Well, I don't know if I can truly, adequately express my experiences visiting Jerusalem. Anyone who knows me is well aware of the fact that I am not the most religious of people, but still what an experience.
I spent the day on my own with a tour guide who was quite a character indeed (she was Jewish, a scholar of Christianity with a Masters Degree in Biblical Studies, and her cousin was Mayor of the West Bank). The first thing Ruthie told me was that she was going to drive me through the West Bank on our way to Jerusalem, right by Ramallah and through the Palestinian territories. And her first question for me was "You're not frightened are you?" To which I immediately replied, "No. Should I be?" And of course her answer was no.
But that was how the day started.
Ruthie drove me through the West Bank, where I saw the wall being constructed between the Palestinian settlements and the Israeli territories. We drove through the check points and everything. I have to say, what a sad state to see things in. I mean it's almost as if they're reconstructing the Berlin Wall right in Israel. It divides families, it creates tension between the two groups. It's terrible.
After that we made our way through the hills into the outskirts of Jerusalem and stopped on Mount of Olives to see the Garden of Gethsemane which was the garden where, according to the New Testament
and Christian traditions, Jesus and his disciples retreated to pray after the Last Supper. Right next to it stands the Church of All Nations, a Catholic church that has a section of bedrock where Jesus is said to have prayed before the night of his arrest. What's interesting about this church is that is clearly built in the Renaissance style and in fact was built by an Italian architect. Once you walk inside it takes a few minutes for your eyes to adjust but then you see these gorgeous purple stained glass windows. Really beautiful. I of course was surrounded by tourists from around the world with camcorders and flashing cameras so it kind of took away from the moment, but it was beautiful nonetheless.
After leaving the church and garden we stopped at an overlook on Mt. of Olives to view the city. Now, as I said, I am not a particularly religious person so looking down on Jerusalem was not a religious experience of sorts, but it was pretty awe inspiring to see this city that has been built up and torn down, conquered and revived so many times over the millennia. You can truly see the division between the bricks in the wall as the city was broken and refortified by each new civilization that took it over. From where we stood I was right above the largest, oldest Jewish cemetery in Jerusalem, where great Jewish scholars and rabbis from the 15th century on are buried. It is important for very religious Jews because it is on Mt. of Olives from which God is supposed to redeem the dead at the end of days.
After leaving Mt. of Olives, we went down to the old city of Jerusalem (less the 1 square mile in total area) and followed a group of young Israeli officer candidates into the walls of the city. I was fascinated to see these young kids, the same age as so many U.S. soldiers, in full military garb, carrying very large weapons and wearing designer sunglasses. It's just a normal part of growing up for them. I can't even imagine it.
But anyway, when we finally made it into the old city I was starving! So Ruthie treated me to a bagel (Israeli style and nothing like what you'd find in NYC) and this green herb mixture called Za'atar which has oregano, marjoram and sumac in it. So delicious. You can put this mixture on bread, meats, tomatos, pretty much anything.
If you want to try it out you can make your own with this recipe:
Za'atar:
- 1/4 cup sumac
- 2 tablespoons thyme
- 1 tablespoon roasted sesame seeds
- 2 tablespoons marjoram
- 2 tablespoons oregano
- 1 teaspoon coarse salt
Grind the sesame seeds in food processor or with mortar and pestle. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
Store za'atar in a cool, dark place in a plastic zip bag or in an airtight container. It will last this way about 3-6 months if you can wait that long!
After my mid-morning snack we wandered through most of the major sites of Jerusalem, the Temple Mount and the Western Wall (that's me in front of it), the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where I managed to bash my head trying to exit Christ's tomb, (yes I'm just that talented), and I saw the Dome of the Rock but of course I couldn't go in because I am not Muslim. We wound our way through the Arab, Christian and Jewish quarters. It was incredible to see how the feel of the city would change as you moved from one quarter to another. In one street I felt like I could have been in Istanbul or Morocco (not that I've been to those markets yet), and down another there was peace and quiet. A totally different feeling every time you turned the corner.
The last stop of the day was at Yad Vashem, the Israeli Holocaust Museum. I've been to the memorial in D.C. and it was incredibly powerful, in some ways even better done than the museum in Jerusalem. Somehow seeing the museum in Israeli made the experience even more overwhelming. Not that that I believe in violence as a means of resolution, but I understand why so many ordinary Israeli's feel so strongly about fighting for and defending their home. Possibly the most incredible part of the exhibit was the children's memorial. You walk into this very dark, softly lit space, and all around you is the voice of a woman reciting names and ages and home towns. The faces of the children who perished are floating in the walls around you. It's breathtaking and heartrending.
Ruthie told me afterwards that if you were to hear a name and you wanted to hear it again you would need to stay in the memorial 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for two years before that name would be spoken again.
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That night I went out to dinner by myself and dined down at the port. I was sitting there, just kind of people watching at this seafood restaurant I found, when all of a sudden this deaf man came up and plopped two little beanie baby type of stuffed animals on my table. I looked at him but he just moved on to the next table where the couple next to me practically forced them back on him. I of course looked at them at this point (they had been speaking English through their entire meal) and said: How exactly do I get rid of these? To which they replied don't worry he'll just come back and pick them up from the table. Well this was the
entrée I needed to start up a conversation, which I did and they did and all of a sudden I was sharing their dessert and found myself with an invitation to visit Vienna from a UN political scientist.
She was fascinating by the way. Originally Hungarian she and her family had been forced to leave the country as refugees when she was in her early teens and had been stateless for a number of years. Her family ended up in Austria where they government ultimately gave her citizenship. She's been there ever since, raised her family there and now is doing analysis of micro-finance programs among Iraqi refugees. And her dinner companion was an interesting guy who had moved to Tel Aviv as a photo journalist. I tell you, the people I meet on this trip are truly unbelievable. And I mean that in the best possible way.
Oh, and before I forget, the food at this place. Unbelievable. I had a fantastic calamari and shrimp mix with this garlicky white wine, butter sauce, but the best part was all of the little nibbles they brought out beforehand as appetizers. Baba ganouj, hummus (the best I've ever had), spicy marinated cauliflower, tahini, and on and on. I could have just eaten the appetizers and salad and gone home there was so much food!
I spent the next day traipsing around the city and Dizengoff Street (one of the major shopping streets in the city and a mecca of Bauhaus style architecture! Did you know that Tel Aviv has one of the largest concentrations of Bauhaus architecture in the world? Me either). I ate the most divine falafel sandwich (which I ordered from someone that didn't speak a word of English . . . I basically just pointed at what the person had before me and said that please!).
Later I found myself back at the hotel watching the sunset and introducing myself to . . . . The GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA!!! Yep. That's right, I met Charlie Crist, the new Governor of Florida who happened to be in Tel Aviv for the 40th anniversary of the 6-day War. I, of course, had no idea who he was and thought he and his entourage were just group of consultants. But slowly I realized that if he was chatting up the King of Jordan and having publicity shots taken with him then he probably wasn't just a consultant . . . Anyhow, he was very nice, talked with me for a moment as we all watched the sunset over the Mediterranean.
I have to say that I have met some very random people so far on this trip: National Medal of Science winner, UN Political Scientist/former refugee, and the Governor of Florida. All in 48 hours! Who knows what might happen next!
The castle wall was supported from below by enormous granite (?) boulders that must have been carried through the landscape by glaciers during the ice age. From the topmost part of the castle wall you could see all the way down the coastline, even to Ericeira an incredibly famous surf spot. Unfortunately I couldn't tell what the waves were like from there, but we didn't go there anyway so it didn't really matter. Next time, when I'm actually better at this crazy sport I've picked up.
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