The visit.
Trip Start
Jun 26, 2007
1
14
19
Trip End
Jun 2008
Jerusalem,
Israel
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
For those of you who keep up with the news, you know that our fearless leader, G.W. Bush came to Jerusalem on Wednesday & left today for other areas of the country. They literally paralyzed every part of the city where G.W would be travelling. There were snipers, bomb-sniffing dogs, bodyguards, security robots in the sewers, reservists & a white electronic surveillance balloon with a camera & night vision equipment floated in the sky above Jerusalem as police patrolled rooftops. White House staff, State Department officials, Secret Service agents, technicians and even marines had arrived way in advance at the King David Hotel to prepare for the visit and secure the surrounding area. There suddenly were American flags lining the streets, the streets were cleaned, graffiti removed, etc... The operation, dubbed "Clear Skies," cost Israel $25,000 for every hour Bush was in the country.
Evette & I live right in the midst of everywhere he was going to be. He & his staff took over the King David Hotel, which is right next door to one of the schools that Evette attends & along our main bus route. The President's House is exactly 3 blocks from our apartment. The Prime Minister's House is a few more blocks. So, he was arriving at 11am on Wednesday. Now, he was not even here yet & everything was blocked off. Our street had armed guards at each corner. Usually, I take a taxi to Ulpan (my Hebrew class) in the morning because my knee really acts up in the morning & I have a hard time getting moving. Taxi's were not able to get anywhere near this neighborhood, so I threw my backpack on & started my walk to school. I walked 2 blocks to the end of our street, which is towards the Presidents House & there were 4 military police. They stopped me & asked where I was going. I told them & they decided to search my backpack. Now, mind you, it's raining, so I'm in my yellow & blue slicker rain coat with my hood up with my backpack. Frankly, I'm pretty certain I look innocent & slightly nerdy, but, I guess I looked suspicious. Oh no! What might they find? Hebrew school books? My notebook with the little yellow duckies on the front...or was I carrying the froggy notebook that day? Hmm...what else might they find? My little snack bag with graham crackers &pumpkin seeds for my break at school? My Tigger travel water-bottle? Oooh, I guess I am a dangerous character! So, they okay me to continue on my journey to school. It is not possible to get to my school without going past the "hot" areas, but I figured how difficult can it be, it's only 7:30am & G.W. won't arrive for 3.5 more hours. I need to turn down a street to the right, but the first 3 I walk past are closed off even to pedestrians. OY!! I turn down the next street & there were police at literally every corner. A few blocks later, I get stopped again. AGAIN, they search my pack. Well, let's hope that I'm the most dangerous character on the street. So, long story short, my usual 30 minute walk took 1.5 hours due to closed roads & hassles.
After all that, at our 10am break in class, the teacher decides we should all go home because those who depend on the bus because they live further away might not be able to get home at all come 11am. So, I start my walk back home. I decide to take the long route around. The roads were deserted. This street here is a pedestrian mall that is usually packed with people.
It was crazy I tell you. I saw snipers on top of apartment buildings 2 blocks from our apartment. Around the corner, on my way home, was a group of about 25 guards. I REALLY wanted to take pictures. I had my camera in my pocket. I chickened out every time though. Since I obviously look enough like the type who cannot be trusted, as I was searched twice, I was afraid they would think I was really suspicious if I started snapping photos. Maybe the snipers would shoot first & ask questions later. Then Evette would have to call my dad & say "Mitch, so sorry, your daughter was taken out by snipers because she shot them first...with a camera that isJ" I later found out that taking photos of anything military related is against the law. So, please don't think "oh no! Our little Shari is a criminal in the making; if you see photos of soldiers or military posts or anything like that (which you definitely will & may have already). Busses were re-routed without warning. That night, after a long, long day of classes, Evette could not get home. She called me from the bus that re-routed to the Old City, NOT near our apartment. She tried to get a taxi, but when she told them where she needed to go, they laughed at her & said there was no way they could get anywhere near us because of the security. Oy, & did I mention that she had stopped at the market after school so not only did she have her backpack with all her books & her laptop, she had bags of groceries. Finally, she ended up walking home. Needless to say, she was NOT a happy camper when she arrived home.
That evening, Rascal was really spooked because helicopters were constantly patrolling right over our neighborhood.
It was quite noisy throughout the night. Our apartment is exactly in the middle of the second block of a three block street. When I took Rascal out for his bedtime "business" we were quite limited where we could walk. I looked to the right & there were 2 guards at that corner. I looked to the left...ditto. I thought, maybe it's just blocked to cars so I walked to the left (away from the President's house) & they put their hands on their rifles & said firmly "ee efshar - la avoor" which means impossible to pass. So, my possible terrorist puppy & I walked back & forth in the ½ block radius we were permitted to with guards to the left, guards to the right & helicopters above. On Thursday, everything in the area closed because no one could get to anything. Ulpan was cancelled, Evette's school was closed, mail was not delivered in our neighborhood, and it was a real hassle. By the way, it was funny listening to the news or hearing people talk about Bush because they pronounce his name "Boosh."
Finally, Friday he is leaving the Jerusalem area. He started off his morning at Yad Vashem.
Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, is the Jewish people's memorial to the murdered Six Million and symbolizes the ongoing confrontation with the rupture engendered by the Holocaust. Containing the world's largest repository of information on the Holocaust, Yad Vashem is a leader in Shoah education, commemoration, research and documentation. **I will write more about this when I actually visit there. We were able to watch G.W.'s visit there live on TV. It may have been the first time that I can say I was impressed by him. As we saw live as he was seeing the museum for the first time, his reactions & statements were not pre-prepared or practiced. He truly showed genuine emotion. During his visit to Yad Vashem, the President, guided by Chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate Avner Shalev, visited the Holocaust History Museum, the Museum of Holocaust Art, held a wreath-laying ceremony in the Hall of Remembrance, and visited the Children's Memorial . He was accompanied by President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Livni, and Chairman of the Yad Vashem Council Joseph (Tommy) Lapid.
Upon signing the Visitors' Book outside of the Children's Memorial, President Bush said: "I would hope as many people in the world would come to this place. It would be a sobering reminder that evil exists, and a call that when we find evil we must resist it. I came away with this impression: I was most impressed that people in the face of horror and evil would not forsake their God, that in the face of unspeakable crimes against humanity, brave souls, young and old, stood strong for what they believe. It is an honor to be here. It is a moving experience, and it is a living memory that is important."
At the conclusion of his visit, Shalev presented President Bush with a special gift, a replica of an illustrated Bible by Jewish artist Carol Deutsch The original is on display in the Museum of Holocaust Art. Recently Yad Vashem decided to produce a special, numbered series of the portfolio limited to 500 copies, the first of which will be presented to the President. Deutsch created the works while in hiding in Belgium. He was informed upon, and died in 1944 in Buchenwald, leaving behind 99 vividly colored prints in an illustrated wooden box, which he bequeathed to his daughter Ingrid. (this was taken from the Yad Vashem website).
Television in Israel
As we cannot afford full cable TV services, we are stuck with basic which gives us very limited options, especially in English. We have the Hallmark Channel, which along with the occasional decent movie has the original Law & Order 1-2 times a week & the occasional episode of West Wing. Everything is reruns, reruns, reruns. Grey's Anatomy just ended season 2 (I think Season 4 just ended in the US), General Hospital, the only ABC soap they show here is from early 2006. So, I got excited when I saw that a "brand new show" was being advertised; Commander in Chief with Geena Davis playing the President. After a couple of episodes I researched it online & discovered this show was from 2005. We also have constant reruns of Seinfeld, Friends, Scrubs, My Name is Earl & the same 4 seasons of Survivor & Amazing Race that they play over & over & over...
There are 2 shows on the Hebrew Israeli channels that are exciting for me. They are all in Hebrew, so it's hard to follow along, but I still enjoy them. When Evette watches with me, she translates for me. There is Krav Sakinim (The Battle of the Knives). This is most similar to The Iron Chef cooking show except it's always the same annoying French chef versus a different Israeli chef each week. I don't understand what they are saying, but I like to fill in my own lines like: "Look at me, I'm better than everyone", "why do you even bother, I'm the best" & so forth. Get the picture? You can tell this guys attitude without even understanding the language.
The other show is Hisradut (Israel Survivor). For those of you who know what a Survivor fanatic I am, you know I am thrilled by this. This new show (really, it is new!) is all the craze here. All the magazine covers, talk shows, the news, etc...talk about this show. It took place in Los Haitises national park in the Dominican Republic. The prize is 1,000,000 shekels (about $275,100) & an off-road vehicle.
For one of the reward challenges, the reward was Shabbat; wine, candles, challah, etc... One of the contestants is religious & prays every morning with his tefillin. As per the Wikipedia website: Tefillin, also called phylacteries, are two black leather boxes containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with biblical verses. The arm-tefillin, or shel yad, is worn on the upper arm, while the head-tefillin, or shel rosh, is placed above the forehead. They serve as a "sign" and "remembrance" that God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt. According to Jewish Law, they should be worn during weekday morning prayer services.
The sources provided for tefillin in the Torah are from vague verses. The following verse from the shema states:
"And you shall bind them as a sign upon your arm, and they shall be as totafot between your eyes."
The verse does not designate what one is obliged to "bind upon your arm" nor is a description given as to what totafot means. It is only by way of the Oral tradition that tefillin exist as we now know them.
Differences between the Israeli and American versions
Although the main format is the same, there are some differences between the Israeli and the American versions:
The American version was filmed during 39 days, and the Israeli version was filmed during 52 days.
The individual challenge in the Israeli version was introduced before the merge (and not after, like in the American version). The tribe who lost the Immunity challenge had to compete in an individual challenge. In episodes 1-5, the prize for the individual challenge winner was the option to vote twice in Tribal council, but in Episode 6, it became an individual immunity challenge.
The Israeli version introduced the Island of the Dead. Every person voted out is brought to the island, and had to compete with the person already staying there, for the right to stay on the island for at least another 3 days. At an unknown time, the person on the island will come back to the competition.
The American version had 13 episodes, one for each 3 days, and the Israeli version had 40 episodes (not yet finite), 2 episodes for each 3 days (at the first episode of the week, the Immunity and reward challenges was aired, and in the second, the Double-power/Individual Immunity challenge, Island of the Dead battle and tribal council).
Okay, so the biggest TV thrill of all is that they are airing American Idol by satellite. You guys watch it Tuesday & Wednesday night and we get it on Wed & Thurs. So, to all my Idol buddies, let's email & chat about it through the season, okay?
Hebrew word of the day-Asur = forbidden.
