At Israel’s heart, a city
Shalom from Jerusalem! These past few days we explored the city of Jerusalem, a city both at the center of Israel culture and conflict.
We began this part of our Israel experience in the old city. Can you really begin to experience Jerusalem in any other way? There are 8 gates surrounding the old city (recently, a 9th was completed, but is only for pedestrian traffic). The one we entered was in the Armenian quarter. Imagine two stone (white, smooth Jerusalem stone only) walls that reach over 50 ft high, and all of a sudden, an opening. On all sides, bullet holes, from the Independence war (fought both the October before, and immediately after the declaration of the state of Israel in 1948). What a feeling. After making our way to the Jewish quarter, and winding through narrow passageways of homes and stores, we came upon it. The Western Wall. The most holy place for three major religions of the world. After writing our own prayers and wishes on pieces of paper, we approached the wall and placed our wishes in the small cracks of its symbolic stone. Being amongst the rocking and praying of women from all over the world, I caught a glimpse of what exactly the Wall means to the people of Israel and Judaism. You never turn your back to the wall, so as we backed away from it’s presence, we could hear the celebrations of a Bar Mitzvah overlooking the square.
For lunch, we went to the Machane Yehuda market. Two hours before the beginning of Shabbat. It was insane! People everywhere - buying challah and regulach, dried fruit (kiwis! Bananas!) and pastries. After we returned to our new home, the Leonardo Inn, the bus was closed for the next 24 hrs, and it was time for us to prepare for the beginning of Shabbat. Jerusalem is the only city in the world with the start/end times of Shabbat displayed on a digital sign as you enter the city, so after having driven the route the day before, we knew 4 pm was the time for this week. That, and our guide, Yossi, is very good at keeping us on track. We lit the Shabbat candles in the lobby of our hotel and then had three choices: go to a Shabbat service at an Orthodox temple nearby, go to a Shorashim Shabbat service in the hotel, or attend Shabbat yoga with a staff member from another Shorashim bus. I can only speak for the yoga class, but it was awesome! The teacher stressed Shabbat as a time to reflect on the week you just experienced, and relax. What better way to connect with yourself, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally, than yoga? She definitely did not spare us with beginner yoga either, so it was a fairly intense (but amazing) way to begin the evening and next day.
We spent the morning discussing what Judaism and being Jewish means to each of us. As you can imagine, it turned into a heated discussion. There are heads of state, citizens of Israel, and Jewish people around the world who have trouble answering what it means to be Jewish. Is it religious affiliation? Culture? Heritage? “Feeling Jewish?” Is having one grandparent sufficient (due to the law of Returns, just one grandparent is sufficient to come to Israel and be granted automatic citizenship)? What if your mother’s family is Jewish, but you are a priest of Christianity (a real court case the Israeli government debated in the 1970s)? At the end of the day, we reached no real consensus, but were able to agree that important aspects of Judaism involving raising your children Jewish, and considering yourself a Jew.
In the afternoon, I went with Yossi and others on a walking tour of the Knesset (the Israeli parliament). The grounds include the Prime Minister’s office (unlike the USA, of course, where the President lives and works in the same house, in Israeli, they are in separate locations), the Supreme Court, the Knesset (Israel has 120 members of parliament, which include Orthodox and secular Jews, as well as Arabs and other ethnicities), and a beautiful rose garden. In the evening, we went out to a street in Jerusalem for dinner. After days and days of falafel (not a complaint), pizza was once again new and different.
