It's the Final Countdown

For our last full day here we decided to spend some time, among the hours of packing and saying goodbyes, to visit two sites of import: HaShamen and Pituyim. For lunch we had shwara at what is rumoured to be the best shwarma place in Jerusalem*, and in terms of taste it certainly lived up to its reputation. The meat was plentiful, and there were even bowl next to the ample salad bar so you didn't have to feel embarrassed to take extras. An added bonus, never before seen at any other salad bar - fried onions. Unfortunately, the price was very steep and keeps this joint out of serious contention for the crown.

For dinner we ate at an old favorite, Pituyim, one of the first restaurants we visited when we arrived here. Their salads, fried cheese dishes, and creative combinations of different fruits and vegetables make this off-the-beaten path eatery well worth it. We ordered a series of dishes we've never tried before, enjoyed them all, and returned home at midnight to continue/begin packing for the 5.5 week trip home.

*We know that we claimed in an earlier post that we were visiting what was supposed to be the best shwarma place in Jerusalem, but it turns out we erred in our directions and visited the place next door. Oops.

Our Favorite Archangel

Taking a break from packing and planning, we ate dinner (really a very late business lunch, but still) at Gabriel, a French restaurant on Shimon ben Shetach street, a surprisingly trendy and calm road near Ben Yehuda. The space is very small, but used well, and the jazz in the background and lack of street traffic make the atmosphere very relaxed. If you arrive between noon and 5 p.m., for the price of a dinner entree you get a choice of appetizer as well as a main course. Between the two of us we tried lamb kebabs in tehina sauce, red mullet, confit of goose leg in apple something, and sirloin in a plum sauce. The presentation was beautiful and the food fantastic, and we're really happy that we saved this, one of our top restaurant visits this year, for last. Now we're off to starve in Europe!

Final Friday Fun

Today being our last Friday, we decided to join the throngs of locals and Birthright groups that descend on the shuk before Shabbat. After we did the minimal grocery shopping required for our last few days here, we sat down in our favorite dry-goods store for coffee and weird sesame cookies. Jon had what he claims to be the "best sachlav" he's ever tasted; however, he has only tasted it twice before, the 30-degree heat may have addled his brains, and the drink came with a free cookie, so his judgement is suspect. After the break we did some shopping for supplies for our upcoming trip, and had a final delicious shwarma at Melech haFelafel Actually, Rina had a pizza. Silly lady.

First Deadly Sin

For today's entertainment we went to King David street, which was shut down for the day, to watch the Gay Pride Parade. The whole thing was far more tame than expected, except for the occasional bouts of threatened violence. Of course, all the threats were made to Jon. Two different police officers, noticing that Jon was the only spectator wearing a kippah, singled him out of the crowd and advised him that if he threw anything or said anything or moved an inch toward the parade they would beat him and physically remove him from the premises. This was fine until we saw friends of ours marching - they waved at us and called our names, and we could do little more than nod politely in their direction for fear of provoking the hot-tempered constables.

Thank goodness the Brazilians colonized Israel

Tonight we had a choice between seeing the grand opening ceremony for the Bridge of Strings, Jerusalem's most recent love-it-or-hate-it architectural wonder, a piece of the not-yet-running light rail system, or we could have all-you-can-eat meat at a Brazilian restaurant named Papagaio's. After twelve kinds of meat, delivered on cutting boards, skewers, platters, and weird pitchfork thingies, adding up to a meal that lasted three hours, we knew that we made the right choice. Harp-shaped bridges are nice and all, but can't compare to all of the meat stations at a wedding coming to you instead of you waiting in line to come to them.

Jerusalem Tour

Our time in Jerusalem rapidly dwindling, today was spent visiting those sites and sights that we either wanted to see one last time, or that we haven't yet had the time to see appropriately.

