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B'chol zot heeganu lamrot hakol! - We arrived, in spite of it all! The journey to Israel was OK. Following a great win of our beloved Boston Red Sox (curse reversed!) against the Twins, we drove from Boston to JFK for our flight. Some guys asked Adam to join them for Mincha – thank goodness for my blackberry b/c that’s what he used to daven! It looked like there weren’t going to be a lot of people on the flight, but now we realize they just must have been hiding somewhere. Anyway, our seats were right in front of the bathroom, which meant they didn’t go back all the way. That was annoying. Then a religious woman came and was supposed to sit in our row. The only way that could happen is if Adam and I sat in the middle 2 seats (we were in the row of 4 in the middle) so that there was a nice guy next to him (who was making aliyah) and this woman next to me. She was nice and it was fine, but I was annoyed of course. I really wanted to tell her that the great act of kindness she had been paid (by me) was by a Conservative female rabbi. But I held back. She probably figured it out. My favorite moment of the trip was when she went to the bathroom and took off her hair. J We landed, found our luggage, and found a sherut to Jerusalem (which we had to be the last stop, to our great luck! OY. But it was a great free tour of Jerusalem’s neighborhoods!). Our hotel (Dan Pan) is fine. Our view is of Mapu Street – where I stayed with my family a few years ago! Our first night we went to Ben Yehuda Street, where Adam had a schwarma and I had a felafel. A great welcome to Israel!
Friday began with a delicious Israeli breakfast. Then we went to Yad Vashem, the redone Holocaust Memorial. It was very crowded but of course very important to see. We ran into cousins Stacy and Matthew there! Adam and I explored the grounds of Vad Vashem, all of the extra memorials, but somehow we got off the path and found ourselves on the main road, trying to get back to the entrance building where we had left our bag. We had to walk a whole lot, even an Israeli guard thought we should find transportation, but we made it and while we had to walk through the outside gate again (that’s how far away we were), we got back. I ran into Cindy F from JTS (now in Chicago) and Eran R who was an Israeli mishlachat with me at Camp Ramah in Canada years ago. He was Cindy’s tour guide for her program – small world, only in Israel! After Yad Vashem we walked up to Har Herzl and found the graves of the leaders like Rabin and Teddy Koleck, the soldiers, etc. Then we took a cab to Machaneh Yehudah where we bought challot and of course rugulach for Shabbat (and great desserts for our Shabbat meals). There we met cousins Stacy, Michael, Matthew, and Audrey. We took them on a “5 minute” (Israeli style, so a bit longer) walk to The Village Green for a delicious lunch. Then we said goodbye to them and walked down Jaffa to find the new Mamilla Mall. Not easy to find – we almost gave up. But we found it, walked around a bit, and wondered who would really shop there. I guess rich Israelis because I think foreigners can get these things for cheaper at home. Still, it was very cool to see these stores and then see the Old City in the background. Adam is standing in front of a store called Reuma – Marette’s Hebrew name – so we thought that was neat. After a rest, we went to Shira Chadasha, the modern Orthodox shul, for Friday night services. There we saw tons of Conservative rabbis I know, but I couldn’t say hi because they were on the other side of the mechitza! Sarah A was there – great to see her. Luciana and Alon and Sima (her mother) and Beni (their son) were there. I stood in the back with Lu – so much fun to watch Beni play. At one point someone in charge of the minyan came up to me and asked if I was the official greeter of the night! I said no, just a guest. We decided I must just have that look! Shabbat dinner was fantastic. We connected with Jimmy and Miriam, Alan’s cousin, and were treated to a family, relaxed Shabbat time. There were many languages spoken at this dinner – English, Hebrew, and French. It was quite international! Adam loved the kubeh – a Moroccan dumpling. We had a beautiful walk home on Emek Refaim. Shabbat Shalom, Yerushalayim.
Early wakeup, quick breakfast (where we met people on a tour from the shul in Glastonbury, CT), and then a long walk to Kol Haneshama, the Reform center. Yes, a Reform shul – we wanted to try it! We were there at 8:55 AM because we thought it started at 9. It starts at 9:15. While we waited, someone came up to me and started to ask me questions about the shul – again, I guess I have that look! Shul was interesting. Adam and I used one of their creative/alternative siddurim and also our own Rinat Yisrael. The shul does great things. While I didn’t love seeing people in jeans, men without kippot and tallitot on the bima, and we both thought the group aliyot were strange (all grandparents, then all aunts/uncles, then all cousins, then all friends, all new students, all guests, then the parents of the bat mitzvah), it was truly a mitzvah for these secular Israelis to have the opportunity to mark the special occasion. So we experienced it, sang “Kol Haneshama” with all our hearts, and I noted as the Torah came around in the procession that I hadn’t been on that side of the procession in a while! And it was a Reform service – but all in Hebrew! We walked with Luciana and Sima and Beni to their apartment in the beautiful new buildings in Talpiyot. Very cool. Beni and I became friends – so did Beni and Adam. Beni is adorable – it was so much fun. Lunch was great – this time the languages were English, Hebrew, and Portuguese! We had a lot of fun, then went home to take a quick nap before going up to our pool. That was about 3:30 PM. By 8 PM we woke up! Ooops! I guess the jet lag and exhaustion from the flight caught up with us. Saturday night we ate a delicious dinner at Café Rimon in the center of the city (onion soup there is the best) and walked around a lot, shopping, looking. Of course, we stopped in to visit the Kippah Man, who immediately remembered me (with our code, “Abba Gabba”). We ran into Rami and Lu and Alon. We enjoyed frozen yogurt with fruit and chocolate mushed in (more than mushed – crushed into oblivion). A wonderful day.
