Here is a disturbing perspective, but accurate
“Unfortunately, Israel is the only country in the West in which there is not yet full freedom of religion for Jews. We are paying a heavy price for the Orthodox monopoly.” Yizhar Hess, Jerusalem Post, April 17, 2009.

Top Things to Do and See
During my four plus months in Israel, primarily in Jerusalem, the things that I have enjoyed or learned from the most have been:

1. The Mehane Yehuda market
   Mehane Yehuda market
   
2. Walking around the Old City. The three-hour “free tour” every day at 11:00 a.m. was a good way to get oriented, learn a bit of history and see the main sites. It really isn’t free, the guide expected a tip.
   Jewish Quarter Old City
   
3. Walking through East Jerusalem and Me’a She’arim.Security fence/wall East Jerusalem
   
4. Looking at the Old City from the viewpoint on Mt. Scopus or the Mount of Olives
   Chris at Hebrew University Mt. Scopus overlook
   
5. Touring of the City of David
   
6. Looking at the Dead Sea scrolls and related artifacts at the Israel Museum
   
7. Eating a falafal on the street. The one I liked the best is at the Southern entrance to the Mehane Yehuda Market on Agripas street.
   
8. Eating humous and chicken kababs at Abu Shukre in Abu Gosh.
   
9. Visiting Petra in Jordan
   Petra
   
10. Walking along the beach in Tel AvivTel Aviv beach sunset
    
11. Visiting Massada and floating in the Dead SeaNoah floating in the Dead Sea
    
12. Taking the free (really free) Saturday morning walking tours sponsored by the Municipality.
    

For those of you who have been here, what would be on your list?

Me’a She’arim vs. East Jerusalem

One of several signs at the entrance to the Me'a She'arim neighborhood.

There are three ways to travel from my apartment to Jerusalem’s Old City or the Central City: walk through East Jerusalem, walk through Me’a She’arim, or take the bus. East Jerusalem is a set of Arab neighborhoods and Me’a She’arim is an ultra-Orthodox (Heredi) Jewish neighborhood (see my earlier blog entry “General impressions of Jerusalem”).

The web site of the U.S. State Department has a set of warnings for traveling in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza (http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_922.html). At one point the State Department advised U.S. citizens to avoid East Jerusalem. I commonly hear people in Jerusalem talk about avoiding East Jerusalem, it is spoken of in the same way as inner-city neighborhoods (e.g. the South Side of Chicago, the South Bronx, East L.A.). Currently the State Department advises “American citizens should take into consideration that public buses, trains, and their respective terminals are ‘off-limits’ to U.S. Government personnel.” In theory this leaves one route for traveling into the city, walking through Me’a She’arim. The reality however is that I feel most vigilant, most apprehensive, and most unsafe when walking through Me’a She’arim.

Nearly 200 years old, Me’a She’arim s the second oldest neighborhood outside the old city. It is populated by Heredi Jews who belong to one of many (over 100) Chasidic sects. At the edges of the neighborhood are signs advising women about to enter to wear “modest clothes." In the center of the neighborhood, where the first homes were built are additional signs requesting tour groups to not enter. Frankly I’m conflicted about the right of the neighborhood residents to make these requests or demands. On one hand these are public streets and no other neighborhood in Jerusalem has such restrictions. On the other hand, I’m not sure that I would want tourists frequenting my neighborhood and treating me like a novelty.

Entrance gate to oldest part of Me'a She'arim

Close up of warning sign in Me'a Sharim. Click on the picture to read the warning.

More central to my point though is how it feels to walk through Me’a She’arim as opposed to East Jerusalem. East Jerusalem is clearly an Arab neighborhood, there are often no sidewalks, the streets are in disrepair, there are primarily Arab men on the street and it is crowded. That is not to say women and youth are absent from the street, only that the majority of those on the street are men. While the residents look at me as I walk through, every shopkeeper has been cordial and ingratiating. When I first arrived, because of the State Department warnings and others’ comments I felt apprehensive walking through East Jerusalem. However, now I am as comfortable in East Jerusalem as I am in almost any other neighborhood.

Me’a She’arim has sidewalks and paved streets, in the oldest parts of the neighborhood many of these streets are quite narrow. In the late afternoon the streets are crowded with men wearing traditional dress (the clothing for men varies depending on the sect to which they belong) and women pushing strollers along with a gaggle of children. The children often stare at me as I walk by. I interpret the children’s affect as either scared or hostile. Men avoid eye contact and sometimes shield their eyes from me, as if I was walking nude through the neighborhood. I make a conscious attempt to stay out of people’s way and to avoid looking at the women. I feel, look and am treated as an outsider in Me’a She’arim. I'll also add that both my wife and daughter had stronger reactions to Me'a She'arim than I did, neither wanted to walk through even the edges of the neighborhood whereas they had no qualms about traversing East Jerusalem.