We began our day with shacharit at the Kotel. Luckily we came late enough that the wall was casting a cooling shadow, and most of those begging for money weren't present. We did our duty, then stayed in the Old City to visit the Cardo and Cousin Dov's shop, Shorashim (which we highly recommend!). We had to go and come back several times, though, as there was a lecture being given to a visiting Christian missionary group from Colorado, and we didn't want to disturb them. Also, the door was locked.

After enjoying our final fantastic meal at Macaroni, still the best-priced and tastiest business lunch we've found, we were off to Mea She'arim for some final Judaica purchases. As always, we enjoyed the spectacle of the neighbourhood.

For dinner we walked over to the mall, where Jon finally got to indulge his desire for treif by eating at both Burger King and KFC in one night. While we're certain to regret this sort of outing later in life, it was lots of fun. Burger King was as good as could be expected, but KFC surprised with its crispy, tasty chicken wings that were actually really good.

The Graduate

Presentation of Participants' Posters
Standard Series of Speakers and Speeches
Delicious Dairy Dinner
Goodbye to Graduates

Let the games begin!

Israeli Shabbat in Efrat

Now that we've been here a year and are about to depart, we figured it was about time we spent a Shabbat with actual Israelis. The girls from Rina's program at Matan, along with their husbands/fiances/children, all got together in Efrat to spend the weekend together. The parents of one of Rina's classmates own a beautiful house there, and had enough children to warrant having enough bedrooms that their home could be turned into a hostel. The weekend was lots of fun, even though for some reason we went to a shul populated by North Americans, and we even got to eat our first authentic pashtida! It turns out that it is just a quiche. But an Israeli quiche!

Afternoon Adventures

After a long and productive day, we met up in the shuk for dinner. We wanted to go to a small whole-in-the-wall called Azura, but they were closing. However, we did have time for the following conversation to take place:
"Do you have kosher certification?" Jon asked.
"No, do you have kosher certification?" the owner replied.
"No, I don't, but at home I know what's going into my food."
"Here too! We're Jews, just like you. Don't trust the Rabbanut!"
We wound up at another grill-and-humus joint, where we had some fantastic soup. The meat-filled kubbeh were as large as an infant's shoe! Little baby Ezra would have looked adorable wearing them!


After dinner we did some quick shopping in the market. At a fruit stand we're pretty sure we saw Hagrid. He was without his umbrella, but was easily identifiable by his massive size - at least 100 times the size of little baby Ezra!

Later in the evening we finally made it to the Off the Wall Comedy Basement to hear David Kilimnick's "Aliyah Monologues." He was very funny and made great observations about the ridiculousness of an American's life in Israel. One of our favorite bits was the comparison between the Israeli גבר גבר and the American חמוד . Cute as David was, though, he doesn't even come close to little baby Ezra!

We closed out the evening with another free concert at the Jerusalem Theater, which is thankfully still celebrating the Israel Festival. The show tonight was a quartet - bass, drums, and two guitars - of middle aged Israeli men playing American hits from the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Their accents were dead-on and their music was a lot of fun to listen to, and they had the room packed to capacity, with many people doing the hippy-hippy shakes. We were both surprised at how many Israelis knew the words to the songs, as we figured they probably had other things on their minds in those initial years of statehood.

Pre and Post Shabbat Outings

In the midst of preparing for Shabbat, we went to a nearby bakery to buy challah. While out, we passed the weekly artisans' market. This time around, we sampled the wares of an Israeli vineyard, and even got to try some kosher port. On the way home, we stopped by a local wine store, and while we selected a bottle the owner came by with some samples, and we got to try a kosher champagne-like vintage called brut. Fun!

After Shabbat we walked to the Jerusalem theater, where as a part of the Israel Festival there was supposed to be an evening of free jazz. For some reason the band was playing Latin music instead, but we still had a lot of fun listening and watching the geriatrics spin around the dance floor.

Jaffa Afternoon

After we finished our respective days at school, we met at the Central Bus Station and took the familiar trip to Tel Aviv. This time, however, we got off at a more southerly stop and walked a short distance to the neighbouring city of Jaffa.

