Yeah!! Exploring we will go!!

  Jerusalem, Israel
Sunday, March 9, 2008

 
 
February 1-The shuk

Today, we did our ritual Friday morning trip to the Shuk.  We have learned that the trick is getting there very early before the thousands of other people arrive to do their pre-Shabbat shopping.  It has been raining last night and this morning, so most of the snow has melted.  The Shuk is like shopping at a carnival.  We seem to find different things each time we go.  The produce here is amazing.  These leeks came up past my waist.  This sweet potato could feed a family of four.  I don't even know what this is?  Some things would NEVER work in the US.  Eggs are not refrigerated and you will find them just like this, even in the summer.  Care for a cracker?  Just reach on in and grab what you want.  No gloves required.

We discovered a new aisle we had never explored before.  As we are walking, we pass a barber shop.  Evette says to me "hey, did you know there was a barber shop here?"  In the meantime, a few feet in front of us, this man with very frizzy hair down to his waist flips himself around & says "NO.  But even if I did..."  We thought it was hysterical that he thought she was talking to him.

After the Shuk, we decide to take the bus to Emek Refaim to have lunch.  We had been hearing that this restaurant called Joy had the best hamburgers in all of Jerusalem.  So we go, we wait for a table, the waitress takes forever to help us and then we find out they don't have burgers today.  So, since that is why we went there, we left.  Across the street is a restaurant called Norman's.  They have a big sign stating THEY have the best burger in town AND they have a very cheap lunch special, so we go.  Ok, so first, a quick little side story.  In Israel, when you order toast, what you get is a sandwich on usually a bagel or baguette that gets put in one of those sandwich press things.  If you want real toast, just bread or a bagel that has been toasted, no one will do it.  It's like they never heard of toast.  Ok, so back to lunch.  We receive our burgers & they look very yummy.  The roll is just a plain, cold roll.  Evette says to me "gee, can't they toast ANYTHING around here?"  Well, the waitress just happened to be standing next to our table & thought she was talking to her and said "gee, you just had to ask."  She then toasted it for her.  Once again, funny that twice in one day people thought Evette was talking to them when she made comments meant for my ears only.
 
February 2

For many years, my sister Marci had an Israeli pen pal, I think since high school.  Several times, Nittai came to visit & after he got married they came to visit & then ended up moving to Philadelphia because his wife Orit attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia.  They spent lots of time with our family over the years & then at some point lost touch.  The last time I saw them, I had run into them at Merrymead Farm in Lansdale.  They had an infant, who is now 17, in a stroller.  So anyway, a few months ago, I started thinking about them, wondering if they may have moved back to Israel.  So, I Googled them and found out that Orit was a famous artist in Israel and had exhibits all over the world.  As a matter of fact, she was just in Philly a few weeks ago.  I emailed them & Nittai called me right away.  They are living in Herzliya with their three children.   This evening, after Shabbat, we took a Sheirut to Tel Aviv & Nittai picked us up there at the bus station.  We had a lovely dinner with them at their home & enjoyed catching up on our lives.  We hope to see them again before we leave. 

February 7

Today, I arrived at Ulpan with my heavy backpack with my heavy books to discover we are going on a walking tour with another class.  Luckily, I carry my camera everywhere I go, or I would have been very sad because this was a great tour.  Also, the teacher who led the tour spoke to us all in Hebrew and I understood almost everything...YEAH! 

We started in a neighborhood called Nachlaot.  The neighborhoods called Nachlaot are actually many different neighborhoods that are built side by side. They were set up for different reasons; they had different codes of behavior and even attracted different types of people. Every section is run by a different code and had its own synagogue with its special decor, prayers and atmosphere.  Nachlaot is known for its narrow, winding lanes, old style housing, hidden courtyards and an abundance of small synagogues.  There is a lottery system for families to live here.  It is a very poor, religious area constructed between the 1860s & the beginning of the twentieth century.   

Then we walked to the Old Bikur Holim Hospital.  The Department for the Chronically Ill remained in this location until January 1948. Bikur Holim was founded in 1867 by the Ashkenazic Perushim Company to offer Jerusalem's Jewish community high quality medical care, which until the 1850's was offered only by missionary organizations. In 1978, the renovated building was reopened as a youth hostel.

The Hunt House was built in 1869 by the noted British Artist William Holman Hunt (1867-1901) as his residence and studio.  The building exemplifies the original construction style of the street of the prophets.  The pioneering pediatrician Dr. Helena Kagan lived here for 60 years.  The Poetess Rachel lived in the small house in the courtyard in 1925. 

Ben Yehuda & Menachem Begin lived on this street across from the Ethiopian Church.