Due to our late night Saturday, we slept in on Sunday. Eventually we had breakfast at Cup-a-Joe and then went to Pomerantz booksellers. Boy, did we have fun there! They are so wonderful, so helpful, so giving. Oh – on the way to Pomerantz, someone tapped my shoulder. Turns out she remembers me from high school and USY and says I haven’t changed. Weird! Anyway, we had a lot to carry, so we schlepped back to the hotel with our goods then took a cab to the Old City (it is close, but we were tired – ok, I was lazy). We walked through the Christian quarter to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. It was beautiful and very crowded. Then we found our way to the Cardo, did some shopping there (Adam bought me a beautiful necklace!) and then to the Kotel, where we ran into Martha and Larry from Beth El, and I had another encounter with someone who remembered me, Sarah B and her husband Rabbi Josh. Crazy – and again, only in Israel! We went right to the Kotel tunnel tour. There were some very cool parts of this tour – seeing an interactive model of the Kotel plaza, seeing the Western Wall at a deeper point, and being near the Kodesh haKodashim. But the rest of it was a bit long, claustrophobic, and boring (that’s because I’m not so into archeology). The weirdest part of the tour was the end when we emerged from the tunnels, deep in the Muslim quarter, and we were escorted by armed guards back to the Kotel. Personally, I have been lost in that area many times and have lived to tell the tale, so I’m not scared to be there (once I practiced my Arabic – shukran!), but it was embarrassing to stand there with guards and guns (the guy had his hand on the trigger the whole time). In my mind, the message was one of distrust, and it was not friendly. Sarah says it’s the government’s way of saying we have the right to be here and to protect ourselves. Interesting. I’m sure we can all discuss that at some point! So we made it back to the Kotel, where Adam and I parted, each davened mincha, placed notes, prayed, etc. I’m always torn – is it a holy place or just a brick wall? In any case, the day continued with a visit to Rhea, our kippah lady. She just turned 89 and is so precious. We bought beautiful kippot, saw pictures from her granddaughter’s wedding, her daughter’s trip to India, and met her grandson. We told her to get ready for the women of Beth El – she’s very excited for our trip. Then we went on a very long walk (mostly because the ATMs in Rhea’s area didn’t accept our foreign credit cards so we had very little money!), we stopped at Beit Nativ for pictures, and then made it to Burgers Bar on Emek Refaim for a delicious and huge burger. Sarah met us there for a bit. We walked home, full and exhausted from a very long day.
Monday morning we took a local Jerusalem bus to the Central Bus Station (viewing the new bridge of strings) then boarded an inter-city bus to Rehovot. When we went to buy the bus tickets, the man thought Adam was a minor! He asked me how old he was. Of course, I’m terrible with numbers, so I said 82, meaning 28, even though he’s 29. I was so confused! The guy behind us jumped in, saying, give her an extra discount, she’s wearing a kipa! Oh yah, what’s it like wearing a kipa all the time in Israel? Fun for me. People stare. Very few ask me anything directly. A few store people have commented, either sharing that they used to be religious or asking what seminary I was ordained at. It’s easier when I wear a black kipa, not my white or pink with butterflies, or my new kippot from Rhea (one is pink with a Wedgewood design, one is metallic sparkly, and one is a very unique rendition of the bush from the JTS logo). Anyway, it was nice to be on the bus, a good chance to read/sleep. From the station in Rehovot we caught a cab and found Park HaMada, which is also known as Har HaKibbutzim, and the place of Machon Ayalon, the Ayalon Institute. So many Israelis don’t even know about this place! There we had a very cool tour of the secret bullet factory that they created in the 1940’s to trick the British and supply the Haganah with bullets. It was a great tour. Very interesting, especially since I’m reading (rereading actually) Ruth Gruber’s Raquela, A Woman of Israel, which describes the same time period. From Rehovot a return trip back home (with bad-for-you borekas in the bus station while we waited) and then all the way to our hotel. Elisabeth came by to visit and we had a lobby date with her. Then we went downtown and met Ben and Shira for dinner at Ticho House. We ate outside, trying different dishes and sharing everything. It was great and so wonderful to catch up. There was a wedding happening in the courtyard right by where we ate, so after dinner we watched the huppah and sang and danced (not actually in the wedding though) for a bit. Ayzeh kef! Adam and I went on to Ben Yehudah street for more shopping and ended the night with a chocolate crepe.