We made our way to the old city by walking toward the most visible and recognizable landmark, a brick and glass clock tower. Once there we wandered through the bazaars and flea markets until we'd had our fill of cigarette smoke and hooka stores, and then made our way to a nearby park. In the park we visited the lookout over the sea, examined some monuments and statues, and gawked at the many not-so-modest brides who had come to have their pictures taken in the pretty location. We also found a restored area full of artists' shops.

For dinner we met a friend at a restaurant named Dr. Shakshuka. The decor was all newspaper articles and old iron-work, and the food was Tripolian. We aren't certain, but are under the impression that "Tripolian" either means delicious or full of beans, beacuse the meal was both.

After stuffing ourselves we waddled over to the Mayumana House for a show. The performance was sort of like Stomp melded with Israeli music, but it was so much more. The styles of dance included tap, latin, and belly, the musical instruments guitars, violins, and didjeridoo, and the percussive items trash bins, gas cans, and the human body. Every participant was involved in multiple aspects of the show, and the room was full of energy. It was also nice that David Broza, the primary musician and vocalist, was fully integrated into all elements of the show, including the acting, drumming, and dancing. Mayumana has shows all around the world, and we highly recommend going to see the show if you have a chance.

Second day of Shavuot? Pooh!

Flouting religious doctrine, we spent today visiting sites that we've wanted to enjoy but haven't yet taken the time to.

We began at the Museum on the Seam, a museum on the border between East and West Jerusalem. The current exhibition revolves around conflict, and artists from around the world submitted pieces that deal with this issue. The art ranged from photographs to paintings and multimedia, and covered a range of topics such as racism, sexism, and the treatment of prisoners and political opponents. While not all of the styles of art were to our liking, the experience as a whole was interesting and we'd recommend it.

After making up for an upsetting cheesecake experience on Shavuot with a trip to the Anna Ticho house, we went crazy-Israeli-clothes shopping. On our way home we stopped to watch an installment of the Israel Festival, which was kids performing Judo and gymnastics (not simultaneously) while trained actors and mimes were forgotten in the background. People in face paint just can't compete with kids in pajamas.

At night we went to see some friends perform in "The Taming of the Shrew". While long, the comedy was a lot of fun and mostly intelligible, and was enjoyed by us both, although we've probably had our fill of amateur theater for the year.

Shavuot

As usual, we began our Shavuot with all-night learning. This year this practice was also the end of our holiday, as there was only one day of chag, and we slept away the entire day to make up for the lost night. Anyways... We began the night at the Conservative Yeshiva, where we heard Joel Roth speak about the greatest challenges to the Conservative movement. Aside from self-aggrandizement and a push for us to read his book and articles, the Rabbi's talk focused on Conservative leaders' beginning to effect changes in halacha based on their moral desires as opposed to within the framework of legal halachic change. More simply, Rabbis are changing Jewish law because they want to, and care little about making these changes in a way that continues the traditions of our ancestors.

We spent the rest of the night with a friend at Beit Avi Chai, "a cultural and social center located in the heart of Jerusalem that seeks to express and refine the voices heard in Israeli Jewish cultural discourse." There we found hordes of people divided into different rooms, each with a different lecturer. Every hour there was a short break for the crowds to reshuffle and new lecturers to find their classrooms. The first teacher we sat in on was Rachel Elior, a professor from Hebrew U who taught us about the ancient Jewish calendar (which was far better than the current one), and how it was demolished, and Shavuot given a lesser status as a holiday and in the Mishnah, in order for the Rabbis to promote themselves and their agenda over that of the Priests. The second speaker, Micha Goodman, told us the complete opposite of Rabbi Roth, that as the readers of the Bible it is we who hold the power to interpret the words therein, and that it is impossible to understand or even approach understanding of the author's original intent. At 2 a.m. the three of us went to the cafe downstairs and learned together from on of the many pre-made lessons lying around the room, and at 3 a.m. went back upstairs to hear Yisrael Campbell, the comedian Jon saw with Melton, perform excerpts from his monologue about Jewish identity.