According to www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org ,The Ethiopian Church had its beginnings in the 4th century CE in the city of Aksum in northern Ethiopia. From the very start, magic and witchcraft, which were part of the cultural fabric of Africa, were strictly forbidden by the Church. Ethiopian Christian pilgrims came to Jerusalem, as early as the fourth century, and in the following centuries the Ethiopian Church enjoyed important rights in the Holy Places. The Church has had a community in Jerusalem since the Middle Ages. Today the small community, led by an archbishop, consists of a few dozen monks and nuns, and a growing lay community. Pilgrims continue to arrive, especially since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and Ethiopia.  This man, I'm uncertain of his title, invited us inside the church.  We were required to take our shoes off; however, he did give me permission to take photos.  This was the most interesting part of the tour for me.    

We saw other interesting things as well.  I was not able to remember all the information with trying to take pictures & understand the Hebrew at the same time.  Check out the photo album though.

February 14-16

Today we left for a Shabbat Yahad [Shabbat together] with the RRC group.  We started out driving to Kibbutz Beit Hashita. Beit Hashita, meaning "the home of the Acacia tree", is located at the foot of the Gilboa Mountain in the eastern Jezreel Valley.  Kibbutz Beit Hashita was founded by Members of a pioneering youth movement in 1928, twenty years before the establishment of the State of Israel.  Today, the population of the kibbutz is over 1300 people, including 600 members, 400 children, and a varying number of volunteer workers, residents, new immigrants and participants in long-term youth Programs.  Beit Hashita, today, is a fully integrated society that has successfully combined agriculture and industry in a communal environment, building a healthy foundation for community life. 

While we were there, we looked at their own Passover Hagaddah they wrote & compared the differences and similarities to the standard Reconstructionist Hagaddah. 

From there, we left and drove to Moshav Beit Shearim.  The Bed and Breakfast we stayed in, Eshkolit ,  was on a grapefruit orchard.  We settled into our cabins, which we shared 2 couples to a cabin.  We shared with Danielle and her husband Matt and their daughter, 5-month old Lila, my new buddy.  You can see in the picture, the set-up was not conducive to any privacy.  Evette and I slept in the loft area, which is just what you see.  We had to climb up & down the little ladder & could not stand up in the room.  It wasn't too bad though. The bathroom had a Jacuzzi bath, which I enjoyed tremendously.  Anyway, we all went out to eat & then came back and being the old farts that we are, we turned in.  It had been a long day.

The next morning, we met a tour-guide at Beit Shearim.  Beit Shearim is an ancient Jewish city that flourished during Roman times.

It became an important spiritual center when Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi ("Rabbi"), the spiritual authority of the time, made his home there. When he died in the year 220 CE, Rabbi was buried in one of the caves. This precedent made Beit Shearim an important burial place for Jews of Israel and the Diaspora.

We were able to enter one of the caves.  It was really an amazing experience.  I was able to catch some great shots of original etching and markings on these burial stones. 

From here we got back in our cars & drove to Tzippori National Park.  >the following information was obtained during the tour.  Tzippori is located in the central Galilee region, 6 kilometers north-northwest of Nazareth.  It is the site of a rich and diverse historical and architectural legacy that includes Assyrian, Hellenistic, Judean, Babylonian, Roman, Byzantine, Islamic, Crusader, Arabic and Ottoman influences.  A few notable structures include a Roman theater, two early Christian Churches, a Crusader fortress that was renovated by Daher El-Omar in the 18th century, and some 40 mosaics.  

Although the date of the city's establishment is a point of some dispute, it is at least as old as the 7th century BCE.  The Crusader fortress sits high atop the hill, overlooking both the Roman Theater and the majority of the Jewish city. It was built in the 12th century, using Roman elements, and was rebuilt by the Ottomans in the 18th century, and then converted into a girls' school, and used for this purpose until 1948. Today the fortress houses a small museum, and provides a beautiful view of the surrounding area from its rooftop.

Crusader Fortress

Much of the town itself has been excavated, revealing Jewish homes along a main cobblestone street. Several images have been found carved into the stones of the street, including that of a menorah, and another image that resembles some ancient game reminiscent of tic-tac-toe. Mikva'ot (pl. of Mikvah ), or Jewish ritual baths, have been found as well, identified by the steps leading to the bottom, carved out of the earth along with the rest of the bath.

The Roman Theater sits on the northern slope of the hill, and is about 45 m in diameter, seating 4500. Most of it is carved into the hillside, but some parts are supported by separate stone pillars. The theater shows evidence of ancient damage, probably from the earthquake in 363, but also quite possibly from the Arab conquest.
Zodiac Wheel Mosaic in the great synagogue of Tzippori, 5th century CE.

The remains of a 6th century synagogue have been uncovered in the lower section of the city, evidence of an interesting fusion of Jewish and pagan beliefs. In the center of the floor is a mosaic depicting the zodiac wheel.  Helios sits in the middle, in his sun chariot, and each zodiac is matched with a Jewish month. Along the sides of the mosaic are strips depicting Biblical scenes, such as the binding of Isaac, as well as traditional rituals, including a burnt sacrifice and the offering of fruits and grains.

