Peace, Love & Understanding

  Jerusalem, Israel
Saturday, May 17, 2008

April 13, 2008

Today started Evette's Passover break so we decided to do some exploring.  We took a bus to a neighborhood outside of Jerusalem called Abu Gosh.  The bus ride itself was very interesting.  We drove through two of the oldest neighborhoods in Jerusalem; Geulah & Meah Shearim.  Geulah is a neighborhood in the center of Jerusalem, populated mainly by Haredi Jews.  Haredi Jewish life revolves around strict adherence to Jewish law, prayer and the study of Jewish texts.  Traditions in dress may include black frock coats and black or fur-trimmed hats for men (although there are many other clothing styles, depending on the religious sub-group to which they belong), and long-sleeved, modest clothing for women.  In some groups, the women wear thick black stockings all year long, including summer.  Married women wear a variety of head coverings, from wigs to headscarves.  The men have beards and some grow long side curls, called peyos. 

"Modesty" posters in Hebrew and English are hung at every entrance to Meah Shearim & Geulah, as well as other very religious neighborhoods.  When I would walk to the Shuk from my Ulpan class, I would walk through a very religious area where these signs were displayed.   When visiting the neighborhood, women and girls are asked to dress modestly (knee-length skirts or longer, no plunging necklines or midriff tops, no sleeveless blouses or bare shoulders) and tourists are requested not to arrive in large, conspicuous groups. 

As we drove down the main street through this neighborhood, I noticed that there were numerous shoe stores.  I pointed it out to Evette & asked her if she noticed anything unusual in the windows.  EVERY shoe in EVERY window was black.  No white bows, no gold sparkles...black, just plain black.  Why the need to 3 stores per block?  Your guess is as good as mine.

So, back to Abu Gosh.  Abu Ghosh, a large Arabic village, previously known as "Kiryat Al-Anav", neighbors the main thoroughfare to Jerusalem. The village was originally established on the site of the biblical town of Kiryat-Ya'arim.

During the Byzantine period a church was constructed on the site, but was eventually destroyed during the Persian invasion in 614.  A church and monastery were subsequently built on the remains.  The Church of Notre Dame de l'Arche d'Alliance (Our Lady of the Ark of the Covenant) is located at the highest point in the village (As I can testify to, as we walked up this steep, steep, hill!), facing the impressive scenery of the Jerusalem Hills.  This church was built in 1924 on the remains of the Byzantine church.  A large statue of the Virgin Mary was placed in the courtyard of the church, and is visible from every direction in the complex.  Nuns live in the church, which also has several guest rooms.  During the Independence Day war the monastery was temporarily used as a hospital for the Harel Brigade.

The present village was built in the Ottoman period by the Abu Gosh family, whose descendents represent the majority of the residents of the place (some 5,500 people).

The past few generations of villagers have developed a friendly and close relationship with the neighboring Jewish inhabitants.

We walked around, exploring & found this old British police station.  It was really interesting trying to look though what used to be windows to see the cells, etc... 
 
We ate lunch at the Caravan Inn.  The original restaurant "Caravan Inn" has been established in 1950 by Haj Mussa, the Mukhtar or head of the village of Abu Gosh.  Originally the place served as a transit station during the times of the Turks.  The restaurant is called "Caravan" due to its location at the transit station, by the main road to Jerusalem.  In 1994, Haj Mussa was honored with the lighting of the Independence Day's Beacon, in honor of the fraternity of the people of Israel, in the opening ceremony of Independence Day on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.

Haj Mussa passed away in 1997, at the age of 81.
 
April 19, 2008

Tonight began the first evening of Passover (Pesach).  Passover is the 8 day observance commemorating the freedom and exodus of the Israelites, who were slaves, from Egypt during the reign of the Pharaoh.
A time of family gatherings and lavish meals called Seders, the story of Passover is retold through the reading of the Haggadah.  With its special foods, songs, and customs, the Seder is the focal point of the Passover celebration. Passover begins on the 15th day of the Jewish month of Nissan.