One of the nicest elements of the learning at Beit Avi Chai was that, because of the evening's academic nature, many of the attendees came solely to learn, and were completely disinterested in any religious aspects to the night. There were people wearing black hats, others wearing crocheted kippot, and still others sending text messages during class. It was really nice to see Jews of such varied backgrounds coming together to spend the night learning.

For early-morning davenning, Rina and our friend headed home to Katamon, while Jon walked with a classmate from Melton and a visiting friend from Australia to the Old City. The comment made by Jon's classmate best summarizes their approach to the Kotel - it was like thousands of black ants streaming into an anthill. From all over the city Jews were coming to the Kotel to pray at sunrise. Like Sukkot, the mobs were a unruly and pushy near the wall, but Jon stayed farther back and prayed with a Sephardi minyan, which was both culturally interesting and far more calm. Much of the experience was soured, however, when the thousands of attendees both arrived and departed via the Muslim Quarter; teenagers sang, danced, and shouted through the narrow alleys, not caring that the residents were still sleeping.

The balance of the holiday, as expected, was spent sleeping, hanging out, and eating a variety of dairy products including lasagna, home-made blintzes, and a range of cheeses we are pretty sure were kosher.

Saturday in Town

Continuing our last-minute rush to partake of the many different synagogues in Jerusalem, today we walked in the City Center to attend the Italian Synagogue. We visited the site once before, but during the week and as a museum, so today's experience was quite different. There were many visitors and tourists there with us, but the service was clearly authentic, or at least very different from our own backgrounds, as were the tunes. Jon spoke to one of the Kohanim, who told him that while he himself was not Italian, he had learned his tunes from an elderly Italian who had since passed away but had recorded his melody for Birkat Kohanim so that the Florence tradition would be kept alive here in Jerusalem. Much of the service was Sephardic in nature, but with a variety of interesting twists that made the walk to and from the shul well worth it.

After Shabbat we went back into town for the fresh crepe Jon has been craving since first seeing them last August. It was as delicious as he'd hoped. We then walked to a large open area in the old train station, where dozens of vendors representing the nation's publishers had set up booths. The event was part of the week long Shavua Ha'Sefer celebration, where books of all types, from religious to children's and fiction, are sold at ridiculously cheap prices. It's a shame all of our savings will be wiped out when we have to ship all of our purchases back to North America.

We closed out the day with a stop at Shnitzi's, a fast food place that specializes in shnitzel. Jon, feeding yet another craving, ordered the House Special, which is chicken breast covered in Bissli crumbs. The sandwich came with a variety of toppings and sauces, and was satisfactorily delicious and a good final meat meal before the delicious dairy of Shavuot.

Yom Yerushalayim

Last night was the 41st anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem (under Jewish rule, anyway). To celebrate we attended a festive davening at Yakar. The room was packed to standing-room-only, and there was musical accompaniment to all of the prayers. We then walked over to Independence Park, where we watched a bit of a concert that began at 8:30 and ended at 5 a.m. That venue, too, was packed to capacity, and was lots of fun. Like Yom Ha'atzmaut, this holiday demonstrated how happy and appreciative people can be that their home exists, and that national celebrations need not be meaningless or rote if the citizenry truly cares about the State.

Eastern European Vacation

Jon just returned from a Holocaust education conference in Poland and Hungary, where he and his group learned both about the Holocaust, the Jewish life in those regions before World War Two, and the current "resurgence" of Jewish life today. Below are some non-Holocaust highlights.

Sundays in the Park - In the heart of Warsaw, surrounded by fantastic architecture, is a massive park with a lake in its center. Every Sunday there are free hour-long Chopin concerts, after which the crowds wander through the gardens to relax, eat, and feed the peacocks that roam the area freely.

