December 2006 Days One and Two

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Shabbat has ended, very full day. It began at Ben Gurion airport in Lod (near Tel Aviv). I arrived first, and then waited for the two other families from Temple Beth El. They flew from Newark; me -- from JFK. Won't bore you with flight details, suffice it to say that I made it along with 4 duffels of stuffed bears and children's clothes which are donations for children in Israel. The bears were collected by Amanda B., the clothes by temple members (thanks Nursery School!) And in spite of some last minute fooling around by Continental Airlines, the whole Paster family made it on the plane!

As I waited for the Beth El folks to arrive (I was an hour earlier), Chanukah began -- last night. Some airport workers pulled out a chanukiah (menorah) and lit it. Unfortunately, by the time we got to the hotel (easy transfer to Jerusalem) it was too late to light our own chanukiah. It was already Shabbat.

We checked in at the Dan Panorama (if you've been to Israel in earlier years you may know it as the Moriah.) Very convenient. Also, very very full this week. Lots of rabbis in town with groups. We had dinner (as all groups do) at the hotel. Hoped we'd meet up with the rest of our group -- there are 4 other households: one from Baltimore, one from P.E.I. Canada, and two from different parts of Virginia. Altogether we are 9 children and 13 adults, plus our educator/guide -- Ziv Cohen. Two of the other families did have dinner with us, but two others are staying at a different hotel - about a five minute walk, and had to eat at their hotel. First time we were all finally together was at 12:30 on Saturday, when we began our walking tour of part of the Old City with Ziv.

Saturday morning we were all in various degrees of alertness -- and jet lag. I got a full night's sleep, others not so lucky. A few of us went to H.U.C. for Shabbat services; others hung out. Some went to the Israel Museum. It was a rainy day -- which they need badly here in Jerusalem. We had umbrellas out until about 1:30 pm. Not so terrible, but it was cold.....brrr......in the 40's with wind chill.

Well, I'm turning this blog over to David Stamberg, who will share his "first-timer's" impressions of our afternoon of touring. Enjoy and read on:



From David Stamberg: We met our guide Ziv outside the Joffa gate. There, the impact of being in Jerusalem began to settle in as he told us about the many rulers of the city. So many people over so many years walked where we were about to go. Although I did wonder where Orlando Bloom defended the city from the Moslem army in "Kingdom of Heaven."

Before doing anything, though, Rachel was hungry. Upon entering the gate we found something called a Baygele. It was huge but not too heavy and very good with a spicy flavoring added on. I don't think you can find one of them at Cresskill bagels! I am attaching a picture of Rachel eating one.

Our first stop inside the city was the Fortress of David's Tower. It was not built by King David but like many things in Jerusalem, its named after him. We saw an animated history of all of the various habitants and conquerors of Jerusalem. At that moment, I was feeling like everything that I learned in Religious School, Junior High School and High School was slowly (and I mean slowly) coming back to me.

We went to the top of the tower and the impact of where we were became even greater as we had an incredible view of the city. We saw the Mosque with the Golden Dome that was built on the site of the first Temple, the Church of the Sepulchre (where Jesus was crucified) and beyond the old city, Mount Scopus. It was separate from the rest of Israeli Jerusalem in 1948 and it was defended for twenty years by smuggling in soldiers. That was during the beginnings of the Israeli Army, the Hagganah. It was a spectacular view, even on a cloudy day.

When we left the Tower we went to the Arab market. Rabbi Hachen had me buy candy for Rachel (what a healthy diet for her today, a bagel on steroids and Arab candy). I was surprised by the amount of Judaica sold in these various shops but we are going to do our shopping tomorrow in the Jewish quarter.

We tried a hot, tea-like drink with coconut and cinnamon that Nina loved and you can't find in Starbucks. (Debby's note: called Sachla.)

When we left the city, we saw the walls from different views and saw a pool from the Hellenic time that was a reservoir. We also saw the entrance to the first Jewish community built outside the old city it goes back to the mid-19th century. The philanthropist that supported it was Sir Moses Montefiore, an Italian Jew from Great Britain. He wanted to give the Jews of Jerusalem better living standards.

In the beginning of the day we said the Shehechiyanu outside the Joffa Gate and overlooking the city Ziv read some poems about the different sights. Reality set in one more time as we could see the security wall that Israel is building to separate some Arab villages from Jerusalem.

So far Israel has been a tremendous sensation. Forget about vacationing to see where our ancestors came from thousands of years vs playing golf in Florida, how about no Christmas decorations, only Hannukah! There is lots of security here but it is comforting, not the opposite. Can't wait to go to the Jewish quarter tomorrow.

D.S.

Well -- Debby here again. After we got back to 4:30 pm to the hotel, we had a talk by Rabbi David Forman, one of the founders of Rabbis for Human Rights. He reviewed for us the issues facing Israel in terms of Jewish/Jewish internal relations, Jewish/Moslem, and Jewish/Christian. Interesting. Some folks from another temple joined us. Then all went off to dinner at various places, and I met up with the rabbi who was picking up the bags of "stuffed bears" for tzedaka (charity). Then I went off to dinner with my brother (lives in Israel) and my nephew who is studying in a Yeshiva for a year before starting university in the U.S. Now it's almost midnight, but Sunday's blog will wait for tomorrow. Laila tov, good night!

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