(note, written on the day, but posted later, but I’m too lazy to change the tenses of this post, so it’s read as is).So maybe you’re wondering how I’ve had so much time to write all of these blog updates. The water or something finally caught up to me. I’ve been sick since 3 AM (almost called my Ima at that hour to whine, but woke Adam instead). So we cancelled our trip to Tel Aviv and sadly cancelled our tour of the Palmach museum. I’m sad, but it’s reason to already start planning another trip! J So for now we’re just hanging in the room. Adam went to the supermarket by himself and bought me crackers and vitamin water and bananas and soft toilet paper (you know Israel……) and I think after a few rounds of Pepto I may be on the mend. But we’re both exhausted. So we’ll see what happens next but for now we’re staying close to home. Not so bad though if you’re calling Jerusalem home! J This day has continued as above, not getting better yet. Bought Israeli product called “Stop It” to see if that works and instead of Gatorade, they give you powder to shake in water. Gross. The day has been mostly in the room, sleeping, taking a bath, etc, with Adam as my wonderful nurse. I made it to Ben Yehuda for a few hours. I bought Adam a custom-made leather belt and ate a lemon Artik (popsicle) while he had a felafel. But besides that and a roll of bread, I’m just sitting here. Not a fun way to spend a day of our trip. I’m hoping tomorrow to be back to normal! Adam just ran out for something to eat for him and then we’ll watch a movie. Israeli television is boring – even though most of it is just old US television. Watched Young and the Restless today – twice. And Bold and the Beautiful but it was dubbed over in Italian! Crazy day. Tomorrow and forever, we’re on to bottled water only!
So glad to be relatively human again, Wednesday began with a walk to Yad Lekashish. But I always get lost trying to find it, so first we went to Yirmiyahu’s (when I realized that’s where we were) and bought a beautiful tablecloth (we hope it fits) and netilat yadayim towels. Then to Yad Lekashish, where we received a very warm welcome. Anat, who works in the embroidery room where I used to volunteer, immediately recognized me and wanted me to sing like I used to do for the ladies. Nope. She loved our kippot from Rhea and took them around to show people! We toured around a bit but the people weren’t as into talking with us as they used to be. So then we shopped. And we shopped. A nice way to support an important mitzvah. We left and covered up, then walked to Meah Shearim (despite signs that clearly stated visitors were not welcome) and we stopped at the Olive Wood Factory (but bought nothing!). Then we walked all the way home for a quick rest. Oh, on the way, we stopped at the Conservative Center so I could find David K. That was fun. My claim to fame when he introduced me to others was that my sister is engaged to Aviva’s brother – go, go Yaf! Nice yiches. Adam and David had a nice talk about music and we got some good ideas for our next trip to Israel together – hopefully an elongated study time for both of us. After a brief stop at the hotel to change clothes (I could no longer be so covered up), we met Yitz and a very pregnant Shosh for lunch at Dolce back in the city. Delicious salad – and I think I stomached it. But if feels very snobby to refuse tap water! For dinner on Wednesday we were picked up by Adam’s relatives, Shaul and Sandy Erez, who brought us to their home in Ramot. We had a very nice time together, enjoying their BBQ and hearing family stories. Adam and I went out much later for a late-night hot chocolate at Cuppa Joe, and we were dismayed to note that Israelis are less likely to ask me about my kippah, but more likely to comment on it or laugh with others. I wonder what that says about society, about people’s self-esteem or about communication skills. Ten years ago I was challenged daily and entered into wonderful conversations. So what’s happened? Anyway, I don’t like when people laugh at the kippah – so I stare them down, of course!
Thursday was our one tiyul (trip) to Tzfat. Sarah Allen was our driver/tour guide/companion and it was great fun. We got an early start, drove about 3 hours (over the green line, she announced, as we could see Jordan!), and arrived in beautiful Tzfat. We shopped (of course) but didn’t find too much. I bought a watercolor painting and we went to the candle factory. The cheese factory was closed. We also went into some of the shuls briefly. A quick slice of pizza for lunch. Then we drove a bit, saw the Mount of Beatitudes (i.e. the place where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount), and walked in Rosh Pina, then went to Tiberias for a fish dinner right on the water – gorgeous view of the Kinneret! I had Mousht (St. Peter’s fish). Adam had trout with almonds – his was great. I was a bit more freaked out than I wanted to be by the fish’s bones, eyes, etc. But as they say, lo nora, it wasn’t terrible. Then we drove home and went to Café Hillel for a late dessert and hot chocolate. So yummy!