Food - Apparently borscht, made by Poles in Poland, is actually really good. Who would have guessed?

Good Luck Charms - Pictures and statues of Jews holding money are good luck charms in Poland, and can be found everywhere. Kind of ironic, like a rabbit's foot.

Synagogues - The shuls in this region, even though they often have severe troubles with attendance, are beautiful. This is especially true of the Neolog temple in central Budapest, which is fashioned after local churches. The massive building seats over 3000, and is covered in gilding. The structure even houses an organ over a storey tall which is played every Shabbat (by a non-Jew, of course!).

Transportation - It seems to be the law in Poland that all drivers must brake only at the last minute, and only to avert imminent disaster - if wild swerving or swearing can take the place of gentle defensive driving it should. Also, taking a train ride after visiting Aushwitz, especially if it involves sleeping on a triple-decker bed in cramped quarters, is not recommended.

Scenery - Krakow and Budapest are gorgeous European cities, regardless of what our grandparents tell us.

Life - Many of the Jews in this region either hide their Jewishness or have only found out recently about their roots. One individual with whom Jon talked found out from his second cousin, while he was vacationing in Toronto at the age of 12. Another learned from her grandmother, at the age of 19, when she told her about an impending vacation in Israel. Still, people are rebuilding communities and identities in these battered nations. Also, German tourists wearing Ben Yehuda t-shirts are scary.

Sabbath recap

Friday night Rina and a friend went back to the Bretzlaver shul we visited several weeks ago. This week they added a second nearly-endless song to their repertoire in honor of Lag Ba'Omer - Bar Yochai.* Jon attended the Great Synagogue, where the building was beautiful and the service was meh. That's right, meh. The cantor had a very nice voice, but there is no reason that counting the Omer should take longer than the rest of Maariv put together.

On Saturday we got to spend time with Rina's cousin, who is in the country with Birthright. For some reason her hotel is an hour away, on top of a rocky hill, and surrounded by barbed wire. Nice hotel, though. At night we hung out with her on Ben Yehuda (for shwarma and felafel, of course), then went to another friend's graduation party (hurray for doctors!). Then it was back home for Jon to pack for his trip to Eastern Europe, and Rina to not sleep before her last week of school.

*This is probably uninteresting to everyone but Jason. Sorry!

Oops, wrong cave

To continue our celebration of cave-dweller Shimon Bar Yochai's demise, we today went to the most famous cave in Jerusalem, that within the Church of Holy Sepulcher. We wandered (not aimlessly,but pretty close to it) through the Arab and Christian quarters until we found the Seventh Station of the Cross (the first six were too hard to find or too much inside of a closed off mosque on the Temple Mount), then followed the stations to the Church, which houses both the traditional place of crucifixion as well as the tomb. The church is an immense stone structure with meandering tunnels, alcoves and chapels for prayer, and icons icons everywhere. We then went to the Arab shuk to finally buy a backgammon board, then to the everybody-shuk for lunch. Happy Lag Ba'Omer!

Lag Ba'Omer

While the connection is unclear, on Lag Ba'Omer bonfires are lit to celebrate the death of Shimon Bar Yochai/that Rabbi Akiva's students stopped dying/the bravery of Jews in standing up to their Roman oppressors. We have both seen bonfires before, but never anything compared to the scope of the celebration here. The moment you step out the door you can't help but smell the smoke in the air, and there are kids running up and down the street dragging every available piece of wood to wherever they have begun their blaze. Jon even saw two boys carrying a dresser whose doors had been removed. In a nearby park there were at least a dozen fires going, with huge groups of kids dancing and singing around them. As mentioned above, the ritual purpose of this pagan pyromania is unclear to us, but it looks like lots of fun. One question though - doesn't Israel have a shortage of trees?

