Day 3: Tuesday, September 2

All camera lenses were on Glacier Bay's majestic scenery

In an informal "Ask the Rabbi" session in the Hudson Room on the cruise ship Westerdam, Rabbi Eckstein put on his black-and-white prayer shawl, called a tallit in Hebrew, as he does for prayer each morning. "Without a doubt, this is what Jesus did every day," he told his captivated audience. He went person to person showing the shawl's 613 knots and wraps, representing the 613 commandments in the Bible. "We [Jews] enwrap ourselves in God's commandments," he explained.

Wrapping phylacteries seven times around his left arm and hand, Rabbi Eckstein explained that the phylacteries are purposely placed on the left hand because it is the weakest. "Phylacteries show that even in weakness there is strength in God. While doing this, we are saying, ‘I will betroth thee forever with justice, mercy, and love." He added that the left side is the side where the heart is located: "We are saying our heart is subservient to God."

Alaska's vast wilderness of ice and snow

Asked why he kissed the prayer boxes of the phylacteries before returning them to their cloth bag, the rabbi replied, "[I kissed them] out of reverence."

During his mini-lesson on Jewish observance, Rabbi Eckstein told us other fascinating facts about Jewish life and worship:

• The mezuzah, a small oblong case containing a parchment with Scripture verses that is affixed to the doorpost or gate of Jewish homes, "is meant to indicate, ‘this is a Jewish home and God is protecting this home.'"
• By Jewish law, Jews cannot throw away anything with the name of God in Hebrew on it. Instead, it must be buried. "Some Jews write G-d instead of God because if you write God, what you write becomes a holy document and, as such, would have to be buried and couldn't just be discarded."
• By Jewish law, Jews cannot bring a Bible or bread ("the staff of life") into a bathroom because both are considered acts of irreverence. Likewise, if a Jew sees a piece of bread on the sidewalk or street, he must move it or protect it. Such rituals "purify our hearts to the importance of God's word and the staff of life."
• A burned Torah scroll cannot simply be thrown away. "If, God forbid, a Torah scroll is burned, it must be buried like a human."
• If a prayer book were to fall to the floor, a Jew must pick it up and kiss it - again "out of reverence."

On Thursday, the Westerdam docks in Sitka, once a Russian settlement. After being greeted by Tlingit natives, cruise passengers will be able to stand on the spot where the U.S. took possession of Alaska in 1867 for $7.2 million, less than 2 cents per acre.