimming
because in kosher pools there are separate swimming hours for men and for women to avoid
mingling the same way in orthodox jewish weddings men and women are separated to be honest i love
being only with women whether at a wedding or at the pool as it allows me to feel more comfortable
and it avoids also having these uncomfortable stares from the opposite gender i see these
moments as a special time of girls nights out or girls only activity which are always so fun
and if you're wondering what we wear as orthodox jewish women when we are at the pool well we wear
bathing robes they have long sleeves as well as they are long enough to cover our knees and also
they cover our neckline fully to stay modest at all time technically because we are between women
we could be in a regular bathing suit but usually we prefer to be in a bathing robe for my hair
as a married woman i usually keep it covered too with a very attractive bathing cap and please let
me know if you would want to see a video on how i cover my hair at work at home and even on vacation
when we are all from the same family with nobody else around we have the pool to ourselves and we
can all swim together which is a true blessing thank G.od we truly enjoy these precious moments
together as a family and we really appreciate them to the fullest because time goes by
so quickly and our children are growing so fast and soon enough they will build their own Bayit
Ne'eman which means their own jewish home filled with love of G.od and holiness G.od willing i say
it every day in my prayers to G.od and i repeat it to you with every video but i really want to
thank you for being here it means the world to me know that in my book you are a magnificent friend
who i know i can count on through thick and thin and my world would not be the same without you
if you are still with me until the end please write in the comments I LOVE JEWISH HOTELS so i
know i was not alone and if nobody told you today know that YOU ARE LOVED and YOU ARE
ENOUGH just the way you are until next time stay safe stay blessed and don't forget to FRUM IT UP