Jerusalem

Yesterday a man I met at our guesthouse explained that Israel is so new and modern because they are building the country for the Moshiach. This was a bit of a conversation stopper. Moshiach, for those of you not familiar with this term, means the Messiah. And this pretty much sums up Israel for me: the country has greatly modernized in the twenty years since I was last here with super highways, gentrified neighbourhoods, and lots of very religious people. I swear, I was the only woman under fifty in Jerusalem without five children under the age of five and a massive stroller.

 It was with great excitement that we arrived in Jerusalem (more than a few weeks ago.) I had lived here as a student in 1994, and then again in 1999. Despite many complicated political feelings about Israel, I was also besieged with nostalgia to be back. Last time I was here I was a student, first at Hebrew University, and then at Pardes, a Jewish learning institute. Then, I was uncertain how my life was going to turn out, especially in 1998 when I was a yeshiva wannabe in love with non-Jewish Rob. Coming back twenty years later, I was excited to show the kids the city, and to have them experience a Jewish country. 

Alas, our week in Jerusalem was not without minor mishap. We all had a flu-like virus during the week which affected us on different days. Rob missed our initial visit to the Old City and the Tower of David Museum. He also looks miserable in all pictures from the shuk. Dassa was too sick to go to the Israel Museum and missed out on the cool synagogues from around the world, the sculpture garden and The Dead Sea Scrolls. Makaio fell apart in the middle of the Old City, surrounded by Christian tourists, somewhere near the Via Dolorosa. I succumbed last, and was mostly miserable during our time at the Dead Sea. (More on that in another post.) Suddenly, my very gung-ho group of travelers, eager to see the sites and climb another mountain, really just wanted to be at home and watch whatever was on TV. Luckily, "home" in Jerusalem was a lovely small apartment conveniently located close to the shuk (the market), the Old City, and the Ben Yehuda and Jaffa shopping areas. We had two coffee shops right outside our front door, and one morning there was even an art market on our pedestrian-only street. Everyone was very happy to eat at home after more than two months of eating in restaurants, especially for breakfast.

Despite various people feeling sick on different days, Jerusalem was still amazing. I have traveled to many different countries, and I firmly believe that Jerusalem is the most interesting place to visit. I love the archeological history, the Jewish, Muslim and Christian holy sites, the beautiful Jerusalem stone, and the cross section of population that lives there.

 We spent a lot of time exploring the Old City, and went on two archeological tours. I was particularly interested in our tour of the tunnels that go under the Arab quarter of the Old City. Those of you who have been to Israel will be familiar with the following description, but for readers who aren't familiar with Jerusalem, I shall explain. 
 

View of the plaza in front of the Kotel from the sky bridge that leads to the Temple Mount

The beautiful Dome of the Rock, on the Temple Mount. Unfortunately non-Muslims can no longer enter to see the rock where Mohammed ascended to heaven.

The most holy site in Jerusalem is the Kotel, with is part of the Western wall that surrounded the Temple Mount where Jews went to offer sacrifices to God back in the day before the temple was destroyed in 70CE. The Kotel, or The Western Wall, is where many Jews go to pray, and where some people also put prayers in the cracks of the walls. Only part of the Kotel is exposed, as much of the temple mount extends into the Arab Quarter. In the 20 years since I've been to Israel, they've excavated under the Arab quarter, exposing the wall and other architecture such as pools, cisterns and a market place from the Roman period. (In case you are wondering, this excavation was not a popular political move with Muslims.)

Dassa falling apart at Jaffa Gate, Jerusalmen

 

In the City of David, near Robinson Arch. Dassa was falling apart, but the other two had mostly recovered by this point.

Another highlight of our trip to Jerusalem was seeing my Israeli family. When I was a student in the 90's, I was warmly welcomed by Steven and Ahuva, and I even lived with them for a short time on my second visit. I had seen Steve on several of his visits to Canada in recent years, but I hadn't seen Ahuva in a very long time. We were invited to their house for the end of Passover and Shabbat meals, which was really lovely. Their kids, who were pre-teens last time I visited, are now all grown up. It was also the first time for them to meet my kids.

Noa, Steve, Ahuva, me, Anat and Dassa

A lot of our time in Jerusalem was during either the end of the Passover holiday, or Shabbat. This made for a very quiet, peaceful time, which we all enjoyed, especially after some of the chaos and busy-ness of Vietnam and Sri Lanka. Many, many people in Jerusalem don't drive on the holidays or Shabbat and the streets cleared of traffic. Everyone was dressed in their holidays clothes, either walking to see family and friends, going to and from shul, or enjoying the park. I went back to the shul I used to go to when I was a student Pardes, and despite all the changes in Jerusalem, a lot of things were the same. I was still in synagogue alone (the rest of my family was under the weather) there were the same Carlebach tunes I both love and struggle with (Carlebach has a mixed reputation) and as a bartender put it, "the situation (referring to the political situation) is the same."

There was some shopping done in Jerusalem, including a bar mitzvah tallit for a child who despite studying diligently throughout our whole trip, refused to even enter the store, let alone try on the tallis. (This is a prayer shawl that the child will wear at his bar mitzvah, and as an adult.) Luckily, I am married to the greatest non-Jewish husband, who not only is happy to visit Israel, but will even try on the tallis for me. 

  Here are some pics from a walk we took through Jerusalem, outside of the old city.