Probably the most significant observance related to Pesach involves the removal of chametz (leaven) from our homes.  This commemorates the fact that the Jews leaving Egypt were in a hurry, and did not have time to let their bread rise.  It is also a symbolic way of removing the "puffiness" (arrogance, pride) from our souls.
The grain product we eat during Pesach is called matzo.  Matzo is unleavened bread, made simply from flour and water and cooked very quickly.  This is the bread that the Jews made for their flight from Egypt.

Usually, for the 2 evenings of Seders, we spend one with family & for the past 15 years or so; I've been hosting a Seder for friends.  This year, we thought we'd be spending Seder with Evette's cousins who come to Israel for Passover each year & host a Seder for Soldiers who have nowhere to go.  The other RRC students were all getting together to share Seder together.  We passed on the opportunity because we wanted to see Evette's family.  As it got closer & closer to the first night, we started getting nervous, as we did not want to end up with nowhere to go.    About 3 days before the Seder, Evette called her cousins only to find out they would not be travelling this year due to illness.  Oh no!  What do we do now?  She called her cousin in Netanya, but she was going to someone else's home.  I called my friends in Hertzilia.  That sounded like a definite possibility, but they called the next day to say that his parents were not well & they were travelling to Haifa to see them.  Oy, what now?  We put out a few hints to several people, but no bites.  We felt it was too last minute to try to include ourselves with the RRC folks.  That evening (2 nights before Seder) Evette sees this email from Rabbi Goldfarb, the Director of the Conservative Yeshiva: 

Are you looking for a different Seder experience?

Ada and I will be conducting Seder at a shelter for battered women and their children here in Jerusalem.  There will be some 15 women (mostly Ethiopian and Russian) and lots of small kids.

If any student/s would like to join us, particularly in order to work with the kids during the "text" part that would be a big help.  This will not be a typical Seder evening; the Seder itself will not be exactly like what we teach in Liturgy class.  But it hopefully gives these women and children something.  The food is kosher l'pesach, of course.

Anyone who is interested in more information, please contact me.

Wow, what an opportunity.  Perhaps our plans fell through because this is what we were meant to do?  Evette called the Rabbi to see if it was too late.  Maybe he had enough volunteers?  Well, he was delighted as no one else had volunteered.  So, that was that.  We were going to help run a Seder at the battered women's shelter run by WIZO, one of Israel's major women's organizations.  The plan was that we would all be together for the beginning and end of the Seder, but the middle part, which is the telling of the story & is more text-like, Evette & I would do something separate with the children.  Since we had no idea of how the shelter was set up or what would be available or anything about the children, etc... we called to see if it was possible to visit the day before.  So, the next day, we went to meet with their children's program staff person.  I'm glad that she spoke English so I could ask lots of questions about shelter guidelines, programming, etc...  I won't bore you all with the details, but don't worry fellow Laurel House colleagues, I'll tell you all about it when I return.  We did get to see some of the mom's & their kids, which was good because then we were not total strangers when we returned. 

When we got home from the visit, Evette started planning activities.  Unfortunately, I was not much help because the children did not speak any English.  She planned out an interactive activity around the 10 plagues.  She printed out pictures depicting each individual plague & colored each one in by hand.  Again, I was not helpful as I was always teased that I cannot color & stay in the lines. 

The evening of the Seder, we arrive at the shelter and go up to their "dining room."  I could not believe my eyes.  There is a very long, u-shaped table set like we had arrived at a fancy restaurant.  Each of the 45 place settings was beautifully set.  There were flowers on the tables. There were lovely set Seder plates with all the appropriate items placed every 6-8 seats.  The woman & children slowly started entering the room.  It was neat to see the look of recognition we saw on some of their faces from just having seen us the day before.  The families were from all over the world; Ethiopia, India, Russia, Philippines, a few Israeli's and an Arab woman with her son.      
The Seder was lovely.  Several of the children sang the 4 questions together.  When Evette & I took the children to do the activity, they really seemed to enjoy it.  One boy played the role of Pharaoh & 10 of the children each got a page with a plague on it & came up when it was time for that plague in the story.  They really seemed to enjoy it.  Okay, well, maybe a few of them preferred climbing up on top of the very tall bookshelf & trying to push the little one's off, but mostly, they enjoyed it.

