The Jewish Jerusalem
Trip Start
Sep 17, 2007
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210
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Trip End
Oct 08, 2008
Jerusalem,
Israel
Monday, June 30, 2008
I'd wandered in and out of the Jewish quarter regularly. Our favorite grocery was at the end of the Jewish Quarter Road. We'd also been to the Wall a few times. It's hard to miss. And of course we made our stay in Jerusalem long on purpose just to go to the Wall for Shabbat. The Western (Wailing) Wall, that is. And Jerusalem is full of men with yarmulkes and side curls. And women with head scarves, button-down blouses, and skirts. As I said...you can always see the Jewish Jerusalem.
In all my wanderings, however, I rarely found anything architecturally Jewish
Jerusalem from Yad Vashem
. On the way to the grocery store in the mornings I passed a synagogue where men wore all kinds of crazy clothes I didn't understand, but the synagogue pretty much consisted solely of a door in a lengthy wall, remarkable for nothing except the Jewish men coming and going with their prayer gear. I still haven't learned exactly what the shawls are for, but the little things - boxes with Hebrew on them - they tie on their heads and arms are words to remind both head and heart that God is one. On my way to the grocery I was supposed to have passed a great arch that was all that remained of an old synagogue, but I never found it. Until Shmuel, that is.
We started in the New City, at the municipal building that presently resides in the Russian neighborhood. Shmuel took us quickly through the Christian quarter, explained about the walls, about the organization of the buildings (the French chose to build right next to the walls to cover up the Russian buildings), and so on. We climbed up to the roof walk. Just above King David St. is another road that plays host to several hostels. Ye Olde Hostels were once the Protestant section of the Old City, which was fine, except that they were also apparently one of the few areas in Jerusalem that provided health care
pillar of heroes courtyard
. Since the Jewish areas didn't, many Jews began to go to the Protestant sector for treatment, but the Jewish leaders saw this as a problem since Christians invariably try to convert Jews. They then ordered that anyone who died in a Christian hospital would be refused a Jewish burial, and this was so abhorrent that it stopped the flow of people, and I think Jews built some of their own hospitals. Resulting in a present Jerusalem with more health care than it knows what to do with. We continued meandering through the Jewish Quarter. Many of the places we stopped at were no more imposing than the synagogue I passed almost daily. A square was full of Jews playing and enjoying their Shabbat. It was all quite lovely.
At the edge of the Jewish Quarter are four Sephardic synagogues, one of which has a chair and a horn and a lamp for the messiah (in Hebrew this word is pronounced meh-SHEE-ah). When the messiah comes he will blow the horn and light the lamp. I believe the temple will also be rebuilt and some other important things will happen. I really learned how unsatisfactory my Jewish knowledge was on this trip. There's always more reading to do.
The temple...first there was one, and when it was destroyed there was another
pillar of heroes
. The Second Temple period seems to be the longest, and it was during this period that Jesus was born, and he would have attended this temple. The Jews got kicked out of the Kingdom of Israel by an invading dynasty, the temple was destroyed and modern history was set into motion. The Western Wall is all that remains of the Second Temple, and it is truly only the section that you see because the other side of the wall that faces west is new. So the wall looks pretty much like a wall, but it's a really, really old wall. And somewhere I read Jews face it when they pray, so it's really, really important as well. On Shabbat we made our way down to the wall around 6, thinking that the action would have started. At first it was no different than it had been on Monday. In fact, yesterday, Thursday, was much more exciting. We nevertheless waited patiently. While peering down from the square we noticed three guys wearing garish American flag shirts. Odd, I thought, but I guess if you were going to wear a shirt like that the Jewish Quarter would be the safest place in the Middle East to do it. Then Travis leaned over and said, "What day is it?"
"Thursday."
"But what is the date?"
"The fourth..."
Shaking his head he led me one step further: "And what is the month?"
Still didn't get it: "July..."
"Put it all together, Erin."