Sign on Yeshiva in Me'a She'arim. Notice the sentence in English above the word "Jerusalem"

Traveling with Family (part two)

Passover warning sign at the entrance to the Jewish Quarter of the Old City

Close up of Dome of the Rock

This is a country where 80 to 90 percent of the people age 18-20 are in military uniform. It is apparent on the streets and at every checkpoint. The Israeli military is a bit more casual than the US military, at least in terms of outward appearance and demeanor. For example, on the bus one day I stood next to a female soldier carrying an automatic weapon about 2/3 her size. In contrast to her green uniform she was carrying a pink backpack, one of the zipper pulls was a pink teddy bear. I’ve also seen soldiers with their pants pulled way down exposing their boxers as is common among American males. At the checkpoints the soldiers usually appear quite relaxed, with the kind of banter between young men and young women you might expect anywhere – except these young adults are all in uniform.

Soldiers on patrol in Jerusalem

Among the other sights seen on our travels were signs in the Golan warning of mine fields. This wasn’t on the current border, but rather some miles in from the current lines. We also saw two United Nations posts with vehicles patrolling the Lebanon-Israel and the Syria-Israel boarder. Near the border are several war memorials, one Mt. Bental, is a former Syrian bunker and site of a large tank battle during the 1973 war.

Remains of army tank below Mt. Bental

The recent wars and on-going terrorist attacks lead to a high level of vigilance and scrutiny in this country. This was exemplified in crossing the border between Israel and Jordan. Crossing into Jordan our guide simply collected the group of passports, had them stamped and we were on our way. While there were armed soldiers at the border, they simply smiled at us as we passed. On the way back into Israel the reception was much different. A soldier at the border examined our passports. A few people were stopped at this point for closer inspection. Next we queued up to have our backpacks x-rayed and to pass through a metal detector. No one could go to the restroom with a backpack. The final step was to answer questions by the border police and, if our answers were acceptable, have our passport stamped.

Jordan border

Miscellaneous thoughts:

Was Maktesh Ramon was the home of the Ramons?

Observed on a menu: Chicken with rise or potato.

Heard on a recent tour:
Guide: One of the successes in Israel is the common language.
Israeli Tourist: Yes, Russian.

Travels with Family (part one)

Over the past few weeks we have traveled to many parts of Israel –North, South, East and West. We have peered into five countries and traveled into one. We visited Israel of the Bible, Israel of the Crusaders, and Israel the modern state.

Tsfat Israel

In the North we spent a couple of nights in Tsfat, an ancient mountain city with connections to the Kabbalah movement. Tsfat feels like a medieval city with twisting narrow stone streets lined with stone buildings. The city is also an odd mix of artists, Heredi, new age Kabbalah followers, with a healthy share of Ethiopian and Russian immigrants. This is in a city of less than 30,000 people. While part of a day wandering around Tsfat was enough for me, the city was a gateway to the Northern part of Israel – the upper Galilee and the Gloan.

I was surprised to learn that the Galilee is home to a number of Crusader castles. While I associate castles with Europe, the Crusaders of the 11th century built a number of large fortresses on a natural travel route near the Jordan River.From the road we saw Nimrod’s castle, near Israel’s ski area and highest peak Mt. Hermon, Walking around Belvoir castle, south of Tiberias we were able to see the how these massive structures were constructed and defended.

Belvior Castle in Northern Israel

Noah at Belvior Castle

Nimrod's Castle in Northern Israel

March in Northern Israel is when all the wild flowers bloom. I have limited ability to remember names of flowers, but I can appreciate the natural beauty –bright yellow, red, blue, green.Complementing the wild flowers were acres and acres of agriculture. I have seen the products in the market –dates, peppers, garlic, olives, melons, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, pomelos, strawberries and many other fruits and vegetables. Clearly one of the successes of the state of Israel is the development of a productive agricultural industry. These aren’t the farms of the Midwest United States but rather greenhouses and orchards.

Wild flowers near Mt. Gilboa

Farms in Northern Israel

Cyclaman flowers in the Sorek Valley

Smoke Rises Over the City

At Maktessh Ramon

I walked out of the apartment yesterday and there was the noticeable smell of smoke in the air. It was similar to what happens in Alaska during the early summer when there are forest fires. What was all this smoke from? A forest fire seemed unlikely in the desert, could it be a large house fire, burning tires near the security fence (wall) – I’ve seen that form of protest before-- or worse yet, a terrorist attack?

As I road across town on the bus it became clear that the smoke was from small crowds of people burning the last of their leavened products (hametz) in preparation for Passover.

Preparing for Passover in Jerusalem

For the past week I have seen evidence of Passover preparation. Grocery store shelves have increasingly had labels indicating which products are kosher for Passover. People have been walking on the streets toting new brooms, mops and other cleaning products. At the bus stop people have had boxes of new small kitchen appliances. Restaurant owners have been outside scrubbing tables and chairs. This is Spring cleaning Jewish style.

I can also report that boxed matzah in Israel is as tasteless as boxed matzah in the United States. Over the next week I’m going to try and find freshly made matzah to see if that has any better taste.

Hannah & Noah South of Hebron

Hannah & Noah South of Hebron