So then it was time for dinner.  Again, it was like a restaurant.  I said to Evette that they must have had it catered.  Several of the women got up from the tables & started bringing out platter after platter after platter of chicken & pot roast & meatballs & stuffed peppers & numerous varieties of vegetables & potatoes & rice, etc...  And each & every item was delicious!  I asked the woman sitting next to me "where did you get the food?" (in Hebrew, of course).  She told me that several of the women in the shelter cooked everything themselves.  Wow!! 
Another thing I found to be remarkable, was that each & every woman in the shelter participated regardless of whether or not she was Jewish.  After the Seder concluded & we were preparing to go home, women kept coming up to us & thanking us.  The woman from India also spoke English.  We chatted for several minutes & she was so touched to hear that this was what I do for a living at home & this is how we chose to spend our holiday.  It was truly an experience that cannot fully be described.  Evette & I were blessed to be able to perform this mitzvah.  I will carry that with me forever.   

 
April 21, 2008

Fight erupts in Jerusalem church
JERUSALEM, -Yahoo News Alert: - Israeli police had to break up a fist fight that erupted between Greek and Armenian Orthodox clergymen at one of Christianity`s holiest sites.

The scuffles broke out at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on Orthodox Palm Sunday.

Brawls are not uncommon at the church, which is uneasily shared by various Christian denominations.

In this case, witnesses say an Armenian priest forcibly ejected a Greek priest from an area near the tomb of Jesus.

They say the attacker felt the Greek priest had spent too long at the tomb.

When police arrived to break up the fight, some were reportedly beaten back by worshippers using palm fronds.

Two Armenians were detained by police, prompting supporters to stage a rally in protest outside the police station.

Rivalry between the six different churches which grudgingly share the Holy Sepulchre dates back to the aftermath of the crusades and to the great schism between Eastern and Western Christianity in the 11th Century.

Each denomination controls, and jealously guards, its own section of the labyrinthine site.

April 22, 2008
 
This morning, Evette & I went on a guided bus tour along the separation barrier of the Palestinian Territories in Jerusalem.  They call this area the Jerusalem Envelope.  One quarter of Jerusalem's Palestinian population, approximately 55,000 residents are separated from the city as a result of construction of the separation barrier.   We drove through several neighborhoods including Beit Hanina, Jabal Mukabar, Abu Dis, Sheikh Jarrah, Shuafat Refugee Camp, Neve Ya'akov, A Ram plus a few others.   The areas we drove through or stopped in are circled on this map.  We drove pretty much right along the barrier route, which is marked in red on this map.  
 
We went through one of the checkpoints & 2 soldiers/border guards boarded our bus & walked down the aisle checking us all out & then exited the bus. 
 
In the Palestinian areas shut out by the barrier, they are still required to pay taxes to the Israeli government.  One of the neighborhoods, Jabul Mukabar doesn't even have schools for the children.  This is also the village where that terrorist came from that did the attack on the Yeshiva.
 
I could go on & on & write about each of the Palestinian villages, but that would take a lot of time & a lot of space.  If you are interested, you can look most of them up on Wikipedia.
 
The key in deciding upon this tour with Ir Amin, as opposed to tours offered with other organizations, was the tour guide, who himself, was a Zionist born in this country.  He served proudly in the Israeli army & continued serving his country as a Police Officer.  Although he still holds strongly to Zionist ideals & believes in a strong Israel, he does see that there are mistakes which urgently need to be corrected.   It is with this sense of urgency that he performs his work with the organization, Ir Amin. 
 
The tour was quite informative & moving.  It brought up so many feelings for me that I cannot express them into words.   
 
April 22, 2008

For 10 months, on almost a nightly basis, we hear fireworks from our apartment.  Remember, in one of my first entries, I told you about when Evette left me alone for the first time at night & I called her hysterically because I thought we were being bombed?  Well, after 10 months, I actually got to SEE the fireworks.  We were walking home from a film at the Cinemateque & there they were.  They were really beautiful & there weren't a lot of duds like we get at home.

Song quote:
Another day goes by and still the children cry. Put a little love in your heart.
If you want the world to know, we won't let hatred grow.
Put a little love in your heart.
And the world will be a better place for you and me.