So we had a Shabbatastic Fourth of July
Yad Vashem
.I went into the women's section and had my moment with the wall. But I'd have to say if you're going to go down to the wall Shabbat is not the best day. I felt too much like I was invading someone else's holy space. It's much better to watch the goings-on of Shabbat from the square. Shabbat begins at sundown on Friday and ends an hour after sunset on Saturday. During that time Israel (Jerusalem in particular) shuts down.
While I was down at the wall a group of women was dancing and singing while other women carried their prayer books and swayed back and forth as they touched the wall. When I emerged the same was happening on the men's side, and there were now more men, Hasidic Jews, wearing their special Shabbat garb and crowding down toward the wall. By seven-thirty, when I left to start dinner, there were at least three groups of singing and dancing men, and the wall was several feet deep with Jewish holy men while the other Jewish men clustered about tables with their prayer books and swayed and prayed. Travis stayed a little longer, thinking that something was going to happen (it seemed a bit disorganized yet with a hint of expectance), but nothing actually did. The entire area was jam-packed and more people kept coming. It was the most incredible sight, and a happier worship experience I have yet to see
Temple Mount
. Unfortunately for all of you readers, we're not allowed to take photos on Shabbat, so you'll just have to go check it out for yourselves. No Jewish experience would be complete without a Holocaust museum. It's true, if only because the violence of it was possibly the number one action that spurred the Zionist movement to take Israel. We study the Holocaust, we read books written by survivors. I've been to the Holocaust museum in Washington, DC twice (once is generally sobering enough), but we were in Israel and we had to go to Yad Vashem. I'm glad we did. As a museum it was quite well-presented (although there's always too much stuff to look at and process in a reasonable amount of time). As a narrative it was informative, and personal stories played constantly to involve the viewer in the lives of real people who really experienced the Holocaust. The stories weren't exactly new for us, but I was personally enamored of the video clips they had processed, because those historical tidbits are more difficult to find and preserve than leaflets, flags, and photos. So even if you've read every book there is there's still something for you to experience at Yad Vashem.
We emerged from the exhibits into the Hall of Names, an ongoing project that seeks to identify every individual killed in the Holocaust
new city, old city
. You can fill out paperwork if you know someone and you don't think they're recognized. It's an immense room filled with books, which are in turn filled with names and photos. From the doom and gloom the visitor walks out to a balcony to find a panoramic view of Jerusalem. From the beginning, a collage of scenes from European pre-Holocaust Jewish life, through the ugliness of the Holocaust, the visitor walks, finally emerging to the new hope and life of the Jewish people. It's very deliberate and very evocative. There are other points of interest at the museum, some of which are emotionally charged and others merely making statements. But the very best part, the most incredible memorial I've ever seen, was the Children's Memorial. 1.5 million children died during the Holocaust, and this memorial cites every one that's been identified - name, place of birth, and age at death. We walked from the sunny garden down through a tunnel and into a room filled with infinite pricks of candle light. The memorial was cleverly designed so that a few candles in the centre of the room are reflected throughout so that whereever you look there's light as far as you can see, and you walk through it while listening to the names of all the children. Amazing.
But Jewish life in Jerusalem isn't all about religion and the Holocaust
Israel
. As Travis and I wandered about the city we ran into people going about their business just like anybody. Malls and boutiques were like home. One thing, though, that said "I'm Israel" and was totally different from any Western country - soldiers always carrying their guns. Compulsory military service in Israel means that all the young adults are put together and have an opportunity to bond in a specifically Israeli fashion. Still, I don't think I'd ever get used to a group of 18-year-olds sitting at a table in the mall's food court balancing their guns on their laps because they're never allowed to leave them behind. It's a different world. Erin
Comments
Funny you should mention
About the Hall of Names -- Katie's just started working at the Red Cross this summer on the US-end of the project, and she runs through international RC databases all day trying to match requests up with records, survivors' recollections, etc.