Pardes in Tsfat

This weekend was Pardes' last trip, and it was to be in Tsfat (or Safed, or Sefad, or any one of many ways of spelling it). We met the group at Pardes at 6:30 a.m. for lunch-packing, and we then loaded up the buses, and were on our way north.

Our first stop was Mount Gilboa, where we hiked the Emek Ha'ne'elam (Disappearing Valley) trail. The route took us over rocky terrain and through lots of varied and pretty vegetation, with a view of the farms and towns below us the entire time. The hike ended in a large field of amber waves of grain, a sight completely unexpected, but which the Kansas representatives seemed to love. After a quick stop to relax and to refill our water bottles, we made it to Madressa, where we did a water hike. The trek was through a stream whose depth ranged from ankle to waist-deep. The trees and flowers there were completely different from those seen earlier, and the whole thing seemed reminiscent of North America. This hike ended in a huge natural pool full of Israeli kids screaming and splashing, activities we promptly joined.

Planned poorly, our organizers next took our two buses of soaked, smiling, and smelly hikers to the Tsfat cemetery, where those who aren't Priestly (Elvis or otherwise) toured the graves and heard stories about some of the scholars who had lived in the area.

The next morning began with prayers at a local synagogue (the Beit Midrash of the famous Ari synagogue), and then we moved on to the tomb of Shimon Bar Yochai, a location we had visited just a few weeks ago as a part of our Yam L'Yam hike, and the remains of an ancient synagogue. Needless to say, this visit was much more relaxed and educational than our last. The options for the balance of the day were to hike a route we'd done during Pesach or to spend the day in Tsfat, so we opted for the latter. Our first stop was the Meiri Cheese factory, where a few of us took part in a guided tour. The cheeses are made in a massive ancestral home overlooking the valleys around the city, and the secrets to the recipes, and the home itself, have been passed down within the family for six generations. The recipient of the tradition is determined shortly after birth, when he is given the name of his granfather. One of the keys to the cheeses' unique taste is the natural underground river that passes through the basement of the home, and is the same water that feeds the Ari mikvah (thankfully the mikvah is situated after the home, so that the unique flavors are not the the sweat and soil washed off of the bathers).

After the fascinating and delicious tour we began to meander about the city, looking at artists' booths and wares. For a snack we ate a Yemenite dish we can't even pronounce, let alone write out, but which might best be described as a crepe that went terribly and deliciously off course, with egg, tomato, zatar, and other assorted Middle Eastern items in the center. We also snuck onto a German tour of the Joseph Caro synagogue, which is barely in use but houses treasures from the Cairo geniza we visited in Egypt, in addition to its intrinsic historical value. As Shabbat got close we and some friends were lucky enough to be able to see the Tree of Life shtender presentation that Jon saw with Melton. As with the previous experience, everyone in the room was left in awe of the piece's beauty, intricate design, and meaning.

We began Shabbat at a Kosover Hassid shul. We had hoped that it would be similar to, but more authentic than, the Bretzlaver synagogue we'd tried in Jerusalem, but there were so few attendees that the experience was actually a little sad. However, it was interesting to pray among so many fur hats (for Jon; Rina was behind a wood-and-cloth cage), and the dancing was fun.

Saturday we attended services at the Ari synagogue. The Kabbalistic art and architecture was fascinating and pretty, though the services were standard. In the shul's center is a bimah a dozen steps off the ground, making Torah reading central physically as well as theologically and temporally. The bimah was covered in whimsical colors and wood carvings, each with a deeper meaning we doubt we could fathom if we tried. One of the things we did note, however, was that the charity boxes are built into the building's supporting columns, promoting the message that tzedaka is vital in supporting our world. After lunch we took a guided tour of the city, stopping off at the Abouab shul, which houses some of the oldest synagogue architecture and the oldest Torah still in use in the world. We learned all about the city's interesting and long history, much of it centered around the study and practice of Kabbalah, and only made it back to the hotel in time for dinner, havdalah, and departure.