A modern structure stands to one side of the excavations, protecting the remains of a 5th century public building, with a large and intricate mosaic floor. Some believe the room was used for festival rituals involving a celebration of water, and possibly covering the floor in water. Drainage channels have been found in the floor, and the majority of the mosaic seems devoted to measuring the floods of the Nile, and celebrations of those floods.

Finally, a Roman villa is arguably the centerpiece of the discoveries, containing one of the most famous mosaics in all of Israel. It was built around the year 200, and destroyed in the earthquake in 363. The villa is in the traditional form of a triclinium; seats would have been arranged in a U-shape around the mosaic, Roman villa mosaic floor and people would have reclined while dining and drinking, talking and contemplating the mosaic images. The mosaic, for the most part, is devoted to Dionysus, god of wine, and of socializing. He is seen along with Pan and Hercules in several of the 15 panels.

The centerpiece of the mosaic floor, however, at least for the archaeologists, is an image of a young lady, possibly meant to be Venus, which the researchers have dubbed "The Mona Lisa of the Galilee." Smaller mosaic pieces, called tesserae, were used to allow for greater detail and a more life-like result. The image is certainly more life-like, and more detailed (as in the shading and blush of her cheeks) than most expect mosaics to be.

 After this, we ate our lunches at picnic tables and returned to our cabins to rest until it was time to leave for Shabbat services.  For Friday night services and then dinner, we were invited to Havurat Nigun Halev at Moshav Nahalal.  Nahalal was founded in 1921 in the western Jezreel Valley by veteran pioneers of the Second Aliyah. 
Nahalal's ideology is similar to every other moshav ovdim's ideology.  Unlike a Kibbutz, a Moshav's ideology is much less socialist.  In a Kibbutz, everyone works at his or her own job and gets paid the same. In a Moshav, everyone has his piece of land for agriculture.  Moshavs first started with the idea of not occupying hired workers. Each member has the same amount of land and works it by himself, if he is sick or unable to work other people from the moshav help him out. In a Kibbutz, no one has any possessions of his own. In a moshav everyone has property of his own. The community buildings such as a synagogue, a small cooperative shop, and a swimming pool etc. belong to everyone in the moshav. The members of the moshav split the moshav's income from its profit evenly between its members.

The services were rocking.  There were lots of instruments and singing...it was like being at a Shabbat Jamboree.  Afterwards, there was a great potluck dinner that we were invited to join.  It was a very lovely evening.  Everyone was very friendly.  The special thing about this congregation is the fact that it even exists at all!  It was started by a group of staunchly secular Israelis.  They had shunned everything that smacked of religion.  Slowly they began to study Jewish texts together.  They enjoyed their study, but they felt that something was missing - the spirituality that praying together can bring.  So they started to build their own prayer service from the ground up. 

Shabbat morning was very leisurely.  We got to sleep in a little, which was nice because Rascal usually gets us up by 5-ish.  We all did our own version of Shabbat morning services and then had a class meeting with partners as well.  Just a check-in of sorts to talk about how our year is going so far.  Then, we just packed, rested and waited until Shabbat left.  Then we did Havdalah and drove home. 

You may be asking yourself, "hmmm.  Where was Rascal while you were both gallivanting around the Galilee?"  We were 2 nervous Mommies who left their son with a babysitter for the first time.  A friend of mine from Ulpan, who is also a Cantorial student at the Conservative Yeshiva, stayed in our apartment with Rascal.  She had come over a few times just to hang out so he would get used to her.  We called everyday to check on him & looked at his picture on our cell phones several times a day.  Mommies missed their lad very much!

February 20

Another snow storm.  Wow!  They say it has not snowed twice like this in over 5 years.  It did not last very long, but it was quite messy. 
 
East Jerusalem-

Last week we took a cab to the Damascus Gate.  We were chatting with the taxi driver and Evette asked where she could buy a copy of the Koran in English, for a class she is taking.  He told us of an educational book store in East Jerusalem.  We had him drop us off there instead.  It was actually a lot of fun.  Instead of going inside the Old City, we wandered around the streets and stores.  This guy made us Turkish coffee, and invited us to sit and chat.  We did some shopping, took some pictures and ate dinner at that restaurant we enjoy and then returned home.  The weather was lovely and it was a most enjoyable day.

Our Rascal is now a man.  He had his Brit Milah (castration) last Sunday.  Tomorrow, he gets the staples out of his manhood (ouch!!) & he will be cone-head free once & for all!  "Yeah", says Rascal.

I have just completed 5 months of Ulpan & tomorrow I graduate to the gimmel level...wheee!!!

Today, March 2, 2008, I had my second class of Israel Civilization.  Evette & her RRC classmates are required to take this class during their year here.  They set up the teacher & we meet every Sunday from 2pm-4pm.  Partners were invited to take the class, so I am taking it too.  One cannot ever learn too much.

March is International Women's Month so: 

Hebrew word of the day: shivyon zekhuyot nashim = equal rights for women